Departed the Eighth Day of Abib

Saint Bishoy the Great is the founder of the Monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadi El-Natroun.  The name “Bishoy” in Coptic means “just.”  In French, his name is St. Paisious, and the church mentions him in the liturgy as, “The Upright and Perfect Man, the Beloved of our Good Savior.”  He is also called, “The Star of the Wilderness.”

St. Bishoy was born of two very pious parents in 320 A.D. in a village of the Nile Delta in Egypt.  He was one of seven brothers whose faithful mother spent long nights taking care of them until their hearts glowed with the love of Jesus Christ.  In a dream, St. Bishoy’s mother saw the angel of the Lord asking for one of her children to service our Lord God.  She answered the angel and said, “They are all here to serve the Lord.”  The angel selected St. Bishoywho was not as strong as his brothers.  St. Bishoy’s mother did not esteem St. Bishoy fit for God’s service due to his weakness; but the angel said that the Lord’s power in imperfection is perfect.

In 340 A.D., when St. Bishoy was 20 years old, he went to the Scetis wilderness and became a student of Saint Bimwa, who in turn was a student of Saint Abu Makar the Great.  He joined the monastery of Scetis to devote all his life to worship our Lord Jesus.  While in the monastery, Abba Bishoy became a spiritual friend to the saint who was famous for obedience, St. John the Short.  Out of obedience to his teacher, St. Bimwa, St. John planted a dry stick, and it grew and became a fruitful tree through the blessing of his obedience.

When St. Bimwa departed, God’s angel appeared to Abba Bishoy and informed him that our Lord wanted him to live in solitude in the neighboring region, east of Saint John’s place.  There, Abba Bishoy would be a father to many monks and guided them in their spiritual growth to our Lord.

Abba Bishoy obeyed the angel and lived in a cave (which still exists until this day in Saint Mary’s Monastery, El-Surian).  The love Abba Bishoy had for our Good Savior made him want to continue his conversation with God through prayer as long as possible.  One of the strategies he used to keep himself awake was to tie his hair with a rope attached to the ceiling of his cave, so that he would wake up every time he fell asleep in order to continue in prayer to his Beloved.  For that reason he was called, “the Beloved by our Good Savior.”

Because of his devotion to God, Abba Bishoy would forget about his physical needs and would be filled with the spiritual food of prayer, meditation, and reading the living Word of God.

Every person that Abba Bishoy met was filled with peace, happiness, assurance, and went away content.  As a result, he had twenty-four hundred followers who lived the life of continuous happiness under his guidance, and they lived in scattered caves in the mountain.  They would gather around Abba Bishoy “like bees surrounding honey,” as some of the old manuscripts stated.

Abba Bishoy was also known for his sensitivity.  When someone was once speaking during one of his sermons, Abba Bishoy chose not to hurt the feelings of that person, and when that person saw the capacity of Abba Bishoy’s good heart, he stopped talking and apologized.

His Spiritual Strife

After the death of St. Bimwa, his teacher, Abba Bishoy stayed with his companion St. John the Short.  He was constantly watchful for the well-being of his spiritual life; he liked to pray, fast and read the Holy Scripture so much that he could recite most of the passages by heart.  His favorite book was that of Jeremiah the Prophet in the Old Testament.  He liked it so much that he was called Abba Bishoy the Jeremian.

Abba Bishoy was an energetic worker who ate directly from the fruit of his labor.  He once said to his disciples, “I do not eat food provided by any person; my children, work with your hands to sustain yourselves and to make enough to give to charity.”  He was not only pleasant, humble, and sensitive to others’ feelings, but he also respected everyone’s humanity.  His loving heart always listened to the poor and the needy.  For his compassion, he was called “the upright and perfect man.”

Abba Bishoy was spiritually detached from money and materialistic things.  One day, he refused the gold and silver that one of the rich people brought him, because God informed the saint of the devil’s trick to try to keep him away from worship by tempting him with riches.  So Abba Bishoy advised the rich man to take his gold and silver and distribute it to the poor and the needy to win God’s blessing.  When the rich man left him, and Abba Bishoy returned to his cave, the devil cried out saying, “Oh, you, you always ruin my tricks with your modesty.”  Abba Bishoy answered him in meekness and vulnerability saying: “Since you fell, oh devil, God spoils all your tricks against His children.”

Abba Bishoy loved his spiritual children and interacted with them as a loving father.  He used to cry over his sins just like Jeremiah the Prophet did. He kept striving in prayer for one of his disciples who sinned until the disciple came back repenting to God.

The Lord Shows Himself to St. Bishoy

The monks could hear our Lord talking to him as he prayed.  During one of his prayers, the Lord said to him, “Here I’ll be with you, I have witnessed your toil, love and perseverance.  I have granted that whoever prays asking through your intercession would be answered.”  The saint’s heart fell within him and said, “But it is you, Jesus Christ my Lord, who sufferedme and for the whole world.  You were crucified, died and resurrected for our salvation.”

