interest. When Frumentius ceased speaking, there was a moment of
silence, broken suddenly by Athanasius himself.

"Who is more worthy of such a ministry," he cried, "than the man who
stands before us?"

The suggestion was approved by all. Frumentius was ordained by the
Patriarch, who gave him his blessing and bade him return to his
mission. He was honored as a Saint in Abyssinia, where he labored
zealously all his life for Christ. AEdesius, his brother, became a
priest also and helped in the good work.

Athanasius, as we have already seen, had spent a part of his youth
with the monks of the desert. It was his proudest boast that he had
acted as acolyte to the great St. Antony. He resolved, therefore, to
visit the district known as the Thebaid, where St. Pachomius, the
father of monasticism in the East, had founded many monasteries and
drawn up a rule for the monks.

Pachomius had been one of a body of young soldiers seized against
their will and forced to fight in the wars between Constantine and
Maxentius. It happened one day during a journey that they landed at
Thebes in Egypt, where they were treated with harshness and cruelty.
Hungry, poorly clad and miserable, the young soldiers were lamenting
their ill fortune when a party of strangers approached them from the
town, welcoming them as friends and brothers and giving them food,
garments and all that they so badly needed.

"Who are these good men?" asked Pachomius of a bystander.

"They are Christians," was the answer. "They are kind to everyone, but
especially to strangers."

"What is a Christian?" persisted the young soldier.

"A man who believes in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and does
good to all," was the reply.

Pachomius reflected for a few minutes and then withdrew a little way
from his companions. "Almighty God, who have made Heaven and earth,"
he cried, lifting his hands to Heaven, "if You will hear my prayer and
give me a knowledge of Your Holy Name, and deliver me from the
position in which I am, I promise You that I will consecrate myself to
Your service forever."

Not long after, Pachomius was set free and, seeking out a Christian
priest, received Baptism and instruction. Then, going at once to the
cell of an old hermit called Palemon, famous for his holy and
mortified life, he knocked at the door of his hut.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the old man, opening his
door a few inches.

"I am called Pachomius, and I want