"They said of another hermit, that while he was undergoing temptation in his cell, he saw the demons face to face, and despised them. The devil, seeing himself overcome, came and showed himself, saying, 'I am Christ.' The hermit looked at him, and then shut his eyes. The devil said, 'I am Christ, why have you shut your eyes?' The hermit answered, I do not want to see Christ in this life, but in the next.' The devil vanished at these words." - Sayings of the Desert Fathers
St. Paul the Simple, from Catholic Online:
A hermit and disciple of St. Anthony. Paul had long been a humble farmer in Egypt when, at the age of sixty, he discovered that his wife was unfaithful. Leaving her, he set out for the desert and went to Anthony to become a follower. Anthony at first refused him, owing to Paul’s advanced years and because he doubted Paul’s sincerity. As Paul was persistent, Anthony gave him a host of demanding and arduous tasks which Paul fulfilled with such humility, obedience, and simplicity that Anthony allowed him entry into the community. Paul was termed by Anthony the ideal monk and the so called “Pride of the Desert,” bearing with honor the title “the Simple.”
Paul's feast day is March 6 and/or March 7.
Great quote from the Desert Fathers. So opposite of the way Catholics tend to react to spectacles and visions in modern times.
ReplyDeleteLove the Coptic icon. There's a beautiful Coptic church in my town full of them. I've visited a number of times. I'm always humbled by their hospitality and taken aback by how fully (and joyfully) they participate in their Sunday liturgy...which lasts from 8:30am 'till noon...and that's not counting Vespers and Evening Praise from the night before and the agape afterwards.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of St. Louis IX's reaction when people ran to him to tell him of the Eucharistic miracle happening in his own chapel. They're very different stories, but are both about faith and seeing.