What's so GREAT about Antony the Great?

Ascent: The Legacy of Saint Antony. A narrative documentary.
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0:00 - Why do we call him Antony the Great?
1:08 - The Life of Antony in under 2 minutes.
2:47 - Original Sources
5:41 - Sayings of the Desert Fathers
7:32 - The Golden Legend
7:48 - The Letters of Antony
8:31 - Do the writings conflict? The life vs. The letters
14:09 - The Father of Monks? What's his impact on monasticism?
16:29 - What about his immediate disciples?
20:47 - Antony in art
22:50 - Saint Antony's Fire
24:04 - Antony in modern art
25:25 - Antony in Orthoodox Iconography
31:21 - What's so saintly about saint Antony?
33:13 - The biblical Antony
36:10 - Antony's view of the virtues
40:35 - Antony is...Antony?
44:29 - Prints, shirts and books!
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Limited Edition Ascent Print (Series of 15): store.creativeorthodox.com/pr...
Desert Fathers T-Shirt: store.creativeorthodox.com/pr...
Saint Antony and the Humble Leaflet Picture Book: store.creativeorthodox.com/pr...
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Sources & further reading: docs.google.com/document/d/19...

[@user-qd4kw6pc8o]

I don’t think we realize how much God is gonna use this. Everything in this video is a piece of art, so much detail. God bless you! Please do more

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much! Glory to God. Hoping to do more in the future.

[@br.m]

But he started the video by saying he will make a graven image. I would roll on the floor laughing if it was not so serious. How terribly so many are deceived by orthodox and catholic "tradition"

[@sherifwissa4839]

⁠@@br.mwhat you don’t realize is that you have your own tradition… and that tradition started in the 16th century and somehow you still hold on to it as if it’s given by God when it is clearly man made…

[@br.m]

@@sherifwissa4839 Friend you clearly don't know anything about me nor do you know what is given to me.

[@Patristix]

I'm 2 minutes in and this... is... amazing! Loving it!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Glad you’re enjoying it 😁

[@antonypaul8045]

⁜ Brilliantly done. Remarkably 'creative' (SWIDT). Stupendously well-produced. You are remarkably gifted. Thank you for making PiNishti - 'the Great' - so very accessible. Antony, is indeed, Antony. He knew himself. May our Abba always support you and uphold you, and may God keep working in and through you to the glory of His Name. Wondrous is God in His holy ones... Miss you so much and so proud of your work.

[@prmans]

This is so great. The work you're doing is so important. Thank you for all you do to raise the standard of resources and ministry in the Church today.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Ah my friend you are too kind. Hoping we can work together soon! With the scale of stories I want to do, I'll need you to support my service lol

[@rafaelteodoroedu]

I have no words, the final illustration brought me to tears, the simplicity of the image touched my heart so deeply that I’m still crying. Christ taking our great Saint into the kingdom that He promised, the only kingdom our great Saint desired and lived for since the day he first heard the call. I really wish I had enough capacity to describe what I’m feeling. PS: If possible, I would love to translate subtitles for this video in Portuguese, I have to share this video with my countrymen.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much for your kind words, Rafael. That would be fantastic!

[@sharif8326]

Very nice work brother, im new in the coptic church and i wanted to learn more about St anthony because of his feast. Plus your content is very deep yet laid back at the same time🙏❤️✝️

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! He’s such a great saint to meet when first joining the church, so many of our saints grew up learning and following saint Antony’s example themselves!

[@flannan7996]

So beautiful. Deep thanks. I will keep this exploration close to my heart. Beautiful filmmaking and creative storytelling around such a worthy subject. I will share it widely. So happy to hear the linoprint is available for purchase. Yay! I see a future where films like yours will be savored like nutrients to grow the virtuous soul instead of people bingewatching junkfood on Netflix. Keep creating!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much for your kind comment and all your support! I really appreciate it. I’m honestly making the things I want to read and watch haha so here’s hoping we have more of this work to replace our lacking visual diet! Glory to God

[@andrejbagaric5687]

Only 1,7k subscribers. This is an amazing video, thank you.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

I'm as good at sharing stories as I am at telling them 😅 thank you!

