“The Holy Family’s Entry into Egypt” is a prominent event exclusively celebrated in Egypt every 1st of June. Even though the occasion is a Church feast in the first place, it is also an event that concerns all Egypt, and there have been strong calls—one of the strongest being a persistent call by Pope Tawadros II—for assigning it as a national feast. Aside from official moves, however, there has been an escalating movement during the last few years for Egyptian institutions other than the Church to celebrate the occasion throughout the month of June.
As for the Church, it marks the feast through festive Vespers services on the eve of the feast, and Masses on the feast day, with especially joyful events held at churches in various spots which the Holy Family traversed.
This year, the Coptic Church celebrations started with an event during Vespers on the evening of 28 May, the Sunday that preceded the feast, at the 4th-century church of the Holy Virgin in Haret Zuweila in Fatimid Cairo, built on a spot where it is believed the Holy Family resided for three days.
Box of secrets
Anba Raphail, Bishop-General of Cairo Downtown Churches, presided over the prayers and celebration at the church in Haret Zuweila, which started with Egypt’s national anthem, and was attended by senior officials of tourism and antiquities, politicians and public figures, as well as clergy and congregation.
Following the Vespers incense service, a traditional deacon procession carried a large, longitudinal wooden box and marched inside and around the church, to joyous Coptic chants and praises. Once back into the church, the box was opened, and a skull taken out and displayed in a glass box prominently placed near the sanctuary.
Mina Ibrahim, member of the Committee of the Friends of Zuweila Churches, explained to the audience that the “box of secrets” as he called it, was being for the first time unveiled to the congregation. It had contained bones and relics of Coptic patriarchs and saints who, he said, had been buried in the church which was the Coptic Orthodox patriarchal seat from 1400 to 1520.
Mr Ibrahim said the relics were found during excavations carried out in the 1950s by the church supervisor Mitry Christo; the relics were taken out and placed in that wooden box. In 2009, Anba Raphail opened the box, placed the relics in reliquaries, accompanied by official documents citing their discovery, in a special shrine built in what was the old burial place in the church. The shrine, which was opened to the public by Pope Tawadros in 2016, also houses a large collection of manuscripts and old church books. The skull, however, was not then displayed; studies conducted to find out to whom it belonged did not reach a definite answer, but appear to indicate that it belongs to the 94th Coptic Patriarch Yu’annis XIII who lived in the 16th century.
”The real gem”
Following words by the church priests Fr Matthias Abdel-Sabour and Fr Youssef al-Houfy who spoke of the history of the church, Luai Mahmoud, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Centre of Coptic Studies spoke of the “great gems of heritage celebrated at this church every year; last year a Roman-era cistern was uncovered, and this year the box of secrets. But the real gem, I believe, is the monumental heritage value of its buildings, and the great spiritual value it carries.
“When the Holy Family fled into Egypt by divine order, it indicated that Egypt is a refuge and safe haven … this is how we should view our Egypt. The Holy Family feast does not concern Christians alone; it concerns Egypt’s Muslims as well.”
Mr Ibrahim told Watani that there have been demands of the government to list as heritage the entire area of Zuweila in Cairo, which includes the 4th-century church, the 10th-century Maimonides Synagogue, and the Islamic monuments in al-Muizz Street.
Watani asked Adel Gendy, General Manager at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and coordinator of the Holy Family Trail project in Egypt, about the development of spots on the trail. He said the Ministry was almost done with developing the 25 sites on the trail as far as road building, lighting, and suchlike is concerned, with a view to accommodating pilgrimage visits. It was now encouraging local communities to invest in ecolodges and heritage handcraft products to attract pilgrims and generate communal benefit.
National feast
The evening of 31 May, the eve of the Feast of the Entry of the Holy Family into Egypt, saw Pope Tawadros pray Vespers at the 5th-century church of St Sergius and St Bacchus, famous as Abu-Serga, the Church of the Cavern, since it was built above a cavern in which, according to tradition, the Holy Family spent some three months on its journey in Egypt.
