Bishop Sarabamon or Serapamon (, ) was the Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in

Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt dep ...

Beheira Governorate Beheira Governorate ( ar, محافظة البحيرة ', , "the governorate of the Lake") is a coastal governorate in Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, its capital is Damanhur. Overview Beheira Governorate ...

, Egypt from 1977 until his death on 8 March 2020.

Early life

He was born Azer Qalid Bastarous () in

Armant Armant ( ar, أرْمَنْت; egy, jwn.w-n-mnṯ.w or ''jwn.w-šmꜥ.w''; Bohairic: ; Sahidic: ), also known as Hermonthis ( grc, Ἕρμωνθις), is a town located about south of Thebes. It was an important Middle Kingdom town, which was ...

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt ( ar, المملكة المصرية, Al-Mamlaka Al-Miṣreyya, The Egyptian Kingdom) was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recog ...

, on February 20, 1937. He joined the Monastery of the Virgin Mary of the Syrians, and was tonsured as a monk on Tuesday, December 8, 1959. He chose the name Sarabamon (arabized version of Serapamon) as the date of his consecration corresponded to the 28th of

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...

, which was the feast day of the Martyrdom of Saint Serapamon the Bishop of

Nikiou Zawyat Razin ( ar, زاوية رزين; cop, ⲡϣⲁϯ, lit=the saved, rescued one, Pashati), formerly Shubra al-Laun ( ar, شبرا اللون), known in Antiquity as Nikiû, Nikiou or Nikious (, la, Nicius), is a city in the Monufia Governora ...

. On Sunday, February 24, 1963, he was ordained a

Presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...

. He was later elevated to the dignity of

Hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

on Sunday, June 25, 1967, and was designated as the monastery's confessor.

Episcopate

On Sunday, June 17, 1973, corresponding to the

Feast of Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...

, he was consecrated a General Bishop by the hands of

Pope Shenouda III Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See ...

. Later, on Sunday, May 29, 1977, he was enthroned as Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy. On Wednesday, January 31, 1996, he was granted the

Great Schema The degrees of Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic monasticism are the stages an Eastern Orthodox monk or nun passes through in their religious vocation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the process of becoming a monk or nun is intentionally slo ...

, in recognition of his completion of over 30 years of monastic piety, and service. The Monastery also held a celebration commemorating his 60th year of monasticism on December 2, 2019. During his episcopate, he was a member of the Holy Synod's Monasteries and Monastic Affairs Committee, Rites Committee, and Diocesan Affairs Committee. He was also responsible for overseeing the construction of new monasteries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. He received the

Order of the Two Niles The Order of the Two Niles () is a state Orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan, decoration of Sudan established on 16 November 1961 during Ibrahim Abboud's Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969)#Abboud military government (1958–64), military g ...

from Sudan.

Death

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, Bishop Sarabamon died after a four-day hospitalization. Funerary rites were prayed on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, and he was laid to rest in a tomb adjacent to the

Memorial in the Monastery of Saint Pishoy.{{Cite web, date=2020-03-08, title=وفاة الأنبا صرابامون أسقف ورئيس دير الأنبا بيشوي عن 83 عامًا, url=https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/1478595, access-date=2021-06-14, website=Al-Masry Al-Youm, language=ar

References

1937 births 2020 deaths Coptic Orthodox bishops People from Luxor Governorate Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan

Early life

Episcopate

Death

See also

References