Introduction
The Antirretikos Logos (Refutatory Discourse) of Saint Anthony the Confessor, Archbishop of Dyrrhachium and later of Thessaloniki (†844), is a fiery, direct defense of the Orthodox position on holy icons before the iconoclastic Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820). The text does not survive as an independent manuscript. Instead, it was preserved for posterity by being embedded verbatim into Chapters 13–15 of The Life of Saint Theodora of Thessaloniki, a 9th-century biography written by the cleric Gregory.
Confronting an imperial court determined to re-enact the destruction of holy icons, Anthony bypasses simple rhetoric to construct a sophisticated theological framework centered on two core arguments:
Moving beyond mere emotional or scriptural appeals, Anthony utilizes classical Aristotelian logic. He argues that an icon does not possess its own independent essence (kath' auto); rather, it belongs to the category of "relative things" (tōn pros ti). Because an icon exists strictly in relation to its prototype, looking at the image logically and instinctively elevates the mind of the viewer to the person of Jesus Christ or of the person or event depicted.
2. A Hierarchy of Veneration
Anthony rigorously delineates the boundaries of Orthodox worship. He isolates latreia (the absolute, sacrificial worship due exclusively to the Holy Trinity) from the "relative veneration" (schetikē proskynēsis) offered to icons. To prove his point, he challenges the Emperor with a brilliant analogy: if the empire willingly honors the physical shape of the Cross because of Christ's actions upon it, it is a logical contradiction to refuse honor to an icon that captures the very human form of Christ Himself.
Translated by Alice-Mary Talbot in her landmark English translation for Dumbarton Oaks (Holy Women of Byzantium), this text bridges the gap between the high philosophy of the Church Fathers and the raw courage of the Confessors. It stands as a masterclass in how late Byzantine theologians mobilized classical logic to defend the reality of the Incarnation against imperial overreach.
The Life of Saint Theodora of Thessaloniki
(Chs. 10-18 focusing on the Life and Confession of Saint Anthony, Archbishop of Dyrrhachium and later of Thessaloniki.)
By Gregory the Cleric
10. At this point in my narrative I would have liked to describe the lives of many of Theodora’s relatives, who were of a very high-placed family, not in order to add to her praise, but so that you might see in what sort of godly manner her relatives lived. But since I will seem to exceed <my mandate> if I go beyond my assigned theme, I will mention only our archbishop Antony, and then return my narrative again to Theodora. This chief shepherd of ours, Antony, after learning the sacred letters as a child and donning the life-bearing and holy monastic habit, adorned himself with all forms of virtue, constantly studying the divinely inspired Scriptures and immersing his mind in their depths, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And he was not only trained in our [i.e., Christian] wisdom, which is concerned only with the salvation of our souls and rejects the enigmatic and deep power of words, but was also thoroughly educated in secular and general knowledge (since one needs this in order to explain the meditations of the mind), even though his desire for our <Christian> knowledge was greater. Wherefore it so happened that he assiduously studied every old and new book, as no one else. And thereby he enriched his powers of spiritual contemplation, and enriched the brilliance of his life, and attained extraordinary fame. Thereby the Wisdom of God the Father and the Word, Christ our God, granted <him> a towering knowledge of doctrines, and he shone with radiance like a light in a dark place. And therefore by God’s decision he was appointed archbishop of Dyrrachion. For it was not right to hide his lamp under a bushel, but to place it on the lampstand of the Church.
11. Thus when the blessed man had ascended the archiepiscopal throne, and was nobly guiding his flock to the pastures of salvation, suddenly that abominable heresy <of iconoclasm> that had recently appeared cruelly rekindled like a flame, and the whole throng of orthodox [i.e., iconodules] was terrified, and tumult and confusion overwhelmed the inhabited world, and people of every age and race, being cruelly tortured by the defenders of impiety, were forced to blaspheme against our Lord and God Jesus Christ by trampling on His venerable and revered image. You are surely aware that I am speaking of the persecution that recurred during the reign of the Amalekite Leo, named after a wild beast and loathsome to God and bold-spirited, against the holy and venerable icon of Christ our God; for the church that is holy from one end of the earth to the other in a pious and God-pleasing manner inherited the tradition of the holy apostles and fathers that we should depict it [the image of Christ] in the likeness of the animated flesh which He received from the holy blood of the Virgin, and offer it relative veneration. The memory of this <persecution>, which was so cruel and intolerable, stirs up a torrent of tears <within me>. I will corroborate <my statement> with a tale that does not proceed at random so as to be diffused into the air, nor is it based on the <formal> establishment of proof, but on the great achievements of the holy fathers who lived at that time.
