<\/p>\n
When you attempt delving deep into the life of that person who had a heart full of love, a mind full of knowledge, and wisdom enough to handle numerous situations, you will find yourself still standing on the shore. The depth of this man\u2019s psyche is directly proportional with his character. The deeper it is the less capable one becomes to describe it. All this refers to reposed Pope Shenouda III whose fifth commemoration we celebrated on March 17, 2017.<\/strong><\/span> \nO life, I do wonder:<\/strong><\/span> Early Maturity<\/strong><\/span> General Bishop<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you attempt delving deep into the life of that person who had a heart full of love, a mind full of knowledge, and wisdom enough to handle numerous situations, you will find yourself still standing on the shore. The depth of this man\u2019s psyche is directly proportional with his character. The deeper it is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1359,14114,7909,682,4425],"class_list":["post-44326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-1359","tag-14114","tag-7909","tag-682","tag-4425"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44326"}],"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\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44328,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44326\/revisions\/44328"}],"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=44326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nLate journalist Mustafa Amin writes, \u201cInjustice strengthens the wronged person. It does not weaken him. Indeed, the blows which the Coptic Pope got did not demolish him. Rather, they made Copts cling more to him. As Muslims, we stood by the Pope. Steadfast as we are in our creed, we believe in freedom of creed. There is no compulsion in religion. Egypt\u2019s true strength resides in the national unity between Copts and Muslims.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nIndeed, Pope Shenouda\u2019s life was full of blows. Yet, God converted them to stones which made a staircase that he climbed to reach peaks of success. Likewise, they imparted a depth and broadness upon his character only to make him a unique personality. <\/strong><\/span>
\nThis makes me recall the words uttered by Dr. Mohammed Hamdy Zaqzouq, ex Minister of Endowments and Secretary General of the Egyptian Family House: \u201cHis Holiness Pope Shenouda is a unique person. He enjoys several attributes which are rarely found in others. He is a great religious leader. He is brilliant, well-read, accomplished, and wise. So much so that he is revered by many. Additionally, he enjoys a sense of humor and an openness on everybody. That is why he is awed and respected by all Egyptians: be they Copts or Muslims.\u201d Pope Shenouda\u2019s character which was testified to by many people is an outcome of a hard, tumultuous life from which he learnt a great deal and his character was polished.<\/strong><\/span>
\nA Hard Beginning<\/strong><\/span>
\nAccording to his Holiness, Pope Shenouda\u2019s life started at Sallam, Assuit on August 3. His mother passed away three days after his birth. Thus, he was an orphan whose relatives tried to indulge in order to compensate him his loss. However, he still missed motherly love and care. Deep down, he felt estranged, which brought him closer to God, though. He writes the following stanzas:<\/strong><\/span>
\nDid I really have a mother who died?<\/strong><\/span>
\nOr was I created motherless?<\/strong><\/span>
\nGod thrust me a stranger in the world<\/strong><\/span>
\nto soar in a gloomy space<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nDoes a sister or an uncle bring happiness?<\/strong><\/span>
\nI seek a friend I cannot find <\/strong><\/span>
\nas if I had no family or friends<\/strong><\/span>
\nThough the start was hard, it filled his soul with sensitiveness of others\u2019 needs and pains. This was manifest in his treatment of the sick, needy, and troubled. Likewise, the love which was offered to him, as a child, by everybody, made him learn love at an early age. Many women in the village nursed him. In effect, he came to have many brothers who had different creeds and complexions! <\/strong><\/span>
\nThough he lost motherly special love, he won everybody\u2019s affection: for God was preparing him to be a father of a great congregation who he offered great love. He said once, \u201cLosing one\u2019s mother is losing a spring gushing with love. Yet, my mother\u2019s love was made up for by people\u2019s overwhelming love and my love for them. I would overwhelm my friends with love and treat them warmly. Thus, I have had numerous friends during childhood, adolescence, and youth. People\u2019s overwhelming love made up for the individual love offered by parents. Then motherly love was changed to one directed toward people, the church, and the society\u2026\u201d Pope Shenouda\u2019s life was to and through everybody. He was close to everyone, yet far from everyone! He lived in the world, but was estranged from it: for he lived in deep love for God.<\/strong><\/span>
\nA Lonely Childhood<\/strong><\/span>
\nPope Shenouda\u2019s brothers were not close in age to him, which made him feel pretty lonely. This feeling increased after his moving among primary schools in Damanhur, Assuit, Benha, and Cairo. This loneliness led him to make books his intimate friends. He said, \u201cI was fond of reading during my childhood, as there were no children of my age to play with. Reading became my favorite game. I read with great enjoyment.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nThus, loneliness was the path toward the development of young Nazir\u2019s personality. It opened his mind to the horizons of thought, literature, medicine, history, and sociology. Yet, he loved poetry most, which is why he started writing poems during the secondary stage. He spoke of his love for poetry, saying, \u201cI loved poetry so much that I decided to join the literary, not the science, section.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nPope Shenouda had an excellent memory. He would remember whatever he had read as well the situations he had gone through. He had trained himself on extensive reading, memorizing, as well as writing poems. How talented he was! In fact, he retained that talent until his departure.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe broadness of Nazir Gayed\u2019s mind made him trusted and respected by all his colleagues who used to look to him for advice whenever they had problems. Despite his youth, he was their advisor! He acquired a great deal of knowledge and experience in several fields. Likewise, he won the love and friendship of whoever met him.<\/strong><\/span>
\nAn Active Youth<\/strong><\/span>
\nAt that stage, his personality started to manifest itself through dealing with others. Nazir\u2019s personality matured. Its traits started to appear through the conditions he went through and which God used to edify and prepare him to be a leader. At that time, he yearned for a new life broader than that of university or work. So, his mind was directed to monasticism and asceticism. Yet, this was not the outcome of introversion, or escape form failure. On the contrary, he was quite successful professionally and socially. He was outstanding, and loved by everybody. He was known for his humor, witty jokes and poems which we recall.<\/strong><\/span>
\nYet, his heart was fond of God, \u201cI decided to do my best to make people happy as long as I am with them. Yet, whenever I am on my own, I clear my soul and live for God until he sets me free from the worldly atmosphere to that of monasticism.\u201d What a story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHead of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n