Commemoration - Page 2 of 3

The Pilgrimage Center of St. Dimyana Monastery (BILQAS)

The Pilgrimage Center of St. Dimyana Monastery (BILQAS) The pilgrimage center of st. dimyana MONASTERY is situated near the town of Bilqas, which lies in the northeast region of the Nile Delta about 45 kilometers from the city of al-Mansura. A Monastery of Jimyana (Dimyana) is mentioned by the historian al-Maqrizi (d. 1442), although the …

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The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary (SAKHA)

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary (SAKHA) The TOWN OF SAKHA lies about 130 kilometers north of Cairo in the Nile Delta. Sakha is known as one of the Delta sites that was blessed by the Holy Family: when Jesus touched a stone with his foot, water sprouted forth, and his foot left an …

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The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary and St. Simeon the Tanner (MUQATTAM)

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary and St. Simeon the Tanner (MUQATTAM) IN 1969 THE GOVERNOR OF CAIRO issued a decree that ordered all the trash collectors of Cairo to move to one of the Muqattam hills behind the Citadel. There they built themselves primitive houses, simple huts of tin that are called in …

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Gnosticism Bibliography

History / By Armia FAYEZ

GNOSTICISM BIBLIOGRAPHY Attridge, Harold W., ed. Nag Hammadi Codex I (The Jung Codex). Nag Hammadi Studies 22-23. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1985. Bohlig, Alexander, and Frederik Wisse, eds. Nag Hammadi Codices III, 2 and IV, 2: The Gospel of the Egyptians (The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit). Nag Hammadi Studie, 4. Leiden: E. …

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Maundy Thursday

Liturgy / By Armia FAYEZ

MAUNDY THURSDAY The hymn of Judas is sung in Greek in the Matins of the Maundy Thursday; according to Baumstark, this hymn may be dated to the sixth or seventh century. A manuscript from the John Rylands Library in Manchester contains a Prayer for the Basin “without sprinkling the lentils” (the interpretation of this phrase …

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Rite Of Glorifications

Liturgy, System / By Armia FAYEZ

RITE OF GLORIFICATIONS This rite is performed before an icon of a saint, either after Vesper prayers or after the Eucharistic liturgy. Sometimes the rite is performed during a visit of the tomb or the pilgrimage center of a saint. In commemoration of the saint, the faithful chant the Doxology Adam—a glorification of the saint’s …

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Mark

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

MARK The Apostle, evangelist, and saint. According to the Coptic tradition, St. Mark is the founder of the Coptic Church in Egypt. This tradition is supported by the testimony of Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History. A Coptic manuscript preserved in Paris contains a detailed story of St. Mark. This manuscript was copied in …

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Crypt – Architectural Elements Of Churches

System / By Youssef Matta

Crypt A crypt is a partly or entirely underground room, usually under a church. In ancient times a crypt was simply an underground vaulted room or passage (cryptoporticus), and in early Christian times, it was a subterranean burial chamber. In the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire, such a chamber was called a taphos (Arabic, tafus). Since …

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Monthly Festal Days

Culture, Events / By Armia FAYEZ

MONTHLY FESTAL DAYS Traditionally, the Coptic Orthodox Church would celebrate two feast days for prominent martyrs, the timing of which would generally fall during the summer and winter. One feast day would commemorate the saint’s martyrdom, and the second would be the consecration of the saint’s church. This practice was later extended to incorporate a …

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Coptic Hagiography

Books, History / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC HAGIOGRAPHY Egypt was influenced by the Greek culture, hence many of the hagiographical texts were written first in this language and translated later into Coptic. It is important to use the classical hagiographical tools such as Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis and the Bibliotheca Sanctorum (16 vols., Rome 1965-1976), in addition to the bibliography in each …

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