Samuel the Confessor
Saint Samuel the Confessor | |
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Confessor | |
Born | 597 Daklube, Egypt |
Died | 17 December 695 Mount Qalamoun, Egypt | (aged 97–98)
Venerated in | Coptic Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches |
Major shrine | Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor, Egypt |
Feast |
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Attributes | Monk with one Eye |
Samuel the Confessor (referred to in academic literature as Samuel of Kalamoun or Samuel of Qalamun) is a
The manuscripts of the Coptic text known as the Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun give his name as the author.
Biography
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Samuel was born in 597 AD in the city of Daklube, Egypt, to a non-Chalcedonian priest called Arselaos. He spent most of his early years as a disciple of Agathon.
While at the Monastery of Saint Macarius, a Byzantine imperial envoy attempted to convince the desert monks to confess the Chalcedonian faith. Samuel became zealous and seized the imperial letter and rent it into pieces saying "Excommunicated is this tome and everyone who believes in it, and cursed is everyone who might change the Orthodox faith of our Holy Fathers." Seized with anger, the envoy ordered Samuel to be beaten with pins and to be hanged up by his arms, and that his face be smitten. One of the strikes enucleated one of his eyes.
When
After leaving Scetes, Samuel dwelt in Mount Qalamoun, currently in the
Samuel also suffered at the hands of sun-worshiping
Samuel the Confessor died on 8
Life of Samuel of Kalamoun
One of the most important surviving sources on Samuel is a
In the work, Samuel's parents are named Silas and Kosmiane. Samuel becomes a sub-deacon at the age of 12 and insists from an early age on becoming a monk and living an ascetic life. His father's concerns are quelled after an angel reassures him; Silas builds a church and ordains his son a deacon of it. Kosmiane dies when Samuel is 18, and Silas dies when Samuel is 22. Samuel sets out for Scetis, known as a center of enlightenment, and meets an aged ascetic, Agathou. He trains for three years under him until Agathou's death, but becomes a respected monk and is empowered by Agathou's spirit. At this point Cyrus of Alexandria arrives to take up the bisophric of Alexandria. He attempts to combine Miaphysite Christians and Chalcedonian Christians into one group; the work refers to his teachings as the "Tome of Leo". When a messenger of Cyrus arrives at Scetis, Samuel asks if he can see the copy of the "Tome of Leo", then tears it to shreds. He is severely flogged and expelled from Scetis as a result.[2]
Samuel and four loyal disciples travel south to a monastery at Neklone, near Fayyum. He lives there for three and a half years before he receives word that Bishop Cyrus is visiting Fayyum. Samuel tells the other monks to evacuate and meets Cyrus himself; he and the bishop have a "martyrological" exchange as Cyrus attempts to convince Samuel to cease his resistance. Samuel is beaten within an inch of his life. He leaves Neklone and goes to Takinash, where he resides for 6 months. Samuel hears a voice from God telling him to go into the wilderness. God leads him to a deserted church in Kalamun. Marauding Libyan nomads, returning from a pilgrimage, find him and seize him in the church, but the camel they put him on refuses to move, inspired by God to be obstinate. The marauders return later and are more successful, this time taking him to Siwa to be sold as a slave. While in Siwa, he meets John the Hegemon, who has also been enslaved. During his three-year captivity, the Berbers attempt to convert him to paganism and to abandon his chastity, but he refuses. God grants Samuel the power to perform miracles, and the Berbers wisely release him with a gift of several fine camels.[2]
Samuel returns to the monastery at Kalamun, where his four disciples and many others return. The monastery receives donations, including from the normally miserly Bishop Gregory of Koeis; Mena the Eparch of Pelhip, who is possibly a relative of Samuel; and a man named Apollo, who takes over the finances and trade of the monastery. Samuel goes on to live at the monastery for fifty-seven more years.[2]
See also
References
- .
- ^ ISBN 0-85668-219-5.
Further reading
- Isaac the Presbyter (1894) [8th or 9th century]. Vida do Abba Samuel do mosteiro do Kalamon (in Portuguese). Translated by Pereira, Francisco María Esteves., a translation of the Ethiopic manuscript of the Life of Samuel of Kalamoun into Portuguese
External links
- Samuel the Confessor in Coptic Orthodox Synaxarium
- St. Samuel the Confessor from the Official Website of St. Samuel Coptic Orthodox Monastery, El Kalamon Mountain
- St. Mary and St. Samuel the Confessor Coptic Orthodox Church