Avvakir of Egypt

Holy Venerable Avvakir of Egypt was a monk in the Egyptian desert. The account of him is found in Saint John Climacus. According to it, Avvakir was by nature somewhat unrestrained of tongue and, for this reason, for seventeen years the brothers wronged him, and the servers drove him daily from the table, so that he often went to bed hungry.

The saint bore the wrongs with unusual meekness, sincerely thinking that those around him were testing in this way whether he could be a monk. Before his death, Avvakir thanked the brothers for tempting him, for by this they had freed him from demonic temptations. By command of the abbot he was buried beside the holy ones. He is commemorated on 13 March, in the Synaxis of All Venerable Fathers Who Shone Forth in Ascetic Labour.