Who were the most important monastic leaders?

St. Paul of Thebes (the first hermit): St. Jerome documented his biography in 374 or 375 A. D. St. Paul grew up in northern upper Egypt and was well educated in Greek and Egyptian sciences. When he was sixteen years old, he received a big inheritance from his parents. During the persecution of Decius (around 250 A. D.), he went into the wilderness after his brother, Peter, took his share of the inheritance by force. When he was 113 years

old, after leading an angelic life on earth, St. Anthony the Great met him. St. Paul addressed him by name, and they talked about the wonders of God and praised Him. At sunset, a raven flew down from a palm tree and brought a full loaf of bread to them, even though it was the raven’s habit to bring only half a loaf to St. Paul. On the third day, St. Paul asked St. Anthony to bring him St. Athanasius’ vestment, which he then gave to St. Anthony to bury him in it. When St. Anthony returned, he found that St. Paul had departed while bowing down in prayer. Then, two lions came and dug in the sand to bury St. Paul.

St. Anthony the Great: He was born around 251 A. D. in the city of Coma, Egypt (Qiman El-Arous). When he was eighteen years old, he heard the Gospel reading: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matt. 19:21), and so he sold his possessions, placed his sister in a house of virgins, and dwelt in a small hut to learn from a saintly hermit there. After some time, he went into the western desert to struggle on his own in a tomb, that was carved in the mountain. At the age of thrity-five, he settled at the eastern bank of the Nile at Pispir (Dayr al-Maymūn), where he lived as a hermit, so many came to him and became his disciples. He went into the inner desert at Mount Colzim to live in peace and silence. Nonetheless, his love compelled him to visit Alexandria to support the martyrs in 316 A. D., and to support St. Athanasius against Arianism in 352 A. D. Many people came to be his disciples, and he departed in 352 A. D.

St. Pachomius (Father of the Koinonia): He was born in upper Egypt around the year 290 A. D. He became Christian in the city of Esna in Upper Egypt because of their generosity and their love for their enemies. He left the army and was baptized around the year 290 A. D. He became the disciple of St. Palamon the hermit, till an angel appeared to him and guided him to establish the system of the monastic communal life (coenobitic monasticism). He was a successful leader who loved the salvation of souls, so he established many monasteries in Upper Egypt following strict rules. He also established a convent for nuns under the leadership of his sister. His monastic rules were translated to Greek and Latin. St. Basil the Great used them, and they were used in the Gaul in the fifth century. They were also adopted by Benedict, the father of western monasticism, and by Caesarius of Arles.

St. Ammonas: He was contemporary of St. Anthony. He was born in 275 A. D., and when he was twenty-two years old, his uncle forced him to get married, so he lived with his wife as ascetics in Nitria. After eighteen years, his wife asked him to live in solitude away from her, so he went out to Mount Nitria and many gathered around him. So, he established the semi-eremitic monasticism, in which the monks are not required to have daily fellowship in worship or in meals, except for Saturdays and Sundays only. Usually, the monks of this order lived in cells or caves that were close to each other, around the church.

St. Macarius the Great: (around 300–390 A. D.) He is the founder of the semi-eremitic order of monasticism in the wilderness of Scetis. He visited St. Anthony at least twice. His father forced him to get married, but then God allowed his virgin wife to depart. He led an

ascetic life in a small hut in a village for about ten years under the guidance of an ascetic. He longed for solitude, and so he moved to Scetis and a cherub accompanied him on the way. He loved worship and asceticism, so many came from the East and the West to the wilderness to become his disciples.

St. Shenoute the Archimandrite: He was the abbot of the White Monastery in Athribis (or Atripe), in the wilderness of Thebes for over fifty-six years (fourth or fifth century A. D.). He led 2200 monks and 1800 nuns. He was called the “Archimandrite” as he practiced solitude from time to time, and he encouraged the monks at his monastery to retreat to the wilderness after practicing the life of fellowship. In the year 431 A. D., he accompanied St. Cyril the Great to the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus. He is known for purifying Coptic literature of Hellenistic cultural influences, and did not allow any foreigners to join his monastic communities. For this reason, he was regarded as a political leader and a social reformer, besides the depth of his spirituality.

