The Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian)

The Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian) lies about 14 kilometers from the rest house halfway along the Cairo–Alexandria desert road, in Wadi El-Natrun in the Western Desert, in the wilderness of Scetis (Shiheet, “the balance of hearts”).

History of the Monastery

The monastery dates to about the fifth century, as various sources indicate. There is much evidence for this; the most important is:

The ancient keep to the right of the monastery entrance, though it has been restored. It is known that the builder of these keeps in the monasteries was Emperor Zeno (474–491), in honor of his daughter, the nun Hilaria, who became a nun in the wilderness of Scetis and whose fame spread throughout the world.
In the British Library in London there is a manuscript of the homilies of Mar Jacob of Serugh copied in the year 603 in the Monastery of the Theotokos, the Virgin (El-Sourian).
Butler states that the screens of the Church of the Virgin at El-Sourian date from before 700, like those of the Church of Anba Pishoi and the Church of the Virgin at El-Baramus, and that these churches are the oldest surviving monuments of the desert.
Burmester, in his Guide to the Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n-Natrun, states that it was one of the monasteries known as Theotokos (monasteries of the Mother of God), part of the system of double monasteries that arose in the fifth century after the refutation of the heresy of Nestorius, because of which the Council of Ephesus met in 431. After it, monasteries called Theotokos were built, and this one was called “the Monastery of the Mother of God, the Virgin, of Anba Pishoi.” It is still known as the Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian), next to the Monastery of Saint Anba Pishoi in the desert.
Evelyn White states that El-Sourian became independent in its administration from the eighth century.

The monastery covers about one feddan and 13 qirats (about 1.6 acres); it is 146 meters long and 45 meters wide, and its gate faces north, as in the other monasteries of the desert. Although El-Sourian is the smallest of the monasteries in area, it is distinguished by carvings and paintings of great archaeological and artistic importance, found in the monastery’s main church.

Why It Is Called “El-Sourian” (of the Syrians)

From the fourth century the wilderness of Scetis was famous throughout the world, so that people came to it from many countries to visit and receive the blessing of ascetics who had reached high spiritual stature, or to worship there. So came Saint Arsenius, tutor of the emperor’s sons, and Saints Maximus and Dometius, sons of the Roman emperor, who lived in the desert; their place is still at the Monastery of the Virgin, El-Baramus.

The remains of ancient monasteries still lie about 3 kilometers southeast of the monastery, among them the Monastery of Anba John Kame, the Monastery of Apanob, the Monastery of the Ethiopians, the Monastery of the Armenians and the Monastery of Anba John the Short.

Since people of many nations worshipped at Scetis, from Rome, Ethiopia, Syria, Palestine and elsewhere, the Coptic monks hosted Syrian monks in their Monastery of the Virgin for a period of time. For hundreds of years since, it has again been filled with its Coptic monks, as it was in earlier ages, and so it remains today. Because Syrian monks lived in it for a time, it became known as “the Monastery of the Syrians” (El-Sourian), and it is still known as the Monastery of the Virgin, El-Sourian, also to distinguish it from the Monastery of the Virgin, El-Baramus, in the same desert.

El-Sourian and Anba John Kame

The Monastery of the Virgin (El-Sourian) is not the Monastery of Anba John Kame. El-Sourian dates from the fifth century, while the Monastery of John Kame dates from the ninth. The ruins of the Monastery of Anba John Kame still lie in the area of the ancient monasteries about 3 kilometers southeast of El-Sourian, together with other monasteries that fell into ruin; Prince Omar Toussoun kindly erected columns on them and wrote the name of each monastery on them. The scholar Mawhub visited its monastery in 1088.

When the Monastery of Anba John Kame fell into ruin and its walls collapsed because of termites, between 1413 and 1430, its monks took refuge at the Monastery of the Virgin (El-Sourian). They brought with them the body of their father, Anba John Kame, all their belongings, and a marble slab, still fixed in the El-Sourian church, inscribed in Coptic with the date of the departure of Saint John Kame and his son Saint Stephen.

The Ancient Keep

To the right of the monastery’s ancient gate, on the west side, stands a tall keep (qasr) in which the monks took refuge from the raids of Berbers and others. It is eighteen meters high, fourteen meters long and thirteen meters wide, and has four stories. Its door opens on the second story and is reached by a drawbridge of thick wood resting on the keep’s door and on a building opposite it. When necessary, the drawbridge is raised by chains fixed behind it; the keep has a thick door, so that no one can reach it once the drawbridge has been raised. Each story has spacious rooms.

