Anthony the Great
Anthony the Great was born in Koma (in Lower Egypt) in 251 to Christian landowning parents. His parents died when he was around 20, leaving Anthony and his sister to take care of their large estate. But when he heard Matthew 19 read in church, where Jesus instructed a rich young man to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, Anthony was so moved that he did just that: he gave about 120 acres to his neighbors and sold the rest, giving the proceeds to people in need. He got rid of all his possessions and even placed his sister in the care of a “house of virgins” (likely an early Christian nunnery).
Freed from the burden of everything he ever owned, Anthony became a hermit. Though he was not, as some claim, the first Christian monk, his influence in the spread of early Christian monasticism cannot be denied. He was committed to strict asceticism: he lived in the desert west of Alexandria for over a decade, and subsisted only on bread, salt, and water. Eventually, Anthony decided this life was a bit too cosmopolitan for his tastes and decided to really retreat from the world. He settled on a mountain (called Pispir) east of the Nile, where he lived alone in an abandoned Roman fort for two decades. It was here that he faced his famous temptation (vote him on for more deets!). Despite his best efforts, Anthony developed something of a following. Pilgrims would come to visit and throw food to him over the wall. A community of ascetics formed in the nearby caves, and after 20 years, he emerged and began to teach them.
He eventually moved on once more, and at about 62 years of age settled on Mount Colzim (southeast of Cairo). He lived there for 45 years, during which he would receive visitors and occasionally travel across the desert back to Pispir. He died in 356, at the tender age of 105.
While he was something of a celebrity monk during his lifetime, his popularity and influence only grew after his death. This was partly because Anthony had the good fortune to meet and befriend one Athanasius of Alexandria, who wrote a hagiography of Anthony shortly after his death, which became whatever the premodern equivalent of a New York Times Bestseller is. Think of it like The Shack of its time, especially because it’s easy to picture Anthony living in one.
Anthony also goes by a good number of names, including Anthony the Great (not, it turns out, a family name), Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Anchorite, Anthony of the Desert, and the Father of All Monks, just to name a few.
— Ian Lasch
Collect for Anthony the Great
O God, as you by your Holy Spirit enabled your servant Antony to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; so give us grace to follow you with pure hearts and minds, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul of Thebes
He is known as Paul of Thebes, or Paul the First Hermit, or Paul the Anchorite. No matter how he is known, Paul’s contributions to Christian life are far-reaching and deeply spiritual. Paul is considered the first Christian hermit, kicking off a lifestyle grounded in faith and prayer.
Paul was born in Egypt in 227 and died at an amazing age of 113 in Thebes.
Orphaned and caught in the middle of a family dispute, he trekked to the desert of Thebes at 16 years old during the persecution of the Roman Emperors Decius and Valerianus. He lived in a cave, relying on nearby resources for food and water. Then, at 43 years old, as the story goes, a raven started to bring him daily bread.
Paul lived a solitary life. However, he welcomed a significant visitor around 342, from Anthony the Great, who was following instructions from his dream to find Paul. They shared bread, prayers, and blessings.
As they met near the end of Paul’s life, he shared his burial wishes. Tradition says Anthony was aided by two lions who dug the grave with their claws.
Many followed his way of life. The Order of St. Paul the First Hermit was founded in Hungary in his honor in the 13th century.
Paul is the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo in the Philippines, where the cathedral is sanctified for him. The Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite, near the Red Sea, is a major pilgrimage site.
In the Episcopal Church, St. Paul in the Desert in Palm Springs, CA, is named for him.
Paul was canonized in 491. His feast is celebrated on January 10 by the Roman Catholics, January 15 in the Anglican Communion and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and February 9 in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Paul is the patron saint of children, based on a 15th-century tradition of miracles occurring through intercession to him. As such, the Pauline Fathers still bless children on his feast day.
He is featured in The Life of St. Paul the First Hermit by St. Jerome of Stridon, and in three YouTube videos: The Story of Saint Paul the First Hermit; Saint Paul of Thebes & Saint Alexius of Rome; and Saint Paul of Thebes Saint Story for Kids.
Paul is symbolized by a palm tree, two lions, and a raven.
— Neva Rae Fox
Collect for Paul of Thebes
Saint Paul the Hermit, lover of silence and faithful servant of God, teach us to seek the Lord above all else. Help us detach from worldly distractions and grow in prayer, trust, and holiness. Pray for us, that our hearts may always rest in God. Amen.
97 comments on “Anthony the Great vs. Paul of Thebes”
Becoming a hermit has its appeals (for me, right now), so I voted for Paul.
Congrats.
Weren't both of them hermits?
Wrong prayer Paul of Thebes?
What’s so interesting is that these two knew and interacted with each other. The Father of all monks gets my vote, but his willingness to visit and give thanks to the first desert father is pretty awesome!
I voted for Paul, the patron saint of children rather than Anthony who sent his sister off to a nunnery.
I too was bothered by the way Anthony treated his sister.
'Might have been better than marriage to someone deemed "eligible"! Options were likely limited.
Agreed!!!!
Do we know that she wasn’t included in the decision? Is it possible she agreed to a life in community with the sisters?
I did wonder if Anthony consulted his sister before making decisions that changed her life permanently as well as his. If she'd been dowered with half their parents' estate, I suspect she would have had a wide range of suitors. Who knows, though?
