Venerable Anubius the Confessor and Anchorite of Egypt
4th–5th century
Also known as Anubius the Ascetic
An Egyptian who confessed Christ under torture in the persecution and afterward withdrew to the desert, where with a few brethren he lived a life of such concord that they were of one mind and one soul.
Feast Day
June 5
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Our Venerable Father Anubius the Confessor and Anchorite of Egypt
Life
Anubius, also recorded as Anoub or Anoubius, was an Egyptian ascetic of the late antique desert tradition who lived across the 4th and 5th centuries. He first came to notice as a confessor: during the persecutions of Christians in the 4th century he endured torture without renouncing his faith, and afterward bound himself to a rule of unbroken truthfulness, holding that one who had once confessed the truth should never again let a falsehood pass his lips.
Having survived the persecution, he withdrew into the wilderness and settled in Scetis in Lower Egypt, where he gathered a small community of brethren. He is remembered above all for the concord of that household and for his connection to Poemen the Great, with whom by some accounts he shared blood kinship. His sayings, preserved in the early monastic anthologies, made him a standing example of self-accusation and detachment from praise and blame.
Timeline 3 moments
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4th centuryConfession under persecutionDuring the persecutions of Christians, Anubius endured torture for the name of Christ without renouncing his faith. He survived and thereafter held to a vow that no lie would pass his lips, since one who had confessed the truth ought not to utter falsehood.
After the persecutionWithdrawal to the desertHe retired into the wilderness of Scetis in Lower Egypt and established a small skete, living with a few brethren in such unity that the sources describe them as of one mind and one soul.
Late lifeRepose at ScetisBy tradition, three days before his death he was visited by the desert-dwellers Cyrus, Isaiah, and Paul, to whom he recounted his life; he then reposed in peace. He died in the second half of the 5th century.
Contributions & Legacy
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Community and kinship
The synaxarion records that Anubius lived with a small group of monks in concord so complete that they were of one mind and one soul. Several accounts name among his brethren Poemen the Great, the celebrated abba of the Egyptian desert; the Wikipedia tradition counts Anubius as one of a set of blood-brothers that included Poemen, with Anubius the eldest in years and Poemen the elder in monastic authority.
A saying attributed to Poemen describes their shared life: they lived together in complete unity and unbroken peace until death broke up their association. This portrait of unbroken peace among the brethren is the feature for which Anubius is chiefly remembered.
Teaching and traditional accounts
Anubius is preserved in the early monastic literature as a teacher of self-accusation, non-judgment, and equanimity. By tradition, after robbers destroyed their skete the brethren sheltered for a week in the ruins of a pagan temple, and Anubius each morning threw stones at a statue there and each evening asked its forgiveness, explaining that the monk should be as unmoved by insult as by flattery, just as the statue was neither angered when struck nor pleased when entreated.
His sayings and example are recorded in the early anthologies of desert wisdom, including the Lausiac History of Palladius, the collection known as the Paradise of the Fathers, and the Evergetinos.