In 1782 the Mu’allim Ibrahim al-Gawhari renewed this keep, together with the Church of the Archangel Michael at its top, and made for it an iconostasis inlaid with ivory, bearing an inscription that the one who cared for it was the Mu’allim Ibrahim al-Gawhari (1498 AM / 1782 AD).
Prayers are held in this church especially on the two feasts of the Archangel Michael (12 Hatour and 12 Paone), when the monks keep vigil with praises and hymns until morning, followed by the Divine Liturgy. The Archangel Michael is regarded as the intercessor and guardian of the monks, and so at the top of every monastery there is a church of the Archangel Michael, the guardian angel.
Since the Mu’allim Ibrahim al-Gawhari was known for his generosity and his lavish gifts to monasteries, churches and the poor, he once brought the monastery fifty ardebs of lupins, which were stored at the bottom of the keep; some of the husks of those lupins remain in the keep to this day, for they were the monks’ food when they took refuge in the keep.
From a distance the lofty keep looks like a ship’s sail, so it is said that the monastery was built in the likeness of Noah’s Ark: the monastery is rectangular, the keep rises at its head like the Ark’s sail, its rear is rounded like a rudder, and the sands lap at its walls like the waves of the sea. So it is like a ship carrying its travelers, the monks, until they reach the shore at the end of their sojourn in this world.

The Monastery Walls

The monastery’s walls are the highest of the monasteries standing in the desert, averaging twelve meters in height. They have openings at the top and sections that project outward, so that sand does not pile up against the wall, a remarkable piece of engineering.

In 1902 a large part of the north wall collapsed opposite the guest house, which then stood east of the El-Sourian church. It was rebuilt by Hegumen Maximus, the abbot at that time; it is said that he employed more than a hundred workers, who were served by Hegumen Abd al-Quddus, who departed a venerable elder of nearly ninety and lived a life of simplicity and piety. This work was supported by His Holiness Pope Cyril V, who loved the monasteries, and El-Sourian in particular.

The Cells of the Monks

Among the oldest cells in the monastery today are the vaulted cells east of the tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian and the Cave Church adjoining the north wall. Above them is a cell called “al-Karnak.” As the elder fathers relate, it was used to lodge the patriarchs when they visited the monastery, and His Holiness Pope Cyril V spent time there. It is well known that when he wished to become a monk he first came to the Monastery of the Virgin (El-Sourian), but his family took him away by force; afterward he became a monk at El-Baramus.
Next are the cells west of the Cave Church, also by the north wall.
Then the four-story cell building (now five stories), built in the first years of the abbacy of His Grace Anba Theophilus (in the 1950s).
In 1988 another three-story building topped by a water tank was built beside the entrance to the monastery’s outer garden, and a second, identical building beside it with 36 cells for the monks. This is in addition to the separate cells in the monastery garden and outside the monastery, where some monks live in solitude.

The Churches of the Monastery

1. The Church of the Virgin (El-Sourian)

It is the most beautiful church of the desert, distinguished by the fine carvings that cover its walls, doors and domes, especially inside its spacious sanctuary. It is considered the oldest place in the monastery after the cave of Anba Pishoi (west of the church) and the tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian east of the Cave Church.

It is of the basilica style found in most ancient churches of Egypt, and somewhat resembles the church of the Monastery of Anba Pishoi; although smaller, it surpasses it in its carvings and craftsmanship.
It is about thirty meters long and twelve meters wide, and the first choir is covered by a high dome. On its south side is a semi-dome painted with the Annunciation and the Nativity, and on its north side a semi-dome painted with the Dormition of the Virgin, with the Lord Christ carrying her soul and the twelve disciples around her, with inscriptions in Syriac and Coptic on both.
The altar is spacious, surrounded by four wooden columns topped by a wooden dome. The two eastern columns carry an icon of the Lord Christ in the tomb, cared for by the monk Maximus (1546 AM / 1830 AD), as written on one of its columns. The sanctuary is decorated with beautiful raised carvings, some like those on the screen of the ancient Church of the Virgin at El-Baramus and the Church of Anba Macarius at the Monastery of Saint Macarius, all pointing to the mystery of Communion, and some resembling the trumpets and musical instruments with which David the Prophet sang praise to God.
The church has three sanctuaries: the main one in the name of the Virgin Mary, the southern one in the name of the martyr John the Baptist, and the northern one in the name of the martyr Mar Victor son of Romanus.