12. For when this accursed Leo, by some oversight of God, succeeded to imperial rule, a terrible war was threatened and waged against the holy church, as the tyrant strove with the greatest impiety and fierce battle to intimidate and overpower every orthodox and pious soul, and to bring down every exalted horn? of piety by the power of his impiety, and endeavored not to seem lesser than anyone. For he sat in authority in brilliant fashion, showing great pride in his artifices, and mixing authority with evil deeds. And by frightening certain of our contenders <for the faith> with maltreatment, and attempting to persuade some with flattery and condemning others to exile, and striving to subdue yet others to his will with <promises of> glory and lavish payments of money, he transformed himself into various shapes like a most wicked Proteus, mingling misfortunes with life and mixing mercy with death. And certain people submitted, but most carried off the garland of victory through Christ. Then this Antony was brought before him [Leo V], and the tyrant expressed all his opinions in vain and threatened every sort of punishment, weaving together the nets of his words with the authority of his power, having decided to trap in them this man who was strong and impregnable in every respect. But he [Antony], with fearless soul and splendid spirit, using the testimony of the divinely inspired Scriptures, filled the tyrant’s soul with darkness and confusion through his response delivered with divine power, and revealed him to all as a deaf man who does not hear and as a mute who does not open his mouth. For he is said to have made his refutation with such invincible boldness that the ears of the entire audience could not bear to listen to anything but the words of Antony. They were as follows:
13. “O emperor, I do not wish to use blasphemous words against our true God Jesus Christ, nor do I intend to insult Him with deeds, like the assemblage of iconoclasts, which does not fear with bold and impious tongue and intellect to give the name of idol to the venerable icon of Christ, through which we were saved from the error of <venerating> idols, and to denigrate it with other such blasphemies; for I know that the honor of the images is the honor <rendered> to those depicted, just as dishonor is transmitted to the same images. For we true worshipers of God do not stop and limit our reverence and veneration to the icons as they [the iconoclasts] assert. Nor do we render to them a veneration which is a worshipful veneration (forbid the impropriety!), which is appropriate only for God Who has authority over all. For all people who are taught of God in the Spirit are familiar with this distinction of reverence, and what sort of veneration we should render to Christ our God; and they know how to render the proper reverence to holy icons, and how to offer through them [i.e., the icons] honor to the archetype. For basing ourselves on the revelations from above of the Holy Scriptures and on the apostolic and patristic traditions, we render the reverence of veneration in a fitting and relative manner in honor of the person depicted. Thus when we consecrate the icon of Christ with reverence and veneration, we do not circumscribe the reverence and honor in it [i.e., the icon], but we direct and offer these <marks of honor> to the One Who became incarnate for our sake through the ineffable wealth of His love for mankind. Thus we venerate the thrice-blessed and life-giving wood of the cross, on which the body of the Lord was stretched, and the blood that cleanses all filth, that purifies all the world, poured forth from His side that flows with life; and watered by its streams, it [the cross] changed its nature and produced eternal life for us instead of death. Thus we venerate the symbol of the cross, by which phalanxes of demons are put to flight and incurable diseases are healed, as if the same grace and power <that is found> in the prototype were operative in the symbolic form. Thus when we render the reverence of veneration to the other holy symbols and holy places of our pure and holy worship, we are not divided into various and different rites, but through their visible different and divisible worship and veneration we are led indivisibly to that indivisible, uniform and unifying divinity. Thus we honor and venerate the holy icons of our all-pure Lady the Mother of God and of all the saints in proportion to the pre-eminence and venerability of their prototypes, and, to sum up, we venerate in a relative manner the relics and churches and tombs of the saints, and other things of this sort, in our unblemished and holy rites. For we acknowledge and praise the original and primordial cause through the gift and blessing worked by them. And we do not depict in an icon that which cannot be seen. For the divine is totally without form and shape and is invisible and cannot be perceived by the eyes, but can only be conceived by the mind, if indeed someone can do this.
