Beyond Their Gender: Contemporary Coptic Female Monasticism

Abstract

The story of Coptic women monastics is usually dismissed when recounting the history of monasticism in Egypt. This essay attempts to document the achievements of women monastics in Egypt from the beginning of the twentieth century, lest their achievements be forgotten as were their predecessors’. The difficulty that such an attempt faces is the lack of available data. Women monastics are larger in number than their male counterpart yet historical accounts are silent or are scant on data. This essay will contribute to the accumulation of data on contemporary female monasticism in Egypt by documenting and recording some information about Coptic women moanstics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The essay introduces a range of monastic models in the Coptic Orthodox Church. These models witnessed rapid change by the end of the nineteenth century affected by the changing political and social climate in Egypt that transformed the status of women in the society. The ecclesial hierarchy gave special attention to the education of women. The women who joined the monastery in the early twentieth century reflected this change and they prepared the way for the college-educated women that joined the monasteries in the early nineteen sixties. These educated women transformed the role of female monastics and monasteries within the Egyptian Christian society. Monasteries became spiritual centers for women. These monastics became spiritual leaders and role models that inspires the younger generation of Coptic women. They contributed to the spiritual revival of monasticism in the church. Their vocation extended beyond the traditional monastic work. They built new monasteries in the desert, published books, contributed to the artistic revival of Coptic icons, and engaged in spiritual direction to monastery visitors. Their monastic model and spiritual example extended beyond the boundaries of Egypt to sister churches. This essay records the story of this transformation and mentions some of the pioneering figures that affected this new history of women monastics in Egypt.