When Anthony was eight years old, his father died and he was entrusted to the care of the
abbot Severinus of Noricum, in modern-day Austria. Upon the death of Severinus in 482, Anthony was sent to Germany and put in the care of his uncle, Constantius, an early
bishop of
Lorsch. While there, Anthony is thought to have become a
monk at the age of twenty. In 488, at about 20 years of age, Anthony moved to Italy to take up an
eremitical life with a small group of hermits living on an island in
Lake Como. He was eventually joined by numerous disciples seeking to emulate his holiness and he chose to seek greater solitude in
Gaul. He lived in various solitary places until two years before his death he became a monk at the
Abbey of Lérins, where he became well known locally for the holiness of his life and the miracles he had performed. Anthony is commemorated on 28 December in the
Roman Martyrology, and also in the
Eastern Orthodox Church. He is the patron of hermits and miracle-seekers. ==See also==