Welcome to the final battle of the first full week of Lent Madness XV. Today, it's Mediterranean Mayhem as Pachomius takes on Cyprian of Carthage. Early 4th century Egyptian monk vs. 3rd century martyred African bishop.

Yesterday, Joseph of Arimathea re-buried Lazarus (for the third time!) 72% to 28%.

We do hope you survive the weekend without us. But we'll be back bright and early Monday morning as the Round of 32 continues as Adomnan of Iona faces Joseph Vaz.

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Pachomius

Pachomius was born in the late third century in upper Egypt to pagan parents. When he was a young man, he was conscripted to serve in the Roman army. Conscripts were housed in prison-like conditions. While essentially imprisoned, Pachomius and his fellow conscripts were tended to by Christians (apparently they took Jesus’s exhortation in Matthew 25 to look after prisoners seriously).

The care provided by Christians grabbed Pachomius’s attention and he vowed to learn more about their strange faith when his military service ended.

After his release from the Roman army in 313 or 314, Pachomius converted to Christianity and was baptized. He spent seven years as an ascetic until he had a calling to establish a community of monks. He thus established cenobitic (from the Greek, koinos + bios = common life) monasticism, wherein a group of monks live in a community but in individual cells and are governed by an abbot (up to this point, Christian ascetics lived solitary lives in the desert).

His first monastery was established in 320 with his brother and about 100 monks. They shared common clothing and food and had tasks assigned according to ability. To help govern the community, Pachomius created a rule–the earliest extant–that established the rhythms and patterns of the community. That rule was later adapted to the Ascetica, which is still used in Orthodox communities (it is similar to the Western Rule of Saint Benedict). Pachomius was a gifted administrator.

Pachomius was never ordained and monastics in his communities were not priests. Pachomius wrote and spoke Coptic. He never learned Latin or Greek. Yet Pachomius served as an abbot for 30 years and founded 11 monasteries and communities for as many as 7,000 monks. He is the first Christian to use a prayer rope, originally conceived as an aid for uneducated monks to accomplish their prayers.

Pachomius died in 346 or 348 of the plague. His feast day is celebrated on May 15 in the West.

Collect for Pachomius

Set us free, O God, from all false desires, vain ambitions, and everything that would separate us from your love; that, like your servant Pachomius, we might give ourselves fully to a life of discipleship, seeking you alone and serving those whom you have given us to serve; through Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen. (LFF 2022)

— David Creech

Cyprian of Carthage

Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, whom we know as St. Cyprian, was born in Carthage around the year 200. Although he faced persecution and torture, he persevered for his faith. A theologian and a bishop, Cyprian was the first bishop martyr of Africa.

During his lifetime, Carthage was an important city for trade, manufacturing, and agriculture. The port of Carthage saw trade with all parts of the known world–Asia, Africa, India, and the Mediterranean. This allowed Cyprian a global-knowledge and an understanding of others.

His parents were well-to-do pagans; his father was a senator. Cyprian was educated in the law. After a wild-boy phase, he practiced law and converted to Christianity in 246. Two years later, he was a bishop, and shortly thereafter, he faced persecution by Roman Emperor Decius, which forced him into hiding, although some refer to this as a retreat. Nevertheless, he returned to Carthage in 251, only to face more threats, this time from the new Emperor Gallus in 252.

He was no stranger to controversy in the early church. He was a strong believer in baptism and displayed his Christian beliefs in his daily living; for example, he organized medical assistance during a particularly nasty plague.

The ongoing persecutions greatly impacted him and his authority as a bishop. While he survived physical threats, he also found himself at odds over fundamental theology with the Bishop of Rome, Stephen. Pope Stephen’s death in 257 ended all those disputes, only to be followed shortly thereafter with more persecution, this time by Emperor Valerian.

Cyprian was a writer, orator, translator, teacher, and religious leader who displayed no fear. He was a prolific letter-writer, allowing him to connect with his far-flung flock throughout North Africa.

His expansive library of books, letters, and essays focus on ethics, history, and Christian thought; one that has been passed on through the ages is On the Unity of The Catholic Church.

Nonetheless, Cyprian did not survive Roman persecution. He was martyred on September 14, 258 in his hometown of Carthage. In the public square, he was tried and beheaded, so to make him an example to others. Legend says he gave 25 gold coins to his executioner.

His feast day is celebrated in the Anglican, Episcopal, Western and Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Catholic Churches. He is listed for September 13 in Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022. He is the patron saint of North Africa and the Berbers, a North African ethnic group, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen.

As for his remains, nearly 500 years after his death, Charlemagne sent his relics to France; parts of St. Cyprian are claimed in Lyons, Arles, Venice, Compiègne, and Flanders.

Collect for Cyprian of Carthage

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (LFF 2022)

— Neva Rae Fox