A Voice from Heaven
Abba Bamoua tells us: I will tell you, my brethren, what happened. One day I heard a voice calling me three times: "Bamoua, Bamoua…" I noticed that the voice was from heaven and was unfamiliar to me, for no one often called me by my name. I lifted my eyes to heaven and said, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears." The voice said to me: "Arise, Bamoua, and hasten to the inner desert, where you will meet Anba Karas and receive his blessing, for he is more honoured before Me than anyone, because he has laboured much for My sake. My peace be with you."
So I went out from my church and walked in the desert alone, in great joy, not knowing the way, but firmly certain that the Lord who had commanded me would guide me. Three days I walked alone, and on the fourth day I came to a cave whose door was closed with a large stone. I knocked as the brethren monks do and said, "Agape (that is, love) — bless me, my holy father." At once I heard a voice saying to me: "It is good that you have come today, Bamoua, priest of the church of Mount Shiheet, who was worthy to shroud the blessed Saint Hilaria, daughter of King Zeno."
With Saint Simon the Solitary
He opened the door to me; I went in, and we embraced, and then we sat and spoke of the greatness and glory of God. I asked him, "My holy father, is there in this mountain another saint like you?" He looked at my face and sighed deeply, then said, "My beloved father, in the inner desert there is a great saint, of whom the world is not worthy of a single step of his feet: Anba Karas." Then I stood and asked him, "Then who are you, my father?" He said, "My name is Simon the Solitary. It is sixty years today since I have looked upon the face of a man, and every Saturday I live on a single loaf of bread which I find placed on the stone you see outside the cave."
With Saint Abamoud the Solitary
After I received his blessing I walked again in the desert for three days, between prayer and praise, until I came to another cave. Its door was closed, so I knocked and said, "Bless me, my holy father." He answered me: "Welcome, saint of God, Anba Bamoua, who was worthy to shroud the body of Saint Hilaria, daughter of King Zeno. Enter in peace." I went in and we sat and talked, and I said to him, "I have learned that in this desert there is another saint like you." At that he stood and sighed, saying, "Woe is me! Let me tell you, my father: deep within this desert is a great saint whose prayers turn away the wrath that comes from heaven — he is truly a companion of the angels." I asked him, "And what is your name, my holy father?" He said, "My name is Abamoud the Solitary. I have been in the desert ninety-nine years, and I live from this palm tree that bears dates for me, and I give thanks to Christ." After he blessed me, I left him in joy and peace…
In the Cave of Anba Karas
I walked a little, and suddenly I could neither see the road nor walk. After some time I opened my eyes and found myself standing before a cave in a rock in the mountain. I went to the door, knocked and said, "Agape." At once a voice spoke from within: "It is good that you have come today, Anba Bamoua, saint of God, who shrouded the body of Saint Hilaria, daughter of King Zeno."
I entered the cave and looked at him for a long time, for he had great dignity and reverence. He was a man full of light, the grace of God upon his face, and his eyes shone brightly. He was of middle height, with a long beard in which only a few black hairs remained; he wore a simple robe, was thin of body, soft of voice, and held a staff in his hand. He said to me, "You have come to me today; I have waited for you a long time, my beloved." I asked him, "What is your name, my holy father?" He said, "My name is Karas." I asked, "And how many years have you been in this desert?" He answered, "For fifty-seven years I have not looked upon the face of a man, and I was waiting for you with all joy and longing."
I stayed with him a day, and at the end of the day our saint Anba Karas fell ill with a severe fever. He sighed and wept, saying, "That which I feared all my life has come upon me. O Lord, where shall I flee from Your face? How shall I hide? Truly, how fearful is that hour — deal with me according to Your mercy, Lord, and not according to my sins."
The Visit of the Lord of Glory
When the sun rose on the second day, Anba Karas lay unable to move. Suddenly a great light, brighter than the sun, shone at the door of the cave, and a radiant Person entered, clothed in garments white as the sun. I was then sitting at the feet of Saint Karas. Fear and amazement seized me, but the radiant Person went to Anba Karas, spoke with him at length, gave him peace, and went out. I went to our father Anba Karas to ask about this Person of such glory, and he said to me with great joy, "This is the Lord Christ. This is His custom with me: every day He comes to bless me and speak with me, and then He departs." I said to him, "My holy father, I long for the Lord of Glory to bless me." He said, "Before you leave this place you will see the Lord Jesus in His glory, and He will bless you and speak with you too."
