Venerable (Monastic) 4th century

Venerable Paul of Thebes

c. 227 - c. 341

Also known as Paul the Hermit · Paul the First Hermit

Fleeing the persecution of Decius, he withdrew into the Egyptian desert at a young age and lived there in solitude for some ninety years, honored as the first Christian hermit.

Feast Day

January 15

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Paul of Thebes, the First Hermit

Life

Paul of Thebes, called Paul the First Hermit, was an Egyptian ascetic of the third and fourth centuries who is venerated throughout the Church as the first of the Christian hermits. He is commemorated on January 15.

By the accounts he was born in the Thebaid of Egypt around the year 227. Orphaned of his parents, he suffered at the hands of a greedy brother-in-law who, during the persecution of the Christians under the emperor Decius, sought to seize his inheritance by betraying him. To escape both the persecution and the treachery, the young Paul fled into the Theban desert around the year 250.

He settled in a cave near a clear spring and a palm tree, the leaves of which provided his clothing and the fruit his food. By tradition, after many years a raven began to bring him half a loaf of bread each day, and he remained in that solitude for some ninety years.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Visit of Anthony the Great

By the celebrated account preserved in the tradition, when Paul was about 113 years of age, Anthony the Great was told in a vision of the existence of an older hermit and went out to seek him in the desert. The two ascetics met and conversed for a day and a night, and it is said that during their meeting the raven brought a whole loaf of bread for the two of them.

Paul reposed around the year 341. The tradition relates that when Anthony came to him again he found Paul already dead; he wrapped the body and buried it, and by the account two lions came and dug the grave. Through this meeting the memory of Paul was preserved, and he is honored as the forerunner of the eremitic monastic life that Anthony would carry forward.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 15