St. Anthony the Great (17 January): Do Battle in the Desert of Your Heart

About this sermon

In this powerful Orthodox Christian homily, we reflect on the Gospel of the Rich Young Ruler and the life of St. Anthony the Great, the father of Christian monasticism. When Jesus tells the wealthy young man to “sell all that you have and follow Me,” the words seem impossible to live by. Yet for St. Anthony of Egypt, those words were not meant for someone else—they were meant for him. This sermon explores: Why Christ’s call is personal, not generic The difference between monastic calling and lay salvation The meaning of the desert—not just as a place, but as a state of the heart Spiritual warfare, temptation, and perseverance Why God sometimes allows struggle before revealing His presence Through the life of St. Anthony, we learn that we do not need to flee into the desert physically to follow Christ. Instead, we are called to enter the desert within our hearts—a place of prayer, repentance, silence, and encounter with God. Whether you are facing temptation, doubt, spiritual dryness, or deep struggle, this message reminds us of the Lord’s words to St. Anthony: “I was here, but I wanted to see your struggle.” 🙏 May this teaching strengthen you to keep fighting the good fight of faith. 0:00 Opening Prayer & Introduction 0:43 Difficult Gospel Teachings Explained 1:10 The Rich Young Ruler & Christ’s Challenge 2:20 Is Selling Everything Required for Everyone? 3:08 Introduction to St. Anthony the Great 4:00 Early Life of St. Anthony 5:05 Hearing the Gospel That Changed Everything 5:47 Leaving the World & Entering the Desert 6:18 Spiritual Warfare & Demonic Temptations 7:18 Physical Attacks & Perseverance 8:04 Twenty Years in Isolation 9:20 “Where Were You, Lord?” 10:21 Birth of Christian Monasticism 11:11 Bitter Medicine & God’s Healing 11:56 Persecution & Ministry to Prisoners 12:49 Final Words of St. Anthony 13:24 Legacy of St. Anthony Today 14:46 What This Means for Us Today 15:28 The Desert of the Heart 16:26 Spiritual Battles in Silence 17:45 The Desert as Refuge 18:42 God Is With You in the Struggle 19:25 Final Encouragement & Closing Prayer Please remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.us for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SpiritusTV - https://spiritustv.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #StAnthonyTheGreat #OrthodoxChristianity #DesertFathers #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianFaith #OrthodoxSermon #LifeOfTheSaints #FaithAndTemptation #PrayerAndFasting #FollowingChrist #RichYoungRuler #OrthodoxTeaching

Topics

• Suffering & Trials