The authority of the bishop is a multifaceted and ever changing construct that continued to change as individuals adapted, necessity dictated, and circumstances permitted. The office itself underwent a process of growth and change over time during which certain aspects and tasks gained in importance, while others receded into the shadows. The main components that …
It happened one time that our father abba Shenouda was in the cell in the desert, and he delayed his return to the monastery because he was praying in those days for the river to flood. He gave us a command, saying: ‘Let none come into the desert’. So when something was needed for the …
Despite the importance of work in the White Monastery, it has been argued that prayer, not labor, was the activity around which the day was structured. The monks slept two to a cell in the monastery. They rose about an hour and a half before light and immediately prayed; if they rose earlier, they were …
There were two brothers lying sick in the monastery. One of them was zealous and watched over himself carefully; the other was very negligent, spending his days in vain pursuits. Now one day, it happened that our father abba Shenouda came to the place where they were sick to them. When he came to the …
For as the Lord said. "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord, to me will go Into the kingdom. but the one who will do the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 7:21) Likewise, it is not the one who reads or says or hears Him who will enter life but those who …
Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself By the flocks of your companions? If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little …
The fifth century saw an important development with the arrival of a group of monks from Egypt. They were perhaps among the refugees from the Byzantine Empire who refused to accept the Chalcedonian Christology. They established monasteries which became very important centers of learning and evangelization. It would indeed be true to say that all …
Christianity Started in Ethiopia in the time of the Apostles, when a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians was baptised by the hands of St Phillip (Act 8:26-40). After his return to Ethiopia he told the Queen of his encounter, so she declared Christianity to be the official religion of Ethiopia. …
Today, 4.5 km west of Dair el-Baramous is one of the few inhabited caves in the ancient Desert of Scetis. Abuna Abd el-Mesih elHabashi has lived there since about 1935. Of the three caves, two are used by him. Some of the equipment of Abuna Abd el-Mesih is without doubt Second World War material. This …
Monasticism of this Christian era did not know a monk who lived the life of continuous solitude to the degree of Father Abd el-Mesih el-Habashi. He lived all the facets of the ascetic life fully, bearing the famous name Father Abd el-Mesih el-Habashi (the Ethiopian). He was born into a very wealthy family in Ethiopia, …
