Paul the Simple

Who they were

Paul, a simple and guileless farmer, became a monk at sixty after discovering his wife's infidelity. St Anthony at first refused him and shut the door on him until the fourth day, then tested him with hard and humbling tasks.

His perfect obedience and simplicity made him one of Anthony's most loved disciples.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

An old man whose simple obedience made him a saint.

Connected on this site

• Anthony the Great Saint
  “Paul the Simple of Egypt (225 – 339) was a hermit and disciple of Anthony the Great.” — Wikipedia
• Paul of Thebes Saint
  “John, the Abbot of Sinai wrote "Paul the Simple was a clear example for us, for he was the rule and type of blessed simplicity." Though contemporaries, he is not to be confused with Paul of Thebes, regarded as the First Hermit.” — Wikipedia