Secondly: Miracles that occurred during his life time
Miracles for Father Filtaos
Secondly: Miracles that occurred during his life time
May Fr. Faltaous intercede on our behalf in front of the Throne of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen
Hegumen Faltaous was an Egyptian Christian Orthodox monk. Born April 1, 1922 in al-Sharqia governorate, northern Egypt. Birth name: Kamel Girgis (Kamel is Arabic for complete - Girgis is George). He was ordained on Nov. 2, 1948. He lived in St. Mary Syrian Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun (the Nitrian Desert), in Egypt. The monastery is named Syrian Monastery because it was mainly used by Syriac (or Assyrian) monks. He was known as Fr. Faltaous al-Soriany (the Syrian). In 1962, Father Antonious al-Soriany (who later became Pope Shenouda III) built a monastic cell for Fr. Faltaous on the monastery grounds. On Nov. 7, 1998, the monastery celebrated Hegumen Faltaous' golden jubilee, fifty years as a monk; bishops and Pope Shenouda himself attended the celebration. On Nov. 2, 2008, the monastery celebrated his sixty years as a monk. Fr. Faltaous was an ascetic, he would harshly fast, eat only once per day when the sun goes down. Spent his days in prayers, meditation, wandering in the desert, reading the Holy Bible, psalms and the biographies of saints. He would walk around in his black robe, simply dressed and always with a smile on his face. He had spiritual visions, would know visitors stories without them having to say a word. Although he ran away from any credit, he performed numerous miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. A contemporary saint, known to be the "Saint of Impossible Cases." On Wed. March 17, 2010 at 3:54 AM, Fr. Faltaous the Syrian passed away. He was the oldest monk at the desert of Sheheet. At twelve noon that day, huge numbers of bishops and monks came to the monastery to bid farewell. The prayers took place at Saint Mary's Church inside the monastery, where he is now buried.
Feed me kabob and I will let you pass
Dr. M.Y. tells the following story. In 1996, I was pursuing graduate studies and I failed in my last exam. I went to the monastery and told Fr. Faltaous about what happened. Fr. Faltaous started telling me the answers to all the questions I failed in. His answers were identical to what was written in the book. He told me, "You failed in spite of giving these answers." I told him, yes. So he told me, "Fine, feed me kabob and I'll let you pass." Therefore, I took my old car and drove to the nearest vendor in nearby Alexandria by the coast of Egypt, arriving at 6 a.m. I asked the vendor to grill one kilo (2.2 pounds) of kabob meat. The storeowner told me that it was too early; they start to grill at 12 noon. I told the owner, "I will pay you whatever you want but I need the kabob now." I paid for the extra consumption of coal. The man agreed and prepared one kilo for me. I took the kabob and drove back to the monastery. I met Fr. Faltaous at the visitors reception area. Fr. Faltaous asked the visitors to gather and enjoy the hot meal; they were mostly from poor neighboring villages. Fr. Faltaous started telling people, "This is the kabob meat of Dr. so and so. Eat everyone." He had greens on his beard as if he ate a lot. But I noticed, he didn't actually eat. He then told me, "The kabob is good, so your grade will be good just like the kabob." Indeed, the following day, Dr. Mofeed Shehab, who was head of Cairo University at that time, announced a decision stating that he who succeeds in all subjects (courses) and fails in only one subject will be given additional 10 grades, as a chance to pass. My grade in this subject (course) was 53 and the passing grade was 60. So when I got 10 extra grades, it boosted my overall grade in this subject to 63. Therefore, I succeeded in this course with the blessing, prayers and intercession of our father Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian.
Your eyes burn me
A fellow monk witnessed an incident where a couple came to the monastery asking Fr. Faltaous to pray for the woman, who seemed to be possessed with an evil spirit. Fr. Faltaous was asking for the intercession of St. George and the departed Egyptian Pope Kyrillos VI (also known as Pope St. Cyril VI of Alexandria). The woman started screaming saying stay away George, go away Kyrillos. Fr. Faltaous asked her to look into his eyes; she looked away yelling that his eyes are burning her like fire. After an hour had passed, Fr. Faltaous had sweated profusely; he wiped his sweat with a handkerchief. He placed the handkerchief on the woman and she was instantly cleansed from the evil spirit.
Healing
One monk was part of the team responsible for the agricultural duties in the monastery. He along with other monks were grinding beans. They collected the beans that fell from the grinder and placed it in a blanket. They raised the grinder above them. As the monk was collecting the rest of the beans from inside the grinder, the sharp edges that are attached to it pulled the blanket. The monk tried to pull the blanket back, but the grinder pulled him instead, he hit the grinder with his chest ripping it and hurting his right thumb. His rib cage was broken that he needed a cast. He instead went to Fr. Faltaous, who placed his hands on the monk's chest and told him that he was now well. The monk who felt immediate relief in his chest was worried about his thumb, Fr. Faltaous smiled and told him, that's simple, it will heal on its own. Without a cast, the monk's chest was healed and so was his thumb.
Without looking at the paper
One day a fellow monk got a message from his brother that the priest in their neighborhood was sick and needed Fr. Faltaous' prayers. The monk wrote the name of the priest on a piece of paper and placed it on the altar so that the name would be mentioned during Holy Mass. He handed the paper to Fr. Faltaous who was in the middle of the service, but Fr. Faltaous didn't look at the paper and placed it on the side. The monk thought Fr. Faltaous didn't understand his request. So during the prayer on the Holy Eucharist, the monk attempted to hand Fr. Faltaous the name for the second time. But Fr. Faltaous resumed his prayers without paying attention to the paper. Later, the monk handed Fr. Faltaous the thurible (chain censer used for burning incense). When the time came to pray for the departed, Fr. Faltaous, without looking at the paper, leaned towards the monk and asked him what was the name of that priest. He then mentioned his name asking that God would rest his soul in peace. The same day, the head of the monastery, Fr. Theofelis al-Soriany, was handed Egypt's national newspaper, the Ahram, to learn that the priest had already passed. The Holy Spirit had revealed that to Fr. Faltaous, so he intentionally mentioned the priest's name as part of the 'mercy' requests during Holy Mass, and not the prayers for the sick.
Next time, believe
Fr. Faltaous told few monks that he had been visited by the late Hegumen Agapios (Aghapios) al-Soriany. Fr. Faltaous asked Fr. Agapios to ask God on his behalf to visit paradise to see the place prepared for him. After God's approval, Fr. Faltaous saw his place in paradise which was so small in comparison to other places. He told the angel that was accompanying him, after 40 years of spiritual struggles as a monk, I end up with this small place. The angel told him the more you struggle, the higher the rank you will be given and the bigger your place will become. Fr. Faltaous fasted with more intensity on earth. He would limit his meals to one per day when the sun goes down, and only vegetarian food. He would do 500 metonia (prostration) per day. (Metonia is a Greek word, which means repentance, redirecting our path. Metonia is repentance, confession of one's weaknesses, requesting mercy, humility and obedience to God. Performed before an icon or the Cross, full prostration metonias are the act of prostrating oneself completely on the ground then rising again. The other type is bowing down with one's head and hands drawn to the chest in the sign of the Cross. The metonia serves as a healing balm to calm and it extinguishes the flames of anger and absorbs pride. The metonias serve to understand God's will in humility). Monks would see Fr. Faltaous and not understand the reason behind his intense behavior. One day he gathered the monks and told them about his visit to paradise and that now he has a huge place reserved for him. One monk was skeptic and did not believe the tale that seemed supernatural to him. That night, while the skeptic monk was sleeping, an angel came to him and took him in spirit, not body, towards heaven. On their way, a man holding a sword approached them wanting to kill the monk. God's angel interfered and defended the monk until they reached paradise. There, he saw Fr. Faltaous waiting for him and welcoming him, while standing in front of his own place that was prepared for him. The monk woke up in his own bed and ran to Fr. Faltaous to apologize to him for the doubts that were going through his mind. The monk asked where Fr. Faltaous was, he was told he was sitting with other monks. So he approached and saluted him. Fr. Faltaous smiled and told the monk, "the devil wanted to prevent you from entering inside (paradise) and raised his sword against you but the angel didn't leave you. Next time, believe."
I will expose you in front of everybody
Fr. Faltaous met with some of the people who came to visit the monastery and sat with them in the reception area. His eyes noticed a woman who was possessed with an evil spirit. She yelled saying what brought you here Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous responded in his humble ways, and what's it to you, I didn't come near you. The evil spirit said are you going to shut your mouth Faltaous or shall I expose you in front of everybody. Fr. Faltaous smiled in his simple ways and said, expose me, what do you have to say. The evil spirit yelled through the woman and said, Pope Kyrillos (who had already passed) comes to your cell(austere room) every day and today at 6 a.m. he was sitting with you in your cell. Fr. Faltaous smiled and left speedily, before the devil exposes to people further stories. For he had said before, each human mind can take in so much according to its spiritual limitations and maturity. Even the gift of healing he asked God to take it away from him not to let him acquire pride. God's angel appeared to him and told him, "God does not take away what He has given. If you do not want to use it, you are free to do so." He still used this gift and healed many in the name of Jesus Christ. Pope Kyrillos told him; those in heaven can see the saints on earth and the saints on earth can communicate with the saints in heaven. This communion of saints enabled him to see the departed Pope Kyrillos while he was still in his earthly body.
Your wife gave you change this morning
Fr. Faltaous rode with a driver to their nearest market to buy some essentials. Driving back, he gave the driver a bill of L.E. 50 (Egyptian pounds). He told the driver, take L.E. 10 and give me the rest. The driver knew how generous Fr. Faltaous was and wanted to take the entire amount so he told him that he doesn't have change on him. Fr. Faltaous told him, no my dear brother, your wife gave you such and such change this morning. The driver was so astonished by these details that he left the entire amount of L.E. 50 and went about his way marveled at Fr. Faltaous' transparency. For his part, Fr. Faltaous didn't like to touch money but he would give to anyone he knew to be in need.
He will celebrate from (his) cross to (the feast of) The Cross
A woman recounts the story when her family visited the monastery. Her father and her husband were at the monastery when they saw Fr. Faltaous coming out of his cell to greet visitors at the reception area. Fr. Faltaous told a man next to him call (he specified her dad by name). Fr. Faltaous pointed at the dad and called his name despite never seeing him before. As if he knew him, he repeated his words, call him, he said, so that I pray for him, as he is very sick. Fr. Faltaous told her dad, you are friends with so and so, who used to be friends with my father. That friend of yours died few months ago. Her dad was touched to learn of the death of his friend. The family, however, didn't know how Fr. Faltaous knew their relation to the deceased. The dad had cancer but his family didn't tell him. Fr. Faltaous told the family to let the dad know of his condition. Fr. Faltaous then told them, that her dad will carry this cross either way and so he must be prepared. Indeed, the dad found out and his attitude changed. When at first, he thought he was sick without knowing that it was cancer, he was waiting to be cured, but when he found out the truth of his disease, he became in a state of waiting to meet God and was keen to have communion and go to confession. During this visit, Fr. Faltaous told the family, your dad will celebrate from his cross to the (feast of) the Cross. And sure enough, the cancer was discovered in March and their dad passed away in September on the Coptic Orthodox day of the feast of the Cross. (They call cancer the disease of paradise due to the pain endured and the knowledge of the patient that their departure is near which brings them closer to God).
He heals and leaves a sign
Fr. Faltaous had a niece called Leila. Leila had a girl who caught a terrible disease. The mother prayed with intensity for her daughter and called on Fr. Faltaous intercession. In the middle of the night, Fr. Faltaous walked into her daughter's room, prayed and then told the girl, tell your mom that I was here and I will leave a sign to prove it. He carried a heavy vase, so heavy the little girl could not lift and he put it next to the apartment's door. In the morning, the girl was completely healed. She told her mother what happened and showed her the sign Fr. Faltaous had left behind as proof of his visit.
Healing from a spell
A person by the name of F.N. from Shoubra district in Cairo, Egypt, tells the following story. I went to the Syrian monastery and met up with a monk I knew there. I asked the monk to accompany me to Fr. Faltaous. I wanted Fr. Faltaous to pray for me and my sister as we both felt someone had casted a spell on us. The monk refused to accompany me and advised me to go alone. He directed me to Fr. Faltaous' cell. I asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for me and my sister. He said swiftly, "what's it to me, what do I have to do with you and your sister, we are monks." I walked back to the monk I knew disappointed. After a while, I felt suffocation in my head, then I started throwing up black substances. As I was throwing up, a huge glass plaque fell with great force without anyone approaching it. I fell on the floor to calm down. I had my cell phone, I called my sister and told her what happened. She told me she went through the exact same thing at the same time 6:30. We were both liberated of the spell that had possessed us. We felt the power of Fr. Faltaous' prayers, who drove me away so that no one knew that he was the one behind the healing.
Casting evil spirit from a worker
Fr. Faltaous was walking with some monks in the garden in front of his cell. He passed a man working in a field there. Just by seeing Fr. Faltaous, that worker rolled on the ground. Fr. Faltaous knew that an evil spirit was inside that man. He asked the monks to hold him. He prayed for him and expelled the evil spirit, who was terrified of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from bone cancer
A young boy had bone cancer that had spread to 100 percent of his body. His parents took him to St. Mercurius and St. Thomas monastery in Egypt (St. Mercurius is known as Abou Seifein, Arabic for saint with two swords, as he was handed a shining sword by Archangel Michael). After leaving the monastery, they took the boy to Fr. Faltaous to pray for him. Fr. Faltaous prayed, anointed the boy with holy oil and told the parents, your child is 97% healed, he must go to priest so and so to pray for him for the remainder 3%. They went to that priest who put the results of the blood work and analysis on the holy altar and performed three holy Liturgies (Masses) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He then prayed for the child who was completely healed.
He accompanies the Virgin Mary to one of the monk's cells
One of the monks was going to preside over the holy Liturgy (Mass) the following day. That night he was hit with severe sickness that he couldn't move due to the pain. He asked God to give him strength to make it to the holy Liturgy the next day. As he was praying lying in bed with no strength, he saw the Virgin Mary standing by his door with a very delicate and tender smile. Her face was 'glowing with peace and joy.' Behind her, Fr. Faltaous was standing. The Virgin Mary gave her blessing and disappeared along with Fr. Faltaous. As soon as they disappeared, the monk no longer felt pain. He actually felt a lot of strength. He got out of bed, washed his face and started to pray and thank God for His blessings. The following day, he presided over the holy Liturgy. When the service ended, he took holy bread 'Korban' and went to Fr. Faltaous, gave it to him and told him, last night I was in a very bad shape that I wasn't going to be able to preside over the service today. Fr. Faltaous told him, didn't the Virgin Mary come and heal you. The monk told him, you were with her, weren't you? Fr. Faltaous said I was right behind her by the door.
He visits his cell
The monastery's doorman who worked the overnight shift saw Fr. Faltaous walking around his cell at night, which is an individual cell in the middle of a yard. The following day, that doorman met with one of the monks and told him that he had seen Fr. Faltaous the night before. The monk told the doorman that was not possible as Fr. Faltaous was in Cairo in Hayat hospital getting treatment. But the doorman insisted. The monk called Hayat hospital and was assured that Fr. Faltaous was still lying in bed there. The receptionist transferred the call to Fr. Faltaous' room and he talked to the monk who was accompanying him. The monk in the hospital room hung up the phone and told Abouna Faltaous about what he had heard. Fr. Faltaous responded that he had missed his cell.
A monk from the Syrian monastery says
I was in charge of the cattle at the monastery along with Fr. B We were still young and wanted to become monks. Fr. B suffered a fracture that caused him a lot of pain that he wasn't able to sleep and took some pain killers. Our bishop advised him to undergo surgery. One day the pain could not be endured that he kept pressing and hitting on Fr. Faltaous' picture that was next to his bed. He looked at the picture and told Fr. Faltaous, what are you doing, I do not want to leave to Cairo, do something. The next day, I went to the visitors area of the monastery. On my way, I saw Fr. Faltaous in front of his cell so I greeted him. He called me asking me to come near. He told me, why your brother, my dear brother, is hitting me, did I do anything to him? Here, I got tuna cans for you. Tell him not to be scared, he'll undergo the surgery and will come out fine. Indeed, the surgery was successful and with Fr. Faltaous' prayers, God's name was glorified.
Mr. Amin says
I visited the monastery and told Fr. Faltaous I will sell my car. Nothing was particularly wrong with the car. But he told me, no fix it and keep it. After I left the monastery, I said I'll take it to the mechanics just in case, knowing there is nothing wrong with it. The mechanics told me, the car needs a new cylinder, which was Fr. Faltaous' diagnosis.
He knows the time and the place of the medicine
S.B. from the Maadi district of Egypt says, I went to visit al-Sorian monastery and I was with Bishop Mina of Girga. We met with Fr. Faltaous and he started talking about the monks who travel in spirits. Fr. Faltaous started talking about Bishop Mina being one of them. But Bishop Mina stopped him so that he won't get exposed. I accompanied Fr. Faltaous to his cell and so he asked me what time it was, before I was able to tell him, he went on to say the exact time without looking at his watch. Another incident, he once had asked me to get him a specific medicine from the United States. I called my dad who lived there and asked him to send the medicine. He told me that medicine was so rare and hard to find. I told Fr. Faltaous, he told me tell your dad he will find it in such and such state on that particular street; and he was right.
I want his blessings
Fr. M.B. was visiting the monastery. While in the visitors' area, he told me, "I am longing to see Fr. Faltaous, only to see him, and take his blessing, it is the greatest blessing that I see him." As we were leaving towards the monastery's door, we saw Fr. Faltaous in a car and a crowd gathering around him. That priest approached Fr. Faltaous and greeted him. Fr. Faltaous had a big smile on his face and a lot of joy. The priest wanted oil from Fr. Faltaous like the rest of the people who were getting some, but Fr. Faltaous told him, "but you saw me and this is the greatest blessing," repeating the sentence that the priest had just said. He seemed to be reading his mind.
Go take communion
During lent, after finishing his work, a monk walked to St. Mary Church (al-maghara or the cave) to attend the holy Liturgy (Mass). Before getting in, he leaned on a wall outside, hesitant to receive communion as he was thinking that he didn't wash himself before going to Church on that day. Yet he felt the urge to receive communion but another thought would cross his mind telling him to leave and come back tomorrow. While the monk was in that struggle, Fr. Faltaous was coming out of a building at the 'ancient' monastery and walking towards the east entrance, which would make St. Mary's Church (al-maghara or the cave) behind him. After taking few steps forward, Fr. Faltaous stopped and walked the opposite direction towards St. Mary's Church. He went up to the monk and told him, dear father, you are going to receive communion, go inside and receive holy communion. The filth of the body, with only some water it disappears. He then went about his way. That monk heard Fr. Faltaous as if he heard God's voice and went inside and received communion. He was astonished how Fr. Faltaous knew what he was thinking of. It was the gift of transparency that God had given Fr. Faltaous.
They will both be engineers
Saed Farag abdel-Malak visited the monastery on the Coptic Orthodox feast of the Virgin Mary, Aug. 21, 1998. He met Fr. Faltaous, who was in the middle of visiting another monk in his cell. Fr. Faltaous gave his blessings and started chatting with Saed's two young sons, Tony and Bishoy. He asked Bishoy, what do you want to be when you grow up. Bishoy said an engineer. Fr. Faltaous told him you will with the Virgin Mary's help. He then asked Tony, who also said engineer. Fr. Faltaous told him, so it will be. Both men are now engineers.
He heals the leg without amputation
A physician by the name of H.S. says, Fr. Faltaous was getting treatment at the hospital I work in. I asked him to pray for a sick relative of mine, Mrs. W.A. She had diabetes and shortage in blood circulation in the lower part of her body and gangrene in her heel. She underwent implant surgery but the surgery didn't go well. Dr. Magued al-Deeb, Professor of vascular surgery at Ein Shams university in Egypt, decided to remove the artificial artery and amputate the leg below the knee. I met with Dr. al-Deeb and he told me verbatim, "go now to Dar el-Shefaa hospital where she now is. Take that letter with you, let the deputy there show you her wound and her feet. Then do as you wish, I would not mind it. I am certain that you and Dr. Rashad Beshara (whom I still work with at Hayat hospital in Egypt) will come to the exact same conclusion as mine." Indeed, I went with Dr. Rashad Beshara to see the patient. He ordered Doppler ultrasound and examined the entire lower body. He saw the infected wound in place of the artery implant and the heel that had gangrene. He told me, sorry Dr., there is no other solution but amputation because the heel wound is hard to heal as there is very bad blood circulation. I asked for Fr. Faltaous' prayers and told him of her condition. I gave her name in writing to another priest, Fr. Bastawros so that he gives it to Fr. Faltaous. The patient asked for the prayers and intercession of the late Pope Kyrillos VI, who was close to Fr. Faltaous. When Dr. Magued al-Deeb got into the operation room to perform the amputation, he stopped and changed his mind. He decided to consult with a plastic surgeon to see the possibility of performing a graft and remove this part of the heel. He didn't know how since the blood does not reach that area. They revised her medications and gave her blood, etc. They removed the artificial artery, cleaned the wounds and tinker the heel. The operation was successful. How? don't ask me. This is the intercession of saints. The patient came out of surgery without amputation, nor crutches. I went back to give Fr. Faltaous the good news. When he saw me, he evaded me as was his usual. He pointed at one of the priests and told me you know who prayed for her, this priest who is standing right there, that's the one who prayed for her. May the blessing of the intercession of Pope Kyrillos and Fr. Faltaous be with us all. Amen.
He reveals what the mother is thinking of
A mother went to visit the Syrian monastery with her daughter, who had diabetes. The mother was worried that her daughter's hair will start to fall and her nails would get affected by the disease. She saw Fr. Faltaous, who was inside a car. She asked him to pray for her daughter. From inside the car, he reached out and grabbed the daughter's hair and told her to show him her toenails. He then told the mother, there is nothing wrong with her, she's well. The mother was silent, she knew by Fr. Faltaous' behavior that he had responded to all the concerns that were going through her mind, causing her to worry, without her having to reveal them to him. It was the transparency that he was blessed with.
He will not undergo another surgery
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery recounts the story when he was suffering from a difficulty in breathing through the nose due to fungi and para-nasal sinuses. He says, I had undergone surgery. I had to visit the doctor every 15 days for an entire year so that he would follow up on my condition. I was very much troubled from this schedule as it was a long period of time that would deprive me from settling in the monastery. I returned to the monastery after the operation only to feel more difficulty in breathing, that I almost couldn't breathe at all through the nose. I was worried and I told the head of the Syrian monastery, Bishop Metawos, of my condition. He took me with him in his car to Cairo and I met with my doctor. He re-examined me and used a telescope and extracted adenoids from my nose for an hour and a half. He explained that my condition was due to fungus in my nose. After all the treatment I got I still did not feel any improvement in my nose breathing. The doctor told me we must urgently operate on the nose again. He said he will make an incision under the upper life to reach the nose. He said he will kill the pockets that are in the face and will make a hole in the bone of the face to use for breathing (similar to tracheostomy). The doctor gave me a letter that would transfer me to proceed with the required X-rays. I left the doctor's office very depressed. I went to the monastery's headquarters in Cairo at a place called Ezba-wiya. I met with Bishop Metawos, he asked me what did the doctor do. I did not tell him about what happened and instead I said thank God. He asked me to breathe in front of him through the nose but I couldn't. He was disturbed and asked me again about what happened. So I told him everything. He told me to stay in Ezba-wiya until I complete the required X-rays but I asked him to excuse me and I returned to the monastery instead.
Back in the monastery as I was sitting in my monastic cell, I said to myself I should go to Fr. Faltaous. But I was hesitant to go lest he tells me to proceed with the second operation as he did with the first. This time it was different than the first operation as it was a more difficult and dangerous one. I got out of my cell with the intention to go to Fr. Faltaous' cell. It was close to 9 p.m. I found him with his disciple (student), who took the initiative and told Fr. Faltaous on my behalf, this father is still in pain after the first surgery and does not want to undergo a second operation. Fr. Faltaous told him I will pray for him then he asked me, is the condition difficult or average? I told him that it was very difficult. So he told his disciple, bring me the oil of the difficult cases. His disciple exchanged the oil he was holding with another bottle of oil that is mixed with residue of saints' remains (Henout). Fr. Faltaous prayed a lengthy prayer and then anointed me with oil. When he was done, he said, God willing there will not be a second operation. His disciple told him, shall I give him the remainder of the oil to use. Fr. Faltaous told him, he will not need it. I returned back to my cell and I did not feel any improvement so I said to myself, did it fail this time, Fr. Faltaous. I was extremely exhausted and went right to sleep. In the middle of the night, I felt something moving from my nose to my throat so I took a breath from my nose and suddenly a big black substance, constituting of bone and pus, came out of my nose. I placed it in a handkerchief. I repeated the breathing through the nose. With every breath I took, that pus and bone came out until the substances that were out were about 100 grams; that happened on Nov. 9, 2008. On that same day, I met with Bishop Metawos, the head of the monastery, he asked how was my breathing. I told him that I was okay. He told me to breathe in front of him. I breathed normally. Then he asked what happened. I told him about what happened with Fr. Faltaous, how right after he had prayed for me and anointed me with oil, substances got out of my nose in the middle of the night. Bishop Metawos glorified the Lord and said, may God be glorified through His saints. I was cured and I did not need a second operation due to the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
St. Abanoub al-Nahisy (4th-century martyr from Egypt) consoles Fr. Faltaous
Few years before the passing of Fr. Faltaous, he had stomach hernia and he had to undergo surgery. Fr. Faltaous was scared from this operation due to his old age and his diabetes. It was going to be his second time undergoing a stomach hernia operation. He was worried. He told us that when he was admitted to the hospital and as he was getting ready for the operation, the martyrs St. Abanoub al-Nahisy and St. Zeus visited him. On the day of the operation, both were next to his bed from each side. They told him, "Do not be afraid, Fr. Faltaous. We are here and will be with you until you get into the operation room and get out safely. The operation will be successful and you will be okay." Indeed, they stayed about four hours with him. When the nursing team walked in and transferred Fr. Faltaous on a stretcher to the operation room, he saw them next to him until he passed out from anesthesia. The operation was performed successfully as promised by the great martyrs Abanoub and Zeus.
