When I left the bishopric and returned to my desert cave at the beginning of January 1964, I found the monk Antonius (Pope Shenouda’s name before becoming a bishop) at the door and he said to me, “I knew that you would return”, as he hugged me tightly so that we became one. At that …
“Silence your lips that your heart may speak… Silence your heart that God may speak…” - The Spiritual Elder How I miss the silence. It was pleasant sunny winter’s day in ancient Wadi Natroun, the ancient desert abode of the Christian monks of Egypt. I was a newly ordained priest halfway through my 40 day …
God offered us the grace of calling and accepting us in the sacred wilderness, i.e., the wilderness of Sheheet, the wilderness of "the weighing scale of hearts." With its name the Holy Spirit draws our hearts to this designation's implication concerning our life together in this holy wilderness, and offering our lives to God the …
The news of the opening of an archaeological site of a 7th century Christian Monastery in the island of Sir Bani Yas, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently caught my attention for two reasons. The first is the fact that Christianity had a presence in the gulf region way before Islam came in …
In 407, a tribe of barbarian raiders known as Mazices came sweeping off the Libyan desert and devastated one of the first great centers of Christian monasticism, the settlement of Scetis. Scetis was located in a remote desert valley west of the Nile and had been founded around 330 by one of the pioneers of …
During my stay near the lakes, I visited two of the Egypt Coptic convents, that are called the Syrian, and that of St. George; where I could observe no traces of any European traveller, but Baron Thunis, whom the Empress of Russia, had sent, some years before, to negotiate a defection on the part of …
Missionaries and religious travellers to Egypt were baffled by the willing long-term relocation by ascetics to the desert, which they considered dreary and lonely the desert was a lifeless landscape. The desert was simply not considered acceptable as a place for true Christian living the locations of monastic sites served only to underscore the greater …
The journey across the desert is very monotonous, but at length, after crossing an elevation covered with shining black pebbles, the long line of the walls of Dayr Macarius come in sight. This monastery, as indeed are all those in the Natron valley, is surrounded by a lofty wall, with an entrance on one side …
Rejoice in the Lord, beloved child, whom the grace of my Jesus has enlightened and delivered from the world; who has flown to the wilderness and dwelt in a monastery, and now glorifies and thanks God with all his soul. Divine grace, my child, is like bait which enters the soul and without force attracts …
I would say that the desert deserves to be called a temple of our God without walls. Since it is clear that God dwells in silence, we must believe that he loves the solitary expanses of the desert. Very often he has let himself be seen there by his saints; he willingly meets with people …