The Door of the Symbols

The church is distinguished by a finely made screen called “the Door of the Symbols,” unique to El-Sourian. It has six leaves, each about 275 cm high and 45 cm wide, and each divided into seven panels. The tops are decorated with images of saints whose names are written in Greek, inlaid with ivory in the wood; the remaining panels carry beautiful geometric designs in ivory adorned with the Cross. Each panel points to a stage in the history of our glorious Church:

The age of the Apostles: from right to left, Saint Dioscorus and Saint Mark (patriarchs of Alexandria), Emmanuel our God and Saint Mary, and Saint Ignatius and Saint Severus (patriarchs of the Syrians).
The age of martyrdom: the Cross amid circles signifying the spread of Christianity.
Six circles, each with a cross, signifying the six apostolic sees: Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Carthage.
The age when heresies and other sects began to appear.
The bent (hooked) cross, symbolizing the heresies.
Many lines crossing between the crosses, signifying the many denominations of the present and the weakening of faith.
A single cross surrounded by crosses, signifying the Second Coming of the Lord Christ and the unity of the Church.

On the upper lintel of the door is written in Syriac: “This door was made by Moses, abbot of the monastery, in the time of Patriarch Gabriel of Alexandria and John of Antioch, in the year 914.”

The Second and Third Choirs

A thick wall separates the first choir from the second, with a door like the one just described. It has four leaves, topped with icons of ivory inlaid in wood, from right to left: Saint Mark the Apostle, an unclear scene, Saint Mary, and Peter the Apostle; beneath them are five rectangles adorned with beautiful ivory carvings in the style of the previous door. On its two uprights it is written in Syriac that it was made in the time of Patriarch Cosmas of Alexandria and Basil of Antioch.
Then comes the second choir, containing the reliquary of the holy fathers, above which is an ancient icon of the Virgin and another of Saint Ephrem the Syrian holding a branch of a tree, with the words “his staff that blossomed,” of tamarind wood.
The third choir is spacious and rests on massive columns, which were formerly slender columns of marble. Above it is a wide, high, rectangular vault pierced by small openings that keep it well ventilated in summer, so the monks pray in this church throughout the summer, from the Friday at the close of Lent until the beginning of the Nativity Fast.
At the beginning of the third choir is the laqqan (basin) set in the floor of the church, made of marble, where the laqqan prayers are now held.
At the back of the church, above the west door leading to the old refectory, is a semi-vault decorated with a fresco of the Ascension of the Lord Christ with the disciples around Him. It is said that the church ceiling was once adorned with beautiful icons.

In the handwriting of Pope Cyril V, on a manuscript of the homilies of Paul of Bush in the monastery library, it is written that this El-Sourian church was restored in 1498 AM (1782 AD) and whitewashed under the care of Anba Peter, Bishop of Girga, its last restoration.

The Marble Slab of Anba John Kame

To the left of the door of the first choir is a marble slab set in the wall with a Coptic inscription of 23 lines, translated into Arabic by the scholar Claudius Labib and published in the journal Ain Shams. It reads:

In the name of the Holy Trinity, consubstantial, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The departure of our blessed father Anba John Kame took place on the twenty-fourth day of the month of Koiak, in the first hour of the night of the twenty-fifth day, in the time of Anba Cosmas, Archbishop of Alexandria, and of the administration of our father Abraham over the church of our holy father Anba John. Ten months after the departure of our holy father, by the good pleasure and grace of God, my father Stephen departed in peace from God. Amen. This was in the year 575 of the Martyrs, under the reign of our King and Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be Amen.

These paintings and carvings may have been made in the time of Moses, abbot of the monastery, in the tenth century. Butler states that the screens of this church must date from before 700, like those of the Church of Anba Pishoi and the Church of the Virgin at El-Baramus, and that these churches may be the oldest surviving monuments of the desert.
The three semi-domes together with the sanctuary form the sign of the Cross.
The church has an icon of the Crucifixion which Burmester, in his Guide to the Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n-Natrun, describes as one of the oldest icons of the Crucifixion in the world, dating from the thirteenth century; it is distinguished by its depiction of the sun and moon, recalling what happened at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.

