St. Shenoute

St. Shenoute of Atripe was born around 348 in Upper Egypt, and died around 466, reputedly at a very great age. He became a monk under his uncle at the community that came to be known as the White Monastery near Atripe (modern Sohag), and eventually succeeded him as its abbot, or archimandrite. Under his firm and zealous leadership the monastery grew into an enormous community of thousands of monks and nuns.

He is celebrated as the greatest writer of the native Egyptian (Coptic) Church, and his sermons, letters, and monastic rules are the finest surviving works of classical Coptic literature. A stern reformer and defender of orthodoxy, he combated the remnants of paganism and heresy in the region and cared vigorously for the poor and for refugees in times of famine and invasion. He is venerated as a saint and remains among the most revered fathers of Coptic Christianity.