SS. Isidore and Pambo

We join these two together, and give them a place immediately after St. Macarius, with whom, as we have seen above, they are joined by St. Jerome, as having been inspired by the Holy Ghost, and the most eminent in their days amongst the fathers of the deswts; with whom also, as well as with the otber St Macarius, they are celebrated by all our church histo rians, for the brave stand they made against the Avian heresy, under Valens the emperor; — the persecutions they suffered on this occasion, — the emin^ce of their sanctity; — and finally, on account of the great signa and wonders which God wrought by them. They were each of them, for some time, disciples of St. An tony, and afterwards on account of their extraordinary virtues and merits, advanced to the priestly dignity and made chief superiors; Isidore of the relfgious of the desert of Scete, and Pambo of those of mount Nitria.

It is recorded of St. Isidore, that he received so sin gular a grace from God, and had so great a power and authority over evil spirits, that whenever any possessed persons were brought to him, they never failed to be delivered, even before they reached the door of his cell. The brethren having asked him one day, what could be the reason why the devils were so much afraid of him; he alledged no other, than that from the time of his entering into religion he had made it his constant endeavor not to suffer the passion of anger to rise up so high as to reach his tongue. As a proof of his zeal for suppressing in himself the least emotion to this passion, we are informed by an ancient writer, that having one day carried some little baskets to *narket for sale, upon meeting there with some provocation, which began to excite in his heart emotions 01 anger and wrath, he immediately flung down his bas kets, and ran back as fast as he could to the wilderness. By this diligence in watching against, and sup pressing all the irregular motions and suggestions of his passions, and by the aid of incessant prayer, he attained so great a mastery over himself as to acknow ledge one day, to the greater glory of God, that fof the space of forty years, though he had often experienced the motions and suggestions of sin, he was not conscious to himself that he had ever given his voluntary consent, either to an irregular desire or the least emotion of wrath.

From his first entering into religion, instead of set ting himself a task, as many did, of reciting daily a certain number of psalms or prayers, he chose rather to pray, without ceasing, night and day; and yet he was always so great a lover of manual labor, that after he was grown very old he could not be prevailed upon to give over working even at night; and when the brethren, upon these occasions, would sometimes beg that he would afford himself a little more rest, he re plied, that all he could do or suffer was nothing in comparison of what the Son of God had done and suffered for him, and he therefore thought he could never do nor suffer enough for the love of his Saviour. He one day addressed himself thus to the assembly *f the Solitaries of Scete: " Have we not retired hither, my brethren, in order to suffer many labors and pains in the body, by the means of which we may merit everlasting rest for our souls in heaven; and yet how little do we suffer here at present? For my part I think of taking my sheep-skin, and seeking some other place, where I may f.nd something more to suffer." This he said, because at this time the number of those that resorted to this desert gave occasion to the introducing of certain conveniences of life, and some better accommodations than they had been accustomed to in the beginning, when they were in a manner quite destitute of every thing.

" It is also recorded as a maxim of St. Isidore, " That the whole science of the Saints consists in knowing and following the will of God; because then only can a man be perfect indeed, when raising him self above all other things he subjects himself to the eternal Truth and Justice. For since man was made after the image and likeness of God, who is that same eternal Truth and Justice, he cannot expect to meet with either perfection or happiness, only in a conformity with his divine original. On the other hand, he said, that the most dangerous of all temptations was to follow the suggestions of our own hearts and thoughts, instead of the will of God; — that the plea sure which a man pretends to find in the gratification of his own inclinations is quickly changed into bitterness, and leaves nothing behind but the regret of hav- \n<r been ignorant of the secret of true beatitude, and of the way of the Saints. From whence he concludes, that the true way to happiness consists in being willing to labor and take pains in the service of the Lord, tno in patiently suffering the short tribulations of this life, in order to secure the eternal salvation of OUT souls."

