Two suicide explosions in churches in Egypt have claimed more than 45 lives.
The Coptic Orthodox Church has yet again sacrificed another batch of her children as martyrs of faith, marking a new chapter in the rich history of the Church of the Martyrs. This time it was during the joyful Palm Sunday prayers on 9 April, which celebrated Jesus’st triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The martyrs left our world and headed to Heaven holding palm fronds in their hands and chanting in joy “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. We believe that Christ welcomed them as He did all the martyrs of the Church throughout the centuries. He led them to Paradise where they joined the righteous and the saints, and the thief who was crucified on Jesus’s right.
Despite the wrenching pain we suffered on account of last Sunday’s horrendous attacks against Tanta’s Mar-Girgis church and Alexandria’s St Mark’s and the loss of innocent Christian and Muslim lives, we stand against terrorism armed with nothing but love and peace. We pray for our Heavenly Father to protect our nation, bless His Church, comfort the hearts of the victims’ families, and heal the injured. The Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement that declared: “It is with great pride that the Church of the Martyrs parts with her children who were martyred during Palm SundayMass ... They were slain by enemies of humanity, haters of peace, perpetrators of destruction. Yet they now join the entire Church in prayer to the just Judge who sees, hears, and writes all in His book of remembrance … The Church also mourns the brave martyrs of our nation’s police, and prays for God to heal the injured.”
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