OUR Relics

Our saint was born  in the year 225 AD of pagan parents, he was named Philopater (a greek name  meaning "Lover Of the Father"). His father and mother soon changed to  christianity, and preached, gave alms and tought their son according to the  christian teachings. Reaching the age of 17 Philopater already joined the Roman  army, and soon enough gained a great reputaion as a swordsman, and a good  tactician for many battles.

In the reign of the Roman emperors Decius & Valerianus they sent out a decree that all people of all ranks slave or freeman should offer sacrifices onto the Roman Idles, & those who disobey the decree would face a death penalty. Soon after the edict War broke out between the barbarians and the Romans, 2 armies fought fiercely against each other. One day at the peak of the battle Mercurius (Philopater was named Mercurius when he was promoted to the rank of command) had a vision, he saw a man surrounded by light holding a drawn sword in his right hand, handing him the sword, telling him that he would have victory over the barbarians, and to remember the Lord, our God after the battle.Our saint then took the sword and dashed into the midst of the barbarians and mowed the enemy down like grass, he attacked so strongly that he slayed their King, his company & many others, the barbarians were terrified they broke down and fled, the Romans were victorious. Thereafter, Mercurius was given the title "Supreme Commander Of all the Roman Armies" at 25 years of age. The hero Mercurius became preoccupied with his new life, & every city that was passed a festival was held in his honour.  

One night an angel appeared to our saint & told him that he would suffer greatly for our Lord Jesus Christ because of the decree but he will receive a crown of victory in heaven. Later on Decius called on our saint for some matters of state, after a while Decius suggested that they all go to the temple to offer sacrifice to the idols, the hero slowly slipped away from the crowd, but a jealous soldier informed Decius that the hero Mercurius wasn't present because he was a christian, the emperor didn't believe this & wanted to see proof with his own eyes.  

Later on he found out that our saint was a Christian after Mercurius boldly confessed his christianity before the emperor. The emperor at first tried to convince our saint to leave christianity, then he started inflicting many grievous tortures on our hero by burning, ripping his flesh with nails, but through all this the Lord saved our saint from his troubles until in the end he received the crown of martyrdom by beheading, at 3 o'clock 4th December 250 AD.  

St. Moses was born about 332 AD. In his youth, he was the slave of a  high government official who could not tolerate St. Moses’ dishonesty  and violence. It was even said that St. Moses went so far as to commit  murder. Finally, his master drove him out of his house. St. Moses became  the head of a gang of seventy robbers. He was a strong and fierce man  of huge stature

Once, as he was walking along the banks of the Nile, he spotted some  sheep and a shepherd on the opposite side of the Nile. The Nile at that  time was at full flood and more than a mile wide. St. Moses put his  sword between his teeth and swam across the river. When the shepherd saw  him, he ran away and buried himself in the sand. The sheep were left  for St. Moses, who chose four of the best rams, slew them and tied them  with a rope. He then carried them on his back and swam back across the  river. He came to a small village where he skinned the rams, ate the  best portions of them, and sold the rest for wine.

The specific circumstances regarding St. Moses conversion are not  known. It was mentioned that St. Moses used to address the sun saying,  If you are god let me know, and You the God whom I know not, lead me to  You. St. Moses heard from someone that the monks in the wilderness of  Scetis knew God, so he immediately girded himself with his sword and  went to the wilderness.

When St. Moses was seen next, he was in Scetis in the western desert  of Egypt. An elder found him and led him to St. Macarius the great at  Petra in the northern end of Scetis. It was about 365 AD when St. Moses  arrived there. At that time, thousands of monks had followed St.  Macarius after he came to that area in the year 340 AD.

