St. Paul’s faith and zeal for Christ has been a great example for all of us who have gone through prayer, experiencing all the hardships of solitary confinement and life in the wilderness. The life of the monks who are the greatest advocates of prayer is to be respected. Saint Paul theologians call him the first Christian monk.
The prayers of the saints came to the rescue of the church when the church suffered from various problems and religious differences. There is no doubt that the reason for the monastic life and the formation of the monasteries in the church was due to the work of great men like St. Paul. A myth about the saint’s spirituality can be found in the Gospels.
In his old age, St. Anthony decides to visit St. Paul by divine inspiration. They had never seen this before. But when they met, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and were able to speak like long acquaintances. The big raven, the saint, who regularly brought half a loaf of bread, came up with a whole loaf of bread.
After the raven flew, St. Paul said to St. Anthony, “See how good and merciful God, who has sent us food, has been giving me half a loaf of bread every day for the past 60 years, but with your coming Jesus has doubled the food of his servants.”
They praised God and praised Him throughout the night. When it was day, Saint Paul informed Saint Anthony of his impending death, and commanded him to take his cloak which he had received from St. Athanasius. On his way back, he saw St. Paul being taken up into heaven surrounded by the Apostles and the angels.
Many other anecdotes about the saint can be found in St. Jerome’s The Life of Paul the Hermit (376).
