The previous article tackled the biography of the Father of Monks and the Star of the Wilderness Abba Anthony the Great as written by Abba Athanasius the Apostolic “the 20th Patriarch of Alex.” Abba Anthony abandoned the world in search of true life in solitude and communion with God, and the fragrance of his example attracted thousands to a life of celibacy and monasticism in Egypt and from there to the world.
Saint Anthony is considered the father and founder of monasticism. The historian Al-Maqrizi, while discussing the monasteries of Egypt, said of him: “Anthony, also known as Antouna, was from the people of Qeman. When the days of King Diocletian passed and he missed the opportunity for martyrdom, he wanted to compensate for it with worship that would bring him a reward (of martyrdom) or something close to it, so he became a monk. He was the first to introduce monasticism for Christians as a substitute for martyrdom, and he fasted for forty days and nights, without eating or drinking, while praying at night. This is what he would do during the Great Fast every year.”
Heaven then alerted Anthony to a saint who had preceded him in the life of complete solitude and seclusion with God, Saint Paul, known as the First Hermit. Anthony went to visit him in his cave in the inner desert and learned from him his motivation for a life of solitude and isolation with God. Al-Maqrizi wrote about Paul: “Abba Paul was from Alexandria. When his father died, he left him and his brother a large sum of money. His brother argued with him about it and left him angrily. He saw a rich man being buried (carried to his grave), and he took it as a lesson. He wandered about until he came to this spring (a spring of water), and he stayed there, and God Almighty provided for him. Anthony passed by him and stayed with him until he died…”
As for the life of Abba Paul, whose feast is celebrated on the second of the month of Amshir (corresponding to February 9), according to the manuscript of El-Baramous Monastery, he was born into a wealthy family in Alexandria, and in some sources Thebes, in the year 228 AD, and he had an older brother named Peter. After the death of their parents, they left behind a huge fortune, but Peter wanted the largest share, so a great argument arose between the two brothers, until Paul to resort to law.While the two brothers were on their way to the court, Bola saw the funeral of one of the rich men of the city, so he stopped in front of it, taken by the answer to the question: Did any of this dead man’s possessions accompany him? His heart was immediately alerted, and all the affairs of life became insignificant in his eyes, thinking of the eternal inheritance, addressing himself: “What do I have to do with this fleeting world that I will leave naked?!” Then he turned to his brother and said: “Come back, my brother, I am not asking you for anything!!” During their return, Paul tricked his brother and hurried out of the city!! Thus, instead of going to the court, he left the city and entered a deserted tomb where he spent three days praying to God to guide him on the path he should take and how to please Him.
God answered the prayer of young Paul, and he went to the inner eastern desert where he stayed for nearly 80 years without seeing a human being. Paul’s clothes in his solitude were a garment of fiber, and God provided for him as He sent him a raven with half a loaf of bread daily and he drank from a spring of water near him. Thus, Abba Paul led a life of complete prayer and constant solitude for decades, not caring about anything but prayer and praising God.
God wanted to show the righteousness and holiness of Abba Paul, so He moved the heart of Saint Anthony, after sending him an angel who alerted him: “In the inner wilderness is a man whom the world does not deserve the dust of his feet, and by his prayers the Lord sends down rain and dew on the earth and brings the Nile at its appointed time!!”
Anthony hurried, not caring about the hardship of walking in the desert, and his longing took him to see that luminous being, until God guided him to his cave, and he entered it, and the meeting took place. Then the two great saints shared prayer and praise, and they began to talk about the greatness of God, contemplating His wondrous works. After the spiritual conversation between them had reached its limit, a raven came to them in the evening with a whole loaf of bread in its beak!! Abba Paul said to his visitor: “Now I know that you are one of God’s servants; I have been here for eighty years, and the Lord sends me half a loaf of bread every day, but today the Lord has sent you your food!” Then Abba Paul asked Anthony to hasten to bring the priestly vestment that belonged to Pope Athanasius the Apostolic, in order to shroud his body in it because he would soon leave the world, so Anthony hastened to bring it. While Anthony was returning to Abba Paul, he learned of his passing; then he reached his cave and found that he had already passed away, and his body was still kneeling in the position of prayer, so he shrouded it with the vestment that he had brought.
While Anthony was thinking about how to bury Abba Paul, two lions approached him, and they gestured with their heads. He knew that they were sent by God, so he determined the place of the grave for them, and they dug it for him, and he buried him.
Saint Anthony returned with the garment of fiber that belonged to Saint Abba Paul to Pope Athanasius the Apostolic,who rejoiced in it and was accustomed to wearing it under his priestly clothes during the feasts of Advent, Epiphany, and Resurrection.
And the talk continues for the stories of “Beautiful Egypt” are endless!