With the child martyrs Saint Abanoub al-Nahisy, Saint Zeus and St . Shora
Fr. Faltaous went with some monks to the medical clinic that was in Saint Bishoy monastery. It was getting late and there were no physicians at the clinic. So Fr. Faltaous took a seat in one of the rooms to rest. The monks gathered around him and he started to tell them stories about heaven, martyrs, saints and heavenly spirits. In the middle of his story, the monks with him heard calm, spiritual music. Then they heard a voice of a child saying, "may I come in." Fr. Faltaous responded saying, welcome my dear brother, the place is yours." The chair next to Fr. Faltaous was empty but he acted as if someone was sitting there. After finishing his story, Fr. Faltaous left with the monks. On their way back, one of the monks asked Fr. Faltaous about the voice of a child they heard back in the clinic, since they haven't seen anyone. Fr. Faltaous told them, "that was the martyr Zeous, who stopped by to make sure I was okay." Fr. Faltaous was speaking with them with great joy; his face was glowing and shining in a very apparent way.
With the child martyr St. Zeus - Fr. Faltaous recounts on camera the following story
In another incident, Fr. Faltaous said the following story. Zeous had once stayed with me in the Coptic Hospital for four hours. He consoled me and told me that I will get through this. There was a priest arranging chocolate that we've received in the room. Zeous jumped and told me, "That's it, I am leaving." He had stayed till one. He then gave me a tap on my shoulder and left. I told him, "farewell." He loved me very much.
With the child martyr St. Zeus - Fr. Faltaous recounts on camera the following story
I have many incidents with St. Zeous. He is around 12 years old, a martyr, who was beheaded with the 49 martyrs. I once went alone to the Monastery of St. Macarious in Wadi Natrun (Anba Makaar). I started praying inside the monastery. I saw St. Zeous and asked him where he was buried. He told me, "I am buried 12 meters (about 40 feet) from where we are, there, under the pole. Two meters (about 7 feet) under the pole. Take my blessing." I started to pray, then I had very bad thoughts. I don't know where they came from. I suddenly found someone carrying me from my hair and throwing me outside the monastery in the mountains. It was at night. I found myself far away from the monastery. The stars were above me. What is this, I thought to myself, what happened to me. See, they were merely thoughts. They (saints and angels) got upset from me. I started praying and I said, 'God, I sinned.' I prayed intensely to return back to the monastery. I saw a man holding me from my hair. He told me, "Do not think like that again, it is not appropriate." I told him, alright. I then found myself back at the place I was at inside the monastery. I told St. Zeous, 'Take me back to Church so that I attend the Holy Mass.' I found myself at the Church. I kept praying and I told him, 'Do not leave me, Zeous, I am your beloved." He laughed and disappeared.
He knows when someone is fasting
A monk at the Syrian monastery tells of his story with Fr. Faltaous. He says, it happened during Easter lent. After I finished the holy liturgy, I got out of Church and it was later than expected that I didn't have time to go to my cell to have breakfast. So instead I went right to the farm to supervise the work there. I stayed at the farm working till 5:30 p.m. I was surprised to see Fr. Faltaous coming out of his cell and walking towards us. He stopped and told me, "go have breakfast, my dear brother, enough with the fasting." Then he turned away and went right back to his cell. I stood in shock wondering how did he know that I haven't had breakfast up till now. It was the gift of transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
With his beloved interceder His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI
One day on my way to St. Mina monastery in Mariout, I felt a strong diarrhea with severe stomach cramps. When I arrived at the monastery, the priests gave me a lot of attention and care, particularly a priest physician, who tried with me several medications. But none worked, I didn't even feel a minimal improvement. The physician didn't know what else to give me. The diarrhea became more severe that I had no energy and my pulse slowed down and started to get weaker. One of the people surrounding me was a layperson, who suggested that I go to Pope Kyrillos' memorial that is inside the monastery and ask for his intercession. I could not walk on my own so I held on to that person and to one of the priests, who helped me get up and walk to the memorial. I found the memorial crowded with visitors that I could not get it. I told myself if only I can touch the place where Pope Kyrillos' feet are that would be enough to cure me. I immediately found the path cleared despite the heavy crowd. My forehead touched the tomb from the side of where Pope Kyrillos' feet were. I am saying the truth and God is my witness, as soon as my forehead touched the marble of the tomb, I felt strength in my limbs, my pulse returned to normal and, the stomach ache and pain instantaneously disappeared. I left the memorial without needing to hold on to anyone for support. In fact, I climbed up the stairs jumping in disbelief of what happened. May you get the blessing of my beloved interceder Pope Kyrillos.
Fr. Faltaous visits in spirit
Samaan Azmi Ibrahim from al-Rakakena, which is a town in the city of Girga, in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt, recounts the following story. On June 15, 2008, my dad got sick. We took him to several physicians but his condition did not improve. Finally one person at home told me to call Fr. Faltaous and ask him to pray for my father and that we hope he sends Pope Kyrillos to visit us. Indeed, I called Fr. Faltaous through the phone of one of the monks. I said, Fr. Faltaous, send Pope Kyrillos to visit my dad. He told me, okay. On that same night, my cousin Noura Said was between being awake and asleep, she found herself standing in front of the street where our home was. Fr. Faltaous came along with Pope Kyrillos. Behind them, she saw Fr. Fanous, Saint Paul the Hermit (Anba Boula), Mother Sara, the head of monastery of Saint Badaba (5 kilometers from Nag Hammadi city). Mother Sara was wearing a cross and they all walked into our home. After my dad's passing, I went to visit Fr. Faltaous. He told me, I learned about your father's death a little late. When I told him about my cousin's story, he laughed and told me, "was one of us wearing a cross?" I told him, "yes, Mother Sara." He said, "yes, that's true." One of the monks, who was sitting with us, asked him, "Fr. Faltaous when you all went to the home of our brother Samaan, did you go to take his soul?" Fr. Faltaous did not respond. The monk repeated the question. So Fr. Faltaous said, "Father, we went there to finish some issues." After a little while, I asked Fr. Faltaous, "when you visited our home in spirit was it a nice home?" He said, "yes, and the third floor had feathers of duck and goose." He described our home and then he started to change the subject with some jokes to cover-up on what he had said. May his prayers support us in our lives. Amen.
Healing from diabetes
Samaan Azmi Ibrahim from al-Rakakena in the city of Girga, Egypt, recounts the following story. On Jan. 1, 2009, I started feeling tired. I went to Dr. Morcos Kamel (Mark Kamel). Dr. Kamel asked for some analysis at the lab. He found the percentage of glucose level in the blood to be very high, 590. The doctor told me that I would need insulin injections. So I went to the monastery, and met with Fr. Faltaous, who was very moved when he heard what the doctor had told me. Fr. Faltaous prayed for me and blew his breath three times in my mouth and anointed me with oil. He asked me, "When will you do blood analysis again?" I told him, "tomorrow, Father." He told me, "Tomorrow you will find that the glucose level went down." I told him, "I want it to go away altogether." So Fr. Faltaous smiled. The next day, when I did the analysis, I found that the glucose level went down to 255. I went to the monastery another time and Fr. Faltaous prayed for me and told me, "That's it, there is no more diabetes." Indeed, I did the analysis and found the glucose to be at a normal level of 98. I did the analysis more than once, and found the same result. I thank God, who heard me through the prayers of that righteous man as "The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect" (James 5:16).
You have a child in the car
Samaan Azmi Ibrahim from al-Rakakena in the city of Girga, Egypt, recounts the following story. In the summer of 2007, I visited the Syrian monastery with my children, and one of their friends was with us. I walked in to see Fr. Faltaous, I had my children with me but left their friend alone in the car. After I got in, Fr. Faltaous told me, "You have a girl with you in the car outside, go get her from the car." I was surprised, how did Fr. Faltaous know there was a child in the car without anyone telling him anything. But Fr. Faltaous knew due to the spirit of transparency that God had blessed him with.
He determines my rank in the exam
Lorine Samaan Azmi, from al-Rakakenah in the city of Girga, Egypt, tells the following story. I excelled in school during my preparatory years. I was the first on my class every year. In October of 2007, before mid-terms, I visited the Syrian monastery with my father. My dad met with Fr. Faltaous alone. Fr. Faltaous told him, "get your daughter from outside, I have something to tell her." When I got in, Fr. Faltaous told me verbatim, "are you the one who is first on her class each year, this time you will not be the first." We visited Fr. Faltaous again in November and December and he repeated the same words to me, that was before I started the mid-term exams. After the mid-term grades were out, my father visited Fr. Faltaous during school break. Fr. Faltaous came in and greeted my father, and he told him, "is your daughter the third on her class." My dad said, yes but how did you know? Fr. Faltaous told him, "I knew, that's why I told her she will not be the first on her class." Our visits to Fr. Faltaous reoccurred. I told Fr. Faltaous, pray for me so that I become the first on my class by the end of this year. He told me, "the first doesn't make any mistakes ever, you don't make mistakes at all." Sure enough, I ranked second on my school; and got into high school.
Healing from severe stomach ache
This is the story of 10-year-old girl Demiana Mounir Rizk from al-Rakakena in the city of Girga, Egypt. Little Demiana was suffering from a severe and chronic stomach ache. Her parents thought that her pain was caused by her appendix. They took Demiana to Dr. Morcos (Mark) Kamel, an internal medicine specialist, who asked for some analysis and prescribed a condensed treatment for Demiana. But the treatment did not produce any result. Demiana's uncle, Samaan Azmi, took her along with the rest of the family to see Fr. Faltaous. When they told him about her condition, Fr. Faltaous stood up and started to pray for her and pray on her belly. He anointed her with oil and blew his breath in her mouth and on her belly with the purity of his mouth. He then told her, "Your belly is healed." She said, "Yes, it is healed, Father." And since then, Demiana's stomach ache instantly and completely disappeared; and the pain never reoccurred. May the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous be with us. Amen.
He gives the same amount of money
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells this story. One day as I was walking in the garden of the monastery, I met one of the workers, who worked with me in agriculture. The man told me about the financial struggles he was facing and talked about some other issues he was going through with his family. He also said that he were to leave the monastery the following day to return back to his village. I reached into my pocket and gave him L.E. 50 (Egyptian pounds) and asked for God's blessings to fall upon him. In less than an hour, I met Fr. Faltaous. As soon as he saw me, he reached into his pocket, gave me a bill and said, "take that money my dear brother." I took the money and looked at the bill and found out that it was L.E.50 as if Fr. Faltaous wanted to let me know that he knows what I had given to the worker.
He determines the day of monasticism
Fr. Faltaous asked one of the brothers who want to become a monk to water the trees that were in front of his cell. That man came along with a worker to water the trees. Fr. Faltaous asked him, after how many days is the feast of His Holiness' monasticism? The man told him that it was after three months. The man did not know at that time the reason behind the question. He later learned that the feast of monasticism did not take place during Easter lent but rather was celebrated only few days later from his visit to Fr. Faltaous at the exact time that was predicted by Fr. Faltaous.
Curing uric acid
One of the monks of the Syrian monastery tells the following story. When I was working in agriculture in a farm next to Fr. Faltaous' cell. My uric acid rose till the point that I could no longer walk normally on my feet. Fr. Faltaous noticed as he was walking in front of his cell. He called me and asked, why are you limping? After I told me about my uric acid, he said, show me your feet, I will pray for you. He sat on the ground and I sat next to him and he started to pray. He then told me, get up and walk normally. So I did and I felt the pain reduced. He asked me, do you feel that you are healed? I told me 30 percent. So he prayed again and told me to walk. So I walked in front of him again and he repeated the question, what is the percentage of your healing, he asked. I told him 50 percent. So he told me, a little bit more. And he prayed again and the same thing happened and I walked and felt great improvement than the previous times. He asked me, what is the percentage of your healing? I told him 70 percent. So he told me, that is enough. So I took his blessing and went to my cell. The following morning, I was surprised to discover that my feet had no pain whatsoever. I was completely cured. And since that time, the pain never returned back due to the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
He predicts a catastrophe
On the day of the Feast of the Resurrection, after Holy Communion, Fr. Faltaous went outside the Church and sat by the door. He told those standing by him, "I came out of the Church to sit by the door because a catastrophe is about to happen today." Only few minutes later, as one of the monks was receiving Holy Communion, a portion of the Blood of Christ fell on the ground. The monks quickly carried the carpet upon which the Blood of Christ had fallen and burned the piece that was stained. Meanwhile, Fr. Faltaous outside the Church, told the monks who were with him, "this is the catastrophe I told you about."
He prays with solitary hermits and desert mystics who travel in spirit
Monks took notice that Fr. Faltaous had been absent from Church during feasts, they were used to seeing him attend, like Good Friday (called Friday of the end of the Great Lent), the feast of the Virgin Mary's Assumption into Heaven and Palm Sunday. On one of the occasions, where Fr. Faltaous was absent, a monk asked one of the monks who were close to Fr. Faltaous about the reason behind his absence. The monk told him that it was not in Fr. Faltaous' habit to attend Good Friday and Palm Sunday. The monk heard the answer, was silent and walked away. Then came Saturday of Lazarus, Palm Sunday and the Holy Week had started. After the prayers of Monday morning Pascha, the monk was coming out of Church walking towards his cell that was in the monastery's outward garden. On his way, he saw Fr. Faltaous waiting for him. They sat together on the ground. Fr. Faltaous started to answer all the questions that were going through the monk's mind. The monk found out that Fr. Faltaous had attended the prayers on Good Friday with hermits who travel in spirit and had later received Holy Communion. Fr. Faltaous told the monk that the person who headed the Holy Liturgy (Mass) was a high-ranked member of the Church and that when that person saw Fr. Faltaous among the hermits he welcomed him warmly. Fr. Faltaous told the monk that he had also seen hermits who travel in spirits that he knew closely. After they finished their talk, Fr. Faltaous told the monk, "whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows" (2 Corinthians 12:3).
Expelling of an evil spirit from a young man
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. Two young men, around the ages of 24, 25 came to the monastery for a visit. One of them asked to meet Fr. Faltaous so that he would pray for his brother who was possessed by an evil spirit. On that day, Fr. Faltaous had been the one who headed the morning Liturgy. The two young men entered the Church. Five minutes later, the monk recalls, I heard Fr. Faltaous' voice coming from outside the ancient door of the monastery. He had come in a car with one of the visitors. At that time, the two young men were getting out of Church so I let them know that Fr. Faltaous was outside. I walked with them to Fr. Faltaous and asked him to pray for the sick young man. Fr. Faltaous told the young man, "bow my brother, give me your head." He put his hand on the young man's head and it was as if he had placed a burning coal on his head. The young man could not move or run. He bowed and with his whole body and head leaned towards the ground. He tried several times to move his head away from Fr. Faltaous' hand. Then Fr. Faltaous looked at him and as soon as his sight fell on the sick man, the young man fell to the ground and started to roll over and get away from Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous stopped talking to any of the visitors and walked towards the young man to get a hold of him. The sick man got into a fetal position and started to roll over quickly. He entered through the ancient door of the monastery. Fr. Faltaous followed him until he reached the room that is located by the monastery's door where the sick man had stopped. Fr. Faltaous stood over the man and told him, "did I do anything to you?" Then Fr. Faltaous asked for a cup of water, he did the sign of the Cross over the water, blew his breath in it, and sprayed the sick man's face with the water. Then Fr. Faltaous told him, "stand, I won't do anything to you." The young man stood, he was healed and returned to his initial state with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
He knows what they discuss amongst themselves
A group of monks decided to visit Fr. Faltaous to receive his blessing. On their way to his cell, they were talking about Judas Iscariot. One of the monks was questioning why Judas did not repent. They arrived to Fr. Faltaous' cell and he welcomed them in. And without anyone of them saying a word, Fr. Faltaous said, "Judas was a bad person because he didn't give his brothers from the money he had." The monks looked at each other surprised that Fr. Faltaous knew of the discussion that took place amongst them on their way to see him.
He knows about the problem
One of the monks tells the following story. I was facing a family problem at a certain time in my life and I could not tell anyone about it. I had asked Fr. Faltaous and Fr. Armanios to pray for me without telling them that there was any particular problem. One time as I was on my way to visit a monk in his cell, I heard Fr. Faltaous' voice at one of the monks' cells. I went in, greeted him and took his blessing. So he told me, without me having to open my mouth and say anything, "do not be upset, Father, we are all praying for you, do not be afraid, the problem will be resolved God willing." Few days later, the problem was resolved. But how did Fr. Faltaous know that the monk was going through a problem without the monk telling him anything about it. It was Fr. Faltaous' transparency and profound spirituality.
He knew of the mistakes in a research fellowship
A man by the initials of DY tells the following story. About two years ago, I had to submit my research fellowship and the professor overseeing my project gave his approval for submission. So I took my paper to Fr. Faltaous so that he would do the sign of the Cross on it to bless it. He started to turn over the pages and said: "no, no, it has mistakes." I told him, Father, the supervisor approved it. But I decided to take it once more to my professor to take another look at it. Indeed, he told me, how did I approve this? And he crossed out the five mistakes that Fr. Faltaous had pointed out. I amended my research and submitted it and everything went well with the blessing and intercession of Fr. Faltaous.
He reassures one of the brothers
I was among the brothers who visited the Syrian monastery wanting to join the monasticism. The frequency of my visits to the monastery lasted for a long time that I started to get worried that I might not get the approval to join the monastery. During one of my visits there, I went to see Fr. Faltaous. I asked him to pray so that God will facilitate my admission into the monastery. Fr. Faltaous assured me that the approval to join the monastery will happen soon. I left Fr. Faltaous, and went back to my retreat, where I was residing. In my sleep, I dreamt of Fr. Faltaous standing in front of me and assuring me that the time of my acceptance into the monastery is near. In the morning, I went to thank Fr. Faltaous for visiting me in a dream. And sure enough, his words came true, I was accepted into the monastery after a short time due to the blessing of Fr. Faltaous.
He solves family problems
A man by the initials of A.E.M tells the following story. Ten days before the passing of Fr. Faltaous, an argument occurred between me and my father, mother and sister-in-law, it threatened the family peace. I got into my room and started crying. I was overtaken by sadness and desperation. My brother called me after learning about what had happened and asked me to ask for Fr. Faltaous' prayers and anoint myself with the oil that he had brought from Fr. Faltaous during one of his visits. My brother asked me to get out of my room and apologize to all members of my family. I told myself I won't be able to do it. After my brother's insistence, I did that, went out of my room and apologized to everyone. I was startled to find out that my dad felt pain in his legs. As I returned back to my room, I saw Fr. Faltaous standing in my room smiling at me and then he got out of the room. I felt a sense of relief and safety; and was surprised to find my dad knocking on my door and telling me, who is that monk that just walked out of your room and went up the stairs. I did not respond to his question because I knew Fr. Faltaous gets upset from the person who talks about the things he does. At that moment, the pain in my dad's legs disappeared. After the passing of Fr. Faltaous, my dad heard about the news and saw Fr. Faltaous' picture so he told me, was that the monk who came out of your room, my son. My dad then asked me to hang a picture of Fr. Faltaous in our home. Since that time, Fr. Faltaous became a friend and a personal ambassador to all members of the family as he is always present with us.
He is one of the priests serving Coptic communities abroad (in the lands of immigration)
In 1991, on May 28, one of the priests from Alexandria, Egypt, Fr. Barsoum Matar, came along with brother Essam to lead prayers of the Holy Liturgy (Mass) at St. Bishoy monastery (in Wadi el-Natrun, Beheira Governorate, Egypt). He was told that prayers already took place on all the altars at the monastery (meaning he cannot celebrate the Holy Liturgy immediately after on the same altar). So he decided to go to the Syrian monastery to pray and take its blessing. At the Syrian monastery, Fr. Barsoum along with brother Essam met with the monk responsible for the 'ancient' entrance door. Fr. Barsoum asked the monk about the possibility of attending the Holy Liturgy (Mass) at the monastery. The monk told him apologetically that there was no Holy Liturgy (Mass) being celebrated at that time in the Syrian Church and visitors were not allowed anyways to attend the Holy Liturgy (Mass) there. But after brother Essam's insistence, he asked the monk to allow him inside only to take the blessing of the Church. When brother Essam entered inside the Church, he saw Fr. Faltaous leading the prayers. When Fr. Faltaous saw brother Essam, he told him, "bring your tonia (deacon's white robe, over-garment or alb), and bring in the priest who is with you and come pray with me." Fr. Faltaous had told him to bring in the priest who was with him despite not seeing Fr. Barsoum yet, who was still outside the Church. Brother Essam quickly got out of the Church, took permission from the monk responsible for the entrance door, after telling him what happened with Fr. Faltaous. So the monk allowed them in the Church. They both celebrated the Holy Liturgy (Mass) with Fr. Faltaous and received Holy Communion. After the Liturgy has ended, Fr. Faltaous talked to the monks who were attending the celebration with him and said, "come greet Fr. Barsoum and take his blessing, he is one of the priests serving abroad" (in immigration lands). Fr. Faltaous said that despite the fact that Fr. Barsoum at that time was a priest serving a local Church in Alexandria, Egypt. After exactly a year later, on May 28, 1992, Pope Shenouda III assigned Fr. Barsoum Matar to serve the Copts living in France (where he still serves till that day). And everything Fr. Faltaous had told him will happen a year before, with transparency and deep spirituality, indeed did happen.
The spirit is more important than work
Engineer Y. Gh. from Alexandria recounts the following miracle. I had problems at work. I was newly married and my wife was about to give birth. I went to the monastery and met with Fr. Faltaous and asked him with insistence to pray for work problems so that God stirs some situations. But Fr. Faltaous told me, "No, your wife is more important." So I told him, "What do you mean?" He said, "Your wife is more important, the spirit is more important than work." I didn't understand what that meant at the time. Fr. Faltaous brought a tiny bottle of oil and another small bottle that had drops of water in it. He very carefully put a drop of water on the oil and gave me the tiny bottle of oil. I told him pray, Father, on the oil and pray for me as well. He said, "no, my brother, because that drop of water is more precious than any prayer." I took the bottle and returned home. I was upset that Fr. Faltaous did not pray for solving my problems and focused his interest on my wife, who was in her last trimester of pregnancy. Her health condition was excellent, she did not experience anything unusual. But what happened later was strange. Few days later, my wife felt very tired and was transferred to the hospital. The doctor overseeing her pregnancy came and said, "my apologies, your wife is in a dangerous condition, we have to perform a cesarean (c-section) surgery immediately to save her life." We were all astonished by the news. My wife was on the bed while they were preparing the surgery room, she called me and said, "Where is Fr. Faltaous' bottle of oil?" I got the tiny bottle (that was half the size of a finger) out of my pocket and I rubbed my wife with oil; and was asked to get out because the surgery was about to start. But after less than 20 minutes, the doctor came out smiling and said, "Truly a miracle. Your wife gave birth and we did not need to interfere surgically at all. One thousand congratulations." Only here I was assured by what Fr. Faltaous said, when I went to the monastery to ask for prayers to solve my work problems, when he had told me, "The spirit is more important than work."
Healing from a heart problem
An engineer by the initials Y. Gh. tells the following story. Due to the joy I had because of a certain incident that had happened to me, I told a lot of my friends about the works done through holy oil I had. One of my friends was with me at the hospital and had witnessed what happened. My friend insisted on taking some of the oil home because his wife was about to give birth. So I poured some of the oil in a tiny bottle for him and gave it to him. He took the oil and placed the tiny bottle in his shirt pocket. He left the hospital. On his way back to his home, while he was in the public bus, and due to the heavily crowd bus, the bottle of oil broke inside his upper pocket. When he arrived home, everyone was stunned from the amount of oil that had spread over his shirt, particularly over his chest, above the heart. He was so sad that the bottle broke. When he took off his shirt, he felt as if his shirt was attached to his chest. As he pulled the shirt with strength, he felt he was pulling something out of his chest. My friend had suffered a heart attack in the past and his chest pain would increase from time to time. The following day, he went to see the physician who was overseeing his case. The doctor asked for an echo-cardiograph and chest X-rays. Then the doctor asked him "would you say you tired from your heart problem today at the same or at a lesser level than before." My friend responded, "no, I am only here to put my mind at ease because I felt a strange thing happening to me." The doctor ordered an echo-cardiograph and chest X-rays. After he got the results, the physician was very surprised because the heart was in an excellent condition and there was no trace of a previous heart problem. The doctor asked my friend what had happened. My friend didn't want to give details and was satisfied by telling him, "I felt knives were in my chest and it was as if I had expelled them out with my own hand after I have taken my shirt off." The doctor did not understand but rather congratulated him on an occurrence of a great miracle that had healed him from a heart problem.
With his prayers the eye sight is restored
Dr. Abdel Mageed Kamel, from Canada, tells the following story. I did not know of Fr. Faltaous except from what I heard from a friend of mine called Safwat Fayek al-Awadi. My friend told me how Fr. Faltaous interceded with prayers for his son, who suffered a kidney failure. His son was healed through Fr. Faltaous' prayers, whom God had granted a gift to heal the sick, along with transparency and deep spirituality. As it is written, "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.… All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines" (Corinthians 12:8-11).
