St. Pachomius

OUR RIGHTEOUS FATHER PACHOMIUS
From “The Life of Pachomius” 4
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Theodore began to tell the brothers of the life of our father Pachomius
from his childhood on and of all the labors he underwent from the beginning
when he established the holy Koinonia. He told them of the temptations of
demons and how he snatched away from them the souls which the Lord gave
him and of the revelations which the Lord disclosed to him. And he told them
everything he had heard from that saint’s mouth as well as those things he had
seen with his own eyes.

He spoke to them as follows:
‘Listen to me, my brothers, and understand well the things I am telling
you. For the man whom we are exalting is truly the father of us all after God.
God established a covenant with him to save a great many souls by means of
him. And us also the Lord has saved through his holy prayers. For he — I am
speaking of our righteous father Pachomius–is also one of the holy people of
God and one who did his will always and everywhere. I am fearful that we may
forget his labors and actually be unmindful of who it was who made this
multitude one spirit and one body. It was accomplished by means of him and
of our other holy fathers who aided him in the establishment of this holy
institution. We believe that the blessing of our father will remain with us and
with those who come after us before God forever. Now then, let us not be
negligent and forget his laws and his commandments, which he gave us while
he was still with us in the body.’

‘Pachomius pursued in its entirety the way of life of the prophets and the
way of service in which, according to the Gospel, our Lord walked. He was
without blame before all, as you yourselves bear witness. You are also not
unaware how he used to teach us frequently with tears, as Paul said in the book
of the Acts of those whom he was teaching. You know how he used to gather us
together daily and speak to us about the holy commandments so that we might
observe each of the commandments in the holy Scriptures of Christ, and how
he used first to put them into practice before giving them to us. It is through
our contact with such a righteous man that we have learned the will of God even
in such details as the manner of stretching our hands upward to the Lord and
how one should pray to God. It is he who taught it to us. Is it not right for us to
bless him next after the Lord who created us? Indeed, did God not say to
Abraham, who had done his will, I will bless him who blesses you and I will
curse him who curses you? Now then, my brothers, let us all say, “Blessed be
God and our righteous father Pachomius who through the labors of his
prayers has become for us a guide to eternal life”‘.

4 Pachomian Koinonia, Vol One, Trans., Armand Veilleux, Kalamazoo, 1980; pp 237-8.