Abbots of the El-Sourian Monastery

There is a period at the beginning of the monastery for which we have found no source about its abbots. These are the names of some for whom we have found a source:

Mar Theodore, in the sixth century.
Marutha son of Habib.
Anba Joseph, abbot in 773.
Ibn Idi, in the time of Patriarch Cosmas II of Alexandria.
Father John son of Macari, around 894.
Father Moses of Nisibis, in the early tenth century.
Father Saliba, in the pontificate of Pope Abraham of Alexandria.
Father David, in 1007.
Father John, brother of Father David.
Father Basil, in 1222.
Hegumen Joshua, 1237–1254.
Hegumen Abd al-Masih, 1483, in the time of Patriarch Anba Matthew.
Metropolitan Severus Cyriacus, 1484.
Metropolitan Severus, 1516.
Father Lazarus.
Father Constantine I, who later resigned and lived at the Monastery of Anba Antony.
Father Constantine II.
Hegumen John (Hanna), whose name appears in an old manuscript of 1584.
Hegumen Abd al-Masih al-Anbiri, who was ordained Metropolitan of Ethiopia in 1665.
Hegumen John, 1684.
Hegumen Michael, 1720, who made a wooden reliquary for the bodies of the saints with his name carved on it; it is still in the Church of the Virgin “of the Cave.”
Hegumen Gabriel.
Hegumen Peter, abbot over all the monasteries of Wadi El-Natrun in 1742, later ordained Metropolitan of the see of Girga and Upper Egypt; he continued to visit and care for the monasteries.
Hegumen Mankarius, 1773, later ordained Metropolitan of Manfalut and Abnub with the name Anba Peter.
Hegumen Qilta the copyist, in 1784, the last abbot of El-Sourian to reside in the village of al-Tarrana (Beheira).
Hegumen John of Fayoum, the first abbot to reside in the village of Atris (Giza).
Hegumen Abd al-Quddus, who became abbot in 1848. He made many repairs: he renewed the Church of the Virgin “of the Cave,” built the Church of the Virgin at Atris, and repaired the scaffolding of the keep, as recorded in the handwriting of Anba Cyril V on the homilies of Paul of Bush. He was closely bound to Father David the Hermit, and signed the recommendation by which he was ordained Patriarch as Pope Cyril IV. Anba Demetrius II removed him from the abbacy.
Hegumen Joseph of Mahalla, successor of Hegumen Abd al-Quddus.
Hegumen John Bishara, appointed abbot at the age of twenty; Anba Cyril V ordained him Bishop of Abu Tig with the name Anba Matthaeus.
Hegumen Theodore.
Hegumen John of Isna, appointed abbot in the time of His Holiness Pope Cyril V. He carried out a building campaign in the monastery and built five houses near Clot Bey Street; all agreed in loving and praising him. On the morning of Sunday 12 July 1897, His Holiness Pope Cyril V ordained him Metropolitan of Khartoum and Omdurman in Sudan with the name Anba Sarapamon; his great works in Sudan are still remembered by his name.
Hegumen Maximus Salib, who became abbot after Hegumen John’s ordination as bishop. He was a virtuous father who loved learning, kind-hearted and faithful in all his work. In 1902, when part of the north wall collapsed, he made a great effort to rebuild it, with many workers laboring for three months. He renewed most of the cells (Meinardus records that he spent 100 pounds on this), doubled the monastery’s resources, bought more than two hundred feddans, and built several houses for the monastery in Cairo, among them the Azbawiya (the monastery’s headquarters) in 1908, and built the monastery guest house, which has since been demolished and replaced. He departed in a good old age on 7 August 1939, after more than 42 years as abbot.
Hegumen Philotheos Mark, who became abbot in 1939 in the time of Pope John XIX. He was faithful in his mission, made several repairs to the monastery and bought some endowments for it. He departed on Friday 12 December 1947 after 8 years as abbot, and before that 27 years as deputy to the previous abbot.
His Grace Anba Theophilus (see his life below).
His Grace Anba Matthaeus (see below).

His Grace Anba Theophilus

Abd al-Shahid Sadiq was born on 10 March 1908 in the village of al-Raydaniya near Mansoura, and came to El-Sourian at the end of 1925. He was made a monk with the name Theophilus on 29 January 1926 (21 Tobi 1642 AM, the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin) at the hands of the monastery steward, Hegumen Girgis Ibrahim Abu Kaffa, during the abbacy of Hegumen Maximus, together with the late Hegumen Moses.

