regrettable that no biographies of these bishops were
found though a number of their writings are still in
existence.
Bishop Pisentheos of Qeft was especially
renowned for his God-given gift of healing and for his
extreme compassion for the needy and the suffering.
Among the treasures acquired by the Coptic
Museum in 1943, is a letter on limestone found with the
Jeme^15 documents. It is a petition sent by a widow to
Pisentheos “the true high priest”. The widow was in a
sorry plight indeed; the Persians, then ruling the land, had
confiscated her possessions, leaving her nothing but a pair
of cattle which she had to pawn to the money lender that
she may find wherewithal to pay the tax. The only
property left to her was the little house in which she lived.
Still she was not left in peace. The authorities coveted
this, her last possession. In her distress, she could only
find refuge in the compassion of her bishop, Pisentheos
whose intercession she solicited. “... the letter bears
edifying witness to the relations between Bishop and
people in seventh century Egypt; and its human interest
has lost nothing with the passing of time”.^16
Having faithfully steered the Church during his
appointed time the vigilant Abba Damianos reached his
safe haven at a good old age.
C. 361. In the midst of this tumultuous age, there
were men who still maintained their spiritual equanimity;
they realised their responsibility and fulfilled their duties.
One of these men was the monk Yulianos who deemed it
of greater import to carry the message of the Christ to
those who had not heard it, than busy himself with
controversies and politics. He therefore went to
evangelise the Nubians.