Pachomius

Life

Pachomius was born in the late third century into a pagan family in the Thebaid region of southern Egypt. As a young man he was conscripted into the Roman army. According to tradition, he was deeply moved during this time when he saw Christians bringing food to conscripts who were strangers to them and caring for them. After his discharge he embraced the Christian faith and received baptism. He then became a disciple of the hermit Palamon, from whom he learned the solitary monastic life. The eremitic life is a form of monasticism in which a person withdraws from the world to live and pray alone. In about the 320s he founded a community at Tabennisi, near the Nile, and he is reported to have died during an epidemic in 346.

Ministry and Achievements

• Organization of cenobitic monasticism: Earlier monasticism, typified by Anthony of Egypt, had chiefly taken a solitary form. Pachomius founded communities in which monks ate, worked, and prayed together within a single enclosure. This form of life is called cenobitic (communal) monasticism. By the time of his death, several monasteries for men and women are said to have formed a single federation.
• Monastic rule: He established rules governing the hours of prayer, labor, meals, obedience, and common ownership, providing a framework for communal life. He reportedly had newcomers taught to read and required them to memorize the Psalms and portions of the New Testament, placing the memorization of Scripture at the center of community life. The rule became known in the West after Jerome translated it into Latin in the early fifth century.
• Influence on later monastic traditions: He is regarded as having influenced the monastic rules of Basil in the East and of John Cassian and Benedict in the West.

Influence on the Korean Church

Because Korean Protestantism has almost no religious orders, Pachomius's direct influence there is limited. He is, however, discussed alongside the Desert Fathers in theological education and devotional literature that introduce the spiritual traditions that developed after the early church. His name is also sometimes mentioned within movements that emphasize communal spirituality, the integration of work and prayer, and Scripture memorization. In churches with monastic traditions, such as the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Church of Korea, he receives greater attention as the originator of communal monastic life.

Assessment

The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Coptic Church venerate him as a saint, and church historians commonly call him "the father of cenobitic monasticism." The rule he created is regarded in church history as a model for organizing and governing a community.

Some Protestants, however, view monastic life itself critically. During the Reformation, Martin Luther and others criticized the idea that monastic vows earn merit toward salvation. From this perspective, the monastic system is sometimes reassessed in light of the calling of everyday life and the principle of the priesthood of all believers. At the same time, his emphasis on communal piety and diligent labor is frequently cited favorably across denominational lines.