St Pambo And The Spirit Of God

Last updated on: January 2, 2018 at 9:58 am by Henry Karlson

St Pambo And The Spirit Of God 2018-01-02T09:58:43-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

He said of Pambo that Abba Anthony used to say of him, ‘Through fearing God, he caused the spirit of God to dwell in him.’[1]

This statement comes from the Sayings of Poemen, the Shepherd, who seems to have been close to the author or editor of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers for the sayings of Poemen seem to account for one-seventh of the whole collection. Poemen recounted what St. Anthony said of Pambo, a famous Egyptian monk who went from illiterate ascetic to educated priest and later was considered one of the great masters of the desert by St. Jerome. Thus, this saying is about how and why Pambo was able to become such a great monk, a great and holy priest, respected by many including Jerome, Melenia, and Athanasius. It was, as Anthony suggested, because he feared God, that is, Pambo did not look for himself and his reputation, nor what men or women had to say of him; rather, he was concerned to follow what God expected of him and kept what he knew of this expectations in the forefront of his ascetic activity. Because he was so open to God, looking to follow the will of God over his own, he was open to the grace of the Holy Spirit. Not only was he found walking with God, doing as God willed, but he became filled with the Holy Spirit and could be said to be a Spirit-bearer, bringing the grace of the Spirit to others, sharing it with them out of his holy love.

The fact that those who went into the desert did so not only to correct themselves, to do penance, or to flee from the world for one reason or another, but to become spirit-bearers, to be filled by the Holy Spirit so that they could manifest God’s holiness to the world, is often forgotten. We tend to think of the desert monk as a wise man who had, through thick and thin, learned the hard lessons of life, realized the difficulty of holiness and so followed, almost to a legalistic end, the moral expectations placed upon them so that they could be seen as holy men of God. While, it is true, in their training they often had to follow rigorous discipline, and they thoroughly learned the expectations of the ascetic monk that what they acquired stayed with them throughout the rest of their lives, such discipline was not their goal; their sayings, again and again, demonstrate that holiness is more than a thing of mere rules, but of prudential wisdom, and to follow the path of holiness requires an acceptance of the personal, subjective dimension of holiness, realizing the need for mercy over rules, and the power of the Spirit to overcome the flaws which otherwise cannot be overcome.

The desert monks were true spiritual masters, speaking of, in, and from the enthusiasm the Spirit had given to them. Their role as spirit-bearers manifested itself in all kinds of spiritual charisms. It was because of this that many monks faced temptations to spiritualizing their lives too much, neglecting the incarnational aspect of the Christian life; they became, as it were, so engaged in the Spirit, so concerned about the charisms of the Spirit, that the sacramental life became lost to them (which is how and why many great ascetics got caught up with and influenced by Messalianism with its denial of the need for or efficacy of the sacraments). The Spirit and Christ go hand in hand as two revealing-arms of the Father; both are needed. A Christian needs a harmonious balance between the two, embracing both for without both one has neither. Thus all Christians, including monks, need a realistic, down-to-earth, incarnational spirituality which grounds them to material creation instead of trying to gnostically ascend beyond it.

This can be seen in how Anthony affirmed the goodness of the body while stating it must be holistically united with the soul, so that instead of the body blindly directing us with its passions, it could be reasonably engaged by spiritual principles, drawing the two together as one; but, he was also clear, it is not just the body, but the soul, which has passions that need to be disengaged, as he taught that spiritual sins, like pride, envy, hatred, all come from the soul and show the body is not alone in needed to be tempered and properly directed.[2]

The fear of God helps us guide ourselves, both in soul and in body, to direct our ways so that the inordinate passions of either of them do not gain complete control over us and our will. We should look upon and reflect upon the desire of God and seek to follow it for ourselves. As we grow in grace, out of love we will fear to disappoint the desires of God. The Spirit will see the love, and dwell with us, causing us great joy, which will help make the love grow stronger. It will become, as we bear more and more of the Spirit, like a fiery fire within which radiating the grace and love of God to all who come in contact with us even as we feel and sense the presence of the Spirit of God within us. Thus, Anthony in a letter, explained:

My dear children, I pray that this may not be a toil to you, and that you may not grow weary of loving one another. Lift up your body in which you are clothed, and make it an altar, and set thereon all your thoughts, and leave there every evil counsel before the Lord, and lift up the hands of your heart to Him, that is, to the creator Mind, and pray to God that He may grant you His great invisible fire, that it may descend from the heaven and consume on the altar all that is on it, and that all the priests of Baal, who are the contrary works of the enemy, may fear and flee from your face as from the face of Elijah the prophet. And then you will see a cloud ‘like a man’s hands’ over the sea, which will bring you the spiritual rain, which is the comfort of the Comforter Spirit. (Cf. 1 Kings 18:38-44).[3]

Pambo, in his holiness, took this to heart; even though he had ascended in earthly knowledge and sacramental orders, he did not let the Spirit become squashed by pride and vainglory. He remained humbled, he acknowledged his deficiencies, never claiming to know the proper interpretation of Scripture, as can be seen in the way he kept silent when people asked his opinion of a difficult text.[4] The Spirit burned bright in him, so that truly, its presence was known similar to the way it was with Moses, as a bright glorious light which shone the merciful grace of God. But this is because, like Moses, like Anthony, like so many great men and women of God, he did not fear what others thought of him, but only God, and that fear was the fear of a lover not wanting to offend his beloved, God.

[Image=Pambo by unknown Orthodox Christian painter (Eastern Orthodox Church) [CC0, Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

[1] The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. trans. Benedicta Ward (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984), 177.

[2] See St. Antony, The Letters of St. Antony the Great. trans. Derwas J. Chitty (Fairacres, Oxford: SLG Press, 1991), 5 [Letter I].

[3] St. Antony, The Letters of St. Antony the Great, 21 [Letter VI].

[4] See The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 197 (Saying 9).

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook

Previous Post

December 31, 2017

The Secret Of Paul

Next Post

January 3, 2018 Blake's 7 and America First

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz