Zacharias of Scetis

Venerable Zacharias was an Egyptian monk of the fourth century, who lived in Scetis, in Lower Egypt. He is regarded as the patron of society's outcasts. He served the homeless and the poor and is remembered as a monastic father. He is commemorated on 24 March by the old calendar, which is 6 April by the new.

His father, Carion the Egyptian, left his wife and two children to become a monk in Scetis. Zacharias was later sent to Scetis, to become a monk beside his father, in a time of famine. The Serbian synaxarion says that his father took him in, because his mother had nothing to feed him with.

Although he was younger than many of the elders in Scetis, he was granted gifts of grace greater than many of the elders. It is said that, by the grace of God, he felt as if his whole inward being was burning. Asked by Saint Macarius who is the true monk, Zacharias answered: the one who constantly compels himself to keep the commandments of God. He died very young.