The monastery that Pachomius founded on these bases grew rapidly, to the point that during his lifetime nine such communities were established, each with several hundred monks. Meanwhile, Mary, Pachomius’s sister, founded similar communities for women. At that time, there were some in city churches who felt that the institution of the widows and virgins was no longer necessary, and as a result many of these women left the cities and joined other women in monastic communities, often in the desert. According to witnesses who visited the region, in some areas in Egypt there were twice as many
...more
