07 Works, Today, July 7th, is the Saint Sisoës' day, his story in art #188

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Saint Sisoës

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Saint Sisoës the Great ( †429 AD) was an early Christian desert father, a solitary monk pursuing asceticism in the Egyptian desert in a cave of his predecessor, St Anthony the Great. St Sisoës is revered as a saint by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, who consider him a wonderworker. His feast day is observed on July 6.


Sisoës was a Copt by birth. Having withdrawn the world from his youth, he retired to the desert of Sceté. The desire of finding a retreat yet more unfrequented induced him to cross the Nile and hide himself in the mountain where St. Anthony the Great died some time before.

Unknown artist

Astonishment of Sisoes over the tomb of Alexander Great,  ca.16th century

Monastery at Meteora

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There is no historical account of what the icon describes until its depiction first starts appearing in monasteries in Greece following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 It is not implausible that the depiction of Sisoës lamenting over the tomb of Alexander is a historical event lost to us in document form but survives only in iconography. Sisoës was a contemporary of the events surrounding Emperor's Theodosius' series of decrees outlawing the worship of pagan gods, among whom Alexander was to the fore. In Alexandria, the Christians rioted and destroyed the Serapeum, the leading pagan temple. This is the time that Alexander's remains finally disappear from history. More on this Icon

Metéora, group of monasteries on the summits of vertical rock formations in Thessalía, Greece.

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Sisoes the Great and Alexander the Great

Slivnica Monastery, Macedonia

The fresco in Old Slavonic Scripture reads: “The sight itself, the grave, frightens me and makes my heart shed tears as I think about the debt we, all people, owe. How can I handle it at all? Oh, death! Who can avoid you? ”

Sisoës was an Egyptian by birth. Having withdrawn the world from his youth, he retired to the desert of Sceté, and lived some time under the direction of abbot Hor. 

Francisco de Zurbarán

San Antonio the great, c. 664

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Francisco de Zurbarán (baptized November 7, 1598 – August 27, 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname Spanish Caravaggio, owing to the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro in which he excelled. More on Francisco de Zurbarán

The desire of finding a retreat yet more unfrequented induced him to cross the Nile and hide himself in the mountain where St. Antony died some time before.

Unknown artist

Saint Sisoes received everyone with love

Orthodox Monastery of St Basil of Ostrozh, Bielin, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Extremely strict with himself, Abba Sisoës was very merciful and compassionate to others, and he received everyone with love. The reputation of his sanctity became so illustrious as to merit the full confidence of all the neighbouring solitaries. Some even came a great distance to be guided in the interior ways of perfection; and, in spite of the pains he took he was forced to submit his love of silence and retreat, to the greater duty of charity.

His ordinary work was making baskets. He was tempted one day as he was selling them, to anger; instantly he threw the baskets away and ran off. By efforts like these to command his temper he acquired a meekness which nothing could disturb.

Deacon Frederick Bartels

Arians heresy

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Deacon Frederick Bartels received a Catechetical Diploma, BA in Theology, and MA in Theology and Educational Ministry from Catholic Distance University.


Deacon Bartels currently serves the Diocese of Pueblo as Parochial Deacon assigned to St. Joseph Church in Grand Junction, CO, where he was employed as Director of Religious Education and Director of Liturgy from 2013 to 2016. He has served the Church as a Catholic educator in preparing students for the sacrament of confirmation, catechumens and candidates through the RCIA process to enter full communion with the Church, and facilitating adult faith formation sessions for the past eleven years. In 2013 and 2014, he presented at Catechetical Enrichment Day for the Diocese of Pueblo in forming and certifying catechists. He regularly participates in the New Evangelization through the use of digital media as a contributing writer for various online publications. More on Deacon Frederick Bartels

Some Arians had the impudence to come to his mount, and utter their heresy before his disciples. The saint, instead of an answer, desired one of the monks to read St. Athanasius’s treatise against Arianism, which at once stopped their mouths and confounded them. He then dismissed them with his usual good temper.

Unknown artist

On the Death of the Saints

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It was said of Abba Sisoes that when he was at the point of death, while the Fathers were sitting beside him, his face shone like the sun. He said to them, ‘Look, Abba Anthony is coming.’ A little later he said, ‘Look, the choir of prophets is coming.’ 

The saint said one time, “I am now thirty years praying daily that my Lord Jesus may preserve me from saying an idle word, and yet I am always relapsing.” Thus he was singularly observant of the times of retirement and silence, and kept his cell constantly locked to avoid interruption, and always gave his answers to those who asked his advice in the fewest words. More on Saint Sisoës

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