2. The Church of the Forty

It stands to the left of the entrance of the Church of the Virgin (El-Sourian), and is dedicated to the Martyrs of Sebaste, brave soldiers in the time of the Caesar Licinius (313). When they refused to deny their faith, he ordered them thrown into a frozen lake beside a hot bath, to tempt them to deny their faith. The guard saw forty crowns, thirty-nine of which came down upon them while one remained suspended, because its owner was overcome by the cold, fled to the hot bath and died at once. The guard hurried to confess his faith, went down into the frozen lake, and the suspended crown came down upon him, and he was martyred with them. Our Church celebrates them on 13 Paremhat.

It is a small church with one sanctuary, consecrated by Anba Peter, Bishop of Girga, also in 1782, together with the El-Sourian church after its whitewashing.
To the right of its door is the tomb of Anba Salama, as the Ethiopians called him; his real name was Anba Christodoulos. He was Hegumen Abd al-Masih al-Anbiri, abbot of El-Sourian, whom Pope Matthew IV ordained Metropolitan of Ethiopia in 1665. After some time he returned to the monastery and devoted himself to asceticism and worship until he departed, and was buried in that tomb.

3. The Church of the Virgin “of the Cave”

It is beside the tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, adjoining the north wall. You go down two steps, walk through a square passage about 6 × 6 m, then go down three steps into the church, which is square, about 12 × 12 m, divided into three choirs, with a high rectangular vault.
It has three sanctuaries: the main one for the Virgin, the southern one for Saint Mark the Apostle, and the northern one for Saint George, Prince of Martyrs.
In the main sanctuary, four wooden columns above the altar carry a dome; on its eastern side is an old painting on leather of the Virgin, with Anba Paul below her on the right and Anba Antony on the left.
The sanctuary screen is adorned with crosses inlaid with ivory of exquisite workmanship, dating to about 1450 of the Martyrs (1734 AD).
North of the door of the main sanctuary is the reliquary of the holy fathers, who are carried from it to the El-Sourian church, where prayers are held in summer. In this church (of the Cave) prayers are held from the first Sunday of the Nativity Fast until the last Thursday of Holy Lent, and the rest of the year in the El-Sourian church. Above this reliquary is an ancient icon of the Virgin of the utmost beauty in its art and colors, inscribed at the top: “Made through the care of Father Michael, abbot of the monastery, in the year 1436 AM.”
In the first choir is a door of three sections of very strong, thick wood, rising as high as the beginning of the vault, with fine carvings that give it great beauty.
In the third choir is a marble laqqan like the one in the El-Sourian church, over which the laqqan of Theophany (Epiphany) is prayed.
In 1576 AM this church was whitewashed under the abbacy of Hegumen Abd al-Quddus and consecrated by Anba Isaac, Metropolitan of Fayoum and Bahnasa, in the presence of Hegumen Michael al-Maqari, who became Anba Demetrius, the 111th Patriarch, Hegumen John al-Baramusi, who became Anba Cyril V, the 112th Patriarch, and Hegumen Gabriel, steward of the Monastery of Anba Pishoi.
The church has a west door that now leads to a storeroom belonging to the church.

4. The Church of the Archangel Michael

It is at the top of the ancient keep, as mentioned above.

In addition, there was once a church of Saint George, which fell into ruin; cells were built in its place in the time of Hegumen John al-Isnawi (Anba Sarapamon, Metropolitan of Khartoum). There was also another church beside it in the name of Anba John Kame, which fell into ruin; a mill was built in its place in the time of Hegumen Maximus, before the present mill.

The Relics of the Saints

In the reliquary of the saints in the monastery there are two cylinders: the first holds the relics of Anba John Kame, and the second part of the relics of Saint Ephrem the Syrian. In the ancient keep there was an ebony chest (now in the museum) that held relics of the saints: Saint Severus, Saint Dioscorus, Saint Cyriacus and his mother Julitta, the martyr Theodore the Oriental, the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Saint Jacob the Persian, Saint John the Short, Anba Moses the Black, and also some of the hair of Mary Magdalene. These names are also listed in a manuscript of John Chrysostom’s commentary on the Gospel of John, copied in 1564 AM.

Evelyn White states that in 1922, with the permission of His Holiness Pope Cyril V, these relics were moved by the abbot and the monks into the reliquary of the saints mentioned above.

These two cylinders containing the relics of the saints are carried in joyful procession, with hymns, cymbals and ringing bells, on the first Sunday of the Nativity Fast to the Church of the Virgin “of the Cave,” where the monks pray in winter, and are carried again in procession on the eve of Palm Sunday to the Church of the Virgin (El-Sourian), where the monks pray in summer.

