The Monk Pachomius the Great, along with Anthony the Great, Macarius the Great and Euthymius the Great, is a pillar of the hermitage and the founder of the monastic community in Egypt. The Monk Pachomius was born in the third century in the Thebaid (Upper Egypt) He received a good secular education from pagan parents. Since his youth, he had the makings of a good disposition, was chaste and reasonable. When Pachomius turned 20, he was drafted into the troops of Emperor Constantine (apparently in 315). The recruits were placed in the building of the city dungeon under the protection of the guards. Local Christians came with food supplies, fed the soldiers and served them diligently. When the young man found out that these people do this for the sake of their God, fulfilling His commandment about loving others, it sank deep into his pure soul.
Pachomius promised to become a Christian. After returning from the army after the victory, Pachomius received holy Baptism, settled in the secluded village of Shenesit and immediately began to lead a strict ascetic life. Feeling the need for a spiritual guide, he turned to the Thebaid hermit Palamon, was received by the elder with love and began to zealously undergo monastic feats following the example of his mentor.
One day, after 10 years of desert life, the Monk Pachomius, walking through the desert, stopped at the ruins of the village of Tavennisi and heard a Voice ordering him to build a monastery on this place. Pachomius told Elder Palamon about this, and both of them. Taking the words they heard as an instruction from God, they went to Tavennisi and began to build a small monastic dwelling. The holy elder Palamon blessed the beginning of the foundation of the monastery and predicted its future glory. Soon the Monk Palamon departed to the Lord. Then an Angel of God appeared to Saint Pachomius in the form of a schemer and handed him the charter of monastic life. Soon his elder brother John came to the monk and settled with him.
The Monk Pachomius endured many temptations and attacks from the enemy of the human race, but the Monk Pachomius valiantly repelled all temptations with prayer to God and patience.
Gradually, the disciples began to gather to St. Pachomius. They were all amazed by the diligence of the mentor, who managed to do all the monastic work: he cultivated the garden, talked with visitors who asked for guidance, and served the sick. The Monk Pachomius introduced the rule of common life, establishing uniformity for all in food and clothing. The monks of the monastery had to work in the obediences assigned to them for the general benefit of the monastery. Among the obediences was the rewriting of books. Monks were not supposed to have their own money or accept anything from their relatives. The monk believed that obedience, performed with zeal, was higher than fasting and prayer, and demanded from the monks the exact observance of the charter, severely punishing violators.
One day, his sister Maria came to St. Pachomius, who had long wanted to see her brother. But the strict ascetic refused her a date and, through the gatekeeper, gave her the blessing to enter the path of monastic life, promising his help in this. Maria began to cry, but acted according to her brother's instructions. The Tavennis monks built a dwelling for her on the opposite bank of the Nile. Nuns began to gather to Mary, and soon a convent was created with a strict charter, which was handed over by St. Pachomius.
The number of monks of the monastery increased rapidly, which necessitated the construction of 7 more monasteries nearby. The number of monks reached 7,000, and all of them were under the guidance of St. Pachomius, who visited and managed all the monasteries. At the same time, the Monk Pachomius remained a deeply humble monk who was always ready to obey and accept comments from each brother.
Severe and strict towards himself, the Monk Pachomius had great mercy and condescension towards the spiritually insufficiently mature monks. One of the monks aspired to the feat of martyrdom, but the monk turned him away from these aspirations and instructed him to silently fulfill monastic obedience, taming his pride and learning humility. However, the monk did not listen to the mentor and left the monastery, after which he was attacked by robbers, who, on pain of death, forced him to sacrifice to the pagan gods. In complete despair, the monk returned to the monastery. The monk ordered him to pray strenuously day and night, observe strict fasting and live in complete silence. The monk followed the instructions of the monk, and this saved his soul from despair.
The monk taught in every possible way to be afraid of the condemnation of others and he was afraid even to condemn anyone in his thoughts.
The Monk Pachomius treated the sick monks with special love. He visited them, encouraged the discouraged, urged them to thank God and put their hope in His holy will. He relaxed the fast for the sick, if it was necessary for their recovery. Once, in the absence of the monk, the cook did not cook boiled food for the monks, referring to the fact that the brethren like to fast. Instead of his obedience, he wove 500 matting, but the monk did not approve of his act; and as punishment for disobedience, he ordered all the matting made by the cook to be burned.
The Monk Pachomius always taught the monks to have hope only in the help and mercy of God. There was a shortage of wheat in the monastery. The saint spent the whole night in prayer, and in the morning they brought a large amount of bread from the head of the city for the monastery, without taking anything in payment. The Lord granted St. Pachomius the gift of miracle-working and healing of diseases.
The Lord revealed to him the subsequent destinies of monasticism. The saint knew that the last monks would not have such zeal for exploits as the first ones, they would walk in darkness without having experienced leaders. Prostrating himself on the ground, the Monk Pachomius wept bitterly, crying out to the Lord and asking for mercy to them. In response, he heard a Voice: "Pachomius, remember the mercy of God. Know about the last monks that they will receive a reward, because they will have to suffer from a difficult life for a monk."
At the end of his life, the Monk Pachomius fell seriously ill from a pestilence that existed in those places. He was looked after with filial love by his closest and beloved disciple, the Monk Theodore (memory of May 17). The Monk Pachomius died around the year 348 at the age of 53 and was buried near the mountain near the monastery.