Saint Abba Pijimi the Anchorite
The Life of the Anchorite Fathers
Saint Abba Pijimi the Anchorite
His Departure to Monasticism:
In the days of Theodosius the Younger, during the time of Abba Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, there was a boy ten years old named Pijimi who was tending cattle in the field. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in the form of a boy of his age, one of his neighbors who used to shepherd with him. The angel came to him and said, “Will you come with me and become monks? Let us no longer tend the cattle nor labor in the field. After some days, three monks will come after us and take us with them. If you desire to come with us, then come, for I will go with them.”
Abba Pijimi’s heart rejoiced, his mind turned toward monasticism, and his determination was strengthened. He said to the angel—without knowing that he was an angel—“Take me also with you.”
After three days, three monks came walking along the road. The angel, still in the form of a boy, came to Abba Pijimi in the field, and the three monks were also coming their way. The angel said to them, “Good and blessed are you, O righteous messengers, that you should take with you this shining pillar who will give light to the whole world, who will become great in God, chosen and more excellent than the martyrs. In the end of his days, he shall return to this place, and the Lord will work miracles and wonders through him, and he shall finish a good old age.”
After saying this, the angel disappeared from them. Then the monks realized that an angel of the Lord had been speaking to them and that the Lord had revealed to them in the Spirit all things concerning the holy boy Abba Pijimi. The elders said to him, “Do you wish to come with us? The road we take is far and very hard.” He replied, “I will come with you.” They said, “Go and tell your parents.” He answered, “You are my parents.” Then they asked, “What is your name?” He said, “My name is Pijimi, the one who exists.”
He went with them joyfully. They passed through a place called Barmai, where men chosen by God lived, and within that mountain there was an inner desert about seventy miles deep, called Scetis (Shiheet).
With the Elders in Scetis:
The elder monks brought Abba Pijimi to Scetis, and he dwelt with them. They taught him the rules of monastic life—how to walk and speak with humility, to guard himself, to labor with his hands, to fast and watch, and to love all creation. The young Pijimi advanced in the fear of God with true humility and patience, so that the elders marveled at his deeds and obedience.
After he had completed seven years with them, they clothed him with the holy Eskim (monastic habit). When they saw his humble service, his wise and gentle behavior, they envied his spiritual zeal in the Lord and made him their counselor. Though he advised them, he still remained meek, kind, and peaceable with everyone, so that he was called throughout that wilderness “the son of peace.”
He lived with them for twenty-four years, never lifting his eyes upward nor recognizing the face of any of them, nor neglecting a single commandment. He remained until each of the three elders completed his course and departed in peace, blessing him with a great blessing, as it is written: “The blessing of the fathers shall rest upon the children.”
After the Departure of the Three Elders:
Abba Pijimi remained in his cell for two more years. Many people came to him from Egypt, including other monks who heard of his virtues and asceticism. He was a good and gentle man, kind to strangers who came to him from all places.
Then he rebuked himself, saying:
“What shall I do if the Lord visits me while I am in the midst of these multitudes, and I am not worthy of a single one of them? What shall I answer when God sends to take me from the body, and I am unprepared?
What shall I do if I am brought before God to give account of what I have done, while thousands of archangels and myriads of angels stand around His throne, with the cherubim and seraphim surrounding His holy seat? How great will be the pain of my heart when I see all the saints saddened for my sake because they find in me no good work!”
Then he said to himself again:
“If you wish to be saved, keep the written commandments. Above all, make fasting your rule to escape impurity. After this, devote yourself to reading, so that you may remember the words of God, for often when man forgets, reading reminds him. Rise for prayer, that sloth may not overcome you and cast you into temptation, for it is written: ‘Pray that you enter not into temptation.’ Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. If you have many vessels, do not withhold almsgiving, saying, ‘I shall need these tomorrow,’ for it is written: ‘I will not forsake you nor leave you.’ See that you do not neglect the commandment of God. Do not judge anyone, nor despise, nor curse anyone—not even the devil—for it is written that when Michael contended with the devil over the body of Moses, he did not dare bring a reviling accusation.
When you see someone sinning, do not hate him but hate the sin itself, lest you do it too. It is written that the firstborn of every beast shall be offered to the Lord, and if it is an unclean animal, it shall be redeemed with a lamb. Likewise, whatever you see or hear, replace it with goodness. When you see a beautiful image, whether male or female, remember the faces of all the saints who shine like the sun in the kingdom of heaven. When you see good food or fragrant things, remember the blessings of Jerusalem and the perfumes of paradise. In every place set your heart on God, for it is written: ‘If you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated.’ Before your heart overcomes you, guard your eyes and ears, for they are the servants of the heart.
