From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 9th - St. Pachomius   
      
   Pachomius was the son of pagan parents who was born about the year 292 in   
   Esneh, Egypt. He was forcibly drafted into the emperor's army. While being   
   transported down the Nile under inhuman conditions, he and his fellow   
   draftees were treated with great kindness by the Christians at Esneh. He was   
   greatly impressed by their free gift of compassionate help.   
      
   After the army was disbanded, Pachomius returned home and enrolled as a   
   catechumen in a nearby Christian church. After his baptism he sought a   
   deeper life with God. Hearing of an old hermit named Palaemon who served God   
   in the desert at Schenesit, Pachomius sought him out. With Palaemon, he   
   lived a very austere life, eating only bread and salt and spending all his   
   time reciting the psalter and doing manual labor while praying interiorly.   
      
   Tradition tells us that he was visiting Tabennisi on the banks of the Nile   
   River. It was a vast uninhabited desert area, and he had a vision in which   
   he was told to build a monastery and how to live the religious life. He   
   shared his experience with Palaemon and together they went to Tabennisi and   
   built a cell. This was about the year 318. Palaemon remained with Pachomius   
   for awhile and then returned to his solitary life.   
      
   The first disciple to join Pachomius was his eldest brother John. Many more   
   disciples came and in a short period of time the community numbered over one   
   hundred. Thus was born the first cenobium or monastery which lived the   
   communal life. The cenobium was seen as an answer to the many dangers both   
   physically and spiritually which plagued the desert solitary. Following the   
   example of the early Christian Church, the monks developed a system of   
   complete common ownership of goods. They did manual labor so as to procure   
   the material needs of the monastery. Each monastery was organized under a   
   superior and the monks promised obedience to him. The monks met together for   
   common prayer and meals.   
      
   Pachomius built six other monasteries in the Thebaid. After the year 336, he   
   spent most of his time at the monastery at Pabau, near Thebes which was   
   considered the motherhouse and here he would meet twice a year, at Easter   
   and in August with the superiors of all his monasteries. Pachomius wrote a   
   rule of life for the monks which is still in existence today. Its focus was   
   to provide a legislative guide for the common obligations of the monastery   
   as well as to leave the monk free to choose his own austere practices.   
      
   He built a church for the poor shepherds of the area and often acted as   
   lector, but he could never be induced to accept ordination to the   
   priesthood. He very strongly opposed the Arian heresy and for a period St.   
   Athanasius visited at his monastery. On the opposite side of the Nile he   
   built a convent for his sister, although he never did get to see her.   
      
   Pachomius died on May 15, 348, the victim of an epidemic which had already   
   killed several of his monks. At the time of his death there were over three   
   thousand monks in the nine monasteries that he oversaw.   
      
   Several biographies of Pachomius, some of his instructions and letters of   
   his two successors, Horsiesi and Theodore are still in existence. These give   
   us a greater understanding of Pachomius' ideal and it's development. We can   
   see his effect on Basil of Caesarea, as well as the influence Pachomius'   
   Rule had in the West on Benedict of Nursia, Caesarius of Arles, Benedict of   
   Aniane and others. He is considered the founder of cenobitism and one of the   
   greatest of the Desert Fathers. His feast day is celebrated on May 14th in   
   the Coptic Church and on May 9th in the West.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by   
   which, as by the oil in the lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive"   
    -St. Francis de Sales   
      
   We read of St. Francis Xavier that his brother Jesuits often visited him,   
   only to enjoy his admirable mildness.   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  May - Meekness)   
      
   Bible Quote   
   5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold thy king cometh to thee, meek, and   
   sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke.   
   (Matthew 21:5)   
      
      
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   Psalm 99   
      
   Enter the Temple with joy   
      
   Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth.   
   Exult in his presence and serve him with joy.   
      
   Know that the Lord is God.   
   He made us and we are his - his people,   
   the sheep of his flock.   
      
   Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,   
   fill his courtyards with songs.   
   Proclaim him and bless his name;   
   for the Lord is our delight. His mercy lasts for ever,   
   his faithfulness through all the ages.   
      
   Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,   
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,   
    world without end.   
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)