She was a woman - I doubt she inherited anything.
Voted for Paul since Anthony’s decision impacted his sister who he sent away and probably had no choice in the matter.
Anthony of Egypt (I think he would chafe at being called the Great) gets my vote today and for the Golden Halo. The wisdom of the desert abbas and ammas has influenced my faith so much and while he wasn't the first, Anthony inspired many other desert dwellers.
Anthony just packs his sister off to a nunnery? Was that her wish? My vote is for Paul. In today's world becoming a hermit seems a reasonable choice. One would be much closer to God and His creation and away from the noise and craziness.
It is a struggle to get my vote counted every day. Even google couldn’t recognize my vote today. Please fix this problem or tell us what to do to get help. This is the third time I’ve raised the issue
I can vote on my phone but not my iPad
The prayer for Paul is incorrect.
"Anthony of the Desert and Francis of Assisi are the favorite saints of Protestants," said my college theology professor,
a Presbyterian. That was long ago in the dark ages of the 1060s.
I could write an essay on why that's true beginning with their abandoning the lures of the world and taking Jesus' instruction to the young man literally. Paul of Thebes did a pretty good job as well. He hasn't had the same press as Anthony.
It appears that the Collect for Edith slipped into Paul’s story. Certainly not an error attributable to Paul.
I found a mistake in this post. You accidently included the collect for St. Edith Stein instead of the collect for St. Paul of Thebes
Another "1/2 vote to each" contest ...
Anothony: only because I'm more aware of his story ...
Anthony has already been recognized as Great - I’d like to learn more about Paul of Thebes so he gets my vote
This prayer concludes an article in “Franciscan Spirit” by Brian O’Neel:
Lord Jesus, living in the desert was not St. Paul’s dream existence. And yet this curve in the road made him phenomenally content and happy. Through his intercession, help us accept life’s twists and turns. Then let us use them to glorify you.
Anthony just seemed to do more.
I voted for Paul. Anthony's choice to sell all his lands and sending his sister to a nunnery without consultation, even if it was the way during the time, did not sit well with me.
I voted for Anthony because Paul’s story requires greater suspension of disbelief with friendly ravens and all. But solitude seemed to agree with both hermits, who practiced voluntary simplicity and each lived longer than a century!
Ravens and all corvids are smart, and helpful to people they like. Maybe this was a holy raven.
Meh. Desert monasticism strikes me as oddly sort of high-maintenance, given all that its practicers shun. Time for solitary contemplation is healthy for all of us -- to equip and enlighten us to love our neighbors in presence, listening, community, and holy hospitality. (From bishops and priests who doth protest too much about their needs as introverts, good Lord, deliver us.) And then there's Anthony divesting his wealth, treating his sister as just another piece of property to be disposed of. Had he not done so, perhaps she might have become the Egypt's Elizabeth of Hungary!
I'm more sympathetic toward Paul of Thebes, whose desert years were preceded by family drama. Maybe this gave him lifelong concern for neglected or abandoned children, hence the patron saint tradition centuries later. And anyone who has a raven bringing him lunch can't be a total curmudgeon.
I do not like that Paul did not treat his sister with agency. I changed my vote as a result.
You mean Anthony. No mention of Paul having had a sister.
I really did not want to vote for either of these men or I should have voted for both. I am not a fan of hermits who take themselves away from the world and think they are doing the bidding of Jesus. I finally went with Paul because a raven liked him and so did the lions.
That's exactly what I'm thinking!!!
I'm another Sue who also agrees. I didn't vote today because neither of these stories resonate with me. I have trouble seeing withdrawal from the world and from human community to be laudable.
Lois, thank you. This, exactly. Nothing against any person voluntarily choosing a life of solitude and prayer; it doesn't seem healthy for most humans, or even a good way to proclaim the Gospel. If a raven chose him, who am I to argue?
The collect for Paul needs to be updated from yesterday's prayer for Edith Stein.
I wonder about Anthony's sister - did she have a say or was she disposed of like the land? If everything was given away or sold, then she had no choice but to stay in the nunnery even if she wanted to leave.
I went with Paul it was all about his treatment of the foster. That might be how things were done in those days but I don’t have to like it.
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I was introduced to St Anthony by George Bebawi at theological college. George was a wonderful, funny, and thought-provoking lecturer, and very kind. My vote for St Anthony is in his honour with thanksgiving for all that I have learned from him.
I have to take both of these hagiographies with several grains of salt. However, I have to go with Paul because of the lions and the raven, neither of which I believe.
Ditto!
I’m voting for Anthony today for longevity!
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At 113, Paul of Thebes supposedly lived longer... but I seriously question the dates for both. Suffice it to say they both lived extremely long lives, so I guess desert asceticism agreed with them both.
Given two (basically) hermits.... if Athanasius liked him, that's good enough for me. Anthony gets my vote today.
I am not a great admirer of the solitary hermits who eschewed all human contact. Hiving off into the desert to live in a cave or to sit on a tall rock is not exactly the life Jesus calls us to live. However, since Anthony became a hermit after selling off and/or giving away his riches and making provision for his younger sister I'll vote for Anthony today. (Is he the one with the pig?)
I vote for Paul for all his connections with the animals of the desert.