Friday, 30 September 2011

Coptic Biographies

The Monastic Fathers were not writers. They preferred to live virtuously and guide their students through teaching and by example. They were the subject of many biographies and were visited by many of the great Christian writers who emulated their lives and collected their sayings.

In AD 388, Palladius, the Bishop of Helenopolis (in modern-day Turkey) visited Egypt and lived for a year among the monks of Upper Egypt. On his return to Egypt in AD 406, he spent about seven years among the monks of Wadi al-Natrun and wrote his book, commonly known as "The Garden of the Holy Fathers." Saint John Cassian also visited Wadi al-Natrun between the years AD 390 and AD 400 and included in his books "Conferences" and "Institutes" many descriptions of the Egyptian monks and their sayings. With the same purpose, Saint Jerome and his student Saint Paula visited Egypt in AD 386. He later wrote a book about the Egyptian monk Abba Paula and another more general one on the lives and sayings of Egyptian monks. On his return, Saint Jerome established two monasteries in Bethlehem, one for men and the other for women

No comments:

Post a Comment