God has granted Fr. Faltaous the gift of healing, prophecy, distinguishing and the word of wisdom with humility and service to others. My story starts in 2000, a little bit before midnight on the second day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha (Sacrifice Feast). Upon my return from my clinic, in front of the "Ta'meen al-Sehy" hospital in Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, as I was driving my car towards "Ismail al-Kabany" Street, in front of "Shamma al-Teby" medical center, in a blink of an eye and the speed of a rocket, another car, driven by a young man under 20 years old, crashed into my Volvo. My car was crushed, the airbags were set off in my face and pushed the eye glasses I was wearing towards my left eye. In a fraction of a second, the car was filled with smoke from the gas that was excreted from the air bag and I completely lost vision through my left eye. Due to the strength of the impact, the car jumped to the street's middle divider that separated car on opposite directions. The police came and got a hold of the car that caused the crash. The officer took me to the "Ta'meen al-Sahy" hospital. The physician examined my eye and wrote in his report that the vision in my left eye was nonexistent and the eye cannot even differentiate light from darkness. The medial report was included in the police report that was done at the police station. At "Shamma al-Teby" medical center, they called in a professor of ophthalmology, Dr. Essam Shohayeb, who happened to be at his home in Cairo, Egypt, by coincidence on the day of the feast. Dr. Shohayeb came in quickly and examined my eye and said that the situation was complicated as 80 percent of the eye has corneal ulcer due to the impact of the eye-glasses into the eye, there was rapture in the iris, bruising of the optic nerve, bleeding inside the eyeball, it looked like to could be a beginning of a retinal detachment and there was an increase in the pressure of the eye. Without getting into medical details, the procedure to cure one of these symptoms will work against some of the other symptoms. Dr. Essam Harag explained the condition to me. I told Dr. Harag that I refer this eye to He who had created it and He knows how to heal it. Friends came to visit me and among them was my friend Safwat al-Awadi. My friend Safwat rushed to the Syrian monastery to see Fr. Faltaous. He told him, Father, Dr. Abdel Mageed lost sight in his left eye, he is now lying in bed and is in a lot of pain from the bruises and rapture in his muscular ribs. Safwat told Fr. Faltaous that I serve in numerous Churches at youth meetings and through other activities. He told him how I need my vision restored to resume my service and that the destruction of the car should be enough. Fr. Faltaous gave him a small bottle of oil blessed from oil coming from Pope Kyrillos the Sixth. Fr. Faltaous told Safwat, "let Abdel Mageed rub his eye with it every 12 hours." When Safwat told me these words, I told him, "why every 12 hours, is it like prayer timings." Safwat told me to just do what Fr. Faltaous had said and to stop teasing. And so I did. I followed these instructions. During that time, I had done radiology and fundoscopy (examination of the interior of the eyeball), that almost killed me from the severe allergy I got from radiology. The X-rays results showed what Dr. Essam Shohayeb had previously explained. During one of Safwat's visits to Fr. Faltaous, Fr. Faltaous told him, "one time, let your friend come here during the feast," referring to the feast of the Resurrection (Easter). Safwat told him, "how will he come, Father, his eyes are still covered with bandages and he can't drive and also he doesn't have a car." Fr. Faltaous told him, "he will get his sight back and he will come driving his car." Safwat was surprised and did not comment. The feast was very near, I was lying in bed and my car was completely destroyed and could not be fixed. On a different occasion, while Safwat was walking-in towards the monastery, one of the monks, who knew him, asked him out loud, "did your friend get his sight back or not yet." Safwat was surprised and asked him why he said that and how did he know about it. The monk told him, "our backs broke from performing metanoia (the act of continuous bowing in front of the Cross in repentance) for him, Fr. Faltaous asked us so," as Fr. Faltaous would share this service with a lot of monks. During my final medical examination, Dr. Essam examined the fundus of the eye and visual acuity, that was 6 over 6. Dr. Essam slapped both his hands against each other and told me, I considered the fact that the eye ball did not explode to be a miracle within itself, because we will not need to put a prosthetic eye in its place, but to have your original eye completely restored with complete full vision and without any trace of all the destruction that had occurred to it, that I did not expect at all. Truly, this is a miracle, Dr. Essam said. Dr. Essam refused to give me the X-rays images of the interior of the eyeball and told me that he will keep it. I was cured but how can I go to the monastery when I was without a car. Fr. Faltaous said, "he will get his sight back and will come driving his car." And here came the surprise that no one had expected. The Volvo franchise in Egypt knew that I was not interested in any other car by a different manufacturer. They knew that I will buy another car from them as soon as I cash the agreed upon insurance amount and that I will pay the rest of the cost of the car from my pocket. On the day of the feast, I was surprised to find out that Volvo franchise sent me a new car, the one I had intended to buy. The head of sales there, Mr. Fathallah, told me, "I know the insurance will take time until you cash the money, I also know how you need a car now and we guarantee you, you are a long-time client. For that, here are the keys to your new car, it is right in front of your door, pay whenever you are ready." I could not believe myself. On the day of the feast, I went to the monastery with my family while driving my car and my eye healed exactly like what Fr. Faltaous had said. Since then, my friendship and my entire family's friendship with Fr. Faltaous grew stronger. And our visits to the monastery were reoccurring regularly every month until 2005, when we immigrated to Canada. After that, we used to visit Fr. Faltaous during each of our visits to Egypt. The last time was last year in 2009. One of my relatives told me that when he had told Fr. Faltaous that I was sending my greetings, Fr. Faltaous told him, "I will celebrate Christmas with you this year but the Resurrection I will celebrate above in Heaven." Indeed, Fr. Faltaous passed away before the feast of the Resurrection (Easter), and God benefited us by hearing Fr. Faltaous' prayers on our behalf. Amen.
With his prayers the infection healed and the excretion stopped
Dr. Abdel Mageed Kamel from Canada recounts the following story. A friend of ours joined us during one of our visits to Fr. Faltaous. Her arm had an exterior wound. On the day of our visit, the wound got infected and started to hurt her terribly till the point that it started to discharge excretions. We asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for her. Fr. Faltaous placed his hand on the wound and prayed until the excretions stopped. And before we left the monastery to return back home, the infection was completely healed, with the prayers of our beloved Fr. Faltaous.
Your husband got employed
Dr. Abdel Mageed Kamel from Canada tells the following story. During one of our visits to the Syrian monastery, we met with Fr. Faltaous. At that time, my daughter's husband had gone through troubles at work that forced him to resign. My daughter asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for her husband to find a good job before the end of the month. She heavily insisted till the point that Fr. Faltaous was annoyed from her continuous persistence and aggression towards that request. My daughter felt that she upset Fr. Faltaous with her words so she got upset herself. We left afterwards and God had arranged a better job for my daughter's husband. A month later, we went to the monastery and as soon as we saw Fr. Faltaous, he told my daughter out loud without anyone telling him anything, "your husband got employed, my girl, don't be upset." How did Fr. Faltaous know that my daughter's husband got a new job. No doubt this is due to the prayers he prayed for my daughter's husband right after we left; in addition to the transparency and deep spirituality he had that revealed everything to him.
God willing, America will come
Dr. Abdel Mageed Kamel from Canada recounts the following story. I went with my family to visit the Syrian monastery, where we met with Fr. Faltaous. My daughter told him, "Pray for me, Father, so that we travel to Canada. We have submitted our immigration request to Canada, met all the requirements and we are now waiting for the visa in order to emigrate." Fr. Faltaous told her, "God willing, America will come." We were all surprised and thought he didn't correctly hear what we were saying. So my daughter said again, "We have submitted our application to go to Canada, Father." Once more Fr. Faltaous responded saying, "America." Days and months have passed and we have received a letter of acceptance to the United States through the Diversity Visa. My daughter travelled with her family to the United States. And Fr. Faltaous' words came true, who knew what was there for my daughter, due to his transparency and high spirituality.
He prays for a child before he gets sick
A lady tells the following story. We went to visit Fr. Faltaous at the monastery. My son, at that time, was in grade four. Fr. Faltaous told my boy, "come I'll pray for you because you are sick." Fr. Faltaous said that despite my son wasn't feeling any pain. Nevertheless, Fr. Faltaous prayed for him and anointed him with oil. Two days later, while my boy was at school, he had a sudden fever. The school physician requested blood work. The results showed a high level of infection, but we could not determine where the infection was. We went to our family physician, he examined the boy and could not reach a conclusion. But before we left, the doctor pressed on the appendix, so my son screamed due to the severity of the pain. We went to one of the surgeons, who removed the appendix. The surgeon said the size of the appendix indicates that it has been infected for 20 days and it would not have waited any longer. After the surgery, we went to visit Fr. Faltaous. He was so glad to see my son that he told the people who were with him, this boy "was sick and underwent an appendectomy," despite none of us had told Fr. Faltaous yet about what happened.
He reveals to a monk his thoughts
A newly ordained monk had gone through a tough trial that shook him from the inside. The 'enemy of good,' a name given to the devil, took advantage of this trial and attacked the monk through numerous thoughts and worries. When those thoughts increased, the monk got out of his cell and went to Fr. Faltaous' cell in the hope to calm down once he reveals to Fr. Faltaous what is inside of him. The monk also wanted to take Fr. Faltaous' advice and have him pray for him. As soon as the monk entered Fr. Faltaous' cell, without opening his mouth, not even with one word, Fr. Faltaous revealed to the monk all what was going through his mind. Fr. Faltaous told the monk what had happened, and also what will happen to him afterwards. Fr. Faltaous gave the monk words of encouragement, he offered advice and important instructions for his life. The monk left surprised at how his thoughts were exposed to Fr. Faltaous before he reveals them to him, but he became aware of Fr. Faltaous' transparency and deep spirituality.
He determines the price of the car
Said Farag Abdallah, residing at 11 Mohamed Sokar Street, Ard Nawar City, tells the following story. In 1999, on the (Coptic Orthodox) feast of the Virgin Mary, August 21, I visited the Syrian monastery as is my annual custom. I met Fr. Faltaous at the same cell I had met him in a year before. Towards the end of my visit, he asked me to give him a ride to his cell with my car(as his cell was in the outdoors). I was so happy because my car was going to be blessed by Fr. Faltaous' presence. Fr. Faltaous got in my car, it was a small and modest one. He told me, you have to buy a car better than this one. I told him, pray for me, my Father. He told me, "how much do you like to get a car for?" I told him, about L.E. 24, or 26,000 (Egyptian pounds). Fr. Faltaous said, "would you like to get a car that costs 30,000." In the end, he said, "God will bring you a nice car for 19,000." Fr. Faltaous arrived at his cell and we left and headed back. Two weeks later, I went to a car market in Nasr City. I saw a Honda on display for L.E. 19,000. I did not have the entire amount, I only had L.E. 9,000. The owner of the car came and was lenient with me. He agreed to come with the car to my home where I gave him the L.E. 9,000. I borrowed L.E. 5,000 from a friend and God had sent the rest of the money. Fr. Faltaous' words came true and I bought a car for L.E. 19,000.
When will you go to the monastery?
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery was paid a visit by his mother and sister. While the two ladies were sitting in the visitors' area, Fr. Faltaous walked in. They stood up and as the monk's sister greeted Fr. Faltaous, he told her, when will you go (join) the monastery? The girl panicked as she was surprised by the question. How did Fr. Faltaous know that in two months she was going to join a monastery, no one had told him about it and no one knew anything at all about that. Truly, this was due to his transparency and deep spirituality that revealed for him the unseen.
He gave him a wool robe
Fr. Faltaous called in a brother, who was responsible for sewing garments at the monastery. When that brother walked in, Fr. Faltaous gave him few pieces of black fabric and asked him to sew them for him. Then he gave him a piece of fabric made of black wool and told him, "congratulations, brother, on the white." The brother told Fr. Faltaous that there were three other brothers ahead of him, who are due to wear white clothes. Fr. Faltaous told him, "the word has already been uttered my brother." Within three months, three brothers, who had previously asked to become monks, left the monastery and returned to the world. And it was the turn of that brother to wear the white clothes. And all what Fr. Faltaous' had said came true word for word.
He knows what a monk does inside his monastic cell
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I did some wrong behavior inside my monastic cell. One time, I was passing in front of Fr. Faltaous' monastic cell, I saw him sitting in front of his cell on the ground as was his habit. When he saw me, he talked to me and revealed to me all what I did from bad behavior. I left him and was shivering. How did he know all what I do of very private and personal matters inside my monastic cell. Truly, it is a high level of spiritual transparency. Our dear reader, to avoid the repetition of similar events, we tell you this, Fr. Faltaous had numerously revealed personal behaviors and private matters, to tens of monastic priests. All of them knew the high level of transparency Fr. Faltaous had. For that reason, some monks avoided meeting him, fearing he would reveal their inner matters.
He knows of the thoughts of a brother
One of the brothers who wanted to become a monk was driving a car inside the monastery. He saw Fr. Faltaous, so he got out of the car to greet him. Fr. Faltaous asked the brother to give him a ride to Anba Bishoy monastery. It is known that the brothers, who want to become monks, are not allowed to leave the monastery during their first probation period. But that brother obeyed Fr. Faltaous and helped him to his car. As he was driving, he was thinking how can he get out of the monastery and disobey the monastery rules. But how can he disobey an elderly monastic priest. As he was driving, his mind was torn between these two thoughts. Before the car reached the monastery gate, Fr. Faltaous asked him to stop the car. As Fr. Faltaous got out of the car, he found another car driven by one of the monks. So he got in that other car and went to the place he intended to go to. How did Fr. Faltaous know that the brother was hesitant to get out of the monastery and how did he know what was going through his mind. It is the spiritual transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
He returns to the monastery before the car
Fr. Faltaous went to the valley to buy some personal items. There he met Fr. Martyrs, who was on his way back to the monastery, riding in a minivan with some youngsters from Kom Hamada (town in Beheira, a coastal governorate in Egypt). When Fr. Martyrs knew that Fr. Faltaous was going back to the Syrian monastery, he offered him a ride with them. But Fr. Faltaous declined the offer, thanked them and told them that he will walk. The brothers got in the car and as they were driving away, they saw Fr. Faltaous walking in front of them. When they arrived to the monastery, they were told that Fr. Faltaous had arrived to the monastery ten minutes ahead of them. The brothers were surprised to learn of Fr. Faltaous' arrival ten minutes before them without getting into any car.
He reveals what someone dreamt of
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. During one of Fr. Faltaous' gatherings with young monks, he was telling stories of saints and how they come in our midst when we start talking about them. Fr. Faltaous was talking about the martyred Saint Zeus, who was killed by the Berbers and his relics are kept at the monastery of Saint Macarius in Wadi al-Natrun (also known as Anba Makar monastery). While Fr. Faltaous was telling the story, he saw Saint Zeus sitting with them. Fr. Faltaous told the monks about St. Zeus' presence but one of the monks sitting with them was doubting. Many years later, that monk was sleeping in his monastic cell and had a dream. He dreamt he was celebrating Holy Mass with Fr. Faltaous and Saint Zeus was there. The monk woke up and it was time for 'praises' prayers. He left his cell to attend the Sunday 'praises' and Holy Mass. When the 'praises' prayers ended, Fr. Faltaous walked into the Church as was his habit. The monk approached Fr. Faltaous to get his blessing and kiss his hand. Fr. Faltaous told him, "your voice sounded good, my brother," referring to the monk's voice when he was praying the Mass with him in the dream. Then Fr. Faltaous went on to reveal the entire dream to the monk. The monk was surprised from Fr. Faltaous' transparency and profound spirituality that enabled him to reveal what the monk was dreaming of.
He heals a boy approaching death
Naglaa Samuel Michael (pronounced Mikhael in Arabic) from al-Rakakena, which is a city in Girga, Egypt, tells the following story. My son, Andrew, got sick and we took him to the doctor several times but with no avail that he was on the verge of dying. Severe diarrhea and constant throwing up. I took some of the oil from the bottle that Fr. Faltaous had given me and I rubbed my son's stomach with it and I put a drop of oil in his mouth. I also placed a piece of Fr. Faltaous' robe on my son's stomach to bless it. And behold God's glory and love, after a little while, a black substance got out with the body's waste and the diarrhea had stopped. And my son became in good health. May the blessings of Fr. Faltaous' prayers be with us, Amen.
The button is in your cell
Fr. Faltaous called for the monk who was responsible for sewing at the monastery. When the monk arrived at the cell, Fr. Faltaous gave him a coat and asked him to shorten one of the sleeves. Fr. Faltaous also asked for an additional hole in the coat for another button. After the monk finished what Fr. Faltaous had asked for, he told Fr. Faltaous that he had no button to sew onto the coat. Fr. Faltaous told the monk, "search in your cell, there is a button there, go and get it." The monk went to his cell and found a button. He brought it back and sewed it onto the coat with astonishment by Fr. Faltaous' transparency.
He goes to a monk in a dream
The fence at the 'ancient' monastery was under renovation. During the renovation, one of the monks was searching for the bodies of patriarchs who were buried there. By the end of the day, the monk returned back to his cell. During his sleep, Fr. Faltaous visited him in a dream. Fr. Faltaous almost strangled him while telling him, "what is it your concern, leave them, they don't want to get out of their place." The monk woke up shaken from what had happened to him. The same morning, however, he went about his routine and continued to search for the bodies at the fence of the 'ancient' monastery. During his search, he saw Fr. Faltaous in front of him. Fr. Faltaous rebuked the monk for not responding to his threat, he told him: "you are still unafraid, didn't I almost strangle you? What are they your concern, they don't want to appear, leave them according to their wish." The monk walked away and since then, he stopped the search for the bodies of the patriarchs, who are buried at the fence of the 'ancient' monastery.
He says where the dates are
The late Bishop Athanasios, of the city of Bani Sweif in Egypt, visited the Syrian monastery. Bishop Metawos, the head of the monastery, received Bishop Athanasios in the palace. Hegumen Fr. Faltaous went to greet the visitor. The three had fish for lunch together. When they were done, Fr. Faltaous recited an Egyptian proverb that says, "if you eat fish, eat dates." Bishop Metawos responded, "from where shall we get the dates? these days (season) are not the right timings for dates." Fr. Faltaous replied, "under the sink in your cell, Your Grace, there are dates." The Bishop went to his cell to bring something and when he looked under the sink, he found a bag of dates that he had forgotten few days ago. He took the bag with him and offered dates to Bishop Athanasios and Fr. Faltaous. How did Fr. Faltaous know where dates were inside the cell? It is the deep transparency that Fr. Faltaous had reached.
With his prayers he walks with one crutch
A monk, and eye witness of the event, tells the following story. While I was in the exterior visitation room (of the monastery), I saw Fr. Faltaous inside and a man walking towards him on two crutches. The man asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for him. Fr. Faltaous asked him to sit on the table and he continued to pray for a long period of time. In the end, Fr. Faltaous told him, stretch your leg and bend it. He repeated the act several times. In the end, Fr. Faltaous told him walk. The man walked with one crutch instead of two. Fr. Faltaous told him, "next time you come, you will leave that other crutch as well." The man left praising God and thanking God and Fr. Faltaous.
The beautiful pigeon was standing there
Fr. Faltaous fell ill, that was before his final illness, where he was bed-bound. This time he was very sick and in a lot of pain. One of the monks, who were close to him, wanted to stay with him in his cell and spend the night with him lest he feels pain at night and needs something. The monk wanted to be by his side but Fr. Faltaous refused firmly and told him, "don't be afraid, my brother, don't be afraid." The following morning, that monk went to see Fr. Faltaous to make sure he is alright. He was surprised to see Fr. Faltaous standing by the door of his cell waiting for him. Fr. Faltaous was in complete energy, his face glowing and shining in a very noticeable way. Before that monk had the chance to ask Fr. Faltaous about his health, Fr. Faltaous told him, "the beautiful pigeon, my brother, the beautiful pigeon, you know her?" Fr. Faltaous then took the monk by his hand and got inside the cell and showed him a shelf about one meter wide that was in front of his bed and told him, "the beautiful pigeon was standing here and stretching her wings and looked white and beautiful and illuminated. She stayed around an hour stretching her wings until she disappeared and I felt well. The monk did not comment but left while reciting the hymn "Hail to Mary the Queen" (Shere Maria), that says, "Hail Mary, the beautiful pigeon, who gave birth to God the Word for us."
With his prayers God gives her a child
One of the monks at the Syrian Monastery tells the following story. My cousin came to the monastery and met with Fr. Faltaous. She asked him to pray for her so that God will bless her with a child. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for her and told her, "God willing, next year you will become pregnant." A year later, she came to the monastery and told me that she was not pregnant yet. When she returned back to her village, she sent me a message saying she had been pregnant for more than a month and a half without knowing, meaning she was pregnant during her last visit to the monastery. God had given her good descendants with Fr. Faltaous' prayers.
He tells of someone's passing
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. Brother Wafik, is a kind brother, he came to the Syrian monastery to become a monk. But the head of the monastery, Bishop Theophilus, did not accept him due to his medical condition. Brother Wafik preferred to live in the monastery and work in it and not return to the world. The monastery administration approved of that and he was given the responsibility of the 'garden' gate. He was given a room especially for him by the gate. Brother Wafik lived in the Syrian monastery practicing his prayers, fasting, metanoia (an act of bowing to express penitence) and everything that was practiced by the monks at the monastery. Most of the monks at the monastery considered him one of them. Brother Wafik was greatly loved by Fr. Faltaous till the point that he used to stay with him at his cell frequently and have dinner with him numerously. Brother Wafik lived in the monastery for close to seven years. Towards the end, he got really sick. One day Fr. Faltaous met one of the monks and told him, "my brother, brother Wafik went to Heaven." The monk was surprised to hear Fr. Faltaous' words as he had not heard of brother Wafik's passing. He returned to inquire about the matter. He was told that brother Wafik had passed at that very same moment. The monk was astonished by Fr. Faltaous' transparency that he knew about the passing of brother Wafik before anyone had told him about it.
The power of prayer
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. My family came to visit me at the monastery. They complained about my nephew Kyrillos who was slacking and did not study during his first term at school. Despite the efforts of his parents and relatives, the grades of that term were very weak. So I took Kyrillos and his father with me and we went to see Fr. Faltaous at his cell. Just as we got inside his cell and before anyone moved their lips, Fr. Faltaous called Kyrillos and told him, "why aren't you studying my brother?" Then he held Kyrillos' ear and started praying in it and blowing a breath in his ear and mouth. Then he gave him L.E. 50 (Egyptian pounds) and told him, "Take this and buy something for yourself and from now on start studying." We left Fr. Faltaous. They returned to their home and Kyrillos started to study that he got a high grade in the second term, which raised all his marks in the overall final grade, with the blessings of Fr. Faltaous' prayers.
With his prayers, God blesses him with a child
Mr. Samir Attia tells the following story. I was working at a phone service center (Central) in the city of Dokki in Egypt. I had been married for nine years and God had not given us a child despite the absence of any condition. I asked one of my friends who were close to Fr. Faltaous that my wife and I accompany him to the Syrian monastery so that Fr. Faltaous would pray for us. We went together to the monastery and we met with Fr. Faltaous and told him the whole story. We asked him to pray for us so that God would grant us a blessed generation. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for us and told us, "may God give you what your heart desires." After exactly nine months, God graced us with our first baby girl due to the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
The secret of the tilting building structure
Engineer Yohanna Mofeed Youssef (John Mofeed Joseph), who resides at 28 al-Lowa (lieutenant) Hassan Kamel Street in Miami, Alexandria (in Egypt) tells the following story. We bought a land in the Aubour al-Meyah (water wells) area in Alexandria, Egypt, that is situated at the Latin district at 142 Galal Desokki Street. As soon as we started the construction, after acquiring all required permits, we were surprised to learn that the owners and residents in the adjacent building objected, citing that the building they live in is tilting half a meter (about 1.5 feet) towards our land. That tilt could be clearly seen from the 12th floor of their building, which is the last floor. They threatened us and asked us to stop construction at all costs and told us, "your land is not worth (to damage) a nail of one of our kids." They explained how when the previous owners of our land started construction, they dug eight meters deep (about 26 feet) to reach the foundation. Then the adjacent building started to tilt towards the hole. Since that day, the construction stopped due to orders by a previous mayor. The eight meters deep hole was buried with sand in an attempt to prevent the adjacent building from collapsing. I tried several attempts to convince the owners of the adjacent building that we weren't going to use the same method for foundation that was previously used. We were going to use a pile foundation (a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven deep into the ground at the building site). We told the owners that we were going to sign contract with the biggest foundation company in Alexandria, called al-Tahan for Foundations, to place those piles reaching the depth of the foundation under the supervision of engineers. I visited Fr. Faltaous and told him the story. He said, "it will get built and will be okay. Fr. Faltaous assured those with me, uncle Mofeed and Mr. Zakaria Attallah. Then he prayed a lengthy prayer over a bottle of water, gave the bottle to me and asked me to spread the water on the building that was tilting and on the land next to it. I returned back from the monastery and I spread the water that Fr. Faltaous had given me on the leaning building and on our land. The construction was resuming with the knowledge of Dr. Said al-Naghy, who has a doctorate in land division. He was working on defining the tilt of the building since the digging began in the land next to it. After spreading the water on the building and the land, we continued for an entire week to ask Dr. Said al-Naghy to provide us with information on his report. He did not respond to our request. We were very confused especially that since the beginning of all that process, Dr. al-Naghy was giving us a daily report of his findings (before the spreading of the water that has been prayed upon). After urgent persistence to get information from Dr. Said al-Naghy about the report, he said verbatim, "you have something from God, this land has something from God." And he repeated this sentence several times. Then he said, "if I wrote what had happened, they will say this doctor is crazy." So we asked him what happened. He said, "the building is being raised from the same place it was tilting towards. It is the first time in my life that I see something like that and I can't write that." I told him, "write the truth, doctor, so that we can build a structure." So he said, "all I can write in the report is that the building is stabilized. But I can't write the building is adjusting back." So I told him "write what you see in the report." After the report was written, we returned the equipment, we had previously taken out, back for digging and construction. The digging machine was strongly hitting towards the tilted building, up until eight meters high; but the building neither tilted nor was affected. And our building was built to completion with 12 floors. When we started the construction, I went to my precious beloved Fr. Faltaous and thanked him for his prayers for us and told him that we had commenced the construction. I told him that the consultant, holding a doctorate, who was reporting on the tilting of the building said that it was adjusting to its original position. So Fr. Faltaous smiled and told the monks surrounding him, "what is the problem my brother, I told St. George and St. Mina, raise the building with me so they raised it with their hands, this is not a problem." Then he told me, "congratulations." The miracle had occurred with the prayers of our pure Fr. Faltaous. The building is still standing in Galal Desokki St. at the Latin district in Alexandria and till this day serves as a witness over what had happened.
