What is The Order?
Throughout history men and women caught up with the infatuation of the Holy have given themselves over to loving God extra through living intentional patterns of prayer, fasting, study, simplicity and community.
The call to a Spirit-filled life is heard by every serious Christ follower.
Recently a number of us began to imagine what it would be like to embrace a rule of life
rooted in spiritual disciplines
and intentional community to answer that call.
We called the dream The Order of St. Anthony.
St Anthony the Great was an Egyptian born in 250 CE and was the first person in the Christian Church to live a distinctly monastic life. While passing a church he heard the story of the rich young ruler who was called to sell all he had and to give it to the poor. Anthony came from a wealthy family and decided to obey this simple command by selling all he had, giving it to the poor, and moving to the desert to commit to a life of prayer and intercession for the world (there is still a monastery in memory of St. Anthony in the Western Desert of Egypt where he lived).
Through his example of life and spirituality many joined him in the desert. St. Athanasius the Great met St. Anthony and when St. Anthony died at the great age of 106 years, Athanasius wrote of his life. In response to this writing a flood of young men and women gave themselves to this more narrow way of living in pursuit of God and prayer for his kingdom to rule on earth. St. Anthony is called the “Father of Monks” to this day.
Richard Foster wrote, “In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe waiting for the emerging of a Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered people. All of creation watches expectantly for the springing up of a disciplined, freely gathered, martyr people who know in this life the life and power of the kingdom of God. It has happened before. It can happen again…”*
We want to be that kind of people.
*Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (Harper & Row, San Francisco, CA: 1978) p. 150
The purpose of the Order of St. Anthony
The purpose of the Order of St. Anthony is to provide an ordered way of life for both clergy and laity for prayer, spiritual direction, confession, and spiritual friendship. We believe entering holy habits like these are formative to the human soul, empowering us to be reflective of God’s glory and making those who participate in them carriers of God’s kingdom.
The mission of the Order is...
To engage in the apostolic mission of the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ by proclaiming, living and demonstrating the Good News of His saving love and redemptive rule for the salvation and reconciliation of human beings and of all creation to the friendship of the Triune God, the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of all.
We express this mission through welcoming existing clergy and laity into an ordered life, and also through the planting, facilitating and equipping support and training of new local (Eucharistic) worship communities gathered around the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the fellowship of the Apostolic Tradition and Faith passed on from our Lord Jesus Christ to His Apostles, and through them to believers of all ages.
engagement in the Order of St. Anthony:
Oblates in the Order of St. Anthony | Oblates individually affiliate themselves with the Order. They make a formal, private, time-framed promise (annually renewable or, after three years, for life) to follow the Rule of the Order in their private life as closely as their individual circumstances and prior commitments permit. Oblates are considered an integral part of the Order of St. Anthony and have the letter ObSA after their names on documents.
Friends of St. Anthony | Friends of St. Anthony (FOSA) are those who have not taken a formal vow into the Order, but find the practices and rhythms of the Order to be life-giving. FOSA participate in a daily prayer rhythm as best as they can and participate in the life of the Order.