constantine, sixth-seventh-century bishop of Asyut. [This entry consists of two articles: History and Constantine's Writings.] History A summary of Constantine's life has come down complete in a unique manuscript of the Sahidic recension of the Arabic synaxarion of the Copts, deposited at Luxor. There also exists for the first part and identical with the above document an isolated leaf (National Library, Paris, Arabic 4895). His feast day is 11 Amshir.
This text reports that Constantine received the monastic habit from the hands of his brother Anba Moses, otherwise unknown, in a monastery that unfortunately is not named. Ten young men embraced the monastic life on that day. Among them, in addition to Constantine, was Rufus, the future bishop of Shutb (Hypselis/Shotep), and Anba Yusab (Joseph), who subsequently became bishop of Isfaht (Apollinopolis Parva/Sbeht). Anba Yusab is not otherwise known, but rufus of shotep is the author of commentaries on the Gospels, part of which is extant, and of sermons preserved in an Arabic version. His name is also cited in the second encomium of Constantine on Saint Claudius of Antioch (PO 35, p. 614).
The Synaxarion continues that Constantine memorized the New Testament, except for the Apocalypse, and the Psalms and the Prophets. Constantine was consecrated as bishop by the patriarch damian between 578 and 605. Damian also made him his vicar for Upper Egypt, and declared, "I shall consecrate as bishop only him who has with him a writing from your hand." This function of patriarchal vicar is attested by other texts for other bishops. There was one for Lower Egypt and another for the Sa‘id. It seems to have been exercised above all in the confirmation of the election of new bishops, as suggested by the passage of the Synaxarion relating to Constantine. He was no longer a patriarchal vicar from the time of his elevation to the episcopate.
That Constantine was bishop in the period of Patriarch Damian is also confirmed by the history of the patriarchs, which relates, "There were in [Patriarch Damian's] time bishops admirable for their purity and their merit. Among them, John, Bishop of Parallos [Burullus] and John his disciple, Constantine the bishop, John the Blessed, the recluse, and many others." In an encomium for the feast of Saint John of Heraclea (4 Ba’unah), preserved in Arabic under the name of Constantine, the author also indicates at the beginning that he received episcopal consecration at the hands of the patriarch Damian.
The notice in the Synaxarion mentions in one phrase the literary activity of the saint: "He composed sermons in great number, lives of martyrs and of saints." His pastoral acts are mentioned as well: "He strove with all his might to extirpate the roots of the Arians who were in the neighborhood of his town and in the mountains which surround it." By the term "Arians" must be understood the Melitians. The schism was born at Asyut (Lycopolis) and Athanasius himself assimilated them to the Arians. For the rest, Constantine in his second encomium on Saint Claudius reproached them with a doctrine close to arianism and further on added this personal detail, which the Synaxarion seems indeed to echo: "I recall what has happened since I was seated upon the [episcopal] throne, despite my unworthiness. I have suffered much from the plants which Melitius planted, and I have not been able to uproot them" (PO 35, p. 626). As for the word "mountains" in the Synaxarion, it should no doubt be interpreted as "monasteries," for the Coptic term toou has the two senses, and it is not unusual in the Synaxarion for the word jabal (Arabic, mountain) to indicate a convent. Besides, from Greek papyri and Coptic documents, as from the History of the Patriarchs, it is known that the Melitian schism persisted to the eighth century, in particular in the monasteries.
This short life also indicates that the bishop of Asyut had to contend with various forms of magic practiced in his diocese, such as astrology, sorcery, and the reading of horoscopes.
Another passage in the Sahidic recension of the Synaxarion relates, with reference to Saint Elias of Qusiyyah (Kos/Kussai), that at the time of the destruction of the town, probably during the Persian occupation (619-629), Constantine transferred the body of Saint Elias to Asyut, which would indicate that he was still alive at that period. Finally the notice in the Synaxarion states that Constantine died "when he was [still] robust and his eyesight sound," which without doubt shows that he was not an aged man. The author then writes that he was buried "in his monastery where he lived, instead of his episcopal residence, called al-Hanadah, in the mountain of Asyut." This place is known from Coptic and Arabic texts, where it is called "convent of Apa Shenute of al Hanadah in Asyut." It appears that it was at Rifah, southwest of Asyut. Constantine thus lived at the end of the sixth century and the beginning of the seventh. He played an important role in the Coptic church, particularly as vicar of Patriarch Damian for Upper Egypt. He took action, perhaps decisively, to bring back to the fold the inhabitants and monks of his diocese who remained in the schism begun by his predecessor on the throne of Asyut, Melitius, in the fourth century.