Foresight of the end to which "the narrow gate" (that is, the life of asceticism) leads him, the "difficult path" of monasticism draws him fills those beautiful eyes with the certitude of heavenly bliss awaiting him in the kingdom of heaven. For such a vision he was able to endure all with perseverance and without laziness.

The vision these eyes perceived brought him to despise the pleasures of this world. This does not imply that he in any way "deprived" himself. No, rather, his desires themselves were turned to one point, to God Who alone can fill and satisfy the human heart. In this alone do we properly understand Christian asceticism. This world can never satisfy man, because "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again" Qn. 4:13).

As for Saint Anthony, his vision had shown him the Fountain of Living Water Himself, so he had no need to seek to quench his thirst in this world. Here the icon and Saint Athanasius agree when he reports in his Life Saint Anthony saying, 'And let none turn back as Lot's wife did, especially since the Lord said, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.' Now 'turning back'is nothing exceptfeeling regret and once more thinking about things in the world. " (Life,20). And also, "But the promise of eternal life is purchased for very little." (Life, 16).

Indeed, we are not alone in our attraction to the spiritual beauty we see in the Saint's eyes, for just as with this icon, Saint Athanasius tells us his face was full of glory: "His face had a great and marvelous grace, and this favor he had from the Savior, for ~f he was present with a great number of monks, and someone who had not formerly met him wished to see him, immediately on arriving, he would pass by the others and run to him, as though drawn by his eyes. It was not his physical dimensions that distinguished him from the rest, but the stability of character and the purity of the soul. His soul being free of confusion, he held his outer senses also undisturbed, so that from the soul's joy, his face was cheerful as well, and from the movements of the body, it was possible to sense and perceive the stable condition of the soul, as it is written, 'When the heart rejoices, the countenance is cheerful; but when it is in sorrow, the countenance is sad.'(Prov. 15:13). " (Life 67).

But the icon reveals even more spiritual qualities of the Saint in its inimitable language of symbol and gesture. His white beard, for example, shows us more than his years, although Saint Anthony did indeed live to a ripe old age. It stands instead to remind us of his dignity as an elder, or, better, the wisdom of an elder that he possessed even in his relative youth. Just to choose to follow the monastic life was borne of this wisdom, not to mention his triumphs over the wars and deceptions of Satan, his patient perseverance through all his struggles, or his profound doctrine and insightful spiritual counsel. In fact, to this day those monks who display such wisdom are called elders no matter what their age.

The icon teaches us even more about not only Saint Anthony but also the Christian ascetic life itself in the way it presents the image of the Saint. We notice that although he is shown to be thin from his ascetic struggles, he is not excessively so. In this we are taught that Orthodoxy conceives the purpose of asceticism as not to destroy or harm the body but only to control the passions and to redirect them.

Saint Athanasius demonstrates the same lesson in his verbal icon of the Saint's life, 'And when they beheld him, they were amazed to see that his body had maintained its former condition, neither fat from lack of exercise nor emaciated from fasting and combat with demons. " (Life, 14).

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