Pimen of Palestine

Holy Venerable Pimen of Palestine was a hermit of the sixth century who lived in a cave in the desert of Rouba. The holy fathers Sophronius and John speak of him in chapter 167 of the Limonarion (the Spiritual Meadow).

One winter the monk Agathonicus came to him for guidance and stayed the night in a neighbouring cave. In the morning he said that he had suffered terribly from the cold. Venerable Pimen answered that he too had been unclothed but had not felt the frost, because a lion had come to him, lain down beside him and warmed him. Then he added that he would be eaten by beasts, for a sin of his youth: when he lived in the world and kept sheep, a man had passed by his flock and his dogs had torn him to pieces, and he, though able to save him, had not done so. It had been revealed to him that he himself would die in the same way.

So it came to pass. After three years it became known that the holy hermit Pimen had been torn apart by beasts, at the end of the sixth century. He is commemorated on 9 September, in the new style.