Saint Athanasius
Coptic Orthodox Church
St. Hedra, Bishop of Aswan, was raised and taught the fear of God since an early age by his Christian parents. When he was eighteen years old, his parents wanted him to marry one of his relatives, but he refused with the excuse that he was ill. That morning he went to church early, prayed with the congregation asking the Lord Christ to reveal to him, through the readings of the scriptures, what His will for him was. He heard what comforted him.
When he left the church, he saw the coffin of a deceased
person who was carried and on his way to the cemetery. He walked
among the mourners, talking to himself saying, "Listen Hedra, it is
not this one that died but you yourself who died to this futile
world." When they arrived at teh cemetery and buried the
deceased, he did not go back to his home but joined the monastery
and lived among the monks. When his family and friends heard of
what he did, they went and told him, "In so doing you have brought
grief to us and have saddened your fiance's heart." They added,
"You can worship God in any place you desire." When they failed
to change his mind, they went back with grief-filled hearts for his
departure. Henceforth St. Hedra went on in intense worship,
asceticism, continuous fasting, uninterrupted prayers, and
numerous metanias. He lived during the years of St. Poemen and
became his disciple. St. Hedra was guided by Anba Poemen's
teachings and his good example.
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