Anthonians applies to four Catholic Religious communities or Orders and a single Chaldean one, all under the patronage of St. Anthony the Hermit, father of monasticism, or professing to follow his rule.
A congregation founded by a certain Gaston of Dauphiné (c. 1095) and his son, in thanksgiving for miraculous relief from "St. Anthony's fire", a disease then epidemic.
The members devoted themselves to the care of the sick, particularly those afflicted with the disease above mentioned, they wore a black habit with the Greek letter Tau (St. Anthony's cross) in blue.
At first laymen, they received monastic vows from Pope Honorius III (1218), and were constituted canons regular with the Rule of St. Augustine by Boniface VIII (1297).
Abram Atar Poresigh retired to the Libanus with three companions, and founded the monastery of the Most Holy Saviour under the protection of St. Anthony, to supply members for mission work.