THE SEE OF SAINT MARK
Saint Mark the Evangelist, the writer of the second Gospel, was an African, a native of Cyrene, one of the “Five Western Cities”, the Pentapolis of North Africa, which had been an outlying province of Egypt since the days of Ptolemy I Mark’s faintly migrated to Palestine and settled near Jerusalem. His mother, Mary, was the sister of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). Mark was early instructed in the Christian faith and appointed one of the Seven Apostles chosen by Christ to preach the World (Acts 12:25). According to Eusebius, “the father of church history’, Mark the Evangelist preached the teachings of Christ in Alexandria and the rest of Egypt in the second year of Claudius, i.e. 42 A.D. When Mark prepared to visit Jerusalem again to attend the Council of Jerusalem, he ordained Annianus as first bishop of the Church of Alexandria before the end of the year 49. On his way back from Jerusalem, he went to Cyrene, where he established the churches of Pentapolis. From there he returned to Alexandria, where he was martyred in the year 68 A.D. Christianity spread in Egypt under severe Roman persecution, Eusebius testifies to the faithful witness of the Egyptian Christians saying “this was especially the case in Alexandria, to which city as to a most prominent theater, athletes of God were brought from Egypt and all the Theban according to their merit and won crowns from God through their great patience under many tortures and every mode of death”. In relation to this Groves states: “No section of the hard pressed Christian fellowship held a prouder record than did the Egyptian Christians under their fiery trial…. dispersion through persecution led to the further expansion of the Church”. Their fortitude in the time of Diocletian introduced a new reckoning of time, the Era of the Martyrs which dates from the common year 284 A.D. The Coptic Church still uses the Era of the Martyrs and the Copts still celebrate the feast of the Martyrs on their New Year’s day, which falls on 11th September. By the year 200, the Della was full of converts. In 202, Eusebius mentions Christians in the whole of the Theban (Upper Egypt, 500 miles up the Nile).
A. The Theological and Academic contribution “The first systematic attempt to harmonize to tradition of faith with the free conclusions of human intellect was made neither at Rome nor at Athens, but in Egypt”. “The Alexandria of Apollos and of Saint Mark has become the earliest seat of Christian learning…, Alexandria becomes the brain of Christendom; its heart was yet beating at Antioch but the West was still receptive only.” “… The world-famous Catechetical School of Alexandria, a center of Christian scholarship without rival in the then Christian world.” In such words do Western historians record the contribution of the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Saint Mark established it as a center to prepare catechumens for baptism. When the struggle with the philosophers started, the school became the center of learning, debating and writing apolgetical works. The fame of the School made of it an international center of Christian studies. “The school fostered such giants of theological learning as Clement of Alexandria (150-215), the Isapostolic Athanasius (259-373) and Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)”, Didymus (309-395), one of the famous heads of the school , was the first to invent a method for teaching the bund, fifteen centuries before Braille.
By the beginning of the Fourth century the Christian Church faced crucial dogmatic problems. A serious of great theological controversies shook the edifice of the Church to its foundations. Alexandria, as the great center of theological studies of the time, was able to analyse the heresies, to prove their falseness and to play an important part in defining the true doctrine. As an example, the most important contribution to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 appears in have been that of the Coptic Church. The most conspicuous controversialist on the orthodox side was the young Alexandrian archdeacon, Athanasius, who returned home to be made Patriarch of Alexandria in 326. The native Egyptian bishops were chiefly remarkable for their manly protest against enforcing celibacy on the priests. “The Egyptian bishop Paphnutios who was a monk.. made an earnest protest against such an interference with Christian liberty”. The Council assigned the Patriarch of Alexandria to determine the date of Easter yearly, according to the rule resolved by the Council, and to announce the date to the other churches. “As the most learned body present at the Council of Nicea. It was given authority to determine the date of Easter yearly, according to the rule resolved by the Council, and to announce the date to the other churches. As the most learned body present at the Council of Nicea. It was given authority to determine the exact day for the celebration of each successive Easter”. C. The Spiritual Contribution: Monasticism Egypt was the motherland of Christian monasticism. There it sprang into existence at the beginning of the Fourth Century and from there it spread in a very few years over the whole Christian world. “The simple teaching of the first Egyptian monks and hermits fixed once and forever the broad outlines of the science of the spiritual life”. Another writer says: “An outstanding contribution was made by Egyptian Christianity to the whole of Christendom in the development of the monastic life”. The motive of monasticism was that faith must express and show itself in Christ-like life: asceticism was considered by the earnest Egyptian as the highest ideal in Christianity. The monastic movement spread from Egypt to many lands and the example and teachings of the Egyptian monks had a strong appeal for many lovers of the spiritual life. “By the Fifth and Sixth Centuries their fame had gone out into all lands. Travellers also came from countries as far distant as Spain and Ireland in order to visit the monasteries and an Irish guide-book for visitors to the Holy Land of Scetes is still preserved in the Bibilotheque Nationale in Paris”. “Art, poetry and science have found in it a foster-mother , nay the beginnings of our civilization are a chapter from the history of monasticism”. “The Egyptian anchorites even in the West were reckoned at all times as the fathers and models of true Christian life.” D. The Missionary Contribution The first converts started the missionary movement in Egypt at the very beginnings of Christianity. It was not only personal zeal which moved some individuals to go on missions. The following words Eusebius prove that it was an organized movement in the Church and its Catechetical School, appointing the missionaries and the mission fields: “Now at that time there was a man of great renown for learning named Pantaenus… he displayed such ardent love and zeal for the divine Word that he was appointed as a herald of the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the East.” Trimingham adds; “It was this School of Alexandria which sent out missionaries who carried Christianity to pagan tribes in Libya, Phrygia, Sinai, Arabia Felix, the Thebaid and Upper Egypt”. The Copts were the first missionaries in Africa. “Christianity was first introduced into Axum (the ancient