Apollo the Shepherd was an Egyptian Christian monk who lived around the 4th century AD in the desert of

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...

. He was one of the Desert Fathers.

Legend

Apollo was initially a shepherd. He is said to have killed his pregnant wife and unborn child when he was curious to see what the unborn fetus would have looked like. When they died, he repented and became a monk. According to the '' Ethiopian Synaxarion'', he lived deep in the interior of the desert for 14 years. After the 14 years were over, an angel took him to meet one of the Desert Fathers, who told him that his sins had been forgiven. The father gave the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

to Apollo, who then died in the father's arms and ascended to heaven.

Feast day

Apollo is venerated as a saint by the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

. In the

Coptic calendar The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...

, his feast day is the 5th day of Meshir (or

Amshir Meshir ( cop, Ⲙⲉϣⲓⲣ), also known as Mechir ( grc-gre, Μεχίρ, ''Mekhír'') and Amshir. ( arz, أمشير ), is the sixth month of the ancient Egyptian calendar, Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It lies between February 8 and March 9 of t ...

in Arabic), which is the same feast day as that of Saint Apollo of Bawit.

References

4th-century births Egyptian Christian monks Saints from Roman Egypt Coptic Orthodox saints Desert Fathers Egyptian hermits {{egypt-reli-bio-stub