bishop of Antioch - Coptic Wiki

Cycle

Culture, Liturgy, System / By Arsanious Adel

CYCLE One of a group of works in Coptic literature dealing with episodes in the life of one or more specific characters, mostly saints and martyrs. There are two basic types of cycle: homiletic and hagiographical. The difference lies simply in the different literary forms used, with the homiletic cycles being made up of texts …

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Cyprian The Magician

Eminent / By Arsanious Adel

CYPRIAN THE MAGICIAN The legend of Cyprian the Magician (perhaps mid-fourth century with further development at a later period) tells how a young man in Antioch approaches Cyprian so that with magic he can win the love of the Christian virgin Justina. But all the magical arts are frustrated by prayer and by the sign …

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Catechetical School Of Alexandria

History, Places / By Arsanious Adel

CATECHETICAL SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA The first and foremost institution of theological learning in Christian antiquity. Though we first hear of it as an established school in the Historia ecclesiastica of Eusebius, around the year 180, its roots must be traced much further back. Its rise to prominence from humble beginnings must therefore have been a …

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Saint Cyril I Or Cyril Of Alexandria

Eminent / By Arsanious Adel

SAINT CYRIL I or Cyril of Alexandria The twenty-fourth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (412-444), who is reckoned one of the greatest prelates of Christian antiquity (feast day: 3 Abib). Cyril spent his early years at Dayr Anba Maqar in the Nitrian Valley, which had become noted as a center of theological studies. …

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Saints Cosmas And Damian

Eminent / By Arsanious Adel

SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN Two doctors and brothers who suffered martyrdom at the time of the Diocletian persecutions (feast day: 22 Hatur). They were called anargyroi (silverless) because they did not ask money from the sick whom they cured. The Byzantine church, however, gradually came to distinguish three pairs of brothers named Cosmas and Damian, …

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Wadi Al-Natrun

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

WADI AL-NATRUN It is the most significant monastic center in Egypt. Wadi al-Natrun is a desert depression extending about 50 kilometers long that runs southeast to northwest and lies in the Libyan Desert about 90 kilometers northwest of Cairo. The site has been known by many names: Scetis, Shiet, Shihat al-Isqit, and Wadi Habib. About …

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Priest

System / By Armia FAYEZ

PRIEST The priest is mentioned several times in the New Testament. Christ chose a number of men and named them apostles (; ). By the full authority that was committed to Him, He commanded them to go forth and baptize people everywhere and teach them to observe His commandments. They alone were given the power …

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Archdeacon

System / By Arsanious Adel

ARCHDEACON The rank of archdeacon dates back to the apostolic age. Having appointed seven deacons, “men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom,” the apostles selected one of them, Stephen, to be their chief (Acts 6:1-6). However, no mention is made to this particular rank in the letter written by Cornelius, …

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Timothy I, Saint

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

SAINT TIMOTHY I The twenty-second patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (380-385). Timothy was unanimously elected to succeed PETER II. An elderly man at the time of his election, Timothy was associated with ATHANASIUS in his earlier years and must have been profoundly influenced by his theology. He is known to have disposed of …

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Saint Apoli

Eminent / By Arsanious Adel

SAINT APOLI The fourth-century martyr of Antiochian origin, who was put to death in Egypt (feast day: 1 Misrah). He appears only in the later hagiographic Coptic tradition. Of his Passion, ascribed to an eyewitness, the servant Sergius, two Bohairic fragmentary manuscripts are preserved. The first consists of four folios from Cairo (ed. Evelyn-White, 1926, …

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