It’s hard to talk about a person who was said to him “Father, you honored other monks and was an icon for the Egyptian man, I greet you warmly and I hope I can prove to you one day how deep my appreciation and respect is”. These were the words of Dr. Hassan Fouad, chief of the gallery of Arab Antiquities after meeting, Fr. Mina Al-Baramousy who was going to be Pope Cyril VI the 116th Patriarch of Alexandria that we commemorated his death few days ago.
These words went back to 1933 when Fr. Mina, the Recluse, met a Bedouin who brought with him an Egyptian man, chief of the gallery of Arab Antiquities and a foreign man who happened to be the manager of the theological college in Newyorkwho came to Egypt to do a research about monastic life and teachings of St. Antony the great, father of the monks and the fathers of Scetis desert that was known around the whole world. Thus, Fr. Mina mentioned all the details about the monastic life, its philosophy and the teachings of the Fathers. Thus, the American researcher concluded the meeting saying that the information he had collected in two months couldn’t have been compared by what he knew that day, along with Dr. Hassan Fouad’s words of appreciation.
Azer was born on 8th of August, 1902 at “Toukh Alnasara” village that belongs to El-Menofyia governorate, then he lived in Damanhour till his family moved to Alexandria. As soon as he had finished secondary school, he worked at A Company named koks Shipping for Navigation then he sat off to Al-Baramous monastery to devote his life to God on 27th of July, 1927.He became a monk on 25th of February, 1928 and was known as Fr. Mina then he was ordained a priest on 18th of July, 1931 then an archpriest. Hence, he began his reclusive life after 5 years at the monastery. In 1936, He moved to a deserted windmill at Old Cairo to live there. He built St. Mina church at Old Cairo in 1947.He was known to people and heaven’s providence chose him to be a Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in May,1959.He departed on 9th of March, 1971.
When tackling the issue of high principles, we should not forget about Pope Cyril VI as he lived and taught them. He is also a role model to us. One of these principles is “Honesty”. His seniors and all who dealt with him witnessed his honesty. He was so honest in doing his work’s duties devotedly till he gained trust of his seniors. When he resigned in order to go to the monastery, the company’s manager sent for his brother to discuss this matter with him and he promised to give his brother a huge bonus if he came back. He once found a wallet of a highly-positioned man and refused to take a reward for that, the reward was 100 sterling (The Egyptian pound equaled 3 sterling during that time).
He was honest in his life with God. He spent his day in prayers and readings keeping God’s commandments and a consecrating his heart to Him. When he became a monk, his honesty was shown during his service at the monastery. He also did all his tasks with care like issuing “Min’a Al-Khalas”, “Harbor of Salvation” religious magazine as he was writing more than 50 copies and he put a lot of effort into writing them besides reading and doing research for the magazine’s material. Moreover, He honestly took the responsibility of managing monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor at Maghagha as well as his sincere care of his people when ordained as a patriarch. He offered them his love, compassion and guidance and he was loved by all. His words will always enlighten us especially when he said, “Do all your duties honestly”
Anba Ermiah,
General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