Come see me on 4/4/2004 at 4 p.m.
Engineer Yohanna Mofeed Youssef (John Mofeed Joseph), who resides at 28 al-Lowa (lieutenant) Hassan Kamel St. in Miami, Alexandria (in Egypt) tells the following story. We owned a building located at 45 al-Asafra Kebly in Alexandria , next to the structure of the Church of the saints Maximos and Domadios and St. Moses the Black (Moussa al-Aswad). Right after the opening of the Church, it was "red-taped" (shut down) by the government along with our building that was next to it. I went to our beloved Fr. Faltaous and explained to him the situation of the building. He told me, "Come see me, you and your brothers on 4/4/2004 at 4 p.m." I was very hesitant to go on the scheduled appointment as it was late to go to the monastery at his hour. But we all went per Fr. Faltaous' request. While we were sitting with him, one of the monks told Fr. Faltaous that His Holiness Pope Shenouda will gather with monks at 7 p.m. When I heard this, I asked Fr. Faltaous to intercede and ask His Holiness the Pope to look into the situation of the building next to the Church. But Fr. Faltaous refused to get involved. We left Fr. Faltaous. Before heading home, in front of the monastery's door, we met one of the bishops, who was among those who work in His Holiness' secretarial office. I asked the bishop to tell His Holiness the Pope about the building. The bishop asked me to explain the situation on a piece of paper. I did and gave him the paper. After few weeks, authorities removed the "red tape" in front of the building. The situation was resolved due to the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian, who insisted on the necessity to come to the monastery on 4/4/2004 at 4 p.m.
With the great saints Maximos and Domadios
Fr. Faltaous tells the following story. I once bought a wool sweater that costs L.E. 6 (Egyptian pounds). I left it in the cell. Few days later, I was outside the cell and as I walked in, I saw the saints Maximos and Domadios pretending to be fighting over the sweater. One of them was saying, "I will take the sweater," and the other said, "No, I will take it." I told them who are you. One of them said, "We are your brothers, Maximos and Domadios" Did you notice the term they used, "your brothers," which is an honor for me. When I saw this I told them, No guys, this sweater is mine, I bought it for L.E. 6 because of the cold. "We will split the cost between my brother and I." How come you say you are my brothers, I told them, instead of sheltering me, you will take my blanket away. So they laughed and told me, "Fine, we will leave it for you to have." They were just kidding with me, they look so beautiful like the sons of kings indeed.
Saints Maximos and Domadios walking behind the coffin
Fr. Faltaous tells the following story. One of the monks at al-Baramos Monastery passed away. I was among the monks who went from our monastery to attend the funeral. When we were walking out of the Church behind the coffin, I suddenly saw saints Maximos and Domadios in front of me walking behind the coffin that carried the Father who had passed. When we reached the cemetery designated for priests and monks (called Tafous), the two saints rose above the Tafous while they were looking at me. After the body was placed inside the Tafous, they disappeared.
Ask them where are they buried
Fr. Faltaous had a strong relation with H.G. Bishop Benjamin of al-Monofeya. Bishop Benjamin would visit Fr. Faltaous at al-Sorian monastery. He loved the two saint brothers Maximos and Domadios. Bishop Benjamin knew how close they were to Fr. Faltaous. So he asked him to ask the saints where their bodies were buried. He wanted to find the bodies, honor them and take their blessings. So during one of their apparitions to Fr. Faltaous, he asked them where their bodies were. They told him: "God's will does not permit the discovery of our bodies because we lived on earth as strangers and left earth as strangers. This is God's will, that our bodies remain hidden and do not appear except on the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, if you want to take the blessing of our bodies, because of the love between us, come with us." They took Fr. Faltaous in spirit, at a distance from Baramos monastery on a high hill and told him: "our bodies are buried in that place under the surface of the earth at a distant depth but no one can get our bodies out from this place because this is God's will." Fr. Faltaous took the blessing of the place where the bodies are buried. The priests of the Baramos monastery tried to find the bodies during the renovation of the monastery but the bodies could not be found till that day.
Healing from severe inflammation in the tonsils with pus
Zaki Helmy Zaki, who lives at 15 al-Rouby St., cross street Salah Salem in Kalioubia city, Egypt, tells the following story. My wife was suffering from severe inflammation in her tonsils with pus. The inflammation would occur frequently. In one of our visits to the Syrian monastery, we met with Fr. Faltaous. I told him about my wife's condition and the pain she was going through due to her illness. I asked him to pray for my wife. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for her, anointed her with oil and blew his breath in her face three times. Then he told her, "That's it, the illness will not return again." After that incident, my wife was healed and the illness never returned with the prayers of our pure Father Hegumen Faltaous.
Healing both legs from inflammation
Zaki Helmy Zaki, who lives at 15 al-Rouby St., cross street Salah Salem in Kalioubia city, Egypt, tells the following story. Around four years ago, my father was suffering from inflammation in both his legs. He saw a doctor, who asked for blood analysis for liver functions, Virus C. The results were bad, it was confirmed that my dad had Virus C. I went to Fr. Faltaous and asked him to pray so that my father would be healed. So Fr. Faltaous brought a bottle of oil and prayed on it and asked me to give it to my dad so that he would rub the oil twice a day, day and night. I took the bottle and gave it to my dad, who indeed used it twice a day. After a short while, my dad was completely healed, his legs returned back to normal without any trace of inflammation. Thanks to the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian.
Healing a patient with a heart problem
Zaki Helmy Zaki, who lives at 15 al-Rouby St., cross street Salah Salem in Kalioubia city, Egypt, tells the following story. My sister took some of the oil that Fr. Faltaous had given to my dad. She gave some of it to a friend of hers so that she would give to her brother, who had a heart problem. Her brother had scheduled an appointment to undergo an open heart surgery. The patient's sister took the oil and gave it to her brother so that he would rub himself with it. Indeed, he rubbed himself with the blessed oil before going into the operation room. The doctor had told the patient's family that the surgery will last from eight to 12 hours. But only three hours into the operation, the doctor came out of the operating room. The family thought that the operation was not successful or that the patient had passed. But the doctor assured them that the patient's health was fine. He told them when he opened the chest to perform the surgery, he found a hole in the heart and that was the cause of the patient's problem. The hole was successfully treated and the patient was completely healed. He is now in very good health with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing another patient with a heart problem
Zaki Helmy Zaki, who lives at 15 al-Rouby St., cross street Salah Salem in Kalioubia city, Egypt, tells the following story. A friend of mine in our town had died. His mother was suffering from pain in her heart. The doctor said she needed a catheterization to place one or two coronary artery stents, depending on the condition. When she told me about her condition, I gave her some of the oil that Fr. Faltaous had previously given me. I told her to rub the oil twice, morning and night and God willing, He will extend His hand. When the time came for her surgery, she got in the operating room for the catheterization and the stents placements as previously agreed. When she got out after the operation, her doctor told her that her condition was very good and that he didn't need to place any stents; that was due to the blessing of the prayers of Hegumen Faltaous.
Healing from cancer in the leg
The father of Mirna Zaki Helmy from Kalioubia city in Egypt tells the following story. Our daughter Mirna Zaki Helmy had swelling in her left foot. We saw a doctor who ordered a biopsy. He sent the sample to Dr. Elia Anis Ishak (Isaac) to examine it. The results came in. It was a malignant tumor called Ewing's Sarcoma. We were transferred to the oncology center. Before going to the oncology center, we went to see Fr. Faltaous. He prayed for Mirna, our daughter, and anointed her with oil. Then he asked us to come visit him again on the following Tuesday. We then went to the oncology center. After undergoing the proper examinations, analyses and X-rays, it was shown that the tumor was centered in Mirna's left leg only. The rest of her body was free of malignant tumors. They tested the tumor once more with the same result of Ewing Sarcoma. The doctor gave her an appointment for her first chemotherapy session on the following Sunday. She declined due to the appointment she had with Fr. Faltaous on Tuesday. She did not undergo the chemotherapy session. We went to see Fr. Faltaous on Tuesday per our appointment. He prayed for Mirna and anointed her with oil. We let him know that Mirna was going to get chemotherapy. We asked him whether or not she should get chemotherapy. He told us to get chemotherapy. When Mirna heard Fr. Faltaous say that, she cried. Fr. Faltaous was deeply moved by Mirna's crying and his tenderness and compassion were visible. We left Fr. Faltaous and returned back home. The following day, we went to the hospital to undergo chemotherapy but the doctor refused to give Mirna chemotherapy that day because we were late for our appointment. He advised she does the analysis on that day and gets the chemotherapy the following day. When we went to do the analysis, the deputy at the hospital came in. When she knew we wanted to do the tests, she told us that this was not right as the analysis should be done on the day of the chemotherapy session. When we heard that we returned back home. We prayed for three days. It was the last Sunday during the big lent (Easter lent), which was the Sunday of the Paralytic. We attended the Holy Mass and we left Church with a lot of trust in God's work with Mirna. We all agreed to do the analysis once more. On our way to Dr. Magdi Morcos to show him the analysis report, a strong smell of incense emerged while we were walking in the street. I had a strong internal feeling that Mirna will be healed. After showing the analysis report to the doctor, we learned that it was free of cancer. We decided to do the tests one more time, and Mirna's healing was confirmed. We went to the monastery to let Fr. Faltaous know about Mirna's healing but we didn't find him on that day. We waited for him till 7 p.m. but when he didn't return back to the monastery till that hour we left. One our way back, we saw Fr. Faltaous near the monastery riding inside a car. We waved at him so he stopped for us. He got out of the car and told Mirna's mother, "congratulations, your daughter is healed." Clearly he knew of Mirna's healing before we told him. Then he told Mirna's mother to have Mirna receive Holy Communion frequently. Mirna was completely healed with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
He determines the punishment
Dr. M.Y. of Alexandria, Egypt, tells the following story. In 1993, I hit a person with my car while he was crossing the street in front of the department of motor vehicles in Moharam Bec in Alexandria. The scene was assessed. The man was badly hurt and was transferred to the hospital. That man was a police lieutenant and assistant to the interior minister at the tourism police unit. It was embarrassing for me. They wrote in the police report that I hit him while he was standing on the pavement, hoping to receive a hefty compensation and I was sentenced to six months in prison. One of the priests advised me to go to Fr. Faltaous. So I took my family and my father and mother and we went to the monastery. My family went to the visitors' reception that was in the upper floor. There, they saw Fr. Faltaous welcoming them. They were very emotional and crying. Fr. Faltaousasked them to tell him the story. Meanwhile, I was at the information center of the monastery, looking for Fr. Faltaous. When I returned back to the visitors reception, I told Fr. Faltaous the story. He told me, "a suspended sentence of one month in prison" (meaning without actually doing the time). I told him, "I don't want any prison time." So he told me, "okay, L.E. 100 (Egyptian pounds) fine." I told him, "L.E.100 for a police lieutenant." He told me, "are you going to bargain, all right, a L.E.200 fine." I left with no trust in the holiness of this priest and doubting what he had told me. Indeed, during the appeal, the judge was very violent and would respond to my lawyer with violence. Then he pointed at me and told me to get inside the cage and started telling me, "you are negligent, you are this and that. I will make an example out of you to all people, I will give you a L.E.200 fine." After that, I went to Fr. Faltaous towards the end of February and told him, "I must bring you a present." I kept insisting for a while until he told me, "I want the Saratoga brand comforter, queen size, that is carried on the shoulder, it costs L.E.150" and he wrote that on a paper. After a while, one day before I went back to the monastery, I did not find that kind of comforters in Alexandria. One of my relatives told me that the store called Omar Afandi is being renovated and that I can find that comforter in it. Indeed, I found the last one and it was on sale and I paid only L.E. 150 and gave the comforter to Fr. Faltaous.
He gives comfort to a monk regarding a sick person
Two young men came to the Syrian monastery to seek solitude at the monastery's solitary home. On their third day, one of the young men had severe stomach ache. So he left what he was doing and returned back to the solitary home. On his way back, the monk responsible for the solitary home saw that the young men was in pain. The monk rushed to the young man to inquire about the kind of pain he had. The monk quickly took him to the physician responsible for treatment at the monastery. After examining him, the physician, who was also a monk, suspected that the young man had appendicitis. The physician gave the young man some pain killers but to no avail. Finally, they decided that it was best for the young man to return back to Cairo. The head of the solitary home took the young man along with his friend and stood by the monastery's 'ancient' gate in the hope that they will find any group of people on a trip that might be heading to Cairo so that the young men would get a ride. Indeed, they saw a bus stopping by the monastery's gate. The bus had visitors on board coming to visit the Churches at the monastery. The monk met with the man responsible for the bus and took permission for the young men to join the group. The two men got on the bus to get off at the nearest hospital. After the bus had left, the head of the solitary home met with Fr. Faltaous on his way back to his cell. The monk told Fr. Faltaous what happened and asked him to pray for the two men to return safely. The following day, the same monk met again with Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous told the monk everything that had happened in details with the sick man; despite the absence of any devices or means of communication at that time. Fr. Faltaous said, after the young man got on the bus, the pain increased till the point that it was unbearable. So some people suggested that the bus would stop at the first ambulance station they find on the way. When the young man got off at the station, an ambulance took him to Om al-Masreen (Mother of Egyptians) hospital in Giza, Egypt. There, the young man contacted his family. The family came and transferred the man to a surgeon's clinic. After examining him, it was confirmed he had appendicitis. He successfully underwent surgery and he is now well. After Fr. Faltaous explained all what had happened, the head of the solitary home, asked Fr. Faltaous, "how did you know all these details and who told you?" Fr. Faltaous smiled and walked away very quickly. The monk returned back to his cell, he had previously prepared a suitcase to travel to Cairo. The monk took his suitcase and walked towards the monastery's 'ancient' gate to find a ride to Cairo. Indeed, God's grace arranged that he rides along with two physicians, who were visiting the monastery and heading back to Cairo. On their way, they started chatting. The monk learned that they were physicians and one of them owned a private clinic in Hawamdia town. The monk told him about the sick young man and what had happened to him and that he lives in Hawamdia. The physician smiled at the monk and told him, I am the doctor who operated on the young man. Then he started to say what had happened to the young man. The monk was astonished to hear the doctor's words as they were identical to what Fr. Faltaous had said. How were all these events revealed to Fr. Faltaous? It is the deep spiritual transparency that Fr. Faltaous had reached.
Healing from throat cancer
There is a tradition at the Syrian monastery that takes place during the harvest season of olives. First, they ring the monastery bell three times. The head of the monastery gathers with all the monks. They then start to pick the olives from the trees. They usually take a break during the work day and sit on the ground to drink either tea or mint. One day while the monks were resting, a car drove by and stopped next to them. A man, about 65 years old, came out of the car and asked about Fr. Faltaous. The monks pointed towards Fr. Faltaous direction. The man approached him, kissed his hand and then told him, "don't you remember me, Father?" Fr. Faltaous told him, "what do you want from me?" The man said, "I came to see you a month ago, and I had throat cancer, you prayed for me and anointed me with oil and told me that I was now well and healed from my disease. When I later went to my doctor, I did some tests, X-rays and the appropriate analyses. The doctor said that my disease was gone and told me, congratulations, you are healed. That is why I am here today to thank you." Fr. Faltaous looked around him and saw that a large number of monks overheard the man. So Fr. Faltaous wanted to hide what the man was saying so he quickly said, "do you have beans so that we eat. Let's go to the visitors area." Fr. Faltaous got in the car with the man and they both went to the visitors' area. All the monks who were present praised God when they heard about this miracle.
What is his name?
A group of people came from Giza, Egypt, on a trip to visit the Syrian monastery. They celebrated Holy Mass at St. Anthony Church at the monastery. After the Mass, some members of the group sneaked towards Fr. Faltaous' cell to get his blessing. When Fr. Faltaous came out to meet them, he asked each one of them about their name. When Fr. Faltaous stopped by a particular one and asked about his name, the young man said, "my name is Hany." But Fr. Faltaous asked the young man for a second time, where the man again said, "my name is Hany." Fr. Faltaous asked for the third time, where the young man said, "my name is Ibrahim" (Abraham). The young man's official name in his legal documents was Ibrahim (Abraham). The name Hany was the name he was known by amongst friends and no one knew at all his legal name. Why did Fr. Faltaous repeat the question to the young man despite him telling Fr. Faltaous that his name was Hany. When the man said his legal name Fr. Faltaous did not repeat the question. Fr. Faltaous' deep spirituality and transparency revealed to him the young man's real name. But the encounter with that young man did not stop there. God has revealed the man's good intentions through the words of Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous asked that same young man, while pointing towards a young girl, who was standing nearby, "is this your wife?" At that time, the young man was thinking about getting to know that girl (with the intention of engagement). The young man considered Fr. Faltaous' revealing words about what he was thinking of, as God's voice to him. After a short period of time, the young man married that girl.
Spiritual (mystical) travel
"They will be like angels in heaven" (Mark 12:25). In one of Fr. Faltaous' gatherings with monks, one monk asked him about the hermits, who travel in spirit. Some people confirm their existence and others deny it. Fr. Faltaous responded saying, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). He added: Truly, the entire issue of traveling in spirit is centered around purity in heart. According to the degree of purity in heart, one receives transparency and sees God. There are three degrees of spiritual travelling. The first: is when a person reaches purity in heart, God reveals to him the unseen, like when God said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do" (Genesis 18:17). This transparency grants its recipient the ability to unveil the thoughts of others and the knowledge of things that are unseen. The second degree: a person reaches that second degree when he deepens further in the purity of the heart. That person reaches a stage where he can transfer from one place to the other to perform good deeds, according to the will of God, like healing of the sick or saving a person from some kind of danger or helping a person, who is asking for God's help. The third degree: This is the absolute (mystical) travel, like the one that was reached by great saints like St. Paul of Thebes, the first spiritual traveler (also known as the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, who died 342 AD), and like the spiritual traveler Abou Nefer and other hermits, who traveled in spirit. These saints lived 70 or 80 years without seeing a face of a human being. This degree does not exist now, but the first two degrees exist now. And so with this simple concentrated answer, that is derived from true spiritual knowledge, Fr. Faltaous addressed the opinions that support or deny the existence of hermits who travel in spirit in our present days.
He knows she will die
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. My family came to visit me at the monastery. In the past, each time my family visits, Fr. Faltaous would stop by to greet them. This time, he did not spend enough time with them and wanted to leave. My mother asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for her but he refused and said, "Boula (Paul), the son of your son (your grandson) is the one that should be anointing us and praying for us." And he did not pray for her this time and left. My mother felt unease that Fr. Faltaous did not bless her. She said since Fr. Faltaous did not pray for me then (it means) I will die. After the family had spent the day, they returned back to their village. Around two weeks after this visit, my mother passed away. I received news of her passing and it affected me deeply. A lot of monks came to my cell to offer their condolences. The following day of her passing, it was almost 10 a.m., some monks stopped by my cell to console me. I was telling the monks what happened during my family's last visit two weeks ago, how Fr. Faltaous refused to pray for my mother, and how she felt that she was going to die when he refused to pray for her. As I was saying that, Fr. Faltaous came in to offer his condolences. As Fr. Faltaous stepped inside my cell, his first words to me were, "do you see, my brother, why I didn't pray for her. It is because I knew she was going to die." So one of the monks with us told Fr. Faltaous, why didn't you pray even if she was about to die? Fr. Faltaous said, "that was her wish, had I prayed for her, she might have died in the visitors area while we were sitting there, or die in the car on her way back home. So I told myself, leave her to spend some time with her kids until the time of her passing comes." Before Fr. Faltaous left my cell, he whispered in my ear and said, "she will come to you today and you will see her." He then left peacefully. That night, after midnight, it was almost 1 a.m., I turned off the lights in my cell to rest, and I see my mother in full form in front of me and talking to me. I am unaware how long did the conversation between us last. Then she left and I was in awe. The following morning, Fr. Faltaous came to my cell and told me, "did you see your mother, my brother." I told him, "yes, Father." So Fr. Faltaous was very happy and kissed me and said, "didn't I tell you she will come to you." Fr. Faltaous' knowledge of the passing of the monk's mother two weeks earlier and his knowledge that she will come to him at night, reveal his deep spirituality and transparency.
A marvelous new miracle by Fr. Faltaous
I just talking to a monk at the Syrian monastery, may God bless his life. When Fr. Faltaous' topic came up, the monk told me I will tell you about a miracle that no one yet knows and it is not included in the book written about Fr. Faltaous. I told him, tell me, father, so that I may receive a blessing. There was a woman, who had cancer and refused treatment. She rubbed herself with holy oil that she had gotten from Fr. Faltaous. The woman would pray and tell Fr. Faltaous, "You and your beloved ones will heal me." But her condition worsened. When the doctor saw her, he decided to do an operation to remove the tumor. Nevertheless, she would still talk to Fr. Faltaous and tell him, "I am waiting for you and for your beloved ones." With family pressure, she agreed to undergo surgery. While she was getting ready for the operation, accompanied by the head nurse, she saw three doctors wanting to come into the operation room. The head nurse refused to let them in. The doctors told her, isn't the patient's name is so and so and the patient's age and disease are such and such. The nurse said, yes. So the doctors told the nurse this is the patient they will perform surgery on. The nurse got out fast of the operation room to call the doctor in charge to let him know that there is a number of physicians who want to perform an operation for a patient. After a short while, the doctor in charge quickly came and found the three doctors already coming out of the operation room. He told them, "Can I know who are you, you are not physicians here with us at the hospital." They told him, "We already did the operation, don't bother with it." The doctor turned crazy mad, "Who are you?" One of them said, "I am Mina, and this is Kyrillos and this is Faltaous." The doctor heard strange names. He yelled louder. "I will call security." So Fr. Faltaous responded saying, "Tell the patient, I came with my beloved ones." The doctor did not understand and quickly called security to report them. But in a blink of an eye, he did not see any one of them. May the blessing of the miraculous St. Mina, Pope Kyrillos (St. Cyril VI) and their beloved Fr. Faltaous be with us all.
With his beloved and intercessor His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI
Fr. Faltaous and Pope Kyrillos (Pope Cyril VI) go way back to when Fr. Faltaous was a young boy on a trip to see Pope Kyrillos, who was then Hegumen Fr. Mina el-Baramousy. Before he became a Pope, he was a hermit living in solitude in a cave (Tahouna) near the monastery in old Cairo (Masr al-Kadima) at al-Natron Valley in the western desert between Cairo and Alexandria. Pope Kyrillos gave the young Fr. Faltaous a paper that had a Bible verse written on it, to encourage him to engage in monastic life. Later, Pope Kyrillos assigned Fr. Faltaous to go to St. Mina monastery to help build it. There, Fr. Faltaous went through a trying time by Satan (known as the enemy of good) but Fr. Faltaous was healed with Pope Kyrillos' prayers, who promised him to always be with him. Fr. Faltaous recounted many encounters with His Holiness Pope Kyrillos that reveal the depth of their relationship. We recount only a glimpse of what Fr. Faltaous told us. Fr. Faltaous says the following story. After my return from St. Mina monastery, Pope Kyrillos used to visit me frequently in spirit to make sure I was okay, to encourage me in my spiritual and monastic struggles and to guide and help me in some highly regarded matters. In 1963, while I was in my cell, the door of the (mah-ba-sa) room that was inside my cell was opened. And in front of me I saw my beloved Pope Kyrillos VI. The Pope was holing a Cross that was exhuming light. His face was angelic very shinning. I stood up immediately and performed a metonia (metonia is the act of prostrating oneself completely on the ground, like bowing, then rising again). So Pope Kyrillos told me, "Come my son, let's go to the Church." So I went with him. When we entered the Church, His Holiness bowed in front of God's altar. And I bowed as well. Then His Holiness went towards the relics of saints that are placed inside the Church of the monastery, and said, "We honor those martyrs and saints because of their aromatic life, and their truthful struggle for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for their complete and rooted love for Him. So I performed a metonia (bowing as a sign of humility) and he blessed me, included me in his prayers and then he left. Comment: This happened during Pope Kyrillos life in the body on Earth. And so here we see the greatness and deep spirituality of both Pope Kyrillos VI in his fatherhood approach and high spirituality and Fr. Faltaous in his spiritual son-like approach and spirituality.
