The Life of Saint Okeen

His Origin and Early Life

Saint Mar Okeen was from the land of Egypt, from the town of Clysma (al-Qulzum). He labored to have spiritual works so that his memory would endure forever: “Your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation” (Isaiah 60:21–22).

By trade he was a diver. He would dive into the sea and gather jewels, the pearls of the sea. Every day he placed a glass covering over his face, as was the custom in that craft, dove into the sea, brought up the pearls and sold them, and spent the price on the poor, the orphans, the churches and the monasteries. He asked the Lord Christ to give him a reward in His Kingdom, and he longed to see what Saint Paul the Apostle saw: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The Saint’s Vision

One day he went down to the sea as usual and saw a vision, like a shining star walking on the face of the water before him. When the saint saw it he marveled greatly, wondering within himself: “What is this sight that I have seen today in the sea?” Then he saw a divine sight sent from God, and in that hour the face of Saint Okeen shone and divine grace came upon him. He advanced and grew in his good works: in his prayer, in his fasting, and in his mercy toward the poor and the suffering, and he became like Tabitha, who is mentioned in the Book of Acts.

Saint Okeen continued in this way in the city of Clysma for twenty-five years. When God saw his holy will, He gave him a great gift: to help ships that were about to sink at sea. He also gave him to walk on the water as on dry land, and authority to calm the storms for the ships that passed through that place.

Rescuing the Merchants from the Pirates

One day he saw a ship of thieves (pirates) who had come to plunder a ship of merchants. Moved with divine love and zeal, he walked on the water until he reached the merchants’ ship and saved them from the hands of the thieves. Through his prayer God sent a wind from the south that drove the pirates ninety parasangs (about 270 miles) away from the merchants, and God also sent a wind from the north that carried the merchants’ ship to the harbor of Clysma.

When the merchants saw what had happened and what the saint had done for them, they were afraid and marveled greatly, for they saw that he was the cause of their salvation. They gathered and consulted among themselves and said, “This is a man of God, and through his prayer God has saved us from those thieves.” They gave the saint thirty ounces of gold and asked him to pray for them and send them away in peace.

The saint took the gold from their hands and began to build a monastery, so that praise to the Lord might rise from it. He stored up nothing for himself, in obedience to the words of the Lord Christ: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21).

The saint’s name spread through all the surrounding country, through all the islands of the sea, and among the merchants and travelers who sailed it. When they called on the name of Saint Okeen, God delivered them from the perils of the sea, and all glorified the God of Saint Okeen, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Ship Caught in the Cleft of the Mountain

Once a ship was overcome by water and storm until it was driven into a cleft in a mountain, in a great strait. Its owners were in great distress and could not bring it out of that place. They cried out to God to rescue them from this calamity and save them from drowning, through the prayer of Saint Mar Okeen. God heard their prayer and revealed their plight to the saint, that he should go and save that ship from the dangers of the sea.

The saint rose at once and went to them. The passengers looked and saw the man of God, Saint Okeen, coming toward them walking on the water. They raised their voices and cried out, “Have mercy on us, O man of God! Cross over to us and help us, for we know that God has sent you to save us from the distress of this terrible deep in which we are now.”

The saint stood beside them and bowed down before God, saying: “O Lord God Almighty, who sits upon the cherubim, King of heaven and earth, who has authority over land and sea and the deeps: save Your servants from this trial in which they are, and bring them to the calm harbor, for You alone are good forever. Amen.”

When the saint had finished his prayer, a wind blew from the south, but the ship did not move, for it was wedged under the cleft of the mountain. The saint prayed again for their deliverance, and God heard his voice: the lower rock of the cleft sank down, and the ship was freed. In that hour the ship moved in peace and went on its way until it reached the calm harbor, through the prayers of Saint Mar Okeen.

At the Monastery of Anba Pakhom

God worked many wonders and miracles on land and sea through Saint Okeen. He gave him such power and help that his fame spread through all the land, and all who heard of his deeds and saw them marveled and glorified God because of him. When Saint Okeen saw the divine powers God had given him, and that he could not hide himself, and that people praised him more and more, he appointed a steward and superior over the monastery he had built in his place. He put on poor clothing like one of the poor and went to the Monastery of Saint Anba Pakhom (Pachomius) in Upper Egypt, where no one knew anything about him, and begged to stay with them.

Saint Okeen lived humbly among them, and God gave him honor. His holiness became known, and he was revered because of his way of life, his labor and the signs he worked. So he fled from the monastery. The abbot and all the brothers went out after him and searched for him in the fields, the open places and the vineyards, and found him prostrate on the ground, praising God. The abbot and the brothers came forward and bowed down to the ground before him, brought him back to the monastery, and asked him to pray for them and stay with them. The abbot ordered the bell to be rung, and all the brothers gathered and received the blessing of Saint Mar Okeen.

The saint did not wish to grieve their hearts, so he said to them, “Pray for me, my brothers, that God may do with us what He knows is good for me and for you, through your prayers.” That same night he left the monastery without anyone knowing, and returned to his own country.

The Return, and the Journey to Nisibis

As the saint returned to his country, he saw the shining star before him once again. Led by the Holy Spirit, the monks of his monastery learned of his coming and all went out to meet him with psalms and hymns, praising and thanking God, who had granted them the coming of Saint Mar Okeen. They received his blessing and begged him to remain among them to teach them the sound faith, but he did not wish to stay.

He departed from them accompanied by seventy fathers from that country who clung to him, and they went to the city of Nisibis in the land between the two rivers (Mesopotamia). There their number grew until they became a great company. Then they came to “al-Hermis,” south of the city of Nisibis, and settled there beside the reeds that grow in those parts. They stayed there seven days praising God, without anyone knowing of them.

The Healing of the Man with an Unclean Spirit

There Saint Okeen saw a man possessed by an unclean spirit, going down into the water and coming out again. The saint called to him, “Come here and speak with me.” The unclean spirit answered, “What do you want with me, Mar Okeen, you who fear God?” The saint said, “How many years have you dwelt in this man?” It answered, “Thirty-six years I have dwelt in this man.” The saint said, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who cast out Legion from the man who dwelt among the tombs, come out of this man and depart, and you shall have no power over him again.” Immediately the evil spirit came out of the man and departed.

The man rose at once and went into the city, and began to proclaim in the houses and the streets how he had been healed and how the devil had gone out of him. All who saw him marveled, and the people of the city asked him, “Who is this man who healed you of your affliction?” He answered, “There are holy men living among the reeds by the river, south of the city. Their leader, who is a father to them, cried out and commanded the devil dwelling in me to come out, and from that moment the devil left me and I was made well.” The people of the city were troubled to hear this, saying, “What can this be?”

All the people of the city came to where the holy men were and said to them, “Who are you, and what is your work?” Saint Mar Okeen answered, “We are strangers for the sake of Christ, the Son of God, whom we worship and serve. We are His disciples, and in His name we are able to heal every disease and every sickness and to cast out demons from people. To Him be glory, honor, majesty and worship, now and at all times, and unto the ages of ages.”

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Sources

• The Life of Saint Mar Okeen, by His Grace Anba Matthaeus, Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian)
• Manuscript no. 297 (Homilies), Library of the El-Sourian Monastery