Vol: 2 Issue: 7
Abib 1724 / July 2008
The human will and the devil A Sermon by St Shenouda When we began to speak we said, "See how God honoured you; He glorified and exalted you. You also honour Him, glorify Him. You honour Him even more when you observe His commandments and His laws," someone replied and said, "The devil hinders us and trips us up and does not let us do this, and he seizes us in his works." I answered him: Why did you say "which are his" and didn’t you say "which are ours and his"? For every man who commits evil participates with him. And more, it is impossible for the devil to cause a man to sin unless his will goes to meet the thought of the devil or he is joined with him. For also evils are not proper to our nature, but they are things of passions, and they were twisted around us because our deliberate choice inclined towards things contrary to our nature, and those whose choices did not change have not turned from the things proper to their nature. Furthermore, some even came out from vices after they had fallen into them. If Satan cannot seize him who desires to depart from sin, then how will he cause man to sin against his will unless through ignorance? Yet if there are others to whom the unclean demon does violence, Jesus was the same yesterday, He is also today, and He will be at all times helping those who will cry out to Him in truth. Now further, concerning an obstacle: for just as we stumble many times with our foot, we also stumble with our heart. Scripture says: "If the righteous falls he shall not be troubled, for the Lord supports him."
Now if it is by the power of the lawless man that Satan causes man to commit perversions, why by the power of Christ do we not do the things which conform to our nature? There are two voices which we hear: the one which cries out so as to cause its sound to fill the whole earth, and few are they who follow it I am speaking about the preaching of the Scriptures which cries out, "Do not sin" and we do accordingly because it is our will, and many are they who follow it. It is about the whisper of the serpent that I speak, for just as the enemy tripped up the first woman in Paradise with false counsels, without a voice crying out, so too has it been with their generation until now. Truly, why was Satan not able to challenge the eleven apostles? Is it not because he did not find that with which he could seize them? For the good will which was in them made them a dwelling place of Christ, so what have they to do with an evil will? And where will the wolf find the sheep? It is in the bosom of the shepherd where they are . As he who would wish easily to trap a beast takes hold of its nose, so the son of iniquity, who seized these crowds of ungodly men, seized them in their will, which he made as his own. He mastered their heart; he made them weak until he brought them under his yoke. He who wishes to kill a dragon strikes him on his head. If you, O man, wish to be victorious over the enemy, first remove from yourself the evil will which the demons love, for the Lord Jesus Christ hates it. Blessed therefore are they from whom God will pluck out every vice. Amen
H.G. Bishop Youstos’ (Bishop and Abbot of St Anthony Monastery, Egypt) visit to the Monastery
Accompanied by Fr Misail Al Antouny, Fr Yacoub Al Antouny, Fr Philimon Al Antouny and some of the deacons.
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The Life of St. Shenouda By: One of the Youth St Shenouda was born on the 7th of Pashans 49AM / 2nd of May 333 AD, in Shandawil, a village near Akhmim in Upper Egypt. At the age of nine years old, St Shenouda’s righteous parents Darouba and Agbous asked shepherds to teach him how to care for the sheep, and to send him back before nightfall. Even at his young age, the boy would give his food to the other shepherds and spend the day in prayer and fasting. His father Agbous then discovered that each day St Shenouda would leave early with the shepherds and return late in the evening. So one day, his father followed him to find out where he goes each day and to his surprise he found his son standing beside a well and spending many hours in prayer. On the following day St Shenouda's father took him to his uncle Pigol, who was abbot and founder of the famous 'Red Monastery' of Atribe. St Shenouda's father asked the abbot to bless the boy, but Abbot Pigol took the young boy's hand, put it on his head, and said, “I am in need of this boy’s blessings, for he is a chosen vessel of Christ, and will serve Him faithfully all the days of his life." The remarkable spiritual progress of this boy attracted both the abbot and monks of the Monastery. On one occasion one of the elders saw his fingers alight like candles when he stretched out his hands in prayer. In 383 AD, St Shenouda succeeded his uncle Pigol as abbot of the White