A History of Christianity in Egypt - The Saints

A History of Christianity in Egypt The Saints

Hagiography, the writing of the lives of saints, has long been a common activity of many scholars of religion. As with any religion, the story of its success is really the story of its members who made it succeed. Christianity honors its greatest members by making them saints, and what follows is a collection of Egyptian saints that were instrumental in the growth of Christianity in Egypt. Saint Mark is credited with writing the oldest of the four canonical gospels. According to the ife of the Apostle and Evangelist Mark written by Severus, !ishop of Al"#shmunain, in the late tenth century, Mark was one of the servants who poured out the water that $esus turned into wine at the marriage at Cana, and that it was his house in which $esus appeared to the disciples in hiding after His resurrection from the dead. After that time, Saint %eter and Saint Mark went out to evangeli&e, and one night, %eter had a dream in which he was told to go, along with Mark, to 'ome and to Ale(andria. After preaching in 'ome for a time, Mark went to Egypt and converted many to the Christian faith in the countryside) then leaving a small community of Christians there, he went to Ale(andria. As soon as he entered the gates of the city, so the story goes, his sandal strap broke. He took it to a nearby shoemaker by the name of Anianus, who became his first convert in Ale(andria. Mark soon discovered that he was being sought by his enemies, and so he appointed Anianus bishop, ordained three priests and seven deacons, and leaving them with orders to *serve and comfort the faithful brethren,* he left the city. He returned years later to find the community he had left growing and thriving, but his enemies soon discovered him and threw him in prison. +he ne(t day, they threw a rope around his neck and dragged him over the ground until he died. !ut when they tried to burn the body, they found that it could not be harmed and scattered in fear. +he Christians claimed the body from the pyre and buried it with reverence in the church they had built. Saint Mark is revered as the founder and first martyr of the Christian Church in Egypt. +he sacred shrines of Saint Mark in Egypt e(ist in his cathedrals in Cairo and Ale(andria. +he commemoration day of Saint Mark according to the Coptic Church is on the eighth of May. Saint Catherine was a young Christian woman of noble birth and thus ,uite well"educated, when at the age of eighteen she presented herself to Emperor Ma(iminus -aia who was carrying out a persecution of the Christians. She admonished him for his cruelty and demanded that he cease the persecutions. Astounded and insulted at the young woman.s audacity, but lacking the skills necessary to debate with her, Ma(iminus detained her in his palace and called for his scholars to try to trip her up in her beliefs either to make her apostati&e against Christianity or commit a heresy against the 'oman religion so that she could be put to death. Contrary to what Ma(iminus e(pected, she managed to convert many of his scholars with her elo,uence and knowledge of both religion and science. Ma(iminus was so outraged he had them put to death and Catherine scourged and put in prison. His empress however, heard of the e(traordinary young woman and stole secretly into the prison in the company of the general %orphyry. +hey listened to Catherine, were converted and bapti&ed, but were e(ecuted by Ma(iminus when he discovered what had happened. Ma(iminus ordered Catherine to be broken on the wheel, yet at her touch it was miraculously destroyed. Seeing no alternative, Ma(iminus ordered her beheaded. According to legend, her body was carried to Mount Sinai by angels where a monastery and church were later built by the order of the Emperor $ustinian. /nterestingly enough, the site where Catherine.s body was found is also believed to be the site of the burning bush seen by Moses. Saint Catherine has been ranked with Saints Margaret and !arbara as one of the *fourteen most helpful saints in Heaven.* /n several dioceses in 0rance her feast day was regarded as a Holy -ay of 1bligation up until the seventeenth century. 2umerous churches are dedicated to

her, and at one time her statue decorated almost every church in Europe and Africa. As Saint 2icholas of Myra was the patron of young men and students, Saint Catherine became the female counterpart, the patron of young women. +he spiked wheel that she destroyed with a touch became her symbol and as such mechanics and wheelwrights have called her their patron. !ecause she triumphed also in the sciences, confounding even the philosophers of Ma(iminus, her intercession is sought by theologians, orators, and philosophers. /t is even thought that she was the saint that had appeared to $oan of Arc.

