St. Paul the First Hermit | On Contemplation, Silence & Christian Heroism (15 January)

About this sermon

Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Paul the First Hermit, recognized as the father of the hermitical life and one of the greatest Desert Fathers of the Church. Saint Paul withdrew into the desert at the age of 16, living a life of silence, prayer, penance, and contemplation for more than 100 years, until his death in 343 AD. His radical response to Christ’s call — “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11) — reveals the heroism of the Christian contemplative life. This homily reflects on: The meeting of Saint Paul the First Hermit and Saint Anthony the Abbot The meaning of contemplation as the highest action Why hermits and contemplatives are the hidden strength and lungs of the Church Saint Paul’s living witness of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “I count everything as loss for the sake of Christ” In a world that measures value by productivity, this message reminds us that prayer is not inactivity, but the most demanding and fruitful work of all — union with Christ. Let us pray for: Hermits living lives of seclusion and prayer Monks and nuns devoted to contemplation An increase of vocations to the contemplative life Renewal of zeal and love for Christ in the Church 🕊️ Saint Paul the First Hermit, pray for us. 00:00 Introduction – Memorial of Saint Paul the First Hermit 00:39 Saint Paul’s life in the desert 01:22 Meeting of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony the Abbot 01:46 Heroism of the hermitical life 02:47 Philippians: “Everything is a loss compared to Christ” 03:52 Gospel of Matthew 11: “Come to me and I will refresh you” 04:52 Contemplation as a response to Christ’s call 05:24 Prayer for hermits and contemplatives today 06:17 Is contemplation really “doing nothing”? 06:34 Contemplation as the highest action 07:24 Hermits as the lungs of the Church 07:54 Prayer for monks, nuns, and contemplatives 08:32 Final prayer and doxology For more please visit https://www.themarianfranciscans.org/ Please sign up at this link https://lifecrusade.org/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.com for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SensusFidelium.TV - https://sensusfidelium.tv/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium 🔴 Truth Social - @SensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #SaintPaulTheFirstHermit #CatholicHomily #ContemplativeLife #DesertFathers #CatholicSpirituality #PrayerAndPenance #TraditionalCatholic #SaintsOfTheChurch