Rule of St. Pachomius

[Stone]

PART III

And again a third ordinance. First of all it is not befitting that on the holy hill there should be any quarreling and clamor and crying aloud; and if any one does this, let his penance be to the eighth day, and let him prostrate himself each day three hundred times. And if any one [leaves] from among the association, while it is on the mountain, and going out of the house of the association eats without being sick or without permission of his teacher, let his penance be with bread and water for ten days and let him prostrate himself two hundred times each day. And whoever does not awaken at the time of midnight and does not go into the church with the brethren, except on account of a certain sickness, let him prostrate himself one thousand times, and on that evening he shall not taste any broth and shall not drink anything except water alone. And whoever during the days while they are on the mountain does not come to church at the time of the ninth hour [3 P.M.], with him they shall do in a like manner. And if any one causes contention and controversy and altercation and quarreling after supper or after breakfast, let his penance be ten days, and they shall deny him the Holy Supper. And if any one among the brethren curses another, naming him by the generation of his birth from which he arose—for this is a great error in the house of the holy ones, for the Lord has showed me concerning this deed, that it will be judged with fire and brimstone—on this account, I say, he shall fast forty days, and shall prostrate himself five hundred times each day, and his fast shall be with bread and water, and he shall not receive the holy supper, and they shall not at all make it easy for him, for he has separated and scattered the sheep of Christ’s fold.

And if any among the brethren goes in to his rest they shall absolve him from his sins on that day at the time of the incense, and on the fortieth day all the holy ones shall assemble themselves at the time of sleeping in the church, and the priests and the deacons and all the holy men shall divide out the incense, and they shall prostrate themselves for him that is dead according to the measure of their powers, and they shall shed their tears upon the incense and shall burn the incense remaining awake all the night; for I have found where it says: “He will be like a child when he stands before his Creator”; and to those that pray it will be a great reward.

And if there is any one who accumulates a possession, even to a needle, without his teacher knowing it, then let his penance be fifty days threefold with fasting with water and bread; but the possession itself they shall hand over to the association, and his prostrating shall be increased to two hundred times.

And concerning this thing, that the Lord in heaven showed to me the doings of the lost ones and others like them; and I saw five associations of evil ones, one association of hyenas, a second association of dogs, a third association of wolves, a fourth association of shakals, a fifth association of goats. And again he showed me five other associations of good ones, one association of sheep, a second association of doves, a third association of turtle-doves, a fourth association of bees, and a fifth association of deer. And I said to him; “Explain to me the first ones.” And he said to me: “Hear with the ears of thy heart.” Those that are like the hyenas which thou hast seen are those monks who abide with their brethren of the association as far as their names are concerned, but their actions are like those of the hyena. They spend the day fasting with the holy brethren, and in the evening, at the time for sleeping, instead of the watch of the night, they go forth in the darkness like a hyena. And they go into the cloister of the nuns for the desire of their bellies and filling themselves they tear to pieces the poor sheep of Christ and knowingly they commit fornication with a woman that is a monk like themselves, and through her they ensnare the ship of their souls eternally, and the wing of their monasticism is broken. Woe to him, if he does not turn in repentance: praised be Christ who has given repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And again the association of dogs which thou hast seen are those monks who, while they abide in the association, accumulate possessions for themselves, be they great or small, be they strings for musical instruments or shoemakers’ awl or a needle without the permission of their teachers. And they are like dogs, for a dog does not leave anything that he finds, whether offal or a mouse or a grasshopper or any worms: there is nothing that he casts aside. But these monks, on account of their actions, are like the dogs.

And further, those that thou hast seen as an association of wolves are those monks who spend the day in hunting after words, cutting with the knives of their tongues the flesh of their neighbor, like the wolves, by associating words together against their teachers or against their neighbors. As a wolf barks and calls his companions to kill animals, thus these kill the souls of men with their tongues. And on this account they are similar to the picture of wolves; and blessed is the man who is able to withdraw himself from this judgment which we have mentioned.

