Venerable Pimen of Palestine

Saint Pimen of Palestine lived during the sixth century in a cave in the Rouba desert. The holy Fathers Sophronius and John speak of him in Chapter 167 of The Spiritual Meadow (Limonarion).

Once, during winter the monk Agathonicus came to Saint Pimen for guidance and remained to spend the night in an adjoining cave. In the morning, he said that he had suffered much from the cold. Saint Pimen answered that he had been uncovered, but did not feel the cold because a lion came and lay beside him, warming him.

“But I know,” added the ascetic “that I shall be devoured by wild beasts, since when I lived in the world and herded sheep, my dogs attacked a man and tore him apart. I could have saved him, but I did not. It was later revealed to me that I would die a similar death.” So it came to pass: three years later, at the end of the sixth century, Saint Pimen of Palestine was torn apart by wild beasts.