January 15th - Saint of the Day: Saint Paul the Hermit
Saint Paul the Hermit did not build a platform. He built a desert. He fled persecution, disappeared into silence, and still became a giant in the Church. Why? Because when everything got stripped away, God proved He was enough. Here is the part that sounds unreal but comes straight from the ancient Catholic tradition: a raven brought him bread in the wilderness. Then when Saint Anthony finally found him, the raven brought double, like Heaven was saying, “This meeting matters.” And it gets wilder. After Paul died, the tradition says two lions helped dig his grave. Not because Paul was a nature guy, but because creation honors a man who belonged completely to the Creator. This is not escapism. This is spiritual warfare. This is what The Catechism calls the “silence of solitude” for the praise of God and the salvation of the world (CCC 920-921). If life feels loud, restless, or spiritually dry, Saint Paul’s desert is a wake-up call: stop feeding the noise, and start feeding the soul. Go to HolyManna.blog to read the full story and dive into this saint and many more.