Sacrifice in the Desert: A Study of an Egyptian Minority Through the Prism of Coptic Monasticism [Paperback]

The desert fathers of ancient Egypt are an inherently fascinating, historical phenomenon.Sacrifice in the Desertis an anthropological study of the contemporary spiritual descendents of these monks as they live out their lives in some of the most primitive and remote monasteries of the Sahara Desert. This book is an investigation of the role of these desert ascetics as the cultural center of the Copts of Egypt in their struggle for survival through centuries of oppression and marginalization.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.

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Apologia: Author's Preface
Chapter 3Introduction:The Monastery as an Enclosed Society; The Copts in Egypt; How the Moslems View the Copts and Their Monks; The Fieldwork
Chapter 4Sacrifice in a Historical Perspective:Non-Western Rituals; Biblical/Coptic Sacrifice
Chapter 5Desert Spirituality and Its Symbolic Location:The Monasteries in the Desert; Where Angels Led Them; Desert Asceticism
Chapter 6The Origins of Coptic Monasticism:Byzantine Exploitation and the Emergence of Desert Monks; Coptic Monasticism as Cultural Opposition
Chapter 7Monasticism in Egypt's Modern Era:British Influence; Contemporary Monastic Revival; The Patriarch Enthroned in Exile
Chapter 8Deir Dwellers:A Moment in the Deir; The Monks; In Their Own Words
Chapter 9Forming the Monastic Persona:The Spiritual Father
Chapter 10Behavioral Embodiments of Value:Desert Poetics; The Monastic Regimen
Chapter 11Coptic Culture and Monasticism:The Orientation of Prayer; The Validation of Worship; Coptic Liturgy; Monastic Prayer and Sacrifice; The New Adam
Chapter 12Transcendence of Time and Space:Times Sanctified by Fasting; The Space of Sacrifice
Chapter 13 Conclusion
Chapter 14Epilogue: Ethiopian Ml³&