Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Apologia: Author's Preface Chapter 3 Introduction: The Monastery as an Enclosed Society; The Copts in Egypt; How the Moslems View the Copts and Their Monks; The Fieldwork Chapter 4 Sacrifice in a Historical Perspective: Non-Western Rituals; Biblical/Coptic Sacrifice Chapter 5 Desert Spirituality and Its Symbolic Location: The Monasteries in the Desert; Where Angels Led Them; Desert Asceticism Chapter 6 The Origins of Coptic Monasticism: Byzantine Exploitation and the Emergence of Desert Monks; Coptic Monasticism as Cultural Opposition Chapter 7 Monasticism in Egypt's Modern Era: British Influence; Contemporary Monastic Revival; The Patriarch Enthroned in Exile Chapter 8 Deir Dwellers: A Moment in the Deir; The Monks; In Their Own Words Chapter 9 Forming the Monastic Persona: The Spiritual Father Chapter 10 Behavioral Embodiments of Value: Desert Poetics; The Monastic Regimen Chapter 11 Coptic Culture and Monasticism: The Orientation of Prayer; The Validation of Worship; Coptic Liturgy; Monastic Prayer and Sacrifice; The New Adam Chapter 12 Transcendence of Time and Space: Times Sanctified by Fasting; The Space of Sacrifice Chapter 13 Conclusion Chapter 14 Epilogue: Ethiopian Monasticism: The Issue of Numbers; Grim History; Asceticism; The Ark of the Covenant Chapter 15 Notes Chapter 16 Glossary of Coptic and Liturgical Terms; Bibliography: Cited and Consulted Works Chapter 17 Author Index Chapter 18 Subject Index

About the Author

Father Mark Gruber, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Saint Vincent College.