St Paul of Thebes, the First Hermit, Bi-Ritual Saint

 

St Paul of Thebes, the first Christian hermit, is venerated today in both the West and the East.

From the West:

Paul, the institutor and master of Hermits, was born in Lower Thebais in Egypt. He lost his parents when he was 15 years old. Not long after that, in order to escape the persecution of Decius and Valerian and serve God more freely, he withdrew into the desert where he made a cave his dwelling. A palm tree afforded him food and raiment, and there he lived to the age of 113. At about that time, he received a visit from Antony who was 90 years old. God bade him visit Paul. The two saints, though they had not previously known each other, saluted each other by their names. While holding a long conversation on the kingdom of God, a crow, which every day brought half a loaf of bread, carried them a whole one. When the crow had left them Paul said “See! our truly good and truly merciful Lord has sent us our repast. For sixty years I have daily received a half loaf. Now, because you have come to see me, Christ has doubled the portion for his soldiers.” They sat near the fountain and, giving thanks, they ate the bread. And when they were refreshed, they again returned the accustomed thanks to God and spent the night in the divine praises. At daybreak, Paul told Antony of his approaching death and begged him go and bring the cloak which Athanasius had given him, and wrap his corpse in it.

As Antony was returning from his cell, he saw Paul’s soul going up into Heaven amid choirs of Angels and a throng of Prophets and Apostles. When he had reached the hermit’s cell, he found the lifeless body: the knees were bent, the head erect and the hands stretched out and raised towards heaven. He wrapped it in the cloak and sang hymns and psalms over it according to the custom prescribed by Christian tradition. Not having a hoe with which to make a grave, two lions came at a rapid pace from the interior of the desert and stood over the body of the venerable Saint, showing how, in their own way, they lamented his death. They began to tear up the earth with their feet and seemed to strive to outdo each other in the work until they had made a hole large enough to receive the body of a man. When they had gone, Antony carried the holy corpse to the place, and covering it with the soil, he arranged the grave after the manner of the Christians. As to the tunic which Paul had woven for himself out of palm-leaves as baskets are usually made, Antony took it away with him and, as long as he lived, wore it on the great days of Easter and Pentecost.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Today the Church honours the memory of one of those men who were expressly chosen by God to represent the sublime detachment from all things, which was taught to the world by the example of the Son of God born in a cave at Bethlehem. Paul the Hermit so prized the poverty of his Divine Master that he fled to the desert where he could find nothing to possess and nothing to covet. He had a mere cavern for his dwelling. A palm tree provided him with food and clothing, a fountain gave him with which to quench his thirst, and Heaven sent him his only luxury, a loaf of bread brought to him daily by a crow. For 60 years did Paul thus serve, in poverty and in solitude, that God who was denied a dwelling on the Earth He came to redeem and could have but a poor stable in which to be born. But God dwelt with Paul in his cavern, and in him began the Anchorites, that sublime race of men who, the better to enjoy the company of their God, denied themselves not only the society, but the very sight, of men. They were the Angels of Earth in whom God showed forth, for the instruction of the rest of men, that He is powerful enough and rich enough to supply the wants of His creatures who indeed have nothing but what they have from Him.

The Hermit, or Anchoret, is a prodigy in the Church, and it behoves us to glorify the God who has produced it. We ought to be filled with astonishment and gratitude at seeing how the Mystery of a God made Flesh has so elevated our human nature as to inspire a contempt and abandonment of those earthly goods which heretofore had been so eagerly sought after.

The two names, Paul and Antony, are not to be separated: they are the two Apostles of the Desert. Both are Fathers — Paul of Anchorites, and Antony of Cenobites. The two families are sisters, and both have the same source, the My stery of Bethlehem. The sacred Cycle of the Church’s year unites, with only a day between their two Feasts these two faithful disciples of Jesus in His crib.

