In Memory of Bishop Epiphanius
Today marks two years since the repose of His Grace Bishop Epiphanius, Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of St Macarius the Great, of blessed memory.
Three Fathers used to go and visit blessed Anthony every year and two of them used to discuss their thoughts and the salvation of their souls with him, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Abba Anthony said to him, “You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything," and the other replied, “It is enough for me to see you, Father.”
This is one of the sayings on St Anthony the Great found in the Alphabetical Collection of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. It can be easily applied to Bishop Epiphanius (I won’t refer to him as sayedna (master) because he didn’t like that title, many people instead called him ‘Abouna El-Oskof’- ‘Our Father the Bishop’).Describing what it was like meeting him is no easy feat - he was self-effacing and reticent - though one only need to be in his presence and look at his face to experience the Grace of God that was in him.
So many of his qualities impress upon me - his fatherhood, holiness, enlightenment, peace, joy, sobriety and stillness. Bishop Epiphanius was a living example of the famous saying of St Seraphim of Sarov, “Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will be saved.”
Bishop Epiphanius first visited Melbourne in 2017 for the annual clergy conference. I had the blessing of driving him to some of his appointments. Those car rides were some of the most memorable moments I cherish - I was sure I was in Christ’s presence! People often speak a lot about what it means to be Christ-like or to carry Christ to others, Our Father the Bishop didn’t need to talk about it at all- he embodied it. Spending time with him instilled feelings of inner peace, joy, limitless acceptance and love.
Following his first visit to Melbourne I thought to myself, if this is what it is to be Christian, then I love Christ even more! His presence, peace, joy and genuine love allowed everyone who met him to taste the love Christ. Our Father the Bishop embodied the Christian life holistically - in all its purity - in his humble teachings, his reverend liturgical worship and irrevocable love in all his interactions.
Bishop Epiphanius observed extreme reverence for the liturgy. I remember sitting with Our Father the Bishop and a priest in the living room at his residence in Melbourne. We eagerly asked many questions and when we landed on the topic of the Divine Liturgy, he solemnly said, “If you want to experience the Kingdom of Heaven in the Liturgy, preserve the sanctity and respect of the place.” He also said, “If someone would like to bother me, the best way is to talk to me or distract me during the liturgy.” In the preface of a selection of Bishop Epiphanius’ works titled ‘So Great a Salvation: Biblical Meditations of a Contemporary Desert Father’, Fr Wadid el Makari writes, “He considered that his main task as a bishop was to preside over Sunday liturgy and to distribute to his community the Lord’s Body and Blood. For him, this was how he could best contribute to achieving the ultimate goal of creation, which is “to gather together all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10).”
Our Father the Bishop had no desire or intention of standing out, being noticed or leaving any type of legacy. When one would see him in a public setting, it was as if he wanted to be invisible. He was the embodiment of the verses, “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30) and, “he who is greatest among you shall be your servant”( Matt 23:11). However, it was nearly impossible for anyone to forget him - even after a small encounter - which many can attest to. Fr Markos el Makari writes in the introduction of ‘So Great a Salvation’ - “When our beloved Father Epiphanius was still alive, I continually prayed to the Lord that he could ‘infect’ more and more people with his beauty. After his sudden death, which tormented us with grief, I discovered that the number of those who loved him was enormous. It was then that I realized that God had answered my prayer. In fact, Anba Epiphanius was the “grain of wheat” that died to the world and that brought much fruit. Despite his only five years as a ‘public figure’, he managed to create a family around him, as well as a school made up of all those who loved him and who wish to continue his mission. “
I am just a random person who met Bishop Epiphanius in Melbourne but I did not feel like one when I was with him. It felt as if he knew me - the same way a father knows a son - and this sense of familiarity drew me to open up to him about things on my mind and heart. When I did, I tasted complete acceptance and love.
In January 2018, a group of us from Melbourne were in Egypt and took the opportunity to visit the Monastery of St Macarius and meet Bishop Epiphanius. We were not expecting to spend much time with him given his busy commitments as the Abbot of the monastery. To our greatest surprise, Our Father the Bishop waited for us at the entrance of the monastery and greeted us with joy and genuine monastic hospitality. He ushered us into a hall where we spent several hours together. We all felt a resounding level of comfort as though we were with our father whom we had known for many years (even though only a few of us had met him in Melbourne for a few short days). Bishop Epiphanius’ open and loving heart allowed us to enjoy the same freedom that one would with their biological father. We began asking him, ‘Can we please go see this church in the monastery?…. Can we please sit with this elder monk to take his blessing?... Your Grace, we heard of this hermit named Fr so and so, would we be allowed to visit him in his cave?’ To all these questions Our Father the Bishop displayed no sense of burden or bother and allowed us to experience these special memories.
Bishop Epiphanius during the Feast of the Apostles - 12th July 2018- 17 days before his departure.
In the monastery there was nothing about Bishop Epiphanius that would distinguish him as a bishop; many people would come to greet him thinking he was a simple monk. He was insistent that no one would prostrate when greeting him. Our Father the Bishop looked visibly disturbed when someone approached him like this. We spent the whole day with him till the evening prayers of the monastery without feeling that we were any burden on Our Father the Bishop.
He was truly a role model father and Christian. I would sometimes text or email him not really expecting a reply (after all I had only met him a few times). However, he would respond within a day with a very encouraging and spiritual message. Once I emailed Our Father the Bishop asking for permission to visit the monastery for a retreat. I asked him what was the typically allowed period of retreat to which he replied, ‘ Dear Abouna. The maximum time allowed is 6 monthly only, so you can come any time, after that we can allow another 6 months once or twice. It is your home Abouna.’ This might sound like the typical niceness one can expect, but with Bishop Epiphanius you knew that it was genuine and that everything that he said was from his heart- nothing fake, nothing exaggerated. He had no intention of winning you over or attracting you to him- quite the opposite- but after meeting him you can’t help but long for more time with him, and I imagine that following the footsteps of St Macarius he was a true spirit bearer, one who embodied the title given to many monastic fathers- a lover of his children (emainoshiri).
The final resting place of Bishop Epiphanius of blessed memory
When you visit the Monastery of St Macarius you will not find the blessed body of Bishop Epiphanius in a shrine or significant structure. He is buried with the rest of the monks in a crypt inside a mausoleum, with his name engraved on a stone tablet. The mausoleum is simple and carries no picture of the Our Father the Bishop himself - a requiem of the humble life he lived.
I will leave you with the famous quote from St Macarius the Great on prayer that Bishop Epiphanius once sent me;
Abba Macarius was asked, “How should one pray?” The old man said, “There is no need at all to make long discourses; it is enough to stretch out one’s hands and say, “Lord, as you will and as you know, have mercy.” And if the conflict grows fiercer say, “Lord, help! He knows very well what we need and he shows us his mercy.”
Pray to the Lord on our behalf O holy and righteous father, bishop and lover of his children- Bishop Epiphanius.