Father Lazarus, Coptic Monk in Egypt

Update:  I found the entire program with Father Lazarus online, here it is in full:

Updated: Feb.14.2009

I just finished watching BBC’s “Extreme Pilgrim” program hosted by Pete Owen-Jones, a vicar of a parish in Sussex, England. The three part documentary follows Owen-Jones on his search for meaning through extreme ascetic practices of several religions, including Zen Buddhism, Kung Fu, Hinduism, and Christianity.

Father Lazarus (National Geographic Magazine)

The first two parts were very interesting. However it was the last part about Christianity that fascinated me the most. It deals with Owen-Jones travels through the desert to St. Antony’s Monastery in Egypt. It is the oldest Christian monastery in the world.

After spending some time at the monastery, Owen-Jones decides to meet the hermit monk up in the mountains. His name is Father Lazarus, and he has been living there in solitude and penance for several years. He is a very intriguing figure.

I don’t know how much of this is true but from what I could gather on-line and from watching the episode is that Father Lazarus was born in Tasmania, and spent about forty-years of his life living as an atheist and a professor by trade. He was very attached to his mother, and after she was diagnosed with cancer and died a very painful death, he became very sad and depressed. His attachment to his mother, which seems a bit too extreme, led him to pray to the Virgin Mary.

Apparently someone had told him that the Virgin Mary can become his holy Mother. He spent many days praying to her, and became convinced that he wanted to be a monk and live a life of penance.

He abandoned his life in Australia and went in search for God and peace. He eventually met the Pope Shenouda III, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who told him to become the monk he is today.

Father Lazarus has appeared on two television series: “Extreme Pilgrim” and “Globe Trekker: Egypt.” He is always gracious, and he seems to be very much at peace.

He spends his days praying. He awakes sometime around 5:30am, prays at 6am, then at 9am, and then again at noon. He spends the days working construction, building steps, and sowing clothing for his brother monks at the Monastery below. Once a week he treks back down to the monastery to eat, and apparently he has a very large meal because his existence on the mountain is very meager. There is no food and no vegetation up on the mountain, only lizards and winds and howling fierce mountain dogs.

He is in a constant state of penance, and always praying in the traditional Christian method, in which the whole body must be lowered, in the fashion of Islam. He is a very interesting figure. When I go to Egypt I wish to meet him.

Check out this trailer for the third part of Extreme Pilgrim:

~ by alexmalina on February 7, 2009.