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When Saint Anthony was living with his disciples in the Egyptian desert , the thought once occurred to him that no other monk had ever been as perfect as he, no one who had settled in the desert before him and chosen such a solitary life. He himself later recounted that when he thought this, he heard a voice in a vision that said:
"Anthony! There is one servant of God who came here before you and who is more perfect than you. If you wish, you can find him in the distant desert; only go to him quickly, before he departs to the Lord."
Hearing this and coming to his senses, the elder immediately took up his staff and hurried into the desert, fervently desiring to quickly find the one about whom it had been revealed to him. It was midday, and it had become so hot that even the stones were heated by the sun's heat. The elder's body was exhausted, but his spirit was vigorous, and he had no intention of turning back from the path he had undertaken. Although he did not know where to go next, he remained steadfast and said:
“I believe that God will show me, as He promised, His servant.
As he walked through this harsh and inaccessible desert, the elder saw nothing but the tracks of animals. Having already been on the road for two days and spent a second night in prayer, he knew not where to go next. At dawn on the third day, he suddenly saw a she-wolf walking along the edge of the mountain and howling. Following her from afar, he approached the cave in which the holy saint of God, Paul, had lived . The elder rejoiced at the sight of the cave, but its occupant, noticing Anthony's approach, locked the door. Approaching, the elder knocked, but there was no answer, and he continued to stand outside, knocking in vain. Seeing that no one opened the door, he fell to the ground before the cave entrance and prayed until the sixth hour that he might be granted entry and see the one he had found with such difficulty.
The saint said:
"Open for me, servant of Christ, open! For you know who I am, where I came from, and why I came, for God has revealed it to you. I know myself that I am unworthy of seeing your holy face, yet I will not leave here until I see you. Do not hide yourself, if God has revealed you to me: you accept beasts—why then do you reject man? I have found you after a long search, and now I knock, asking you to open for me. If you do not open, then I will die on your threshold, and you will bury my body here."
He told him many other things with tears and reproached him for his severity. Then the saint of God answered him from inside the cave and said:
"Is it possible to ask with threats or reproach with tears? You are surprised that I do not open the door to you; it is because you boast that you came here to die."
With these words, the saint opened the door, and they embraced and kissed each other, calling each other by name, for God had revealed the name of the other to each of them. When they sat down, Saint Anthony said:
– Rejoice, Paul, chosen vessel and pillar of fire, inhabitant of this desert!
Saint Paul answered:
"It is good that you have come, sun, illuminating the entire universe, teacher of the saved, mouth of God, who populated the desert and drove the devil from it! But why have you undertaken such great labor, coming to me, a sinful and insignificant man? Here you see before you a decrepit old man, disheveled with gray hair, you see a man ready to return to dust and decay. But love knows no obstacles—and you have come. Tell me, I beg you, how do people live now, what is the state of the world? Are there still idolaters, and at the same time, does the persecution of believers continue?"
"Through your prayers," replied Anthony, "the world is in prosperity, persecution has ceased, and the Church glorifies the True God; but since you mentioned persecution, I beg you, for God's sake, tell me about yourself and reveal the reason for your departure from the world to this distant desert."
“I was born in the Thebaid in 598 ,” Saint Paul began his story, “and I had a sister, whom my parents married off while they were still alive. Being Orthodox themselves, they gave me a secular education and instructed me in the truths of the Orthodox faith. Dying, they divided their rich estate between us. After their death, my sister’s husband, out of extortion, conceived the idea of seizing my share of the property and intended to hand me over, as a Christian, to torture an impious prince, so that, having thus destroyed me, he could seize my inheritance. Decius was then king . He persecuted all Christians, and the whole Thebaid trembled with fear at the cruel tortures he devised. At that time, a certain Christian youth was captured by the impious persecutors. They tortured him for a long time in an attempt to persuade him to renounce the Christian faith, but in vain. Finally, they brought him to a blooming and fragrant garden and, laying him supine on a luxurious bed, bound his hands and feet to it with soft ropes. When everyone left the garden, they allowed a young girl to come to the youth, so that she would tempt him to sin . The shameless maiden embraced and kissed the youth, trying in every way to seduce him. What did the valiant sufferer do after he had already endured so much torment? Seeing himself in danger of carnal seduction, he bit off his tongue with his teeth and spat it in the harlot's face. With terrible pain, he overcame his passion, spat blood on the face and clothes of the harlot, and himself, with the help of the grace of Christ, remained pure. Another youth, who remained steadfast in the Christian faith, after many torments, was stripped naked and, having smeared his entire body with honey, they placed him with his hands bound at the shoulders in the heat of the sun; They thought that, stung by bees, wasps, and hornets, he would not endure it and would consent to sacrifice to idols. But the courageous sufferer, although his entire body was bitten and covered in blood to such an extent that he had lost even his human form, did not renounce Christ. Seeing all this, as well as the ever-increasing anger of my sister's husband, which neither my sister's tears nor kinship could pacify, I left everything to him and fled into this desert. With God's help, I gradually reached this place. Finding this cave with a spring of water within it, I realized that the Lord Himself had appointed me a dwelling place here. I settled here and lived, eating dates and making myself clothing from leaves.
As the saint was telling this, a raven suddenly flew in, holding a loaf of bread in its beak. Quietly placing the loaf before them, it flew away and disappeared into the air. Seeing Blessed Anthony's astonishment, Saint Paul said:
"The Lord, the all-merciful and merciful, has sent a meal to us, His servants. For sixty years now, I've been receiving half a loaf. But on the occasion of your arrival, Christ the Lord has doubled the gift and sent a whole loaf to His soldiers."
