July: Day 18: Teaching 2: Venerable Pambo

July: Day 18: Teaching 2:
Venerable Pambo
 
(Is It Possible To Please God Equally With Virtues That Are Different From One Another?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In the days of Venerable Pambo, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today, there lived in Egypt two brothers: Paisios and Isaiah, who were the children of rich parents. After the death of the latter, Paisios and Isaiah, having divided a large inheritance between them, said to each other: "What kind of life should we choose?" And in a general council they decided to choose the monastic life. So one of them distributed his property to the poor, monasteries and churches, then went into the desert and there spent his time in solitude in fasting and prayer. The other built a monastery, arranged a hospice and a hospital near it, and gave rest to all the pilgrims who came, served the sick, and fed the poor. Several years passed and both brothers died. After their death, among the monks who knew the brothers, a dispute arose regarding which of the brothers pleased God more. Some said that it was the hermit, while others praised the other more for having founded a monastery and serving the poor, the stranger, and the sick.

Failing to reach an agreement, the monks turned to the Venerable Pambo and asked him which of the brothers led a life more pleasing to God and which of them received a greater reward. Pambo replied: "Both have received equal reward; for the hospitable man resembled the Righteous Abraham, and the hermit resembled the Prophet Elijah, and both equally pleased God." However, this answer did not satisfy the monks, and they continued to debate. Seeing the useless contention among them and wishing to put an end to it, the Venerable Pambo finally said to the disputants: "Cease your arguing, brothers, until I receive a revelation from God regarding which of the brothers is more pleasing to Him. When I receive the message, I will inform you." Several days passed, and the monks came to Pambo, demanding an answer about the brothers. Pambo told them: "I bear witness before God that I have seen both brothers — Paisios and Isaiah — standing together in Paradise." After this, the monks ceased their dispute and glorified God.

II. We hope that after this you will agree with us, brethren, that even by virtues differing from one another it is possible to please God equally, if only these virtues are performed out of love for God, with a pure and simple heart, with the sole aim that the glory of God may flow from them. The example mentioned, as we have seen, confirms this truth in its very deeds. One brother lived in the desert, pleasing God with prayer and fasting; the other served his neighbors, and in the end both received an equal reward from God. Therefore, when you serve God with a virtue known to be preferential, do not think that he who pleases God with another virtue will receive a greater reward than you, but that the motives for the virtue you perform are pure in you and that its goal is only the glory of God. And when you think and act in this way, then even one virtue of yours will have value in the eyes of God and it may well be that it will bring you a reward equal even to those who please God with many virtues. Thus, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus says: “And one virtuous deed, performed with all possible perfection and with all fervor, sometimes elevated a person to the greatest holiness. Thus, the merciful and faithful Rahab (Josh. 6:16) achieved the greatest prosperity for the fact that she only once showed hospitality to some Israelites, but showed it with the greatest diligence.” This means that God looks primarily at the motives with which this or that virtue is performed, and at the zeal in its performance. And therefore, with different virtues one can equally please God and receive an equal reward from Him for different virtues.

III. Through the prayers of Venerable Pambo, may the Lord, through His ineffable love for mankind, grant us to serve Him in this life of ours by at least one virtue, especially by Christian mercy, so that we may be deemed worthy of eternal life. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.