Meditation today: The vocation of Saint Anthony

After the death of his parents, left alone with his still very young sister, Antonio, at the age of eighteen or twenty, took care of the house and his sister. Six months had not yet passed since the death of his parents, when one day, as he was going, as was his custom, to the Eucharistic celebration, he was reflecting on the reason that had led the apostles to follow the Savior, after having abandoned everything. It recalled those men, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, who, having sold their goods, brought the proceeds to the feet of the apostles, to be distributed to the poor. He also thought what and how many were the goods they hoped to obtain in heaven.
Meditating on these things he entered the church, just as he was reading the gospel and heard that the Lord had said to that rich man: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, give it to the poor, then come and follow me and you will have a treasure in heaven "(Mt 19,21:XNUMX).
Then Antonio, as if the story of the lives of the saints had been presented to him by Providence and those words had been read just for him, immediately left the church, gave the inhabitants of the village as a gift the properties he had inherited from his family - he owned in fact three hundred very fertile and pleasant fields - so as not to cause trouble for themselves and for their sister. He also sold all movable property and distributed the large sum of money to the poor. Participating once again in the liturgical assembly, he heard the words that the Lord says in the Gospel: "Do not worry about tomorrow" (Mt 6,34:XNUMX). Unable to hold out any longer, he went out again and also donated what he still had left. He entrusted his sister to the virgins consecrated to God and then he himself dedicated himself near his house to the ascetic life, and began to lead a harsh life with fortitude, without conceding anything to himself.
He worked with his own hands: in fact he had heard proclaim: "Whoever does not want to work, does not even eat" (2 Thess 3,10:XNUMX). With a portion of the money earned he bought the bread for himself, while the rest he gave it to the poor.
He spent a lot of time in prayer, since he had learned that it was necessary to withdraw and pray continuously (cf. 1 Thes 5,17:XNUMX). He was so attentive to reading that nothing of what was written escaped him, but he kept everything in his soul to the point that memory ended up replacing books. All the inhabitants of the country and the righteous men, of whose goodness he availed himself, seeing such a man called him a friend of God and some loved him as a son, others as a brother.