St. Moses was received by one of the priests of Scetis, St. Isidore.  He was fortunate enough to have such an experienced and pious elder as  his spiritual guide and director. St. Isidore led St. Moses safely  during a very turbulent time in his life. As a catechumen, St. Moses  received the basic Christian teachings from St. Isidore. However, the  Divine Light was too much for the newly converted St. Moses, who was  heavily burdened with sin. Frequently, he exploded in tears, and had to find relief in kneeling before his guide, St. Isidore, and confessing  his sins. When the time for his baptism came, St. Moses confessed all  his past evil deeds publicly in the church. During his confession, St.  Macarius saw a tablet that was all black representing the sins of St.  Moses. An angel was seen wiping off every sin as it was confessed by St.  Moses, until finally the tablet was completely white.

For St. Moses, the white robe he received after baptism, and the  monastic lifestyle did not mean that he entered into the paradise of  contemplation. On the contrary, he had in front of him many years of  strife and fierce struggle with the flesh, the devil and the world.  Although he was surrounded by giants of the spiritual life whose counsel  he could seek at any time, and was aided by the church Mysteries and  means of grace, yet it was with utmost difficulty that he won the long  successive and violent battles of the flesh. After he came to the  desert, St. Moses still enjoyed his former bodily strength, but his old  evil passions were as powerful as before. Once, after St. Moses fasted  seven days, he overpowered four thieves who entered his cell. He tied  them all together with cords and lifted them up on his shoulders like a  bag of straw. He brought them to the church and said to the monks, Since  I have not the power to do evil to any man, what do you want me to do  with these who rose up against me to slay me? When the thieves knew that  St. Moses was a former robber, who had repented, they were quickly led  to repentance.

While fasting, and during times of prayer, the devil tempted St.  Moses by bringing back to his mind his wicked habits of his past. St.  Moses used to go to St. Isidore to ask for his advice on what to do. At  first, St. Isidore advised him to stand firm and continue his fasting  and prayers, and his temptations would finally subdue. St. Isidore told  St. Moses that these temptations were only the beginning of a long  battle.

St. Moses began to multiply his disciplines. He ate only ten ounces  of dry bread daily and recited fifty prayers every day. Nevertheless,  the more St. Moses dried up his body, the more he was vexed and consumed  by dreams. On one occasion, it came to the point that St. Moses could  no longer endure being in his cell. St. Isidore advised him to return to  his cell, but St. Moses refused. St. Isidore took St. Moses to the roof  of his cell, where they could see below them devils on one side, but  innumerable angels on the other side. By seeing this, St. Moses was  convinced that he had much more help from heaven as compared to the  power of the enemy. He took courage from this and returned to his cell  without fear.

St. Moses went to another one of the desert fathers and asked him  What shall I do, for thoughts of lust which arise from my former habits  are attacking me. St. Moses was advised to increase his prayers, vigils  and fasting in order to dispel those images from his mind. St. Moses  took the advice, went back to his cell, and for seven years, plunged  himself into severe ascetic practices. St. Moses spent nights standing  in prayer and would not lie down, or even bend his knees or close his  eyes. After this, he would go in the middle of the night to the cells of  the elder monks, take their water pitchers, and fill them with water  without their knowledge. The monks lived far from one another and those  cells were two to five miles away from the water. St. Moses consumed his  body doing this for years, with long vigils and strict fasts, until one  night St. Moses lost his consciousness and fell beside the water well.  The next morning he was found half dead by one of the brethren and was  carried to church. During his sickness that lasted for one year, he was  taken care of by St. Isidore. He advised St. Moses to give himself rest  because, There is moderation in everything, even in the works of ascetic  life.

Still, St. Moses disputed with his spiritual father and insisted on  continuing to wage war with the devils until they departed from him. The  wise and experience St. Isidore gave him this conclusive answer: In the  name of Jesus Christ, from this point forward the devils shall cease  from you. Draw near then and participate in the Holy Mysteries, and you  shall be free from all impurity, both of the flesh and of the spirit.  With this, St. Moses returned to his cell. St. Isidore came to him after  two months and asked about his condition. St. Moses reported he no  longer suffered from anything; moreover, he even had power over the  demons.

