The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Abba Pachon
d. c. AD 395 · Elder of Scetis · Counsellor of the tempted · Scetis, Egypt
The Nicene Age
Who Abba Pachon was
The elder of about seventy to whom Palladius, tormented past endurance and too ashamed to tell his own teachers, carried the affliction of lust — and who answered not with a rule but with his autobiography: forty years in one cell, he said, and to that hour the war not over; there had been nights he stood in a hyena's den hoping to be eaten rather than sin. The desert's most honest conversation about temptation, preserved because the tempted man became a historian.
Lausiac History 23 only.
Common questions
When did Abba Pachon die?
Abba Pachon is dated d. c. AD 395 in the archive, which places Abba Pachon in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Abba Pachon?
Abba Pachon is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Palladius of Galatia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Abba Pachon from?
The archive associates Abba Pachon with Scetis, Egypt. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Abba Pachon’s contemporaries?
The archive links Abba Pachon to 2 other figures, including Evagrius Ponticus and Moses the Black. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Lausiac History 23
c. AD 420'Forty years have I passed in this cell,' he said, 'having care of my salvation, and to this age am I tempted still.' And he swore it: 'For twelve years the enemy so pressed me that, despairing, I went by night into a hyena's den, that I might be devoured sooner than defiled.'Palladius of Galatia · 23 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Abba Pachon, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.