Pachomius: His Communities' Life and Requirements - Essay Example

Pachomius Pachomius was the founder of coenobitic monasticism and a Christian ascetic. There has been much confusion on the information of the saint in many biographies and legends written in different versions and translations. Born in the Upper Egypt, Pachomius was a son to pagan parents. His first encounter with Christianity was in the city of Latopolis where he was serving in the military. The virtuous of the local Christians and the way they showed love to all people impressed him. After the conquest of the Maximinus, he went back to his home village and underwent baptism (Chidester 292). The inspiration from Latopolis had a profound effect on his love for God, and he thus decided to become a monk. Ascetic Palemon played an integral part in his spiritual guidance. His guidance has been reckoned by many in the present days. During this time, the eremitic life established by Antony was the dominant lifestyle. Pachomius decided to establish a monastic community after receiving divine exhortation. He established the first monastic community in an abandoned village near Dendera, on the east bank of river Nile. Initially, there were few ascetics, but they increased over time. The saint established some monastic rules that governed the activities and needs of the monks, including common table, common prayer, common use of labor products, and common work (Chidester 310). According to tradition and legend, an angel dictated these rules. Obedience was a great virtue to the monastic communities. Introduction Majority of scholars justly esteem Antony as the institutor of religious communities adhering to certain rules, but Pachomius was the first to write a monastic set of rules. He was born in Upper Thebais to idolatrous parents around the year 292. He underwent the education of his blind superstition parents as well as the Egyptian sciences. This education was crucial in impacting the world later in his years. According to preserved history of his life, he was modest and meek from infancy, with a strong distaste to the infidels’ profane ceremonies of worshiping their idols. At the age of twenty, he joined the troops of the emperor, the great tyrant Maxi-minus and Egyptian master since 310. In 312, the tyrant waged war against Constantine and Licinius. Pachomius was among the soldiers sent to Thebes, the capital of Thebais inhabited by many Christians. The Christians in the region sough every opportunity of comforting and relieving all the people in distress, and had great compassion for the recruits who were badly treated and confined. The Christians showed them the same tenderness they displayed to their own children: took care of them as well as supplying them with necessities and money (Latourette 145). The rare example of disinterested virtue impressed the mind of Pachomius. The behavior and attitude of the Christians in the city inclined him to makes some inquisition on their pious benefactors, and upon hearing that they believed in Jesus Christ the son of God. The fact that they labored continually to be good to all humanity in the hope of a reward in a different world conceived a great love for the holy law and an ardent desire to serve the God of these people. The impact of the Christians in the city had a profound effect on his life, encouraging him to resist a carnal temptation on the next day of his journey. Despite his love for temperance and chastity from a tender age, he now perceived these virtues in a new light (MacCulloch 292). The life and requirements at the monastic communities The life at the monastery began with Pachomius, and later John, his elder bother. Many others followed such that he had to enlarge his house, and the monks increased quickly in number. The clothing at the monastery was primarily rough linen, with that of the saint often haircloth. According to monastic rule, the proportion of tasks of work and the fasts was dependant to the strengths of individuals. Nonetheless, all the monks ate together in a common refectory in silence, with their hood or cowl drawn over their heads to hide face at meals (Chidester 321). Their habit was a white linen tunic without sleeves, with a hood or cowl of the same material. On their shoulders, they wore white goatskin. On the first and last day of every week, the monks received their holy communion. The novices underwent great severity before their admission to the monastic habits, a deemed monastic profession with attended vows. The saint did not prefer any of his monks to the holy order, and often positioned priests from outside to serve his monasteries. However, he admitted priests who presented themselves to the habit, employing them in the functions of their ministry. He did not allow any moment of idleness, and encouraged all monks to occupy themselves with different forms of manual labor (MacCulloch 310). The sick monks received service and comfort from the saint himself, with the greatest care. One of the most important observations within the monasteries was silence. Observing silence was so strict in Tabenna such that a monk who wanted anything necessary would only ask for it by signs. The monks