Tomorrow, Thursday, 24th of Bashans, falling on 1st of June, the Egyptians are celebrating the Entry of Lord Christ to Egypt, accompanied by His mother, Saint Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph the Carpenter. It is a celebration of all the Egyptians due to the lofty status of Lord Christ and the high status of Saint Virgin Mary in the hearts of the Egyptian people; Muslims and Christians. The Quran said about Lord Christ, “When the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allāh gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allāh].” And in Surat Al-Imran, “I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind [from birth] and the leper, and I give life to the dead – by permission of Allāh. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.” About Saint Virgin Mary, it is said, “And when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allāh has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.” In Surat Al-Tahrim, we read, “And Mary, the daughter of ʿImrān, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.” In the Prophetic Hadith, we read, “No child is born but the devil pierces him, so he starts crying out for the devil’s piercing, except for the Son of Mary and His mother.”
In the Holy Bible, the holy flight to Egypt was a fulfillment to the prophecies of the Old Testametnt, it is said, “Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Prophet Isaiah said, “The burden[a] against Egypt. Behold, 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, “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. And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt”
God provided care for the Holy Family in that escape, He protected Them from the dangers of the road, as They took a different route than the three traveling ways known at the time, in order to escape from the soldiers of King Herod who were trying to chase the Child to kill Him. God also provided the money that the Holy Family would spend in their escape through the Magi’s gifts of gold; it is the watchful care of heaven for the Holy Family, even regarding what They may need throughout Their flight and travel from one place to another for more than three years.
Travelling from a place to another across Egypt, the Holy Family passed by the city of Al-Farma in Sinai to Mount Qusqam in Assiut (currently Al-Muharraq Monastery), They began to leave traces behind the visits, in a clear message that Egypt is blessed with incomparable blessings: a fountain of water in Tal Basta, Musturud, Samanoud, Sakha and other cities, a large granite sink in which Saint Virgin Mary kneaded in Samanoud, the Sakha stone on which the foot of Jesus Christ was imprinted, and Mary’s tree in Matariya , and other traces. During the movements of the Holy Family, many miracles took place, the most important of which was the retraction and destruction of idols in every place They set foot on.
Egypt gained international fame because of the Holy Family’s refuge in it, until it became the only country in which Christ sought refuge, lived and was fed from the bounties of its land, and drank for years from the waters of its Nile, until the angel of God was sent to Joseph the Righteous and commanded him to return to Palestine, after Herod who had desired to kill the Child died. Immediately, the Holy Family departed from the bosom of Egypt, leaving behind eternal inerasable traces and blessings.
And… stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
