Venerable Dorotheus of Egypt, the Desert-Dweller (4th century) — September 16 / September 29 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, September 16 according to the Julian Calendar (September 29 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Venerable Dorotheus of Egypt.

Venerable Dorotheus, the Egyptian desert-dweller, was born in Egypt, in the region of the Thebaid. For more than sixty years he labored in asceticism in the desert of Scetis, on the western bank of the river Nile. In his youth, Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis — the author of the famous “Lausiac History” — was a disciple of the venerable father and preserved for us his recollections of the saint.

Father Dorotheus lived a life of strict asceticism. After prayer, in the scorching heat of midday, he would go down to the shore and gather stones to build cells for other desert-dwellers. At night the blessed one wove baskets, and by selling them he earned his daily bread. The food of Venerable Dorotheus was bread and the meagre plants of the desert, and he ate only once a day. The saint never lay down to sleep; only at times would he doze off while eating or working.

Once the venerable father sent his disciple to fetch water, but the disciple came back with an empty vessel and said that he had seen a serpent in the well and that the water was poisoned. Then Dorotheus himself went to the well, made the sign of the Cross over it, drank, and said: “Where the Cross is, the devil is powerless.” The blessed desert-dweller reposed in peace at a great old age (4th century).