number of these solitaires persisted in following their chosen
path, became saints and outlived a century!
Out of their experience, the men who subsequently
sought to perfect themselves learned that they could reach
their goal just as well by living within the vicinity of one
another. Each could live in a separate cell, and spend his
days in silent contemplation, yet his soul could benefit by the
proximity of others seeking the same perfection. They
clustered, therefore, round the souls of such masters as St.
Antoni, St. Macari and their compeers. This second stage in
the history of asceticism came to be known as "the Antanian
Monasticism".
The third and final stage in the evolution of this
phenomena of consecration was that of communal life. Its
system and regulations were instituted by Pakhom who
earned the titles of Father of Cenobitism, and ‘the Great’.
- Born of pagan parents in one of the southerly towns
of Upper Egypt (ca. 290 A.D.), Pakhom was conscripted
into the army at the age of twenty by Emperor Constantine.
During one of the long toilsome marches in which he and his
fellow conscripts had received very little food and drink, a
group of kindly, charitable people of the town of Latopolis
(present town of Esnah in the province of Aswan) came out
with quantities of food and water, and personally served the
conscripts. Surprised that such acts of mercy were being
shown towards utter strangers, Pakhom was curious to know
the reason. He was told that they were Christians who were
merely practicing the injunctions of their Lord, Jesus Christ.
Hearing of this, Pakhom said to himself: "If this be the way
Christians behave, I would like to be a Christian" and then
and there he made a secret pledge that if he returned safely
from war, he would seek to know and serve this Lord called
the Christ.