This miracle is through St. Fr. Faltaous, who is known to be an intercessor for impossible cases
A young man went to see Fr. Faltaous the Syrian. The man insisted that Fr. Faltaous would go with him to his home because his mother was sick. At first, Fr. Faltaous refused due to his poor health but then he agreed after a lot of insistence by the young man, especially that the mother was not able to move. The man took Fr. Faltaous with him in his car and told him that he will drive him back. They arrived to the house. There was a doctor by the woman's side and she was surrounded by members of her family. Fr. Faltaous started praying for her and suddenly the old woman passed away. The doctor examined her and confirmed her death. Everybody was sad and Fr. Faltaous was very sad that he went to the bathroom and started crying. He said, "Why God did you bring me since you knew she was going to die." He also prayed to Pope Kyrillos and St. Mina, as they were both his closest friends. As he was getting out of the bathroom and on his way to the room, suddenly Pope Kyrillos and St. Mina appeared to him smiling and told him, "Go pray for her and she will come back from death." Indeed, surrounded by people crying, Fr. Faltaous prayed for her and suddenly the old woman woke up. In the midst of joy among all those who were present, the woman said, "I went to hell and Jesus told me, 'I will let you return six months for Fr. Faltaous' sake.' " While everybody was astonished, Fr. Faltaous sat on the floor and started playing with a child's bike that was in the room pretending to be silly due to his old age. May the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous be with us all, Amen.
With the Great Martyr St. Mina the Miraculous
"I call on your name, the honest, the blessed, because your miracles gave us happiness and joy" (a verse of the Praises (Zuksologia) of the Martyr St. Mina the Miraculous).
Dear reader, as you may already know, Fr. Faltaous the Syrian had gone to the monastery of the Great Martyr, St. Mina the Miraculous, to part take in building it (make it flourish). St. Mina appeared to one of the monastic priests there and told him that he will not forget Fr. Faltaous' efforts and love in building/making this monastery flourish. It seems that since that time, a relationship transpired between them and proof of love was manifested in many incidents and miracles. We recount some of them here. The following is one of the stories told by Fr. Faltaous. I went to the monastery of the Great Martyr St. Mina the Miraculous 25 years after my initial service there. I went to the memorial of Pope Kyrillos VI (Pope Cyril VI memorial is located at St. Mina's monastery). I bowed at the site of Pope Kyrillos' body, then I went to the visitors reception area of the monastery. It was 9:30 p.m. I engaged in a spiritual dialogue with some of the monastery's monks that lasted till approximately after midnight. That was without getting St. Mina's blessing yet. Suddenly, I saw the martyr St. Mina standing next to a vertical fan and he was pointing at us to advance towards his relics to receive blessings. I thought it was just a shadow due to the reflection of lights on the fan. So I didn't give thought to what I have seen. And after five minutes, he appeared again but in clearer way this time; as if he was in the body, in a middle of a golden shining area. So I stopped talking and immediately told those around me to come with me quickly to the memorial of the Great Martyr St. Mina to get his blessing; as his appearance twice within five minutes was to alert me of my shortcoming in honoring him. So we all walked towards the section that had his holy relics. Then I saw him standing as if he was waiting for us and after that he disappeared.
With the Great Martyr St. Mina the Miraculous
The following incident happened on a Sunday during Holy Mass. The priest, who accompanies Fr. Faltaous, was kneeling next to him as Fr. Faltaous was reading "The Analysis of the Servants." After the "Analysis" reading was done, that priest got up to take a seat, he saw Fr. Faltaous' face shining. Fr. Faltaous was smiling a wide smile as he was looking toward the door of the Church. The priest felt that Fr. Faltaous was seeing something. So he asked him, "Is there something, Father?" Fr. Faltaous told him, "St. Mina, my brother, he was here and just left. Height and width, his hair parted from the middle. An officer, my brother, an officer."
Healing feet without an operation
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. In 1994, I suffered terrible pain in my left foot. I underwent treatment for two months. Afterwards, I went to Dr. Sobhy Ghattas, who told me that it was essential to remove part of the bones in my left foot. The operation room got booked for the surgery at the Coptic Hospital. On the day of the operation, Dr. Sobhy Ghattas arrived and I was transferred to the operation room. But I refused to undergo the surgery and I insisted on getting out of the operation room. I got out without surgery. Right after that, I went directly to St. Mina monastery and met with Fr. Raphael Ava Mina, the close student of Pope Kyrillos (also known as Cyril VI). Fr. Raphael gave me oil and told me that it was from the hands of Pope Kyrillos. I returned to the Syrian monastery and went to see Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous anointed me with the oil that I got from St. Mina monastery. He asked me about the next appointment I had with my physician. On the day of the appointment, Fr. Faltaous came to my cell and gave me some money. He took the oil that I brought from St. Mina monastery and anointed himself with it, then anointed me with it more than once. He then told me, "Let the doctor do X-rays on you, it is absolutely necessary;" he repeated that sentence more than once. I went to the hospital and did X-rays on my left foot. An expert physician from abroad, who was at the hospital at that time, looked at my X-rays. The surprise that stunned everybody was that the new X-rays were entirely different than the old ones. When Dr. Sobhy Ghattas saw the new X-rays, he said, "this is opposite to what we've learned in medicine. There is nothing wrong with your feet." I went back to Fr. Faltaous and told him what happened. So we both thanked God, who extended His hand with healing with the blessing of the prayers of our father, Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian.
Blessed with offspring
Engineer Girgis (George) Sedrak is a member of the known Sedrak family. He married a dentist and was not blessed with offspring despite being married for a long time. His mother was sad about that. With persistence, the mother asked one of the monastic priests to continuously pray for her son Girgis so that God would give him blessed offspring like the rest of his siblings. When the monk saw how sad the mother was for her son, he took Girgis with him to Fr. Faltaous. The monk asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for Girgis so that God would bless him with offspring. So Fr. Faltaous scheduled an appointment with Girgis for both of them to go to St. Mina monastery, where Fr. Faltaous would celebrate Holy Mass (Liturgy) there. After the Mass, Fr. Faltaous would announce God's will, whether He will bless Girgis with offspring or not. Per their agreement, Eng. Girgis arrived at the Syrian monastery and took Fr. Faltaous with him to St. Mina monastery. After celebrating Holy Mass, Fr. Faltaous revealed God's will that He will bless Girgis with offspring during that year. Indeed, God's will was done and before the end of that year, Girgis' wife gave birth to twins, Marian and Christine. Then God gave Girgis another child, a boy whom he named Mina, with the blessing and prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Fr. Faltaous with St. Abanoub al-Nahisy (4th century martyr from Egypt) and St. Shoura, the young martyr
A priest was spending the 40 holy days of lent before Easter at the Syrian monastery. The priest was exposed to some wars in his thoughts that disturbed him. He went to the abbot (head) of the monastery Bishop Mattheos (Matthew). Bishop Mattheos advised him to visit Fr. Faltaous in his monastic cell. The priest kept knocking on the cell's door but no one answered. To his surprise, he found that the door of the cell was opened. He thought Fr. Faltaous was sleeping inside. He went inside the cell and started calling Fr. Faltaous but no one answered. He got worried and started to search the cell for Fr. Faltaous, fearing something bad had happened to him. But after searching the cell, the priest did not find Fr. Faltaous. So he got out of the cell, closed the door and sat in front of it, waiting for Fr. Faltaous. The priest was thinking to himself, maybe Fr. Faltaous is running an errand and will be back shortly. While he was thinking of that, he was surprised to see Fr. Faltaous coming out from inside his cell. Fr. Faltaous' face was shining and extremely glowing. He reprimanded the priest for getting inside his cell during his absence, according to what Fr. Faltaous said. But the priest insisted on knowing from Fr. Faltaous where he had been and from where did he come. So Fr. Faltaous told him, "My brother, I was attending the feast of the passing of Pope Kyrillos VI (St. Cyril) with the two martyrs St. Abanoub and St. Shoura. Then Fr. Faltaous got a small bottle of oil out of his pocket that had the picture of St. Mina and Pope Kyrillos on it. He gave the bottle to the priest and told him to rub himself with that oil and he will be relieved; and indeed that is what happened.
Healing from allergies in the chest
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. In the summer of 1994, my nephew Mina was suffering from allergies in the chest that made him cough a lot and caused further chest problems. He was admitted several times to Ein Shams hospital, where he would spend the night on a mechanical ventilator to breathe. When I knew of his condition, I went to Fr. Faltaous and told him Mina's story. I asked Fr. Faltaous for a bottle of holy oil to give it to my family but he refused and asked that they come to the monastery instead. So my nephew came along with his father and met with Fr. Faltaous, who prayed for him and anointed his chest with oil. Mina was instantly healed from his asthma that did not reoccur since his visit, thanks to the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Wings (Ovary) Transplant Surgery
A man by the initials A. A. Sh. and his wife A. F. W. recount the following story. For 18 years, God did not give us offspring. During one of our visits to the Syrian monastery, we asked to meet with Fr. Faltaous. But we didn't end up meeting him. We left a written request with one of the monks at the monastery asking him to forward it to Fr. Faltaous. A week later, my wife's brother went and met with the monk, who took our request. The monk told my brother-in-law, "Call your sister and tell her God will give you Mina, and that Fr. Faltaous tells them that he did not meet with them because they had a 'hegab' on them. They must tear it." Fr. Faltaous also sent them Holy oil and pictures of saints. (A 'hegab' is a piece of paper with certain text or prayers written on it. It is physically kept on the individual as a form of protection thought to keep evil away). Indeed, two months after Fr. Faltaous' prayer, the wife underwent an ovary transplant and God was glorified. She got pregnant with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous, may it be with all of us, Amen.
He quits smoking
Mr. Amin tells the following story. I used to smoke a lot, around five packs a day. One of the monks told me, come, let's go see Fr. Faltaous. When I met Fr. Faltaous, he told me, "Do you smoke." I told him, yes. He told me, "I will not pray for you." I felt from Fr. Faltaous words that he gets into myself from the inside without permission. I returned back home from the monastery. And at night, I could not light one cigarette at all. In the morning of the following day, while I was in the bathroom, three circles of strong viscous phlegm, like skin, came out of my mouth. After that incident, I could no longer stand cigarettes at all. In my following visit to the monastery, I went while I was upset from the first visit when Fr. Faltaous did not pray for me. As soon as I entered Fr. Faltaous' monastic cell, we started to talk and he told me, "If you are upset with me, I made you ripe and made you good in front of God. Anyway, if you are upset with me, my fault, forgive me." These words were a knockout for me. Then Fr. Faltaous told us, next time, bring your kids Mina and Maria. And he told the person who was with me, bring the two girls you have so that I pray for them. We never told Fr. Faltaous the names of our kids. Fr. Faltaous told me, "Here, I am praying for you, my brother, and anointing you with the holy oil of Pope Kyrillos (St. Cyril VI); and he anointed me with holy oil. May the blessing and intercession of Fr. Faltaous be with us all, Amen.
A child is healed from leukemia
A monk from the Syrian monastery tells the story of a woman who came to the monastery in 1995, three days before the beginning of Easter lent. Her name was Dr. Mervat. She came with her son Mina, whom she had after 12 years of waiting to be blessed with a child. The monk says, I met with her, she told me six years after the birth of my son Mina, I noticed that he was getting weaker and losing weight. I took him to a physician who told me that my son had leukemia and has six months to live. I had heard of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian and I want him to pray for my son. After hearing the woman's story, I went to Fr. Faltaous, told him Mina's story and how he came to the world after 12 years of waiting. But Fr. Faltaous refused to leave his cell and accompany me to the visitors' area to pray for the child. After my insistence, he got a small bottle of oil, blew his breath in it and gave it to me, asking me to anoint the boy with this oil. I took the oil feeling bad that he did not accompany me to see the boy. As I walked away, my thoughts were judging Fr. Faltaous. I reached the visitors' area and anointed the boy with the oil. I gave his mother a 6 by 9 picture of Fr. Faltaous and told her put the picture under his head along with a picture of Pope Kyrillos until the boy is cured.
The mother left with her son Mina after she had written his name on several pieces of paper which she had placed on all the altars of the monastery. After Easter, in the mid of the holy days of the Khamaseen (Eastertide, which is the period of fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday), Dr. Mervat came with her son Mina to the monastery. I was hesitant to meet her fearing she'll inform me of her son's passing. As I approached, I saw her son standing next to her, his hair grew and he himself seemed to have grown than the last time I saw him. I asked her about Mina's condition. She told me, in the middle of Easter lent, my son told me his hair was growing and his appetite has grown as well. Mina told her that as he was sleeping that night, a well-built big man came by his bed along with a shorter monk. The man wanted to anoint me with oil. I told him, "no, the monk anoints me. The monk told me this can't be. They both held me down and the big man anointed me with oil." The mother asked her son, who was that man, Mina? He didn't know. After that incident, the mother continues, I went to St. Mina monastery and met with Anba Mina, the head of the monastery there. I told him that the oil which I anointed my son Mina with and had cured him, we got from Fr. Faltaous at the Syrian monastery. Anba Mina told me, Fr. Faltaous is a blessed man. Then he told me to go and pray at the memorial for Pope Kyrillos, which is inside the St. Mina monastery, where Pope Kyrillos is buried. When my son Mina and I walked into the memorial of Pope Kyrillos, Mina pointed at the picture of Pope Kyrillos and said, "this is the man who tied me down and anointed me with oil because I was afraid of him." I showed Mina the picture of Fr. Faltaous, he told me, this is the monk who was with that big man." Dr. Mervat resumed her story, after our return from St. Mina's monastery, she said, we went to see the doctor with 12 blood work samples. After the analysis was completed, I was informed that the results came out clean with no trace of the disease. So much so that the (Muslim) physician threw the pen on the desk with astonishment as he was reading the results and said, "I confess that it is a miracle and that there is in Christianity "Awlia Allah" (those who are inherent of God and are in connection with angels possessing supernatural abilities from God)." After, Dr. Mervat told me the story of her son Mina and left the Syrian monastery, I went to Fr. Faltaous and told him what happened to Mina. He was in such joy that Mina was cured. Then he told me, next time do not doubt and do not judge me with your thoughts. I told him, I have sinned, give me the absolution and pray for me. I left glorifying God for His work with His saints.
Brain hemorrhage
The father of Engineers Sobhy and Girgis (George) fell into a coma. He was quickly transferred to Victoria Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. After examinations and scans, they discovered that he was suffering brain hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). The doctors explained to his sons the danger of this condition even after undergoing surgery. The success rate of this surgery is very weak and it will have side effects on the patient. The surgery was scheduled for the following morning. One of his sons discussed the surgery with the professor in charge. The son learned that the hope was very slim for his father's healing. The son took his car at dawn, on the morning of the surgery. He arrived at 5 a.m. at the Syrian monastery and met with Fr. Faltaous. The son explained to Fr. Faltaous, while he was crying, how bad his father's condition was and the danger of the surgery and the bad effect it will leave on his father. Fr. Faltaous was moved too and started crying. Then Fr. Faltaous got a bottle of oil, prayed on it and gave it to the son and said, "Go quickly before they operate on your father and rub him with that oil and I will send you the Queen, the Mother of the King, our Beloved Mother The Virgin Mary." Then Fr. Faltaous said, "After the operation is over, you come to me again to let me know what happened to your father." Engineer Girgis (George) took the oil and returned quickly to Victoria Hospital and before his father got into the operation room, Girgis asked the nurse to rub his father with that oil. So the nurse rubbed his father with oil all over. When Girgis got the chance, he took the oil and marked the sign of the Cross on his father again. The doctors performed the surgery with astonishing success, which caused them to be in disbelief of what happened. When the sons walked into the room after the surgery to see their father, they were surprised by what they saw. They found their father talking and laughing with the doctors and nurses. Then everybody in the room smelled the smell of incense. Immediately when they smelled the incense they were aware that it was a sign of the presence of Our Holy Mother during surgery. After that, Engineer Girgis went to Fr. Faltaous to tell him what happened to his father and they were praising God and His Virgin Mother and thanked our Fr. Hegumen Faltaous.
Healing from a ruptured disk (spinal disk herniation)
Engineer Sobhy is from Sedrak family; he is the older brother to Engineer Girgis (George). This is the same family from the previous story. Sobhy was preparing his luggage to travel from Alexandria, Egypt, to Cairo, Egypt. While he was lifting one of the heavy bags, he suffered a severe ruptured disk that caused tremendous pain. He immediately stayed still due to the intense pressure coming from vertebrae on the nerve. He was not able to move or straighten his back up to its normal position. His back became bent and hunched. His brothers quickly carried him to the hospital. He underwent some examinations and the appropriate X-rays on the back vertebrae. After the examinations and X-rays, the doctors agreed in their report that there was no use of undergoing treatment in Egypt and that it was best for the patient to travel to Switzerland to receive treatment there to avoid complete paralysis. The family was very disturbed by doctors' diagnosis. They started rushing to prepare required documents to travel abroad. When they were done with the appropriate paperwork, they decided to go to Fr. Faltaous at the Syrian monastery to take his blessing before the trip. They all went along with Engineer Sobhy to the Syrian monastery. They faced a lot of difficulty getting Sobhy out of the car and seating him on a wheelchair. Sobhy was screaming due to the severity of the pain. They went to see Fr. Faltaous, who sat next to Sobhy and learned from him what happened. Then Fr. Faltaous held a bottle of oil and placed his right hand on Sobhy's back, where the ruptured disk was. Fr. Faltaous started prayed for more than 15 minutes. While Fr. Faltaous was praying, Sobhy screamed and told Fr. Faltaous, "I feel an electric current, Father, in the place of the ruptured disk in the spinal cord (backbone)." After that, Fr. Faltaous anointed Sobhy with oil and told him, "Stand healed." So Sobhy got out of the wheelchair and stood up. Fr. Faltaous asked him to go down the stairs. So Sobhy did. Then Fr. Faltaous asked him to bow and perform a metanoia (an act of bowing in spiritual prayers as sign of humility, repentance and thanksgiving). So Sobhy bowed to the ground and stood back up. Then Fr. Faltaous asked him to run. So Sobhy ran without any restrictions. Finally, Fr. Faltaous told him, do you feel any pain. Eng. Sobhy said, I don't feel any pain whatsoever. Sobhy was astonished and so were all those who were present. They praised the Lord while they were thanking Fr. Faltaous for the miracle he had performed for them.
The pictures are ruined except
Engineer Awni Saad-allah from Cairo, Egypt, tells the following story. I went to Alexandria with the devout Ibrahim al-Marghani (Abraham al-Marghani) to do some work and take some pictures to complete a report on a maintenance of a huge tank. I took 25 pictures with the camera for the report. On our way back, we decided to go to the Syrian monastery, spend the night there and attend Holy Mass (Holy Liturgy) the following day and receive Communion. Fortunately, Fr. Faltaous was the one presiding over the Holy Mass. During Mass, the devout Ibrahim al-Marghani insisted on taking a picture of Fr. Faltaous with the camera. I told Ibrahim that Fr. Faltaous does not like pictures with cameras and even if you take a picture, you must take permission from him. But Ibrahim did not pay attention to my words and insisted on taking a picture of Fr. Faltaous. When Ibrahim took a picture, Fr. Faltaous noticed and told him, "Don't take pictures." But Ibrahim privately insisted on taking a picture of Fr. Faltaous. During Holy Mass, while Fr. Faltaous was praying, Ibrahim took the picture and the camera flash beamed into Fr. Faltaous' eye. So Fr. Faltaous stopped the prayers and started to reprimand Ibrahim severely and insisted on getting the (negative) film roll out of the camera. I was facing a dilemma because this film roll had 25 pictures pertaining to the work that I was assigned to do. With those pictures I will complete my report. If I bring the negative film roll out of the camera and expose it to light, the pictures will be ruined (turn black due to light exposure verses developing the pictures in a dark lab). I tried numerously with Fr. Faltaous to convince him, using all methods, that we will give him the pictures that pertain to him; or that he takes the film, prints all the pictures and gives us the ones that pertain to my work. But Fr. Faltaous refused every attempt and insisted on getting the film roll out of the camera. So I tried with him one more time. I explained that the film has 25 pictures that pertain to my work and that it was difficult to take those pictures again and that it will cause a problem. I begged Fr. Faltaous and told him that I will get the film roll out of the camera but he has to guarantee that only the pictures that pertain to him will be ruined (turn to black from light) but the ones pertaining to my work will remain intact. So Fr. Faltaous told me, "Get the film out and don't be concerned." I opened the camera in front of him and I got the film roll out and I told him, "What else is requested." So he told me, "Fine, fine, close your camera." I took the film after that and sent it to the lab to print the pictures. I was surprised to find all the pictures that I took at the monastery came out black while all the pictures that pertained to my work were intact with the blessing of Fr. Faltaous.
With the Mother of God the Immaculate Holy Virgin Mary
Fr. Faltaous the Syrian told the following story to one of the monks at the blessed Syrian monastery. Fr. Faltaous said that when he was a young man, he used to work at a store called Sednawy. His coworker was a non-Christian, who used to discuss religious matters with Fr. Faltaous but with strong tension. Fr. Faltaous used to respond with strong confidence which caused that coworker to be very upset. While they were working together, that coworker wanted to forge some paperwork and documents for illegal money gain. But Fr. Faltaous strongly objected, which caused that person to even get more upset with Fr. Faltaous. That coworker was so upset to the degree that one time he threatened to kill Fr. Faltaous. Indeed, in one of those times, that coworker attacked Fr. Faltaous with a pocket knife intending several times to stab him. When Fr. Faltaous did not find a way out, he preferred to jump from the window and let God's will be done. Indeed, Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross and screamed saying, "Virgin Mary" and jumped from the window from a height that was close to four floors. But Fr. Faltaous found himself landing very slowly with a lot of calmness. It was as if someone was holding his hand so that he would stabilize on some of the wood that was carried inside a truck. He fell a distance that was approximately four meters (about 13 feet) until he safely reached the ground, almost in disbelief, without any scratch or injury. When those working with him, including the person who wanted to kill him, saw what happened, they gathered around him and apologized to him. Then they went upstairs to the supervisor, who knew about what had happened. The supervisor gave Fr. Faltaous a reward for his honesty. Since that incident, Fr. Faltaous always asks for the intercession of the Holy Virgin Mary.
A miracle of healing
Side note: The headquarters of the Syrian Monastery is located at a place called Our Lady the Al-Ezbawia. The word Al-Ezbawia means the Pure or the Gentle. The story behind the name dates back to the Holy Family's trip to Egypt. The Holy Family passed through this area when they were fleeing King Herod. It was a field then. A man was sowing (planting) watermelon seeds when St. Josef greeted him. The Virgin Mary asked the man for water. They all drank and as they were resting, the Virgin Mary told the man that they were the Holy Family, fleeing Herod. She told him about the mystery of God's manifestation as Man. The farmer was moved by Her words and his heart was softened by how she talked in a pure and gentle manor. She told the man to sow those seeds and that Herod's men will come the next day and ask about the Holy Family, the farmer should tell Herod's men that the Holy Family passed by this place when he was sowing his seeds. The Virgin Mary told the farmer that by the next day those seeds will become fully-grown watermelons. Ordinarily, it takes three to four months for seeds to grow watermelons. Indeed, when Herod's men came the following day, the field was filled with watermelons. The man told them what The Virgin Mary had said. So Herod's men knew that it must have been three to four months since the Holy Family had passed through this area. So they returned back to Palestine.
There was a pious woman living on Ramsis Street in Cairo, Egypt. One day, she felt very ill. So she went to the headquarters of the Syrian Monastery at a place called Al-Ezbawia. At that time, Fr. Faltaous was residing in Al-Ezbawia in the building section of Our Lady the Al-Ezbawia, which means Our Lady the Pure or the Gentle. The woman told Fr. Faltaous about her illness and asked him to pray for her and anoint her with oil. Fr. Faltaous prayed for her and she was healed from her illness. Years gone by and the woman fell ill again. She went to Al-Ezbawia to ask about Fr. Faltaous but did not find him as his service there has ended and he had returned back to his monastery. The woman returned to her home and continued to pray. She asked for Fr. Faltaous' prayers on her behalf so that it heals her. So Fr. Faltaous appeared to her in a dream and told her, "Come to see me at the Syrian monastery on Saturday." The woman woke up from her sleep and said, "I cannot come to you to the monastery, Father Faltaous, how can I meet you?" After a lot of thought, she decided to go to the Syrian monastery and ask about Fr. Faltaous. When she went to the monastery, she remembered that she knew one of the monks there. So she asked to see that monk she knew. When she met the monk she told him that she wanted to meet Fr. Faltaous. The monk apologized to her and explained how difficult it was to meet Fr. Faltaous. But she told him that it was Fr. Faltaous who appeared to her in a dream and told her to come see him on Saturday. So the monk told her, "I will go and let him know about that." The monk went to Fr. Faltaous and told him what the woman had said. Fr. Faltaous confirmed the truthfulness of her story and went with him to meet her. Fr. Faltaous prayed for her and anointed her with oil. The woman was healed from her illness with the prayers of Fr. Faltaous. She then returned to her home praising God.
