Memorial Day of St. Paul of Thebes

The Monk Paul of Thebes lived a long life, more than 100 years, and most of his life he lived as a hermit in the desert. Although he did not found monastic monasteries throughout his life, many followed his example. Paul of Thebes is called the “father” of monasticism in Orthodoxy. His childhood was spent in the city of Thebaid (Egypt), where he was from. Having lost both parents at a young age, the young man had a hard time. Not having time to survive the bitterness of losing his parents, he had to defend his rights to his parental inheritance. In one moment the guy lost everything. Pavel is forced to flee the city to save him from arrest and an unfair trial. Their reason was a slander written by his relative. In the desert, he settled in a cave, where he lived as an absolute hermit for 91 years. He spent all his time in prayer. For food, Paul of Thebes had dates with bread, which the raven brought in his beak every day, and palm leaves served as clothing. Thus, the elder lived almost his entire life in prayer, humility and asceticism, until he was found by another hermit, Anthony the Great, who lived in the same desert. The Lord himself showed the way to Paul of Thebes after Anthony asked him: Are there people who live like me? God answered this: Yes, and they are superior to you. Having met, the elders hugged, had a long conversation and remained together until the death of Paul of Thebes. Moreover, the Monk Paul of Thebes himself told Saint Anthony the date of his death and bequeathed to bury him in a Christian manner. Death overtook him when he predicted it, and he spent the last minutes of his life in prayer. Saint Anthony was a witness to his death; he saw how the soul of Paul of Thebes ascended upward, surrounded by angels and apostles. He buried the venerable elder according to Christian customs, and took the clothes made from palm branches with him as a souvenir. Saint Anthony carefully kept it as a relic and wore it only on major Orthodox holidays.