were under strict orders to meditate on certain passages of their holy scripture when moving from one place to another, and sing the psalms when working. For every monk that died, there was a sacrifice of the mass. According to the translations of his rules into Latin, he received the weak and the sickly, without discriminating the any in favor of corporal strength. The only important requirement was the desirous to conduct service to the heaven all souls that had the fervor to conduct themselves perfectly (Marty 278). The monasteries were a small world in their own right, with protection from outside relations by a huge wall and a single door guarded by a porter for checking arrivals. Despite the smallness, the monasteries had remarkable organization. At first, there lived several brothers, then hundreds of brothers, all carrying out similar activities. Each monastery had an abbot, with one or two stewards. The structure of the order established the life at the monastery under the abbot, represented in every house by a superior (Marty 257). Pachomius built other six monasteries in Thebias, and consequently made the monastery in Pau, near Thebes, his residence. Thus, Pau became a more famous and more numerous monasteries than Tabenna, the first one. He built a church in one of the villages by advice from Serapion, the bishop of Tentyra. The purpose of the church was to benefit the poor shepherds, where he occasionally performed at the office of the Lector, reading the word of God to the people with admirable fervor. Indeed, majority of the people saw him as an angel rather than a human, particularly in his administering of the word (Latourette 149). He converted many infidel people, and was strongly opposed to the ideals of Arians. However, his bishop could not induce him to the holy order of becoming a priest. Visits at the monasteries by relatives were very strict. At one time during a visit by the saint’s sister to the resident monastery with the desire to see him, he only sent a word to her at the gate telling her that it was not possible for a woman to enter his enclosure, and that the fact that he was live was satisfactory enough. However, she had a desire to embrace a religious state, thus he built a monastery for her on the other side of the Nile, which son became the area of holy virgins. On his way to one of his monastery in Pane, the saint met with the funeral procession of a deceased tepid monk. He forbade the monks from singing the psalms and ordered the burning of the clothes that covered the corpse, saying that the honors would only increase his torments. It is important to note that as their leader, he knew all the wretched state to which he succumbed to death (MacCulloch 334). The saint believed that afflictions or sicknesses were effects of divine goodness on their behalf. Thus, he asserted that his only prayers were or their temporal comfort, with the condition or clause that it should not be hurtful to their souls. For instance, his closest disciple, Theodorus, who succeeded him in the governance of the monasteries after his death, had an affliction with perpetual headache. Some brethrens desired the saint to pray for the disciple, to which he answered by that suffering sickness with patience is much greater than prayer and abstinence. His primary desire was for the spiritual health of the souls of his disciples, and at every possible opportunity, he put forth efforts to heal and curb their passions, particularly that of pride (Chidester 337). In summary, the life at the monasteries highlighted two important aspects: work and prayer. The monks performed these two duties in a silent environment. The monks had a schedule for all the hours of both the day and the night, with formal and regular times for prayers, for work, and for reading scriptures. There were morning prayers, daytime prayers, and evening prayers. In these prayer sessions, the monks sung several psalms and read short scripture readings for the entire humanity. Scripture reading was also an integral part of a monk’s life in the monastery. There were scripture readings in the morning and in the evening. Memorizing the verses of the scriptures was highly encouraged, with the belief that having the verses in memory would soak the mind of a monk with the word of God. Monks were encouraged to engage in manual work, and they were to sing the psalms while working (Chidester 339). The monks were not to marry, as Jesus did not marry. Moreover, they were to share everything they had amongst themselves, with no allocation of private property. All the monks had provision to the same things, including food and attires. Monks did not have permission to poses any property or accept anything from their relatives. Monks had to adhere strictly to the monastic rules, with the exemption of the sick. Reasons for Collectivity The debate on how and why Pachomius chose the coenobitical life as the monastic lifestyle is still a debate among scholars and experts of theology. Weingarten argues that he was once a monk because after his baptism, he lived in a building that old people claimed was a temple of Serapis. However, Ladeuze rejected this theory. Preuschen published a monograph