Pishoy

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Pishoy
birth_date=320
death_date=417
feast_day=July 15 = 8 Epip
venerated_in=Oriental Orthodox Churches


imagesize=200px
caption=Coptic icon of Saint Pishoy, Star of the Desert and Beloved of our Good Savior
birth_place=Shansa, Egypt
death_place=Mountain of Ansena, Egypt
titles=
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes= Monk carrying Jesus, Monk washing the feet of Jesus
patronage=
major_shrine=Monastery of Saint Pishoy, Scetes, Egypt
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=

Saint Pishoy (320-417 A.D.), known in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria as the "Star of the Desert" and the "Beloved of our Good Savior", is an Egyptian desert father. He is said to have seen Jesus and that his body is preserved to the present day in incorruption at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy at the Nitrian Desert, Egypt. He is venerated by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and mainly by the Coptic Orthodox Church as Saint Bishoy. He is also venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church by the name of Saint Paisios and in the western church as Saint Christiphorous (or the one who carried Christ on his shoulders).

Life

Bishoy was born in 320 A.D. in the village of Shansa (Shensha or Shesna), currently in the Egyptian governorate of Al Minufiyah. Younger to six other brothers, he was weak and frail. His mother saw an angel in a vision asking her to give God one of her children, and pointed at Bishoy. When the mother tried to offer one of her stronger children, the angel insisted that Bishoy was the chosen one.

At the age of twenty, Bishoy went to the wilderness of Scetes and became a monk by the hand of Saint Pambo, who also ordained Saint John the Dwarf a monk. When Saint Pambo died, Bishoy was guided by an angel to the site of the present Monastery of Saint Pishoy, where he lived the life of a hermit. At this time, he became the spiritual father of many monks who gathered around him. He was famous for his love, wisdom, simplicity and kindness, as well as for his extremely ascetic life. He was also known to love seclusion and quietness. Bishoy's ascetism was harsh to the extent of tying his hair and hands with a rope to the ceiling of his cell, in order to resist sleeping during his night prayers. This ascetism made him so famous that he was visited by Saint Ephrem the Syrian.

The Copts believe that Bishoy saw Jesus a number of times. Once, an old monk asked him to help him climb a mountain, so Bishoy carried him on his shoulders and climbed, only to discover that the old monk was no one but Jesus. The latter told him that, for the extent of his love, his body will not see corruption. The Copts also believe that Bishoy washed the feet of Jesus who visited him as a poor stranger.

Bishoy is known as a defender of Orthodoxy against heresies. Having heard of an ascetic in the mountain of Ansena who taught that there was no Holy Spirit, Bishoy went to him carrying a weaved basket with three ears. When the old man asked him about the reason for making three ears for a basket, Bishoy replied "I have a Trinity, and everything I do is like the Trinity". After much debate from the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, the old ascetic reverted to Orthodoxy.

Departure and Relics

In 407/408 A.D., as the Berbers invaded the wilderness of Scetes, Bishoy left and dwelt in the mountain of Ansena. At this time he met Saint Paul of Tammah in Antinopolis and the two became very close friends. While at the mountain of Ansena, Bishoy built another monastery, the monastery of Amba Bishui at Dayr al-Barsha, which exists until today near Mallawi. Bishoy departed on 8 Epip (July 15) 417 AD.

On December 13th 841 AD, 4 Koiak 557 AM, Pope Joseph I fulfilled the desire of Saint Bishoy and moved his body as well as that of Saint Paul of Tammah to the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in the wilderness of Scetes. [http://www.coptic.net/lessons/StBishoy.txt] It is said that they first attempted to move the body of Saint Bishoy only, but when they carried it to the boat on the Nile, the boat would not move until they brought in the body of Saint Paul of Tammah as well. [ [http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/2_7.html#1 Lives of Saints :: Baba 7 ] ] Today, the two bodies lie in the main church of the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Bishoy in the Nitrian Desert. Eyewitnesses recount that the body of Saint Bishoy remains in incorruption until the present day.

Monasteries named after Saint Bishoy

There are currently three monasteries in Egypt that carry the name of Saint Bishoy:
* The Monastery of Saint Bishoy at the Nitrian Desert
* The Monastery of Saint Bishoy at Deir el-Bersha, near Mallawi
* The Monastery of Saint Bishoy at Armant, east of Armant
**Note that the Red Monastery near Souhag is also named after an Egyptian saint called Pishay. This saint is not to be confused with Saint Bishoy.

References

* [http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/11_8.html#1 Coptic Orthodox Synaxarium (Book of Saints)]
* [http://www.coptic.org/stmarkno/jul97.htm Bishoy from Coptic.org]
* [http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/synexarion/bishoy.html Bishoy from copticchurch.net]
* [http://www.stmaryscopticorthodox.ca/articles/pishoi.pdf Bishoy from stmaryscopticorthodox.ca]

External links

* [http://www.copticorthodox.ca St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church in Canada]