Anba Yu’annis, Bishop of Assiut, is back home where he was given a warm welcome by the congregation and clergy. The Bishop had been in Cairo since 11 December in the wake of a road accident that led to bone surgery and hospitalisation.
Once discharged from hospital, he headed to Assiut and, even though on a wheelchair, presided over the all-night Kiahk Praise for which his enthusiastic performance is especially famous, and which closes with Mass at dawn. He was joined by a number of bishops and priests. It was the eve of the last Sunday in Kiahk, 30 December, and Anba Yu’annis celebrated Kiahk Midnight Praise and Mass at the Michael Archangel Church in Assiut.
The traditional Midnight Praise of the Coptic month of Kiahk which concludes with Coptic Christmas on 29 Kiahk, 7 January, is dedicated to the Holy Virgin, and includes some of the most beautiful melodies in Coptic music.
Anba Yu’annis had a road accident while on his way from Assiut, some 350km south of Cairo, to Cairo on the evening of Tuesday 11 December. The Bishop was moved to hospital in Cairo, where he underwent bone surgery. Pope Tawadros visited him there, prayed for him and wished him a speedy recovery.
Watani International
31 December 2018