This Saint had also a special talent from God of healing the spiritual maladies of the religious when any of them were diseased in their souls; insomuch that whenever it happened that the other superiors were for dismissing any of their subjects, on account of negligence, sloth fulness, impatience, passion, or other defects, he desired they might be brought to him: when, by treating them with his usual charity, humility, and patience, he generally brought them to a right sense of their duty, and in time cured them effectually of all their vices and faults of what kind soever.

When Theophilus was made patriarch of Alexan dria, anno 385, St. Isidore went thither to pay him a visit. On his return from thence to the wilderness, the brethren enquired of him, what news he brought from the city? " I have seen nobody there," he re plied, " but the patriarch." Being much surprised at his answer, they asked him, " What then was become of the inhabitants of that great city? Surely," said they, " they are not all swallowed up by an earth quake." This obliged him to explain himself, by let ting them know that he had kept so strict a guard over his eyes, as not to allow them to look upon any one.

St. Isidore departed to our Lord shortly after, in a good old age, though the particular year is not known.

and his name stands recorded in the Roman Martyr ology on the fifteenth of January.

Amongst several great men of the name of Isidore, there was another, a contemporary with our Saint, who was abbot in Thebais, over a thousand monks in great reputation for sanctity, and under such strict en closure that none of them were ever allowed to go out, nor any from abroad permitted to enter the monastery, except he came to remain during life, never more to depart from it. They had gardens and wells within their own enclosure; and when there was a necessity of any thing from abroad, two of the an cients were deputed to provide such necessaries, all the rest attending only to their regular exercises.

But to come to St. Pambo: it is recorded of him, that being in his younger days a disciple of St. An tony, he desired his master to instruct him in the most efficacious manner of saving his soul; St. An tony told him, that in order to do this, he must be careful to do true penance for his sins; — that he must never place any confidence whatsoever in his own righteousness; — that he must always endeavor to act in such manner, as to never after have any occasion to repent of what he had done; — and that in particular he must labour to put a restraint as well upon Lis tongue as upon his appetite.

In those days he also applied himself to another of the religious to be instructed in some of the psalins,

This brother began with the thirty-eighth Psalm: 1 said I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; which words Pambo had no sooner heard, but without waiting for the second verse, he retired to his cell, saying, it was enough for one les son, and that he would go and endeavor to learn it in practice. Six months afterwards the brother, finding that he did not apply to him for any more lessons, asked him the reason why he staid away so long from him. 0 brother, said he, I have not yet perfectly learnt to practice the first verse which you taught me. Many years after this, one of his friends asked, if he had not now at least learnt his lesson? To whom he replied, that it was with much difficulty he could yet reduce it to practice, notwithstanding his nineteen years application. However, by his perpetual attention not to offend in his words, he arrived at length at so great perfection in this particular, that he is thought in this to have equalled if not excelled St. Antony himself. When any one consulted him, either upon any passage of the scripture, or any other spiritual matter, he never would answer upon the spot, but desired time to consider of it. Sometimes he employed whole months on these occasions in examining before God what answer he should give; but then, the answers he returned carried with them so much weight, and were so holy, that they were receiv- «nl by all like oracles dictated by heaven.

St. Pambo did not* continue always x.Kh ^. An tony; but leaving Thebais, he took up i'^ il>oda, either in the desert of Scete, as some say, or 'n thai of Nitria, where he had a monastery on Ilia niountain. He was also for some time in the wi/de/p.esa of the Cells, where, Rufinus says, he went to receive hi/ benediction, anno 374. As to his exterior practices, St. Pemen used to relate, that he had remarked three things in St. Pambo, which he judged to be very extraordinary, viz. his fasting on all days till the evening, — his continual silence, — and his great diligence in manual labors. He also related that St. Antony had given testimony in favor of St. Pambo, that the fear of God which posssessed his soul, had induced the Spirit of God to take up his resting place with him. The eminent grace of his interior is said to have broke forth and discovered itself in his exterior, by a certain brilliant majesty in his countenance, like what we read of Moses, so that a person could not look steadfastly on his face. He often earnestly beg ged of God, during the space of three years, that he would cease to glorify him in this manner upon earth; but his divine Majesty, instead of attending to his prayers in this particular, chose rather to establish so profound a humility in his soul, as not to be altered or any ways prejudiced by this glory.

