Feast Day: January
15
Saint Paul, an early Christian, was born in Egypt,
in the ancient city of Thebes, of wealthy parents.
He had one sister, a few years his senior. As a
student he was well-versed in Greek and Latin and
was always devout, a strong lover of God and gentle
of spirit. He spent much time in prayer and meditation.
When he was at the age of 15, both his parents died,
leaving him great wealth. His sister was already
married and his brother-in-law coveted Paul's wealth.
At about 250 A.D. a cruel tempest swept over the
Christian Church of Carthage and Thebaid under the
persecuting emperors, Decius and Valerius. To escape
this Paul fled the city to a remote and secret hiding
place, but knowing that his brother-in-law was endeavoring
to betray him, he ultimately went to the mountains
where he found peace and serenity and could meditate
and pray with out molestation.
There he found a large cave which he made his permanent
habitation and where he spent the rest of his life.
There was an inner court that was shaded by an ancient
and large palm tree and also a spring fed stream
of clear water. There were many artifacts in this
cave going back to the time of Antony and Cleopatra
which indicated not only that the cave had been
previously inhabited, but also that it had in that
earlier time been u&ed for the minting of coins.
Much of Saint Paul's earlier life on the Desert
is not recorded since his association with Saint
Antony was in his later years. However, it is obvious
that he not only lived simply but that he also lived
with only the bare necessities. He slept on the
ground, drank only water from the spring and his
clothing he wove from fronds of the palm tree Each
day a raven brought him half a loaf of bread which
he acknowledged as a gift from God and throughout
his life this was his only food. He had left behind
him all his worldly goods and wealth.
By the time Saint Paul reached the age of 113 years,
Saint Antony, heading a community of monks in another
part of the Desert, was 90 years of age. Saint Antony
claimed to have a vision at this time of Paul's
nearness and immediately set out to visit him, travelling
by foot, a journey of at least three days. Antony
did not know where Paul was located but Saint Jerome
stated that he met a centaur who showed him the
way.
Saint Antony found Saint Paul weak of limb and with
shaggy white hair. They embraced and prayed. A raven
flew in with a whole loaf of bread. When this occurred
Paul said, "God has sent us our dinner."
Each day for the previous 60 years the raven had
brought him but half a loaf. They spent the night
in prayer and meditation.
In the morning Saint Paul said to Saint Antony,
"From old time, my brother, I have known thou
dwelt in these parts; from old time God has promised
thou would come to me. But since the time has come
for sleeping, I have ever desired to be dissolved
to be with Christ, the race is run, there remaineth
for me a crown of righteousness. Thou has been sent
by God to shelter this poor body in the ground,
returning earth to earth."
Weeping and groaning, Saint Antony began pleading
with Saint Paul not to leave but to take him with
him. Saint Paul said, "Thou must seek, not
thine own, but another's good. If it were good for
thee, the burden of the flesh flung down, to follow
the Lamb; but it is good for the other brethren
that they should have thine example for their grounding."
Saint Paul asked Saint Antony to return to the monastery
and bring back a robe which had been the gift of
Athanasius, the Great, an early Bishop, for he wished
his body to be wrapped in this for burial. Saint
Antony could not speak, but weeping, he saw Christ
in Saint Paul and worshipped God in Saint Paul's
heart. He set out on this mission which was a three
day walk each way.
On the third day of his return journey with the
robe, he had a vision of a host of angels with companies
of prophets and apostles and amid these was Saint
Paul climbing the steps of heaven. He knew this
meant Saint Paul's death, and weeping, he hastened
to reach the cave.
There he found Saint Paul's lifeless body kneeling
in prayer, his arms outstretched and his face lifted
to heaven. He wrapped the body in the robe Saint
Paul had requested and carried it outside, chanting
the hymns and psalms of Christian tradition. He
had no means of digging a grave and was really too
weak for this physical effort.
Two lions came running across the Desert with their
manes flying. They knelt by the body of Saint Paul
and roared lamentations. Then they went off and
with their paws dug a grave. They then came to Saint
Antony for his blessing. Saint Antony prayed: "Lord,
without whom no leaf lights from the tree; nor a
single sparrow falls upon the ground, give unto
these even as thou knowest." The lions left.
For the remainder of his life, on Easter and on
Pentecost, Saint Antony always wore the tunic Saint
Paul had woven for himself from the fronds of his
palm tree.
Saint Paul died on January 10 but his Feast Day
was changed to January 15 so as not to interfere
with the Octave of the Epiphany.
Saint Antony lived 15 years after Saint Paul's death,
dying in the year 356 A.D. Throughout his own lifetime
and for more than 100 years after his death, men
were seeking a religious life on the Desert because
of his influence.
Saint Paul and Saint Antony were the forerunners
of a great religious movement of Christian men seeking
a holy life on the Desert. As was stated earlier,
their contribution to the philosophy of religion
is negligible, but the richness of the records is
in their kindness, their selflessness, their humbleness.
Saint Paul said: "Let no one who hath renounced
the world think that he has given up some great
thing.... The whole earth set over against heaven's
infinite is poor...."
These men who sought the holy life on the Desert
at that time had little to say of the depth of their
religious experience but their every action showed
a standard of values that turns the world upside
down. It was their humility, their gentleness, their
heart breaking courtesy that was the seal of their
sanctity to their contemporaries, far beyond the
abstinence, or miracle, or sign.
One intellectual concept that is credited to the
Desert Fathers is that they gave to Europe the concept
of ETERNITY. But here again they did not formulate
it as much as em body it. Boethius defined eternity
as "that which encoloseth and possesseth the
whole fullness of life everlasting, from which naught
of the future is absent, and naught of the past
has flowed away."
And---finally credited to the Desert Fathers is
what is to be considered the ultimate in a statement
on the goal and consummation of prayer: "When
all love, all longing, all desire, all seeking,
all thoughts or ours, all that we see, all that
we say, all that we hope, shall be God."