14. “But you, O emperor, why do you not revere these things, but dishonor them? Who counseled you <to do> this wicked deed? What serpent, begrudging your salvation, deprived you of the delights of paradise and the kingdom of heaven? Truly, if someone were to call that saint-hating assemblage of accusers of Christians offspring of the Christ-hating Jews, he would not err from the truth. For from where else did they get such cruelty? Whence came such insolence? Whence their persistent battle and implacable war against Christ and His saints, and the demonic alliance of that unholy phalanx, if it is not a product of the Christ-battling assembly of Jews, whose words, which can defile the ears, somehow led astray your correct and sober belief? For before <you donned> the imperial robe you were devoted to the orthodox faith; but now you have been captivated by their doctrines and strive in your excessive wickedness to surpass even your teachers, whose heart completely loathes the name of Christ our God which is above all, as Isaiah says: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’ And since you are unable to reject Christ even with your lips while you are in the midst of assembled Christians, you have revealed yourself to be far from their ancestral zeal, that of the Jews, I mean, and you have shown yourself no more tolerant than idolaters toward the divine mysteries of Christians, trampling the Christians themselves with feet swift to shed blood, and throwing into the fire the form of the One Who created you, and Who crushed under His feet the head of the intelligible serpent, of whom you are the most bitter offspring, and Who melted down with divine fire our corrupted nature.
15. “O most silly and foolish man, do you not revere the ancient and revered <tradition> of venerable icon-painting, but say that it is a new invention and contrary to the holy laws of the Church? Do you not revere the delight and dignity of the Church, supported by place and time and doctrine? Do you not revere the holy synods assembled with Christ and for the sake of Christ, which have unanimously accepted these <icons> and transmitted them to later generations? How can you want to be called a Christian when you are insolent toward Christ? What connection do you have with a commandment <issued> to Jews? Will it not be considered a matter for great censure, if you display their attitude toward Christ and even worse than them because of your dishonor of His veneration in icons? Who would not call you an idolworshiper, since you demonstrate their inhumane cruelty against Christians? You have once more stirred up implacable war against the Church. You torture the nurslings of the Church so that they will carry out your foul and nonsensical doctrines. The curse of the divine David is most appropriate for you and your wicked henchmen: ‘Drown, O Lord, and divide their tongues” which reproached and treated insolently Christ our God through the destruction and dishonor of His revered icon, and the icon of the supremely pure Mother of God, She Who incomprehensibly gave birth to the co-eternal and unoriginate Word of God the Father, She Who is truly our protector, and the icons of the holy angels and all who pleased Him of old.”
16. Although <Antony> wanted to continue his discourse even longer, when the tyrant realized that this contest of words was achieving none of the results that he desired, and seeing that the holy <Antony> was striving to trap him rather than <Leo> overpowering <the saint>, he quickly shifted his defense with words into actions. And after inflicting unbearable torture on that holy flesh, he ended by sentencing the thrice-blessed <Antony> to perpetual exile. And <Antony> left the arena with distinction, bearing on his face the clear marks of victory. For they beat him so mercilessly on his head that ever after his eyes were rheumy, because the blessed man’s head was so terribly battered by countless blows. Meanwhile <Leo> had an angry and pale face and his eyes were livid, frenzied with the blood of the righteous man and blinded with dark madness. Thus Antony was sent into exile, saying nothing to himself and everyone <present> except that melodious psalm of David: “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.” And when he arrived at his place of exile, what need is there to recount how many tortures were endured by the noble-spirited <Antony>, whose purpose was firmer than adamant? For I could not find words suitable to the reality, since every tongue is vanquished by the truth of events.
17. When that Leo, the barbarian named after a wild beast, suffered his unlucky fate (for as the result of a conspiracy he died wretchedly as he deserved for his tyrannical rule), his successor to the imperial throne, Michael, recalled the holy <Antony> from exile, and bade him live quietly at home; for he respected his steadfast and venerable <character>. But <Antony> supported the faithful [i.e., the iconodules] even more than before, saying: “Make a courageous stand in the face of your struggles and <God>, Who together with temptation also makes a way to escape, will soon free us from the wickedness of the Devil, the author of evil, and will remove his stumbling blocks and obstacles. And those who hated Christ and us will soon fall into the ditch which they themselves dug.”