[@marksourial8739]

This is some insane video quality

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much! Makes it all worth it 😀

[@jlhistory]

This is my new favorite KZbin channel. You’re doing an amazing job. Please make more videos asap!

[@jgabriel4998]

Outstanding work, honestly. God bless your efforts!

[@erikamelek3514]

the amount of work that went into this is insane!! thank you for making such a masterpiece, God bless your work

[@erikamelek3514]

also the christianity feud bit killed me😂😂

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Haha and I know you know just how long a Linocut takes on its own. I’m glad there’s no one counting the hours for something like this, I’m sure it’s in the hundreds at this point 0_0

[@copticconcept]

Great work brother

[@hippios]

I havent even seen this yet and I know this is incredible stuff! God bless you

[@CreativeOrthodox]

You're too kind! Thank you

[@gabrieltakla2728]

This is amazing, God bless you and everyone who helped out !

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much!

[@egy8365]

Unbelievable how well made this is, God bless you!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much! Pray for me.

[@juliabotros]

Brilliant. Thank you so much for making this.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thanks Julia! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😄

[@reintroductionpodcast8948]

This is an absolute treasure to the church and to all the children of St Antony. May the Lord bless you abundantly for your great love to all of us with this amazing documentary.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

You’re so kind - thank you. 🙏

[@mitchgeiger6932]

Wow! Such clean editing and high-level content!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! Means a lot to me :D takes a *lot* of fiddling that's not always noticeable haha

[@arakel625]

Funny part about I just got back from St Antony Monastery in Newberry CA love St Anton, love monastery ,been going there since 2008 I recommend to everyone to visit that place

[@CreativeOrthodox]

ah nice! Were you there for the feast? I wish I got a chance to visit there AND/OR the one in Egypt while making this video.

[@arakel625]

No I got there after feast if you get chance just go you gonna love that place …… yes you should make a video from there that would be very cool to share with everyone

[@orthogainz]

This is so underrated. Why doesn't it have millions of views! God bless your work☦

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Appreciate it! Pray for it to grow :)

[@jessehshaji141]

Beautiful ♥

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you!

[@EgyptianEagle334]

I am Orthodox and I love art, this channel is best of both worlds

[@CreativeOrthodox]

So glad you enjoyed it! God willing I’ll have a lot more on the way!

[@KidistKid-ng8cc]

Thanks for sharing this with all of us. God bless you 🙏 let the blessing of Antony the great be upon us . Keep it up

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Amen! Thank you :)

[@orthodoxwomensministry]

so excited to watch this fully with the family! amazing work Michael.

[@alienaire6970]

Thank you so much for your work/video. I am amaze with early desert fathers' devotion to the true seeking after the Holy Abba. May He bless you

[@nahomsolomon5354]

Loved it, brother! Thank you for the effort to bear this beautiful fruit through the Holy Spirit. We need more of these digital hagiographies! Hope more is coming! God bless you!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you very much! I love the way you put it - a digital hagiography!

[@nagysamuel2575]

This is STELLAR content, thank you so much for this brother! For once, I am proud to be an Egyptian, and to have shared the same soil as my heroes.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thanks Nagy! My favourite line is the very first one in the life of Antony..”Antony was by descent an Egyptian” 😀

[@danielsmulders9451]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful work with us all. What an honor to Christ in St Anthony.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! I only hope to honour this great Saint 🙏

[@ismailaeyoussef]

Are you in Nova Scotia? I heard Dalhousie university and I was like “no way this guy is in Halifax!” Maybe I’ll see you around town brother!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

I’m in Kitchener, Ontario - so not too far!

[@shellyshell22]

Thank you so much for this epic creation! Its quite informative and entertaining. And I especially appreciate your artistic style.😊❤ Cant wait to see more!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Glad you enjoyed it! My artistic style is what you get when you give a child ink and let him go wild for a few hours haha

[@pigoriproductions]

Glory to God, keep going brother and do not stop. This is the hand of God at work. We pray for you and all those who are awakened by this service!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! Such encouraging words ☺️

[@minasoliman]

What an amazing documentary and production! Can’t wait to see more! Also, my 6 month old I think really likes your books 😊 …can’t wait (for my son) to read of your books

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thanks Mina! My kiddo loved the pope Kirollos book when he was that small, he didn’t get into the others, saint Antony and the holy family, until like a year and a half

[@michaelyoussef1381]

Absolutely loved the video! Thank you and looking forward to more videos

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you!