St. Moses became very famous among the monks of Scetis because of his  humility, his meekness and his love for strangers. His solitude was  frequently interrupted by the influx of visitors. He went to St.  Macarius and said, Father, I desire to live in silence, but the brethren  never leave me. St. Macarius advised him to move to an isolated cell in  Petra. Petra (literally rock) is the northern area of Scetis. It was a  far area, difficult to reach, with scarce water. St. Moses lived in  Petra for six years in a cave that he dug for himself in the rock. He  became known as Abba Moses of Petra.

St. Moses was later chosen to become a priest in Scetis to assist St.  Isidore. Pope Theophilus ordained him a priest, and after St. Moses was  dressed in the white priestly garments, Pope Theophilus stated, Behold,  Abba Moses, now you are entirely white, inside and out.The grace of God worked in Moses to the extent that as much as he  hated humankind before his conversion, in Scetis he came to love  everybody. He received all visitors with joy. Once a brother came to  visit St. Arsenius in the monastery. Offended by the cold reception he  received, he then asked to see St. Moses who did not fail to welcome and  refresh him. On another occasion, a private fast was declared in  Scetis. During that week of fasting, some brethren came from Egypt to  see St. Moses. While St. Moses was preparing some food for them, the  neighboring monks saw the smoke of his fire rising up and wondered how  St. Moses could not keep the fast. They went to the clergy and said  Moses has broken the commandment and prepared food during a fast. The  clergy promised to settle the matter with St. Moses in church. The  clergy knew of the habits of St. Moses, and when he came to church, they  spoke to him before the whole assembly of monks saying, O Abba Moses,  truly you have sacrificed the commandment of people to fulfill the  commandment of Christ: A new commandment that I give unto you, that you  love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  (John 13:34)

Once the Fathers of the Scetis were holding a council to reprimand a  monk who had committed a fault. St. Moses was invited, but he refused to  attend. The priest went to him, and said, Come, for the people are  expecting you. St. Moses arose, took a basket filled with sand that had a  hole in the bottom of it, carried it on his shoulder and started  walking towards the council. When the monks saw him coming with the bag  of sand, with sand pouring out of the hole, they asked him the reason of  his behavior. He said to them, The sand you see running from the bag  represents my sins which are always following me, and yet, today I am  coming to judge the errors of my brother. When they heard this, they  left the council and every monk went to his own cell, as none could  judge that monk.

About 370 AD, St Moses, St. Evagruis, St. Cronius, St. Pambo and  three other Desert Fathers went to visit St. Macarius the great in the  southern rock of Scetis. When St. Macarius saw them he said, My  brethren, I see one of you worthy of the crown of martyrdom and he is  going to shed his blood in the wilderness. St. Moses answered at once,  Probably I am the one, in order to fulfill the words of the Lord all  they that take by the sword shall perish with the sword.

The prophecy of St. Macarius was fulfilled in 407 AD, when the  Berbers raided Scetis and destroyed its four churches. St. Moses was  seventy-five years old and had under him seventy disciples. On the day of this raid, St. Moses was sitting with seven of his disciples, when he  told them, Behold, today the barbarians are coming to Scetis, rise and  escape. They asked him, Will you not escape with us father? He answered,  The words of our Savior must be fulfilled: All who take by the sword  will perish by the sword. (Matt 26:52). Therefore I am staying The seven  disciples also decided to stay with their father. Shortly thereafter,  the Berbers entered the cell, and killed them. One of the monks was able  to flee and hid behind a palm leaf, and saw seven crowns coming down  and crowning them.

The monks of El Baramos monastery at Scetis have faithfully kept the  body of St. Moses, which remains to this day beside the body of his  spiritual father, St. Isidore inside the main church of the monastery.

The Martyrs of Ansena were 150 men and 24 women who when they were worshipping idols came once to the Governor's place and watched the torture of St. Paul the Syrian. The Governor ordered the soldiers to torture him then they cast him in prison. The following morning when they brought him, these men and women were present, and they saw that he was healed as if he had never been tortured.

