Thursday, August 27, 2009

Today is the feast of St. Poemen (Pastor), Hermit


St. Poemen lived in the fourth/fifth century and is sometimes called by the Latin form of his name: Pastor. Together with a few of his brothers, he embraced the eremitical life in the Egyptian desert of Skete in the abandoned temple of Terenuth.
Under Poemen’s rule, during the night the hermits slept for four hours, worked for four hours and chanted the office for four hours. By day they worked until noon, read until three, and did chores for the rest of the time.
Poemen became one of the most famous of the desert fathers, noted for his sayings, such as: “Silence is not a virtue when charity calls for speech” and “A living faith consists in thinking little of self and showing consideration for others.” He died about the year 450.

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