Taking this bread, the great saints of God began asking each other to bless it and break it, each placing the other above themselves in honor. Saint Paul wanted to honor Saint Anthony as a guest, while Saint Anthony wanted to honor Saint Paul as the host and elder. For a long time, they lovingly debated. Finally, Saint Paul took one end of the bread and placed the other in Saint Anthony's hands. The bread immediately broke down the middle, and each received his half.
Sitting by the spring, Christ's servants ate and were satisfied; then they drank from the spring, which had pure and most pleasant water. After offering a prayer of thanksgiving, they sat again and conversed all night until morning. When daylight came, Saint Paul said to Abba Anthony:
"I have long known, my brother, that you dwell in this desert, and I would have loved to live with you and serve our Master together. But since the time of my death has come, which I have always awaited with joy, desiring 'to depart and be with Christ' ( Phil. 1:23 ), the Lord has sent you to me to bury my humble body and commit it to the earth."
Hearing this, Anthony cried out with tears:
- Do not leave me alone, my father, but take me with you!
"You need not concern yourself," replied Saint Paul, "but the good of your neighbor. If it would be good for you to be freed from the burden of the flesh and follow the Lamb to heaven, then the good of the other brethren requires that you still instruct and strengthen them. I beg you, go quickly to your monastery and bring the mantle Bishop Athanasius gave you , so that I may cover my body with it."
Saint Paul didn't ask for this because he needed a mantle. He didn't care whether his mortal body, which he had clothed for so long with date leaves, would be buried naked or covered in the earth; he only wanted his soul to be separated from his body in the silence of solitude, which is why he sent Saint Anthony away to the monastery.
Anthony was greatly surprised by what he heard about Athanasius and the mantle. Seeing in Paul as if he were Christ himself and honoring the God dwelling within him, he dared no longer contradict him. For a long time, silently and tearfully, he kissed his eyes and hands, and then hastened to fulfill the command: against his will, he set off for the monastery, exhausted in body but conquering the infirmities of old age in spirit. As he approached his cell, two disciples met him and asked:
- Where have you been all this time, our father?
"Woe is me, my children," Anthony replied, "woe is me, a sinner, a so-called monk. I myself am only called a monk, but I have seen the one who truly is Elijah, John in the desert; I have truly seen Paul in Paradise."
The disciples wanted to hear more about this and began to ask him to tell them. Antony, covering his mouth with his hand, said:
– For everything there is a time: a time to speak, and a time to keep silence ( Eccl. 3:1–7 ).
And taking his mantle with him, without resting at all, without taking with him even food for the road, he left and again hastily set out for the desert in order to find Saint Paul still alive, for he was afraid that, in case of delay, he would die without him.
The next day, at about three o'clock, while on a journey, Abba Anthony saw in the air ranks of angels and assemblies of prophets and apostles, and in their midst, the soul of Saint Paul, which, shining more brilliantly than the sun, ascended to heaven. Saint Anthony, falling to the ground, sprinkled sand on his head and, with tears in his eyes, cried out:
"Why did you leave me, Pavel? Why are you leaving without a final kiss?" "I didn't know you for so long, and so soon, when I did, you leave me!"
Blessed Anthony later recounted how he then walked the rest of the way so swiftly, it was as if he were flying through the air on wings, so fast he barely even felt the ground beneath his feet. He soon reached the cave and, entering it, saw the saint kneeling with his hands outstretched and his face turned upward. Believing him to be alive and praying, Anthony joined him in prayer. An hour passed, and since no words or sighs of prayer were heard from Saint Paul, Blessed Anthony approached him closer and, seeing that he was already dead, realized that the body of the holy man, even in death, offered worship to God, before Whose Face all things live. He wept and sobbed for a long time, kissing the saint's holy body. Then he wrapped him in the mantle he had brought with him and, according to Christian custom, began to sing the psalms used at funerals. But he could not figure out how to bury the saint, since he did not bring a spade with him to dig a grave.
"Should I return to the monastery for a weapon?" he pondered. "But it's a three-day journey. Should I stay here? But without a spade, I can't do anything." "I'd rather stay here and die as I should, drawing my last breath next to Your warrior, O Christ!"
As he pondered this, suddenly two lions emerged from the depths of the desert, roaring and seemingly weeping for the loss of the saint. At first, Anthony was somewhat frightened, but then, seeing the beasts, meek as lambs, lying near the saint's body and roaring pitifully, as if weeping, he marveled at their gentleness. They began digging the earth with their claws and, having dug a considerable depth, fell back upon the saint's body with a loud roar, as if bidding him farewell. Then, approaching St. Anthony, they began licking his hands and feet, as if asking for blessing and prayer. The saint, seeing that the beasts also bowed before God, glorified Christ and said:
- Lord, without Your will not a leaf from a tree or a single bird falls to the ground, - give, as You know, Your blessing to these animals.
Then, pointing with his hand toward the desert, he commanded the beasts to retreat there. When they had disappeared, Abba Anthony buried the honorable body of the holy and venerable Father Paul, the first hermit, who died at the age of 113. 601 . The venerable Anthony spent the entire night following the burial at the saint's grave in tears and prayer; with the coming of morning, he returned to his monastery, taking with him the saint's robe woven from date leaves. Arriving at his monastery, he related everything in detail to his disciples, for their edification. He treasured and revered the robe of St. Paul so much that he wore it only twice a year: on the feast of Holy Pascha and at Pentecost.
By the holy prayers of the venerable fathers Paul and Anthony, may Christ our Lord grant us the lot of His saints, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever, amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/55