They marveled saying, "No one can do this miracle except the true God alone, Who is the Creator of nature from nonexistent." They cried with one accord, "We believe in the God of St. Paul."

They came and bowed down at the saint's feet asking him to pray for them. He lifted them up and blessed them. Then they went before the Governor and confessed the Name of the Lord Christ. He ordered them beheaded and they received the crown of martyrdom.

Their Commemoration

The Church celebrates the commemoration of their martyrdom on January 6th, the 28th day of the Coptic month of Koiahk.

On March 9, the Coptic Orthodox Church remembers the departure of the Great Pope (Papa, Ava)        Kyrillos (Cyril) VI, the 116th Pope of Alexandria and successor of Saint  Mark the Evangelist

. He sat on the throne of Saint Mark for twelve years  (1959-1971). Pope Kyrillos was a holy man of prayer who through full        dedication to the life of prayer and fasting possessed many higher gifts which included performing wonders and miracles, the gift of knowledge, and        an unusual ability to lead by example. He was undoubtedly a very spiritual man and brought the Coptic Church into a new era of spirituality. He was   highly regarded by the people of Egypt from all walks of life, Christians and non-Christians alike. 

Pope Kyrillos VI was born on Saturday, August 2, 1902 and was called Azer Ata. His father Ata, was a church deacon and belonged to a middle class family.   After completing high school, Azer went to work for a shipping company in  Alexandria. Azer was content with little food and the ground to sleep on.  Then much against his family's wishes, he resigned his job with the intention of becoming a monk and entered the Monastery of El-Baramous on   Wednesday, July 27, 1927. He was ordained monk on Saturday, February 25, 1928 and was named Mina after the name of Saint Mina (Menas or Mena), his patron saint. He was ordained priest on Saturday, July 18, 1931. He also attended the Helwan Theological College and was rated one of the top students. 

Father Mina's love for God was so great that he desired a life of solitude. Only thirty years old at the time, the monks refused his request saying, "You are only thirty years old and your monastic life is only five years. Do you want to pursue the life of solitude in the desert whereas   many others before you have struggled for the same goal for thirty or  forty years and failed?" The assembly of monks did not change Father Mina's decision and he lived in a cave near the monastery. He pursued a life of solitude at El-Natron Valley in the western desert between Cairo  and Alexandria, then he headed the Monastery of Saint Anba Samuel the   Confessor at Zawarah in upper Egypt and devoted a great deal of effort toward the restoration of this historic landmark.
     When the monastery of Saint Samuel was restored, he left that area and moved to a deserted windmill in El-Moukatam mountain at the outskirts of Cairo. This windmill was totally abandoned and very dangerous. It was miles from the nearest city. Many dangerous animals can be found there at all times, like scorpions and snakes. Here, Father Mina spent his time praying and contemplating because of his love for his Saviour. 

Father Mina was ordained Pope on Sunday May 10, 1959 and was named        Kyrillos VI. Before him, five popes of Alexandria bore the name Kyrillos (Cyril); the first of them was Saint Cyril the Great of Alexandria, the pillar of faith, who acted against Nestorianism and used the title Theotokos, meaning God bearer, or Mother of God, for the Virgin Mary. 

On the enthronement day of our holy father, Pope Kyrillos VI declared that by becoming the pastor, he was also the loving and vigilant pastor of all.    At the end of the liturgy, all people gathered around him and he began to bless them individually, standing for long hours with meekness and patience. The metropolitans and bishops felt pity for him after noticing the sweat and his fatigue. They beseeched him to rest. But the pope refused to send anybody away and insisted on finishing. From then on, Pope  Kyrillos continued this practice.        