He extinguishes a burned car
Dr. Hany Fikry tells the following story. One time as we were returning back from the monastery and Fr. Faltaous was with us, we saw a car burning on the road. Smoke was coming out of the car's engine very densely. We also saw flames of fire coming out of the hood of the car, which was closed. The owners were standing next to their car trying to open the hood but weren't able to. When Fr. Faltaous saw that, he told me, "Stop quickly." So I stopped my car in front of the car that was burning. Fr. Faltaous got out of my car and from a distance he made the sign of the Cross on the hood of the car that was burning. Instantly, the hood of the car opened on its own. Then Fr. Faltaous reached towards the ground, grabbed some dirt in his fist and scattered it on the exterior flames. The fire was instantly extinguished. He then got quickly into my car and told me, "Let's go." While I was getting into the car, just as I closed the door, Marian, the daughter of my friend Josef, screamed in pain as the car's door closed on her finger. So I opened the car door immediately and released her finger while she was in pain. So Fr. Faltaous told Marian, "Give me your hand." She gave him his hand. He blew his breath with his pure mouth onto her finger. After that, she did not feel any pain nor were there any trances of the door's closing on her finger. May the blessing of the prayers of our pure hermit monk Hegumen Faltaous be with us, Amen.
With his prayers, problems are solved
Dr. Hany Fikry tells the following story. When one of my wife's friends knew that Fr. Faltaous was at our home, she gave my wife a paper written in it the names of her two children residing in London, who have been through a lot of distress for several years. They were unemployed for a long time. She also gave my wife the names of her other children residing in Egypt, one of them was suffering from a dangerous disease and the other experiencing problems at work. The woman asked my wife to give the paper to Fr. Faltaous so that he would pray for them. My wife took the paper and when she found the right opportunity, she gave the paper to Fr. Faltaous and asked him to pray for her friend and her children, those residing in London and those in Egypt. So Fr. Faltaous took the paper and put it in his pocket and wished blessings upon the woman. Four days later, my wife's friend called and asked my wife to thank Fr. Faltaous a lot. The woman let my wife know that her sons, residing in London, found work and their problems were resolved. And that her son who was sick, was now completely healed with the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from a herniated disk
one of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. In my early years as a monk, I suffered a herniated disk in the neck. It affected the movement of my hand. Dr. Hany Fikry warmed me that neglecting treatment may lead to paralysis. Some of the monks came to visit me and Fr. Faltaous was with them. They told me, "You have Fr. Faltaous yet you go to see doctors." So I said, "Fr. Faltaous extends outwards, he heals all people but leaves the monks of the monastery." So Fr. Faltaous responded saying, no. He then got a tiny bottle of oil out of his pocket and did the sign of the Cross on it once then he stopped and told me, "Do you see, do you see." So I told him, "See what, Father?" He said, "Pope Kyrillos is doing the second sign of the Cross, here." Then he did sign of the Cross on the oil again and anointed my neck with it. I was instantly healed and the pain of the herniated disk did not return since; all with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from a hole in the heart (atrial septal defect, ASD)
Sameh Malak, the father of the young girl, Maroska, tells the following story. On Nov. 27, 2005, I was blessed with my baby girl Maroska. A week after her birth, we discovered she had pneumonia. After doing X-rays on the chest and heart, it was discovered that she had a hole in the heart. During the suction of the mucus from the chest something happened in the vocal cords that when she cried, we weren't hearing her voice at all. We took her to Abo al-Reesh Children Hospital, where another problem was discovered. The pulmonary artery was widened and it pumped a lot amount of blood in the lung. We lost hope in hospitals so we headed to monasteries and Churches to ask for God's help. In one of our visits, we went to the Syrian monastery. There, we met with Fr. Faltaous, who did not pray for her, and told us that she was not baptized despite no one had told him that she was not baptized. He gave us a bottle of oil. After that, we did X-rays that showed that the pressure on the artery had increased more than before. The operation was scheduled for May 13, 2006. We got our daughter baptized before the operation. On March 24, 2006, we went to St. Bishoy Monastery (in Wadi al-Natrun, Beheira, Egypt, which is located next to the Syrian Monastery). I went to bring Fr. Faltaous from his cell at the Syrian monastery. But I found Fr. Faltaous waiting by his monastery's gate. One of the monks asked Fr. Faltaous whether he was expecting someone or heading towards the valley area. Fr. Faltaous responded saying so and so will be coming and I will be going with him. Indeed, as soon as I arrived to where he was, he initiated the talk by asking me, "where is the sick girl who is with you?" I told him that she was at St. Bishoy monastery. As soon as Fr. Faltaous saw her, he held her head and started praying for her. He then blew his breath in her face and rubbed her with oil. Fr. Faltaous then told us to rub her with oil. I asked Fr. Faltaous about the operation, he said, "No, what operations? She is still young, there are no operations or anything. She will not do it, she will not do it. But you must anoint her with this oil and ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Pope Kyrillos" (St. Cyril VI). When the time of the operation came, the family called the hospital and were told that there were no performance of operations now. They took the girl to the physician, who discovered her condition. When the doctor carefully examined her, he was astonished by the result of the examination. The doctor said, it is indeed a miracle. Today, my daughter is 4-years-old and she did not do any operation. She is, thank God, excelling in everything with the blessing of the intercession of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing and an act of mercy
One of the workers of the monastery was walking in the monastery's farm crying very bitterly. Fr. Faltaous was coming out of the Church after Sunday Holy Mass and saw him. Fr. Faltaous asked the worker the reason behind his crying. The worker told Fr. Faltaous that his mother was sick and needed to undergo surgery and that the family's financial standing was very distressed and does not permit a surgery like this one. When Fr. Faltaous asked about the father, the worker told him that his father had passed long time ago. The worker said that his older brother was still studying. Fr. Faltaous was very moved by the situation of that worker. So Fr. Faltaous asked the worker to go and get a monk, who was close to him. So the worker went and brought the monk back with him. Fr. Faltaous told the monk the complete story of that worker and asked for the monk's counsel regarding how much money should he give that worker. The monk suggested to give what he can. So Fr. Faltaous went inside his cell and gave the worker L.E. 3,000 (Egyptian pounds). He gave him additional money for transportation and another amount as an extra blessing for him. Before the worker left, Fr. Faltaous got a tiny bottle of oil and prayed on it. Fr. Faltaous told the worker to give this bottle to his mother to rub herself with it in the morning and at night and, God willing, she will be healed. The worker traveled back to his village and told his mother and siblings everything that Fr. Faltaous had done with him. He gave his mother the full amount of money that Fr. Faltaous had given him and gave her the oil to rub herself with. Before undergoing surgery, the mother did required analysis and some examinations. The doctor discovered that her condition does not require surgery and that she was completely healed. When the mother found out that she was healed and no longer in need of surgery, she gave her son the full amount of money to return back to Fr. Faltaous. The son took the money and returned back to the monastery and gave it to the monk, who was close to Fr. Faltaous, so that he would give it back to him. The monk went to Fr. Faltaous and took the worker with him to return the money back; since the mother was in no longer need for an operation. But Fr. Faltaous refused to take the money and said, "This money came out from my part for a widow so I will not return it back to me again. Give it to your mother so that she does what she wants with it." So the worker took the money and returned it back to his mother. The mother bought a buffalo and the family lived on proceeds from what they produced and sold from the buffalo, with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing and other things
Rezk Aziz Rezk, from Shibin al-Kom in Monofia city, Egypt, gave the following testimony on camera with his son. I went to the Syrian monastery to see Fr. Faltaous because I had some troubles at home and at work. I own a laboratory for dentures and dental services. The first time I saw Fr. Faltaous was at the visitors area on the second floor of the monastery. He did not want to meet me. He said, "Why are you here, I am not available, come some other time." I got upset and told myself why did Fr. Faltaous treat me that way, I was upset. A monk told me, "We must bear Fr. Faltaous, we can't tell him no. Come next week." I came back to the monastery a week later. I found Fr. Faltaous calling me by name, he said, "Come, Rezk, my son." I told him, "Yes, Father, do you know my name?" He said, "Yes, son, I have been waiting for you for an hour, an hour and a half, here." Then he asked me, "Why are you troubled?" I told him, "I don't know. My life is destroyed. My work is destroyed. I don't know what is wrong with me. I feel lost." He started praying on my head for 45 minutes during which tears were rolling down my eyes. He said, open your mouth, and he blew his breath in my mouth. He then got into the car with me and we went to a canteen (small cafeteria or snack store) outside and he asked me to get him anything that had soda in it. I got a can of soda. He took two sips and did the sign of the Cross on the soda, blew his breath in it and gave me the can to drink the rest. As soon as I drank, I felt my entire body boiling. Less than two minutes later, I threw up a black ball of blood that rolled on the ground in front of us. Fr. Faltaous told me to rest a bit on the ground. I rested on the sand. I felt awakened, tremendous awakening, something I had forgotten my whole life. Thank God. (Rezk got emotional while telling the story, he signaled his son to continue the story. Rezk's son Aziz continues. When dad came back, we felt he was a different person. New. This was not dad who left to the monastery. My father told me that he had offered to do dentures for Fr. Faltaous as a gift. The following week, we went to take Fr. Faltaous' measurements (create model of the jaw). We went back to the lab and prepared some material and came back to the monastery. Fr. Faltaous received us at the visitors' area upstairs. We then went to Fr. Faltaous' cell. My younger siblings were with us. Rezk, the father, continues the story. After my visit with Fr. Faltaous, I returned home a very very very new person. I returned back to my home jumping with joy. I embraced my home, I embraced my wife, I embraced my mother. I told them I have a present for you. I will have you meet Fr. Faltaous, who is similar to no one. The following week, the family came with me to the monastery. I told Fr. Faltaous how I have become a new person and that I wanted to offer him new dentures. Prior to that incident, my laboratory was not working, it would not generate even one (Egyptian) pound. Now, thank God, it generates thousands and thousands. I've never dealt with people like the ones I am dealing with now. I have those who leave a thousand and two and leave. I renovated the lab and everything that is in it. When I shared that with Fr. Faltaous, he said, "So you are okay now, my son?" He told me how dentures cost three to four thousand pounds. I told him I would do it if it costs 20 thousand. So he wrote me a note (for monastery's gate) that permits me to revisit with my family. We were in the midst of working on the dentures in Fr. Faltaous' cell. A visitor walked in to get Fr. Faltaous' blessing and brought with him grinned coffee. I told Fr. Faltaous how the coffee smelled good and that I wanted to have a cup of coffee. So he told my son Aziz to quickly make some coffee for me. Aziz used Fr. Faltaous' pot. I needed a pot to prepare material for the dentures I was working on. So I brought my own pot that was in my car. My mini pot came with its own burner (we fuel the burner with flammable fluid like ethyl alcohol). I had placed old newspapers on the floor to keep it clean while we work. Suddenly my pot exploded. The newspapers caught fire. I couldn't keep up with the fire thinking shall I get this newspaper or that one. Fire was all over. The coffee was spilled everywhere. Fr. Faltaous was sitting on a chair and said, what happened. I told him, the cell is on fire. My son had suffered burns a month earlier so he was already traumatized. My son hugged me and said, 'we'll die together, dad, the entire cell is on fire.' The girls were trapped inside, Aziz was outside. Fr. Faltaous walked inside the fire. He held the newspapers, rubbed them with his hands and the fire went off. He hugged the newspapers while they were burning. Suddenly, we didn't see Fr. Faltaous, we saw Pope Kyrillos (Pope Cyril VI) in his flesh, holding his stick in one hand and a candle in another. Fr. Faltaous was not present with us in the cell at all. Something came in front of my eyes and two seconds later I saw Fr. Faltaous in the middle of the fire and he was extinguishing it. I looked around me for something burned, I didn't find. The towel that was burned in my hand was no longer burned. There were no traces of fire and no trace of my exploded pot. No trace of the other pot that Aziz had used for coffee. Everything was cleared. The only traces left were burns on my right hand, the four fingers and lower arm. I got burned when the alcohol (like ethyl) from the burner fell on my arm while I was attempting to extinguish the fire. The burn created bubbles on my skin. Fr. Faltaous told me, "It's okay, there are still some slight residues that will disappear, with prayers and Holy Communion all this will disappear." Aziz continues the story. When dad got burned, he ran. I was standing next to Fr. Faltaous. I was scared for my dad. Fr. Faltaous told me, "Where are you going. Come here." I told him I want to see dad. He said, "Dad is okay, do not be afraid." As Fr. Faltaous was saying that, he disappeared and Pope Kyrillos appeared holding a stick and a candle. Pope Kyrillos told us, "Why are you afraid. You are not alone. You are not alone." I saw Pope Kyrillos disappeared and Fr. Faltaous appeared again. Fr. Faltaous smiled at me and said, "Did you see who extinguished the fire. Your dad got burned because he had has some things in his heart that must go away but nothing will happen to you. Look at my beard, it is not affected. Nothing will happen to your siblings. Your father will be healed. Do not be afraid." After that, we went to look for the (alcohol) burner that had exploded, we didn't find the burner. The newspapers, that we had placed on the rug and floor, were no longer there, they were reduced to a piece of burned cotton. The cell was as clean as when we first came. Then we found the pot clean and empty and the burner as is next to it. Rezk, the father, continues the story. We smelled incense inside the cell, not the smell of smoke or fire, but incense. Both said together, "No traces of anything at all." Rezk continues, my hair stood on end. I couldn't sleep four, five days from what I saw. Every day, I see Pope Kyrillos in front of my eyes. Every day, I see Pope Kyrillos in one way and Fr. Faltaous in another, at my own home while I was on my bed. The following week, I brought my brother's wife to see Fr. Faltaous. She had a chronic headache. She saw many doctors but of no use. I brought her with me, she was in the backseat of the car in so much pain that she tied her head with several scarves to resist the headache. Fr. Faltaous prayed for her upstairs in the visitors room. The headache was completely gone. Till that day, she did X-rays, analysis and there is no trace at all of any problem in her head.
Healing from pain the spinal cord
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I was working at the grinder where we grind food for poultry at the monastery. One of the workers was going up the stairs to the third floor of the grinder carrying on his back a large bag of corn. The worker lost balance and he almost fell on the stairs with the large bag he was carrying. I quickly attempted to help him and stretched my arm to support the bag of corn; at that moment my back cracked. Since then I could not stand up. The monks, who were present at the time, took me in a car to my cell. I went up my cell with a lot of difficulty and I laid on my back feeling a lot of pain and not able to move. The following day, I went to Hayat Medical Center in Heliopolis (city in Cairo, Egypt). I did the required X-rays that showed pressure on the fourth and fifth vertebrae and a rupture in the ligaments of the spinal cord. I returned back to my cell at the monastery and stayed in bed for 27 days during which I could neither move nor walk except with a lot of difficulty. The treatment did not produce any results at all. I decided to go to see Fr. Faltaous so that he would pray for me. I endured the pain and went to Fr. Faltaous' cell and asked him to pray for me so that God would heal my back pain. Fr. Faltaous prayed for me and anointed me with oil and gave me a bottle of oil to rub my back with. I returned back to my cell. After my back was rubbed with that oil, I felt blood profusely running through my back in the arteries. After that, I did a small exercise that one of the physicians, who visit the monastery, had suggested so that we make sure the spinal cord is in good shape. I did the exercise with a lot of ease and was assured that the spinal cord was in a hundred percent good shape. To get further assurance, I bowed and performed 15 metanoia continuously (the act of bowing to the ground and standing up again to express humility, repentance and gratitude). The bell of the Church rang to signify the beginning of the celebrations for the feast of St. Yahnas Kama (Ninth Century). I went to the Church without any pain and I bowed in front of the Holy Altar and in front of saints relics. I attended the praises that continued till the following early morning. The following day, I saw some workers pushing trailer jars so I helped them and I didn't feel any pain. Since then, I never felt pain in my spinal cord again with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian.
Healing from throat cancer
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. In 2006, I felt pain in my throat that affected my vocal cords. My voice sounded husky (semi-whispered vocal tone or hoarse). The doctor diagnosis was throat cancer, he asked for X-rays, analysis, biopsy and after that, surgery. I got frightened from the operation. After a lot of thought and surrendering my case to God, I decided not to do the operation and let God manage the situation. At that time, I was satisfied by attending Holy Mass (Liturgy) and receiving Holy Communion without part taking in the prayers since I was not capable of talking and had no voice. One day, I went to Church to attend Sunday Holy Mass. After I bowed in front of the Holy Altar and recited 'Our Father' prayer, I went towards the saints relics (located inside the Church) to get their blessings. I found Fr. Faltaous standing next to the section of the Church where saints relics were located. So it occurred to me to ask Fr. Faltaous to pray for me and anoint me with oil from the lamp lit in front of the relics of the saints. When I asked Fr. Faltaous, he strongly refused. After the Mass has ended, I returned back to my cell located in the exterior garden of the monastery. I rested a little. During that time, I don't know whether I was dreaming a dream or saw a vision, I don't know. I saw that I was sitting on a chair in the exterior room in my cell. Pope Kyrillos (St. Cyril VI) was standing on my left. Fr. Faltaous was standing on my right and he was performing numerous metanoias for Pope Kyrillos. (Metanoia is the act of bowing to the ground and standing up numerously as a form of repentance, humility and gratitude). Pope Kyrillos was not doing anything except either laughing or smiling. When I woke up, I found some monks knocking on the door of my cell. They said, "Fr. Faltaous asked us to come to you now because Pope Kyrillos was at your cell a short while ago performing a miracle for you. He had another monk with him." The monks left after informing me of that news. Days later, my voice recovered, I was completely healed and everything in me returned back to normal. So I thanked God and Pope Kyrillos and Fr. Faltaous for healing me.
Healing from chronic headache
A woman by the initials G.F.H. living at 377 Suez Canal St. Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt, tells the following story. Since I was 17-years-old, I used to get severe episodes of headaches. Painkillers were not effective at all with such headaches. About ten years later, the pain had increased till the point that in affected my ability to work as it was accompanied by episodes of throwing up. There was no treatment but painkillers. My husband used to visit Fr. Faltaous. In one of the visits, Fr. Faltaous abruptly asked him, "Why didn't your wife come with you today?" Despite the fact that when I do go to the monastery, I do not go towards the monastic cell of Fr. Faltaous. I wait by the exterior gate of the monastery. Fr. Faltaous told my husband, "Bring her with you next month." And he specified the date, Nov. 28, 1998. So we went on the specified date. My husband went to bring Fr. Faltaous to the visitors area at the monastery but he didn't come back for about two hours during which I got a headache. Fr. Faltaous came, I sat next to him and he prayed for me for about 15 minutes. When he asked me, 'did the pain go away,' I said, yes, despite that it did not completely disappear. But I was embarrassed. So he told me, "Okay, since you are healed, stand to prepare some food." I tried to stand but I could not. So he asked me, "Where is the pain?" He prayed for me for 20 minutes and gave me two bottles of oil and told me, "Rub oil daily." I told him, "One is enough." He said, "No, take two." The following day, while I was sleeping, my young son, he was two-years-old at the time, opened a bottle of oil and completely emptied it on his head and left it empty. So I understood how Fr. Faltaous knew what will happen; that is why he gave us two bottles of oil. Indeed, I continued to use the oil until the headache ended and no longer comes except once every very long intervals of time.
Healing from spinal disc herniation
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I felt severe pain in my back with numbness in the right leg. I could not raise my leg to walk so I used to drag it as if it were paralyzed. I went to the clinic at St. Bishoy monastery. An orthopedic examined me (medical specialist concerned with correction of the skeletal system or bones). After examination, he determined that I was suffering a spinal disc herniation. He advised that I do X-rays on the back and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) so that he can determine which vertebrae were affected by the herniation. Once the monks at the monastery knew of the diagnosis, they stressed on the necessity of doing the required X-rays and examinations that the doctor had asked for. But I told them that I will not go until I meet with Fr. Faltaous. The Holy Passion Week had passed during which I had suffered great pain. I could not sit except on a (certain) chair; that was beside what I was enduring from sadness for not being able to perform metanoia during the Holy Pascha prayers (Easter prayers). (Metanoia is the act of bowing and standing up numerously as a sign of repentance, humility and gratitude). On Easter night, I walked inside the Church and saw Fr. Faltaous sitting on a chair next to the Church's door. I walked towards him and told him, "Your Reverend, you have done a lot of things for me and for many people. Will you leave my back hurting me. I can't stand to pray or to sleep." So Fr. Faltaous told me, "Give me your back, my brother." So I turned my back towards him. He put his hand on my back and started to pray. I felt fire coming out of his hand and getting into my back. He asked me, "Do you feel anything?" I told him, "Yes, pray my Father." He continued to pray and asked me again. I answered the same response. So he told me, "That's it, you are healed." I got out from under his hand walking normally. To be sure of my healing, I got out of the fences of the 'ancient' monastery and I walked a long distance where I did not feel any pain. When I looked around me and did not see anyone, I ran a short distance and I did not feel any pain at all. So I was sure of my healing with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous. I returned once more to the Church and thanked Fr. Faltaous for what he had done for me. One of the monastic priests was next to Fr. Faltaous. So Fr. Faltaous told me, "My brother, I was placing my hand but our father here was the one praying." So that monastic priest next to him laughed and told Fr. Faltaous, "Father, you always deny yourself and let others be seen" (shine).
Healing of an eye's retina
A man by the name of Kamal M.G., living on 3 Awad Ibrahim St., cross street Ahmed Helmy in front of the public transport garage in Bulaq, Shubra district in Cairo, Egypt, gave the following account of a miracle that happened to him with the blessing and intercession of Fr. Faltaous. He says, in the middle of March of 2008, I discovered that I couldn't see well with my left eye. I went to the health insurance clinic and started to receive treatment. But I did not feel any improvement. So on May 31, 2008, I went to another doctor out of the health insurance network. Unfortunately, nothing changed. The doctor asked me to do X-rays and based on the results, I started to receive treatment again. I followed the treatment without any improvement. The doctor told me that I needed to see a specialist in eye retina. Indeed, on June 24, 2008, I went to an eye retina specialist. The specialist gave me a treatment regimen for three months, after which I was supposed to undergo surgery. During that time, I was receiving the blessing of working at the Syrian monastery. On August 8, 2008, I went to Fr. Faltaous and asked him to pray for me. So Fr. Faltaous gave me a bottle of oil and told me, "You will be healed. I want you to rub this oil morning and night. And do not be afraid, there will be no surgery." On August 12, 2008, I went once more to Fr. Faltaous. My eye was in a bad condition. So Fr. Faltaous told me, "Weren't you here on Friday, dear Kamal, and I told you that you will be healed and you will see?" Then Fr. Faltaous gave me a bottle of oil again and told me anoint yourself with it morning and night. Indeed, I did what Fr. Faltaous told me. A day before the appointment of the consultation, I was sitting on my bed and thinking of Fr. Faltaous. I was asking for his intercession to have God show tenderness for me and that I see with my eye and that I do not be in-need of someone next to me while I walk in the street. I suddenly fell asleep for five minutes. When I woke up, I discovered that I could clearly see with my eye. I went to the eye retina doctor, who was following my case. The doctor told me I will not need an operation. I only need a medical eye glasses. Till that day, I move alone, thank God, for blessing me with the intercession of our beloved Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian.
The healing of the child Daniel
Daniel Khalil was three and a half years old. He was suffering from chronic inflammation in the chest, throat and tonsils. Despite having removed the tonsils and the adenoids, when he was a year and a half old, in the hope that it would stop the inflammation. But that's not all. His eyesight was weakened that it reached negative 3 in both eyes. He was late in talking in comparison to those of his age. In addition, he suffered side effects due to the adenoidectomy surgery he had undergone and he was supposed to undergo the same surgery again. They then discovered water behind his eardrum. Doctors have examined his eardrum and did an audiometer. Daniel saw a specialist who prescribed treatment for him. But his condition did not improve. The doctor gave Daniel cortisone but with all that there still was no improvement in Daniel's health. When Daniel's mother knew that Fr. Faltaous was present at Al-Hayat Hospital, she took her son to Fr. Faltaous. The mother asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for her son before he undergoes surgery. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for Daniel and anointed him with oil. That night, Daniel's temperature rose to 40C degrees (104F). The mother called the doctor and told him about the rise in temperature. The doctor decided to delay the operation ten days until the child's condition is stabilized and the temperature drops. Two days after meeting Fr. Faltaous, the mother noticed improvement in Daniel's hearing ability and in his talking ability. She went to the doctor at his private clinic and asked him to reexamine her son. The doctor was surprised and asked if anything new had happened to the child that prompts a reexamination. After the mother insisted, the doctor obliged and reexamined Daniel. They did a new audiometer for him. The doctor discovered noticeable improvement in Daniel's condition that he decided to cancel the operation. Daniel's condition was stabilized and his health improved with the prayers of our Father, Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian.
Healing a child from intestinal obstruction
Ahmed is an 11-year-old child. He lives with his family in the United Arab Emirates. His family went to Cairo to spend their summer vacation there. During their stay, Ahmed suffered an intestinal obstruction. He was transferred to Hayat Hospital. He underwent surgery and Dr. Raouf Gindi was aware of the case. Despite the surgery, there was no improvement in his condition during the week he had spent at the hospital following the operation. On the contrary, his condition worsened. The doctors had to do X-rays again on Ahmed's stomach to observe his bowel movement. The X-rays showed obstruction in the intestines. During the X-ray procedure, Fr. Faltaous happened to be present in the radiology department by coincidence in order to do some X-rays. The intestinal obstruction was once more confirmed and the doctors had decided that it was essential to perform a second surgery. Some of the workers in the hospital saw how worried Ahmed's mother was especially after this news. So the workers offered to have Fr. Faltaous put his hand on Ahmed's head and pray for him, if the mother did not mind. The mother immediately agreed. So Fr. Faltaous prayed on the child's head. Ahmed returned to his room at the hospital. After a short while, he started to throw up a black-colored substance. Then he went to the bathroom, started to defecate himself and discharged gas. The intestines started to function in their natural state. Consequently, Ahmed became in no need for a second operation. That incident was a cause of happiness for Ahmed's family and all physicians in the hospital. Then, Ahmed's mother went to Fr. Faltaous in his room to thank him for the healing her son thanks to Fr. Faltaous' prayers.
