Saint Ammoe
Saint Ammoe was a fourth-century spiritual father at Scete who guided Saint John the Short and Saint Bishoi, and was remembered for his strict discipline.[^1]
Also known as: St. Ammoe · Ammoe
Life at Scete
Saint Ammoe was a spiritual father at Scete and the guide of both Saint John the Short and Saint Bishoi. The account in Coptic Church Review places John's arrival at Scete and the beginning of his discipleship under Ammoe around AD 357.1
Spiritual guidance
The account describes Ammoe as a stern teacher and states that most incidents concerning him in the Apophthegmata Patrum reflect his strict treatment of disciples. He did not permit them to walk beside him on the way to church, seeking to prevent idle conversation from displacing meditation. For the same reason, he required them to leave after he had answered their questions about their thoughts.2
On one occasion, Ammoe dismissed John and advised him to go elsewhere. John remained outside the door of his cell for seven days, after which, according to the narrative, Ammoe recognized his disciple's sanctity.2
Illness and death
Five years after John's arrival in the desert, Ammoe developed a severe lung disease and became bedridden for twelve years. During this period he entrusted John with the care of his cell and sometimes directed visitors to him for answers to their questions.3
John attended his teacher through prolonged bouts of coughing, patiently enduring the difficult conditions without receiving a kind word from him. Near death, Ammoe took John's hand and commended him to the other elders, saying, “This is an angel, and not a man.”3
The account dates Ammoe's death to approximately AD 374. Before dying, he instructed John to settle where John had planted a tree, describing it as a sign of the souls who would be saved through his disciple in that place.4
After Ammoe's death, John followed this instruction and made a small cave beside the tree, where he devoted himself to strict asceticism and ceaseless prayer.5
References
Sources
- 1.Coptic Church Review, Volume 5, Number 3 (p. 23)
The young John arrived at Scete about AD 357, where he became the disciple of St. Ammoe. Ammoe must have been a great saintly figure who knew how to lead his spiritual children through the narrow gate and the strait path. He was the guide for both St. John the Short and St. Bishoi.
- 2.Coptic Church Review, Volume 5, Number 3 (p. 23)
Most of the incidents mentioned about him in the Apophthegnata Patrum reflect the harsh treatment he gave to his disciples. He did not allow them to walk beside him on their way to the church lest they should have irrelevant conversation instead of meditation. For the same reason he did not allow his disciples to stay with him any longer after he gave them the answer to their thoughts. Once he dismissed John, advising him to go to another place. But the young monk remained outside the door of the cell for seven days after which St. Ammoe discovered the sanctity of his disciple.
- 3.Coptic Church Review, Volume 5, Number 3 (p. 23)
Five years after John had come to the desert, St. Ammoe started to suffer from a bad lung disease and he became bed ridden for twelve years. By then he had full confidence in his faithful spiritual son and left for him the care of his cell. He even referred some of his visitors to John to answer their questions. John sat beside the bed of his ailing master for prolonged periods when he had paroxysms of coughing, and not infrequently the sputum fell on John. He endured patiently and silently, without hearing one kind word from his master. Only when he was about to die, he took his hand and comm
- 4.Coptic Church Review, Volume 5, Number 3 (p. 23)
Before his death (c. AD 374) St. Ammoe addressed John, "My son, when I leave this world, go and stay in the place where you planted the tree, because this tree which has taken root because of your care is a mystery of the souls that will be saved because of you in that place, and it is a constant remembrance of you before God."
- 5.Coptic Church Review, Volume 5, Number 3 (p. 23)
After the death of Ammoe, John did not hesitate to follow his will. He made a small cave beside the tree where he embarked upon strict asceticism. His dress was made of palm leaf. He dug an underground room inside the cave in which he spent the whole week fasting and absorbed in ceaseless prayer.
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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.