Date: Wed, 08 Dec 93 12:00:00 -0700 Subject: Copt-Net Newsletter: Issue #7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ___ ___ /___\ ___ IHC | | nXC ______| |______ /______| |______\ | _|_ | |______ | ______| | | | ______ ______ ______ | | __ _____ _______ /_____/\ /_____/\ /_____/\ | | /\_\___ /\____\ /\______\ \ ___\/ \ __ \ \ \ __ \ \ | | / / /___\ / / ___/ \/__ __/ _\ \ \_____\ \ \ \ \_\ \_\ \ \___| |____/ / ___ /_/ / /_\___ / / / / \ \ \____ \ \ \ \ \ \ ___\/ | | / / // / / / / ___/ / / /\ / \ \/___/\ \ \_\ \ \ \ \ \ | | / / // / / / / /_\ / / / \ / \_____\/ \_____\/ \_\/ | | \/_/ \/_/ \/____/ \/_/ \ / \ /____________________________________________________________________________\ \ / \ An electronic newsletter about the Coptic Orthodox Church / \ / \ "Blessed is Egypt My people" / \____________________________________________________________________/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Excerpts from the Paradise of the Desert Fathers (Part 1) 2. Coptic and Arabic Codices of the Holy Bible 3. Two Prominent Coptic Icon Painters 4. Saint Anthony the Father of the Monks Readers' Corner --------------- 1. Are Copts the only Christians in Egypt? 2. What is the position of the Coptic Church regarding homosexuality? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- H A P P Y F A S T O F T H E A D V E N T ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PARADISE OF THE DESERT FATHERS Foreword: -------- The following are excerpts from what is widely known in the Coptic Church as "bustan al-rohbaan" (The Monks' Garden), also referred to in English as the "Paradise of the Desert Fathers". Bustan al-rohbann is not a single book, rather it is a collection of sayings and accounts written by and about the Desert Fathers of Egypt. The excerpts presented here are adopted from an abbreviated book edited by Dr. Benedicta Ward. --Copt-Net Editorial Board ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the desert of the heart, let the healing fountain start; In the prison of his days, teach the free man how to praise. -- W. H. Auden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A prayer from the desert ------------------------ Lord Jesus Christ, whose will all things obey: pardon what I have done and grant that I, a sinner, may sin no more. Lord, I believe that though I do not deserve it, you can cleanse me from all my sins. Lord, I know that man looks upon the face, but you see the heart. Send your spirit into my inmost being, to take possession of my soul and body. Without you I cannot be saved; with you to protect me, I long for your salvation. And now I ask you for your salvation. And now I ask you for wisdom, deign of your great goodness to help and defend me. Guide my heart, almighty God, that I may remember your presence day and night. ++ Amen ++ INTRODUCTION ------------- In the fourth century, an intensive experiment in Christian living began to flourish in Egypt, Syria and Palestine. It was something new in Christian experience, uniting the ancient forms of monastic life with the Gospel. In Egypt the movement was soon so popular that both the civil authorities and the monks themselves became anxious: the officials of the Empire because so many were following a way of life that excluded both military service and the payment of taxes, and the monks because the number of interested tourists threatened their solitude. The first Christian monks tried every kind of experiment with the way they lived and prayed, but there were three main forms of monastic life: in Lower Egypt there were hermits who lived alone; in Upper Egypt there were monks and nuns living in communities; and in Nitria and Scetis there were those who lived solitary lives but in groups of three or four, often as disciples of a master. For the most part they were simple men, peasants from the villages by the Nile, though a few, like Arsenius and Evagrius, were well educated. Visitors who were impressed and moved by the life of the monks imitated their way of life as far as they could, and also provided a literature that explained and analyzed this way of life for those outside it. However, the primary written accounts of the monks of Egypt are not these, but records of their words and actions by their close disciples. Often, the first thing that struck those who heard about the Desert Fathers was the negative aspect of their lives. They were people who did without: not much sleep, no baths, poor food, little company, ragged clothes, hard work, no leisure, absolutely no sex, and even, in some places, no church either - a dramatic contrast of immediate interest to those who lived out the Gospel differently. But to read their own writings is to form a rather different opinion. The literature produced among the monks themselves is not very sophisticated; it comes from the desert, from the place where the amenities of civilization were at their