Venerable Poemen of Palestine

Saint Poemen of Palestine was a 6th-century hermit who lived in a cave in the desert of Ruva near Jerusalem. According to Saints Sophronius and John Moschus (Spiritual Meadow, ch. 167), he was a native of Galatia. A visiting monk named Agathonicus once spent the night in a neighboring cave and complained of bitter cold; Poemen revealed that he too went unclothed but felt no cold, because a lion came to him at night and warmed him by lying at his side. He also foretold that he was destined to be torn apart by wild beasts, as penance for having failed, as a young shepherd, to save a man attacked by his own dogs. Three years later the prophecy was fulfilled. He is commemorated on the same day as Poemen the Great, though the two are distinct ascetics.