What is the common attribute between early Christians and
Arizonans? The answer is: Both are residents of deserts.
Monasticism started around the third century AD. Hermits are
also called the desert
fathers because they chose
to retreat from the world and move into the Scetes desert of
Egypt. The most famous hermit was
St. Anthony the Great,
the founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony passed
away in 356, thousands of monks and nuns followed St. Anthony's
example.
In the summer of 1995 six Greek Orthodox monks came to the
desert in Florence, Arizona to build St. Anthony’s Monastery.
After more than a decade of development, today the Monastery
consists of a main church, a vegetable garden, a vineyard,
citrus orchards, and many chapels. The monastery is named after
St. Anthony the Great, of course. The main church in the
monastery is dedicated to St. Anthony and Nectarios the
Wonder-worker. There are chapels dedicated to St. Seraphim of
Sarov, St. George the Great Martyr, St. Nichols the
Wonder-worker, and the prophet Elijah.
