Saint Mar Okeen the Copt: A Historical Study in Light of Manuscript 297 and a Testimony from the Monastery of the Syrians

By Samy Sorial, founder of Okeen.net

1. The Manuscript Source

The Life of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt belongs to the ancient monastic heritage. Manuscript No. 297, known as Mayamer (Homilies) and preserved in the library of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary (El-Sourian) in Wadi El Natrun, is cited as one of its historical sources.

According to the information published on Okeen.net, the writing of the Life is attributed to Mar Michael, one of the saint’s disciples, who recorded the events of his life at the request of the king.

This attribution needs study of the manuscript text itself: determining the date and language of the preserved copy, and distinguishing the date the Life was composed from the date it was copied.

2. The Ancient Manuscripts of the Monastery of the Syrians

The Monastery of the Syrians is distinguished by an ancient manuscript heritage that has preserved important aspects of church and monastic history.

Manuscript No. 297 was already among the holdings of the monastery’s ancient library. It was not a manuscript newly discovered in the time of Anba Theophilus.

3. Anba Theophilus and the Revival of Mar Okeen’s Name

According to a personal testimony from 1992, during service in the library of the Monastery of the Syrians, the monk Hegumen Okeen El-Souriany himself related that the late Anba Theophilus, bishop and abbot of the Monastery of the Syrians, loved to read ancient manuscripts and to study the lives of the saints.

When he read the Life of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt in Manuscript No. 297, he decided to revive the saint’s name in modern Egyptian monasticism.

So he chose the name Okeen for one of the monks at his monastic tonsure: the monk later known as Hegumen Okeen El-Souriany.

According to Hegumen Okeen’s own testimony, he was the first monk to bear this name in modern Egypt.

4. The Value of the Oral Testimony

This account draws its importance from being a testimony heard directly from Hegumen Okeen El-Souriany in 1992, and not a report from an unknown source.

The testimony shows the link between the manuscript heritage preserved at the Monastery of the Syrians and the continuation of the saints’ names in contemporary monastic life.

Even so, establishing the day, month and year of Hegumen Okeen’s tonsure requires consulting the official register of tonsures at the Monastery of the Syrians.

Note added 3 November 2026: the document outside Father Okeen’s cell, photographed by Father Abali El-Souriany, gives his tonsure as Holy Saturday, 13 April 1974. This remains to be checked against the official register. See his monastic timeline.

5. References and Testimonies

Manuscript No. 297 (Mayamer), Library of the Monastery of the Syrians, Wadi El Natrun.
Okeen.net, page “The Ancient Manuscript 297”.
Direct oral testimony of Hegumen Okeen El-Souriany, heard during service in the library of the Monastery of the Syrians in 1992.

Research note: This is a preliminary study. Review of the full text of the manuscript, its scholarly catalogue description and the register of tonsures has not yet been completed.

Sources

Manuscript No. 297 (Mayamer), Library of the Monastery of the Syrians, Wadi El Natrun
Okeen.net, page "The Ancient Manuscript 297"
Direct oral testimony of Hegumen Okeen El-Souriany, heard during service in the library of the Monastery of the Syrians in 1992