But why go on at length? When the terrible winter of heresy abated and the spring of the unsullied orthodox faith once more appeared, this thriceblessed Antony by vote of the synod received the archiepiscopal throne of our most celebrated city of Thessalonike, attaining this celebrated see as a fitting reward for his terrible suffering and for his holy and revered white hair, like that of Abraham. But after living <only> a short while longer, he soon passed over to the Lord, on November 2 of the seventh indiction. And it is said that he did not <have time before his death to> celebrate in Thessalonike either the bloodless sacrifice [i.e., the eucharist] or any ordination or any other <rite> which is customarily performed by archbishops except to ordain a single cleric. And the leaders of our church, inspired by their incomparable faith in the man who performed the ordination, gave to the cleric the name of Antony, desiring, I think, that he should have this <name> for the eternal memory <of Antony>.
18. And so, after performing honorable funeral rites, they laid the body of this all-holy combatant <for the faith> on the left side of the famous church of the holy and glorious great martyr Demetrios, in the chapel there of the prophet and forerunner John the Baptist, who is above all men born of women. And up to this day Christ preserves his holy remains sound and uncorrupted to His glory. And through his <body> the Lord, the provider of blessings, grants many cures to those who approach it with faith. And I myself, unworthy as I am, have been deemed worthy to witness this <relic>. For forty-six years after his departure unto the Lord, when another of our prelates departed this life, and we wanted to lay his body in Antony’s tomb, we found the all-holy body of Antony almost entirely whole and unaltered, together with his archiepiscopal vestments, so that one could discern the location of the honorable crosses of his omophorion and all other features of his archiepiscopal vestments.
19. But enough about this. Since my narrative has swerved aside a bit, like a colt at the turning-post <in the race course>, carrying away the narrator with praises of Antony, I must now come back and tell my simple account in orderly sequence, describing the ascetic contests which the blessed <Theodora> endured in the wrestling pit of the cenobitic convent.
11. Thus when the blessed man had ascended the archiepiscopal throne, and was nobly guiding his flock to the pastures of salvation, suddenly that abominable heresy <of iconoclasm> that had recently appeared cruelly rekindled like a flame, and the whole throng of orthodox [i.e., iconodules] was terrified, and tumult and confusion overwhelmed the inhabited world, and people of every age and race, being cruelly tortured by the defenders of impiety, were forced to blaspheme against our Lord and God Jesus Christ by trampling on His venerable and revered image. You are surely aware that I am speaking of the persecution that recurred during the reign of the Amalekite Leo, named after a wild beast and loathsome to God and bold-spirited, against the holy and venerable icon of Christ our God; for the church that is holy from one end of the earth to the other in a pious and God-pleasing manner inherited the tradition of the holy apostles and fathers that we should depict it [the image of Christ] in the likeness of the animated flesh which He received from the holy blood of the Virgin, and offer it relative veneration. The memory of this <persecution>, which was so cruel and intolerable, stirs up a torrent of tears <within me>. I will corroborate <my statement> with a tale that does not proceed at random so as to be diffused into the air, nor is it based on the <formal> establishment of proof, but on the great achievements of the holy fathers who lived at that time.
12. For when this accursed Leo, by some oversight of God, succeeded to imperial rule, a terrible war was threatened and waged against the holy church, as the tyrant strove with the greatest impiety and fierce battle to intimidate and overpower every orthodox and pious soul, and to bring down every exalted horn? of piety by the power of his impiety, and endeavored not to seem lesser than anyone. For he sat in authority in brilliant fashion, showing great pride in his artifices, and mixing authority with evil deeds. And by frightening certain of our contenders <for the faith> with maltreatment, and attempting to persuade some with flattery and condemning others to exile, and striving to subdue yet others to his will with <promises of> glory and lavish payments of money, he transformed himself into various shapes like a most wicked Proteus, mingling misfortunes with life and mixing mercy with death. And certain people submitted, but most carried off the garland of victory through Christ. Then this Antony was brought before him [Leo V], and the tyrant expressed all his opinions in vain and threatened every sort of punishment, weaving together the nets of his words with the authority of his power, having decided to trap in them this man who was strong and impregnable in every respect. But he [Antony], with fearless soul and splendid spirit, using the testimony of the divinely inspired Scriptures, filled the tyrant’s soul with darkness and confusion through his response delivered with divine power, and revealed him to all as a deaf man who does not hear and as a mute who does not open his mouth. For he is said to have made his refutation with such invincible boldness that the ears of the entire audience could not bear to listen to anything but the words of Antony. They were as follows:
13. “O emperor, I do not wish to use blasphemous words against our true God Jesus Christ, nor do I intend to insult Him with deeds, like the assemblage of iconoclasts, which does not fear with bold and impious tongue and intellect to give the name of idol to the venerable icon of Christ, through which we were saved from the error of <venerating> idols, and to denigrate it with other such blasphemies; for I know that the honor of the images is the honor <rendered> to those depicted, just as dishonor is transmitted to the same images. For we true worshipers of God do not stop and limit our reverence and veneration to the icons as they [the iconoclasts] assert. Nor do we render to them a veneration which is a worshipful veneration (forbid the impropriety!), which is appropriate only for God Who has authority over all. For all people who are taught of God in the Spirit are familiar with this distinction of reverence, and what sort of veneration we should render to Christ our God; and they know how to render the proper reverence to holy icons, and how to offer through them [i.e., the icons] honor to the archetype. For basing ourselves on the revelations from above of the Holy Scriptures and on the apostolic and patristic traditions, we render the reverence of veneration in a fitting and relative manner in honor of the person depicted. Thus when we consecrate the icon of Christ with reverence and veneration, we do not circumscribe the reverence and honor in it [i.e., the icon], but we direct and offer these <marks of honor> to the One Who became incarnate for our sake through the ineffable wealth of His love for mankind. Thus we venerate the thrice-blessed and life-giving wood of the cross, on which the body of the Lord was stretched, and the blood that cleanses all filth, that purifies all the world, poured forth from His side that flows with life; and watered by its streams, it [the cross] changed its nature and produced eternal life for us instead of death. Thus we venerate the symbol of the cross, by which phalanxes of demons are put to flight and incurable diseases are healed, as if the same grace and power <that is found> in the prototype were operative in the symbolic form. Thus when we render the reverence of veneration to the other holy symbols and holy places of our pure and holy worship, we are not divided into various and different rites, but through their visible different and divisible worship and veneration we are led indivisibly to that indivisible, uniform and unifying divinity. Thus we honor and venerate the holy icons of our all-pure Lady the Mother of God and of all the saints in proportion to the pre-eminence and venerability of their prototypes, and, to sum up, we venerate in a relative manner the relics and churches and tombs of the saints, and other things of this sort, in our unblemished and holy rites. For we acknowledge and praise the original and primordial cause through the gift and blessing worked by them. And we do not depict in an icon that which cannot be seen. For the divine is totally without form and shape and is invisible and cannot be perceived by the eyes, but can only be conceived by the mind, if indeed someone can do this.
14. “But you, O emperor, why do you not revere these things, but dishonor them? Who counseled you <to do> this wicked deed? What serpent, begrudging your salvation, deprived you of the delights of paradise and the kingdom of heaven? Truly, if someone were to call that saint-hating assemblage of accusers of Christians offspring of the Christ-hating Jews, he would not err from the truth. For from where else did they get such cruelty? Whence came such insolence? Whence their persistent battle and implacable war against Christ and His saints, and the demonic alliance of that unholy phalanx, if it is not a product of the Christ-battling assembly of Jews, whose words, which can defile the ears, somehow led astray your correct and sober belief? For before <you donned> the imperial robe you were devoted to the orthodox faith; but now you have been captivated by their doctrines and strive in your excessive wickedness to surpass even your teachers, whose heart completely loathes the name of Christ our God which is above all, as Isaiah says: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’ And since you are unable to reject Christ even with your lips while you are in the midst of assembled Christians, you have revealed yourself to be far from their ancestral zeal, that of the Jews, I mean, and you have shown yourself no more tolerant than idolaters toward the divine mysteries of Christians, trampling the Christians themselves with feet swift to shed blood, and throwing into the fire the form of the One Who created you, and Who crushed under His feet the head of the intelligible serpent, of whom you are the most bitter offspring, and Who melted down with divine fire our corrupted nature.
