Saint Abdel Messih El-Makari was born in 1892 in the village of Abou Shehata, Mattay district, El-Menya governorate, Egypt. His parents were both Christians; his father's name is Henein and His mother's name is Esther. When he grew up, he wanted to be a spiritual warrior in the army of celibates, so he left the world and headed to the Monastery of St. Abba Samuel the Confessor in El-Kalamoun mountain. He did so several times, and each time his father would come to the monastery and bring him back home, and this was associated with the death of a large number of his father's cattles. At last, his father allowed him to do what he wanted, so he joined the Monastery of St. Abba Makar (Macarius) the Great in the desert of Scetes (Wadi El-Natrun) and became a monk. He led an extremely ascetic li