Confessor and First Hermit
Patronage: Hermits, cloistered monastics
Lived: c. 228–c. 341 AD
Title: The First Hermit (Primus Eremita)
❖ Life and Legacy
Saint Paul the Hermit was born around the year 228 in Thebes, Egypt, to a wealthy and noble Christian family. Orphaned at a young age, he was a devout and intelligent youth, well-instructed in both secular and sacred learning. During the fierce persecutions under the Emperor Decius (around 250 AD), Paul, then about 22 years old, fled into the desert to escape denunciation by a covetous brother-in-law who desired his inheritance.
What began as a temporary refuge turned into a life of total consecration to God. Paul found shelter in a cave in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, where he remained for nearly 90 years, living a life of solitude, prayer, fasting, and contemplation.
He clothed himself in palm leaves woven into garments and survived on dates and water from a spring near his cave. According to tradition, a raven brought him half a loaf of bread each day, a miraculous provision from God.
❖ Encounter with Saint Anthony the Great
The story of Saint Paul the Hermit was preserved and made known to posterity largely through the account of Saint Jerome (c. 347–420), who wrote his Vita Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitae (“Life of Saint Paul, the First Hermit”). According to Jerome, when Saint Anthony the Great was about 90 years old, he was inspired by the Holy Ghost to seek out someone more perfect than himself. After a long journey through the desert, encountering wild beasts and enduring hardship, he found Paul.
Their meeting was one of mutual reverence and divine joy. The two elders conversed of heavenly things, and a raven came bringing a full loaf of bread, signifying the special grace of their communion. After spending the night in prayer, Anthony returned to his monastery.
Upon his next visit, Anthony found Paul at the point of death. According to the narrative, Paul died in his presence, his body miraculously discovered kneeling in prayer. Having no tools, Anthony saw two lions come and dig the grave with their paws. He buried Paul with reverence and brought back his palm-woven tunic, which he treasured and wore on great feasts.
❖ Veneration and Significance
Saint Paul of Thebes is venerated as the first Christian hermit, preceding even Saint Anthony, who is often called the “Father of Monasticism.” While Anthony formed communities, Paul embraced an eremitical life of complete seclusion — the ideal of the desert father, wholly detached from the world and hidden in God.
His feast is kept on January 15 in the Roman Martyrology, and his life inspired many in the early monastic movement. His example is one of radical detachment, perfect trust in Divine Providence, and a contemplative life dedicated to God alone.
✠ Spiritual Lessons
- Divine Providence will provide for those who abandon themselves to God.
- Solitude, when embraced for the love of Christ, becomes a school of sanctity.
- Detachment from worldly goods allows for a deeper intimacy with God.
- Humility: Though hidden from the world, Saint Paul was revealed by God to the greatest monastic of his time, Saint Anthony.
✠ Traditional Collect (Roman Breviary)
O God, Who didst vouchsafe to call blessed Paul, Thine own Confessor, to a life of solitude in the desert, and didst wonderfully nourish him there: grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession, we may be enabled, through Thy grace, to deny ourselves and to love Thee above all things.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.