St. Pachomius: Being Alone, Together
Br. Lucas Hall
Pachomius was a man who lived in Egypt under the Roman Empire, around the year 300. When he was a young man, at the age of 21, he was caught up in a conscription drive for the military against his will, as many young men were. When he was transferred to the military garrison, he first encountered Christians, who had made it a habit to take food and supplies to the new conscripts, who were often poor, hungry, lonely, and far from home. That was a formative moment for him; even in the midst of miserable captivity and confusion, he could encounter God and the love of other people.
When his term in the army was over, he sought out the local Christian community, and was soon baptized. He soon encountered desert hermits of the Egyptian monastic tradition, and wished to pursue that life. But early on in his life of solitary prayer, he heard a voice urging him to build a place where others could come and live out that life as well. It was here that the tradition of cenobitic monasticism, that is, monks living together in community, was realized by Pachomius’s work.
If Pachomius needed a thesis statement, I believe he would have simply looked to the words of Jesus on the greatest commandments: to love God with all our heart, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The voice he heard told him that it was God’s will that he should minister to the whole of humanity, that they might be united with God. As such, Pachomius tried to draw out, not just a life he would prefer, or a life that monks would prefer, but a communal life meant to make plain the double commitment to God and neighbor that is the call of every Christian. Pachomius was attracted and devoted to the hermit tradition, with its emphasis on solitude with God. His efforts were not meant to correct or repudiate that solitude, but rather to found a place where such solitude might find expression in community. It is telling that the term “cenobitic monasticism” might reasonably be translated as “being alone, together.”
Pachomius wrote the first communal monastic rule, and in this rule, he was remarkably lenient. It is easy to think the life of monks, or of sainthood more generally, is a life of rigidity, unyielding devotion to a particular pattern of life. But this was not the understanding Pachomius had. He was aware that some would need more solitude, while others would need more communal support, and his rule and governance might be summed up in the form of a question: How will you pray your life? For some, this meant frequent gathering for prayer and shared meals. For others, this mean solitude in a cell, with simple food brought to them. This flexibility was a way for Pachomius to live out the live of a saint, and encourage others to do so, not by following a programmed list of rules, but by putting on the mind of Christ, a life of discerning prayer, responding to the living God.
Questions for Reflection
Pachomius first encountered Christianity through the compassionate actions of Christians toward him when he was conscripted into the military.
Have you ever experienced a transformative moment through someone’s unexpected kindness?
How can you be a witness of Christ’s love to others, especially those who may feel isolated?
Pachomius founded cenobitic monasticism, where monastics live together in community but also have time for solitude.
How can you cultivate both community and solitude in your life?
How do these two aspects of the spiritual life help you love God and your neighbor more fully?
