15th January is the saint’s day for Paul the
Hermit, the first well-known person who adopted this lifestyle as a means of
devoting himself to his Christian faith.
Paul was born in Lower Egypt in the year 229. He became a
Christian but lost his parents when he was only 15. He had an inheritance to
live on, but was in danger from persecution by the Roman authorities. He was
given refuge by a pagan friend but a relative threatened to betray him in order
to gain his inheritance. That was when Paul decided to escape into the desert
to live the life of a solitary hermit.
Until the age of 43 he lived alone in a desert cave next to
a stream, depending for all his physical needs on a palm tree that supplied
both food and clothing. However, at that point he was visited by a raven which
brought him half a loaf of bread, which he did every day without fail for the
next 70 years.
St Anthony visited Paul when the former was aged 90 and the
latter 103. The raven then turned up with a full loaf, and the two saints debated
for a long time over which of them should have the privilege of breaking it.
Paul lived on for another ten years until Anthony, on
another visit, found him lying dead on the ground, apparently prostrated in
prayer.
There is a lot of suspension of disbelief needed in order to
accept the full story of Paul the Hermit, not least the exceptional longevity
of Paul, Anthony and the raven! And
where did the raven get the bread from? As with many such early stories of the
saints, the details tended to become embellished with the retelling, and one
must always bear this in mind.
© John Welford
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