The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
[S. Paul died on Jan. 10th, on which day he is commemorated in most
ancient Martyrologies, as the Roman, that of Cologne, Bede, &c. But
both Greeks and Latins have transferred his feast to Jan. 15th, so
as not to interfere with the celebration of the Octave of the
Epiphany. The York Breviary and those of Paul III., and of the
Dominican Order, commemorate him on the 29th Jan. His life, written
by S. Jerome, is perfectly authentic. The following is a
translation, much abridged, from the original.]
Under the persecuting Emperors Decius and Valerius, at the time that
Cornelius was Bishop at Rome, and Cyprian, Bishop at Carthage, were
condemned to shed their blessed blood, a cruel tempest swept over the
Churches in Egypt and the Thebaid.
"In those days, in the Lower Thebaid, was Paul, to whom had been left a
rich inheritance, at the death of both his parents, with a sister
already married. He was then about fifteen years old, well taught in
Greek and Egyptian literature, gentle tempered, and loving God much.
When the storm of persecution burst, he withdrew into a distant city.
But his sister's husband purposed to betray him, notwithstanding the
tears of his wife; however, the boy discovered it, and fled into the
desert hills. Once there, necessity became a pleasure, and going on, and
then stopping awhile, he reached at last a stony cliff, at the foot of
which was a great cave; its mouth closed with a stone. Having rolled
this away, and exploring more greedily, he saw within a great vault open
to the sky above, but shaded by the spreading boughs of an ancient
date-palm; and in it a clear spring, the rill of which, flowing a short
space forth, was sucked up again by the soil.
"There were, besides, not a few dwellings in that cavernous mountain, in
which he saw rusty anvils and hammers, with which coin that had been
stamped of old. For this place was an old workshop for base coin.
"Therefore, in this beloved dwelling, offered him as it were by God, he
spent all his life in prayer and solitude, while the palm-tree gave him
food and clothes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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