St. Athanasius once desired St. Pambo to come from his desert to Alexandria, in order that by th« testimony of so holy a man to the divinity of Jesus Christ he might confound the Arians: upon whicV occasion it is recorded of him, that seeing an actress in that city dressed up in an extraordinary manner for he stage, he wept bitterly: and being asked the rea-on of his tears, he answered that he wept partly for the wretched condition of the soul of that unhappy woman, and partly to think that on his part he did not take so much pains to please God as she took to make herself agreeable to sinful man.

Palladius relates, in the tenth chapter of his Historia Lausiaca, that Melania the elder, a noble Roman lady, on coming into Egypt, and hearing of the sanctity of St. Pambo, went to visit him in his monastery on mount Nitria, taking with her three hundred pounds weight of silver, which she presented to him, desiring he would accept of some part of the store with which God had blessed her. The holy man was sitting at his work making mats when she came in, accompanied with Isidore, the administrator of the hospital of Alexandria; and without interrupting his work, or looking at either her or her present, he contented himself with telling her, God would reward her charity. Then turning to his disciple, he said: " Take this, and distribute it amongst the brethren that are in Lybia and in the islands, whose monasteries are tho most poor of all; but give no part of it to the monas teries of Egypt, because this country is more rich, and abounds more in all things." The lady stood still, expecting that he would give her his benediction, or express at least his esteem for so considerable a present, by word or other sign; but seeing that he went on with his work, without once casting so much as an eye towards the chest of money which she had given him, she said to him: " Father, I do not know whether you are aware that here is three hundred pounds weight of silver?" " Daughter," said he, without once taking off his eye from his work, " he to whom you make this offering, knows very well how much it weighs, without, your telling him. If indeed you had given it to me, you might have had some reason to inform me of its weight; but if you designed it as an offering to God, who did not disdain, but even prefer red the poor widow's two mites before the large offer ings of the rich, do not say any more about it." This passage Melania herself related to Palladius.

When Theophilus was made patriarch of Alexan dria, he went to visit the religious of mount Nitria, who were all assembled on this occasion to do honor to the patriarch. They desired St. Pambo, as their superior, to make some discourse to this prelate, with which liejniglit be edified: the holy abbot, agreeably to his maxims and practice, replied, " If he is not edi fied by my silence, I shall never edify him by my words." The Saint did not long survive this visit: Melania was present at his death, to whom he be-

ST. PAMBO. 21 J queathed, by way of legacy, a basket which he had at that time just finished. When he was near his end, he blessed God, that from the time of his first coming into the wilderness of Nitria, and built himself a cell, he had never been burthensome to any one, having always earned his bread with the labor of his own hands; and that he could not recollect a word he had spoken of which he had afterwards cause to repent: nevertheless, said he, I am now going to the Lord as one that hath not yet begun to serve him. He ex pired without any sickness, pain, or the least fever or agony. Melania took charge of his burial, and carried away the basket he had given her, which she kept till her death.

There was also another abbot Pambo, or rather Pammon, whose monastery was in the neighborhood of Antinoe, greatly esteemed by St. Athanasius, who, together with St. Theodore, the disciple and successor of St. Pachomius, in the monastery of Tabenna, accompanied this Saint when he fled from the persecution of Julian, and who, together with the same St. Theodore, assured him on this occasion, by prophetic light, that his persecutor was now actually slain in Persia, and had for his r5uccessor in the empire one that was a good Christian, but whose reign should be short: all which proved to be actually true. This holy man departed not long after to our Lord, full of years and good works; and St. Athanasius, in a dis< course he made in the great cimrch of Alexandria, in the presence of his own clergy, and of many bishops, has given the most ample testimony of his extraordinary sanctity, declaring that he was indeed a great man of God, and worthy to be compared with St. An tony himself.