Saint John the Dwarf (
Greek: 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 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 List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
to poor
Christian parents. At the age of eighteen, he and an elder brother, moved to the desert of
Scetes where he became a disciple of
Saint Pambo and a good friend of
Saint Pishoy. He lived a life of austerity and taught several other monks his way of life, among them was
Arsenius the Great.
After the departure of
Saint Pambo, 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 ...
invaded
Scetes in 395, John fled the Nitrian Desert and went to live on
Mount Colzim, near the present city of
Suez, 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 at the
Coptic Orthodox Church and on November 9 in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Monastery of Saint John the Dwarf in
Scetes is now recognized by the Coptic orthodox church.
John lived on only
flatbread
A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread.
Flatbreads r ...
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 edible flower, flowers, ...
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 Roman ...
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
Scetes and a saint of the
Coptic Church, 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.
Further reading
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{{Authority control
339 births
405 deaths
5th-century Christian saints
Desert Fathers
Egyptian Christian monks
People with dwarfism
Proto-vegans
Saints from Roman Egypt