Saint Anthony is often called *the 0ather of the Monks,* and rightly so. He is credited with the founding of Christian monasticism, and many of his ideas are still used to this day by modern monks and nuns. Most of what we know about Anthony comes from the writings of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic, a disciple and close friend of Anthony.s. Anthony was born about A- 345 and was the son of a well"to"do family of 6emn"el"Arouse 7Coma8 in middle Egypt. 9hen he was eighteen his parents died, leaving him sole guardian of his younger sister -ious. Si( months later, while attending a church, he heard the scripture passage of $esus and the rich young man, in which $esus says, */f you would be perfect, go, sell all you have, give to the poor, and follow me 7Matt. 5:;358.* He took this as a personal invitation from <od and sold most of his inherited property, gave much of the money to the poor and the rest to his sister and placed his sister in the care of a parthenon, a community of holy women, very similar to the priories of the Middle Ages. He sought guidance from a holy man near Coma in the ways of the Christian ascetic; prayer, fasting, and holiness. After a time of study, Saint Anthony left on his own and began living in the manner of a mountain hermit, living in a cave and praying for the salvation of the world. At the age of thirty"five, he moved to %ispir and remained there in solitude for twenty years. -uring that time, many came to live near him and copy his holy life. He became their spiritual leader, teaching them by word and by e(ample the life of the ascetic. Anthony also taught them to perform manual labor between prayer times as an additional contribution to society. 9hen the persecutions began again against the Christians in Egypt at the hands of Ma(iminus -aia in the early =>>s, he went to Ale(andria and ministered to those in prison. After the persecutions ended, he returned to his life of solitude. He returned to Ale(andria once more to support %ope Athanasius against the Arian Heresy in =43, and many came to see the aged holy man as he walked through the city, but he returned to his desert soon after, society no longer having any hold on him. Contrary to popular belief, Anthony founded no formal monastery and his 'ule was simply work and prayer. Anthony also designed the first monastic uniform, an all"purpose robe of white linen fastened about the waist with a sturdy leather belt. +his has become the basic pattern for monastic garb all over the world and in all times since. Many came to Saint Anthony for advice, spiritual help, and healing. 1nce even %ope Athanasius, in the company of the great Christian sage -idymus the !lind, came all the way out to visit him. Saint Anthony died in =4? at the age of one hundred and five and was buried secretly by Macarius and Amatas, two of his most loyal monks. /t is the biography of Saint Anthony written by Athanasius that was instrumental in spreading the monastic idea throughout the Christian world. +he Saint Anthony.s Monastery founded in the Egyptian desert still e(ists, and many monks still carry out his work there.

Saint Ale(ander was %ope of Ale(andria during the Arian Heresy. Ale(ander.s predecessor %eter had e(communicated Arius, but he was reinstated by Achillas, who succeeded %eter as %ope. 9hen Achillas died, Ale(ander was elected %ope of Ale(andria and Arius became even more prominent with his teachings. At first Ale(ander ignored Arius and was so la( in fact, that the clergy almost revolted against him until he openly condemned the Arian Heresy at the Council of 2icaea. Ale(ander is also credited with the writing of the Acts of the Council. !efore being elected %ope, Ale(ander had lived through the persecutions of <alerius, Ma(iminus, and many others who sought to destroy the Christians. At the time, even %ope %eter himself had been put into prison. Ale(ander and Achillas snuck into the prison one night to visit the soon"to"be"martyred pontiff and tried to persuade him to reinstate Arius. %eter refused, but it was a sign of Ale(ander.s desire for unity within the Church that he went to

