From Georgia to Wallachia
Anthim arrived in Wallachia around 1690 and took responsibility for printing church books. He later established a printing school at Snagov. His career ended under the new Phanariot regime in 1716: arrested and ordered into confinement at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, he was killed on the journey near Adrianople.[1]
The monastery’s biography places his abbacy at Snagov in 1694–1701, his episcopate at Râmnic in 1705–1708, and his service as metropolitan in 1708–1716. These appointments link his work at the press with increasing responsibility for clergy and congregations. His printing activity extended to Bucharest, Râmnic, and Târgoviște.[2]
A founder’s work in Bucharest
Anthim founded Antim Monastery in Bucharest in 1713–1715, during his own metropolitanate. The monastery is a surviving connection to his life, rather than simply a later institution named in his memory.[1]
Printing was another lasting part of that work. The monastery’s account lists a Greek-Arabic Liturgy of 1701, the New Testament of 1703, and Romanian service books among his publications. These examples show the range of readers his presses served: clergy using liturgical books, readers of Scripture, and Orthodox communities beyond the Romanian-speaking lands. His writings also included instruction for priests and a short teaching on repentance.[2]
The Didaches and the preacher’s voice
The Didaches, or teachings, preserve Anthim’s Romanian preaching. To hear his voice, begin with the movement of a complete sermon: its scriptural scene, the images he develops, and the appeal he finally makes to his listeners.
The first Transfiguration sermon in our edition connects the disciples’ vision of Christ’s glory with the suffering that lies ahead. The brightness of Mount Tabor prepares them for the Cross. Anthim moves between the Gospel narrative and the disciples’ difficulty in accepting the Passion; the feast becomes a lesson in recognizing Christ when outward circumstances seem to contradict glory.[3]
His Cheesefare address on fasting, confession, and almsgiving opens with a different image. A fisherman prepares his equipment; the preacher likewise casts a net of words to draw people from sin toward knowledge of God. The comparison asks something of the congregation as well as the speaker: listeners must attend and bear fruit. As Lent approaches, the sermon turns toward confession and the practical obligations of Christian life.[3]
Such passages make Anthim more than a source of detached devotional quotations. He writes for an occasion and a listening community. Reading the opening image through to the final exhortation reveals how he joins biblical interpretation to pastoral persuasion.
Books and where to begin
Sermons of St. Anthim the Iberian draws on the Romanian Predici published in Bucharest in 1915. The English collection extends beyond feast-day homilies. It includes funeral and memorial addresses, ecclesiastical instruction, letters, printing prefaces and dedications, and short verse pieces. Readers interested in Anthim as a printer will therefore find material alongside his preaching.[3]
Begin with one Transfiguration sermon for his interpretation of a Gospel event, or the Cheesefare address on fasting, confession, and almsgiving for his direct pastoral manner. Then compare a funeral or memorial address: notice how the occasion changes the consolation and appeal offered to the hearers. The contents identify individual feasts and subjects, so the collection can also accompany reading through the church year.
The ecclesiastical instruction provides a different entry point, moving through the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the mysteries, and the responsibilities of Christian life. Read this beside a sermon to compare concise instruction with an extended spoken address. The volume’s chronology, feast-and-theme guide, and glossary help readers locate an occasion and understand unfamiliar terms.[3]
For the world of the printing house, turn to the prefaces. In the 1704 preface to Plutarch’s parallel Greek and Roman narratives, Anthim presents the literary work of Prince Constantine Brâncoveanu’s son and explains his encouragement to publish it. Here the voice is that of a printer addressing lovers of learning. This is a useful companion to the homilies because it reveals another audience and another purpose within the same collection.[3]
Related authors and places
Read the history of Antim Monastery in Bucharest, including its printing presses, charitable foundation, architecture, and later Burning Bush movement.
Metropolitan Varlaam of Moldavia represents an earlier phase of Romanian religious printing. Sophronius of Vratsa connects vernacular preaching with the Bulgarian literary revival.
