Thebes dates as a settlement since the year 3200 before Christ and encloses the overwhelming temples from Luxor and Karnak or of the queen pharaoh Hatshepsut, the Valley of Kings and the Valley of queens, with the famous tombs of the pharaohs built in rock
Thebes reminds us also of the Christians who running away from the persecujtions of the Romans from the 3rd and 4th century hid in the tombs of the pharaohs. The arid and rocky desert of Thebes was a place of ascetic life for the great hermits of the first ages.
Saint Paul from Thebes (227-341), the first known hermit of Christianity, lived here in a cave, overcoming his passions by ascetic struggle and knowing the peace of passionlessness and the joys of a life of prayer.
Like Saint Elijah he was fed for a while by a raven that brought him every day half a loaf of bread. He tamed the lions who served him and who buried him when he died at the age of 113 years old..
Saint Anthony the Great found Saint Paul from Thebes reposed in God on his knees and with his hands raised to the skies in prayer.
Priest Silviu Cluci
Source: http://doxologia.ro