hoping to end the debate. In the monograph, he presented evidence that the monks of Serapis were not ideally monks but rather dwellers of the temple who observed incubation, primarily sleeping in the temple to attain oracular dreams. Petrie, however, rejected this theory, claiming that Pachomius was a monk of Serapis (Marty 275). Yet another theory suggests that the relationship between the saint and the hermits constrained, thus he recoiled from their practices of extreme austerities. This theory also becomes irrelevant with the analysis of the facts. From the records of his life, it is clear that Pachomius had an affectionate relationship with the Palemon, an old hermit who was integral in the establishment of his first monastery in Tabenna. There is no evidence of any form of rivalry between the monks and the hermits. In fact, his desire was for his monks to emulate the hermits as far as austerities were concerned. This is evident from his monastic rules that made things easy for the less proficient, but did not concern himself with the extreme asceticism in the more proficient monks. There was provision of common meals, but those who desired to absent themselves could do so, with provision of water, bread, and salt in their individual cells. We may argue that the saint perceived the solitude in the eremitical life as a potential barrier to vocation, holding the coenobitical life at a higher order than the former (Latourette 152). The coenobitic monasticism was different from the eremitical lifestyle because in the former, the life of a monk was primarily behind the walls of the monastery with strict regulation on all the hours of the night and day. The needs and activities of the monks were governed by the monastic rules, including common prayers, common use of labor products, common work, and common table. Within the organization of the monastery, there was a leader of the monks, or the hegumen. The responsibility of the leader was provision of financial support for operation of the monasteries such that the monks were free from any worldly cares. This was intention in order to allow the monks to turn their attention towards heaven and spiritual exercises. Indeed, this was the defining difference between the monasticism of Pachomius and Makarios: the spiritual leader was responsible for the spiritual needs as well as material needs of the monks, including clothing, housing, healthcare, and food. However, there were several similarities, including severe asceticism, obedience to the canons and the hegumen, removal from the world, and manual work (Chidester 341). Contrary to conceptual perception, Pachomius was not a great teacher of the theory of asceticism, but rather a great organizer of the practice. His teachings were in form of strict cannons dictating the lives of the monks. The cannons were essential in pronouncing the separation from the world as well as to insuring the proper operation of the cloister, including limiting the visits and travels of the monks from the laity. The cannon advocated for uniformity among the monks’ dress, nourishment, and way of life, regardless of their current surrounding. The only exemptions to the austere dietary rules were the sick monks. The canons also covered all hours of both the day and the night, with a strict schedule and arrangement for prayer, rest, work, and behavior at the table and in church (MacCulloch 312). Conclusion Pachomius was born of idolatrous parent in the Upper Egypt. His first encounter with Christianity was during his service in the military of the emperor at the city of Thebes that had many Christian dwellers. Due to their show of affection and tenderness, the saint sought to understand their benefactor. Consequently, this led to the desire to become a Christian and serve the God of the people of Thebes. Later, he returned to some abandoned temple after baptism. Thereafter, he encountered Palemon, an old hermit who was integral in the establishment of the monastery at Tabenna (Latourette 146). He established monastic rules that were different from those of the hermits, as his embraced the collective element rather than the individual existence of the hermits. Conclusively, according to the available record on his life, it is possible that Pachomius saw the solitude element in the eremitical life as a potential barrier risk to vocation. Therefore, he adopted coenobitic monasticism at a higher order than the former. The monastic rules regulated the lifestyle and requirement of the monks at the monasteries. All the hours of the day and the night were clearly scheduled and accounted for. This time accountability has been a valued legacy in his life. At the time of his death, there were two monasteries for women and nine for men (Marty 264). Works Cited Chidester, David. Christianity-A Global History. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Print. Latourette, Kenneth S. A History of Christianity. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953. Print. MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity-The First Three Thousand Years. New York: Viking, 2010. Print. Marty, Martin. The Christian World. New York: Modern Library, 2009. Print. Read More