The Life of St Shenouda

St Shenouda is one of the fifth century’s most renowned Egyptian monastic leaders. During his monastic leadership his community grew to around four thousand monks and nuns. His spiritual ministry and miraculous works extended beyond the walls of his monastery to surrounding villages. He is known for his large library of Coptic Christian writings that are scattered today in museums and libraries all over the world.

He did not gain much attention from the western writers of the time such as Jerome, Palladius, and John Cassian, because of his patriotism to the Coptic language and culture which dissociated him from many Greek and Latin writers.

His life comes to us in Coptic in both dialects, Sahidic and Bohairic. This translation of the Arabic life of St Shenouda is from the edition by the French Coptologiest Amelineau. It is believed that this Arabic life is a translation from the Sahidic Coptic life, sometime in the seventh century.