02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
mit of whom he had heard called Palaemon who lived a life of
great austerity. Eating a simple diet of bread and salt
Palaemon also rejected the use of wine and oil as a permanent
reminder of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Eventually, however, St Pachomius turned what seem to
have been exceptional managerial talents to the founding of
monastic groups. He is said to have founded his first
monastery in 320 AD on the banks of the Nile and, over the
course of his life, he brought a further six monasteries for
men into being. He is also said to have established a nunnery
on the opposite river bank to the one on which the monasteries
for men stood.These monasteries are said to have been
substantial in size, occupied by thousands of monks, and St
Pachomius’ experience in the army is thought to have proved
useful in their organisation. Monks were organised within
them by their occupations such as baking or farming and the
results of their labours were taken to the shops and markets
of the city of Alexandria. Although Pachomius introduced a
strict, military-style rule within the monasteries, monastic
life was said to have been less extreme than that of some of the
Christian ascetics dwelling in the desert who sought to grow
closer to God through undertaking difficult and arduous
lifestyles.The rule of St Pachomius was to influence such later
figures as St Benedict and St Basil. His feast day is celebrated
on 9 May and he is thought to have died in about 346 AD. In
religious art, St Pachomius is often shown being carried on
the back of a crocodile across the river Nile.
St Athanasius
St Athansius ranks as one of the most significant saints of the
Eastern Church and is also greatly revered in the Western
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