Monastery, setting out a strict order of Monasticism and transformed Pigols foundation into one of the largest and most influential Monasteries in Egypt. St Shenouda was abbot for more than 65 years and was the spiritual father and leader of more than 2,200 monks and 1,800 nuns and were not isolated from the Egyptian community. He also opened his Monastery to the people on Saturdays and Sundays, during which he explained to them the Holy Scriptures, giving special interest to uprooting heathen and pagan customs. His courage and wisdom also helped him in overcoming the pagans of Akhmim. St Shenouda had strict ascetic practices, due to his devoutness, St Shenouda underwent many demonic temptations, but through his faith and righteousness, he was victorious. On one occasion, a devil appeared to him in the form of an angel, saying, "Hail, Oh struggling saint! The Lord has sent me to you, for you are righteous and have struggled much. You have experienced enough toil and ascetic practices in this wilderness now you must go into the world to guide people there." St Shenouda modestly replied, "If you have been sent from God, stretch out your hands in the sign of the holy Cross of our Lord and Saviour." On hearing these words the devil fled, as he could not bear hearing the name of the Lord Jesus and His holy Cross. The Monastery of St Shenouda is known as the 'White Monastery' to this day because of the whiteness of its appearance. St Shenouda died in 465 AD at the age of 117, St Wesa his disciple tells us he bears the title 'Archimandrite', meaning ‘head of the solitaries or hermits’. May His blessings be with all Amen. Page 3
THEOLOGIAN OR ABBOT? By: Maged S. Mikhail From: St Shenouda Coptic Newsletter A prominent event in the Lives of St. Shenouda is that in which the Abbot accompanies St. Cyril to the Council of Ephesus (431 AD.). This fact has been attested to by St. Wesa as well as St. Shenouda himself. It is also upheld by the majority of scholars. However, "why was Shenoute invited to Ephesus?" continues to be an enigmatic question. However, the real reason behind St. Shenouda's invitation to Ephesus may simply be his reputation; and need not be a part of a Cyrillian plot or due to the Abbots own theological ability. In his time, St. Shenouda was one of, if not the, most illustrious abbot in all of Egypt. And judging from the attendees of prior councils it was not at all strange for such abbots to be invited to attend ecclesiastical councils. Being the Charismatic leader of the huge White Monastery, and in many ways the de facto governor of the surrounding region; St. Shenouda would have been invited, if for no other reason, solely for his position and his reputation in Egypt. The fame of St. Shenouda is actually a very interesting phenomenon. There are absolutely no known references to him in the Greek sources of the time (or later for that matter). Yet the good Abbot was undoubtedly known by the Alexandrian hierarchy, and seemingly even the Emperor himself; Theodosius II. This is apparent from an authenticated fragment from the second letter of St. Cyril to the Abbot. In it, St. Cyril tells St. Shenouda: “. . . it has been communicated to me through the clergy who are in Constantinople, that the pious Christ-loving emperor has decided to send someone from among those who are very close to him to urge you and me to come to him.” It is doubtful that this was the actual invitation to the third Ecumenical Council. However, it does demonstrate that the Abbot's reputation may have very well extended even beyond the borders of Egypt. Interestingly enough the Arabic Life seems to support this notion. It cites the following as the reason for Shenoute's invitation to the council: “And when the fathers gathered in the Council of Ephesus to defame Nestorius the hypocrite, those prominent in the Court said to the king ‘there is in upper Egypt a man, a righteous prophet, called Shenouda who sees what is to be before it is ... send so that his friend anba Cyril (Kyrillos) the patriarch of Alexandria may invite him, so they may embarrass this Nestorius and engage him in rhetoric.’” I believe that the Arabic Life is probably - on the right track; although the actual events are probably not as poetic. For it is not inconceivable that St. Shenouda was invited to the Page 4
council purely on his reputation. And as observed from the fragment above; at least St. Cyril, and seemingly the Emperor as well, held St. Shenouda in high regard. The Abbot was certainly not a theologian in the same sense in which St. Cyril was. He was an Orthodox Abbot, who taught and followed doctrines, but didn't attempt to formulate or define them. But it must be said that what the Abbot lacked as a scholastic theologian he made up for as an exegesis; it is in this field that we may come to appreciate his thought, and originality.
