St. Anthony of Rome or Anthony the Roman (russian: Антоний Римлянин) was the founder of the

Antoniev Monastery The Antoniev Monastery ("St Anthony's Monastery", russian: Антониев монастырь) rivalled the Yuriev Monastery as the most important monastery of medieval Novgorod the Great. It stands along the right bank of the Volkhov River north ...

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. The hagiographic account on the life of Saint Anthony of Rome is only known since the second half of the 16th century. It claims that Anthony was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. and became an Orthodox monk there. After persecution of Eastern Orthodox believers started, he left the city and made a home at the seashore. Once, when he was standing on a stone and praying, a storm started, lifted the stone and in two days moved it along the sea to the city of Novgorod. Anthony, who did not speak Russian, was informed by a Greek merchant that he was in Novgorod, met with Saint Nikita, the bishop of Novgorod, and obtained a permission to found the monastery at the site his stone arrived to the shore. It has been reported that the monastery church was consecrated by Anthony not in 1119, but that he was made

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

only in 1131/32, immediately after Niphont was installed as the Bishop of Novgorod. This long delay is unclear; presumably it was related to some frictions between Novgorod church hierarchs. Anthony died in 1147 and was buried in the monastery. Since 1597, Anthony is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etymo ...

as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. The feast days are January 17 and August 3.

References

{{authority control 1147 deaths Eastern Orthodox monks Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 12th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown