- Our Holy Father Paul of Thebes (342)
- He was born in Egypt in the reign of the
Emperor Decius. Though his parents left him a large inheritance, he abandoned it and
fled into the desert around the year 250 to escape the bloody persecution of Christians
raging at that time. After walking for several days, he found an isolated cave with a
large palm tree and a spring of fresh water nearby. Settling here in solitude, he gave
himself up to constant prayer.
-
Many years passed. Saint Anthony the Great, having reached the age of ninety
(in about the year 342) was tempted by the thought that no one else had ever lived a life
so dedicated to God as his. That night, he was told in a dream that there was another
hermit in the desert more perfect than himself, who had reached the age of 113 years.
Anthony rose, took up his staff, and walked straight into the desert, trusting God to
lead him where he should go. He was threatened by various beasts sent by the Devil,
but he tamed them with the sign of the Cross, and they showed him the way he should
go. Finally a wolf brought him to St Paul's cave. They embraced as brothers in Christ
and spent the night in prayer. The next day Paul confided to Anthony that he was
about to die, and that God had brought Anthony thence to give him honorable burial.
As he had said, St Paul reposed the next day and, with many tears, St Anthony buried
him in a cloak given him by St Athanasius the Great, assisted by two lions who dug out
the grave with their paws.
- Our Holy Father John Kalyvites (the hut-dweller) (~450)
- He was the son of Eutropius,
a prominent senator, and Theodora, who lived in Constantinople. At the age of twelve,
he secretly fled his home, taking nothing but a Gospel book with him. Entering the
Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones in the City, he gave himself up with fervor to a life
of prayer, self-denial and obedience. For three years he ate only on Sundays after
taking communion, and became so thin and haggard that he bore no resemblance to the
young nobleman who had entered the monastery.
-
Tormented by longing to see his parents, but unwilling to give up the ascetic
struggle, he left the monastery with his Abbot's blessing, dressed in beggar's rags, and
took up residence in a poor hut near the gate of his parents' house. Here he lived,
mocked by those who had once been his servants and despised by his own parents,
who no longer recognized him.
-
After three years, Christ appeared to him and told him that his end was drawing
near, and that in three days angels would come to take him home. John sent a message
to his parents, asking them to visit his hut. In perplexity, they came, and John, showing
them the Gospel book that they had given him as a child, revealed to them that he was
their son, and that he was about to die. They embraced him, rejoicing at their reunion
but weeping for his departure from this life. Immediately, he gave back his soul to God.
-
The whole City of Constantinople was stirred by the story, and great crowds
came to John's burial service. A church was later built on the site of his hut, and many
miracles were wrought there through the Saint's prayers.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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