Anba Barsoum
El Eryan
Friday,
November 17, 2006
Anba Barsoum
El Eryan
(5 Nesseh / 10 September
)
“ Behold, I give you the authority to
trample on serpents, scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
(Luke 10:19)
On the 5th
Nesseh (the short month) of each Coptic year, the
Church celebrates the feast of the promotion to glory of St. Barsoum El Eryan (the naked).
This feast normally falls on the 10th September of each calendar
year.
He was
called the naked because all he wore was goat skin around his waist, or
sometimes a woolen girdle.
This
saint was born of devout Christian parents who were charitable to the poor, his
father held a very prominent position in the royal palace. He was born in the
year 1257 A.D. and was brought up according to the disciplines of the Holy
Gospel.
When Barsoum became a youth, his parents passed away. At this
stage he felt that his uncle was after his inheritance, so he willingly
renounced it to him, left the city life for dwelling in a cave for five years
during which he endured the scorching heat of summer and the freezing cold of
winter.
He then
went to the Church of St. Marcorious Abu Seffen (holder of the two swords) in old Cairo where a cave
was within the vicinity. When he tried to enter the cave some of the monks
prevented him as there was a large snake inside. The saint prayed to the God
who gave us the power to trample on serpents and scorpions, he said few verses
of Psalms, blessed himself with the sign of the cross and entered without fear.
God removed the vicious nature of the snake and made it tame, it dwelt with the
Saint for the period of his stay in the cave – 20 years. He then moved to the
roof of the Church and stayed there for fifteen years enduring cold and heat.
During
that period a persecution of Christians by the ruler of Egypt took place. They
were prohibited from praying in Churches and were ordered to wear blue turbans.
Some malicious informers betrayed St. Barsoum to the
ruler as being an in-Church whisperer. The ruler summoned him, ordered his
flogging and sentenced him to imprisonment. However the Saint prayed for the
good of the Church, which prayers God answered and the Churches opened again.
God also
granted him a spiritual grace by giving him extra sensory powers, he knew many
of the concealed matters and through him many miracles took place. Once a
childless woman went to see him and asked him to say prayers for her. At night
she saw a vision, when she recounted it to him the following morning, he
interpreted her vision for her. He told her that she would get twin boys and
St. Marcorious would have a share in them. The woman
rejoiced greatly and when she delivered the twins she offered them to the
Church of St. Marcorious (Abu Seffen).
On
another occasion a Christian man had an only son who became very ill. The man
went with a broken heart to see St. Barsoum, when he
reached the gate of the monastery the boy died. When the Saint heard the
sobbing of the man, he went on his knees and earnestly asked the Lord Jesus for
His help, he blessed the boy with the sign of the cross, anointed him with the
oil and sprinkled him with water after which the boy opened his eyes, and all
those around him praised the Lord.
The Saint
went to spend the rest of his life in a monastery called ‘Shahron’
near El massara (the oil mill). There he lived as a
hermit, but at the same time with love for everyone. He became well renowned
and people from everywhere came seeking his blessings.
When he
reached the age of sixty years, he peacefully passed away on the 5th
of Nesseh, in the year of 1033 of the martyrs i.e. 10th
September 1317 A.D.
