him a visit. Arriving at the gate of her brother's monastery,
she inquired after him. Pakhom sent her the following
message with the doorkeeper: "Sufficient unto you to know
that I am well. Search your heart diligently; if you feel
inclined towards the service of God, tell me and I will ask the
builders among the brethren to build a convent for you. I
trust that many will come and share your life. Thus will you
be the means for their salvation". Mary pondered these
words and was moved to accept them. Thereupon St.
Pakhom built for her a convent in the vicinity of Tabennisi
near his own monastery. Those who flocked to her were
many, and the same regulations were laid for them as for the
monks. A special dress was designed for them. Rules for
cooperation between the monks and nuns were laid down. If
the nuns needed new cells, the brethren built them for them;
and if the brethren needed new clothes or the repair of old
ones, the sisters sewed them, and soon St. Pakhom assigned
an old father, deeply knowledgeable in spiritual matters, to
be the father-confessor for the nuns.
- The mystic teachings of St: Pakhom are expressed
clearly in the following excerpts. One day the brethren
eagerly sought him and asked him to explain how it is that
God grants to some the power to perform miracles. He
straightway answered: "Do not think that performing
miracles is a wonder – the real wonder is to perform miracles
in the realm of the spirit. For, if you lead an idol-worshipper
t the knowledge of Christ, you have resuscitated the dead; if
you win a heretic to Orthodoxy you have opened the eyes of
the blind; if you cause an evil person to repent you have
healed a cripple; if you transform a miser into a generous
person you have cured a withered hand; and if you
transfigure a bad-tempered lout into a gentleman you have