The renovation of the ancient Cathedral of Saint Mark, the establishment        of the Monastery of Saint Mina at Mariout, and the new Saint Mark's  Cathedral at Anba Rouis.
     For the first time in the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church, he  established Coptic Orthodox churches in Asia, America, Canada and  Australia. He sent priests to undertake religious services in Europe and        Africa. It is also during his era that the Blessed Virgin Mary  transfigured at Zeitoun. 

He restored the body (relics) of Saint Mark from Italy. Saint Mark, who        wrote the Gospel bearing his name, is the founder of the Coptic Church.  After his martyrdom in Alexandria in 68 A.D., his body was kept in Egypt  but eventually ended up in Rome. For many centuries, the Coptic Orthodox Church wanted the relics of her patron saint back.  It was under the papacy of Pope Kyrillos VI that this dream came true, a        few months after the start of the miraculous apparitions of the Blessed  Virgin Mary at Zeitoun, Egypt. From the time Pope Kyrillos stepped off the  plane which brought the holy relics, hymns, liturgies and doxologies were sung incessantly. The body of Saint Mark was finally placed in  the new Cathedral of Saint Mark.        

Monasticism, translation as well as social service flourished; many  churches were built. He made the sacred unction (Holy Chrism or meron)   used for anointing the body of the person after being baptised, with the        view of being sacred as the temple of God.
     In his last days on our vanishing earth, he was gravely ill with  phlebitis. They hooked a speaker from the great Cathedral to his bedroom at his request because he could not bear not being able to perform liturgy        daily as before. Our  Father Papa Ava Kyrillos departed on Tuesday, March 9, 1971. Initially, they buried        him under the Altar in the Great Cathedral in Cairo. But when his  successor, H.H. Pope Shenouda III read his will, he had to follow his  wishes and move his holy body to the desert south west of Alexandria, to        the Monastery of Saint Mina which was re-established and immensely        expanded by Pope Kyrillos to honour his patron saint, St. Mina of Mariout.       
 

     May the prayers and intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of   God, and of Pope Saint Kyrillos VI and his patron Saint, St. Mina the  martyr and miracle-maker of Mariout be with us. Glory be to God forever.  Amen

On 6th July 2013, Father Mina Aboud, a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Church, in El-Areesh, North Sinai, was horrendously killed by extremists.

Father Mina was 39 years old, was a young father of a peaceful family, and a much loved leader to the congregation whom he served in all honesty and diligence. 

Father Mina had an angelic heart which did not belong here on earth. 

He was targeted while waiting in front ot The Al-Masaeed Church near the western entrance of the City, because he was a Christian leader. He was taken to hospital, where he later died of severe wounds.

Our parish is blessed to be able to have a part of Father Mina’s relics with us, which was made possible by his family who are regular parishioners  and servants at church. 

The Lord works in His own mysterious ways. Goodness always comes after turbulence and tribulations. The world always considered Egypt as a Muslim country. After the terrorists’ upheaval, the world is now aware that Egypt is also a Christian country. The injustices inflicted on Copts in Egypt has opened the eyes of the outside world and proved that Egypt has a huge number of Christians, thus forcing the world to acknowledge and understand our Church history. 

The word COPTIC became widely known all over the world. Our Church is rich with saints and a proof of our Lord’s love for Egypt. The saints of the early Church are known to us when we read about them, but now we understand that there are Saints living amongst here and now, in this new era of martyrdom.

May the prayers and intercessions of Abouna Mina be with each one of us. Amen.

Sister Olfat, wife of Fr. Raphael the Martyr, explains, “Before his ordination, Fr. Raphael was named Azmy. He and I had just gotten to know one another, and with every passing day of getting to know him, I realized how blessed he was. We got married, and a few days into our marriage he finally divulged something strange to me. He said, ‘Olfat, I’m going to reveal something to you. God has told me two things that will come to pass in my life, and you must know them.’ I asked Azmy how God has told him, but he replied that he could not reveal that specific detail to me. He continued, ‘I will tell you what God revealed to me. First, He told me I will be ordained a priest. Next, He told me I will die as a martyr.’”⁣

