Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes was born around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt. Orphaned while still young, he faced betrayal when a relative sought to hand him over during the persecutions under Decius and Valerian. To preserve his faith and freedom, Paul fled into the desert near Thebes, embracing a hidden life of prayer and solitude that would make him remembered as the first Christian hermit. He dwelt in a cave beside a clear spring and a palm tree, clothed by its leaves and sustained by its fruit. Tradition says that after many years a raven brought him half a loaf of bread each day, a quiet sign of God’s providence. Near the end of his long life, Saint Anthony the Great—guided by a divine prompting—found Paul, then said to be 113 years old. They shared a night of holy conversation, and soon after Anthony returned to find Paul at rest in the Lord, burying him with the help of two lions. Saint Paul is venerated as a father of the desert and patron of Cereceda de la Sierra and Tempio Pausania. His feast day is January 15.