detailed account to the Emperor, entreating him to find
the means by which to subject the obstinate Egyptians to
this rule.
At this news the Emperor was beside himself with
rage. He ordered the closing of all churches, setting his
seal to them, and guarding them by imperial troops.
The Egyptians were saddened and filled with
anguish; yet they neither despaired nor renounced their
faith. For another year, they were denied all spiritual
consolation, being deprived of the joy of receiving the
sacraments. They accepted this deprivation – though it
seemed calamitous to them – rather than bend before the
tyranny of Justinian’s minion. The only ray of light
piercing their darkness came to them from their Pope who
wrote them from his exile. Like his predecessors, his
writings were regular, comforting and strengthening,
enjoining them to be patient and steadfast, and assuring
them of God’s infinite, sustaining love.
- In obedience to their exiled Pope – whom they had
come to love and revere to a high degree – the people did
remain steadfast in their own Faith. They put up patiently
with the increasingly rigorous laws imposed upon them.
Their clergymen, including the saintly monks of the
desert increased their prayers, fasting and services for
them, and – as they quietly and diligently ministered unto
their needs – were a source of great sustenance to them.
The papacy of Abba Theodosius lasted for thirty-
two years, of which he spent twenty-eight in exile. But
though absent in body, a strong tie of love bound him to
his flock. Besides his letters, he sent them a good number
of homilies and doctrinal treatises, all aimed at edifying
them. In the face of their strong attachment to him, the
imperialists jibingly nicknamed them “Theodosians”.^12