I would like to congratulate our Muslim brothers in Egypt, the Middle East and the whole world for celebrating Eid al-Fitr. I also would like to congratulate both Egyptians and Christians in Egypt for the memory of Jesus Christ coming to its land. I wish all good, happiness and peace for all Egyptians.
Egypt the Country of Blessings
Since the dawn of time to humanity and Egypt occupied a very special place. It was the country of blessings. It was the shelter for all prophets. As Abraham the friend of God took shelter in it, Jacob God’s prophet and his sons came also to it. Moreover, Joseph the righteous lived in it and he became the second man after the Pharaoh of Egypt. Also in Egypt Moses the prophet was born and he was called God’s Clemency, and he was educated the wisdom of Egyptians. In addition, king Solomon the wisest married Egypt’s Pharaohs’ daughter.
Egypt was considered the only country that Jesus Christ and his mother Virgin Mary came to and lived in its cities and villages with Joseph the carpenter. And that is why the Holy Family escaping to Egypt was considered a historical event and was written on the pages of human history for Egypt to be entitled by the Country of Blessings. It was said: “Blessed is Egypt My people”. Egypt and its people was always a milestone in history, cultures and religions. It is the home of good, bless, love, Peace and safety.
The Escape
King Herod was seeking to kill Jesus Christ and the Angel of God appeared to Joseph in a vision and ordered him to escape to Egypt. He hurried up and took the boy and his mother at night and escaped to Egypt. The Holy Family went through a difficult journey filled with exhaustion, pain and danger. However that escape was fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Hosea the prophet predicted: “And out of Egypt I called My son.”
Isaiah the prophet also spoke about it: “The Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.”
And his prophecy was fulfilled: “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.”
That altar was the altar of the ancient church of Virgin Mary at Muharraq monastery in Assiut which lies in the midst of Egypt where the Holy Family stayed almost for six Months. On top of it was the stone that Jesus Christ used to sleep on when He was a baby.
As for “the pillar at Egypt borders”; it was the See of St. Mark the Apostle, and the preacher of the Egyptian homes in Alexandria where our apostolic church was established.
It was mentioned that the Holy Family didn’t pass through one of the three known routes to the commercial convoys and travelling trips at that time to escape from Herods’ evil, as he sent his spies to track down the Holy Family and apprehend the boy to kill Him. We shall stop at some of the escaping points of the Holy Family.
Pelusium
It was the door to Egypt. Bernard the monk who came from Antioch to Egypt in 870 AD mentioned that he saw a church devoted under the name of Virgin Mary in Pelusium besides her Holy cave as a memorial to the Holy Family passing by. Moreover the Holy Family stayed for a few days in Pelusium then headed towards the East Delta.
Bubastis
The Holy Family stopped in Tell-Basta (or Per-Bast) near Zagazig in Sharkhya Governorate. There was a tree in the city that the Holy Family sat under and also a water spring that Jesus emanated it when the people of the city refused to give water to the Holy Family!
Bubastis also was connected to the name of Qallum who invited the Holy Family to his house and welcomed them; Jesus also cured his wife who had an incurable disease for three years. Furthermore the presence of the Holy Family caused the fall and the destruction of the great granite statues as mentioned in the prophecy of the Old Testament.
That incident spread in the entire city until it reached the governor, who knew that the reason behind that incident was the lady who carried a small child and mostly He is the Holy child that Herod was seeking to kill. The governor ordered to apprehend the child; so the Holy Family hurried and left the city at night.
Stories about Beautiful Egypt never end!
General Bishop,
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