Another time, the Lord appeared to him and said, “My dear Bishoy, this mountain shall bewith monks and be a tower of doves.” Abba Bishoy's sweet aroma filled the wilderness, and multitudes of monks flocked to hear his teaching and advice. He became the father of approximately eight thousand monks.  He taught them the fear of God and implanted the spirit of meekness in their souls, which is the essence of spiritual life.

While fasting, and with a humble heart, he used to carry all the troubles and weaknesses of his disciples, so that he could lead them to the life of righteousness.  He used to pray continuously so that God would keep his disciples’ souls in the faith.

St. Bishoy Carries Jesus Christ

The monks longed to see the Lord through Abba Bishoy.  They asked the saint to pray for their sake, so that He might bless them with an appearance. Abba Bishoy mentioned their desire to the Lord, and pleaded for them, saying that such an appearance would increase their enthusiasm and encourage them in their spiritual lives.  The Lord promised to appear to them on the mountain on a certain day at a certain time.

On that day that the Lord promised to appear, the monks raced to get to the appointed spot.  On their way, they saw a sick old man who wanted to join them, but none of the monks was willing to carry him, or even had enough patience or time to “waste” with him.  Abba Bishoy passed by; he was very late but offered to take him.  He lifted him up on his shoulders and carried him.

At the beginning of the climb, Abba Bishoy did not feel any weight, but gradually he felt that the old man was getting heavier and heavier until he could not continue.  At that moment, he knew that this was the Lord.  He cried, “My Lord Jesus Christ, the heavens are not spacious enough for You, the earth trembles in facing Your Holiness, how can a sinner like me carry You!”  Then our Lord Jesus Christ answered and said, “Because you have carried Me, my dear Bishoy, your body shall never decay.” When the monks discovered that the Lord revealed Himself to the saint while they had deprived themselves of seeing the Lord because of their carelessness, they were greatly grieved.

St. Bishoy Washes the Feet of Our Good Savior

One of Abba Bishoy’s distinguished merits was his hospitality to strangers.  One day while he was sitting outside his cell, he saw a stranger who was weary from walking.   He invited the stranger to his cell and brought some water to wash his exhausted feet.  While washing his feet, he heard the Lord’s voice saying, “My chosen Bishoy!  You are an honorable man.”  Realizing that he was washing the Lord’s feet, he knelt down and worshiped Him.  The Lord gave him peace and comforted him.

There was an aged monk living in a town called Epsi in Upper Egypt. Misled by the devil, he deviated from the Orthodox belief, denied the existence of the Holy Spirit, and started to spread his heresy openly.  God wanted to save him, and so He told Abba Bishoy about this monk.

St. Bishoy made some baskets with three handles each, and set off to the place where that monk was. When he arrived there, the old monk welcomed him with great hospitality.  The other monks in the area gathered around him to receive his blessing. The three handles of the baskets attracted their attention and they asked the meaning of it.  Abba Bishoy answered, “I always do my manual work after the example of the Holy Trinity.”  On hearing this, all the monks exclaimed, “So father, there is a Holy Spirit!”  The saint started to teach them about the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. As he quoted many verses from the Scriptures, they all believed and professed their faith in the Holy Spirit.

St. Bishoy goes to Ansena

After the Barbarians attacked Scetis in 408 A.D., Abba Bishoy went to Ansena in Upper Egypt.  There, he met a spiritual friend by the name of St. Paul of Tamouh. The Lord blessed the strong spiritual bond between them.  St. Paul saw a vision and heard the Divine Voice promising that his body and St. Bishoy’s body would always be together.

A visit to St. Ephraim

Many times, our Lord Jesus appeared to Abba Bishoy because of his great love for him.  Abba Bishoy was informed of many matters because of his prophetic spirit.  He knew of the coming of Saint Ephraim the Syrian before the saint actually came to visit him.  Abba Bishoy asked God to let him speak with a Syrian tongue so that he would be able to speak with the Syrian guest, and the Lord granted it to him.

The Saint’s Body

On July 15, 407 A.D., St. Bishoy committed his soul into the hands of the Savior.  Three months later, St.  Paul of Tamouh departed to the Lord, and his body was buried beside St. Bishoy. In 842 A.D., during the reign of His Holiness Pope Yousab, the fifty-second Patriarch of Alexandria, the two bodies of St. Bishoy and St. Paul were carried in a great celebration to the monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadi El-Natroun. When the monks uncovered St. Bishoy’s body, they found it as if it had only recently deceased.  It was just as our Lord Christ had promised the great saint, “Your body will never decay,” because St. Bishoy carried the Lord on his shoulders.

On the feast of Saint Bishoy’s departure, July 15 (8 Abib) of each year, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III leads the celebration in honor of the great saint.  His Holiness joins the monks of the monastery in joy for the feast of their intercessor.  During a ten-day celebration, they prepare the spices and oil to scent the pure body of the saint, with much prayers, chants, and hymns.  Thousands of people visit the monastery during this ten-day celebration (July 5-15) to join in the joyful celebration and to receive the blessing and prayer of the great saint.

May the blessings and prayers of this great Saint Abba Bishoy be with us all. Amen