Beautiful Egypt 86 – «St. Samuel, the Confessor» December 14, 2014

   In the previous article, we tackled the Egyptians’ suffering during the Roman era, for the country faced social, economic and religious hardships. At that time, Copts were harshly treated by the Jews who seized every opportunity to instigate the rulers against Copts and have them killed. Likewise, we tackled the great ferocity with which Byzantine Emperors treated Copts. This started during the papacy of Pope Dioscorus, the 25^th patriarch. History books record that thousands of Egyptians were martyred. They counted almost 24,000. During the papacy of Pope Timothy, the 26^th patriarch, the diocese of Alexandria was split into two series of patriarchs. First, we have the Melchites who Romans appointed, and were enthroned in Constantinople. They adopted the Chalcedonian creed. The second was the Orthodox sect which included the Copts of Egypt who rejected whatever contravened with correct faith. The patriarchs of Alexandria remained under pressure until the advent of the Persian conquest.

   There is a manuscript containing St. Shenouda’s prophecy of the Persian conquest. Worthy mentioning is that St. Shenouda departed 160 years before the Persians invaded Egypt. He wrote, “The Persians will invade Egypt, shed Egyptians’ blood, rob their money, imprison their wives, and sell them as slaves. They are despots. They will incur lots of plights on Egypt: they will ravage churches and their holy cups, drink wine in sanctuaries disregarding everything. They will rape women before their husbands. Evil will reach its peak and suffering its climax. One-third of the survivors will live in misery. The Persians will stay for quite a while. Yet, they will exit eventually.”

   After Egypt had returned to the Roman tenure, Romans wanted Egypt to adopt the Melchite creed. In fact, Egypt was of great importance to the Empire, being its source of wheat and grain. So, Cyrus was appointed deputy of Heraclius on Egypt. He was also appointed patriarch of Alexandria! Copts suffered from great tribulations. Mina, pope Benjamin’s brother was martyred. Also, Pope Benjamin, the 38^th patriarch, had fire put under his sides. His teeth were plucked off. Then he was drowned in the Nile. Historians assert that Cyrus roamed in the Egyptian cities, confiscating churches property and torturing whoever opposed him. So much so, that the mere mention of his name would scare the people. St. Samuel the Confessor was also tortured by Cyrus. The Church commemorates his departure on Kiahk 8, coinciding with December 17.

   St. Samuel lived in an era when whoever abided by the correct faith was endangered. They would either be martyred or mutilated due to the torture. Thus, whoever abided by the correct faith risked his life. St. Samuel was one of those, for he never forsook his faith in spite of the bitter torture he went through. Rather, he admitted his faith so bravely that he lost his right eye.

   St. Samuel was born in 597. He departed in 695, at the age of 98. During his lifetime, he was contemporary with eight patriarchs, namely, Pope Demian (the 35^th patriarch) during the tenure of Caesar Justinian II, Pope Anastasius (the 36^th patriarch) during the tenure of Caesar Phocas, Pope Andronicus (the 37^th patriarch) during the tenure of Heraclius and the Persian occupation of Egypt, Pope Benjamin I (the 38^th patriarch),Pope Agathon (the 39^th patriarch) during the caliphate of Ali bin Abu Taleb, Pope John III (the 40^th patriarch) during the tenure of Mu’awiya bin Abu Sufyan, Pope Isaac (the 41^st patriarch) and Pope Simon I (the 42^nd patriarch) who were contemporary to Abdul Malek bin Marawan. St. Samuel witnessed some of the most important incidents in the history of Egypt. The religious condition was tumultuous, then. After the Council of Chalcedon, which the Egyptian Church rejected, had taken place, the Roman Emperors tried by all means to compel the church to accredit it. Yet, the correct faith was deeply rooted in the hearts of Copts, especially the monks, of whom St. Samuel was one.

   St. Samuel was born in the village of Diclo, Beheira. He learned the art of copying books, fathers’ sayings and saints’ biographies. Then, he yearned for monastic life. So, he distributed his money amongst the needy. He became St. Agathon’s disciple. He taught him the rules and bases of monasticism. After St. Agathon’s departure, St. Samuel remained at St. Makar’s Monastery. He grew in monasticism until he became a father and guide to many.

