the destructions and ravages which inevitably resulted from
persecutions and political strife.^11
When Abba Athanasius was a fugitive hounded by
Julian the Apostate, Didymus, like all the Faithful, prayed
fervently and constantly for him. One night, after having
kept total abstinence throughout the day and supplicating
God in great earnestness, he dozed off. As he lay, half
awake in the early hours proceding dawn, he heard a distinct
voice saying: Julian is dead. Rise; eat; and go disclose the
fact to Athanasius. Didymus woke up immediately and
carefully noted the date and the hour. Later, he found that
the Apostate had died at that very hour; and though
wounded in the morning, he had survived till after
midnight.^12
After serving for over half a century as teacher, dean
and exegete, Didymus died about A.D. 395, leaving behind
the world of darkness which could not conquer his soaring
spirit, to live in the world of Light which he had glimpsed
while still in this world.
C. 190. The next personality to ponder over here is a
feminine one who blazed the same trail for women that Saint
Antoni blazed for men. For inasmuch as he became the
‘Father of monks’ she became the ‘Mother of nuns’ – that
phalanx of holy, dedicated women who voluntarily
relinquished this world with all its pleasures in order to make
of seeking the kingdom of God the single goal of their lives.
The name of this trail-blazer is Syncletiki’s parents,
rich aristocrats from Upper Egypt, had moved to Alexandria
and settled there because they had high hopes for their
children to whom they wanted to give the best possible
education, which included sending them to the city's
renowned School.
The high hopes and expectations of Syncletiki's