GABRIEL II - Page 2 of 4

Maqara (Active Before 1350)

MAQARA (active before 1350) A Monk, canonist. Maqara was a monk of the Monastery of St. John the Little in the Wadi al-Natrun who dedicated great energy to gathering the canons of the Coptic Orthodox Church—as well as materials from other ecclesial communities—into one great Arabic-language compendium. This compendium includes the canonical collections attributed to …

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Copto-Arabic Literature

Heritage, History / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTO-ARABIC LITERATURE This entry consists of four parts. The first addresses the origins and development of the Arabic literature of the Copts. This is followed by introductions to three Copto-Arabic literary genres—hagiography, apocalyptic, and popular catechesis—for which texts are usually of anonymous authorship, and therefore unlikely to be otherwise addressed in a dictionary arranged largely …

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Holy Week

Culture, Events, System, Theology / By Armia FAYEZ

HOLY WEEK Holy Week falls between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. The first description of the rite of the Holy Week is given by Egeria, a European woman from France who visited the Holy Lands between 381and 384. She provided a detailed description of the places she visited and the ceremonies that she attended. It …

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Lectionary Of The Holy Week

Liturgy, System / By Armia FAYEZ

LECTIONARY OF THE HOLY WEEK The Holy Week lectionary service covers services from Palm Sunday to Easter. Each day of the Holy Week has five “five night hours” and “five day hours,” each of them with special readings, and a “burial service” conducted after Palm Sunday Eucharist. This last service is for those who pass …

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Gabriel II Ibn Turayk (1084-1145)

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

GABRIEL II IBN TURAYK (1084-1145) A Patriarch (70th, 1131-1145). Abu al-‘Ala’ Sa‘id ibn Turayk was a learned, generous, and pious layman who served as an administrator in various government bureaus before being chosen, in 1131, to be the 70th patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church under the name Gabriel. During his patriarchate he issued a …

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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 …

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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 …

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Dayr Al-Sham‘

Places / By Arsanious Adel

DAYR AL-SHAM‘ The most ancient testimony is that given at the beginning of the thirteenth century by ABU SALIH THE ARMENIAN (1895, pp. 194-95), who saw an inscription dating a reconstruction of the monastery from the year 951. Abu Salih explained the nickname Dayr al-Shayyatin (Monastery of the Demons) by saying that the monks had …

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Dayr Anba Bula (RED SEA) (The Monastery of St. Paul)

Places / By Arsanious Adel

DAYR ANBA BULA Chronology The Monastery of Saint Paul (Anba Bula) is situated 26 miles (39 km) southwest of the Red Sea lighthouse station of Ras Za‘faranah. It marks the site to which Saint PAUL OF THEBES, at the age of sixteen, fled to escape the Decian persecution in the middle of the third century. …

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Coptic Saints

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC SAINTS Holy men and women recognized in Egypt who died peacefully, as distinguished from MARTYRS, also saints, who met a violent end. The saints continued to reflect their faith throughout their lives, leaving behind them information that could help posterity record their labors for Christianity. Any listing of saints is an infinitesimal fraction of …

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