Fr. Matthew the Poor
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Fr. Matthew the Poor

Religion & Spirituality
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Abouna Matta Al-Meskeen (Fr. Matthew The Poor) The Spiritual father of the Monastery of St. Macarius 1919 – 2006 Born, Youssef Iskander, in 1919 in Behera, north of Cairo, graduated with a degree in Pharmacy in 1944. Worked in his own Pharmacy till 1948. Following the Lord’s call, he sold everything he owned, distributed his wealth amongst the poor, except the value of a one way ticket to the monastery, then Joined the Monastery of Anba Samuel, on August 10, 1948, a very poor monastery in upper Egypt. In 1951, he had to move to El-Surian Monastery, Wadi El Natroun, as his health deteriorated, then he was asked to be the Spiritual father of the monks, especially the young. He became the founder of the revival of the Coptic Monastic life, as he returned monasticism to its glorious days of the reviving the spirit of the great fathers of the desert. This attracted many educated Christian youth around him to be given the right guidance in the modern monastic community. He finished he first book, Orthodox Life of Prayer, in 1952, which was translated later to French (1977), Italian (1988), and English (2002). After serving as the deputy of the Patriarch in Alexandria for 2 years in 1954, then he decided to return back to the Monastery of Anba Samuel and stayed there with his disciples till 1959. With 11 of his disciples, they moved to Wadi El Rayan, a desert with a distance of 50 Kilometers from Fayoum in Upper Egypt, where they lived in caves. Pope Kyrillos called Abouna Matta and his disciples in 1969 to move to the Monastery of Abu Maqar (St. Macarius), which had only five elderly and sick monks. As the structures within the monastery were at the point of collapse, a great revival occurred spiritually and in construction. The monastery now is a pilgrimage for many from all over the world. Abouna Matta penned 180 books, and about 300 journal articles. Even on his death bed, at age 87, he wrote his 4 volumes book, titled With Christ .
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