{"id":35416,"date":"2016-03-13T10:26:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T08:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/site\/?p=35416"},"modified":"2016-09-29T10:46:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T08:46:26","slug":"%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-147-%d8%b1%d8%ac%d9%84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-147-%d8%b1%d8%ac%d9%84\/","title":{"rendered":"Anba Ermia\u2019s Article \u2013 Beautiful Egypt 147 \u2013 \u00abThe Man of God\u00bb March 13, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This man does not belong to this world. Indeed, he does not. He said, \u201cI wish I could live and die a stranger.\u201d Yet, it was God\u2019s will that hegumen Mina, the hermit, of Paramus Monastery be Pope Cyril VI, the 116th<\/sup> Pope of St. Mark\u2019s See. We commemorated his departure few days ago.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Biography<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Azer Yusuf Ata was born at Tukh al-Nassara on August 18, 1902. His parents were good Orthodox Christians. He was their second sibling. His family lived in Damanhur, then in Alexandria where he took the Baccalaureate. In 1921, he got a job at \u201cCook Shipping\u201d in Alexandria. He was famous for honesty and diligence. He was trusted and respected by his superiors. So much so that the strict Australian general manager said about him, \u201cThis young man made me respect him. He is self-contained and intelligent. Unlike his colleagues, he never avoided my audience.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0At that time, he trained himself on asceticism in order to become a monk. He sympathized a lot with the needy. It came to pass that on a pre lent Sunday, he found a lot of delicious food on the table. So, he asked his mother to give it to a poor family living in the same neighborhood. She complied.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Azer resigned, which surprised everybody, including his boss who tried to make him retract, but failed. Pope You\u2019anness, the 113th<\/sup> Pope recommended that he become a monk at Paramus Monastery. So, he was ordained monk on February 25, 1928 under the name of Mina of Paramus. Then, he enrolled in the Clerical Seminary of Helwan, after which he became priest in July, 1931. In 1934, Pope You\u2019anness wanted to ordain him metropolitan of Gharbia and Beheira, but he fled to St. Shenouda\u2019s Monastery in Suhag as soon as he heard of this. After returning to his monastery, he secluded himself in a cave one hour far from thence. When seven monks were kicked out of the Monastery, he went to serve them. He met the patriarch and explained the matter to him. So, the monks returned to the monastery. Then, he moved to a windmill at Old Cairo. Many people sought his blessing then. Afterwards, he became abbot of St. Samuel, the Confessor\u2019s Monastery at Mount Qalamoun, and was promoted hegumen. He took care of the monastery, restored its fences, and refurbished its church at al-Zoura. He used to move between the mill and the monastery.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0When World War II broke out, he left the mill, and wandered between the Archangel Southern Monastery and St. Mary\u2019s Church, Babylon. Then he founded a church, gave it the name of St. Mina who he loved, built a student hostel, and re-published the \u201cSalvation Harbor\u201d (Mina\u2019 al-khalas) magazine. At that time, he mentored youth and servants.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0After Pope Youssab II, the 115th<\/sup> Pope, had departed, he was recommended by Abba Athanasius, the acting patriarch, unbeknownst to him. He was the fifth in order. On April 17, 1959, after the election, he became third. The secret ballot declared him patriarch of St. Mark\u2019s See on April 19, 1959. He became Pope Cyril VI, the 116th<\/sup> Pope. Here, it is interesting to recount the following story:<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He had a vision in which he saw Pope Cyril V who addressed him, saying, \u201cListen, father Mina, as I was ascending a mountain, I broke my pastoral staff. I am very sad for this.\u201d Father Mina replied, \u201cYour Holiness, would you mind giving it to me for a while?\u201d So, he gave it to him. He fixed it, then, returned to him. So, Pope Cyril V rejoiced and said, \u201cTake it, father Mina, I bestow it unto you.\u201d Father Mina took it. His papacy endured for 11 years, 9 months, and 29 days. He departed on March 9, 1971.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0His last visit to St. Mina\u2019s Monastery took place on May, 1970. His disciple, father Raphael Ava Mina, speaks of His Holiness\u2019 farewell as follows, \u201cHe bade the Monastery and the monks farewell in a different way. He summoned all the monks. He was looking at the floor, trying to restrain his tears. He gave each monk a hood, after which he held a doxology for Sts. Mark and Mina and left the monastery.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The Pope departed in his cell at the patriarchate headquarters in al-Azbaqiya. His last words were, \u201cMay God be with you. May God intervene in your affairs.\u201d The congregation took his blessing. He was buried under the altar of the Cathedral beside St. Mark. Then, his body was moved to St. Mina\u2019s Monastery, Mariott, as per his will. In June, 2013, the Church acknowledged his sainthood.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Virtues<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Pope Cyril VI had lots of virtues:<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He abided by the Bible\u2019s words<\/span>, \u201cDo you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.\u201d He was serious and committed.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He was honest in his life with God<\/span>, so God made him steward on His people. Thus, he won everybody\u2019s confidence, just as the Bible said, \u201c\u2018Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He was modest<\/span>, and served everybody. So, God granted him lots of blessings, just as the Bible said, \u201cGod opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.\u201d When he was nominated to be patriarch, he said, \u201cI am but a worthless insect. I cannot undertake this great mission that is given to whoever is chosen by God, not to whoever aspires it.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He was a researcher<\/span> who delved deep into the sayings of the Church\u2019s fathers. He memorized most of them, thus, implementing the Bible\u2019s words, \u201cYou study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.\u201d This gave him a lot of knowledge.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He ate little and dressed quite humbly<\/span>, even when he became patriarch.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He was meek and forgiving<\/span>, responding to evil with good. Thus, he abided by the Bible\u2019s words, \u201cBe kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He would always vouch for truth<\/span>. He said, \u201cGod taught us to struggle for truth, even if our blood is shed for that. Those who do not defend the truth are like devils.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He was a patriot<\/span>. Dr. Hassan Fouad, Director the Arab Antiquities, said about him, \u201cFather, you made monks proud, and honored Egyptian men. I do salute you. I wish I could prove my respect for you one day.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0When he met him, escorted by the Theology School Manager in New York, the former said, \u201cThe information I collected in two months is too little in comparison to what I got to know today.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0A father and a shepherd:<\/span> for he sought whoever strayed, looked for the outcast, healed the broken, banded the hurt, and took care of his children fairly.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He deserved the title \u201cthe man of prayer\u201d<\/span>. His life was not comfortable. Rather, he faced many tribulations. Yet, he used to face them with great faith and prayer. He used to say, \u201cNothing can ever disturb me in this world, for I am well protected by Christ. I reside in His bosom. I am consoled by Him.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This is Pope Cyril\u2019s story, but\u2026 Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/span><\/h2>\n

General Bishop<\/span><\/h2>\n

Head of the Coptic Cultural Center<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0This man does not belong to this world. Indeed, he does not. He said, \u201cI wish I could live and die a stranger.\u201d Yet, it was God\u2019s will that hegumen Mina, the hermit, of Paramus Monastery be Pope Cyril VI, the 116th Pope of St. Mark\u2019s See. We commemorated his departure few days ago. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[6391,6542,6382,6389,6547,240,4314,682,642],"class_list":["post-35416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-almasry-alyoum","tag-anba-ermia","tag-article","tag-beautiful-egypt","tag-the-man-of-god","tag---2","tag-4314","tag-682","tag-642"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39485,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35416\/revisions\/39485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}