lowest point anyway, where there was nothing to mark a contrast in lifestyles; and the emphasis is less on what was lacking and more on what was present. The outsider saw the negations; disciples who encountered the monks through their own words and actions found indeed great austerity and poverty, but it was neither unbelievable nor complicated. These were simple, practical men, not given either to mysticism or to theology, living by the Word of God, the love of the brethren and of all creation, waiting for the coming of the Kingdom with eager expectation, using each moment as a step in their pilgrimage of the heart towards Christ. It was because of this positive desire for the Kingdom of heaven which came to dominate their whole lives that they went without things: they kept silence, for instance, not because of a proud and austere preference for aloneness but because they were learning to listen to something more interesting than the talk of men, that is, the Word of God. These men were rebels, the ones who broke the rules of the world which say that property and goods are essential for life, that the one who accepts the direction of another is not free, that no one can be fully human without sex and domesticity. Their name itself, anchorite, means rule-breaker, the one who does not fulfill his public duties. In the solitude of the desert they found themselves able to live in a way that was hard but simple, as children of God. The literature they have left behind is full of a good, perceptive wisdom, from a clear, unassuming angle. They did not write much; most of them remained illiterate; but they asked each other for a "word", that is, to say something in which they would recognize the Word of God, which gives life to the soul. It is not a literature of words that analyze and sort out personal worries or solve theological problems; nor is it a mystical literature concerned to present prayers and praise to God in a direct line of vision; rather, it is oblique, unformed, occasional, like sunlight glancing off a rare oasis in the sands. These life-giving "words" were collected and eventually written down by disciples of the first monks, and grouped together in various ways, sometimes under the names of the monks with whom they were connected sometimes under headings which were themes of special interest, such as "solitude and stability", "obedience", or "warfare that lust arouses in us". Mixed in with these sayings were short stories about the actions of the monks, since what they did was often as revealing as what they said. These collections of "apophthegmata" were not meant as a dead archaism, full of nostalgia for a lost past, but as a direct transmission of practical wisdom and experience for the use of the reader. Thus it is as part of tradition that this small selection has been made from some of the famous collections of desert material, most of which have been translated and published in full elsewhere. They are placed in pairs, so that a "word" faces a story and illustrates its central, though not its only meaning. Each saying-and-story pair has been given a heading; these are arranged in two series, the first part relating to the commandment to love one's neighbour, the second to the commandment to love God. This material first appeared among uneducated laymen; it is not "churchy" or specifically religious. It has its roots in that life in Christ which is common to all the baptized, some of whom lived this out as monks, others who did not. There is common a universal appeal in these sayings, in spite of much which is at first strange. I have not tried to eliminate all the strangeness of the material, but to present a very small part of it as it is, in the belief that the words and deeds of these men can still make the fountain of life spring up in the arid deserts of lives in the twentieth century as they did in the fourth. "Fear not this goodness", said abba Antony, "as a thing impossible, nor the pursuit of it as something alien, set a great way off; it hangs on our own choice. For the sake of Greek learning, men go overseas. But the City of God has its foundations in every seat of human habitation. The kingdom of God is within. The goodness that is in us asks only the human mind." --Benedicta Ward Oxford Note: ---- The editor has retained the words "abba" and "amma" which are used in these texts for addressing and describing certain men and women of the desert; "abba" is a term of respect, and to translate it by "abbot" would be misleading. NOT TO JUDGE ------------ Sayings: ------- The old men used to say, "there is nothing worse than passing judgement." They said of abba Macarius that he became as it is written a god upon earth, because just as God protects the world, so abba Macarius would cover the faults that he saw as though he did not see them, and those which he heard as though he did not hear them. Abba Pastor