[@ksgurgui]

Please do more!

[@Antrolf]

Very good, enjoyed all of it.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thanks for watching it!

[@sugarloaf10]

I’m halfway through wow this is amazing and I can’t wait to share this with my kids! You are extremely talented. God be praised.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! Hope your kiddos are old enough to be okay with the temptation visuals! I know mine isn’t yet, has to distract him 🫣

[@mosesgarcia9443]

Wow...this looks amazing. Thank you. God bless.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@caseymorris4299]

So I came back and watched it. Good job! 👍 And I didn't get overwhelmed with heresy and post-modern liberation theology stuff. Ah, a breath of fresh air. Nice. Here's another thumbs up. 👍

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@waitforitonesecond737]

5 minutes in and you've earned my sub, God bless you.

[@jamiebarkway7981]

Awesome video and great art! Where did you get the icons from around the 19:00 minute mark?

[@CreativeOrthodox]

You already know! Haha The majority of those are Kirollos’ icons. 😃

[@CreativeOrthodox]

kkilada.com/

[@bemen7]

God Bless you! 🌿🌿🙏🙏🌹🌹

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thanks Bemen pray for me!

[@HolyChristos33]

Good work brother ☦️

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! Pray for me :)

[@jonathanreeve7823]

Bro your work is a total blessing

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much 😊

[@scoon2117]

This was amazing man. Im dumb struck. We need more Antonys.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! So happy you enjoyed it.

[@helpIthinkmylegsaregone]

Nice production, very cool. You need to pump up your merch with some more cool designs, I'll buy it.

[@Im_No_Expert_72]

Very good! Thank you ☦️

[@CreativeOrthodox]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@NikitaAguliarnii]

I just started reading "Philokalia" and KZbin recommends this video! Beautiful vid and channel tbh! Thank you ❤️

[@CreativeOrthodox]

That’s a great bridge into the life of Antony!

[@silviagendy]

Amazing work!!! God bless ❤

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you! 🙏

[@basmabotros4132]

This is amazing!! May God continue to use your talents to bring glory to His name. When’s the next one coming out? 😅

[@ave2857]

This is really wonderful!! Thank you for making an offering worthy of God's children and raising the standard for media ministry. God bless you!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you much! Very kind of you to say :) keep me in your prayers.

[@mgavalas70]

Amazing video! So grateful for the time you put into creating it. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much!

[@brotherrob.5999]

Hello 👋 Michael God bless you 🙏. Your videos are amazing thank you I will be slowly going through them. I love watching coptic videos I find them very interesting. I have been watching fr Lazarus who is in a cave of st anthony. Rob from Wales UK 🙏 ❤️

[@jeremyj427]

I know there are many people here that grew up in different traditions. I’m indebted to channels like this and Pageau and Patristic Nectar for even introducing Orthodoxy to me. Without the internet (as rough as it’s been on all of us) I think many of us, that are investigating Orthodoxy, would have never found it. The irony of ironies is that it took the internet in order for the ancient faith to begin to evangelize. Thank you for your channel.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Glory to God! But also weren’t ya listening! Saint Athanasius’ book went viral in medieval times haha truth finds a way :)

[@br.m]

Do you want to join eastern orthodoxy so you can worship idols and make graven images too?

[@cynthiacassel]

This is so beautifully made that people will be blessed in countless ways hearing it, seeing it and pondering the truth you presented in a video. Just amazed- a year well-spent. Amazing!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you so much Cynthia. It was a long time to work on something not knowing if it’ll resonate or not, Glory to God and thank God it does! Makes it well worth it.

[@shawnbrewer7]

Fantastic video!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you very much!

[@kaysea2228]

When you said "vicious animals", the snake you showed is a Ball Python. They are very gentle and non venomous. A bite or scratch from a cat is more painful than a bite from one... but they rarely bite. Even when found in the wild, they're gentle and sweet creatures

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Ooh! Thank you for this perspective. I know very very little about snakes - I had to choose from a limited selection of licensed images. :) There are many stories in the desert where these “vicious” animals were also really kind and supportive to the desert fathers. This just happened to be an instance of demonic visions.