And the association of the shakals are those monks who are similar as associates, both outwardly and inwardly, to shakals, and they eat alone, and the shakals too have the habit of eating alone everything that they find, and do not associate in eating, for they are insatiable in their eating. And thus are these monks: there are some who eat in going out of the association house, and there are some who eat before they enter the association house, for themselves alone and each one with his beloved Satan. And on this account they are similar to the picture of unclean shakals. And I said to him who appeared to me: “My Lord, to what point does all this insatiable appetite of the flesh lead?” And he said to me: “Verily, I say unto thee, exceedingly heavy will be their judgment. Woe to that monk who is caught in this wicked net, if he die without repentance.”

And the association of goats are monks and members of an association who see their fellow-monks doing wrong and follow their footsteps, like goats when a panther comes and seizes one of them, they all go to that rapacious panther and he destroys all the goats. And thus too these monks are not on their guard when they see the murder of their neighbor by Satan, their enemy. And when they see a fornicator, they commit fornication like them; and when a calumniator, they join in with his evil work; and when they are present at the neglect of fasting or anything else. And on this account they are similar to the goats; they are like sinners. And I hearing this, was astonished on account of it; and I said to him: “Explain to me the second five associations.”

And he said to me, Hear with the ear of wisdom and rejoice on their account. And these first, who are similar to sheep, are those monks of the associations who eat together, without separating from each other, with love [for each other] like one soul. And during prayer and the Holy Supper and baptism and during all the good doings they are associated without separation, like the sheep. And thus too it is the habit of the sheep that they eat together, and also when they go down to drink water or to pasture, they do not separate each for himself, but are together in all their wanderings. And these monks are similar to the sheep also in the association of the walk. But sheep have also another habit: when they see a panther seizing one of them, they scatter each for himself, and the murderer does not meet with them. Thus these holy ones, when they see one monk of their companions either in fornication or in boasting or in haughtiness or in slander, they are on their guard that the murderer of souls does not seize them. And thus thou seest these holy and white sheep of the Gospel. Blessed are they who follow this part.

And again like doves are those monks of the associations, gentle as a dove, with knowledge and wisdom and love for their neighbor: those who revile and slander them, they love like their own souls. For the doves fly very easily, and these holy ones make their wings easy in the beauty of their deeds as monks. For it is related of the doves, that when their young are taken away, they are not desirous of vengeance; and thus these, although they know everything, do not take vengeance on men. And on this account thou seest them in the similarity of easy-flying doves; and while they are in the flesh, they fly with the white wings of the spirit.

And again those whom thou seest in the similarity of turtle-doves, these too are an association of monks: priests and deacons and psalm-singers and holy ones who sing with a sweet voice and pleasant manner, without any haughtiness or glorying: in spiritual humility, with fear and trembling and flowing of tears, they sit singing psalms in the Christian Church to the honor of the Creator, until they perspire. And on this account they are like turtle-doves, for the voice of the turtle-dove is sweet; and on this account the bride says through the mouth of Solomon, the prophet: The voice of a turtle-dove is heard in our land. And on this account these are similar to this picture. Blessed are the priests who follow this part.

And those again who are like the bees are monks belonging to the associations, wise as bees. And as a bee gathers honey out of all flowers, thus these sit collecting the deeds of righteousness from the struggles of the saints. And on this account they are similar to the bees.

And further those in the similarity of deer, are those monks of the associations who constantly serve with running like the deer without fatigue, be it for the Church or for the association house or for the house of the Lord, but not for the house of man. For our Lord himself in the Gospel: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst. And not then will the words of Christ be made false, for the Saviour is thus not separated from the midst of the association. May it be very well with you, O brethren, with the Creator, all the days of your lives. And he who serves inside of the house and outside does not serve man, but serves God; and he who stands at table time near the holy ones, does not stand for them, but for the Son of the Father, the Head of the association, who is in their midst. To his remembrance belong honor and glory and worship. Blessed are ye, my children. If ye observe this [ordinance] and do it, ye will find my voice on that day at the narrow portal during the terrible judgment. And he, the Lord, will aid you to do this commandment, to whom be glory to all eternity, Amen.