I would like to congratulate our Muslim brothers in Egypt, the Middle East and the rest of the world with Eid Al-Adha, praying to God to bless Egypt, keep it safe, peaceful and blessed.
In a previous article we followed talking about Virgin Mary and the virtue of gentleness that filled all her life aspects.
Today we continue talking about her as a source of pride of mankind. As it was written: “You are superior to the heavenly and to the cherubim, to the seraphim, (Angels’ ranks) and greater than the hosts of spiritual angels. More glorified than fathers and sons, superior in dignity more than the honored disciples; You are the pride of our race, in You celibacy has pride; because of You purity and chastity were honored, You are superior above all creations that can and can’t be seen, for the greatness and dignity of God, to Whom we kneel before, who has chosen You.”
How couldn’t she be the pride of mankind?!
She is the one who Solomon wrote about in the Book of Proverbs: “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”
Moreover about her Isaiah predicted that she would give birth to a son: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
Furthermore; Ezekiel described her as the shut gate: “And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.” he meant the continuity of the celibacy of Virgin Mary after she gave birth to Jesus Christ.
In addition to that Quran did praise her in Surah Ali-Imran: “And [mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.”
Also in Surah Al-Tahrim: “And [the example of] Mary, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into [her garment] through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.”
Virgin Mary was nicknamed by many titles as: “The queen rose on your right, O king.”
Also David wrote in his Psalms: “At Your right hand stands the queen.”
Our Mother St. Virgin Mary
Motherhood to all mankind is an idea that sprang from the words of Jesus himself while he was on the cross to his disciple John the beloved when he assigned him the responsibility to care for his mother: “Behold your mother!” then he looked to Virgin Mary and said: “Woman, behold your son!”
From that moment Virgin Mary became the mother to us all.
The Ladder of Jacob
While Jacob our father escaped from his brother Esau, he saw a ladder linked between heaven and earth and that ladder was a symbol of Virgin Mary, by giving birth to Jesus, she brought the inhabitants of earth to heaven.
The Good Dove
Recalling the dove that carried a branch of olive to our father Noah, as a symbol for peace and good news of salvation from the flood; we also remember Virgin Mary being a good dove in her simplicity and purity, in addition to that all she carried the good news of peace besides salvation to us when she gave birth to Jesus Christ.
The Swift Cloud
She resembled the quick cloud for two main reasons.
On one hand; for her great dignity, on the other hand for the prophecy that spoke about her coming to Egypt in the Holy Book of Isaiah: “The burden 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.”
The Virtues of Virgin Mary:
Life of Modesty
The life of Virgin Mary was considered a unique prototype that would not be repeated to the life of modesty that Jesus wanted to teach us, so that we could feel her true modesty and amazing submission when she replied the angel who came to announce that she would give birth to Jesus Christ: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord!” in addition to her praise after she went to Elizabeth her relative: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” Her modesty was practical- not just words- and that was so clear when she went to Elizabeth as soon as she knew that Elizabeth conceived a son in her old age. Thus she kept serving her for the rest of the period of her pregnancy until she gave birth.
In her modesty Virgin Mary was silent, less talkative, kept all things within her heart, pondered them and meditated.
It was mentioned: “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Moreover; she served everybody in complete silence, or in a few words.
For instance when she asked her son to perform a miracle, at the wedding of Cana of Galilee … Stories about Beautiful Egypt never end!
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
