Feast day of St Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony the Great (251 - 356), Christian saint, was a leader among the Desert Fathers, who were Christian monks in the Egyptian desert in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. His feast day is celebrated on January 17 in some churches, but celebrated on Tobi 22 (January 31) in the Coptic Orthodox Church which has the closest cultural and geographical ties to him. Anthony is known as the father of Christian monasticism; he had many temptations by the Devil.

He is the patron saint of herdsmen and also the patron of pigs. The smallest pig of a litter was named a Tantony pig in his honour ...

Benediction of the Beasts, Church of St Anthony, Rome
This ancient Christian ceremony lasted for some days. Everyone who had a horse, mule or ass, sent them to be blessed at the shrine of St Anthony near Santa Maria Maggiore. A similar custom has traditionally been observed on the same day at Madrid and many any other places ...

Categories: saints