said, "Judge not him who is guilty of fornication, if you are chaste, or you will break the law like him. For He who said "do not commit fornication" said also "Do not judge"." A brother asked abba Poemen, "If I see my brother sin, is it right to say nothing about it?" The old man replied, "whenever we cover our brother's sin, God will cover ours; whenever we tell people about our brother's guilt, God will do the same about ours." Stories: ------- A brother in Scetis committed a fault. A council was called to which abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to him, saying, "Come, for everyone is waiting for you". So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug and filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said, " what is this, father?" The old man said to them, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another." When they heard that, they said no more to the brother but forgave him. A brother sinned and the priest ordered him to go out of the church; abba Bessarion got up and went out with him, saying, "I, too, am a sinner." TRUE PEACE ---------- Sayings: ------- One of the brothers asked abba Isidore, a priest of scetis, "Why are the demons so terrified of you?" And the old man said, "Ever since I became a monk I have tried never to let anger rise as far as my mouth." Abba Joseph asked abba Nisteros, "What should I do about my tongue, for I cannot control it?" The old man said to him, "When you speak, do you find peace?" He replied, "No." The old man said to him, "If you do not find peace, why do you speak? Be silent, and when a conversation takes place, prefer to listen rather to talk." Stories: ------- Two old men had lived together for many years and they had never fought with one another. The first said to the other, "Let us also have a fight like other men." The other replied, "I do not know how to fight." The first said to him, "Look, I will put a brick between us and I will say: it is mine; and you will reply: no, it is mine; and so the fight will begin." So they put a brick between them and the first said, "No, it is mine", and the other said, "No, it is mine." And the first replied, "If it is yours, take it and go." So they gave it up without being able to find a cause for an argument. A brother asked abba Poemen, "How should I behave in my cell in the place where I am living?" He replied, "Behave as if you were a stranger, and wherever you are, do not expect your words to have an influence and you will be at peace." OBEDIENCE --------- Sayings: ------- The holy Syncletia said, "I think that for those living in community obedience is a greater virtue than chasity, however perfect. Chastity carries within it the danger of pride, but obedience has within it the promise of humility." The old men used to say, "If someone has faith in another and hands himself over to him in complete submission, he does not need to pay attention to God's commandments but he can entrust his whole will to his father. He will suffer no reproach from God, for God looks for nothing from beginners so much as renunciation through obedience." Abba Mios of Belos said, "Obedience responds to obedience. When someone obeys God, then God obeys his request." Story: ----- They said that abba Sylvanus had a disciple in Scetis, named Mark, who possessed in great measure the virtue of obedience. He was a copyist of old manuscripts, and the old man loved him for his obedience. He had eleven other disciples who were aggrieved that he loved more than them. When the old men nearby heard that he loved Mark above the others, they took it ill. One day they visited him and abba Sylvanus took them with him and, going out of his cell, began to knock on the door of each of his disciples, saying, "Brother, come out, I have work for you." And not one of them appeared immediately. Then he came to Mark's cell and knocked, saying, "Mark". And as soon as Mark heard the voice of the old man he came outside and the old man sent him on some errand. So abba Sylvanus said to the old men, "Where are the other brothers?", and he went into Mark's cell and found the book in which he had been writing and he was making the letter O; and when he heard the old man's voice, he had not finished the line of the O. And the old men said, "Truly, abba, we also love the one whom you love; for God loves him, too." HOW TO BECOME A DISCIPLE ------------------------ Sayings: ------- Some old men said, "If you see a young man climbing up to the heavens by his own will, catch him by the foot and throw him down to the earth; it is not good for him." At first abba Ammoe said to abba Isaiah, "What do you think of me?" He said to him, "You are an angel, father." Later on he said to him, "and now, what do you think of me?" He replied, "You are like Satan. Even when you say a good word to me, it is like steel." Abba Moses asked abba Sylvanus, "Can a man lay a new foundation every day?" The old man said, "If he works hard, he can lay a new foundation at every moments." Stories: ------- It was said of abba John the Dwarf that one day he said to his elder brother, "I should like to be free of all care, like the angels who do not work, but ceaselessly offer worship to God." So he took leave of his brother and went away into the desert. After a week he came back to his brother. When he knocked on the door he heard his brother say, "Who are you?" before he opened it. He said, "I am John, your brother." But he replied, "John has become an angel and henceforth he is no longer among men." Then John besought him, saying, "It is I." However, his brother did not let him in but left him there in distress until morning. Then, opening the door, he said to him, "You are a man and you must once again work in order to eat." Then John made a prostration before him, saying, "Forgive me." Abba John said, "A monk is toil. The monk toils in all he does. That is what a monk is." HUMILITY -------- Sayings: ------- An old man was asked, "What is humility?" and he said in reply, "Humility is a great work, and a work of God. The way of humility is to undertake bodily labour and believe yourself a sinner and make yourself subject to all." Then a brother said, "What does it mean, to be subject to all?" The old man answered, "To be subject to all is not to give your attention to the sins of others but always to give your attention to your own sins and to pray without ceasing to God." An old man said, "Every time a thought of superiority or vanity moves you, examine your conscience to see if you have kept all the commandments, whether you love your enemies, whether you consider yourself to be an unprofitable servant and the greatest sinner of all. Even so, do not pretend to great ideas as though you were perfectly right, for that thought destroys everything." Stories: ------- As abba Macarius was returning to his cell from the marsh carrying palm-leaves, the devil met him with a sharp sickle and would have struck him but he could not. He cried out, "Great is the violence I suffer from you, Macarius, for when I want to hurt you, I cannot. But whatever you do, I do and more also. You fast now and then, but I am never refreshed by any food; you often keep vigil, but I never fall asleep. Only in one thing are you better than I am and I acknowledge that." Macarius said to him, "What is that?" and he replied, "It is because of your humility alone that I cannot overcome you." The old men used to say, "When we do not experience warfare, we ought so much the more to humiliate ourselves. For God seeing our weakness, protects us; when we glorify ourselves, he withdraws his protection and we are lost." TRUE POVERTY ------------ Sayings: ------- Abba Theodore, surnamed Pherme, had three good books. He went to abba Macarius and said to him, "I have three good books, and I am helped by reading them; other monks also want to read them and they are helped by them. Tell me, what am I to do?" The old man said, "Reading books is good but possessing nothing is more than all.' When he heard this, he went away and sold the books and gave the money to the poor. Someone asked amma Syncletica of blessed memory, "Is absolute poverty perfect goodness?" She replied, "It is a great good for those capable of it; even those who are not capable of it find rest for their souls in it though it causes them anxiety. As tough cloth is laundered pure white by stretched and trampled underfoot, so a tough soul is stretched by freely accepting poverty." Stories: ------- When abba Macarius was in Egypt, he found a man who had brought a beast to his cell and he was steeling his possessions. He went up to the thief as though he were a traveller who did not live there and helped him to load the beast and led him on his way in peace, saying to himself, "We brought nothing into this world; but the Lord gave; as he willed, so is it done; blessed be the Lord in all things." Someone brought money to an old man and said, "Take this and spend it for you are old and ill", for he was a leper. The old man replied, "Are you going to take me away from the one who has cared for me for sixty years? I have been ill all that time and I have not needed anything because God has cared for me." And he would not accept it. Once abba Arsenius fell ill in Scetis and in this state he needed just one coin. He could not find one so he accepted one as a gift from someone else, and he said, "I thank you, God, that for your name's sake you have made me worthy to come to this pass, that I should have to beg." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------- COPTIC AND ARABIC CODICES OF THE HOLY BIBLE St Luke Gospel in Arabic, Cairo, A.D. 993 ----------------------------------------- This tenth-century Egyptian codex, now part of the Vatican Collection, was donated to Pope Eugene IV by the Egyptian delegates at the Council of Ferrara -Florence. Translated from a Coptic original, it is one of the earliest Arabic versions of any part of the New Testament, none of which can be dated before the late ninth century, more than 300 hundred years after the Arabic conquest of Egypt. A colored picture of the 20th Chapter of this Gospel (verses 1-8) is available in Copt-Net Archives under: pharos.bu.edu:/CN/pictures/Codex.StLuke-Gospel.gif Four Gospels In Bohairic Coptic and Arabic, Copied by Georgis, Cairo, 1205 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This manuscript is one of the finest surviving Coptic codices of the Middle Ages. Copied in Cairo, it was once in the library of the monastery of Saint Anthony in the desert near the Red Sea, south of Suez. It was taken back to Cairo in about 1506 and, thirty years later, was transferred to the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Alexandria. There is was purchased by Girolamo Vecchietti in 1594 for the director of the Medici press, Giovanni Battista Raimondi. It was left to the Vatican Library, together with Raimondi's other Coptic manuscripts, on his death in 1614. This codex includes both a Coptic version of the Gospels, translated from the Greek and written in an uncial script, and an Arabic translation. The manuscript begins with Eusebius's epistle to Carpianus and also contains the Eusebian and Ammonian canon tables. In the Byzantine tradition, each Gospel is preceded by a historical preface stating when and where the Gospel was written, making the codex of particular interest. The manuscript is richly illustrated and illuminated, partly by the scribe Georgis and partly by another artist. The ornamentation shows minor Islamic influence, whereas the illustrations are Byzantine in style. A colored picture of the opening of the Gospel of St. Mark (verses 1-3) is available in Copt-Net Archives under: pharos.bu.edu:/CN/pictures/Codex.StMark-Gospel.gif The picture also portrays an artistic decoration (on the left) showing the Evangelist St. Mark writing the first word of his text, and beside him stands the archangel Michael. The Holy Bible was first translated to the Coptic language in the second century. Hundreds of scribes used to write copies of the Bible and other liturgical and theological books. Now libraries, museums, and universities throughout the World possess hundreds of such Coptic manuscripts. The scribing of the Bible and other theological Coptic texts continued to be strong until the 14th century. Some of these scripts (like the one considered here) were also translated to Arabic. --------- For more information refer to: Jules Leroy, _Les Manuscrits Coptes et Coptes-Arabes illustres_ (Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1974), 148-53. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------- TWO PROMINENT COPTIC ICON PAINTERS: IBRAHIM AND YUHANNA ------------------------------------------------------- For the period from 1985 until 1990, a team of art historians from Leiden University in the Netherlands, worked on the production of a catalogue of the icon collection of the Coptic Museum in the Old Cairo district. The final results of their efforts, which took place under the direction of Professor Paul van Moorsel, will be published in the near future. Although the museum collection includes many icons from Greece, Crete, Ethiopia, and other countries, about eighty icons and other painted objects are attributed to Coptic icon painters. Apart from some icons that date back to the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries, most of the icons are from the 18th and 19th centuries. All prominent Coptic icon painters from that period are represented, and thus this study might be very useful to all persons interested in the late development of the Coptic art of icon-painting. For example, two very well-known painters of the 18th century were Ibrahim al-Nassikh and Yuhanna Armanni. Their production was very fertile; in almost every old Coptic church or monastery in Egypt their icons, triptychs, carasi, and altar baldachins take a prominent place. In addition to painting, Ibrahim illustrated manuscripts, and Yuhanna was very likely the artist who painted the walls in the church of Saint Mina in Fum al-khalig. Between 1742 and 1753 A.D. they worked almost certainly together, as several icons were signed by both of them. Soon after, however, they must have split up and worked independently. In particular, we know that Ibrahim was still painting in 1780 A.D. His former colleague, Yuhanna, continued for three more years. They certainly were assisted by fellow-painters and apprentices; their workshops can be considered as the most important in the 18th century. According to some inscriptions, Ibrahim, who sometimes also signed with his Coptic name Abraam, was working in Haret-al-Rum in Cairo. Yuhanna mostly signed with "Yuhanna