Purchase of New Land Through God’s Grace and your prayers, we purchased a piece of land, about 100 acres, which is right next door to the Monastery for the price of $170,000. This makes the total area of the monastery 360 Acres. The land as shown below has a small farm shed, a water dam, and variety of fruit and nut trees. During the celebration of the feast of St Shenouda we will do a procession to the new land and we will pray the prayer of “Thanks Giving” at the new land.
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Timetable of the Feast of St Shenouda The celebration of St. Shenouda’s feast , will be on Sunday instead of Monday (The Actual feast day), So we can give better opportunity to many to attend. Saturday 12/7/2008 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm 11:00 pm - 3:00 am Sunday 13/7/2008 3:00 am - 6:00 am 10:00 am - 12:00 pm 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Feast of St. Shenouda Vesper prayer Vigils, Hymns, and Midnight praises Feast of St. Shenouda The first Holy Liturgy The Second Holy Liturgy. (Giving of presents) Lunch Procession around the Monastery Sunset Prayers
All are welcome, to come, to share and to benefit spiritually. May the Intercession of St. Shenouda strengthen and preserve us in the Days of our Sojourn. Amen.
St Shenouda Friend of the Prophets From: The life of St Shenouda There was also another brother sitting in a corner reciting the twelve minor prophets, and as often as he would recite them, beginning each one in order, our father Abba Shenouda would see the prophet he was reciting standing by the brother until he finished the recitation. He would then leave and sit by our father Abba Shenouda and the prophet, Ezekiel. Now when the brother had finished eleven of the Minor Prophets and came to the last, that is, Malachi, because he was a man still subject to the flesh, he began to doze. And for a little while, sleep weighed down upon him since he had spent the whole night awake in his recitation. But the holy prophet Malachi did not cease standing over, him. Then the prophet Ezekiel said to our father. Abba Shenouda: ‘Trouble yourself to wake the brother so that he can finish the words of our brother Malachi. Then he too may come and sit down with us.’ Our father went and woke: him, saying: ‘Rise up, my son, and let the great man leave, so that he will cease to be wearied on your account and may join his brothers.’ So he arose and finished the recitation. Thereupon the prophet greeted his fellow prophets, and they departed from our father. Page 6
St Shenouda’s Clairvoyance From: The Life of St Shenouda One day, a man from the town of Ashmin came to him. He was a notable businessman of very great wealth, and thieves had robbed his house, leaving him nothing. He came to my father and cried: “Help me, my lord and father! They have devastated my house and left me nothing at all”. My father Abba Shenoute replied: “Arise and go north to the town of Sioout; you will find three men sitting on the ground outside the door of the city gate, one of them will be combing his hair. Say to him: ‘Shenoute says: Come to me so that I may speak with you about a certain matter,’ and the man will talk with you.” So after he had received his blessing, the businessman departed and went north to the town of Sioout, and he found the three men sitting on the ground outside the city gate, just as my father had told him, and one of them was combing his hair. To him the business-man said: “Friend, the man of God Abba Shenoute says: Come to me so that I may speak with you and tell you of this matter”. The man said to him: “Indeed! Behold, for many days I have wanted to see that holy man to receive a bless-ing from him.” There and then the two of them arose and set off together, and came to the holy Abba Shenoute and received his blessing. He said to them: “Sit down for a little while and rest”. After this, my father spoke with the man he had sent for he who had robbed the businessman’s house and said to him: “My son, go and give back to the man the possessions which you stole and carried away, and I will make him give you a few of them”. The man was afraid and said to my father: “My holy father, it was not I alone who carried them off. My father said to him: “I know that too, my son.” The man said to my father: “If he will not tell any-one at all, I will take him and give him back his possessions complete and intact”. Then my father called the businessman and made him take an oath, saying: “I will never reveal the matter to the day of my death.” So he took him and gave him back all his possessions as they were, just as our father Abba Shenoute had commanded, and the businessman gave him a small portion of his possessions and sent him