Fr Yuhanna al-Maqari who was for 55 years a monk at the Western Desert monastery of St Macarius in Wadi al-Natroun, passed away peacefully on 3 July 2021 aged 90.
Fr Yuhanna was born Raouf Girgis in 1931. He earned a degree in Pharmacy from Cairo University in 1951, and served at the church of Anba Antonios in Shubra, Cairo. In the early 1960s, he founded the magazine Mar-Morqos which started off as a magazine for children but went on to target young people and church servants. Mar-Morqos continued almost uninterrupted till today, with Fr Yuhanna at the helm till his passing.
In 1967, Fr Yuhanna took his monastic vows and was among the first few monks assigned by Pope Kyrillos VI (Patriarch in 1959 – 1971) to rebuild the 4th-century desert monastery of St Macarius which was then in a sorry state of decline, and revive monastic life there. He was ordained a priest on 19 June 1972.
For years, Fr Yuhanna acted as a guide to newly ordained monks, and was also in charge of the monastery’s guesthouse. Visitors to St Macarius’s remember his welcoming smile, his gentleness, comforting spirituality, and his wide knowledge.
A funeral service was held for Fr Yuhanna at the monastery on the afternoon of 3 July, and he was buried at the monastery cemetery.
Pope Tawadros II sent a message of condolence to the monk assembly at St Macarius’s, which read:
“My sincere and heartfelt condolences for the departure of a venerable monk. We remember his dedicated efforts and services to the Coptic Church and the Monastery. May Christ keep all the monks at this thriving monastery safe in His grace and tender care. On hope of the Resurrection we bid him farewell, asking for his prayers on our behalf that God may give us to complete our years on earth in peace and preparedness.”
Watani International
4 July 2022