Coptic Monks

are the monks of Egypt living in the seven regular convents of that country, two of which are situated in the eastern desert near the Red Sea, four in the Natron Valley, and one at Jebel Koskun, in Upper Egypt. There are also several secondary monasteries, in which the priests are seculars, and into which women are admitted. The Coptic monks practice great austerities, living in. deserts, sleeping in their clothes on the ground, and every evening prostrating themselves one hundred and fifty times with their face and breast on the earth. They spring from the lowest class of the people, and live on alms. A period of severe probation is required of all persons applying for admission into the monastic order. Besides making a vow of celibacy, they must perform, in some sequestered convent in the desert, such menial services as fetching wood and water, sweeping the rooms, or waiting upon the monks. See Histoire du Clerge (Amst. 1716), 1:93 sq. SEE COPTS.