He said to his followers: "Listen my brethren, behold the great Abba Macarius is writing to us a letter full of comforting and spiritual teachings."
[4] The author of the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, the archdeacon Timothy of Alexandria (around 400), whose Latin translation of Rufinus was equally published by Rosweyde as book II of the Vitae Patrum, recounts the visit he made with his companions to Apollo.
According to his recollections Apollo lived in the Tebaide, in the region of Hermopolis (today Asmunayn), not far from the sanctuary of Dayr Al-Muharrag.
From this book it appears that after forty years, at the call of an angel, Apollo approached the inhabited places while continuing his life in an isolated cave.
His reputation for sanctity quickly attracted numerous disciples around him, who built an immense monastery: 500 monks were there at the time of Timothy's visit.