St Poemen the Great

Poemen — the name means 'shepherd' — entered the Egyptian desert of Scetis as a young man with several of his brothers and became the most quoted of all the Desert Fathers: the Sayings of the Fathers preserve more words of Poemen than of any other abba, and it was likely in his circle that the collection began. When barbarian raids scattered the monks of Scetis in 407, he and his brothers settled at Terenuthis. His teaching is marked by measure, mercy, and relentless attention to the heart rather than the spectacular feat: 'Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart.' 'A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart is condemning others he is babbling ceaselessly.' Asked whether to rebuke a sinning brother, he counseled covering the sin rather than exposing it. He reposed in extreme old age, around 450, having formed the spiritual grammar of monasticism East and West.