Mar Ologh the Copt, Companion of the Lion
His Monastic Life
Divine grace drew the young Ologh into its spiritual net, and its fire was kindled in him and enlightened his mind to leave this passing world. He left it entirely, with heart and mind, cast off all the desires of this passing world and its vain glory, and went to a venerable elder called Saint Isidore, who was perfect in virtue and in the love of God and His creation.
The elder received him and tested him, and found him ready and obedient to do his will, doing it without complaint, like a gentle lamb in his simplicity. Knowing that he was a chosen vessel, he clothed him in the monastic schema and taught him the way of virtue. Father Ologh held to fasting with cheerfulness, silence with meekness, and humility with understanding, toward his spiritual father and toward everyone who spoke with him or kept him company. He loved fasting, eating once every ten days, and he spent the night in prayer.
The Envy of the Demons
Satan stirred up violent warfare against him, so that the demons would beat him and leave him gasping his last breaths. But the divine grace that had called him did not abandon him; it helped him, the prayer of his father, the elder Saint Isidore, upheld him, and his teachings guided him, so that he became a victor and not vanquished.
The Departure of His Spiritual Father
Saint Isidore completed fifty years of great struggle and asceticism, and knew the day of his departure. He called his spiritual disciple Ologh and began to say to him: “My beloved son, all my life I have served God with a sincere intention, and from Him I received help to fight the enemy of good who warred against me; by it I was strengthened in all my troubles and sorrows all my life. My son, we are the temple of the Lord Christ, and the temple of the Lord Christ is pure and undefiled. So be pure, my son, clean and without guile, and Christ will dwell in you. And know, my son, that you will keep company with a spiritual man called Mar Okeen, whom the Spirit of God has set apart and appointed as a guide. May the Lord your God keep you, strengthen you and help you.”
When the saint had finished speaking, he gave up his pure soul, and the angels carried it to the paradise of joy. Saint Ologh wept bitterly over him, then shrouded him, dug a grave for him in the cave where Saint Isidore had lived, and buried him with honor.
God Reveals the Saint
After the departure of his spiritual father, Saint Ologh lived alone. The wild animals befriended him, and one of the lions served him and never left him. Two years later the saint fell ill; the illness grew heavy on him and laid him on the ground. By divine command the lion went roaming the mountain, found a shepherd, seized him, brought him to the saint’s feet, and left him there. The shepherd was weeping with fear, but the saint said to him, “Do not be afraid; this lion did this by divine command.”
The shepherd served Saint Ologh until the Lord granted him healing. Afterward the shepherd went back to his village and told its people about the saint, and they all came to receive the blessing of Saint Ologh. From that hour people began to come up to him and ask for his prayers, and God worked many signs and wonders through him.
His Journey to Saint Okeen
The saint thought of going to Saint Mar Okeen. While he was considering this, he saw the lion put the book of the Gospel into a bag, hang it around its neck and go out. The saint sat waiting to see what this animal would do, and saw the lion come in to him, take hold of the edge of his garment and pull him out of the cave. The saint understood that the Lord had chosen this time for him to go to Saint Okeen.
Saint Ologh went to Mar Okeen, and the lion went with him. Saint Okeen rejoiced greatly that Mar Ologh had joined his disciples. The lion went about with him among them like a gentle lamb, and so they called him “Ologh al-Sab’i,” Ologh of the lion.
His Departure
Saint Ologh went with Mar Okeen to Mesopotamia, where he preached the Lord Christ and worked great signs and wonders, and many people believed through his teaching. When he had reached one hundred and ten years in the struggle of monasticism and the angelic life, he departed in peace on the tenth day of the month of Ab (August), which corresponds to the blessed month of Abib (Epep).
May the blessing of his prayers be with us. Amen.
Sources
- The Life of Mar Ologh the Copt, from the lives of the disciples of Saint Mar Okeen