By Fr. George Dorbarakis
If Saint Anthony the Great is rightly regarded as the father of eremitic monasticism, then Saint Pachomios the Great is regarded as the father of cenobitic monasticism. He was the one who, for the first time in the early Christian centuries, founded a cenobitic monastery — not because he merely had such a brilliant idea on his own, but because the Lord Himself, through His angel, enlightened him to undertake this work, even guiding him concerning the outward form the monks should wear. “You were shown to be the leader of the flock of the Chief Shepherd, leading the flocks of monks, Father Pachomios, to the heavenly fold, and having been initiated from there into the proper habit for ascetics, you also initiated others into it” (Apolytikion). “You became the lawgiver and leader of ascetics, Pachomios, bringing them to Christ, all-praised one” (Ode 3). “For through a vision, all-wise Father, you were divinely instructed to build training grounds of virtue” (Ode 4). “By divine command, O wise one, you were initiated by the Angel into the wise ordinances of the ascetics” (Ode 8).
What was it that caused God to choose Pachomios for such a great work of spiritual leadership? First of all, of course, his great virtue. Saint Theophanes, the hymnographer of his Canon, especially draws our attention to this point: the Saint himself tasted within his heart the sweetness and refreshment of the grace of God after his baptism — “Like a deer you ran toward the water, O holy one, and having been sprinkled with holy baptism, you received the dew by which your heart was sweetened” (Ode 3). From that moment on, he struggled to preserve and increase this grace through the fervent eros of dispassion in Christ — that is, through his longing for the Lord, revealed by his keeping of the holy commandments. This love for Christ made him live a life of self-restraint and gave him such spiritual wings that he tasted directly from God His great illumination. “Consumed, Father, by the fervent eros of dispassion, you withered the material causes of the passions, Pachomios, and flying with the wings of love, O all-blessed one, you reached the very fountain of the radiant light of divinity” (Ode 1). “Being pierced by longing for the Master, you quenched the weakness of the flesh through self-control” (Ode 4). “Strengthening your mind through the keeping of the commandments, Pachomios, you dried up the stirring of the flesh by your self-restraint” (Ode 5).
Yet the great virtue of the man was not enough in itself for the specific work of bearing such immense responsibility in guiding souls. We have countless saints who, although holy, were not called by God to leadership. This is because besides virtue there must also exist a special natural gift of leadership. In other words, when God calls someone to a particular work, He also “measures,” one could say, his natural gifts. Not everyone is suited for everything. This is essentially what the Apostle Paul says when he distinguishes the various gifts given by God: one is an apostle, another a prophet, another a teacher, another a wonderworker, another a helper of people. Pachomios, therefore, besides his virtue, clearly possessed by nature the gift of leadership. He had a strong will, the ability to open new paths and guide people. And this was confirmed humanly by the results themselves. “You became an excellent helmsman of the monastic order, Pachomios” (Ode 4).
Saint Pachomios therefore made use of his natural gift by becoming obedient to the command of God. He kept God’s commandments throughout his life and pleased Him. “Both by your teaching and by your way of life, by your deeds and by your faith, you pleased Christ God” (Doxastikon of Vespers). His very life became the exact rule for monks, meaning that not only his teaching — thoroughly Orthodox, of course — but above all his life itself became the example for his monks. Thus he also gives us the model of the true leader, especially the ecclesiastical leader. Saint Theophanes forcefully emphasizes all these dimensions: “Your life, O God-bearing and all-blessed Pachomios, became the most exact rule for monks” (Ode 4). “Having an Orthodox phronema, all-blessed one, you proclaimed the thrice-numbered Unity as the consubstantial Trinity. And you taught the awesome incarnation of the Word, praising the Ever-Virgin as the Mother of God” (Ode 7).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
