Poemen the Great

Venerable Poemen the Great was one of the Desert Fathers of Egypt and the most often quoted abba in the Apophthegmata Patrum, the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. He was born in Egypt around 340 and died around 450, at about a hundred and ten years of age. His name means "shepherd" in Greek, and in the memory of the Church he remains above all a gentle and wise spiritual father. He is commemorated on 27 August by the old calendar, which is 9 September by the new.

The hermit of Scetis

From his youth Poemen felt a longing for the secluded life and drew his two brothers with him; together they went to the desert of Scetis, one of the first centers of monasticism. The story of their life says that his renunciation of the world was so complete that he refused to see their mother, who had come to look for her sons at their small monastery. Only at the urging of his brothers did he come to the door behind which she stood and say to her, "Mother, which do you prefer: to see us here on earth or there in eternity? If you bear the separation now generously, you will surely see us in the life to come." The mother replied that if she was sure to see them there, she did not wish to see them here, and went away comforted. Later he also refused to receive the governor of the region, who wished to meet him, because he thought that if great men began to come, many of the common people would disturb his solitude and he would be in danger of losing his humility.

In 407 Scetis was overrun by raiders and the monks were scattered. Poemen, together with Anoub and a handful of monks, fled to Terenuthis on the Nile and lived at first in an abandoned pagan temple. These raids were a turning point for desert monasticism, and the dispersal led to the keeping of the wisdom of the community of Scetis: Poemen's group created the bulk of the Apophthegmata Patrum.

The shepherd

Poemen was more a wise shepherd than a stern ascetic. He was known for his tolerance of the weakness of others. When some elders asked him what to do about the brothers who fall asleep during prayer, whom they wished to wake, he said that when he sees a brother dozing, he puts the brother's head on his knees and lets him rest. He was not for harsh penances; for a monk who had committed a "great sin" he reduced the penance from three years to three days. He taught more by example than by speech. To a visiting monk who asked whether he should take authority over the brothers he lived with, he answered, "No, be their example, not their legislator."

Among his sayings are these: if we cover the sins of our brothers, God will cover ours, and when you see a brother sinning, do not trust your eyes, for your sins are like a beam and his like a splinter; malice never destroys malice, but if someone does you evil, do him good, and your good will overcome his malice. He also said that a man may seem silent, but if his heart condemns others, he is babbling without ceasing, and that a brother living among brothers must be like a stone pillar: insult must not anger him, nor praise lift him up.

Veneration

It is believed that his gift of memory preserved many of the stories of the Apophthegmata, which are recollections of his time at Scetis. A later Coptic writer, Zacharias of Sakha, believed that Poemen himself wrote, and some scholars consider him only a generic desert abba. Of the collection of about a thousand sayings, about a quarter belong to him. The Church commemorates him on 27 August by the old calendar.