15. “O most silly and foolish man, do you not revere the ancient and revered <tradition> of venerable icon-painting, but say that it is a new invention and contrary to the holy laws of the Church? Do you not revere the delight and dignity of the Church, supported by place and time and doctrine? Do you not revere the holy synods assembled with Christ and for the sake of Christ, which have unanimously accepted these <icons> and transmitted them to later generations? How can you want to be called a Christian when you are insolent toward Christ? What connection do you have with a commandment <issued> to Jews? Will it not be considered a matter for great censure, if you display their attitude toward Christ and even worse than them because of your dishonor of His veneration in icons? Who would not call you an idolworshiper, since you demonstrate their inhumane cruelty against Christians? You have once more stirred up implacable war against the Church. You torture the nurslings of the Church so that they will carry out your foul and nonsensical doctrines. The curse of the divine David is most appropriate for you and your wicked henchmen: ‘Drown, O Lord, and divide their tongues” which reproached and treated insolently Christ our God through the destruction and dishonor of His revered icon, and the icon of the supremely pure Mother of God, She Who incomprehensibly gave birth to the co-eternal and unoriginate Word of God the Father, She Who is truly our protector, and the icons of the holy angels and all who pleased Him of old.”
16. Although <Antony> wanted to continue his discourse even longer, when the tyrant realized that this contest of words was achieving none of the results that he desired, and seeing that the holy <Antony> was striving to trap him rather than <Leo> overpowering <the saint>, he quickly shifted his defense with words into actions. And after inflicting unbearable torture on that holy flesh, he ended by sentencing the thrice-blessed <Antony> to perpetual exile. And <Antony> left the arena with distinction, bearing on his face the clear marks of victory. For they beat him so mercilessly on his head that ever after his eyes were rheumy, because the blessed man’s head was so terribly battered by countless blows. Meanwhile <Leo> had an angry and pale face and his eyes were livid, frenzied with the blood of the righteous man and blinded with dark madness. Thus Antony was sent into exile, saying nothing to himself and everyone <present> except that melodious psalm of David: “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.” And when he arrived at his place of exile, what need is there to recount how many tortures were endured by the noble-spirited <Antony>, whose purpose was firmer than adamant? For I could not find words suitable to the reality, since every tongue is vanquished by the truth of events.
17. When that Leo, the barbarian named after a wild beast, suffered his unlucky fate (for as the result of a conspiracy he died wretchedly as he deserved for his tyrannical rule), his successor to the imperial throne, Michael, recalled the holy <Antony> from exile, and bade him live quietly at home; for he respected his steadfast and venerable <character>. But <Antony> supported the faithful [i.e., the iconodules] even more than before, saying: “Make a courageous stand in the face of your struggles and <God>, Who together with temptation also makes a way to escape, will soon free us from the wickedness of the Devil, the author of evil, and will remove his stumbling blocks and obstacles. And those who hated Christ and us will soon fall into the ditch which they themselves dug.”
But why go on at length? When the terrible winter of heresy abated and the spring of the unsullied orthodox faith once more appeared, this thriceblessed Antony by vote of the synod received the archiepiscopal throne of our most celebrated city of Thessalonike, attaining this celebrated see as a fitting reward for his terrible suffering and for his holy and revered white hair, like that of Abraham. But after living <only> a short while longer, he soon passed over to the Lord, on November 2 of the seventh indiction. And it is said that he did not <have time before his death to> celebrate in Thessalonike either the bloodless sacrifice [i.e., the eucharist] or any ordination or any other <rite> which is customarily performed by archbishops except to ordain a single cleric. And the leaders of our church, inspired by their incomparable faith in the man who performed the ordination, gave to the cleric the name of Antony, desiring, I think, that he should have this <name> for the eternal memory <of Antony>.
18. And so, after performing honorable funeral rites, they laid the body of this all-holy combatant <for the faith> on the left side of the famous church of the holy and glorious great martyr Demetrios, in the chapel there of the prophet and forerunner John the Baptist, who is above all men born of women. And up to this day Christ preserves his holy remains sound and uncorrupted to His glory. And through his <body> the Lord, the provider of blessings, grants many cures to those who approach it with faith. And I myself, unworthy as I am, have been deemed worthy to witness this <relic>. For forty-six years after his departure unto the Lord, when another of our prelates departed this life, and we wanted to lay his body in Antony’s tomb, we found the all-holy body of Antony almost entirely whole and unaltered, together with his archiepiscopal vestments, so that one could discern the location of the honorable crosses of his omophorion and all other features of his archiepiscopal vestments.
19. But enough about this. Since my narrative has swerved aside a bit, like a colt at the turning-post <in the race course>, carrying away the narrator with praises of Antony, I must now come back and tell my simple account in orderly sequence, describing the ascetic contests which the blessed <Theodora> endured in the wrestling pit of the cenobitic convent.
Source: Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints’ Lives in English Translation, by Talbot, Alice-Mary. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996 (pp. 171-180).