Saint John Kame

He was born at Shubra Mansur, north of Sa (near Kafr el-Zayyat), to Christian parents who feared God.

They married him against his will. He prayed much and said to his bride, “My sister, you know that this world will pass away with all its desires. Will you agree that we cast off earthly things and seek heavenly things, and instead of the wedding of this passing world seek the wedding of heaven? For he who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.” She answered him, “I rejoice at this, for I want to keep my virginity. Blessed are you, my brother.”
An angel appeared to him, saying, “Rise and go to the wilderness of Scetis, to Saint Daniel (Dirodi), to put on the monastic schema, and your name will be known throughout the world.” He bade farewell to his wife and went to the cell of Saint Dirodi near the Monastery of Saint Macarius, who clothed him in the monastic schema and blessed him.
His wife distributed all her possessions to the poor, went to a convent and became a nun; she built a convent and became abbess and guide of many.
The saint lived in great struggle and much asceticism. Then he went west of the Monastery of Anba John the Short and built a monastery and a church in the name of the Virgin, consecrated by Anba Macarius I, the 59th Patriarch (932–952). Many gathered around him until he was father to more than three hundred monks, whom he taught the monastic rules and the praise of the Psalmody. He was ordained a priest against his will.
The Virgin Mary appeared to him with a company of angels, greeted him and said, “The blessing of my Son Jesus be with you. If your children keep His commandments and love one another, I will dwell with them forever and they will inherit eternal life.” Then she gave him three gold dinars marked with the sign of the Cross and said, “Put them in the purse of the diakonia, and the blessing of my Son be with you.” Saint Athanasius the Apostolic also appeared to him.
The angel commanded him to go to Upper Egypt to guide many there, as Saint John the Short and Saint Anba Pishoi had gone before him.
After giving counsel to his disciples, he departed on 25 Koiak 575 AM (3 January 859 AD), as our Church commemorates him.
After the Monastery of Anba John Kame fell into ruin in the fifteenth century, its monks came to the Monastery of the Virgin (El-Sourian), bringing the body of Saint John Kame, which is still in the reliquary of the saints in the church, and the marble slab fixed in the wall bearing the date of his departure. The monastery celebrates his departure on 25 Koiak every year. May his prayers be with us all.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

He is called the Harp of the Spirit, the Prophet of the Syrians and the Spiritual Teacher, and is among the most famous Fathers of the Church.

He was born in the city of Nisibis. From his youth he went to Saint Jacob, Bishop of Nisibis, who taught him, baptized him and took him with him to the Council of Nicaea. After the departure of Saint Jacob he went to Edessa and lived there as an ascetic among the hermits of the mountain of Edessa.
He was a model of endurance, patience, meekness, ever-growing spiritual maturity and love for all. He faced a trial in Nisibis: the church servant, also named Ephrem, had committed adultery with the daughter of one of the city’s leaders and taught her to say that Saint Ephrem had sinned with her. Afterward her father brought the child to the bishop, who rebuked Ephrem before the people; he did not defend himself, but said in contrition, “I have sinned, my father.” When he saw that the people were scandalized, he asked the bishop’s permission after the Divine Liturgy, lifted up the child and said, “I adjure you before the altar of God: tell the truth.” At once the child spoke, saying, “My father is Ephrem the church servant.” The bishop and the people marveled and begged his forgiveness.
He lived as a solitary in one of the caves of the mountain of Edessa, devoted to fasting, prayer and the study of Holy Scripture, and formed the School of Edessa to refute heresies.
He worked many miracles; among them, he restored to life a young man who had died of a snakebite, and because of this many returned to the Orthodox faith.
He went to the wilderness of Scetis, famous for its many ascetics and teachers skilled in worship, where he spent eight years as a disciple of the famous fathers of that time. His trace still remains at the Monastery of the Virgin, known as El-Sourian: a huge tree known as the tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian.
Then he returned, met Saint Basil the Great, and went back to Edessa, where he wrote much against the many heresies of that time, composing one hundred and fifty hymns for that purpose, as well as commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, works of literature and poetry, and many homilies. He also founded in Edessa the School of Saint Ephrem.
After a great struggle he departed in his cave at Edessa on 9 June 373, and our Church celebrates him on 15 Epep every year. Part of his body is in the reliquary of the saints, and above the reliquary is an ancient icon of him holding a fruitful branch of a tree, with the words “his staff that blossomed,” holding a censer and wearing a deacon’s vestments; it dates from 1773. There is also another old icon of him in the monastery. May the blessing of his prayers be with us all.

The Tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian

East of the Church of the Virgin “of the Cave” stands a huge tree known as the tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian. It is said that Saint Ephrem came to the wilderness of Scetis and spent eight years there in the fourth century. Worn out by extreme asceticism, he leaned on a staff, and the monks of Scetis thought he was imitating the elders. At the direction of his spiritual father he planted this staff in the ground, and because God wished to reveal his righteousness and piety, the dry staff grew and blossomed like the rod of Aaron of old and became a huge tree. It is of the tamarind family, and many drink from its flowers and fruit as a blessing. More than sixteen centuries have passed over it, and it is still full of life and green.

It is distinct from the Tree of Obedience of Anba John the Short, which stood at his monastery (among the ancient monasteries that fell into ruin); that was a lotus (nabq) tree and was cut down not long ago.

In the Church of the Virgin (El-Sourian), above the reliquary of the bodies of the saints, there is an ancient icon of Saint Ephrem the Syrian dating from 1773, showing the saint holding a fruitful branch, with the words “his staff that blossomed,” holding a censer and wearing a deacon’s vestments.

It is said that Saint Ephrem the Syrian appeared in the monastery from time to time to encourage the fathers in their struggle. One of the fathers said that he was sleeping at night by the tree of Saint Ephrem when he felt someone waking him and saying, “Rise and go to your cell, for we want to pray”; it was Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Another time he saw him passing, took hold of him and said, “Who are you?” When he pressed the question, he answered, “I am Ephrem the Syrian. God bless you.”

It is also related that one of the monks went to the church one night and found its door shut, with the sound of prayer inside. When the prayer was over and the door opened, he saw a company, some thin and some elders, and afterward he could not find them, for they were the wandering ascetic fathers (suwwah).

I have heard many such accounts from the elder fathers of the monastery. Every monastery has its saints who support it and encourage its monks in their struggle, for there is a continuing bond of love between the Church triumphant in heaven and our Church militant on earth.

The Library

The library was first in the ancient keep, then moved to the new building erected by Hegumen Maximus around 1914. In the time of His Grace Anba Theophilus it was moved to the monks’ building erected around 1956 and entrusted to the monk Antonious (His Holiness Pope Shenouda III), who catalogued it, divided it into sections, numbered it, made cards for it, and added many Arabic and foreign reference works. Finally it was moved to the guest building east of the Church of the Virgin (El-Sourian) and the old minaret, built around 1974.

It holds many manuscripts, divided into homilies, rites, commentary, theology and doctrine, ascetic writings and canons, in various languages, chiefly Coptic and Arabic.

It also holds many printed books, divided into sayings of the Fathers, service and preaching, Church history, ascetic writings, preaching and spirituality, rites, canon law, theology and doctrine, Bible study and commentary, Holy Scripture, and general works. Each of these sections holds hundreds of books and booklets, in addition to dictionaries in various languages. It is the largest monastic library of the present day.

The most famous manuscripts of El-Sourian and the other monasteries made their way to libraries in the West. In 1707 the Jesuit monk Elias Assemani, through his tact and diplomacy, managed to take forty of the most important manuscripts from the monastery to the Vatican Library. After him came his cousin Joseph Assemani in 1715, who took a valuable collection of rare manuscripts, among them one dating from the year 579. Valuable manuscripts from the monastery are also in libraries in London, Paris, Austria, Berlin, Oxford and elsewhere, besides precious volumes that left the monastery at various times.

The Monastery Museum

The monastery museum holds copper, wooden and pottery vessels that the monastery used in the past, as well as old crosses, censers and lamps. It also holds the communal chest that once held the relics of the saints, which were moved to the wooden reliquary in the church as mentioned above. There are also priestly vestments, among them the breastplate of Anba Isaac, Bishop of Bahnasa, Fayoum and Giza, who departed in the first years of the patriarchate of Anba Cyril V, as well as ancient icons and other objects.

Sources

A. J. Butler, The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt
Otto Meinardus (Burmester), A Guide to the Monasteries of the Wadi 'n-Natrun
Hugh G. Evelyn White, The Monasteries of the Wadi 'n Natrun