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| Chapter XXX. Of the humility of Abbot Pinufius, who left a very famous Cœnobium over which he presided as Presbyter, and out of the love of subjection sought a distant monastery where he could be received as a novice.
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Chapter XXX.
Of the humility of Abbot Pinufius, who left a very
famous Cœnobium over which he presided as Presbyter, and out of
the love of subjection sought a distant monastery where he could be
received as a novice.
The limits of the book compel
us to draw to a close; but the virtue of obedience, which holds the
first place among other good qualities, will not allow us altogether to
pass over in silence the deeds of those who have excelled by it.
Wherefore aptly combining these two together, I mean, consulting
brevity as well as the wishes and profit of those who are in earnest,
we will only add one example of humility, which, as it was shown by no
novice but one already perfect and an Abbot, may not only instruct the
younger, but also incite the elders to the perfect virtue of humility,
as they read it. Thus we saw Abbot Pinufius789
| 789 Cassian repeats
this story in the Conferences XX. c. i., as an introduction to the
Conference “On the End of Penitence and the Marks of
Satisfaction,” which he gives as the work of the said Abbot
Pinufius. |
who when he was presbyter of a huge Cœnobium which is in Egypt not
far from the city of Panephysis,790
| 790 Panephysis is more
fully described in the Conferences VII. xxvi.; XI. iii. It is mentioned
by Ptolemy (IV. v. § 52), but not by any other ancient writers. It
was situated in the Delta between the Champollion with the modern
Menzaleh. | was held in
honour and respect by all men out of reverence either for his life or
for his age or for his priesthood; and when he saw that for this reason
he could not practise that humility which he longed for with all the
ardour of his disposition, and had no opportunity of exercising the
virtue of subjection which he desired, he fled secretly from the
Cœnobium and withdrew alone into the furthest parts of the
Thebaid, and there laid aside the habit of the monks and assumed a
secular dress, and thus sought the Cœnobium of Tabenna, which he
knew to be the strictest of all, and in which he fancied that he would
not be known owing to the distance of the spot, or else that he could
easily lie hid there in consequence of the size of the monastery and
the number of brethren. There he remained for a long time at the
entrance, and as a suppliant at the knees of the brethren sought with
most earnest prayers to gain admission. And when he was at last with
much scorn admitted as a feeble old man who had lived all his life in
the world, and had asked in his old age to be allowed to enter a
Cœnobium when he could no longer gratify his passions,—as
they said that he was seeking this not for the sake of religion but
because he was compelled by hunger and want, they gave him the care and
management of the garden, as he seemed an old man and not specially
fitted for any particular work. And this he performed under another and
a younger brother who kept him by him as intrusted to him, and he was
so subordinate to him, and cultivated the desired virtue of humility so
obediently that he daily performed with the utmost diligence not only
everything that had to do with the care and management of the garden,
but also all those duties which were looked on by the other as hard and
degrading, and disagreeable. Rising also by night he did many things
secretly, without any one looking on or knowing it, when darkness
concealed him so that no one could discover the author of the deed. And
when he had hidden himself there for three years and had been sought
for high and low by the brethren all through Egypt, he was at last seen
by one who had come from the parts of Egypt, but could scarcely be
recognized owing to the meanness of his dress and the humble character
of the duty he was performing. For he was stooping down and hoeing the
ground for vegetables and bringing dung on his shoulders and laying it
about their roots. And seeing this the brother for a long time
hesitated about recognizing him, but at last he came nearer, and taking
careful note not only of his looks but also of the tone of his voice,
straightway fell at his feet: and at first all who saw it were struck
with the greatest astonishment why he should do this to one who was
looked upon by them as the lowest of all, as being a novice and one who
had but lately forsaken the world: but afterwards they were struck with
still greater wonder when he forthwith announced his name, which was
one that had been well known amongst them also by repute. And all the
brethren asking his pardon for their former ignorance because they had
for so long classed him with the juniors and children, brought him back
to his own Cœnobium, against his will and in tears because by the
envy of the devil he had been cheated out of a worthy mode of life and
the humility which he was rejoicing in having discovered after his long
search, and because he had not succeeded in ending his life in that
state of subjection which he had secured. And so they guarded him with
the utmost care lest he should slip away again in the same sort of way
and escape from them also.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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