09 May - Pacôme de Tabennèse or Pacôme le Grand, born in Thebaid around the year 292, and died around 9 May 348, is generally considered to be the founder of Christian cenobitism, that is, of religious life lived in common.

In contrast to Paul of Thebes and Anthony, Pacôme was born around 292 in a village near Kenèh, at Kenoboskion (now Nag Hammadi) in Upper Egypt, which knows little about the Greek world. Pacôme, who speaks only Coptic, is of modest origin and raised in paganism. At the age of twenty, he was forcibly enlisted in Constantine's imperial armies against the Persians. Around 314, demobilized and destitute, he was taken in by Christians in Thebes. The pagan that he was, deeply touched by the charity and attention of Christians towards those who suffered, converted to Christianity and received baptism.

Around 317, he withdrew to the desert and sought religious initiation in the school of Palemon (Palamos in Greek texts), an anchorite. After studying seven years at Palémon, Pacôme began to lead the life of a hermit with Anthony the Great until, according to legend, he heard a voice in the village of Tabennese telling him to found a convent there. Encouraged by Palémon, he founded his first community with three companions around 320. Many candidates presented themselves. A few houses and an oratory are built, all surrounded by a wall, the monastery of Tabennese, on a bank of the Nile, between the great and small Diospolis (Thebaid). It is a double monastery: Pacôme's sister, Mary, founded a community of women on the opposite bank. Around Tabennese, which brings together several hundred disciples, Pacôme founds between six and nine monasteries, depending on the sources.

Pacôme is a good organizer. His monks are grouped together - about twenty members - under the direction of an attendant, assisted by a second. They live under the same roof, do the same work (tailor, tanner, scribe, farmer, etc.), obey the attendant and observe a common agenda. Each group has its own pavilion.

According to tradition, they receive a monastic rule directly from an angel. His rule, first written in Coptic, is quickly translated into Greek, Syriac and then into Latin by St. Jerome. This does not prevent him from modifying it according to circumstances and needs. But the main features of the cenobitic religious life are already to be found there:

the admission of recruits is preceded by an examination (Pacôme took care of it himself) ;

• a trial period is prescribed during which the candidate learns to read and write (novitiate);
• the habit is uniform, it is that of the simple people of the country;;
•  all possessions are pooled;
• no monk could be a priest, and if the candidate is already a priest, he will be treated like the others; ;
• meals are taken in common, with prescribed fasting days ;
• common prayer, morning and evening. Divine service (Opus Dei) in common on Sundays and feast days  ;
•  Strict obedience to the group attendants and to the convent superiors, with Pacôme retaining supreme authority.

This realization of community life contrasted with the charismatic and disordered aspect of the anchorites. It had great repercussions both in the East and in the West. In the fifth century, Jerome translated Pacôme's rule into Latin.

Contenu soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA. Source : Article Pacôme le Grand de Wikipédia en français (auteurs)