Venerable Anthony of Rome

Venerable Anthony was born in Rome around 1067 into a noble, pious Orthodox family and was orphaned young, after which he devoted himself to studying the writings of the Church Fathers and to monastic life in a secluded coastal hermitage, secretly practicing Orthodoxy amid a Catholic milieu.

According to tradition, fleeing persecution of Orthodox Christians in Rome, he miraculously floated on a rock across the sea and rivers to Novgorod, where he was warmly received by St. Nikita of Novgorod. At the site of his arrival on the bank of the Volkhov River he founded a monastery dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God, which became one of Novgorod's most renowned monastic communities.

Venerable Anthony reposed on August 3, 1147, and was buried by St. Nifont of Novgorod; his church-wide glorification took place in 1597.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the entry's category and dating were wrong ("martyr," "II–IV century") — corrected to "venerable," c. 1067–1147. Among the entry's 7 images, serious contamination was found: one (Coptic-inscribed "Abba Antoni") depicts an entirely different saint — Anthony the Great of Egypt — removed; one is a generic "All Saints" icon — removed; two are museum photographs of antique silverware (a goblet, a pitcher), wholly unrelated — removed. Retained: a hagiographic vita icon of Anthony of Rome (scenes from his life) and two images of an unnamed elder holding a model of a church, iconographically consistent with Anthony of Rome but without a clearly legible inscription.