Egypt: Monastery of Saint Samuel Near the Fayoum Oasis

Monastery of Saint Samuel by Jimmy Dunn

Born in 597 AD in the city of Daklube, St. Samuel spent most his early years in the Macarius Monastery at Wadi el atrun. !t is said that he "as a disciple of Abba A#hathon, and that $od #a%e him the #ift of healin# and performin# miracles. &e "orked dili#ently at studyin# the scriptures, meditatin# and prayin# "ith his teacher, as "ell as probably "orked the land as did St. Marcarius three centuries earlier. 'roblems bet"een the Western and (astern )hristian churches e*isted at this time, resultin# in considerable conflict, includin# a forei#n 'ope bein# installed in Ale*andria. Military unites "ere sent to the Monastery of St. Macarius. Samuel "as amon# the monks arrested, and later beaten almost to his deal because he refused the decision of the council of )halcedony. After these e%ents, Samuel left the monastery accompanied by four other monks and tra%eled to Mount +alamoun ,-alamon. in the re#ion of the /ayoum 0asis "here they established a small monastery. Dedicated to the 1ir#in, this monastery named for St. Samuel continues to flourish e%en today.

Durin# the life of St. Samuel, the monastery flourished, thou#h it "as apparently ra%a#ed on se%eral occasions by the Berbers. 2e#end has it that the saint "as captured se%eral times by the Berbers. 3et it is belie%ed that at his death in 495, the monks of the monastery numbered bet"een 678 and 788, and that there "ere t"el%e churches.

We here %arious reports of the monastery throu#hout the centuries. !n the 66th century, Abu9 Salih, an Armenian reports that the monastery had t"el%e churches and four to"ers. &e also tells us of a de%out monk "ho li%ed in a nearby ca%e, and that there "ere a total of 658 monks inhabitin# the monastery at that time.

!n the 65th century, 3akout the :omainian, a "ell kno"n #eo#rapher, stated in his #eo#raphical dictionary that the monastery "as famous and "ell kno"n to people. &o"e%er, in the 65th century, another report comes to us from (l9Makri;i "ho reports only t"o to"er, but he makes no mention of churches. <here are fe" records bet"een the 64th and 69th centuries, but "e kno" that sometime durin# this period the monastery declined and the buildin#s fell into ruin as it "as deserted by the monks. !n 6=69, Bel;oni %isited the monastery and disco%ered that it "as deserted. &e records findin# a %ery lar#e church and con%ent, and tells us of "ell preser%ed paintin# on the "alls.

2ate in the 69th century, /ather !ssac (l9Baramousy, alon# "ith a fe" other monks came to li%e at the monastery. <hey be#an to rebuild the old monastery, "hich he headed bet"een 6=95 and 695=. )urrently, /ather Basilios is Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery.

<oday, the monastery has fi%e churches, includin# the )hurch of the 1ir#in Mary, <he )hurch of St. Samuel, <he )hurch of St. Missael, the )hurch of the An#le Michael, and the )hurch of St. Mina the Martyr