Healing a monk from spinal disc herniation
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I had a spinal disc herniation that caused me a lot of pain. I also suffered from sciatica. I could not move except with a lot of difficulty. Fr. Faltaous sent one of the monks to ask me to go see him and take him somewhere with my car. I apologized (declined) and let the monk know about the severe pain I was suffering from in my back. The monk went back to Fr. Faltaous and told him what happened. But Fr. Faltaous sent him to me again. The monk came again to my cell and told me, "Fr. Faltaous tells you that it is absolutely necessary that you go to him even if you come leaning on a cane (supported by a stick) and he will heal you." So I apologized to him once more. The monk returned back to Fr. Faltaous and let him know that I wasn't coming. Fr. Faltaous called me through the internal telephone lines (of the monastery) and he insisted on having me go to his cell. I explained the pain I was enduring. But with insistence he told me, "It is absolutely necessary, listen to what I am saying, and I will heal you." So I had to obey him. I got out of my cell with a lot of difficulty to go to his cell. I spent almost an hour traveling the distance that usually takes no more than five minutes. When I arrived at Fr. Faltaous' cell, he held a bottle of oil and leaned it towards his right as if he was leaning it towards a saint standing next to him to bless it. Then he emptied all the bottle in his hand and rubbed my back with the oil. I felt extreme heat running through my back and I did not feel any pain. Then I got out of the cell with my father, Fr. Faltaous, and we got in the car. He told me, "Drive fast, hit potholes so that you test your back, my brother, so that there would be no more pain." We hit on our way three potholes and I did not feel any pain at all. Since then, the pain had not returned and I was healed with the blessing of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from osteoarthritis of the knee
A man, who wants to become a monk, at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. My mother suffered osteoarthritis of the knee and it caused her a lot of pain. I took her to a known physician. He gave her treatment but her condition did not improve. So she asked me to take her to see Fr. Faltaous at the Syrian monastery. We went together to the monastery. We asked some monks about Fr. Faltaous. Some told us that it was difficult to have Fr. Faltaous leave his cell to meet someone, while others told us that Fr. Faltaous gets out of his cell when he feels someone needs prayers. Five minutes after our inquiry, we saw Fr. Faltaous getting out of a car with one of the monks, who was helping him (some monks in the outdoor distant cells use cars to move). We went to talk to him. I asked him to pray for my mother. So he got out a bottle of oil and blew his breath in it and with the oil, did the sign of the Cross on her right leg. After our return from the monastery, my mother did not feel any pain in her knee and was completely healed with the prayers of Fr. Faltaous. Two years later, my mother felt osteoarthritis in her left knee. We went to a physician, who examined her. She told him that she had previously suffered from this knee, she was mistaken. The doctor asked to see the X-rays she had done two years ago. When he saw the old X-rays, he told her that they were for the right leg, which was in a 100 percent condition. The doctor suggested that we go to the physician who healed the right leg. We told him that it was Fr. Faltaous who had healed that leg. So he suggested that we go to Fr. Faltaous to heal the left leg as well. May the blessing of the prayers of our Fr. Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian be with us, Amen.
Healing arched legs
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. My sister gave birth to a baby girl called Marina Halim, born with a birth defect. Her two legs were arched. When she turned three, her parents took her to a known physician in Aswan, Egypt. The doctor recommended two operations, that involve breaking the bones and applying a cast for each leg separately. Before undergoing the operation, the family decided to visit monasteries to receive blessings. I met with them when they visited the Syrian monastery. When I learned about Marina's condition, I was very moved and decided to go to Fr. Faltaous to have him pray for her and anoint her with oil. When I explained to him her condition, he refused to come with me to pray for her and he did not give me a bottle of blessed oil. The following day, the family came with Marina and sat in the outward reception area at the monastery. During that time, Fr. Faltaous walked in at the visitors' area. I asked some of the monks, who were close to Fr. Faltaous to ask him to pray for Marina and anoint her with oil. When they asked him to pray for the little girl, he agreed. The mother quickly grabbed her daughter and brought her to Fr. Faltaous. He brought out a bottle of oil and holy water (lakan). Fr. Faltaous prayed for the little girl then he anointed her with oil. Afterwards, the family left. On their way back, the family saw some physicians in Cairo, Egypt, to have them examine their daughter. They then returned back to Aswan. Few days after their visit to the monastery, they informed me that their daughter was healed with the prayers of Fr. Faltaous. Marina is now a student in high school.
Healing from brain tumor
Engineer Nagah Agabi Nasr from Shubra el-Kheima, Qalyubia governorate in Egypt, tells the following story. A miracle has happened with me and God was glorified through the hands of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian. In November of 2008, after doing a lot of analyses and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), it was discovered that I had brain tumor. It caused me unbearable headache. I completely lost hearing in my left ear due to the tumor. The symptoms started to worsen that I could no longer work. I saw a lot of specialists and consultants including Dr. Adel Hussein al-Hakim, Dr. Magued Ali al-Hefnawy in Zagazig city, Dr. Mohamed Tawfik Hosny at the armed forces hospital. All of which concurred that it was an absolute necessity to perform surgery to remove the tumor. The side-effects of the surgery were dangerous. They would include cutting the seventh nerve responsible for movement of the face, paralysis and permanent blindness. The suggested solution was to perform a Gamma Knife treatment so that the tumor becomes friable. On May 20, 2009 I underwent surgery. Right after, my headache unbearably increased. I had double vision and my condition worsened. A friend advised me to go visit Fr. Faltaous and ask him to pray for me. Indeed, on December 22, 2009, we visited the Syrian monastery. Fr. Faltaous prayed for me, anointed me with oil and told me, "May God heal you." After my return from the monastery, one week after this prayer, God was glorified. I no longer had headaches nor the double vision. I resume my work naturally till this day. May the prayers of our beloved father, Hegumen Faltaous be with us, Amen.
Receiving Holy Communion
with solitary hermits and desert mystics who travel in spirit
After advancing in age, Fr. Faltaous was no longer able to walk on foot from his isolated cell, that was located in the exterior garden of the monastery, to the Church. He wanted to attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion particularly on Sundays. He coordinated with one of the monks to give him a ride with his car from his cell to the Church. On one of the Sundays, the monk arrived with his car to Fr. Faltaous' cell at exactly 5 a.m. per their agreed upon appointment. Fr. Faltaous got out and sat in front of his cell and started to dwell on different topics with that monk as if he wanted to hide something. So the monk told him, "Fr. Faltaous, it's 5:30 a.m. already" So Fr. Faltaous told him, "Wait a little while, my brother." Then he resumed his strange conversation. So the monk told him once more, "Father, it's quarter to six already." When Fr. Faltaous saw that there was no escape, he told the monk, "Listen my brother, I drank water (customary one should fast before Holy Communion), you go, my brother, you go." The monk told him, "Father, why don't you say so from the beginning. You already prayed and received Communion with monastic priests who travel in spirits." When Fr. Faltaous heard that, he left the monk and entered his cell without responding, not even with one word; as if he were endorsing his statement.
Healing from cancer
A man had cancer in his foot. His hair fell from chemotherapy treatment and radiation. After receiving treatment for a while, the physicians in Cairo, Egypt, decided to amputate the leg. The man became disturbed and sad from the amputation decision. He decided to visit the monasteries to receive their blessings. He arrived at the Syrian monastery and met with Fr. Faltaous. The man told Fr. Faltaous how the doctors have decided to amputate his leg and that he would never be able to walk on it again. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for him, anointed his feet with oil and told him, "Do not be afraid. They will perform the operation but they will not amputate the leg." The man left and went to a doctor, who was not Christian, in a hospital in the city of Tanta, Egypt. He told the doctor about his disease and about other doctors' decision. The doctor consoled the man and told him, "I will perform the operation for you without amputation." The doctor decided against amputation despite reports, from all the doctors the patient had seen in Cairo, which stated that leg amputation was the only solution. The doctor scheduled a date to perform the operation. He did the operation in two hours only instead of the expected five hours. The doctor came out of the operation room after surgery saying, "This is a miracle. What I saw is a miracle. It was not my hand that was working." After surgery, the patient returned to his home and was completely healed. His hair grew like before and he returned to normal with the blessing of the prayers of Hegumen Faltaous.
We would like to share something Fr. Faltaous had said
Fr. Faltaous said, "During Holy Mass, the Church is filled with angels, martyrs and saints, and we have to consider that." One day, Fr. Faltaous was presiding over Holy Mass (Liturgy) at the Virgin Mary Syrian Church. As usual, he used to pray quickly. However, something strange happened when he reached the "Commemoration of Saints," the part where names of martyrs and saints are mentioned and praised. This commemoration reflects the unity of the Church between those who are on earth and the departed. During that Holy Mass, everyone in attendance noticed how Fr. Faltaous started to pray the part of the commemoration of saints very slowly. So much so that the time he had spent praying the 'commemorations' was almost equivalent to the time spent in praying the rest of the Holy Mass. When the Holy Mass was over, one of the priests, who were close to Fr. Faltaous, and was present with him in the Holy Mass, asked him about the reason he was extremely slow during the "Commemoration of Saints" prayers. So Fr. Faltaous told him, "My brother, every time I mention a name of one of the saints, I see him passing around the holy altar. So I was praying slowly so that he won't run quickly." Truly, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). And he who sees God must see His angels, martyrs and saints. This is what our beloved Fr. Faltaous the Syrian reached and lived.
Expelling a demon from a young lady
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I was working at the monastery's ancient gate. The visitations were very limited. One day, a young man came and asked about Fr. Faltaous, during which I heard loud screams coming from the visitors' reception that was in the outer part of the monastery. After a short while, I heard Fr. Faltaous talking with one of the visitors outside the monastery's ancient door. The young man, who was asking for Fr. Faltaous, went to talk to him. By the end of their conversation, the young man told Fr. Faltaous, some mercy, can't you hear her screams coming out of the reception. Fr. Faltaous told him, take me first to the cell. During every attempt from that young man to have Fr. Faltaous pray for his sister in the reception, Fr. Faltaous would respond saying the same thing, take me first to the cell. This back and forth was repeated more than ten times. Then Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross three times towards the reception while saying three times, if there is something in the reception, let it go away. Five minutes later, I saw the young man return with an empty bottle, asking me to fill it with Holy Water. I asked him about his sister. He informed me that she was healed and cleansed from the evil spirit and she calmed down.
Healing of a boy and his father
Azer Morcos (Mark) tells the following story. One night, my son Marco woke up from his sleep screaming. My wife and I rushed to his side. We found his face blue, his nerves very stressed and he could not move his legs or hands. Tears were rolling down his eyes but he could not open his eyes. We quickly brought the oil that Fr. Faltaous had prayed upon. We had it at our home and we anointed Marco with it. As soon as we asked for Fr. Faltaous' intercession, Marco instantly started to get better. He stopped the intense crying, the color of his skin complexion started to return back to normal and his nerves calmed down as if nothing happened. May the blessing of the prayers of our beloved Fr. Faltaous be with us all, Amen. This miracle happened weeks before Fr. Faltaous' passing. About ten days after writing this message, I suddenly felt severe pain in the lower left part of my back. I could not move or hold anything with my hand. In the beginning, I did not give any attention to that pain, but it started to reoccur frequently. I felt that pain, at least, twice during an hour and each time the pain increased that it got my back and I could not move except after a while. I recalled Fr. Faltaous' oil that we had. I brought the oil and rubbed the area that was in pain while doing the sign of the Cross. I asked with faith from God to heal me from this pain with the blessing and intercession of Fr. Faltaous. And indeed, God heard me and the miracle happened. It was as if the pain was a thorn that was retrieved from my body without me feeling it. Till that day, I don't feel any pain in my back.
With his prayers, the motor starts
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I was doing agricultural work in the land near Fr. Faltaous' cell. We had an artificial canal, three meters deep, where water gathers at the bottom. We use that canal to water the land in desert lands. I was with another worker and we tried to turn on a motor that pulls the water from the canal. We tried to turn the motor on but the motor wouldn't start. There was a pile that runs inside the canal. The worker jumped inside the canal to clean the top of the pipe. We did all required preparations but still the motor wouldn't start. During that time, Fr. Faltaous came and asked us to water the farm in front of his cell. We told him that the motor was not working. He left us and started to walk back and forth while praying. Five minutes later, Fr. Faltaous came back and told me, "Turn on the motor, my brother." I told him that we tried several times to turn it on and it didn't work. But he said, "Turn it on this time." So I obeyed him and went to turn the motor on, and instantly, the motor started. Thanks to the prayers of our father, Hegumen Faltaous. I asked Fr. Faltaous, how did the motor work. He told me, "My brother, I have a personal relationship with Jesus, the Lord."
He heals a monk's finger
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. After my admission into the monastery, I was assigned agricultural work. There was a manual tractor, a "Blanco." It was heavy, hanged on a huge iron pipe in front of the workers' area. After we finished work, we wanted to pull the tractor down. So I climbed a ladder and one of the monks was standing at the bottom of the ladder. As I stretched my arm to let the "Blanco" loose, the monk accidentally pulled the chain. My finger was between the chain and the "Blanco." The chain scraped the skin off my finger. I was in severe pain. I quickly went to the monastery's clinic. They cleaned the wound and wrapped it with bandage. I was still in so much pain that I could not lower my hand downwards to its normal position. I held my hand upwards over my head in the attempt to reduce the pain. One night, I went to Church during the blessed month of "Kyahk" (Coptic Orthodox month of preparation for the Feast of the Nativity, Dec. 10 - Jan. 8). My finger was causing me severe pain. Fr. Faltaous walked in during the "praising" prayers. When he saw that I was in pain, he told me, "What is the matter my brother?" I told him what happened. So he held my finger that was covered with bandage and he started to circle his hand around it three times, and then told me, "That's it, there is no pain." And from that moment, I did not feel any pain at all; with the blessing of the prayers of our father, Hegumen Faltaous.
He knows what happens in the same day at the same hour
A young monk had just joined the monastery. Few months after his admission, his family came to visit him. The family brought his niece Christine with them, who was four-years-old at the time. The little girl was very attached to her uncle the monk. She told him, "Either you come back home with me or I stay with you here at the monastery." Fr. Faltaous had been sitting with the family when the little girl was saying that. When Fr. Faltaous heard her, he told the monk, "This girl loves you very much." Two years after that incident, at noon on a Saturday, that monk saw Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous asked him, "Your niece, who was crying and wanted you to go back home with her, or she stays with you at the monastery, how is she doing?" The monk replied, "She is doing well, Father." Fr. Faltaous went about his way. The monk was surprised that Fr. Faltaous was asking about a little girl. He was even more surprised that Fr. Faltaous recalled in his mind what happened two years earlier. A week later, that monk's family came to the monastery. The monk asked them about his niece, Christine. They told him that she almost got hit by a bus. It was on that Saturday at noon, when she was coming out of her school, she dropped her scarf, when she ran to pick it up, the bus almost hit her. When the monk learned the details, he found out that the incident happened at the exact day and time when Fr. Faltaous had asked about his niece Christine.
Neither Appendix nor anything
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. One day, I came down with a fever and felt pain in my back and on the right side of my stomach. The pain lasted from 9 p.m. till 11 p.m. It calmed down for a little while then the pain strongly resumed. This time it was accompanied by profuse sweating. My face turned pale that those around me noticed. They called a priest physician, who was responsible for the clinic at the monastery. He came quickly. When he examined me, he suspected that it could be the vermiform appendix and there is a possibility that it explodes. They took me to the hospital and did an ultrasound (sonar). When the specialist saw the results, he decided that it was vermiform appendix and that it should immediately be removed. I asked the priest physician at the monastery to postpone the operation till tomorrow so that I show the test results to another physician, who was following my case. Indeed, I got a second opinion and that other physician concurred that we must operate immediately. The operation was scheduled for the following day. During that time, Fr. Faltaous was at the hospital undergoing some analysis. I went to his room and asked him to pray for me and told him, "Father, I have appendicitis and I will undergo an operation tomorrow." So Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross on my stomach and said, "Neither appendix not anything." I had faith in his word and did not return to see the physician. I never did the operation and the pain never returned till that day.
Healing from a hole in the heart (atrial septal defect, ASD)
Nabil Zaki tells the following story. My son, Tony, was born with a birth defect in the heart. We took him to several doctors, including Dr. Adel Said, who told us that the internationally acclaimed physician Dr. Magdi Yacoub was going to be present at one of the heart specialty hospitals. So we went to the hospital and booked a medical examination for Tony. During that time, we visited the Syrian monastery and, through one of the monks, met with Fr. Faltaous . We asked Fr. Faltaous to pray for my son, Tony, so that God would heal him. So Fr. Faltaous prayed for Tony and asked us to do some X-rays. He also promised that he will pray for him when we visit him again. After we returned back from the monastery, we did the X-rays at al-Hayat Medical Center in Heliopolis, Cairo. We took the X-rays with us to Fr. Faltaous, who prayed for Tony with a lot of intensity. Fr. Faltaous then asked us to do X-rays again and that we come visit him after 15 days. This time, we decided to do the X-rays at Dar al-Fouad Hospital. We booked a medical examination with one of the heart specialists there. After the doctor had examined Tony and saw the old and new X-rays, he decided that there was no need to undergo an operation. And that Tony's heart condition was very assuring. The doctor advised that we visit him once a year only to follow up. Tony has grown older now and he is in very good health with the prayers of Fr. Faltaous the Syrian.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT, blood clot) in the right arm
Nabil Zaki recounts the following story. My cousin suffered a blood clot in her right arm. It was decided that she would undergo a very delicate surgery in her arm. I took her to the Syrian monastery and we met with Fr. Faltaous. He prayed for her, anointed her with oil and asked us to come see him again and he specified the date of our next appointment with him. When we came the next time, he prayed for her and anointed her with oil. After our return from the monastery, we saw her treating physician. The doctor decided that her condition had tremendously improved and that she no longer needs surgery. She now enjoys good health, her arm was completely healed with the blessing of the prayers of Hegumen Fr. Faltaous.
Instant healing
Soad Nazir Mikhael (Arabic for Michael) from al-Rakakena, which is in the city of Girga, Egypt, tells the following story. In December of 2007, I went to Church on a Sunday. Right after I returned back home and had breakfast, I felt severe pain in my left side. I started screaming from the severity of the pain. My family took me to Dr. Emad Shohdy in Girga. The doctor told me that it was a stone that had moved from the kidney to the pelvis. The doctor gave me an injection to reduce the pain but it did not help at all. A friend called Samaan (Simon) came to see me. Samaan had Holy Water with him, a bottle of blessed oil and a piece of apple, Fr. Faltaous had given him as a blessing. Samaan told those present, "give her from the Holy Water, but she must say, 'give us your blessing Fr. Faltaous.' Rub the area where she feels pain with oil; and have her eat the apple." The people who were present told Samaan, "She cannot hold anything in her stomach; throwing up constantly till the point that she cannot bear drinking water." So Samaan told me, "Don't be afraid, drink and eat and say (ask for) Fr. Faltaous' and Pope Kyrillos' blessing." As soon as I drank the Holy Water and rubbed my stomach with the blessed oil, the pain totally disappeared as if nothing had happened. The news had spread and people started asking for the oil and Holy Water that heal instantaneously. May the blessing of the prayers of Hegumen Faltaous and his intercession protect us throughout all the days where we are strangers here on earth, Amen.
The expiration date has passed
One of the brothers, who love visiting Fr. Faltaous, came one day to the monastery. Fr. Faltaous told that brother as he was greeting him, "You want me to die." The man was very surprised and denied saying, "Me, Father?" So Fr. Faltaous told him, "Yes, you want me to die. Shall I show you how you want me to die? Get the cartoon box from the car." The man went quickly to his car and brought a cartoon box that he had bought from a grocery store with cans inside to offer to Fr. Faltaous. Fr. Faltaous opened the box and got the cans out. He showed the man a can and told him, "See the expiration date written on it has passed." The man took the can and read the date only to find that indeed the expiration date written on the can has passed. He apologized to Fr. Faltaous and let him know that he had just bought them from the grocery store before coming to the monastery. So Fr. Faltaous asked the man to throw them all in the trash bin. That man was in awe at the high level of transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
The loaf of bread
Maurice Francis, who lives at 30 Mohamed Ouf St. al-Agouza, Giza, Egypt, used to visit Fr. Faltaous at the Syrian monastery every month. He missed the appointment of the visit for two months. He longed to see Fr. Faltaous and get his blessing so he decided to go see him. On his way to the monastery, he stopped by one of the booths that sold bread and bought two loafs without knowing why he did this. He arrived at the monastic cell of Fr. Faltaous, who asked him how he was doing and how his wife and daughters were. As Maurice was talking, Fr. Faltaous asked him, "Do you have two loafs of bread. Some monks will visit me shortly to eat and I don't have bread." So Maurice went to his car, brought the two loafs and gave them to Fr. Faltaous. How did Fr. Faltaous know that Maurice had specifically two loafs of bread with him. It is indeed the high transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
Even if you give birth 50 times
Maurice Francis married a good wife, he was blessed with three daughters. Each time the family visits the Syrian monastery, they would meet with Fr. Faltaous and take his blessing. The wife would ask Fr. Faltaous to pray for her so that God would bless her with a boy but Fr. Faltaous would refuse. The wife continued to ask Fr. Faltaous with insistence for eight years and he would refuse. When Fr. Faltaous got bothered from her insistence, he told the husband, "Your wife asks me a lot with insistence for a boy but I would like to tell you, if she gave birth 50 times, it will be a girl." After this meeting, the woman got pregnant and gave birth to her fourth daughter as a confirmation for what Fr. Faltaous had said.
Travelling to the United States
Maurice Francis and his wife were accustomed to taking Fr. Faltaous' advice in everything, big or small. One time, Maurice told Fr. Faltaous that he wished to visit the United States. But Fr. Faltaous told him not to go. Maurice told him that it was only for one month and that he would return. But Fr. Faltaous refused saying, "No, no." That was in 1989. A week later, Maurice went to the American consulate to get a visa but his request was denied. Maurice attempts were repeated around five times. Each time his request for a visa was denied. Maurice says, one time in 1992, when I visited Fr. Faltaous, he told me, "Do you want to travel to the United States?" I told him, "Your reverence did the necessary and the consulate did not give me a visa." So Fr. Faltaous told me, "Go to the consulate and no one can ever deny your request." Indeed, I went to the consulate and got a visa very smoothly and travelled to the U.S. like Fr. Faltaous had said.
Healing of a child's eyes
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. A Coptic Orthodox family living in Italy came to visit the Syrian monastery. They asked to see Fr. Faltaous to get his blessing but he wasn't present at his cell. So they went about their way. As the family was in front of the monastery's ancient gate, Fr. Faltaous sent a young monk, who told them, "Fr. Faltaous tells you, come you Italy people upstairs in the visitors' reception area." They went to the reception and Fr. Faltaous prayed for them. Then Fr. Faltaous told their little son, "What is wrong with your eye, what is wrong with your eye." He prayed for the boy and anointed his eyes with Holy Oil. After their visit, their son started to feel pain in his eyes that the mother thought that this pain was due to the oil that Fr. Faltaous had used to anoint the eyes. After the family returned to Italy, they took their son to see a doctor. The doctor examined the eyes and told the family that their son was going to lose his eyesight and that a miracle had happened. They left the clinic with certainty that what happened to their son was due to the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD deficiency) also known as favism
My little girl had G6PD deficiency since birth, where she is not allowed to eat certain legumes or nuts. During one of our visits to Fr. Faltaous, he asked a monk with him to bring my daughter some nuts and he told her, "You have Favism, right? eat these nuts." When my wife and daughter came out of Fr. Faltaous' cell and told me what happened, I was so happy and said the girl is healed and that we had to do analysis again. After a while, we did some analysis and the results looked very good. But when I told the doctor that my daughter had G6PD deficiency, he told me that I should redo the analysis in the same lab that discovered the disease in the first place. Indeed, we did the analysis in the same lab and the results looked great. The doctor at that lab asked us if we did any blood transfusion for the girl, we told him that we did not. So the doctor said that we should redo the analysis again after few months and if we still get the same result, then this must be a miracle. Indeed it was.
Healing a worker from a snake's bite
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. One day, I found one of the workers called S. Y. wiggling from the severity of pain and saying that his arm was going to fall off from the pain. I learned from him that he was carrying a load of alfalfa and felt something biting him. We took him to the clinic, where he lost consciousness. His face turned yellow and his pulse slowed down. The priest responsible for the clinic started saying that the man was dying. He gave the young man salt solutions. After a short while, the worker started to regain consciousness. But he was in a lot of pain. So I left him in the clinic and went to see Fr. Faltaous at his cell to ask him to pray for the young man. Fr. Faltaous asked me to bring the worker to him. Indeed, I brought the man to Fr. Faltaous. The worker told Fr. Faltaous that he felt his arm boiling like fire and that it was causing him severe pain. Fr. Faltaous put his hand on the young man's arm and started to pray. He then asked the young man about the pain, the man said that it was now restricted to a small area. As Fr. Faltaous prayed, the pain was being restricted until it reached a spot. The worker pointed at that spot so Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross and put his thumb on the spot where there was pain and so the pain completely disappeared. Fr. Faltaous gave the worker some juice and food. The young man drank and ate as if nothing had happened. May the blessing of Fr. Faltaous' intercession and prayers be with us. Glory be to God always and forever, Amen.