away. Afterwards, the businessman came back again to our father the prophet and received his blessing. My father Abba Shenoute said to him: “Look, my son, you want to go to the city of Alexandria, do me this favour: after you arrive, buy the first thing you come across for sale and bring it to me. Whatever you give for it I will give to you when, by God’s will, you return to me.” On his way to Alexandria, the businessman arrived at Chereu, and as soon as he dis-embarked from the ship, he found a man who had a silver portable-altar which the man had stolen and carried off from one of the monasteries of our father Abba Shenoute, the faithful man. When the businessman saw the altar he said to himself: “If I buy this silver altar and take it to the great man of God, I will be ashamed to take anything from him, for he had pity on me, told me about my possessions, and had them given back to me. I will not buy it, lest I lose something else with my own hands! And when he went into the city of Alexandria and again met the man with the altar, he did not buy it. After another two days he once more met the man carrying the altar in everyone’s presence, and again he did not buy it. When the businessman had sold his wares and went down to the river to board the ship, the man came again with the altar, and again he did not buy it. But one of the sailors on the ship which the businessman boarded bought it for four gold Page 7
pieces, and he said to himself: “I will take it to the sanctuary of Abba Shenoute, the man of God.” When they arrived at their city, the sailor took the altar, brought it to the monastery, and offered it to my father, saying: “My father, would you like to buy this portable-altar?” My father said to him: “Indeed I would, but tell me how much you paid for it, my son.” The sailor said: “I paid eight gold pieces for it, my father.” My father Abba Shenoute said to him: “No, my son, see that you do not lie; it was instead four gold pieces that you paid for it.” The sailor said to him: “It is true; that is really what I paid for it. Take it, O my holy father.” My father said to him: “My son, take five gold pieces for it.” But the sailor said to him: “I will take nothing for it, my father. Remember me, my father, in your holy prayers.” And so, after he had received a blessing, he left my father and went to his house glorifying God. After a month had passed, that businessman the one to whom my father gave back his possessions which had been stolen came to the monastery. It was he to whom my father had said: “Buy the first thing you come across for sale and bring it to me,” but he had not bought it (I mean the altar which the sailor had bought for my father). The busi-nessman said to my father: “While I was out walking, I dropped a purse of gold, and I do not know where it fell.” Now it was actually the sailor who bought the altar who had found the purse of gold which he had dropped, and it con-tained sixty pieces of gold. But the businessman did not know this, and instead he entreated my father in tears, saying: “Let your mercy come upon me!” My father Abba Shenoute said to him: “This is destiny; the riches of this world are like a prostitute: she is in your house today, but tomorrow she makes a contract with someone else. Now, my son, God has given the gold you lost to whom he will, and you will never ever find it.” So the businessman went away with anguish in his heart and in great shame.
St Mary Church Sunday School group praying
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St Shenouda the Author By: Caroline Schroeder From: Monastic Bodies The act of writing held an almost sacred place in early Christianity. In putting word to parchment or papyrus, the Christian author ritually and mimetically recalled the incarnation of the divine Word (Iogos) in material form. As Derek Krueger has written, "From the perspective of late antiquity, the connection between logos and body always already underlies the craft of composition: the practice of writing is the embodiment of the logos." For his ancient readers and listeners, St Shenouda's writings about the body constituted a writing of the body as a sacred and powerful site for the renunciation of evil. For the historian of Christianity, St Shenouda's writings hold a certain power as well. The nature and scope of St Shenouda's written sources are vast. His texts provide an exceptional resource for the study of early monasticism in general and the social construction of the body in particular because his corpus currently represents the largest library of texts written by such a prominent figure in early Egyptian monasticism. Over the course of his long life, he produced volume upon volume of letters, sermons, monastic rules, and treatises, all