The event was attended by Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal; Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports; and Soha Gendy, Minister of Emigration.
The Pope spoke of the thoroughly Egyptian Feast of the Holy Family in Egypt, which he said the Coptic Church has marked since the first AD centuries. He called for it to be celebrated as a national feast. He said that Coptic Orthodox Churches the world over celebrate it as Global Coptic Day.
“There are three aspects to the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt,” the Pope said. First is the historical aspect as related by St Matthew in his gospel. Second is the spiritual aspect: the blessings bestowed upon Egypt by the three-and-a-half-year-journey of the Holy Family through the length and breadth of the land. These, Pope Tawadros said, are everyday blessings experienced first-hand; “they give us spiritual strength.”
The third aspect, according to the Pope, is economic, offering the opportunity of touristic revenue from pilgrims who come for the blessings of the sites on the Holy Family trail.
Celebrating on Nile bank
On 1 June, the day of the feast, Pope Tawadros celebrated Mass at the church of the Holy Virgin on the Nile Bank in Maadi, south of Cairo. The church, which was mentioned by historians in the 10th-century but had stood there since much earlier, is built on a spectacular spot on the Nile bank where it is believed the Holy Family boarded a boat and sailed the Nile southwards till present-day Assiut some 375km south of Cairo. In March 1976, a big open book was seen floating on the Nile water in front of the church; it was fished out and found to be a Bible which was open at the 19th chapter in the Book of Isaiah, which concluded with the verse “Blessed be Egypt my people”. The book is today on display in a glass showcase in a prominent place inside the church. The incident has further added to the church’s significance.
The Holy Family feast Mass was this year held in the church courtyard overlooking the Nile. Pope Tawadros presided, and a number of Metropolitans, bishops, and priests took part in the prayers.
Blessing the waters
During sermon time, Metropolitan of Maadi Anba Danial gave a short word of welcome and good wishes to the congregation, saying that throughout Egypt’s history the Church has always prayed for the Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt, and popes have constantly blessed the waters.
Pope Tawadros’s word focused on: Why did Jesus come to Egypt? His reply gave three reasons: First, to terminate idol worship in the land; it is a fact proved by archaeological finds that Egypt’s idols fell over in places visited by the Holy Family. Second, Jesus came to bless the land, its river, and its people. Egypt, he said, went through very hard times throughout history, but God’s blessings always revived the country despite hardships. “Third,” he said, “the Lord fled to Egypt to teach us the all-important spiritual principle of fleeing from the face of evil and temptation lest they break us.”
Following Mass, Pope Tawadros cast a little holy water into the Nile to bless its waters.
Zagazig: Where the idols fell
The site of Tell Basta in the East Delta region of Zagazig, Sharqiya, some 85km northeast Cairo, is famous as the spot where the ruins of the great temple of the cat goddess Bastet stand, having collapsed when the Holy Family arrived there, and where Jesus is said to have sprung a well of water to drink from.
The Coptic Church celebrated the Holy Family feast in services presided by Anba Timotheus, Metropolitan of Zagazig and Minyal-Qamh.
In the evening, an event was held at the archaeological site in Tell Basta under the theme: “Egypt, the safety and security”. Participating were Anba Timotheus; Sharqiya Governor Mamdouh Ghorab; and President of Zagazig University Khaled al-Darandeli, in addition to a host of local senior officials, university staff, politicians, Muslim and Christian clergy, and UNESCO representative. Attendants amounted to more than 700.
This is the second year in succession that Zagazig University celebrates the feast of the Holy Family in Egypt; the university marked 31 years on excavating the well at Tell Basta by its archaeological expedition.
The event started with the national anthem, and featured a heritage handcrafts display, and a Coptic art exhibition. A documentary was screened focusing on the folk celebrations of the Holy Family in Egypt, which were listed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in November 2022.