   Abba Yustus, a son of one of Antioch’s rulers, became his disciple. In fact, he came to Sceti desert to be a monk. He stayed with St. Samuel until he was imprisoned. Then, he departed. The bishop of Bahnasa wrote his biography after Abba Samuel had told him about it.

   After the Romans had retrieved Egypt in 627, Heraclius tried to disseminate the ideologies of the Council of Chalcedon in Egypt. So, he led an army to Egypt. The Lord’s angel appeared to Pope Benjamin, told him about Heraclius’ intentions and ordered him to flee. So, he went to Mariott, Sceti, then Upper Egypt. When Cyrus came over, he tried to seduce the Copts that they might adopt his creed. But they refused. So, he resorted to deceit and violence, after which he went to monasteries and tried to compel monks to accept the new creed. When Cyrus’ sentries reached St. Makar’s Monastery, they occupied it. Their commander assembled the monks and read them the Tomas Lawn: the message which Lawn I, bishop of Rome, had sent to Flavian, the bishop of Constantinople. The commander asked the monks to sign that Tomas. At that time, St. Samuel was the monks’ godfather. So, he stood bravely before the commander and said, “The Council of Chalcedon is excommunicated. So is Lawn, the violator, as well as whoever abides by his corrupt faith. We are not loyal, save to our great father, Abba Benjamin, the Copts’ patriarch.”

   The commander got furious and started threatening St. Samuel. After a while, he requested the letter calmly. So, the commander gave it to him, thinking he was able to convince him. But, St. Samuel tore up the Tomas, emphasizing his rejection of the message. The commander ordered that St. Samuel be tortured. So, he was flogged. One smack knocked his right eye. So, he lost it. However, they continued beating him and left him half dead, after which they issued a directive to expel him from the monastery. After coming back to his senses, the Lord’s angel appeared to him and asked him to go to Fayyum to confess the correct faith.

   Cyrus failed to influence the monks of Sceti. So, he took his sentries to Fayyum. But when they reached the place, they found nobody, as St. Samuel had asked them to flee from the monastery to preserve the correct faith. No sooner had the commander got to know, than he summoned St. Samuel to torture him again. He ordered his sentries to tie him to an iron rod and then deliver him to Cyrus. When they met, Cyrus asked him, “Who made you the monks’ guide? How come you curse my creed and prohibit it? The monks’ obedience made you vainglorious. I shall teach you how to stand before the mighty. How come you do not believe in the archbishop’s creed (meaning himself)? After Cyrus had finished talking, St. Samuel answered, “God should be obeyed more than people. We cannot obey neither you, nor your corrupt faith.” Cyrus got furious. Then, the sentries started beating St. Samuel on his mouth. They kept torturing him in order to kill him. At that time, renowned men of Fayyum heard of the matter. So, they asked Cyrus to set him free. Thus, they saved him from torture. But he was not martyred, which is why the Church calls him “the Confessor”. A person who is tortured for correct faith, but is not martyred is called the Confessor. The Church puts him in a rank succeeding that of martyrs.

   Later, St. Samuel went to one of Qalamoun mountains. Then the angel guided him to Qalamoun monastery where sands had covered the Church. So, he removed the sands by himself. He lived there for a while, after which he was taken prisoner by the Barbarians. Then, he returned to the monastery that was to bear his name till the present day. We found the following in his prophecy, “My children, you might not have heard of the evil deeds which the heretics did to the Orthodox ever since the time of Abba Dioscorus. They also hurt Abba Dioscorus immensely. They banished him to a remote place, appointing Abrodarius in his stead, which is horrible. That Abrodarius did lots of evil things to Christians. He used to banish bishops and ruin monasteries. As for false Ovimanus, I cannot describe his deeds except as horrific: for what he did in Jerusalem, and killing the Orthodox. Likewise, there is the horrific and profane Cyrus. I detest mentioning his name, for he persecuted the Orthodox, banished them from one place to another. He is looking for Abba Benjamin and saying he wished he could find that long-bearded man so he might have him stoned.” St. Samuel remained in his monastery until he departed peacefully.

   St. Samuel was terribly tortured. His tribulation is an epitome of the Copts’ tribulation, having clung to their faith before the Byzantines’ violence and despotism. What a lovely story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center