capital of Ethiopia) from Egypt by merchants through the commercial and maritime relations which existed between the two countries.” Saint Athanasius, the XXth Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, ordained Frumentius as bishop for Ethiopia in 330. The Ethiopians called their first bishop “Abba Salama, Kassate Berhan” Father of Peace, Revealer of Light. “Christianity was introduced into the Sudan in the Sixth Century as a definite missionary endeavor of the Church of Egypt and was the first contact of Christianity with the Negro race.” Concerning India Eusebius says: “For there were, yes, even still at that time, many evangelists of the Word desirous to contribute an inspired zeal after the manner of the apostles for the increase and the building up of the divine Word. Pantaenus (of Alexandria) was one of those and is mentioned as having gone to India.” Concerning Arabia, Harnack refers to Eusebius in summarizing Origin’s visit to Arabia and Bostra . In Europe, Athanasius the Great started a church in Belgica during his exile. In Helvetica (Switzerland), “the Theban Legion (recruited in Upper Egypt) led by Maurice suffered martyrdom for their Christian faith, the legionaries having steadfastly refused to sacrifice to the gods of the heathens and to persecute the Christians.. Felix departed with his sister Regula and another companion, Exuperantius, to spread the Gospel of Christ”. They became the patron saints of Zurich and the official seal of the county of Zurich still carries the picture of the three Coptic Evangelists. The trace of the Coptic missionaries can easily be followed in Ireland. Three manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin include the following litany: “Seven Egyptian monks in Disert-Ullaigh I invoke unto my aid through Jesus Christ.” The Coptic evangelists have left many races of their impact upon Celtic art as well as the life of the early Irish people.
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century the Coptic Church began to undergo phases of new development. A figure symbolic of this revival is that of Pope
Cyril IV. In 1853 he established the first modern Coptic schools
among which was the first Egyptian girls school. He also founded
a printing press which was the second national press in the country,
the first having been erected by the government at an earlier date.
Pope Cyril IV entertained very friendly relations with other Churches,
to such an extent that when the Greek Patriarch in Egypt had to
absent himself for a long time outside the country, he left his
Church under the guidance of the Coptic Patriarch.
Coptic primary secondary and technical schools for boys and girls are spared all over Egypt. Some have been established by the Patriarchate and the diocesan authorities, others by Coptic benevolent societies. In some places, they were until very recently the only modern schools accepting students of all religions and teaching them secular subjects as well as their respective religion. Through the efforts of many educated and zealous young people, acting under the guidance of the clergy, Christian education spread in towns and villages. Children of all ages are taught religion according to a carefully graded curriculum. Textbooks, magazines and books for both children and adults meet the various needs of growing generations and are widely read. The Theological School for the preparation of pastors and lay-leaders was re-established in Cairo in 1875. The Theological University College, as it is now named, includes various schools, one of which is an evening school for University graduates. Many clergymen of the Coptic Church in Egypt and many of its leaders in various fields are graduates from this College. The student body numbers about 200 with a faculty of 30 professors and lecturers. Public interest in theological studies as well as in the Coptic history and tradition led to the foundation by the Patriarchate of the Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo in 1954. It is a post-graduate study and research center, comprising some twelve departments which embrace the different fields of Coptic culture and allied studies: history, language, archeology, art, theology, canon law, social studies as well as Ethiopia and African studies. More than one hundred post-graduate students are enrolled in the Institute where they study under the guidance of prominent professors. There is a growing interest in Coptic studies in Universities and research centers all over the world. Many Universities have created chairs and even departments for Coptic studies. This interest is mainly due to the light shed by these studies on the early history of Christianity. It is also due to the fact that the Coptic language, being the last form r stage of the Ancient Egyptian language, is important for the study of Pharaonic history, and Biblical Studies. This Scientific research in Coptic archaeology is also being pursued in Egypt, principally by the Society for Coptic Archaeology founded in Cairo in 1934.
The Coptic laity are active participants in the
life of the Church. Every church has its own parish church council,
comprising various subcommittees, to co-operate with the clergy
for covering the pastoral and social needs of the community. Some
churches have ladies committees as well to look after certain needs
of the church and the community. In explaining the traditional lay participation
of the Copts in Church administration and activities, a western
writer says: “The fidelity with which the Alexandrines adhered
to the ancient democratic model may be due in part to the social
standing and intelligence of the congregation. The same reason may
account for their immunity from many of the ecclesiastical storms
of the time.” C. Present state of the Coptic Church in Egypt The Copts number about four million in Egypt. There are some thirty thousand in Sudan and some hundreds in Jerusalem and Palestine, as well as in Kuwait and other middle-eastern countries. There are Coptic students and families residing in Europe and America. The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church comprises thirty metropolitans and bishops headed by the Pope of Alexandria. Dioceses were ordained in 1963, one for Ecumenical and Social Services and the other for Theological and Educational Institutions. One thousand church buildings, many with extensive educational and social annexes, are distributed over the towns as well as the villages in all the provinces of Egypt. There are one thousand two hundred married priests serving the pastoral needs of the congregations of these churches. From the hundreds of monasteries which flourished in the Deserts of Egypt, there are now eight monasteries, comprising three hundred monks, and five convents, comprising one hundred and fifty nuns. An increasing number of well-educated young people are consecrating their lives to the ministry as parish priests and as monks. There is a Coptic Church in Kuwait; a touring priest for the Copts in North America is stationed in Toronto, Canada. Other priests make pastoral visits to the Coptic students and families in Europe. A missionary priest is working for about ten thousand people in South Africa sin e 1949. The Coptic Orthodox Church is a member of the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical bodies.
|