Following words by Anba Timotheus who said the Holy Family visit to Egypt highlighted the values of love, mercy, and integration; and Dr Ghorab who said that Sharqiya gained a very special status for being among the first spots in Egypt to host the Holy Family; theatrical shows were performed. A play depicted the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus in Bethlehem, King Herod’s massacre of the Innocents, and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt in a spectacular ancient Egyptian scene. This show was followed by an impressive performance of hymns and Egyptian national songs by the ensemble “Let there be Light”.
Museums and VR
This year, three Egyptian museums in Cairo: the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC); the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, Cairo,; and the Coptic Museum held events of their own to celebrate the Holy Family in Egypt. The events featured seminars, art-exhibitions, and touring the trail of the Holy Family in Egypt through Virtual Reality (VR). Exhibits were held of antiquities relating to the Holy Family’s visit, or belonging to the Coptic civilisation.
The NMEC celebration was attended by Egypt’s Culture Minister Neveen Elkilany; and a large number of high-ranking officials and figures from Cairo’s diplomatic corps; as well as senior figures of Islamic institutions and Christian Churches. It began with the national anthem, followed by a performance by Soprano Dalia Farouk.
Managing Executive Director of NMEC Authority, Ahmed Ghoneim spoke of the Holy Family’s journey in Egypt as “a message of peace, love and security”.
An art exhibition displayed paintings by Manal Metwalli, depicting the Holy Family in the various sites they visited in Egypt. Ms Metwalli had dedicated to Pope Francis her icon of the Holy Family in Gabal al-Teir, Minya, which is now on display at the Vatican.
At the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, a special exhibit was held of eight Coptic artefacts relating to the Holy Family in Egypt. The artefacts were loaned by the Coptic Museum for the occasion, and include a triptych depicting the Holy Virgin holding Baby Jesus in the centre, and an angel and a gospel on the two sides, with explanatory inscription in Greek. There are also two small early medieval terracotta flacons, commonly known as ampullae, from the monastery Abu-Mena (St Mina) in Egypt’s Western Desert, which had been a famous pilgrimage site.
Sally Adel, curator at the Egyptian Museum, told Watani that banners promoting the exhibit had been placed in a prominent position at the main gate of the museum, and carried replicas of the oldest icon of the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt, from the monastery of the Holy Virgin in Muharraq, Assiut.
The Coptic Museum, for its part, held an exhibition that began on 11 June and runs till the end of the month, showcasing 11 objects that include manuscripts, icons, and wooden artefacts. Apart from those showing the Holy Family against backgrounds of Egypt’s Nile and countryside scenes, Gihan Atef, Director General of the museum; and curator Janette Gad, pointed out one that depicts Jesus stretching his hands out in blessing. The icon resonates with the theme of the exhibition which centres on the blessings of the Holy Family’s visit to Egypt. One exhibit depicts the Gospel of Matthew open at the verse “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matt 2: 15).
Blessed Egypt in VR
In all three museums, VR tours of the trail of the Holy Family was presented by the Egyptian NGO Blessed Egypt Foundation for Development and Heritage Revival.
Ali Abdel-Halim, Director-General of Egyptian Museum, spoke of his personal experience of the VR technology; “It is a brilliant, unprecedented idea. It made me visit the places and feel in their midst.”
The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir and the Coptic Museum also hosted Blessed Egypt’s VR tours.
Pope Tawadros had in November 2022 launched Blessed Egypt’s website which features an active map that denotes the spots on the Holy Family trail in Egypt. Once any spot is clicked, it opens a stunning visit of the site in virtual reality. Video footage of every site is included, as well as spectacular photographic collections, with explanation in seven languages: Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Russian.
Holy Family folk celebrations in Egypt listed as UNESCO Intangible Heritage
https://map.blessedegypt.com/ar/map
Watani International
21 June 2023