Last Friday the Coptic Church celebrated the feast of the entry of the Holy Family into Egypt in the first century as it fled from the face of Herod the King who wished to kill the Baby
WATANI International
3 June 2012
Last Friday the Coptic Church celebrated the feast of the entry of the Holy Family into Egypt in the first century as it fled from the face of Herod the King who wished to kill the Baby Jesus. As the Gospel of St Matthew says it, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to “take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be thou there till I send thee word again.” Tradition has it that the Family stayed in Egypt for some three years till the angel told Joseph they could go back after Herod died.
All over Egypt, the Coptic Church marks the event with Holy Mass and special raises. Celebrations of hymns and praise begin with Vespers on the eve of the feast and may extend well into the following day.
To commemorate the event, the Picasso Art Gallery in Cairo is hosting an exhibition of a selection of paintings by a number of veteran and contemporary artists. Among them are Ragheb Ayad, Adel Nassif, Adel Thabet, Ali Dessouki, Effat Hosny, Farahat Zaki, Farouq Wagdy, Farid Fadel, Gamil Shafiq, George Bahgoury, Helmy al-Touny, Mustafa al-Razaaz, Samir Fouad, and Wagdy Habashy. The exhibition runs till 3rd July.