Also, use your strength to comfort every person—either by the work of your hands, by your words, or by your example. When you come among the brethren who are working, work with them according to your strength.”
Thus, the blessed Abba Pijimi taught himself continually.
To the Inner Desert:
Then the righteous Abba Pijimi arose and went up the mountain deep within Scetis. He walked for three days and nights in the desert, not knowing where he was going, neither eating nor drinking during those days, and carrying nothing but a small palm staff in his hand.
Then a multitude of demons appeared to him, in terrifying forms—lions, lionesses, hyenas, bears, dogs, and wild boars—each frightening him according to its nature, yet none could harm him. The blessed Abba Pijimi, seeing the beasts disturbed, prayed, signed himself with the Cross of Christ, and blew upon them, and they vanished into the air like smoke. He walked on, giving thanks to God, strengthened by the power of Christ.
After two more days, walking alone in the mountain, he found a small valley full of reeds, trees, and fruit-bearing palms, and a little water. But the wild beasts of the mountain were many, and the water was nearly exhausted. When the righteous Abba Pijimi reached the valley, he rejoiced greatly, as though he were in the paradise of joy. He went further inside about twenty miles and found a high rock with a cave in it. There he dwelt for twenty-four years.
He used to chant joyfully with the Holy Spirit, saying:
“How good are your dwellings, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel, like towers beside the waters! Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place but he who has clean hands and a pure heart? He shall dwell in the cave of the high rock; his bread shall be given him in hardship and his water in affliction. Alleluia.”
His Struggle in the Desert:
The struggler Abba Pijimi practiced many virtues with humility and diligence of heart. He rejoiced greatly in the Spirit, as though celebrating a royal feast, his face radiant with joy.
He spent three years fasting thus: for six days he ate only the fruit of the palms in that valley, and every six days he would go there to gather fruit. He never ate to fullness, but only what filled his hand, and he drank the water of the valley. He never kept food or water in his dwelling; whatever he ate or drank was only what he found in the valley every sixth day. He continued in this virtue for three years.
His daily prayers numbered four hundred and forty prostrations by day, fifty psalms, and many readings from Moses and the prophets. By night, he knelt one hundred and twenty-four times, prayed one hundred psalms, and read much from the ancient Scriptures. After three years, his garments wore out and burned away, and he thought what to do, for he did not wish to wear worldly clothing. Then, recalling the Scriptures, he said to himself:
“How shall I sit naked and pray to God? When our father Adam and our mother Eve disobeyed God, He did not leave them naked but made garments of skin for them. Elijah the prophet, when he was in the wilderness and was fed by ravens, was covered as he prayed to God. John the Baptist, too, when he lived in the desert and until the day he came to the Jordan, was clothed in camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. Those who dwell in the desert wore garments. Who am I that I should not be worthy even of their sandals? How can I sit naked, since demons are naked, but the angels who praise God are clothed in glory, as the Gospel says: ‘Two angels descended from heaven, their appearance like lightning, and their garments white as snow.’ The seraphim also covered themselves. So how can I, who am dust today and gone tomorrow, remain naked?”
Then he remembered our father Abba Paul the First Hermit, who lived eighty years in the desert clothed in a garment and hood of palm fiber.
After that, he increased greatly in fasting, to the point of fasting forty days. After fourteen years of this, he said to himself, “I do not know whether what I now do is pleasing to God or not.” Yet his body grew strong, as it is written, “Those who serve God shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
The Vision:
Finally, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the form of a hunter and brought him bread and a jar of water, then departed. The old man thought it a vision, but when he prayed and signed the bread and water with the Cross, they remained unchanged. He found the bread warm, as if fresh from the oven, and the water like milk. Then he knew it was truly from the Lord, rejoiced, and gave thanks to God. The bread and water remained blessed with him for seven years.
Afterward, the Lord appeared to him, blessed him, and commanded him to return to his hometown, where He would perform miracles through him.
Abba Pijimi obeyed and appeared to his people, but none recognized him after his long absence. He worked miracles, healed many sick people, and led many to faith in Christ.
At the end of his days, he met Saint Abba Shenouda, and they comforted one another.
Finally, the saintly Abba Pijimi departed in the Lord, finishing his blessed course on the eleventh day of Kiahk, at the seventh hour of the day. He went to Christ, whom he loved, bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit through his true purity and the labors he endured, having crossed the dark waves of the world.
May the blessing of his holy prayers be with us all. Amen.
(This life is summarized from manuscript no. 296 at the Monastery of the Syrians. The illustration was painted by the monk Pijimi at the same monastery from an ancient original.)
An Article by His Grace Bishop Shenouda, Bishop of Education – El-Keraza Magazine, First Year – Issues 2 and 3 – February and March 1965
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