St. Horus of the Thebaid

Joyous feast! Today we commemorate our Holy Abba Horus (or Hor) of the Thebaid, one of the Desert Fathers who adorned Egypt in the 300s. St. Horus withdrew as a youth into the Thebaid wilderness to live as a hermit, struggling there for many years before moving to Alexandria to struggle against the temptations of urban life.

In Alexandria Abba Horus continued to deepen his ascetic and spiritual life, busying himself with bringing water to the city's prisoners and visiting its sick. While he was still living in the city he once happened to be near the site of an accident when a passing chariot struck a child and killed him instantly. The crowd that gathered began to accuse the Saint of killing the child, so he picked him up and signed him with the Cross, after which the child returned to life.

Fearing the praise of men after his resurrection of the dead child, St. Horus fled Alexandria and returned to the desert, remaining in one of the many monasteries then filling the desert until his falling asleep at the age of ninety, which he foretold to his brothers in the monastery. During his last years in the desert Abba Horus gathered many disciples and spiritual children, none of whom dared to lie to him as he could see their thoughts.

More on St. Horus' life can be found here and here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Sts. Timothy and Maura

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! I must confess to have known absolutely nothing about Sts. Timothy and Maura before friends of mine took them as their patrons, but after I found out they existed I suddenly started noticing them. I think they are saints who were much better known in the past. Regardless, the story of their lives can be found here. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!

St. Athanasius the Great

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! St. Athanasius the Great of Alexandria is a towering figure of the early Church and a beloved saint of the Alexandrian and Coptic Orthodox Churches. He's also responsible for the organization of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is today the largest Orthodox Church in its communion. More on St. Athanasius' life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. John el-Kabir

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! This Bright Wednesday we remember St. John el-Kabir, a devout Coptic Orthodox Christian who worked in the service of the Fatimid Caliphate in late tenth century Egypt. The Saint was known for his virtuous life, his charity, and his love for the Orthodox Faith. During his life the ruling caliph purged the upper echelons of the Egyptian government of non-Muslims, first beginning with his court and the armed forces before turning to the lower ministers and scribes (of whom St. John was one). Calling these lower notables before him, the caliph demanded that they embrace Islam.

St. John, hearing the caliph's demand, asked for a day to consider the matter. Returning home, he confessed his readiness to die a martyr and his desire to say farewell to his family and friends, exhorting them, "Not [to] ask for this vain glory [of government service], for you will loose the eternal glory of the Lord Christ."

The next day St. John returned to the court and confessed Christ before the caliph. Despite the caliph's arguments and threats the Saint remained steadfast in the Faith and was beaten and tortured, giving up his soul to his Savior in the year of mercy 1002. More on his life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Menas the Great-Martyr

Joyous feast!!! St. Menas is one of the great saints and wonderworkers not only of the ancient world, but also of our times. In past times people came from throughout the known world to venerate his relics near Mareotis in Egypt (to the southwest of Alexandria). Gradually the pilgrimages ceased following the Muslim conquest of Egypt and the destruction of the saint's shrine, but following the enthronement of Pope St. Cyril VI of Alexandria (himself a great wonderworker), who loved St. Menas greatly, the monastery that used to stand at the place of the saint's relics was renewed and is now once more a place of pilgrimage because of the miracles worked by St. Menas.

St. Menas was born the only child of devout parents in 285 AD. His father was an administrator in the Roman government in Egypt and when he turned fifteen the saint served for some time in the Roman Army in what was then called Africa or Mauretania, but today is known as Algeria. Becoming dissatisfied with life in the world, St. Menas left the army and returned to Egypt to live as a hermit in the desert. After receiving a vision of his impending martyrdom St. Menas declared his faith before the Roman governor of Egypt and received his crown on 11/24 November 309. A full account of his life can be found here. Accounts of the miracles worked by both St. Menas and St. Cyril the Wonderworker, Pope of Alexandria, can be found here. The relics of both saints rest at Dayr Mar Mina Monastery in Maryut (ancient Mareotis) today.

May the blessings and prayers of the glorious Great-Martyr and Wonderworker Menas be with us all!

Pictured is the cathedral at the restored Coptic Orthodox Monastery of St. Menas, called Dayr Mar Mina today.

St. Nectarius of Pentapolis

Joyous feast! St. Nectarius is one of the great saints of the late 1800s and early 1900s. God called him to services in both the ancient Church of Alexandria and the younger Church of Greece and has worked many miracles and wonders through him both in his lifetime and since his repose in 1920. An account of his life can be found here.

If you love St. Nectarius and are ever in upstate New York, then I strongly recommend visiting the Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to him in Roscoe. If you don't speak Greek or are a woman and plan on staying overnight it might be a rough visit, but the services are beautiful and the frescoes of the Saint's life in the trapeza are well worth the asceticism of visiting ;-).

May St. Nectarius blessings and prayers be with us all!

Muslim Brotherhood Defends Coptic Orthodox Church

Muslim religious leaders in Egypt have issued statements in support of the Coptic Orthodox Church following threats against the Copts from an Al Qaeda affiliate in US-occupied Iraq. The Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement in Egypt, said that it was "stressing to all, and primarily [to] Muslims, that the protection of holy places of all monotheistic religions is the mission of the majority of Muslims," whilst the leader of Egypt's famous al-Azhar University said that the threats undermined Egyptian national unity. The threats were issued after the wives of Coptic Orthodox priests kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam were rescued and returned to their families, with Al Qaeda claiming the rescues were against the women's wills. The full story here.

New Hierarchs of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church!

God grant many, many joyful years to Metropolitan-elect Nicephorus of Kinshasa and Central Africa and Bishop-elect John of Maputo and Mozambique! Axios! The full press release from the Patriarchate of Alexandria with pictures from the recent meeting of its full Holy Synod can be read here.