⁣

On March 3, 2012, Azmy Moussa Ayoub was ordained to the holy priesthood, taking the name Fr. Raphael, and was called to serve in the church of St. George in Al Arish, Sinai. After the Revolution of June 30, many attempts to kill Fr. Raphael were organized by ISIS; Fr. Raphael had received dozens of threats to either cease praying in his church or be killed. He would not heed to their threats. On June 30, 2016, after celebrating the Divine Liturgy, he drove to a mechanics shop near his parish to have his car fixed. As Fr. Raphael stood in the shop, a masked ISIS militant, who stalked him from the start of the day, walked behind him and fired a shot into the back of his head, instantly killing him. He thus received the crown of martyrdom.

(9th April) we commemorate the martyrdom of the 45 parishioners of the Palm Sunday bombings in both St George’s church in Tanta and St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria in 2017. The one martyr who stands out very much by far is the 22 yr old Bishoy al-Qommos – the son of Fr Daniel Maher. A video interview by the ME Sat channel reveals more information. His brother was also injured in the blast, but did not pass away.

Upon birth, Bishoy was weak, used to vomit and lose weight. However Archangel Michael worked a miracle with him and he recovered. He was a quiet child, committed to his studies, often coming first in his class. He loved the church, was devoted to service, loved Sunday School and memorized hymns. Before going to college, he used to wake up early to pray and to read the bible. During the Great Lent he used to do metanias.

On Thursdays, instead of going out with his friends, he preferred to visit his Sunday School children. He regularly communicated with the mothers of his children via what’s app in order to serve the children. Often he’s be heard telling his mum ‘Mum I am so upset that so and so of his Coptic college friends didn’t come to mass and have Communion”. Hence he would pray for them.

His father the priest reports, “He loved saints, heaven and contemporary saints” particularly Fr Samaan Anba Paul and enjoyed retreats at the monastery. Some time before his martydom, Bishoy told Fr Paula of St Mary’s church Ibiara (many say this priest is a saint), he wanted to be a monk. He loved his mother, helping in the housework, cleaning the dishes and the bathroom when he was home, which his mum would often find finished upon returning from work.

Whilst studying or doing anything at home, he’d always be seen holding a small cross. His desk was very organized and housed more than 10 small different icons. The wall his desk was in front of held a single poster of many saints combined, which he himself elaborately designed. Each day, he was fond of being aware of the saint that was commemorated.

Throughout the entire interview, his father and mother speak proudly, joyfully and gratefully about their son and his martyrdom and not one tear is shed. Thus they have great faith, humility and submission to the will of God. Many report miracles occurring with them through the intercession of Bishoy.

The vision Fr Paula had during the Palm Sunday bombings

On the 9th April 2017 (Palm Sunday) in Egypt, two Islamic suicide bombers blew themselves up in St George’s Church Tanta and St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox church Alexandria killing 45 people, including the famed martyr Bishoy Al-Qommos, and injuring 126 people. At the precise moment of the bombings in Tanta, the priest Fr Paula who is well reputed to be a saintly holy priest, saw a vision whilst he was praying the mass in Ibyar – a village 18 km away from Tanta. [This priest is a real, kind and caring father, I’ve experienced it in a small way].

During the confession part of the mass as Fr Paula was lifting up the holy body, staring behind the altar, he suddenly stayed silent for 10 mins, even to the extent, the deacon took photos of him. Word quickly spread about the bombings and as Fr Paula continued the mass, he asked some people what was wrong and they told him about the bombings.

Fr Paula told them I saw them all in a vision where he saw the picture of Jesus Christ sitting on the throne (the big painted in one right behind the altar as is present in all churches) light up and separate into different parts and deacons in two lines, one line coming from the left hand side of the altar, the other from the right hand side. As the deacons reached the icon, he saw the Lord Jesus place a crown on the deacons heads and then they would disappear into the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ sitting on the throne. Thus did the holy priest confirm the crowns of the martyrs.