Cloud of Witnesses
Reviewed entry
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.

January 15New Calendar
Feast Day
January 28Old Calendar
Suggest a correctionContribute
Icon galleryBrowse icons and imagery elsewhere
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.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide
KontakionTone 3

Today we gather and praise you with hymns as an unwaning ray of the spiritual Sun;
for you shine on those in the darkness of ignorance,
leading all mankind to the heights, venerable Paul,
adornment of Thebes and firm foundation of the fathers and ascetics.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 3

Inspired by the Spirit,
you were the first to dwell in the desert in emulation of Elijah the zealot;
as one who imitated the angels, you were made known to the world by Saint Anthony the Great.
Righteous Paul, entreat Christ God to grant us His great mercy.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

1 contributionsReadHide

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.

Companions1 figureShowHide
Visited by him: the father of monasticism who sought out the aged Paul, conversed with him a day and a night, and buried him after his repose.
Anthonythe Great
Related Saints3 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Hagiographer: composed the Life of Paul the First Hermit, by which the saint's memory was preserved in the West.
Saint Jeromeof Stridon
Same persecution: an Egyptian ascetic put to death in the same Decian persecution that Paul fled into the desert.
Venerable-Martyr Pansophiusof Alexandria
A like solitary of the Thebaid, made known to the Church only near the end of his life.
Venerable Onuphriusthe Great

Browse similar saints by calling and place.

More Desert Fathers62More Hermits151More Egypt152More Byzantine Saints1282More Monastics1353
Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 15