His Holiness Pope John XIX ordained him a priest during the Fast of the Virgin (August 1934), with others.
He entered the Monks’ School at Helwan (founded by Pope John, the 113th Patriarch, in March 1929) and graduated from it.
In August 1939 he was appointed deputy of the monastery under Hegumen Philotheos, the abbot before him.
He was ordained hegumen in 1946, and became abbot on 12 December 1947 after the abbot’s departure.
On 25 July 1948 His Holiness Pope Joseph II ordained him bishop and abbot of the monastery, together with five bishops for Ethiopia, among them the late Catholicos Anba Basilios, and Anba Theophilus, who later became Patriarch of Ethiopia.

Among His Greatest Achievements, to Which All Bear Witness

He was the first abbot to spend time in the monastery among his sons the monks, seeing to its needs and leading the prayers, especially on Sundays and feasts. This had important positive results, for the abbots before him had spent their days at the monastery’s estate or headquarters and came to the monastery only on occasions, no more than three or four times a year, for a few days.
He was the first abbot, of this monastery and of the others, to accept educated servants with university degrees as monks. Among them was the monk Antonious (later His Holiness Pope Shenouda III). He made them the first nucleus, encouraging the renewal of the monastery, and there came a monastic, architectural and cultural revival the monastery had never seen. So he was the first abbot to make the Monastery of the Virgin (El-Sourian) a pioneer of monastic, cultural and architectural renewal for the other monasteries, which learned much from it.
He was the first to build a large building for the monks inside the monastery, in the 1950s; it was the first concrete building erected in the monasteries.
He was the first to establish solitary cells outside the monastery walls, an idea championed by the monk Antonious (Pope Shenouda) in 1960; for some years El-Sourian alone among the monasteries had them.
He was the first to plant a small farm outside the monastery walls, laboring much over it, especially its water pumps, in which he was experienced; later, with the encouragement of His Holiness the Pope, a new farm was added to it.
He was the first to build a large concrete water tank in the monastery.
He loved reading in the library, especially old manuscripts, books and journals, and so encouraged the monastery library to grow rich in thousands of valuable books and references. This clearly encouraged us to write and publish, so that a group of El-Sourian fathers have published many books, foremost among them His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, and some of the fathers continue to write. In earlier generations Hegumen Armanius al-Barmawi al-Souriany had published several valuable books.
He was the first to bring a printing press to the monastery, in 1951. By the 1960s it had produced a valuable collection of books that are truly important references for many students and researchers, and it also printed small booklets and sayings of the Fathers that were distributed free to the people on feast days.
He was the first to establish a retreat house for young people, in 1959, for periods of retreat at the monastery. It was thus a message to the whole Church, clearly leading many young men to monasticism, influencing the spiritual life of many, and it continues its mission.

We knew him as simple in his way of life, ascetic in his food, holding to the fast until the end of his life, and ascetic in his dress, for he gave no importance to such things. He was distinguished by patience and long-suffering, and counseled the monks to patience and endurance. He rejoiced at the ordination of monks or priests in the monastery, or of bishops from among his sons, and loved to celebrate the saints.

Compared with the abbots before him, the monastery saw a surge in the number of monks: he made 136 monks, the first being the monk Joseph on 5 August 1947, and ordained most of the monks as priests and hegumens.
He preserved much of what he had received from those before him, guarding the stillness of the monastery and limiting visits; he was the first to announce that the monastery would not receive visitors during the holy fasts.
In his time two tall minarets were built for the monastery, as well as a guest house and a library, and he bought and built four houses as endowments for the monastery.
In his time 18 bishops and chorepiscopi were ordained from the monastery, besides three who became monks there and later moved to other monasteries: Their Graces the late Anba Andrew, Anba Arsenius and Anba Bemwa. This was the largest number of such ordinations the monastery had seen in one period. Priest-fathers from the monastery have served their Church both in Egypt and in the lands of emigration, and some continue to serve.
He was the eldest of the desert fathers, foremost among the abbots of the monasteries and among the bishops, especially as most of the fathers of the Holy Synod are considered his sons, foremost among them His Holiness the Pope, who held him in the highest esteem and respect.
In 1976 His Holiness the Pope, together with Their Graces Anba Mina, the late Anba Samuel, Anba Dometius, Anba Agathon, Anba Timothy, Anba Sarapamon, Anba Mark (Bishop of France), Anba Athanasius, Anba Hedra and Anba Wissa, the monks of El-Sourian and of the Monastery of Anba Pishoi, and some priests, celebrated the golden jubilee (50 years) of the monastic profession of His Grace Anba Theophilus. The bishops and monks gave words of gratitude, and at the end His Holiness the Pope spoke words of love and appreciation for him; gifts were presented, and all remembered his virtues and his labors for monasticism in general and for El-Sourian in particular.

In 1989 he began his sixty-fourth year as a monk and his forty-second as bishop and abbot. He was thus a contemporary of six patriarchs:

Pope Cyril V (the 112th Patriarch).
Pope John XIX.
Pope Macarius III.
Pope Joseph II.
Pope Cyril VI.
Pope Shenouda III.

He is the abbot with the second-longest tenure, after Hegumen Maximus, who served 45 years as abbot.

He departed on the afternoon of Tuesday 5 December 1989, at nearly 82 years of age. The funeral prayers were held on 6 December at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Clot Bey, attended by fifteen bishops, a great number of priests, monks from all the monasteries, and a large crowd of the faithful. He was then taken to the monastery, where some bishops, monks and people prayed over him, and his body was laid in a tomb under the western minaret of the monastery, with his brother in the monastic life, Hegumen Moses. May the Lord give rest to his soul in Paradise.

His Grace Anba Matthaeus

He became a monk on 7 February 1965, was ordained a priest on 4 April 1969, a hegumen on 12 April 1970, a chorepiscopus on 18 June 1978 with the name Anba Matthaeus, a general bishop on 25 May 1980, and abbot of the monastery on the Feast of Pentecost, 6 June 1993. He was enthroned on 7 June 1993 in a joyful celebration attended by 32 metropolitans and bishops. He is loved by all and spares no effort in monastic care and building. May God prolong his life. He is the author of the book of the Life of Saint Mar Okeen.

Patriarchs from El-Sourian

1. Anba Gabriel VII, the 95th Pope

He was from Manshiyat Dayr al-Muharraq, son of Hegumen Girgis Raphael, priest of the Church of the Martyr Mercurius (Abu Sefein) in Old Cairo. He became a monk at El-Sourian with the name Raphael al-Manshawi.

He was ordained Patriarch on Sunday (Babah 1242 AM), 1 October 1525.
He was a virtuous ascetic who made many reforms. History will not forget that he restored the Monasteries of Anba Antony and Anba Paul in the Eastern Desert after Bedouin had ravaged them and killed those in them in 1484. He sent them thirty monks from El-Sourian, which then had 63 monks: 20 to the Monastery of Anba Antony and 10 to the Monastery of Anba Paul, to repopulate these two monasteries. He also sent them books and other items from El-Sourian that remain to this day, inscribed “Endowment of the Monastery of the Syrians in the wilderness of Scetis.” He also restored the Monastery of al-Muharraq.
Manuscript 391 (Rites) and Manuscript 209 (Theology) at the Monastery of Anba Antony record this restoration, and the monks inscribed it on the wall of the Church of Anba Antony in memory of Anba Gabriel.
In his days Ethiopia also returned to the See of Alexandria after the schism in the time of King David II in 1540.
He departed on 29 Babah 1285 AM, corresponding to 26 October 1568, at the Monastery of Anba Antony at al-Maymun, and his body was moved to the Monastery of Abu Sefein in Old Cairo. He had sat on the throne of Saint Mark for 43 years and 25 days, the longest tenure of all before him except Anba Athanasius, the 20th Pope, who sat on the throne of Saint Mark for 45 years.

