The Saints: St. Paul the Hermit

Circa 233 - 345 / Feast - Jan. 15
Sometimes called Paul of Thebes, he is known as the first Christian hermit. St. Jerome’s Latin biography of Paul may be the translation of a Greek legend featuring centaurs and satyrs. Tradition has the young Paul going into the Egyptian desert to escape the persecution of Emperor Decius, who ruled 249-51. But he lived there in a cave for the rest of his long life. Nearing death, he was visited by the hermit St. Antony, who buried him in a cloak from St. Athanasius. Two lions were said to have helped dig Paul’s grave, and they stand with him in Church art.