CYRIL V - Page 3 of 6

Youth Movements

YOUTH MOVEMENTS Coptic youth movements started to appear at the end of the nineteenth century under Pope CYRIL V (1874-1927). The 112th patriarch of the Coptic church stressed the importance of religious education and moral teachings, among the young especially. Archdeacon HABIB JIRJIS played a significant role in encouraging such trends. In 1900, with the …

Youth Movements Read More »

Timotheos I

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

TIMOTHEOS I The Coptic archbishop of Jerusalem (1899-1925). He was born in Zaqaziq in 1865 with the name Michael. He studied Arabic and French at the school of the Frères de la Salle. He was ordained a monk in the Monastery of Saint Antony (DAYR ANBA ANTUNIYUS) in 1885. When Basilios II, archbishop of Jerusalem, …

Timotheos I Read More »

Copto-Arabic Literature

Heritage, History / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTO-ARABIC LITERATURE Coptic literature per se, a subject treated elsewhere, is confined to the writings in the Coptic language during the early centuries of medieval Egyptian history when that language was the spoken language of the people as well as their only written instrument. After the ARAB CONQUEST OF EGYPT in the seventh century, the …

Copto-Arabic Literature Read More »

Copto-Arabic Synaxarion

Books / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTO-ARABIC SYNAXARION A list of saints used in the Coptic church Editions of the Synaxarion This book, which has become a liturgical book, is very important for the history of the Coptic church. It appears in two forms: the recension from Lower Egypt, which is the quasi-official book of the Coptic church from Alexandria to …

Copto-Arabic Synaxarion Read More »

Dates And Succession Of Patriarchs

History / By Armia FAYEZ

DATES AND SUCCESSION OF PATRIARCHS Significant dates in the lives of notable persons from the past, particularly from the ancient past, are often a matter of conjecture. In some cases a paucity of historical source material makes it impossible to determine when particular events took place, and in other instances discrepancies in the sources that …

Dates And Succession Of Patriarchs Read More »

British Occupation Of Egypt

History / By Arsanious Adel

BRITISH OCCUPATION OF EGYPT When the British occupied Egypt in 1882, the Copts were not playing any active role in Egyptian political life. The liberal wing of the nationalist movement, which developed under the influence of Christian Syrian immigrants, did not include Coptic names. The presence of Copts in the Egyptian army was too recent …

British Occupation Of Egypt Read More »

Boutros Ghali (1846-1910)

Eminent / By Arsanious Adel

BOUTROS GHALI (1846-1910) A Coptic statesman. He was born in Kiman-al-‘Arus, a village in the province of Bani Suef. His father, the steward of the estate of Prince Mustafa Fadil, brother of Khedive Isma‘il, first sent him to the patriarchal school, which had recently been founded in Cairo by CYRIL IV (1854-1861). He then studied …

Boutros Ghali (1846-1910) Read More »

Consecration Of Baptistery

Liturgy, System / By Arsanious Adel

CONSECRATION OF BAPTISTERY After the consecration of a new church and its altar, the bishop, together with the clergy and deacons carrying crosses and lighted candles, proceeds to consecrate the baptismal font. There exist two versions of the consecration liturgy. In the more widely used ceremony the bishop starts with the Prayer of Thanksgiving, followed …

Consecration Of Baptistery Read More »

Apocryphal Literature

Books, History / By Arsanious Adel

APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE Properly speaking, this consists of the so-called Old Testament pseudepigrapha. The Old Testament books called “apocryphal” by Protestants and “deuterocanonical” by Roman Catholics were until recently included in the biblical canon of the Coptic church. Only at the beginning of the twentieth century and by order of CYRIL V (1874-1927) were the following …

Apocryphal Literature Read More »

Dayr Shahran

Places / By Arsanious Adel

DAYR SHAHRAN A monastery south of Cairo that was restored and dedicated under the Patriarch ZACHARIAS (1004-1032) by the monk Poemen, who had embraced Islam and then returned to the Christian faith and became its abbot. In this monastery BARSUM THE NAKED lived for seventeen years (1300-1317), and here he was buried. Toward 1320 Abu …

Dayr Shahran Read More »