On that same day a saint of whom the world was not worthy departed in Upper Egypt, and the earth lost him: Saint Anba Shenouda the Archimandrite. I saw his soul rising to the heights of heaven amid the hymns of the angels.
The Repose of the Saint and the Lord's Promise
On the eighth day of Abib the illness grew heavy upon our father Anba Karas. At midday a great light filled the cave, and the Saviour of the world entered, preceded by the archangels Michael and Gabriel and a host of six-winged angels, with praises on every side and the fragrance of incense. I was sitting at the feet of Anba Karas. The Lord Christ, to Him be glory, came and sat at the head of Anba Karas, who took hold of our Saviour's right hand and said, "For my sake, my Lord and my God, bless him, for he has come from a far land for this day." The Lord of Glory looked at me and said, "My peace be with you, Bamoua. What you have seen and heard, speak it and write it, for the benefit of many."
"As for you, My beloved Karas: every person who knows your life and remembers your name on earth, My peace shall be with him. Whoever offers an oblation, incense, oil or candles in remembrance of your name, I will repay him many times over in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever feeds the hungry, gives drink to the thirsty, clothes the naked or shelters the stranger in your name, I will repay him many times over in My kingdom. Whoever writes your holy life, I will write his name in the Book of Life. And whoever shows mercy on the day of your commemoration, I will give him what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man. And now, My beloved Karas, I want you to ask Me for something that I may do for you before your departure."
Anba Karas said to Him, "My Lord, I used to recite the Psalms night and day, and I longed to see David the Prophet while still in the flesh." In the twinkling of an eye David came, holding his harp and singing his psalm: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Anba Karas said, "I wish to hear the ten strings at once, with all the tunes and melodies together." David moved his harp and sang: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." And while David sang the Psalms with his harp and beautiful voice, and the saint was in great joy, the saint's soul went forth from his holy body into the bosom of our good Saviour, who took it and gave it to Michael the Archangel. Then I, Bamoua, went and kissed the body of Saint Karas and shrouded it. The Lord of Glory signalled to me to leave the cave, and I went out; then He went out with the angels, with hymns and praises before the saint's soul, and we left the body in the cave. The Lord of Glory placed His hand upon it, and it became as though it had no door that could ever be opened.
The Return of Anba Bamoua
All ascended to heaven in joy, and I remained alone standing in that place until the beautiful vision was hidden from me. I closed my eyes from the intensity of the light and the beauty of what I had seen, and when I opened them I found myself before the cave of our father Abamoud the Solitary. I stayed with him three days, then went to Anba Simon the Solitary and remained with him three more days, and then returned to Mount Shiheet, to my church. There I met all the brethren and told them the life of the blessed saint, the great anchorite Anba Karas, and what our saint had said about the repose of Anba Shenouda the Archimandrite.
May the blessing of Saint Mary, the Mother of Light, of Saint Anba Shenouda the Archimandrite and of Anba Karas the Anchorite be with us. To our Lord be glory forever. Amen.
«Every person who knows your life and remembers your name on earth, My peace shall be with him… and whoever feeds the hungry, gives drink to the thirsty, clothes the naked or shelters the stranger in your name, I will repay him many times over in My kingdom.»
Foreword
The lives of the saints, and especially of the anchorite fathers, are the story of a wondrous love between our Lord and man — a love in which a person tastes, and tastes again, the sweetness of our Lord, until he melts in His love. Our saint, Anba Karas the Anchorite, beloved of Christ and friend of the angels, is the greatest example of a man who loved our Lord and tasted His sweetness and love. He spent more than fifty-seven years without seeing the face of a human being, and he had no need to see a human face, for it was enough for him to see the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. All that has been written, all that we know and all that we say, is very, very little of their lives, for their lives are a holy of holies and a mystery.
This life, with its miracles, meditations and the history of a beautiful new church for Anba Karas, is a book to be read slowly and prayerfully, that we may taste the sweetness and love of our Lord. May every work be blessed for the glory of His holy Name, through the blessing and prayers of our pure mother Saint Mary, of our great saint Anba Karas and the anchorite fathers, and the prayers of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, who wrote about and revealed to us much of the lives and mysteries of the anchorite fathers.
To our Lord be glory forever. Amen.
— Anba Barsoum, Bishop of Sanabu and Dairut