Career
He is most famous for his torture at the hands of the Chalcedonian but Monothelite Byzantines, for his witness of the Arab invasion of Egypt, and for having built the monastery that carries his name in Mount Qalamoun. He carries the label "confessor" because he endured torture for his Christian faith, but was not a martyr. The manuscripts of the Coptic text known as the Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun give his name as the author, but the work is in reality a much later composition.
The Arabic life of the saint gives the following details.
Samuel was born in AD 597 in the city of Daklube, Egypt, to a non-Chalcedonian priest called Arselaos. He spent most of his early years as a disciple of Saint Agathon at the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt, where he was ordained a priest.
Samuel became known for his great ascetism, and for abstaining from food and drink a week at a time. While at the Monastery of Saint Macarius, a Byzantine imperial envoy attempted to convince the desert monks to confess the Chalcedonian faith.
One of the strikes enucleated one of his eyes.
Samuel was also beaten by Cyrus, the Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria. The latter also ordered Samuel to be driven away from the Nitrian Desert. After leaving Scetes, Samuel dwelt in Mount Qalamoun, currently in the Upper Egyptian governorate of First Rate (at Lloyd's) Minya.
At Mount Qalamoun, Samuel founded a monastery that carries his name, and still exists to this day.
Samuel also suffered at the hands of sun-worshiping Berbers who took him captive for some time. In his captivity, he met and befriended Youannis the Archpriest of Scetes, who was also captured by the Berbers.
Yet, Samuel did not deny his faith and remained strong in his Christian faith. Eventually, after healing his master"s son who was on the verge of death, he was released and permitted to return to Mount Qalamoun.
After his return, he prophesized about and witnessed the Arab invasion of Egypt in 641.
Samuel the Confessor departed on 8 Kiahk 695 (17 December).