such lengths on behalf of Arius, e(communicating him only when there was no hope of compromise. 1n his deathbed Ale(ander implored the great Athanasius to succeed him as %ope of Ale(andria. His feast day is April 5@th. +hough Saint Anthony is regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, he must share a portion of the credit with Saint %achomius. %achomius was born in the #pper +hebaid in Egypt and as a young man was a soldier in the 'oman army. /n =5A, at the age of 33, he converted to Christianity and three years later became a hermit, living in the desert. %achomius reali&ed that a community of monks working together could accomplish more good, both for themselves and society, than hermits living isolated by themselves. He created the Cenobitic 'ule that balanced the communal life and the solitary life, a 'ule that became the basis for almost every monastic order to come after, especially that of Saint !enedict, who based his famous order almost entirely on the %achomian 'ule. /n cenobitic monasticism, the monks live in a communal environment, each one working for the betterment of the whole. Cenobitic monasteries are entirely self"sufficient, with farms and herds, plus libraries, hospitals, and kitchens in which every monk works, and every monk can use. Saint %achomius founded his first monastery in +abenna around =3=, and by the time of his death during a plague, he was the leader of over =,>>> monks. Saint $erome, famous for translating the !ible into atin, also translated %achomius. 'ule, and many monasteries today still use it. Saint Maurice was the captain of the +heban egion, a unit in the 'oman army that had been recruited from #pper Egypt and consisted entirely of Christians. Although loyal to the Empire 7ruled over by Ma(iminus -aia and -iocletian8, they still remembered the words of $esus to render to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to <od the things of <od. -uring the !agaude, an uprising of the <auls, Ma(iminus marched against them with the +heban egion as a part of his army. +he revolt was ,uelled, and upon their return to Aguanum 7now Saint"Morit& or Saint Maurice en Balais8 in Swit&erland, Ma(iminus gave the order that the whole army should give sacrifices to the 'oman gods in thanks for the success of their campaign. As part of the celebration, Ma(iminus ordered the e(ecution of a number of Christian prisoners. +he +heban egion refused to comply with the order and withdrew from the rites, even going so far as to camp away from the rest of the army so as not to be drawn into what they saw as horrifyingly against their beliefs. Ma(iminus repeatedly ordered the +heban egion to comply with his orders, and when they continued to refuse, he ordered the unit *decimated,* a practice in which every tenth man was put to death. +he egion was not shaken at all, despite threats of a second decimation, which was performed. Ma(iminus told those remaining that they would all be killed, but their captain, Maurice, inspired them with the e(ample of the soldiers already martyred, and told them that they were all assured of a place in Heaven for holding fast to their faith. Every last man was beheaded by other soldiers, without resistance. Ma(iminus even went so far as to carry the e(ecutions out against every member of the +heban egion stationed elsewhere in the Empire from <aul down to 'ome itself. A number of miracles are attributed to these holy soldiers. /n Curich, it is said that the beheaded Saints 0eli(, 'egula, and E(uperantius rose up, and carrying their heads in their hands, walked to the top of a hill, knelt down and prayed, and finally lay down in final death. 1n this spot, a great cathedral was built and the image of the three saints carrying their heads appears on the coat of arms of Curich today. Saint Maurice is one of the most popular saints in western Europe. +here are over ?4> sacred places bearing his name in 0rance alone. 1ver seventy towns bear his name. /n the Middle Ages, Saint Maurice was the patron saint of a number of the dynasties of Europe and later of the Holy 'oman emperors, many of whom were anointed before the Altar of Saint Maurice at Saint %eter.s Cathedral in 'ome. 6ing Sigismund of !urgundy donated land for a monastery in his honor in 454. Henry / 7:5:":=?8 ceded the Swiss province of Aargua in e(change for the ance of the Saints) and the sacred relic, the Sword of Saint Maurice, was last used in the coronation of Emperor Charles of Austria as king of Hungary in 5:5?. Saint Maurice.s feast day is September 33.

Saint Cyril was the successor and nephew of +heophilus, %ope of Ale(andria. As a youth, he entered the monastary of Saint Macarius where he learned the wisdom of the desert monks. 0ollowing this, he returned to Ale(andria where he was ordained as a priest and rose through the hierarchy until he was finally made %ope of the Egyptian Church. 0rom then on, he began to combat heresy and apostasy, helping to put an end to the 2estorian Heresy and even refuted the Emperor $ulian when the latter tried one last time to remove Christianity from the 'oman Empire. As Saint Athanasius had fought against Arius, so Cyril now fought against 2estorius. He wrote a letter to 2estorius e(plaining why his idea of two individual beings in the one person of Christ was heretical, and sent copies to the other %opes of 'ome, Antioch, $erusalem, and Aleppo, as well as to the imperial court. +hough 2estorius answered only with contempt, the other letters received favorable replies praising his efforts and offering their support. More letters were written, but 2estorius became more and more stubborn, even trying to antagoni&e Emperor +heodosius against Cyril. +his controversy eventually became so great that the calling of a synod of bishops seemed the only solution. +heodosius called the 0irst Council of Ephesus to address the heresy, which was held in A=5. +he bishops present elected Cyril to preside over the council. +hough 2estorius was nearby in Ephesus, he refused to appear before the council. 2estorius. beliefs were deemed heretical and a sentence of e(communication was passed by the two hundred bishops in attendance. Si( days later, $ohn, %ope of Antioch, arrived with his bishops who had not been able to reach Ephesus in time for the Council. +hough they did not believe as 2estorius did, they sided with him against the Council.s bishops and deemed him innocent. +hey met by themselves and issued an accusation of heresy towards Saint CyrilD +he Emperor ordered both Saint Cyril and 2estorius confined and the verdicts of both the Council and the Antiochene bishops void. +hree legates were dispatched from 'ome and when they arrived, they condemned 2estorius and approved of Saint Cyril.s decision. +he Emperor vindicated Saint Cyril with honor and ordered the e(ile of 2estorius. +he Antiochene bishops contined a minor schism for a time, but made peace with Cyril in A==, agreeing finally with the decision of the Council. /n 5EE3 Saint Cyril was declared a -octor of the Church, both for his work defending the faith in the Council of Ephesus as well as for the liturgy that bears his name. According to tradition, the liturgy had been passed down orally beginning with Saint Mark himself, but Saint Cyril completed it and wrote it all down so it would not be forgotten. /t is chanted by Christians all over the world during ent.

