Next Saturday the Coptic Church celebrates the feast of St Mercurious , commonly known as Abu-Saifain or the One with the Two Swords. Abu-Saifain is well-loved in Egypt and is the patron of one of the major convents in Egypt, the previous Mother Superior of which—Mother Irini, who died in October 2006—is a modern-day saint
Watani International
26 July 2009
Sunday 22 March 2009 was a memorable day at Claremont Graduate University (CGU), when Dr Nelly van Doorn-Harder enlightened a diverse audience with her lecture on Coptic Visual Culture and Coptic Spiritual Identity. Blessing this event was His Grace Bishop Serapion, Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, and attending were many from different schools of CGU as well as Copts from all over Southern California. That afternoon transferred the hearts and minds of those present from the city of Claremont across centuries to ancient Coptic Christianity.
The lecture began with a performance by the Coptic Church Ecclesiastical Choirs, a group of young men and young ladies from various Coptic churches of the Diocese of Los Angeles joyfully chanting centuries old liturgical hymns.
Dr Saad Michael Saad, Chair of the Council for Coptic Studies at the CGU School of Religion, extended a warm welcome to all those present and thanked the young people of the Diocese for their marvellous dedication to preserving Coptic music and hymns and taking it on to the next generation. Karen Torjesen, Dean of the CGU School of Religion, spoke about the growth of the Coptic Studies program at Claremont and her memorable visits to Coptic Egypt.
Nelly van Doorn-Harder is an astounding scholar in the field of women and religion, with specific emphasis on minorities and human rights in Muslim countries. Her focus has been on the Middle East and South East Asia, with extensive research and fieldwork on Coptic Christianity in Egypt and Islam in Indonesia. What could spark the interest of a country girl from the Netherlands to dedicate her career to this field? Dr van Doorn-Harder said her awareness of the Copts began when she was working in Egypt with refugees, many of whom were Ethiopian Orthodox. This prompted her to begin contact with the Coptic Church.
Dr Van Doorn-Harder began the first part of her lecture, “The Role of Women in Developing Coptic Visual Culture,” by engaging the audience with a delightful presentation of various scenes of art from Coptic Churches all over Egypt. She explained that in the field of theology there is always an ‘insider’ perspective of those people who are within the spiritual realm of a particular religion, and there is an ‘outsider’ perspective of those who are observing but not practising. These two perspectives were of equal importance during her research, and through them she defined her idea of visual culture.
Essentially, visual culture is everything that is observed and represents a community. The significance of visual culture lies not in a formal or official sphere, but takes place everywhere in a religious community and provides opportunities for personal expression, self-reflection, and recognition of what is significant.
Dr van Doorn-Harder’s research and fieldwork tackled the idea that through visual culture, women can be more visible within their religious community and add more elements of what it means to be a Coptic woman within culture. This point was then addressed in more depth in Dr van Doorn-Harder’s second lecture entitled “Mother Irini’s Vision for Coptic Spiritual Identity”.
As Mother Superior of St Mercurius (Abu Saifein) Convent in Old Cairo, Mother Irini (1936-2006) has become a legendary spiritual leader and is held in close regard in the hearts of all Copts. Van Doorn-Harder aspired to convey to the world this message of Mother Irini’s life as a true and living reality not a myth of the past. In her many encounters with Mother Irini and with other nuns at the Convent over the span of several years, van Doorn-Harder discovered powerful testaments of visual culture that evoke a dynamic presence of women in Coptic Culture. In her book Contemporary Coptic Nuns, she brings to light how contemporary and active Coptic nuns have expanded their role and place within the church and within modern Egyptian society.
Dr van Doorn-Harder concluded her talk by showing a familiar picture to many Copts that combines hundreds of saints together on one page. At the bottom she pointed out the face of Mother Irini, and stated how this is a clear indication of a changing visual culture. According to van Doorn-Harder, Mother Irini’s legacy has redefined female monastic life and added a dynamic vision for the capacity of women within the Coptic Church. Although the monastic calling is difficult, and although women cannot aspire to hold official church positions, women’s pursuit for prayer and asceticism are equal to males and serve as models for Christians all over the world.
Two students currently pursuing graduate degrees with emphasis on Coptic Studies talked on how their interest in this field was initiated and expanded. Steven Dillon, explained his change of major from Education to Religion; after taking Dr Gawdat Gabra’s renowned class on Coptic Art, he found great interest in this subject. He is now studying how the Old Testament tradition fits into Coptic Culture in Egypt.
Sarah Mehany, the fist Copt to join the program after its 2007 expansion, said her decision came about after much prayer. She described her remarkable visit to Egypt with the Claremont academic group in January 2009. Having grown up in the Coptic Church all her life, she explained her newly found fascination in studying her religion from the ‘outsider’ perspective.
In closing the evening, Dr Saad thanked His Grace Bishop Serapion for his blessings and spiritual guidance for the growth of the Coptic Studies program, and thanked Dr van Doorn-Harder for kindly accepting the University’s invitation. Special gratitude was also due to Dean Karen Torjesen for her continuous leadership of this program. It was undeniably a unique afternoon. Without a doubt, the Coptic Studies Program at Claremont is becoming a beacon of light in creating opportunities for profound spiritual and intellectual studies of the Ancient Christian faith.
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Maryann Wahba currently lives in the US and serves at St Maurice Coptic Orthodox Church in Pomona, California.