Armanni", or "Hanna (Armanni)", and sometimes added "al-Qudsi". These signatures indicate that his family was most likely Armenian, from Jerusalem (al-Quds in Arabic); he also used Armenian dates on icons. Even his style, the features of the figures, and the shape of churches on his icons recall Armenian miniatures. Their themes are very familiar to Coptic icon-painting in general, such as the Enthroned Christ, the Virgin with the Child, saints (amongst which are many horse-riding soldier-saints), and the Crucifixion. Their styles, however, are somewhat different from each other. The Armenian influence in Yuhanna's work has already been mentioned. His icons show vivid and warm colours, whilst Ibrahim's are more sober and flattened. More recent painters owe a lot to these "Fathers of modern Coptic icon- painting". So far, however, most of their work has not yet been studied. Leiden University is presently co-operating with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in a project called Egyptian Netherlands Cooperation for Coptic Art Preservation (ENCCAP), through which Coptic monks are being trained by the ENCCAP-staff in studying the icon collections in their monasteries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------- SAINT ANTHONY THE FATHER OF THE MONKS ------------------------------------- Saint Anthony was the first Christian to live a life of consecrated solitude. As a hermit in the desert he lived a long and saintly life that influenced countless people both in his time and for generations thereafter, even to this day. His life had a tremendous impact on the history of early Christianity, which is the basic history of all Christian churches all over the world. The story of his life was written by one of Christianity's most renowned leaders, Saint Athanasius the Apostolic who was his disciple and had a very close relationship with him. Saint Anthony is generally considered to be the father of the monastic family. He was born about 251 A.D. of well-to-do parents in Coma (Kemn-el-Arouse) in the middle of Egypt. When he was eighteen years of age his parents died, leaving him guardian of his younger and only sister, Dious. Six months later Anthony entered the church to hear the Gospel, in which our Lord speaks to the rich young man, "If you would be perfect, go sell all you have, give to the poor and come follow me." (Matthew 19:21) He took this advice as a personal invitation addressed to him by God. He sold about 300 acres of fertile land, gave most of the money to the poor keeping only a little for his sister. Then he placed his sister in the charge of a community of virgins. He was now free to devote his life to asceticism under the guidance of a holy man living near Coma. This was the custom of young ascetics to stay under a master in order to learn the principles of spirituality, prayer and fasting. After a while, Saint Anthony left on his own for the western desert. He took shelter in an abandoned tomb carved in the side of a mountain. A good friend used to bring him bread and water from time to time. In his solitude he was fighting off the temptations of the flesh and attacks of demons. He was about thirty-five years old when he left his retreat to move to the east bank of the Nile to the "Outer Mountain" at Pispir (Vista) where he lived in complete solitude. After twenty years, his reputation attracted many followers who settled near him, and wished to copy his holy life. Saint Anthony became their spiritual leader, teaching them constantly by word and by example the ascetic life. Five years later, he again retired into solitude in the "Inner Mountain" (Mount Qolozum). As Saint Anthony lived in solitude, he was tempted by boredom and discouragement. His soul fell into such weariness and confusion of thought that he began saying, "Lord, I want to be saved but these bad thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do? How can I be saved?" After a little while, he began to walk in the open and saw someone as if it was himself, sitting and working - making mats of palm leaves - and then rising to pray. This was an angel sent by the Lord to teach Anthony how to live in the desert. The angel repeated what he was doing several times until Anthony understood that he had to combine manual work and prayer in order to overcome boredom. Living in solitude (anchoritism) made Saint Anthony a spiritual father beyond all others. He escaped from cares of the world but not from the love for his brothers. Thus he was obliged to visit Alexandria during the persecution against the Christians, engineered by Maximin Daja in 316. He spent his time ministering to the oppressed and afflicted in prisons. When the persecution ended, he returned to his cell to be a daily martyr of his conscience, fighting always the battles of the faith. Once again, he visited Alexandria to support Pope Athanasius against the heresy of Arius