*****

Father and Prince of Hermits, you are now contemplating in all His glory that God whose weakness and lowliness you studied and imitated during the sixty years of your desert-life: you are now with Him in the eternal union of the Vision. Instead of your cavern where you spent your life of unknown penance, you have the immensity of the Heaven for your dwelling. Instead of your tunic of palm leaves, you have the robe of Light. Instead of the pittance of material bread, you have the Bread of eternal life. Instead of your humble fountain, you have the waters which spring up to eternity, filling your soul with infinite delights. You imitated the silence of the Babe of Bethlehem by your holy life of seclusion. Now your tongue is for ever singing the praises of this God, and the music of infinite bliss is for ever falling on your ear. You did not know this world of ours, save by its deserts, but now you must compassionate and pray for us who live in it. Speak for us to our dear Jesus . Remind Him how He visited it in wonderful mercy and love. Pray His sweet blessing upon us, and the graces of perfect detachment from transitory things, love of poverty, love of prayer and love of our heavenly country.

From the East:

 

Saint Paul of Thebes was born in Egypt around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt. Left orphaned, he suffered many things from a greedy relative over his inheritance. During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Decius (249-251), Saint Paul learned of his brother-in-law’s insidious plan to deliver him into the hands of the persecutors, and so he fled the city and fled into the wilderness.

Settling into a mountain cave, Saint Paul dwelt there for ninety-one years, praying incessantly to God both day and night. He sustained himself on dates and bread, which a raven brought him, and he clothed himself with palm leaves.

Saint Anthony the Great (January 17), who also lived as an ascetic in the Thebaid desert, had a revelation from God concerning Saint Paul. Saint Anthony thought that there was no other desert dweller such as he. Then God said to him, “Anthony, there is a servant of God more excellent than you, and you should go and see him.”

Saint Anthony went into the desert and came to Saint Paul’s cave. Falling to the ground before the entrance to the cave, he asked to be admitted. The Elders introduced themselves, and they embraced one another. They conversed through the night, and Saint Anthony revealed how he had been led there by God. Saint Paul disclosed to Saint Anthony that for sixty years a bird had brought him half a loaf of bread each day. Now the Lord had sent a double portion in honour of Saint Anthony’s visit. The next morning, Saint Paul spoke to Anthony of his approaching death and instructed him to bury him. He also asked Saint Anthony to return to his monastery and bring back the cloak he had received from Saint Athanasius. He did not really need a garment but wished to depart from his body while Saint Anthony was absent.

As he was returning with the cloak, Saint Anthony beheld the soul of Saint Paul surrounded by angels, prophets, and apostles, shining like the sun and ascending to God. He entered the cave and found Abba Paul on his knees with his arms outstretched. Saint Anthony mourned for him and wrapped him in the cloak. He wondered how he would bury the body, for he had not remembered to bring a shovel. Two lions came running from the wilderness and dug a grave with their claws.

Saint Anthony buried the holy Elder and took his garment of palm leaves, then he returned to his own monastery. Saint Anthony kept this garb as a precious inheritance, and wore it only twice a year, on Pascha and Pentecost.

Saint Paul of Thebes died in the year 341 when he was 113 years old. He did not establish a single monastery, but soon after his end there were many imitators of his life, and they filled the desert with monasteries. Saint Paul is honoured as the first desert-dweller and hermit.

In the twelfth century, Saint Paul’s relics were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Peribleptos monastery of the Mother of God, on orders of the emperor Manuel (1143-1180). Later, they were taken to Venice, and finally to Hungary, at Ofa. Part of his head is in Rome.

Saint Paul of Thebes, whose Life was written by Saint Jerome, is not to be confused with Saint Paul the Simple (October 4).

Troparion — Tone 3

Inspired by the Spirit, / you were the first to dwell in the desert in emulation of Elijah the zealot; / as one who imitated the angels, you were made known to the world by Saint Anthony the Great. / Righteous Paul, entreat Christ God to grant us His great mercy.

Kontakion — Tone 3

Today we gather and praise you with hymns as an unwaning ray of the spiritual Sun; / for you shine on those in the darkness of ignorance, / leading all mankind to the heights, venerable Paul, / adornment of Thebes and firm foundation of the fathers and ascetics.