"These three ancient texts - The Sayings of Saint Macarius, The Virtues of Saint Macarius, and The Life of Saint Macarius of Scetis - provide insight into one of the most venerated saints of the Coptic Church and into life in the Egyptian monastic communities of the fourth century." "Macarius the Great (also called Macarius of Egypt or Macarius the Egyptian) came to preside, in a loose manner, over the monks of Scetis in Wadi al-Natrun. These monks lived alone or in small groups in scattered cells and came together as a larger community only on Saturday and Sunday, when they celebrated the Eucharist together and participated in a communal meal. Later architectural and organizational structures, such as defensive high walls or rules and regulations of medieval Benedictine monasticism, were unknown to them." "This work is a companion volume to Four Desert Fathers, which contains four monastic Lives - Pambo, Evagrius, Macarius of Egypt, and Macarius of Alexandria - preserved in Coptic (the Coptic Palladiana) and clearly related to the Greek Lausiac History of Paladius."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved