Youssef, (Bishop Yousaab) was born in 1735 A.D. in the town of Assiut from a pious Christian family. He used his knowledge of reading and writing to educate himself from the church books. In addition to his love for reading Christian books, he loved reading the lives of saints and emulating their virtues ascetical life. …
There was also another brother sitting in a corner reciting the twelve minor prophets, and as often as he would recite them, beginning each one in order, our father Abba Shenouda would see the prophet he was reciting standing by the brother until he finished the recitation. He would then leave and sit by our …
A prominent event in the Lives of St. Shenouda is that in which the Abbot accompanies St. Cyril to the Council of Ephesus (431 AD.). This fact has been attested to by St. Wesa as well as St. Shenouda himself. It is also upheld by the majority of scholars. However, "why was Shenoute invited to …
St Shenouda was born on the 7th of Pashans 49AM / 2nd of May 333 AD, in Shandawil, a village near Akhmim in Upper Egypt. At the age of nine years old, St Shenouda’s righteous parents Darouba and Agbous asked shepherds to teach him how to care for the sheep, and to send him back …
It is our duty to discern our thoughts, in order to know their origin and thus avoid being fooled by the Devil. "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God" (1Jn 4:1). There are thoughts that come to us from God, the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. These are …
Conversation and association with one’s neighbors very much affects a person. Conversation and acquaintance with a learned man communicates much knowledge; with a poet, many exalted thoughts and feelings; with a traveler, much information about countries, about the characters and customs of peoples. It is obvious that conversation and acquaintance with the saints communicates holiness. …
The spiritual person becomes a disciple of the beneficial word. He searches for it from all sources: firstly from the Bible, then from the sayings of the fathers and the teachers who may be depended on, and then from any other source. Even if it should be a word that has come from the mouth …
It seems to be regular news these days to hear of church bombing especially in the Middle East that claim the lives of innocent people. It is becoming so regular that many western news channels don’t even bother reporting it. Those who do report it stop at the devastating effect of the bombing and the …
A very interesting and important clue to the nature of this communal meal is furnished by the name used by the hermits themselves when referring to it: Agapy. This word was not an uncommon one in the desert hermit's vocabulary, for it had a number of meanings. It was commonly used with reference to an …
The monk doesn’t need anyone to tell him about solitude for the monk came to the monastery seeking to be isolated from the world, seeking to be a monk (monakhos) and by definition a monk is he who lives a solitary life. We are not speaking about solitude in any negative connotation but rather a …