Saint Shenouda was born around =AE to devout Christian parents and spent much of his early life as a shepherd for his father.s small flock. As a youth he accompanied his father on a visit to his uncle Saint %igol, the abbot of the famed 9hite Monastery. As a result of a vision, %igol kept the young Shenouda and trained him in the ways of monasticism. /n =E4 following the death of %igol, Shenouda was chosen by his fellow monks as the new abbot. +he monastery at that time consisted of thirty aging monks, but by Shenouda.s death in A?? the 9hite Monastery had grown to over two thousand monks and close to two thousand nuns and covered an area three thousand times its original si&e. +he charismatic Saint Shenouda brought about a complete reform in Christian monasticism. He had *inherited* a system from his uncle based on the %achomian 'ule, though even more strict and austere. As a result, the followers were few in number and declining. Shenouda created a new 'ule that was less stringent and appealed to the backgrounds and natures of the people in the region, who would later Foin his monastery in droves. He also had his monks utili&e their time outside prayer and worship by having them use their skills and old professions for the benefit of the monastery and the community. +hus the monks were engaged in crafts and trades of every type, from clothweaving to shoemaking to pottery. 0or the first time, the monastery was self"sufficient. He also encouraged literacy amongst the populace by re,uiring his monks and nuns to be literate and to engage in the art of manuscript copying.

Shenouda.s spiritual work in Egypt and the surrounding area made him ,uite popular and famous within the Egyptian Christian Church, as well as beyond. 2o doubt as a result of this popularity, he was chosen by Saint Cyril the <reat to accompany him to the Council of Ephesus in A=5 where Shenouda aided the council in refuting the teachings of 2estorius that, among other things, denied the sacred position and holiness of the Birgin Mary as well as denied the human nature of $esus. Shenouda was instrumental in preserving the unity of the Church. Saint Shenouda was also a leader of the peasants under the <reek landlords. He opened the monastery.s church to the public and preached constantly to the peasants who came to him on religious and moral issues intending to elevate them from being slaves to confident Christians. He and his monks also defended the peasants who came to him for protection from their oppressive landlords. His heroic deeds have been lauded down through the centuries. 1nce he risked his life to save a group of captives from the !lemmyes warriors, and even appealed on behalf of the peasants to Emperor +heodosius. Saint Shenouda died at the age of 55E surrounded by his fellow monks at the 9hite Monastery, singing with them until the moment of his death the praises of <od.

Saint Mary of Egypt, for a great many years, was a prostitute in Ale(andria in the middle fourth century. 1ne year she Foined a group of pilgrims who were traveling to $erusalem for the 0east of the E(altation of the Holy Cross. She Foined them not for religious reasons, but in the hopes of finding some customers along the way. Even when she arrived in $erusalem she persisted in her ways and on the holy day itself even went to the church where the sacred relic was held to ensnare members of the pilgrimage. !ut when she reached the door, she found she could not enter. Some mysterious force continued to push her away and she sat down in a corner of the churchyard. She was suddenly filled with remorse for her sinful life, which she reali&ed was the reason why she could not enter the church. As she sat crying, she saw a statue of the Birgin Mary, the Mother of $esus and with a newfound faith and humility of heart she implored the help of the !lessed Mother and permission to enter the church and pray before the sacred wood of the cross. She promised that if her re,uest were granted, she would renounce her previous life in favor of a life of holiness and piety. She stood and approached the church door once more, and found that the force that previously pushed her away, now gently pulled her inside the church. 9hile praying for guidance before the wood of the cross, she heard a voice telling her that across the $ordan 'iver she would find rest. She left immediately, and upon reaching the $ordan she was bapti&ed in a church dedicated to $ohn the !aptist, and the ne(t day crossed the river and walked into the desert. She lived alone in the desert for the ne(t forty"seven years, until a monk named Cosimus came upon her dwelling. /n the custom of monks at the time, he had come out of his monastery to spend ent 7a Christian season of fasting and penance before Easter8 in the desert. As soon as she saw him, she called him by name and recogni&ed him as a priest. +he two talked and prayed for a long time, during which she told him the strange story of her life. She asked Cosimus to promise to meet her at the $ordan 'iver on Holy +hursday of the following year and to bring her holy communion. Cosimus kept his promise, and brought bread and wine to consecrate into the body and blood of Christ. He arrived at the $ordan and waited) soon he saw Mary coming toward him, walking across the river. After receiving holy communion, she raised her hands towards Heaven and shouted the words of Simeon, *2ow thou dost dismiss +hy servant, 1 ord, according to +hy word in peace, because my eyes have seen +hy salvation.* She then asked Cosimus to return to her dwelling the ne(t year. He did so, but found only her lifeless body and a letter she had written to him. He performed the funerary rites and buried her in the desert aided, we are told, by an angel in the form of a lion. /n his prayers he asked that she watch over him from Heaven, and returned to his monastery where he finally recounted to his brothers the story of the holy woman. Her feast day is celebrated by the Eastern Churches on the first of April, and by the 9estern Churches on the second of April.