Pachomius, also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on 9 May, and Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches mark his feast on 15 May or 28 May. In the Lutheran Church, he is remembered as a renewer of the church, along with his contemporary, Anthony of Egypt on 17 January.
Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark the evangelist and apostle. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days from 14 November 1971 until his death.
Moses the Black, also known as Moses the Strong, Moses the Abyssinian, Moses the Robber, and Moses the Ethiopian, was an ascetic monk and priest in Egypt in the fourth century AD, and a notable Desert Father. He is highly venerated in both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, making him amongst the most notable Desert Fathers. According to stories about him, he converted from a life of crime to one of asceticism. He is mentioned in Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History, written about 70 years after Moses's death.
Saint Agathon of Alexandria, was the 39th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. St. Agathon was a disciple of Pope Benjamin I, the 38th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church so when Pope Benjamin had to flee to avoid persecution by the Chalcedonians, Agathon remained and led the church.
Abdel Messih El-Makari was a Coptic Orthodox monk and priest, and a 20th-century Coptic saint. Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria testified as to his holiness and asceticism.
Monastic settlements are areas built up in and around the development of monasteries with the spread of Christianity. To understand Christian monastic settlements, we must understand a brief history of Christian monasticism. Monasticism was a movement especially associated with Early Christianity that began in the late 3rd century to the 4th century in Egypt when early Christians realizing that martyrdom wasn’t much of an option when the Roman empire relaxed Christian persecutions. It was begun by key monks who were known then as “The Desert Fathers” and later, there were female monasteries run by women who later came to be known as “The Desert Mothers”. The most famous Desert Father was Abba Anthony and the most famous Desert Mother was Amma Syncletica.ost of the Christians took to the deserts and arid areas to deny themselves of the social environments and people in order to focus on God and prayer. They denied themselves of a comfortable life often resorting to eating what grew in the deserts as well as living frugally and in poverty. With time, monasticism came to impact the church and even the papacy and there came about two variants of monasticism: The Eastern Monastic movement and the Western Monastic movement. Inspired by the Eastern monastic movements, new monastic movements sprung up in western Europe after the Roman empire fell apart and newer kingdoms like the Franks, Britannia and Germanic tribes sprung up. The papacy was at its infancy and places like the Isles of Britannia had monks that established monasteries along its coastlines. One of the forerunners was St. Augustine whose Rule became encoded in the future doctrine of the Roman clergy of the church.
Gabriel IV was the 86th Coptic Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 1370 until his death.
Wadi El Natrun is a depression in northern Egypt that is located 23 m (75 ft) below sea level and 38 m (125 ft) below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt deposits, salt marshes and freshwater marshes.
The Monastery of Saint Macarius The Great also known as Dayr Aba Maqār is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, about 92 km (57 mi) north-west of Cairo, and off the highway between Cairo and Alexandria.
The Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, Egypt, is the most famous monastery of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria named after Pishoy. It is the easternmost of the four current monasteries of Wadi el Natrun.
The Paromeos Monastery, also known as Baramos Monastery, is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is the most northern among the four current monasteries of Scetis, situated around 9 km northeast of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy. Ecclesiastically, the monastery is dedicated to and named after the Virgin Mary.
Matta El Meskeen, born Youssef Iskandar, was a Coptic Orthodox monk. He was the key figure in the revival of Coptic monasticism, a movement which began in 1969 when he was appointed to the Monastery of St Macarius in the Wadi El Natrun in Egypt. By the time of his death the community had grown from 6 aged monks to 130 monks, and as many other monasteries were revived, new ones also began to open. He was twice nominated to become Coptic Pope, but was not chosen in either case.
The Monastery of Saint Mary El-Sourian is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is located about 500 meters northwest of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy.
The Monastery of Saint Anthony is a Coptic Orthodox monastery standing in an oasis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, in the southern part of the Suez Governorate. Hidden deep in the Red Sea Mountains, it is located 334 km (208 mi) southeast of Cairo. The Monastery of Saint Anthony was established by the followers of Saint Anthony, who is the first Christian monk. The Monastery of St. Anthony is one of the most prominent monasteries in Egypt and has strongly influenced the formation of several Coptic institutions, and has promoted monasticism in general. Several patriarchs have come from the monastery, and several hundred pilgrims visit it each day.
Coptic monasticism was a movement in the Coptic Orthodox Church to create a holy, separate class of person from layman Christians.
The Monastery of Saint Fana is a Coptic Orthodox monastery. It is named after Saint Fana, also known as Bane, Coptic Christian hermit. The monastery is sometimes called the Monastery of Abu Fanah and is also known as the Monastery of the Cross, due to the presence of many beautifully decorated crosses inside its church.
Nitria is one of the earliest Christian monastic sites in Egypt and is located in the Nitrian Desert. It was the first of the three major centers of Christian monastic activity in the Lower Egypt, the other two being Kellia and Scetis.
The Liturgy of Saint Gregory the Theologian is one of the three Anaphoras retained by the Coptic Church. The text is named after Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the Cappadocian Fathers.
Pope Tawadros II or Theodore II is the 118th and current pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark, succeeding the late Pope Shenouda III as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. He took office on 18 November 2012, two weeks after being selected.
Copto-Arabic literature is the literature of the Copts written in Arabic. It is distinct from Coptic literature, which is literature written in the Coptic language.
