Saints Maximus and Domatius

Last updated

Saints Maximos and Domadious
Saints
Born4 AD [1]
Died380
Wadi El Natrun, Egypt
Venerated in Coptic Orthodox church
Feast Tobi 14, 17 [2]
January 9 (Syriac Orthodox) [3]

Saints Maximos and Domadious are saints in the Coptic Orthodox Church. [4] [5]

Contents

Life

Maximos and Domadious were the sons of a Roman governor named Valentinian. Their father was a Christian and raised them as Christians. [6] At a young age, they decided to become monks asked their father to send them to Nicaea so they could pray where the First Council of Nicaea had taken place. Their father rejoiced and sent a group of soldiers with them. When they arrived at the place, they asked the soldiers to return to their parents and tell them that they had decided to stay there. [7] [8]

They recognized a monk named Hanna who asked them to go to Syria to learn the origins of monastic life by a monk named Aghabus. When Aghabus felt close to the date of his death, he told them that he saw a vision and a man named Macarius of Egypt told him that Maximos and Domadious should go to him in Egypt after his death. [9]

At that time, the Patriarch of Constantinople died. King Theodosius asked to see the monk Maximos to told him he wished to make him the patriarch of Constantinople. When Maximos and Domadious learned of this, they fled together and stayed with one of the shepherds, where they prayed to Christ to guide them to Macarius. [1] They traveled about nine days near the seashore, and found themselves in Šihēt (the valley of Natrun now). Macarius met them and helped them build a modest house and taught them a simple work to support themselves. They did not deal with anyone or go out of their house except to go to Saint Macarius to take holy sacraments. Macarius marveled at their silence and that during that time they did not talk to him, so he went to their place of residence and stayed there. And during the night he awoke and saw Maximos and Domadious praying, surrounded by a light from heaven and an angel guarding them with a sword of fire. Macarius shouted, "Pray for me" [1] [5] [10] [11]

Death

Maximus began to get sick with a violent fever. He asked his younger brother to go to Macarius. And when he came to him, he found him overheated and say "Lord, send me your light to shine in front of me in this way that I do not know. My God and my Creator saved me from the forces of darkness gathered in the air, and repaired my steps in this way to tell you straightly. And be my grace and strength, my God and my lord, because you are the Lord of light and the Savior of the world". And light surrounded the place and a group of prophets, apostles, saints, John the Baptist and the king Constantine were all standing around the saint until he delivered his pure spirit. Macarius cried and said, "Blessed are you Maximos" this was on the 14th of the month of Tobi. [1]

Dumadios cried bitterly, and asked St. Macarius to ask Christ to bring him to his brother. Three days later, he suffered from a severe fever, and Macarius was told about it and went to visit him. While he was on the way, he stood for a long time looking toward the cave, then turned to the east. Those people with him thought that he was praying but he was contemplating the Church of the Saints who were advancing the spirit of St. Domadius. Macarius looked up at the sky, crying and knocking his chest, saying, "Domadius has departed". This was on the 17th of the month of Tobi. [2]

Macarius built a church in their place of residence, the first church built in the wilderness. Maximos and Domadious were the first monks to die in Šihēt. [1] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony the Great</span> Egyptian Christian monk and hermit (died 356)

Anthony the Great was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as Anthony of Padua, by various epithets: Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Anthony the Hermit, and Anthony of Thebes. For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. His feast day is celebrated on 17 January among the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches and on Tobi 22 in the Coptic calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Council of Constantinople</span> 381 AD council of Christian bishops

The First Council of Constantinople was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople in AD 381 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. This second ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, except for the Western Church, confirmed the Nicene Creed, expanding the doctrine thereof to produce the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, and dealt with sundry other matters. It met from May to July 381 in the Church of Hagia Irene and was affirmed as ecumenical in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphanius of Salamis</span> 4th century Christian bishop and saint

Epiphanius of Salamis was the bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy. He is best known for composing the Panarion, a compendium of eighty heresies, which included also pagan religions and philosophical systems. There has been much controversy over how many of the quotations attributed to him by the Byzantine Iconoclasts were actually by him. Regardless of this, he was clearly strongly against some contemporary uses of images in the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria</span> Head of the Coptic Church from 1959 to 1971

Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria also called Abba Kyrillos VI, Coptic: Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ ⲋ̅ ; was the 116th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark from 10 May 1959 to his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onuphrius</span> Egyptian hermit and saint

Onuphrius lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt in the 4th or 5th centuries. He is venerated as Saint Onuphrius in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic churches, as Venerable Onuphrius in Eastern Orthodoxy, and as Saint Nofer the Anchorite in Oriental Orthodoxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macarius of Egypt</span> Egyptian Christian monk and hermit

Macarius of Egypt was a Christian monk and grazer hermit. He is also known as Macarius the Elder or Macarius the Great.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macarius of Jerusalem</span> 4th century Bishop of Jerusalem

Macarius I was Bishop of Jerusalem from 312 to shortly before 335, according to Sozomen. He is venerated as a saint within the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Cosmas I of Alexandria, 44th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skete</span> Type of monastic settlement

A skete is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, along with the eremitic, lavritic and coenobitic, that became popular during the early formation of the Christian Church.

Pope John I of Alexandria, 29th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great</span> Monastery in Egypt

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery of Saint Mary Deipara</span> Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in Egypt

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silouan the Athonite</span> Monk of Russian origin

Silouan the Athonite also sometimes referred to as Silouan of Athos, Saint Silvanus the Athonite or Staretz Silouan was an Eastern Orthodox monk of Russian origin, born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov who was a poet and monk of the St. Panteleimon Monastery. The life and teachings of Saint Silouan were brought to light by his disciple, Archimandrite Sophrony in his classic book Saint Silouan the Athonite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Mercurius</span> Greek soldier and martyr (224/225–250)

Mercurius was a Roman soldier of Scythian descent who became a Christian saint and martyr. He was born in the city of Eskentos in Cappadocia, in Eastern Asia Minor. According to Christian tradition, he was the soldier who killed Julian the apostate during his campaign in Persia. Saint Mercurius was also widely known by his Arabic-language name Abu-Sayfain, Abu-Sifin or Abu-Sefein in Egyptian Arabic which means "father of two swords", referring to the second sword given to him by the Archangel Michael.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George El Mozahem</span>

George El Mozahem is a Coptic Orthodox martyr and saint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abanoub</span> Coptic martyr

Abanoub or Abanob or Abanoub Al-Nahisy, is a 4th-century Christian saint and martyr from Egypt. His name is related to the Egyptian god Anoubis. He was born in Nehisa in the Nile Delta to Christian parents. Abanoub was 12 years old when he was killed and beheaded, after being tortured for refusing to leave Christianity. His feast day is July 31. His relics are preserved in St. Virgin Mary and St. Abanoub Churches in Sebennytos, Egypt. His title is often The Child Martyr.

Saint George of Assiut was an Egyptian bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Tobi 13 – Coptic calendar – Tobi 15

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "القديس دوماديوس والقديس مكسيموس - St-Takla.org". st-takla.org.
  2. 1 2 "Lives of Saints :: Toba 17". www.copticchurch.net.
  3. "دائرة الدراسات السريانية". dss-syriacpatriarchate.org (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  4. Alcock, Anthony (2016). "Life of Maximus and Domitius - English Translation" (PDF). Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "Maximus & Domatius". www.copticchurch.net.
  6. "Sts. Maximus & Dometius". cccsundayschool.com.
  7. "القديسين الروميين مكسيموس و دوماديوس (14و17 طوبة)".
  8. Robert. "القديسان دوماديوس ومكسيموس - مسيحى دوت كوم". mase7y.com.
  9. "Copts United - الأقباط متحدون - منطقة وادي النطرون.. كنز من الآثار القبطية2/2". www.copts-united.com.
  10. "القديسون الأرثوذكسيون - القديسان الباران مكسيموس ودوماديوس ولدا الملك(القرن4م)". www.orthodox-saints.com.
  11. "The Departure of St . Maximus and St . Domatius (Domadius(". www.st-mary-alsourian.com.