Readings:
2 Timothy 2:1-6
Psalm 16
Matthew 6:24–33
Preface of a Saint (3)
PRAYER (traditional language)
Set us free, O God, from all false desires, vain ambitions, and everything that would separate us from thy love; that, like thy servant Pachomius, we might give ourselves fully to a life of discipleship, seeking thee alone and serving those whom thou hast given us to serve; through Jesus
Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen.
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Set us free, O God, from all false desires, vain ambitions, and everything that would separate us from your love; that, like your servant Pachomius, we might give ourselves fully to a life of discipleship, seeking you alone and serving
those whom you have given us to serve; through Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen.
This commemoration appears in Lesser Feasts & Fasts 2018.
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PACHOMIUS OF TABENISSI
MONASTIC, 348
Saint Pachomius (Greek: Παχώμιος, ca. 292–348), also known as Pachome and Pakhomius, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic (community) monasticism.
Pachomius was born in 292 in Thebes (Luxor, Egypt) to pagan parents. He converted to Christianity and was baptized in 314. Pachomius then came into contact with several well known ascetics and decided to pursue that path under the guidance of the hermit named Palaemon (317). After studying seven years with Palaemon, Pachomius set out to lead the life of a hermit near St. Anthony of Egypt, whose practices he imitated until Pachomius heard a voice in Tabennisi that told him to build a dwelling for the hermits to come to.
Pachomius established his first monastery between 318 and 323 at Tabennisi, Egypt. His elder brother John joined him, and soon more than 100 monks lived nearby. Until then, Christian asceticism had been solitary or eremitic with male or female monastics living in individual huts or caves and meeting only for occasional worship services. Pachomius created the community or cenobitic organization, in which male or female monastics lived together and held their property in common under the leadership of an abbot or abbess. The community hailed Pachomius as "Abba" ("father" in Hebrew), from which "Abbot" derives. The monastery at Tabennisi, though enlarged several times, soon became too small and a second was founded at Pabau (Faou). After 336, Pachomius spent most of his time at Pabau. Basil of Caesarea visited, then took many of Pachomius' ideas, which he adapted and implemented in Caesarea. This ascetic rule, or Ascetica, is still used today by the Eastern Orthodox Church, comparable to that of the Rule of St. Benedict in the West.
Pachomius continued as abbot to the cenobites for some forty years. During an epidemic (probably plague), Pachomius called the monks, strengthened their faith, and appointed his successor. Pachomius then died on 9 May 348 A.D.
By the time Pachomius died eight monasteries and several hundred monks followed his guidance. Within a generation, cenobic practices spread from Egypt to Palestine and the Judean Desert, Syria, North Africa and eventually Western Europe.
- more at Wikipedia
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