in the Sahidic dialect of the Coptic language. Much of the remaining St Shenoudaan research to date has come in the form of linguistic studies and textual translations. As one of the largest single collections of Coptic literature, St Shenouda's writings have provided an important resource to linguists of Coptic and other Egyptian languages. Some have claimed that St Shenouda's monastery housed one of the primary libraries responsible for translating the Christian scriptures and other Greek Christian writings into Coptic. But his texts also provide a rare literary source for life in a fourth and fifth century ascetic community as it was portrayed by a contemporary participant. St Shenouda supplies provocative descriptions of significant disputes in the monastery's community, a lengthy reproduction of their monastic rule, extensive biblical interpretations in support of his decisions and rulings, elaborate parables and prophecies regarding the spiritual state of the community, detailed accounts of his own and his monks' activities, and considerable theological sermons and tractates. When the extant texts of St Shenouda's corpus are measured against the remaining documents from better known figures, such as St Pachomius or St Antony, the textual legacies of the more famous monks seem sparse by comparison. Moreover, some of the most frequently used sources on Egyptian monasticism either are one or two generations removed from the circumstances that they describe or were written by authors who were not Egyptian ascetics. Page 9
Although St Shenouda did not write traditional, systematic treatises on Trinitarian or Christological topics, he did write extensively on the nature of God and on the relationship of his community with God. His theorizing about the nature of coenobitic monasticism and its role in Christian salvation is as sophisticated as the list of his violent actions against pagans, heretics, and fellow monks is long. By far, the primary reason behind the lack of research on St Shenouda remains the sorry state of the manuscript tradition. Almost all of the manuscripts containing St Shenouda's works were preserved only in the library of Deir Anba St Shenouda. Most of the extant manuscripts date from the ninth to the twelfth centuries." As time passed, knowledge of the Coptic language was lost, and these texts were eventually considered refuse by the monastery. Western Europeans "discovered" St Shenouda's monastery in the seventeenth century and began plundering the remains of the library in the eighteenth century. Throughout the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, the manuscripts were dispersed to libraries and private collections in Europe and the United States. Frequently a codex was removed piece by piece to different locations, and as a result, parts of the same codex and even the same text currently reside in collections in different countries, or even continents. Lamentably, none of the original codices has survived in its entirety, even scattered among various collections. though most of the extant St Shenoudaan documents likely have been identified, scholars nonetheless hope to continue to locate new fragments that currently reside undiscovered or unidentified in museums, libraries, or possibly even private collections.'' The turn of the twenty first century has witnessed somewhat of a renaissance of St Shenoudaan scholarship, due in large part to Stephen Emmel's codicological reconstruction of the remaining manuscripts of St Shenouda's writings, completed in 1993. For the first time, scholars may reconstruct individual texts written by St Shenouda and examine them in their entirety. In his codicological reconstruction of these disparate fragments, Emmel has discovered that the surviving texts were divided into two major categories: the Canons and the Discourses. The Canons of St Shenouda contain texts written primarily to the women and men of the monastery and seem to have been organized and compiled into nine volumes by St Shenouda himself. The Discourses consist of public sermons, letters, and other texts that seem to be written for a more public audience and are referred to in the codices as epistole or logos. The eight volumes of the Discourses were probably organized for liturgical or lectionary purposes and likely were not compiled by St Shenouda himself. They also contain miscellaneous letters to and from St Shenouda that have been used to fill up extra space in the back of the codices. Deir Anba Shenouda's library contained additional lectionary codices that were not designated as volumes of the Discourses. Emmel is currently coordinating a team of senior scholars who plan to publish critical editions of the Canons over the next decade.