in 352. Pagans and Christians alike rushed out to greet the holy old man, but he soon returned to the desert, for he felt like a fish out of the water. Saint Anthony founded no monastery. His rule consisted simply of prayers and manual work. He told his disciples that just as Christ was a carpenter and Paul was a tent maker, they also had to keep their hands busy to escape temptations. He also assigned a uniform to the monks. This was a garb of white linen reaching below the knees. A wide thick belt of leather helped the monk to keep erect. This pattern is seen today in many monastic orders all over the world. >From every part of the world, people came to him, even to the innermost part of the desert, seeking cures of the body, mind, and soul; and as they did at Pispir, monks came to him for his sympathy and practical advice. Once Saint Athanasius had invited Anthony to Alexandria and they were joined by Didymus, a man of great learning who had lost his eyesight. The conversation turned to the Holy Scriptures, and Anthony could not help admiring the blind man's ability and praised his insight. The he said, "You do not regret the loss of your eyes, do you?" At first Didymus was reluctant to answer, but when the question was repeated, he frankly admitted that his blindness was a great grief to him. Whereupon, Anthony said, "I am surprised that a wise man like you should grief at the loss of a physical organ which he shares with everyone, and not rejoice rather in having the gift which only saints and apostles have been thought worthy." In 356 A.D., Saint Anthony died at the age of one hundred and five, but his place of burial was never revealed by the two monks, Marcarius and Amatas, who buried him. His monastery produced many great saints including Saint Hilarion of Gaza, Saint Macarius of Scete, Saint Amoun of Nitria and Saint Paul the Simple. Intimacy with God made Saint Anthony as tenderhearted as the Master he served. Consequently, his influence extended beyond his lifetime, and the Universal Church still reveres him as one of the great saints. His life was written by Saint Athanasius while he was in Rome, and it was very influential in spreading the ideas of monasticism throughout the Christian world. According to Saint Athanasius, Saint Anthony was a man of "divine wisdom" and of grace, although he never learned to read or write. Today, a monastery bearing the name of Saint Anthony stands in the eastern desert. The cave, in which the saint spent most of his life, is located beside it. Many monks live there, and many people from all walks of life visit it every day. May the prayers and supplications of this great Saint Anthony, the Father of the Monks, be with us. Amen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ _|_ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------- Readers' Corner --------------- This corner of the Copt-Net Newsletter is dedicated to answering questions regarding the Christian faith and teachings in general and the Coptic Orthodox Church's beliefs and traditions in particular. As much as possible we will try to avoid using any terminology that will not be accessible to the common reader. Also, it must be noted that the opinions expressed here are those of members of Copt-Net Editorial board and do not (and should not be taken to be) the official opinion of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Readers' Corner of this issue addresses two questions that we have received a while back. The first inquires about Christians (other than Copts) in Egypt. The second question is about the position of the Coptic Orthodox Church with respect to homosexuality. Question -------- Are the Orthodox Copts the only Christians in Egypt? Answer ------ There are three Christian sects in Egypt: Coptic Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. The only sect that was and continues to be statistically and socially significant is the Coptic Orthodox sect. Combined, Christians not belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church represent a small percentage (less than seven percent) of the entire Christian population of Egypt. The Protestant sect is further split into different even smaller groups. It is important to note that in addition to the Catholic, and Protestant communities there are many other (much smaller) groups that cannot be easily included in any one of the aforementioned sects. Examples include the Roman Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, and the Armenian Orthodox communities. The first Copts were converted to Catholicism in Upper Egypt by Franciscan missionaries in the eighteenth century. Their numbers grew slowly but steadily, and many may have converted during the brief period the Catholic Muallim Ghali was chief secretary to the ruler, Muhammad Ali. The community was protected by Austria-Hungary which claimed the right as an extension of its