Saint Pachomius was born in Egypt around the year 292 and encountered Christ through the kindness of Christians who brought food to him and other conscripted soldiers. After his baptism he became a hermit, then founded a monastery at Tabennisi on the Nile, becoming the father of communal monastic life. He wrote one of the first monastic rules, and by his death on May 9, 348, thousands of monks lived in the communities he founded.
Pachomius shows how one act of kindness from strangers can change a whole life, and how faith grows best when it is shared and lived together. He teaches us that ordinary daily life, done with love and side by side with others, can become a path to holiness.
Lord, as Saint Pachomius gathered your children into communities of prayer, gather us close to you and to one another, and keep those we love in your peace. Amen.Enter today’s Mass → All saints →