Amma Sarah : The first monastic group of women in the world was in the city of Alexandria, following the rule of St. Syncletica. St. Athanasius documented her biography and teachings. Moreover, St. Pachomius established two convents for nuns, while many nuns lived in solitude in the desert. Many mothers came from foreign convents to Egypt, like St. Melania the Elder (374 A. D.) and her granddaughter Melania the Younger (418 A. D.). Also, we cannot forget to mention St. Mary of Egypt who repented in Jerusalem and lived for fortyseven years in the wilderness across the Jordan not seeing the face of another human being, except St. Zosima twice in the last two years of her life.

Many nuns were given the gift of true leadership and spiritual discernment, like St. Sarah of whom it was said that she lived for sixty years on the banks of a river, but never lifted her eyes to look at it. Many of her sayings were preserved in the sayings of the desert fathers and mothers.

St. Hilaria: In the fourth century, the daughter of Emperor Zeno fled to Scetis where she led a life of asceticism in the attire of a male monk. When her sister, Theopiste, was possessed by an evil spirit, the elders of the wilderness sent her to St. Hilaria to pray for her, and did not know that St. Hilaria was a woman. She prayed all night for her and embraced her. Theopiste was healed, and she told the emperor about the monk, “Hilarion,” who healed her and was embracing her, so her father was disturbed. He called for her to come to the palace, where she revealed to him that she was his daughter after he had promised not to prevent her from going back to her cave.

St. Syncletica: Some historians regard her to be the equal of St. Anthony, the star of the wilderness; for as St. Anthony was the father of all monks, St. Syncletica was a mother to that group of virgins which transformed the fertile valley of Egypt into a dwelling place for the grace of God. She was born to noble parents who settled in Alexandria to be close to the School of Alexandria. They had two sons and two daughters, so they wanted to educate them in all sciences, which were only offered in the School of Alexandria. This family was shocked

at the death of Syncletica’s youngest brother in his childhood, while the older one departed on the night of his wedding. These two shocks caused Syncletica to ponder and contemplate the pleasures of the world and see them as nothing but a deceptive mirage. Syncletica persevered in her fasting, prayer, asceticism, and worship in her parents’ house till they departed to heaven. Then, she distributed her money on the poor and took her sister to their family’s tomb, where they lived for a few years. During this period, she redoubled her fasts, prayers, and ascetic practices. A substantial number of young women went to visit her. Some went simply to see her and take her blessing, while others came seeking solutions to their problems. It was natural for some of them to be influenced by her example and desire to stay with her and participate in the life of asceticism and contemplation.

She left her family’s tomb and took her colleagues to live with her in a building outside the city, where she devoted her life to serve them, becoming a role model and a living example to what she called for in her teachings. For this reason, her colleagues loved her, were loyal to her, and happily obeyed her. Year after year, the number of young women who became her disciples increased; some of them would spend some time with her and then return to their homes, bearing the grace that they received from St. Syncletica’s example back to their families.

When this saint was eighty years old, she was in very good health, but became suddenly ill. Sores covered her body from head to toe, to the point where she lost the ability to speak. The pain of the sores was intensified by a severe fever. The saint’s patience was comparable to that of Job, for she endured all that befell her with thanksgiving and long-suffering. Three days before her departure, she saw a multitude of angels with a group of virgins, who approached her saying, “We came to call you, so come with us.” As soon as she heard these words, she became a new person and was engulfed in bright light. She lived after that for three full days during which the nuns were enlightened with a heavenly light that was reflected on them from their ill abbess, then she departed to the Church of the firstborn.

St. Athanasius the Apostolic wanted to make her greatness more widely known, so he began to write her biography; but he departed before finishing it, so one of her disciples completed it after his departure. He wrote the biography of St. Anthony describing him as the father of monks and wrote the biography of St. Syncletica describing her as the mother of nuns and virgins.