accepted, and handed over to him twenty thousand
captives. Shenouda sheltered them in his monasteries for
three months: the sick he put under the care of the
doctors, the children under the tutelage of the educators,
while the social servers looked after the aged and the
infirm. All these specialists were from among his monks.
During these three months, ninety-four of the refugees
died, and fifty-two babies were born. This instance
indicates the well-knit organisation of the monks under
the vigilant eyes of the Archimandrite.^42
- Shenouda was not only a guide to monks, but
fathered also eighteen hundred nuns.^43 To these, he wrote
several letters: teaching, guiding and admonishing.
Fortunately, many of his writings are extant; they depict
for us his clear thinking and his deep spiritual insight.
Shenouda was blessed with an unusually long life.
He lived to a hundred and eighteen years. His fatherhood
over monasteries and convents lasted sixty-six years.
During his long life, Shenouda watched his people
closely. His sympathy for them was boundless.
Consequently he became their spokesman and their
defendant. And because he identified himself altogether
with them, he embodied their nationalistic aspirations and
led them to the realisation of their higher selves. For
those reasons, he is considered the liberator of Egyptian
thought from the shackles of Byzantium, and the truest
representative of Pharaonic genius. - The White monastery with which Shenouda is
identified is unique among Christian edifices: it is more
like a pharaonic temple than a Christian sanctuary. It
stands on the edge of the desert west of Sohag near the
ancient town of Atrib. Historians reckon that it was built