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!

St. Peter of Alexandria

Joyous feast! On this day the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church commemorates Pope St. Peter of Alexandria, the 34th occupant of the throne of St. Mark and successor of the last pope to shepherd both the supporters and opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, Pope Theodosius I.

Although St. Justinian exiled Pope Theodosius to Upper Egypt and appointed another pope in his place, the supporters of the Christology of St. Cyril continued to recognize him as pope until his death in 567. At that time the opponents of Chalcedon went to a monastery in what today is el-Zogag and elected St. Peter as Pope of Alexandria.

The Copts' election of a new pope emboldened the Orthodox in Syria, also deprived of their own patriarch, to elect a Patriarch of Antioch supporting the Christology of Sts. Cyril and Severus. Neither Pope St. Peter nor the new Syriac Orthodox patriarch dared to take up residence in their sees, however, due to the persecutions ordered by the East Roman emperor in Constantinople.

Thus it was during St. Peter's papacy that the Orthodox were permanently divided, with the majority of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful in Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia together with the monks of Scete submitting to his authority.

More on St. Peter's life can be found 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!

Video of the Day: Camelia Shehata Affirms Her Orthodox Faith

Please view this to see Camelia Shehata reject claims that she is being held against her will or that she has converted from Orthodox Christianity to Islam. The video is in Arabic, but has English subtitles.

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!

Islamists Protest Over Camelia Shehata

In an ironic twist Islamists have organized protests calling for the release of an alleged Coptic Orthodox convert to Islam supposedly being held against her will by the Church. More on that here. The protests are shameful given the long history in Egypt of the killing of Muslim converts to Orthodoxy and the kidnapping and forced marriage to Muslims of Coptic Orthodox women and young girls. Irregardless, the woman in question, Camelia Shehata, has herself repeatedly and publicly confirmed that she never converted to Islam and remains a Coptic Orthodox Christian. God help Egypt...

Fast of Nineveh

Today is the first day of the Fast of Nineveh. While the Roman Orthodox world (Arabs, Greeks, Russians, et cetera) celebrates this as a fast-free week the Copts, Ethiopians, Syrians, Eritreans, and Indians fast for three days in memory of God's mercy to the city of Nineveh and the preaching of St. Jonah there. The Fast originated amongst the Assyrians living around the site of ancient Nineveh and spread westwards from the Church of the East to the Syriac Orthodox Church and its sister churches in Africa. More here. God help you all whatever you are doing this week as we draw closer to the Great and Holy Fast!

"Stop Beating About the Bush"

Al-Arabiya has posted an article on recent calls in Egypt for the secularization of the country's constitution. Among other things, it claims that there is no basis for the rising discrimination against Copts in Egyptian life in sharia. This seems disingenuous as churches are required to acquire government approval for the fixing even of broken toilets on church premises, the government's recently interference in church marriage despite the supposed constitutional recognition of Coptic Orthodox customary law, and the customary taxation of Christians as dhimmis ("protected" second-class citizens in Islamic law), although that last is not observed in modern Egypt (as far as this author knows). How these and a host of other things contribute to the marginalization of Egypt's Copts is not difficult to see.

Pope Kyrillos VI's Relics Incorrupt

This is somewhat dated, but apparently the relics of Pope Cyril VI (al-Baramosy) of Alexandria have been found to be incorrupt (see here). The monks of Deir Mar Mina, the monastery near Alexandria where St. Cyril's relics repose, became concerned in January 2007 when they noticed smoke coming from his tomb. Opening the relics, they found them to be incorrupt and holding a warm loaf of prosphora.

The practice of the Coptic Orthodox Church does not allow for the glorification of a saint less than 50 years after his or her death (Pope Cyril died in 1971), but St. Cyril worked many wonders and miracles during his lifetime and is widely venerated by Copts and other Orthodox Christians in Egypt and throughout the world.

"The Orthodox Christology of St. Severus of Antioch"

On this eve of God the Word's Nativity in the Flesh I thought I would post a link to an excellent article by Fr. Peter Farrington of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Great Britain on the Christology of St. Severus of Antioch, one of the Fathers of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

I had hoped the Russian Orthodox church near me would have midnight festal services so that I could take communion on the feast, but since it is not I will have the joy of worshipping at Portland's Coptic Orthodox church tonight instead. God grant you all a joyous feast!

Article on the Zabaleen

An interesting article on Cairo's zabaleen, the Coptic Orthodox garbage collectors and recyclers, can be found here.

Coptic Orthodox Church Opens in Al Ain, UAE

At the recent consecration of a Coptic Orthodox church in Al Ain, UAE, by Metropolitan Abraham of Jerusalem the Minister of Higher Education and Scientic Research of the UAE reaffirmed his country's dedication to toleration, fraternity, and peace between Islam and other world religions. Other prominent members of the UAE government were also present at the service. More here.

Egyptian Government Interferes in Church Marriage

Yesterday an Egyptian court rejected the Coptic Orthodox Church's challenge to a previous ruling requiring the Church of Alexandria to allow its members to divorce and remarry. Whereas divorce can happen quite quickly and easy in Muslim families (provided it's initiated by the husband), in Coptic Orthodoxy older, stricter customs regarding divorce are followed. The Egyptian government is currently drafting a new law regulating marriage and divorce among Egypt's non-Muslim minorities, who until now have been subject to their respective customary laws except in marriages involving members of different faiths, which fall under the jurisdiction of Islamic law. More here.

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.

Copts Underrepresented in the Egyptian Government

As Egypt prepares for parliamentary elections the leaders of its large Coptic Orthodox minority are questioning how few Copts are running for seats from any party. The Egyptian government claims to provide adequate representation for the Copts, but in the last parliamentary elections only one Copt was elected to Parliament. The additional ten Copts appointed by the president left Parliament's lower house with only 2% of its membership being Coptic, a disproportionate percentage considering that Copts form somewhere between 10 and 20% of the total Egyptian population.

St. Shenouda the Archimandrite

Joyous feast! Today's the feast of the falling asleep of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite, a famous monk of the Coptic Orthodox Church from Upper Egypt and the heavenly protector of our reigning Pope Shenouda (al-Suriani) of Alexandria and All Africa. God grant Pope Shenouda, through the blessings and prayers of St. Shenouda, many years! More on St. Shenouda's life can be found here and here.