privilege, gained in 1699, to protect the Franciscan Mission. This right was not universally recognized and problems resulted when Austro-Hungarian consulates intervened in communal affairs. An accord between the Egyptian and Austro- Hungarian governments finally granted the right of the latter to extend religious protection but with the understanding that this did not make Egyptian Catholics foreign persons. Up until the end of the nineteenth century, the Egyptian Catholics did not have a clerical hierarchy. The Vatican appointed the first "Coptic Catholic" Patriarch in 1895. Eventually, the community obtained independence from Rome; Patriarchs were thereafter appointed by the local synod of bishops, with the concurrence of both the Egyptian government and the Pope. In 1908, the community drew up an organic law and established personal status courts; both were formally recognized by the Egyptian government in 1910. American Presbyterians were the largest and most active group of missionaries working in Egypt. They began the arduous task of spreading the Gospel in the mid-nineteenth century, and by 1878, had opened more than thirty five schools. They concentrated their efforts on converting Coptic Orthodox Christians in Assyut. Some wealthy Assyuti Copts became Protestant because they were attracted by the "modern" Protestants, who gave them close and perhaps useful links with Westerners. The Protestants were recognized as a separate community in the middle of the last century and were granted limited jurisdiction in matters of personal status. Their leader was appointed, with the approval of the Egyptian government, by the community itself. In 1899, a communal council was established, and it included both laymen and clergy. There were different Protestant groups, but the Council is dominated by the United Presbyterian Church of Egypt. In 1926, this latter group became self-governing and independent from the American Presbyterian Church. References: ---------- [1] B.L. Carter, "The Copts in Egyptian Politics", The American University in Cairo Press, 1986. [2] M. Harris, "Egypt Under the Egyptians", Chapman and Hall, London, 1925. Question -------- What is the position of the Coptic Orthodox Church regarding homosexuality? Answer ------ The position of the Coptic Orthodox Church with regard to homosexuality is no different from the position of all the other Apostolic Churches: Homosexuality is a sin, very much like adultery and fornication. There are many references in the Old and New Testaments, which confirm that homosexuality is incompatible with Christianity. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is an example from the old testament [Genesis:1-19] Other references from the Old Testament can be found in [Leveticus 18:22, 20:13] In Romans, Saint Paul describes homosexuality as "shameful" and a "vile passion" [Romans 1:26-27,32]. In Corinthians, Saint Paul clearly equates homosexuality with other sins: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." [1-Corinthians 6:9-10]. He closes this paragraph with a message of hope to all those enslaved by this and other sins: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." [1-Corinthians 6:11]. Perhaps a better answer to the question could be given by looking a little deeper at "God's design for sexuality". Solutions are always found by creating or restoring a sense of design. Everything has a design -- from the veins of a leaf to the mane of a horse, from a child's toy to a supercharged Thunderbird. Everything has a design, a time, and a place. The same is true for human sexuality. It is the product of an all-wise Designer. According to [Genesis 1:26-28], after He created everything, He created the human being: male and female. He blessed them and said to them "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over [it]". The Genesis account of God's design makes it clear that sexuality comes from God for a particular purpose that is served within the sacrament of marriage, in which God joins together husband and wife according to His original design. It is this plan that the Lord Jesus Christ talks about in Matthew 19:4-6]: "And He answered and said to them, `Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Like everything else, sexuality was created in us for a purpose. Homosexuality is incompatible with that purpose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This Newsletter has been prepared by members of Copt-Net, a forum _|_ where news, activities, and services of the Coptic Orthodox Churches | and Coptic communities outside Egypt are coordinated and exchanged. | For any questions, or comments related to this Newsletter, as well as COP|NET any topics that you would like to be addressed in the next Newsletter please send a message to Copt-Net server at: cn-request@pharos.bu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (C)opyright 1993 by Copt-Net