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Abba Shenouda Marvels at the Works of the Monks of Scetis From: The Life of St Macarius At the time when the wise Cyril summoned Saint Abba Shenouda to the holy synod that met in Ephesus concerning the impious human worshipper Nestorius, our Lord Jesus Christ gave them friendly assistance until they subscribed to the deposition of that despicable person. After this battle waged by Saint Cyril and the holy synod of bishops, they wished to return to their Episcopal sees as commanded by the godly emperor Theodosius, and Saint Abba Shenouda was taken up into a cloud. When it carried him over the holy place of our father, the righteous Abba Macarius the Great of Scetis (he to whom the voice of the Lord had come, saying, "You have become a god upon the earth," and who saw in a vision the holy prayers of his children becoming like the sweet smoke of incense going to the throne of the Almighty), the old man, the archimandrite Abba Shenouda, marvelled to himself, saying, "When my Lord Jesus Christ sets me down in my monastery, I will come to this place to see its work and those who live in it in order to see what sort of people they are:" After he greeted the brothers in his monastery, he took with him some of the elders and went to Scetis to the holy place of Abba Macarius and the superior at that time received him with joy and with open and loving encouragement. Saint Abba St Shenouda thought to himself, "According to the vision I saw when I was mounted on the cloud, works like this are not attainable." While Saint Abba Shenouda was pondering thoughts like this within himself, God revealed his thoughts to the holy superior of the monastery, and since he wanted the monastery to profit from Abba Shenouda's visit, he walked through the monastery with him. Therefore, with the superior accompanying him, the old men of the monastery received a blessing from Abba Shenouda. Then the superior took Abba Shenouda to where the brothers cooked their meals. A small feast was taking place that day for one of the faithful. In his impatience, the brother who tended the fire under the kettle allowed it to boil over, and the superior said to him, "Thrust your forearm into the kettle, my child, and turn the meat." In obedience he thrust his forearm into the kettle and turned the food. When Saint Shenouda saw this great wonder (the brother was not harmed at all), he publicly said, "Truly, the name `without work' will not be able to divide a people, for works raised up Tabitha; in the same way, because of the pure works of Abba Macarius, faith has raised the dead. And what shall I say about my children? Indeed, their eyes have flowed with tears and they have constricted their stomachs on account of their severe diet, and up to now they have demonstrated no power like this: And so he went to his monastery, giving profit to the place, and giving glory to our Lord Jesus Christ and his servant, Abba Macarius the righteous. Page 11
Question & Answer Why is it that St Shenouda is not well known in the western world? Unfortunately, such a great saint and prolific author is still relatively unexamined by western historians of Christianity for several reasons. First, St Shenouda remains unmentioned in Greek and Latin writings about Egyptian monasticism. Second, St Shenouda has been depicted in historiography as a man more violent and less intellectually sophisticated than his other monastic contemporaries. An analysis of his asceticism does not lead St Shenouda to shed his image as a strict and sometimes violent man. He does, however, emerge as much more than a simple monk, strong of faith; St Shenouda's violence was neither untheological nor unique in Egyptian monasticism. As more and more research is done on the writings of St Shenouda many of today’s historians share the later image of the saint. Nevertheless St Shenouda is considered a great saint and a leader of monasticism in the Coptic Church. In Coptic icons he is usually drown a alongside his contemporary monastic leaders such as St Anthony and St Pachomius. During Holy week his sermons are read out as part of the church service. His name is also mentioned in the commemoration of saints in the Liturgy and in the Psalmody.
Further Readings Caroline T. Schroeder. “Monastic Bodies: Discipline and Salvation in St St Shenouda of Atripe.” University of Pennsylvania Press. In Monastic Bodies, Caroline Schroeder offers an in-depth examination of the asceticism practiced at the White Monastery using diverse sources, including monastic rules, theological treatises, sermons, and material culture. Schroeder details St Shenouda's disciplinary code and philosophical structure, including the belief that individual sin corrupted not only the individual body but the entire "corporate body" of the community. Thus the purity of the community ultimately depended upon the integrity of each individual monk.
David N. Bell , “The life of St Shenouda by Besa”, Cistercian Publication Few documents available in English accentuate more dramatically than Besa's Life of St Shenouda the cultural limitations of our knowledge of early Christianity. The Coptic tradition venerates St Shenouda of Atripe as a hero of the faith, yet his very name is unfamiliar to those in the graeco-roman tradition. Thousands of monks and nuns once looked to him as their apa, the father of their spiritual and material lives. David N. Bell in his introduction does not do any justice to the saint and must be read with caution, many other scholars in the field of Coptic Studies do not have such an opinion of St Shenouda. Nevertheless his translation of the Life of St Shenouda is the only one available in the English language. Page 12