[@user-be7ug6xx6m]

Amazing Video! Everything was delivered extremely well. Thank You CO

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@m9endy]

I'm waiting for the day I can use this for my Sunday School lesson. It's literal perfection!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Haha thanks! Just make sure they’re old enough to handle the demonic imagery 🫠

[@rotes3106]

Thank God! I am glad to found ur channel.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank God indeed! :)

[@xavierjohn154]

Great job! Amazing video. Would have loved to see more of St. Antony's sayings in detail, but overall I loved it!

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Totally agree! There’s still so much more I couldn’t get into but wanted to. I tried as much as possible to keep it close to the main premise/thesis but there’s so much more to abba Antony than what fit in this 45 minutes

[@anton9410]

Interesting perspective

[@Roman-Pregolin]

This is nice. I'm a Canadian, just spent 6 weeks in Egypt, now crushed that there's no more e-visas for us. I got sprinkled into the EL, if that counts, but their attitude toward OO reeks of conceit and though they've spilled a lot of ink to claim otherwise, the OO position at Chalkedon seems stronger and more consistent. Not sure how to go OO. Got Agpeya on my phone tho

[@zeemanuelatnafu2400]

good job

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you

[@vimalpatel4060]

Man. Wow.. If the end is as good as the beginning. We are in for an absolute banger..

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Haha was it!????? 😬

[@vimalpatel4060]

@@CreativeOrthodox I was on the floor by the end. Excellent stuff, thanks for selling, what you were given. What prompted such interest, in St. Anthony?

[@thiagonunes4294]

Subbed.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Thank you!

[@mumbono11]

At 26.12 there is a beautiful icon of the temptation of St. Antony! Where can we find this online?!

[@BlackHermit]

Anthony was very good. Great, even.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

😂 somewhere lost to history are his two lesser known cousins: “Isaac the alright” and “Jacob the passable”

[@BlackHermit]

@@CreativeOrthodox Isaac and Jacob! What about Abraham?

[@davidkanani1170]

Excellent! But we need more Batman and Lord of the Rings references next time haha

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Haha not wrong….I mean as far as being an orphan with money goes, you can’t go wrong with either Batman or monasticism

[@openocean09181]

What the saints appellation Great means for Orthodox is a great question.

[@benjaminhenry8154]

What’s so just about James the Just?

[@timnafrica]

It sounds like the fruit of the recreated spirit per Galatians 5:22. Putting off the old man or the flesh and putting on the new man created after the image of Christ or the New Creation. Sounds like the Greatness of Antony is Christ.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Bingo!

[@RozkminTo]

.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

:O

[@br.m]

It's such a blessing to be considered a Protestant.

[@d0ksa]

Is this channel Coptic

[@ephraimtheendtimessojourner]

Yes, the mention of Severus of Antioch was a dead giveaway. Really good production, though. Despite my misgivings as an EO Christian I really enjoyed the majority of the content.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

sharp eye! Haha yes, I am Coptic. But I focus on pre schism fathers in my stories to serve all of Orthodoxy.

[@d0ksa]

@@ephraimtheendtimessojourner yeah same, we need more stuff at this quality! I wish I had known though it came across a little subversive 😩

[@scoon2117]

Go sell what you have.

[@caseymorris4299]

Comment posted before listening to the content: Is this going to be another one of those channels reaching out to "da Christian yoofs" telling them to support poz and female headship and to tolerate the woke churches and whatnot? Because if it is, I've seen it before. Pretty boring tbh.

[@CreativeOrthodox]

Sir this is a wendys. haha I tell stories of the desert saints...stuck in the first 5 centuries if you may.

[@caseymorris4299]

@@CreativeOrthodox Then I will give it a full listen. Thanks for the friendly banter. :)

[@user-wl4re2px4r]

I love 👼saint😇.@nthony*the-great,of~padua/Egypt_so(much!)you a bad dude 😎❤that's one of the best videos I've ever seen amen bother keep up the good\great🎉work😊