Saving a person from a horrific accident
I once went to the Syrian monastery to serve there and stopped by Fr. Faltaous' cell so that he would pray for me. I had a paper with me with names of people who are asking for prayers. Fr. Faltaous kept telling me, bring the car, where is the car. Indeed, I had a small car but I did not come to the monastery with it this time. So Fr. Faltaous told me, "It's fine, it's fine, go, go, you will get out of it safely, you and those who are with you." That conversation was on a Friday. On the following Sunday, I was riding with someone in my car. On our way, right after I bypassed a light, the car started turning on one wheel, flipped upside down and ended up on the divider in the middle of the street. We got out of the car and were surprised to find the car windows detached and laid on the pavement. We did not have a scratch on us. Due to the horribleness of what happened, the car roof was crushed to the seats. So much so that when the traffic officer saw us, he said, this scene is not possible, it is not possible for a cat to come out alive, not just humans.
The healing of a worker from a headache
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. One day after Sunday Mass, one of the workers at the monastery had a terrible headache that he took 12 painkiller pills. He had a reaction and started throwing up. I went to see Fr. Faltaous, told him about the worker and asked him to prayer for him. Fr. Faltaous declined with his surprising humility and told me, "You pray." I stressed that the worker had taken 12 painkillers. So when Fr. Faltaous heard that he said, "bring him to me, my brother." I came back with the worker. Fr. Faltaous started praying for him for more than half an hour. The headache was gone and the worker had a talk with Fr. Faltaous, who seemed to know about things that were going on in the worker's life, that he was surprised by Fr. Faltaous' transparency. May the blessing of Fr. Faltaous' prayers be with us. Amen.
Healing from a feet plantar wart
My mother was suffering from a plantar wart in her feet and she had diabetes. The doctor could not treat her feet. We went to the hospital and were told that she must undergo surgery. We had visited the Syrian monastery before going to the hospital. At the monastery, I left my mother at the visitors' area and went to see Fr. Faltaous at his cell but was embarrassed to ask him to pray for my mother. When I was with him, Fr. Faltaous told me that they had brought beans to him that he didn't like and that he has to go to the visitors' area to eat beans from there. So we both walked to the visitors area, where he met my mother. He prayed for her and blew his breath on her feet. With a Godly miracle, few days later, the plantar wart disappeared without any surgery. May the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous be with us. Amen.
Healing a disabled girl
Fr. Faltaous was spending few days at al-Hayat Medical Center for treatment. While he was in his room, he heard someone calling for help and crying in the room next to him. He quickly went to the adjacent room and found a disabled girl, who did not walk. The girl was in a lot of pain. Fr. Faltaous prayed for her and rubbed her legs with oil. He held her legs with both his hands and tried to straighten them. After about half an hour of prayers and oil, the girl was healed. Fr. Faltaous told her, "Go on little girl, walk." So the girl got off her chair, stood on her feet and moved normally. Fr. Faltaous then went back to his room. After a short while, her mother, who was a nurse, walked in to find out from her daughter that the priest in the adjacent room, had prayed for her and healed her. So the mother went to Fr. Faltaous in his room and deeply thanked him.
Healing after haemodialysis (dialysis)
An accountant A.S.A. recounts the following story. I visited Fr. Faltaous to ask him to pray for my sick daughter. He gave me a tiny bottle of oil to anoint her with it. With the grace of Jesus Christ and Fr. Faltaous' prayers, my daughter was healed. During one of my visits, Fr. Faltaous told me, "give this bottle of oil to your sister." I thought he meant my daughter so I asked him. He responded saying, "to your sister." My sister had indeed been admitted to the hospital on the same day, she was in a dangerous condition. She had undergone a haemodialysis twice. I found out about that on my way to the monastery but I was embarrassed to ask Fr. Faltaous to pray for my sister as well. When he brought it up, I told him, indeed, Father, my sister had gone through such and such. So Fr. Faltaous told me, "don't worry, your sister has nothing." Indeed, she got out of the hospital and did not undergo a haemodialysis again. She is now in a very good condition, thank God.
Healing from a herniated disc
A man recounts the following story. My wife had a herniated disc at the neck and back. We went to see Dr. Karim Nabil Masoud, who asked for a CT Scan and magnetic resonance imaging. After we were done, we went to see Fr. Faltaous. He prayed over a bottle of oil and told us to come see him in three days to let him know what happened. Indeed, the pain of the herniated disc disappeared but the pain in the neck was still there. When I told Fr. Faltaous, he told me, "you only mentioned the back." So Fr. Faltaous wrote on a piece of paper, "increase the oil for the neck." He gave me the paper and told me put this paper on the bottle of oil. Indeed, God was glorified in his saints, the pain disappeared with the blessing of our Father Hegumen Faltaous.
Healing a patient from Hepatitis C
One day in 1994, a family came to visit the Syrian monastery. The dad had hepatitis C in a deteriorating stage and was enduring a lot of pain. The family walked to the exterior reception area to rest, where they met Fr. Faltaous. They asked him to pray for the patient. Fr. Faltaous prayed for him and anointed him with oil and told him that Pope Kyrillos will come to him at night and heal him. Indeed, what Fr. Faltaous had said happened. The dad was completely healed from his disease. On the first Sunday during lent, which was a week later, they came to the monastery rejoicing that the dad was healed. They thanked Fr. Faltaous, who with humbleness and selflessness gave credit to Pope Kyrillos VI.
Healing a man with many evil spirits (La-Genoun)
A man came to Fr. Faltaous and had many evil spirits. He was roaring like a lion. The man tried to attack Fr. Faltaous, but Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross so the man stopped in his place. He then told Fr. Faltaous, "you are my beloved." Fr. Faltaous said, "none of you loves us" and he did the sign of the Cross. So the man walked out of Fr. Faltaous' cell backwards, with his back first, all the way until he reached the gate. Fr. Faltaous continued to pray for him in his cell until the man's friends came to Fr. Faltaous and told him that the man got completely healed, with Fr. Faltaous' prayers.
Healing from a deep vein thrombosis
A man called S. M. from the Marag area in Cairo, Egypt, recounts the following story. I had a deep vein thrombosis in my leg that I used crutches to walk. I was visiting the Syrian monastery and went to see Fr. Faltaous. I asked him to pray for me so that my leg would heal. So Fr. Faltaous placed his hand on me and prayed for me. He then gave me a bottle of oil and asked me to anoint my leg with it. He assured me that I was going to heal. When I came out of Fr. Faltaous' cell, I left the crutches and walked without them, with the blessing and intercession of Fr. Faltaous.
Healing from cancer
Sh. Y. from al-Khesous, Egypt, recount the following story. I got testicular cancer and had an operation but I was not healed. The doctors advised me to undergo another operation. I got really down and decided to turn to God. I went to the Syrian monastery where I met with Fr. Faltaous. I asked him to pray for my healing. So he prayed for my healing and anointed me with oil. After I returned from the monastery, I had X-rays done and the required analysis. The results came in that showed I was completely healed from my disease. I thanked God, who healed me with the intercession of Fr. Faltaous.
Breast cancer
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. My sister had breast cancer. She had undergone a mastectomy (surgery to remove the breast tissue) and had sent a message with someone to ask to see me. Before traveling to see her, I went to Fr. Faltaous and asked him to pray for her so that God would complete her healing. When Fr. Faltaous knew about my trip, he gave me a bottle of oil and told me, "Give it to your sister and tell her to rub herself with it three times a day." When I arrived home, I gave my sister the bottle of oil and advised her to rub herself with that holy oil three times a day while saying, "With the prayers of Fr. Faltaous, God, heal me." She started doing what I advised her to do. Thank God, she is now in good health with the blessing of the prayers of Fr. Faltaous.
You will remain a brother to us
A. S. from Mit Ghamr, an area in el-Dakahila Governorate in Egypt, recounts the following story. I was seeking to become a monk so I joined the Syrian monastery, where I worked in the sales department responsible for products produced by the monastery. As I was working, I saw Fr. Faltaous outside the store so I hurried towards him and kissed his hand. He told me right off the bat, "Monasticism is not your path, don't be upset because this is the will of God." He then resumed saying, "You will remain a brother to us." He then gave me a book about Pope Kyrillos VI and prayed for me saying, "God is everywhere, and with you." I went back to my work, weeks and months have passed, where I experienced many trials. With everyday, God's will was exposed with clarity. Finally, I decided to return to the world. But I still frequently visit the monastery and my fathers, the monks.
How are you, doctor
A woman by the name of Marihan tells the following story. I went with my family to the Syrian monastery, where we met with Fr. Faltaous. When we approached to greet him, he told me, "how are you, doctor." So we all laughed. Those who were with me told Fr. Faltaous that I was still a student in high school studying literature and got bad grades. Fr. Faltaous told them, "she is a good student, and God willing will become a doctor." Years have passed. I passed my final exam in high school and was admitted to the faculty of commerce, business administration section. During my years at the university, I was always the first on my class. I was appointed as a teaching assistant. I am now pursuing my Master's and on my way to the doctorate degree, God willing. What Fr. Faltaous told me many years ago came true.
The picture is in the cell
A monk at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. One of the monks drew an oil portrait of our beloved father Fr. Faltaous. The monk left the portrait in his cell, inside his prayer room, called Mah-ba-sa, which is an interior room inside the cell where monks pray. One day, that monk met Fr. Faltaous, who told him, "my brother, you placed my portrait in your prayer room?" didn't you, brother." But how did Fr. Faltaous know about that. It is the high level of transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
You are a teacher
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I remember the day I was admitted to the Syrian monastery, and wore the blue robe. I met Fr. Hegumen Faltaous the Syrian as he was coming down the stairs of one of the buildings, where the monks lived. I greeted him and he told me verbatim, "You are a new brother, you look like a teacher, are you a teacher." I didn't know him then nor have I heard of his name before or met him at all. I was surprised by what he said. How did he know that I used to be a teacher, who submitted his resignation, before joining the monastery. No doubt it was the high transparency that Fr. Faltaous had.
With his beloved and intercessor His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI
"One day I didn't have any money and I needed to buy few things. So I started praying, asking Pope Kyrillos to send me something to manage my affairs. After two or three days, one of my dear brothers visited me and offered me L.E. 10 (Egyptian pounds) as in a form of a blessing. I refused to take it despite my need. Two days later the same brother came to me and told me, "Father, Pope Kyrillos came to me in a dream and told me, give this money to Fr. Faltaous and tell him that I am the one who sent you." So I took the money from him and thanked God and thanked my beloved and intercessor Pope Kyrillos VI for his taking care of me even in my financial matters." Note: this incident happened after Pope Kyrillos' passing.
Your arm is healed
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery recounts the following story. I was badly injured in my arm and it caused a lot of pain. I went to the doctor right way. The doctor wrapped my arm with a bandage and advised me not to move it or take the bandage off before 21 days. I was accustomed to taking the route that faced Fr. Faltaous' cell. While I was walking in that path, I met Fr. Faltaous. He asked me what was wrong with my arm. I told me the doctor advised me not to move it or take the bandage off before 21 days. So Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross on my arm with the Cross he was holding and told me, "No my brother, take it off, take it off, that's it, it is healed." I went about my way and did not listen what he said. Two days later, I met Fr. Faltaous again. He told me, "Go to the doctor, let him see you arm and take the bandage off." This time I left Fr. Faltaous and went to the doctor, who found my arm healed with the blessing of Fr. Faltaous.
He gets blessed with offspring
Makary Gheith, Hegumen Kozman, Hegumen Girgis (George), Hegumen Ibrahim al-Basit (Abraham the Simple) from the area of Maghaghah in Sharonah island in Menia governorate, Egypt. In 2004, I got married and spent three years without being able to have children. We went to several doctors and got treatment with no use. On July 2, 2006, I went to the Syrian monastery and met with Fr. Faltaous. I asked him to pray for me so that God would bless me with good offspring. Fr. Faltaous prayed for me, anointed me with oil and said, "God willing may He gives you offspring." I left him with complete faith and trust in his words to me. After exactly 35 days, my wife got pregnant. My son was born on July 21, 2007. I went to baptize him at the Syrian monastery, where I met Fr. Faltaous again and he blessed the child.
Dig 1.5 meters deep into the ground (about 5 feet)
The Syrian monastery assigned some monks the mission to find the body of Bishop Salama believed to have been buried inside the Forty Martyrs Church (al-Arbaeen Shaheed Church) at the monastery. The fathers dug a meter deep (3.2 feet) under the ground inside the Church but did not find the body they were expecting. They decided to fill the hole back, close it and stop the prospect of finding the pure body of Bishop Salama. During that time, Fr. Faltaous met with Bishop Metawos, the head of the Syrian monastery. Fr. Faltaous told him, "Your Reverence, dig 1.5 meters in and you will find the body buried 1.5 meters deep into the ground." Indeed, when they resumed digging, they found the body 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) under the ground like Fr. Faltaous had told them. They got the body out with extreme honoring and placed it at a special compartment inside the Forty Martyrs Church (al-Arbaeen Shaheed Church) at the Syrian monastery.
Restoring the water in the well
One of the monks at the Syrian monastery tells the following story. I used work in agriculture next to the monastic cell of Fr. Faltaous. One day, as we turned on the engine of the well that was next to Fr. Faltaous' cell, we were surprised to see a form of soil residue (Tafla) coming out of the well in large quantities along with the water. During that time, Fr. Faltaous was taking a walk in front of us outside his cell, walking back and forth. So he asked me and said, "What is it brother, what's going on." I told him the well excretes residues. Fr. Faltaous told me, "That's a bad omen." I told him, "Do the sign of the Cross over it, Father." So Fr. Faltaous did the sign of the Cross on the well and asked the worker to turn the engine on. The water came out pure without any kind of turbid (muddy liquid) whatsoever. Since then, the well has been working naturally with the blessing of the prayers of Hegumen Fr. Faltaous.
You will give birth on the 19
The wife of Engineer Yohanna Mofeed Youssef (John Mofeed Joseph), who lives at 28 al-Lewa (Lieutenant) Hassan Kamel St., Miami, Alexandria, Egypt, tells the following story. During my pregnancy, I saw Fr. Faltaous in a dream holding a paper written on it, "You will give birth on the 19." Days went by and what I saw in the dream came true. I gave birth to our beloved daughter Verona on the 19th of the month. But I was exposed to severe danger during labor. After the birth of my child, we went to see Fr. Faltaous. We told him about what I had seen in my dream. So Fr. Faltaous told us, "The issue, my brothers, there was going to be an ambulance involved." Meaning, the life of the mother was in danger. For that Fr. Faltaous came to me in a dream to assure me and let me know the day I will go into labor.
Your father will go to heaven
A monk tells the following story. After the passing of my father, Fr. Faltaous did not come to my monastic cell to offer his condolences like he did when my mother had passed, despite the strong relation Fr. Faltaous had with my father. This made me doubt, was my father in paradise or not? That thought pressed strongly on me at midnight. In the morning of the following day, Fr. Faltaous was in the cell of one of the monks. He sent someone to ask me to go see him. When I walked in and greeted Fr. Faltaous, he told me, "Do not be afraid, my brother, your father is in heaven, your father is in heaven." I was amazed when he surprised me and exposed what was going through my mind at night. I then became aware that it was the high transparency that Fr. Faltaous had that made him know what goes on in the thought.
Fr. Faltaous recounts in this video the following stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak_TK1qWZyE
* Fr. Faltaous tells the following story. It was extremely cold. I had only one blanket, it was a very light one. I didn't like to take a heavy blanket with me so that I don't fall into deep sleep, that way I get cold at night and so I wake up to pray. I used to have another blanket but I gave it away. One day, as I was sleeping, someone came by and said that he was the devil. I asked him, who are you? He said he was the devil, just like that. I told him, what do you want. He said, "You think you are something," and he kicked me with his shoes in the side of my body. He pulled the blanket off of me and threw it away. He said, "If you truly have faith, you shouldn't use a blanket. There should be no rest, do you understand." I told him, "This is none of your business" and I did the sign of the Cross over him. He fled. I spent 15 years like that.
* I would only eat once at sunset. On Sundays after Holy Mass, I would go to the mountains right away, without talking to anyone. I would spend my day in a cave and return by 5 p.m. I spent years like that. Not sitting with anyone. Whether it was lent or not, I would fast.
* I was once wandering in the mountains, an hour or two. I met one of the Desert Fathers, a hermit, ascetic, who lived in solitary in the desert and wanders in spirit, called in Arabic, "Sowah." I had bread crumbs and some water on me in an earthen pot. I left the food and water aside and started praying. I met that desert father, who told me, "You walked a lot, why is that." I told him, I am lost for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. He told me, "Come, let's go." He wrapped the coat around my shoulder and took me to the top of the mountain. I asked him, where was he taking me. He said, "Come, so that you take the blessings of the desert fathers. He then carried me up the mountain. The height of the mountain seemed to be 70 meters (about 230 feet). The mountain seemed to extend downwards from where we were three kilometers, about 1.8 miles. I then found a Cross tied and someone praying from afar. I asked the desert father who that person was. He told me he was one of the desert fathers. He will host you and he left me. I held a rock and started knocking with it, and calling, hello, hello, can you hear me. The desert father came out of a cave. He looked like a skeleton. His eyes were sucked inside his face as if he had suffered hanging. He was filled with bones, his hair fell. He was like a skeleton due to hunger. He fasts and goes for weeks without eating. He asked me, where are you going. I told him that I wanted to walk a little. He said, walk few kilometers and come back as I will offer you dinner. I was happy that the man was going to feed me. I told him fine. I walked a good distance and returned back. I found a cave and I sat in it to rest. I suddenly saw the desert father standing in front of me. He told me, "Let's go so that you get a bite to eat. There is a great distance between you and the monastery from which you came. You ate nothing from the morning. Come, so that you would eat something." He pulled me by the hand, and I found myself in front of his cave. I told him, I will not eat one bite until you tell me what your name is. He said I am Abdel Thalouth al-Habashy (translated to "the servant of the Trinity" the Ethiopian). He was Ethiopian but he spoke good Arabic. He told me that he will bring some bread for me. It was very strange. It is such a long distance from any monastery, I thought to myself, where did you get that bread. I didn't want to ask him. I held the bread, it was a thick loaf, tender like lettuce and warm. Does he have an oven. He is a solitary desert father living in the mountains. I was astonished. The desert monk told me, "I will serve you but do not touch the bread." I said, alright. This bread is a blessing. He then brought honey, a plate filled with white honey that you see your face in it. He dipped the bread in honey and fed me in my mouth. He ate with me. It was 3 p.m. I asked him, how often do you eat. He told me that he eats once a week. I thought to myself, what is that, once every week. The angels bring him honey. He looked at me and said, "You should go back to the monastery." I told him, I cannot walk my feet is inflamed, swollen. I will stay with you here. He laughed and said, "You cannot stay here. You cannot overcome them." He stretched his arm and told me, "Don't be afraid, a light will come out of my arm that will transport you to your monastery in minutes." I then found myself carried by the wind, my robe strongly moving, my feet not touching land, until I reached the monastery's southern garden. I was very exhausted. I held the pot of honey and started drinking honey, I finished half of the water that I had on my in my earthen pot and I slept till the morning.
* I was once lost in the mountains. I had no bread on me or anything. I walked a long distance praying. I then asked God to protect me from all evil but I didn't ask for food or drink. The angel, who was with me knew that I was hungry and that I wanted to eat. So he took me to a route in the mountains, deep inside, it was very far. I entered a cave and the angel told me that it has gotten dark now and that I should stay in that cave until morning comes and he disappeared. The cave was small in width but five meters deep (about 17 feet). I didn't stumble on anything. The next day, I woke up in the morning and found two baskets, one carried water and the other had bread inside. The angel told me, "Eat that bread and here is the water." The bread was large, not like the bread baked at our monastery, it was like a baguette. I ate two pieces and was satisfied. The water tasted like honey. I told myself, I should stay here forever, if the conditions are like that. I will not go back to the monastery then. I spent days walking in the mountains, praying my psalms and sleeping in the cave. I spent a week like that, a week. Back in the monastery, I learned that Bishop Metawos, the head of the monastery, asked where did he go. They told him, "He didn't return, what can we do, he got lost in the mountains." I would pray in the morning and towards the end of the day, I would eat two pieces of bread, drink the water and sleep. I would walk in the mountains all day long. I had an "Olga" watch on, it was 10. I prayed intensely and said, "Lord Jesus Christ, I want to be by the monastery's door by 10 sharp. My feet is swollen and I cannot walk anymore. As I'm saying this, I looked and found someone standing behind me. I asked him, who are you? He said, "I am Maximos, Domadios' brother. You love us. Let's go, because we will return you back to the monastery. It is Saturday night and His Grace, the Bishop, will preside over the Holy Mass tomorrow and you will be praying with him." I told St. Maximos, I cannot walk. He said, "I will carry you." He carried me from my waist. In minutes, I saw the fence of the monastery in front of me. I stretched both my hands up in front of me, fearing my nose would hit the fence (laughing). He was fast. When we arrived, I told him again, who are you? He told me, "I told you, I'm Maximos." He is Domadios' brother, they love me very much. After that St. Maximos disappeared. I saw one of the monks at the monastery, who asked me what was going on and what made me disappear for days. I told him, I was wandering in the mountains and that God had sent me bread and water. The monk told me don't repeat that so that His Grace, Bishop Metawos, doesn't take any action against you.
* One of the monks, who used to live here at the Syrian monastery, was a saint. He was in charge of the monastery's gate. He once told me that he will spend three days at the top of the monastery, and wanted me to bring him some food by 3 p.m. He told me, do not forget me, Father. As he was praying, he had a visitor, who came to see us here at the Syrian monastery, a hermit monk and desert father, who wandered around. There was a huge rounded ring at the top of the monastery. The desert father knocked on this ring. So when our resident monk saw him, he offered him some lentils, rocca greens and bread. The desert father asked the monk to leave him as he finds it inappropriate to eat in front of him. When our monk left, the desert father started to pray standing up all night long. When the monk came back, he found the food from the day before intact. He asked the desert father why didn't he eat. The desert father said, "I like fresh food. Take this away and bring something fresh." The monk told him, alright. The monk threw the lentils away and brought fresh dishes with some greens and bread. He then told the desert monk that was all what we have in terms of food, that we are monks. He left the food and came the following day only to find the desert monk with his hands up still praying. The monk told him, eat, my father. The desert father told the monk, "We cannot eat unless we pray." The monk told him, you have been praying for 48 hours. The desert father said, I still have one more day to go. The desert father stayed three days with the food in front of him but didn't taste it. The third day, the monk heard a voice, he looked up and didn't find the desert father. The wanderer hermit left, he fasted for three days and left without eating the food.
* Fr. Louka (Luke), was one of the monks at the Syrian monastery. He wandered in the desert, where he lived with two solitary monks in the mountains. They lived in a cave near St. Anthony's monastery. As they arrived at the cave the first day, they prayed, "God, are you going to leave us without food." The two monks stood up to pray. They then found a bag of flour next to them. Fr. Louka was good at this, he baked three big loafs of bread and by the end of the day they ate dinner. The two monks told Fr. Louka, "Stay with us here, don't go back to monasteries." He said, alright. They were next to a cave on the way to the monasteries of St. Anthony the Great (Antonios) and St. Paul (Boula). There was a body of water they used to drink from. When Fr. Louka passed away, the body of water dried up. Since then, the other two monks left that spot and no one ever knew where they went.
* For seven years, Fr. Louka, of the Syrian monastery, was in charge of the Holy Bread here at the monastery. He was a hermit, who led a very ascetic life. His bones were popping due to lack of food. He loved to serve and work. Bishop Tawfik told him to go visit Bishop Mina in Girga, a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Fr. Louka went and stayed there for two months. Bishop Mina predicted that Fr. Louka will become a solitary monk, who would wander in the mountains. For seven years, I would tell him, 'Good morning, father. Good morning.' He would answer back, "Good morning" and that's all he said, for seven years.
* I used to put a rock in my mouth so that I don't speak. I took the permission from my priest and asked for his blessing. Every Sunday, after the Holy Mass, I would put a rock in my mouth and I hurry to the mountains.
* There is secrecy surrounding desert monastic communities because they do not like people to talk about them. They resigned from this world and live in solitude. When temperatures rise, they go to Ageeba, a place about 28 kilometers west of Marsa Matrouh, west of Alexandria by the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. They stay in a rock in the middle of the sea. They have an altar and they pray there. They stay in a cave engraved in a rock inside the water so that no one would come near them. There is a monk amongst them, he is 130 years old, very old. When he prays, angels hold him, otherwise he falls. Fr. Tadros, who passed away, told me that there was a 12-year-old boy. Fr. Tadros went to the boy's father in the city of Girga and told him, 'Your boy is meant to be with us in the mountains.' The father told him to ask the child. The boy agreed to live with the desert fathers but said that he wanted to come Sundays, Mondays and Fridays back to Girga's Church. They agreed. After a while, the boy told his parents that he wanted to stay with the holy saints. The monks took him and consecrated him by bestowing upon him the honor of wearing the Eskeem, which is a Coptic leather Cross worn across the chest, part of a rite of ordaining monks. They would feed him once at night, a bite as small as the bite of a mouse along with some rocca greens. They had him wear the Eskeem at 12 years old, like St. Shenouda, the head of desert fathers, who wore the Eskeem at 7 years old. That 12-year-old boy is still alive, I can't reveal his name. If I do, he will get upset from me. This consecrated the boy or that young saint, who was dedicated to serve the 130-year-old man. He lifts him up and brings greens to him from the cell that is near the city of Damanhour in Egypt. He would bring green leaves, wash them and gives them to the old man; and eats only from a Saturday to a Saturday.