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A MOVING LETTER BY A COPTIC MOTHER WHO WOULD-BE MARTYR TO HER ‘LITTLE SWEET...
Detail from Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, a painting by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1670–1671) In the Coptic martyrdom of Saints Paēse and Thecla, one finds a moving letter from Thecla to her little...
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COPTIC DEATH AND AFTERLIFE 11: THE DEAD SHALL RISE AND HERE IS THE PROVE!
We have seen in a previous article that certain people in Alexandria believed a heresy that arose from Arabia and spread to it that the soul died with the body but that they both would be raised and...
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SHENOUDA OR SHENOUTE OR EVEN SHENOUTI?
Detail of a secco painting of St. Shenoute discovered at the north lobe of the sanctuary in the church of the Red Monastery, near Sohag, Upper Egypt. Note the name form used here on the right side As...
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FOUR JOBS FOR THE COPTS TO ENRICH COPTIC LITERATURE
For Coptic (and here I am talking about the Bohairic dialect) to be revived, we must have a solid, vast and rich Coptic literature. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all who want to revive Coptic to...
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THE BOTCHED AND HORRIBLE BEHEADING OF ST. VICTOR OF ANTIOCH OF BISIDIA
Detail from The Martyrdom of Saint Paul by the Italian painter Tintoretto (1518 – 1594), dated c. 1556 Note. Some readers may find parts of the article graphic and disturbing In 1914, E. A. Wallis...
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COPTIC MYTHICAL FIRE-BREATHING ANIMAL
The drawing above comes at the end of the Coptic manuscript Oriental No. 7022, on Fol 60a. You can find about the contents of this manuscript here. It was published by E. A. Wallis Budge in 1914 in...
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THE FOOLS OF CHRIST
The Hermit by the Russian artist Mikhail Nesterov, 1889 In the interesting Coptic Apocalypse of Paul, which E. A. Wallis Budge published in his huge volume, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts in the Dialect...
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THE AUDACITY OF SAINT MACARIUS THE GREAT, THE GREEK SKULL AND THE DEMONS
Saint Macarius the Great by the Russian painter, Oleg Shurkus The Apophthegmata Patrum (The sayings of the Fathers) is a collection of the words and anecdotes mainly of the Egyptian desert fathers and...
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FIRST COUSIN MARRIAGE AND THE COPTS 1: THE CASE OF PATRIARCH DEMETRIUS
Two young people from the Fayum portraits during Roman times in Egypt Pope Demetrius was the twelfth bishop of Alexandria, and Patriarch of the Egyptian (Coptic) Church. He was ordained bishop and...
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THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POPE GABRIEL IBN TURAYK IN THE DECLINE OF COPTIC,...
Note. This must not be taken in any shape or form as a criticism to Pope Gabriel ibn Turayk’s sainthood. It is, however, a criticism of his judgement on the issue related to Coptic and Arabic language....
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HOW THE GREEK IN COPTIC LITURGY CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECLINE OF COPTIC, THE...
A page from the Liturgy of St. Cyril, showing on the right column what’s taken as Coptic, but in fact it is Coptic and Greek[1] In a previous article, “How Patriarch Gabriel ibn Turayk contributed to...
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MONASTERY OF SAINT ANTHONY: LANDSCAPE, STRUCTURES, DAILY LIFE OF MONKS: A...
One of Kazazian’s beautiful photographs of the Monastery of St. Anthony (looking east from the monastery) The Byzantine Institute and Dumbarton Oaks Fieldwork Records and Papers, ca. late 1920s-2000s...
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MONASTERY OF SAINT PAUL: LANDSCAPE, STRUCTURES, DAILY LIFE OF MONKS: A...
One of Kazazian’s beautiful photographs of the Monastery of Saint Patl (looking towards the Red Sea) The Byzantine Institute and Dumbarton Oaks Fieldwork Records and Papers, ca. late 1920s-2000s...
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“ST. ANTHONY THE ABBOT” BY THE SPANISH PAINTER DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ PRESENTED BY...
Otto F.A. Meinardus (1925–2005), the renowned Coptologist, tells us in his book Monks and Monasteries of the Egyptian Deserts that the French ambassador to Egypt, Georges Cogordan, and other French...
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HOW THE COPTIC MONKS AT THE MONASTERY OF SAINT ANTONY PROTECTED AND DEFENDED...
A view of the Monastery of St. Antony with the keep and the drawbridge appearing in it The German, Catholic theologian, Johann Michael Vansleb [or Wansleben] (1635 – 1679) visited Egypt in 1672-3;...
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MY RITUAL TO CELEBRATE THE COPTIC LANGUAGE NATIONAL DAY
Today, the 17th of December, I celebrated the Coptic Language National Day with this simple ritual: I placed bitter on the tip of my tongue, tasted it and then, turning my head to my left shoulder,...
View ArticleFURTHER EVIDENCE THAT COPTS OF ALEXANDRIA HELPED IN THE DECLINE OF COPTIC...
In a previous article, I wrote about the contribution of the Copts of Alexandria to the decline of the Coptic language and language shift from Coptic to Arabic. There, I used evidence from Abu...
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WORLD COPTIC CONGRESS
The heart-breaking mourning of the families of the Coptic victims who were massacred by the Islamists in Helwan on 29 December 2017 The massacres of Copts by the Islamists in Egypt, and the...
View ArticleTHE DANGER OF CONSIDERING ALL WHO ARE MURDERED OF OUR PEOPLE BY THE ISLAMISTS...
There is a trend within the Copts to consider all who die at the hand of the Islamists as martyrs. I disagree with that for the following reasons: First, the traditional view of a martyr in the Church...
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MISINTERPRETING DAVID’S “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with...
Coptic mural at the Monastery of Apollo in Bawit, north of Asyut (6/7th century), showing David clothed by King Saul in the king’s armour, including his coat of mail, a bronze helmet, and his sword....
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