The ecumenical monastery of Bose, Italy, is devoting its 32nd International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, which begins tomorrow, to the theme of “Abba Pachomius, at the Origins of Community Life.” The Vatican newspaper described the annual gathering as among the most significant of its kind.
St. Pachomius (c. 290-346) wrote the earliest extant rule for monks. The monastery stated that the saint’s significance “lies not so much in the simple fact of having brought monks together in a communal life, but rather in having created a complex structure that encompassed multiple monasteries, both male and female, subject to a single common rule, and in having developed a spiritual discipline founded on obedience to the Scriptures, which emphasized the value of charity, shared responsibility, vigilance, mutual forgiveness, and fraternal service.”