The Monastery of Saint Mary El-Sourian is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is located about 500 meters northwest of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy.
The monastery is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and carries her name. In scholarly references from the nineteenth century it is generally called the convent or monastery of Saint Mary Deipara. It is better known nowadays as the Syrian Monastery or the monastery of the Syrians (Syriac Dayr al-Suryān) because it was mainly used by monks of the West Syriac rite from the 8th to the 14th century.
The exact date of the monastery's foundation is unknown. Most sources seem however to agree that its foundation took place in the sixth century AD. The establishment of the monastery is closely connected to the Julianist heresy, which spread in Egypt during the papacy of Pope Timothy III of Alexandria. The Julianists believed in the incorruptibility of Christ's body. This was in contradiction with the teaching of the Orthodox Church, which held that Christ had taken human flesh that prevented him from being ideal and abstract, and therefore corruptible. Yet, in the monasteries of Scetes, a majority of the monks embraced the Julian heresy. In reaction, those who did not follow the heresy obtained permission from the governor Aristomachus to erect new churches and monasteries, so that they could settle apart from the Julianists. These new facilities were often built alongside the old ones, even keeping the same name but adding to it the word Theotokos, thus recognizing the significance of the incarnation, which the Julians seemed to minimize. The Syrian Monastery was therefore established by those monks of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy who rejected the Julian heresy. At the time of its construction, they called it the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Theotokos.
Source: Monastery of Saint Mary Deipara - Wikipedia
The monastery is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and carries her name. In scholarly references from the nineteenth century it is generally called the convent or monastery of Saint Mary Deipara. It is better known nowadays as the Syrian Monastery or the monastery of the Syrians (Syriac Dayr al-Suryān) because it was mainly used by monks of the West Syriac rite from the 8th to the 14th century.
The exact date of the monastery's foundation is unknown. Most sources seem however to agree that its foundation took place in the sixth century AD. The establishment of the monastery is closely connected to the Julianist heresy, which spread in Egypt during the papacy of Pope Timothy III of Alexandria. The Julianists believed in the incorruptibility of Christ's body. This was in contradiction with the teaching of the Orthodox Church, which held that Christ had taken human flesh that prevented him from being ideal and abstract, and therefore corruptible. Yet, in the monasteries of Scetes, a majority of the monks embraced the Julian heresy. In reaction, those who did not follow the heresy obtained permission from the governor Aristomachus to erect new churches and monasteries, so that they could settle apart from the Julianists. These new facilities were often built alongside the old ones, even keeping the same name but adding to it the word Theotokos, thus recognizing the significance of the incarnation, which the Julians seemed to minimize. The Syrian Monastery was therefore established by those monks of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy who rejected the Julian heresy. At the time of its construction, they called it the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Theotokos.
Source: Monastery of Saint Mary Deipara - Wikipedia