Abraham of Farshut was an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

and is a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

of the Coptic Church, and by extension all of the

Oriental Orthodox Churches The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represen ...

. His feast day in the

calendar of saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

of the Coptic Church is February 12.

Life

He was born in Farshut, near the modern city of Hiww.Coquin, Rene-Georges and Martin S.J., Maurice. "Farshut", ''Coptic Encyclopedia'', Vol.4, Macmillan, New York, 1991
/ref> His parents, who were Christians and locally important figures, died when Abraham was twelve. The next year, Abraham tried unsuccessfully to persuade his sister to retain her virginity. Thereafter, Abraham left to join the monastery of

Pachomius Pachomius (; el, Παχώμιος ''Pakhomios''; ; c. 292 – 9 May 348 AD), also known as Saint Pachomius the Great, is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism. Coptic churches celebrate his feast day on 9 May, ...

Pbow Pbow was a cenobitic monastery established by St. Pachomius in 336-337 AD. Pbow is about north of Luxor in modern Upper Egypt. Name Pbow is a Coptic name. The Arabic "Faw" in "Faw al-Qibli" ("South Faw") derives from the Coptic Pbow. Other name ...

. This monastery was at the time under the direction of Pshintbahse. There Abraham devoted himself to trying to achieve the monastic ideals. Abraham was elected abbot of the monastery on the death of Pshintbahse. Shortly thereafter,

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

requested that Abraham be brought to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, in an attempt to bring those monks who still rejected the decision of the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, B ...

into communion with the greater church. The exact time of this event is unknown, but it is believed to have been between 535 and 548. Abraham brought with him four monks. Upon arrival, Justianian summoned them and informed them that they would either accept the decision of the council or lose their positions. Abraham refused to entertain the idea, and was removed as

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom ...

.Goehring, James E., ''Politics, Monasticism, and Miracles in Sixth Century Upper Egypt: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Coptic Texts on Abraham of Farshut'', Mohr Siebeck, 2012, p. 38
Theodora tried to persuade Justinian to change his mind, seemingly to no avail. Abraham himself stated in a letter to his monks that he preferred to remain in exile rather than subscribe to a faith contrary to that of

Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

. Abraham did return to Egypt, however, possibly due to persuasion from Theodora. Pancharis had been appointed to replace Abraham as archimandrite at

. Abraham first went to the monastery of Shenoute, where he made a copy of the Rule. Then he set up a new monastery at Farshut with two other monks from the monastery of Moses. The new monastery contained a well and a garden. The number of monks grew, however, making it necessary for the buildings to be expanded. He also founded a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

of nuns at roughly the same time. Late in life, Abraham received a vision in which Pachomius, Petronius, and Shenouda the Archimandrite appeared to him, informing him of his upcoming death. Some people have suggested that this Abraham might be identical to the

Abraham of Scetes Abraham of Scetes was a monk who became a saint of the Coptic Church. He was born the son of a wealthy landowner in Egypt, and became a monk under Jonas. He is alleged to have had a vision of Christ riding the chariot of the Cherubim. He died a ...

commemorated in the same calendar on January 4.

Life

References

Further reading