Pachomius christopher
- A new perspective on Pachomius, generally perceived to be the founder of coenobitic monasticism, and his religious community – the koinonia.
- On May 9th, the Coptic Church commemorates one of the great early monastic patriarchs, a native Egyptian called Pachom, whose name is Latinized as Pachomius.
- The article seeks to reassess and contextualise the conversion narrative of the Egyptian monk Pachomius, the founder of coenobitic monasticism.
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On May 9th, the Coptic Church commemorates one of the great early monastic patriarchs, a native Egyptian called Pachom, whose name is Latinized as Pachomius. He was one of the most influential figures on the organization of monastic life in the 4th century; this is true even in the West, (where his feast has only been kept very rarely), since St Benedict adopted many of his ideas into his Rule.
Pachomius was born in 292 to a pagan family in the Thebaid, the Roman province which had formerly been the kingdom of Upper Egypt, with its capital at Thebes, the modern city of Luxor. At the age of twenty, he was conscripted into the Roman army, and sent up the Nile with other conscripts under miserable conditions. When the boat stopped at Latopolis (the modern Esnah), the local Christians came out to take care of them, and Pachomius was so impressed by their kindness that he determined to embrace their faith as soon as he was able. When his unit was disbanded, he returned to his native place, a village called Khenoboskion where there was a Christian church, was accepted as a catechumen, a- •
The Conversion of Pachomius Revisited
See f. ex. the still palpable impact of the focus on asceticism in: L.M. Farag, Monasticism.Living Scripture and Theological Orthodoxy in: L.M. Farag, The Coptic Christian Heritage. History, Faith and Culture, London 2013, 116-131; S. Richter, Vom mönchischen Leben. Entwicklungslinien des Mönchtums in Ägypten in: W. Boochs (ed.), Geschichte und Geist der koptischen Kirche, Langwaden 2004, 131-149 reprinted in: H. Behlmer (ed.), Christen in Ägypten, Wiesbaden 2015, 25-41; K.S. Frank, Geschichte des christlichen Mönchtums, 6th Edition, Darmstadt 2010, 20-34. K. Heussi, Der Ursprung des Mönchtums, Tübingen 1936, V. H.-J. Derda, Vita Communis. Studien zur Geschichte einer Lebensform in Mittelalter und Neuzeit, Cologne 1992, 5ff.
In addition Derek Krueger has made the valid point that writing hagiography should be seen as an act of religious devotion, ascetical practice and humility, exemplified in our case by the fact that all authors of the different Pachomian vitae chose to remain anonymous. D.
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