John the Dwarf (Ababius, Monk of Scetes)
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Life
John the Dwarf was born to poor Christian parents in the Egyptian city of Thebes
At the age of 18, he moved with his older brother to the desert of Scetes,[3] where he became a disciple of Pambo and a good friend of Pishoy
He lived a simple life and taught several other monks, including Arsenius the Great, his way of life
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After Pambo's departure, John was ordained a priest by Pope Theophilus and became abbot of the monastery he founded around the Tree of Obedience
When the Majiceans invaded Sesetes in 395, John fled the Nitria desert and settled on Mount Koldzim, near the present city of Suez, where he died.
In 515, the relics of John the Dwarf were moved to the Nitria Desert
His feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on October 17th, in the Coptic Orthodox Church on Paopi 20th, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church on November 9th
The Monastery of St
John in Sketes is now recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church
Throughout his life, John lived on a diet of flatbreads and vegetables, and was able to eat one meal a day
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Legend
Jon the Dwarf is best known for his obedience
The most famous story about his obedience is that one day Pambo gave John a piece of dry wood and told him to plant it and water it
John therefore continued to water twice a day even though the water was about 19 miles from where they lived
Three years later, the piece of wood germinated and grew into a fruitful tree
Pangbo took some nuts from this tree and went to all the senior monks and said, ``Take the fruit of obedience
Eat it
'' Postumian, who was in Egypt in 402, claimed to have been shown this tree growing in the courtyard of a monastery and to have seen it covered with shoots and green leaves
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