Saint John the Dwarf (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἰωάννης Κολοβός;

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: ابو يحنّس القصير (Abū) Yuḥannis al-Qaṣīr c. 339 – c. 405), also called Saint John Colobus, Saint John Kolobos or Abba John the Dwarf, was a Coptic

Desert Father The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the ea ...

of the early Christian church.

Life

John the Dwarf was born in the town of Thebes in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

to poor Christian parents. At the age of eighteen, he and an elder brother, moved to the desert of

Scetes Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt de ...

where he became a disciple of

Saint Pambo Saint Pambo (also known as Pemwah and Bemwah - Όσιος Παμβώ in Greek) (died c. 375) is a Coptic Desert Father of the fourth century. Saint Pambo is venerated by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roma ...

and a good friend of

Saint Pishoy Pishoy of Scetis ( Coptic: ''Abba Pišoi''; Greek: Ὅσιος Παΐσιος ὁ Μέγας; 320 – 417 AD), known in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria as the ''Star of the Desert'' and the ''Beloved of our Good Savior'', was a Co ...

. He lived a life of austerity and taught several other monks his way of life, among them was

Arsenius the Great Saint Arsenius the Deacon, sometimes known as Arsenius of Scetis and Turah, Arsenius the Roman or Arsenius the Great, was a Roman imperial tutor who became an anchorite in Egypt, one of the most highly regarded of the Desert Fathers, whose teach ...

. After the departure of

, John was ordained a priest by Pope Theophilus and became abbot of the monastery he founded around the Tree of Obedience. When the

Mazices The Mazices were Berbers of North Africa who appear in classical and late antique Greek and Latin sources. Many variants of the name are known: Maxyes in Herodotus; Mazyes in Hecataeus; Mazaces; Mazikes; Mazazaces; etc. They are all derived from ...

invaded

in 395, John fled the Nitrian Desert and went to live on Mount Colzim, near the present city of

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

, where he died. In 515, the relics of Saint John the Dwarf were moved to the Nitrian Desert. His feast is celebrated on October 17 in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, on 20

Paopi Paopi ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲱⲡⲉ, ''Paōpe''), also known as Phaophi ( grc-gre, Φαωφί, ''Phaōphí'') and Babah. ( ar, بابه, ''Baba''), is the second month of the ancient Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It lasts between 11 October and 9 Novem ...

at the Coptic Orthodox Church and on November 9 in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Monastery of Saint John the Dwarf in

is now recognized by the Coptic orthodox church. John lived on only flatbread and

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s his entire life and could eat one meal a day.Stefaniw, Blossom. (2019). ''Christian Reading: Language, Ethics, and the Order of Things''. University of California Press. p. 11.

Legend

John the Dwarf is best known for his obedience. The most famous story about his obedience is that one day Saint

Pambo Saint Pambo (also known as Pemwah and Bemwah - Όσιος Παμβώ in Greek) (died c. 375) is a Coptic Desert Father of the fourth century. Saint Pambo is venerated by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roma ...

gave Abba John a piece of dry wood and ordered him to plant and water it. John obeyed and went on watering it twice a day even though the water was about 12 miles from where they lived. After three years, the piece of wood sprouted and grew into a fruitful tree. Pambo took some of this tree's fruits and went around to all the elder monks, saying "take, eat from the fruit of obedience". Postumian, who was in Egypt in 402, assured that he was shown this tree which grew in the yard of the monastery and which he saw covered with shoots and green leaves. Ababius, a monk of

and a saint of the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

, is the subject of a long biography attributed in manuscript form to John the Dwarf. The manuscript has yet to be translated into English.

References

Sources

Saint John the DwarfOrthodox Church of America, Feasts and Saints
* Atiya, Aziz S. ''The Coptic Encyclopedia.'' New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1991.

Life

Legend

References

Sources

Further reading