2. Anba Shenouda III, the 117th Pope

Nazir Gayed was born on 3 August 1923 at Salam, Assiut. When he was six he moved to Damanhur to live with his elder brother, a civil servant, where he completed primary school. They then moved to Cairo, where he completed his secondary education (5 years) at the Iman Secondary School in Shubra. He loved poetry with depth of meaning and music in its words, until he mastered it. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in arts in 1947 and worked as a teacher, and enrolled in the evening section of the Clerical College, graduating in 1950; Archdeacon Habib Girgis then appointed him a teacher there because of his excellence. He had resigned from the Qubba Secondary School in Shubra to devote himself to this, especially since, besides his wide field of service, he edited the Sunday School magazine until he left for the monastery.

He often visited El-Sourian, for from his early youth he had loved monasticism and monks, until he came to the monastery on 15 July 1954, wishing to be freed from all things and bound to the One, never to return to the world. Since he was known to His Grace Anba Theophilus and the monks, he became a monk on Sunday 18 July 1954 with the name Antonious el-Souriany, and was ordained a priest on Sunday 31 August 1958 to be the spiritual father of the monks; afterward he humbly refused the rank of hegumen, considering himself unworthy of it.
In the monastery he was a model monk and a flame of tireless activity. He did many tasks: he labored greatly to organize and catalogue the monastery library, supervised the retreat house, received visitors, supervised the buildings, heard confessions and gave spiritual guidance, and sometimes also supervised the workers.
The German archaeologist Otto Meinardus, visiting the monastery in 1960, wrote in his book: “Today, in the middle of the twentieth century, we see El-Sourian foremost among the monasteries of Wadi El-Natrun, thanks to its bishop, Anba Theophilus, who spent much time with his sons the monks in the monastery. Among its monks is one more educated and cultured than all the monks of the Coptic Church, the monk Antonious el-Souriany; of all the Coptic monks he appears as the finest monk and the greatest intellectual.”
In the monastery he loved stillness and solitude: in 1957 he lived for a time in a cave west of the monastery, and around 1960 he lived in a cave overlooking the Bahr al-Farigh, about 12 kilometers south of the monastery.
Pope Cyril VI summoned him, together with His Grace Anba Theophilus, and he was surprised by the laying on of hands to make him a bishop. He was ordained Bishop of Education and the Theological Institutes with the name Anba Shenouda on the morning of Sunday 30 September 1962, together with His Grace Anba Samuel, Bishop of Services; these were the first two general bishoprics established by the Coptic Church in Egypt.
Anba Shenouda gave great attention to the Clerical College and its institutes, as well as to his weekly sermon, whose spirituality and simplicity made it easy for old and young to understand. The episcopate did not keep him from serving the monastery or from returning constantly to be renewed in his solitary cell, which still stands at El-Sourian. We had the honor of being his disciples at that time, and saw in him true monasticism.
After the departure of Pope Cyril VI, on Sunday 31 October 1971, the altar lot was cast to choose the Pope, and His Grace Anba Shenouda was chosen. He was enthroned Pope and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark on Sunday 14 November 1971 in a grand celebration attended by patriarchs, bishops and delegations of the Churches of Syria, Ethiopia, Armenia and others, dignitaries and the people. His pastoral work multiplied; we mention some of it briefly:
- Teaching: He cared for the Clerical College and founded branches of it in Egypt and abroad; the weekly sermon, spiritual books, the Anba Ruweis press, and El-Keraza magazine.
- Building: At the great Cathedral, the Papal Residence and the Monastery of Anba Pishoi, and his care for the monasteries in general. In his time monastic life returned to other monasteries: Saint Demiana at Barari, Anba Pakhom at Edfu, Saint George at Rizeiqat, the Virgin at Akhmim, and Saint Antony in America. His love of the desert and of monasticism meant that hardly a week passed without his spending time at the monastery, enjoying the stillness of his cell.
- On 18 July 1979 the bishops and monks celebrated the silver jubilee (25 years) of His Holiness’s monastic profession, and he prayed the Divine Liturgy at El-Sourian.
- Pastoral care: He ordained many bishops and priests, cared for the Church in the lands of emigration and visited them, and founded many of our churches in America, Australia, Europe, Libya and elsewhere.
- Ecumenical work: He held many conferences with other Churches, and gave the Church of Saint Mark a great standing among all the Churches of the world.
No pen can count his works and his constant activity; it would take many books.

This page was written during the lifetime of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. His Holiness departed on 17 March 2012, after more than forty years on the throne of Saint Mark.

Sources

History of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian), published by the fathers of the monastery