in the lifetime of Shenouda. The only remaining part of it
is the Church, adjoined by the house of the priest.
As for the Red monastery, it gets its name from the
red bricks of which it is built. Nothing remains of it save
the church also, and people called it by the name of “Abba
Pishoi”, a saintly monk of that era.
hese two monasteries were not destroyed except in the
eighteenth century during the battles waged between the
Mamelukes and the Franks.^44
C. 280. A Life of Contrasts
- Side by side with the men who strove after
perfection stood the women “Athletes of God”. Mary the
Errant, or the Repentant, is a striking example. Of great
beauty, she spent her youth in sin. Such was her delight
in seducing men, that at the age of twenty-nine, she went
to Jerusalem during Passion Week that she may delude
even those who went for worship and spiritual experience.
One day, she felt an inward urge to enter the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre. Before its gate she felt transfixed.
Stupefied, she was overwhelmed with remorse. In a flash
she realised how unworthy she was of entering that
Sanctuary wherein the Saviour of mankind was buried.
At that very moment she entreated the Mother-of-God to
come to her rescue, vowing that she would renounce the
world of sin. As she entered her prayers she felt released
and went into the Church. After the celebration of the
glorious Easter Service, she stood long before the icon of
the Blessed Virgin praying with great fervour. As she
prayed, she heard a Voice telling her to retreat into the
desert by the Jordan river. She obeyed immediately.
There she spent forty-seven years during which she did
not stay in a single spot. Any cave or ravine was good