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St. Mary in the Synaxarium
St. Mary in the Synaxarium:
Each saint in the Church has one feast, usually commemorating departure or martyrdom. Some saints have an additional feast marking the finding of relics, a certain miracle to which that saint is given credit or the consecration of a church in his or her name. The Virgin Saint Mary, on the other hand, has many feasts.
On the occasion of her fast, let’s mention her Feasts in the Synaxarium. One feast at a time, try to write the feast in a bold followed by the date in Coptic month in underline, if it’s not too much trouble.
Each saint in the Church has one feast, usually commemorating departure or martyrdom. Some saints have an additional feast marking the finding of relics, a certain miracle to which that saint is given credit or the consecration of a church in his or her name. The Virgin Saint Mary, on the other hand, has many feasts.
On the occasion of her fast, let’s mention her Feasts in the Synaxarium. One feast at a time, try to write the feast in a bold followed by the date in Coptic month in underline, if it’s not too much trouble.
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It is on the 7th of Misra,
when the angel of the Lord announced her father Joachim of her birth. He and her mother Anna were then joyful, and they vowed her for the Lord
1st of Bashans (May)
On this day the church celebrates the birth of the pure Virgin St. Mary, the Mother of God (Theotokos), through whom Salvation came to mankind. She was born in the city of Nazareth, where her parents lived. Her father was grieved in his heart for he could not offer an offering to God for he did not have any children. In the fullness of time according to the Divine Will, the angel of the Lord was sent to announce Joachim, her father, while he was on the mountain praying, and said to him: "The Lord will give you offspring through whom salvation comes to the world."
Immediately he went down the mountain believing what the angel told him, and he told his wife Anna of what he saw and heard. She rejoiced, gave thanks to the Lord, and vowed that the child who was to be born to her would become a servant in the house of the Lord all the days of her/his life. She conceived, and gave birth to this Saint and called her Mary who had become the Queen of all women of the world, and through her we have received the grace.
3rd of Kiahk.( December )
It is the day when
she entered the Temple to adore God in the special house for the virgins, for she was dedicated to God, she was thre years old.
the 24th of Bashans, ( June 1st )
The Lord Jesus came to Egypt with Joseph, and His Virgin mother, and Salome. They passed in an estate called "Basta" where the Holy Family drank from a well, and the water of the well became a curing water for all sicknesses. Then they went to "Meniet Samannoud" and crossed the Nile to the western side. In this place, the Lord Jesus put His foot on a stone, and the trace of His foot appeared, and the stone was called "Picha Isos" in Coptic (or The heal of Jesus). From there, they went westward to Wadi El-Natroun, and St. Mary blessed the place, for her knowledge that many monasteries would be built there. Then they went to "Al-Ashmoneen" where they settled for several days, after which they went to Mount "Qosqam", where the monastery of St. Mary was later built, which has been known with the name "El-Moharrak monastery".
When Herod died, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying: "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." (Mt. 2:20-21). They came back to Cairo, and on their return they stayed in a cave which is today located in the church of Abu-Serga in Old Cairo. Then they passed by El-Mataryia, and they washed there from a well, and the well has been blessed since, and a tree of Balsam grew beside it, from its oil the Chrism (El-Myroun) is made which is used to consecrate new churches. From there, the Holy Family walked to El-Mahama (Mustorod), and from there to Israel.
His holiness Pope Shenouda III said:
"Have any country, other than Egypt, enjoyed such a visit by the holy Virgin? It is a visit mentioned by the Holy Scriptures, and recorded in the history, which also named the places which visited by the holy family where churches have been built afterwards and which tourists come to visit from the far ends of the earth."
21st of Tuba ( January )
On this day, Our Lady, the all pure, Virgin St. Mary, the Mother of God, departed. As she was always praying in the holy sepulchre, the Holy Spirit informed her that she was about to depart from this temporal world. When the time of her departure arrived, the virgins of the Mount of Olives came to her, with the apostles, who were still alive, and they surrounded her bed. The Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is the glory, with a host of thousands and thousands of angels came to her and comforted her and told her about the eternal joy that was prepared for her, and she rejoiced. The apostles and the virgins asked her to bless them. She stretched her hand and blessed them all, and she gave up her pure spirit in the hand of her Son and God, and He took her spirit to the heavenly mansions.
The apostles prepared the body in a fitting manner and carried it to Gethsemane. Some of the Jews blocked their way to prevent them from burying the body. One of the Jews seized the coffin with his hands, which were separated instantly from his body and they remained attached to the coffin. He regretted his evil deed and wept bitterly. Through the supplications of the saintly apostles, his hands were reattached to his body, and he believed in the Lord Christ. When they placed the body in the tomb, the Lord hid it from them.
St. Thomas the Apostle was not present at the time of St. Mary's departure. He wanted to go to Jerusalem and a cloud carried him there. On his way, he saw the pure body of St. Mary carried by the angels and ascended to heaven with it. One of the angels told him, "Make haste and kiss the pure body of St. Mary," and he did.
When St. Thomas arrived where the disciples were, they told him about St. Mary's departure and he said to them, "You know how I conducted myself at the resurrection of the Lord Christ, and I will not believe unless I see her body." They went with him to the tomb, and uncovered the place of the body but they did not find it, and everyone was perplexed and surprised. St. Thomas told them how he saw the holy body and the angels that were ascending with it. They heard the Holy Spirit saying to them, "The Lord did not will to leave her body on earth." The Lord had promised his pure apostles to let them see her in the flesh once again. They were waiting for this promise to be fulfilled, until the 16th day of the month of Misra, when the promise was fulfilled and they saw her.
The years of her life on earth were 60 years. She was 12 years old when she left the temple. She spent 34 years in Joseph's house, until the Ascension of the Lord, and 14 years with St. John the Evangelist, according to the commandment of the Lord which he told her at the cross, "Behold, this is your son," and to St. John, "Behold, this is your mother."
21st of every Coptic month
It is on the 21st of every coptic month, in commemoration of her
death on the 21st of Tubah.
16th of Misra, 22nd of August
which is preceded by the Fast of The Virgin (15 days).
On this day, was the assumption of the body of our pure Lady St. Mary, the Mother of God. While she was keeping vigil, praying in the Holy Sepulchre, and waiting for the happy minute of her liberation from the bonds of the flesh, the Holy Spirit informed her of her forthcoming departure from this vain world. When the time drew near, the disciples and the virgins of the Mt. of Olives (Zeiton) came and the Lady was lying on her bed. Our Lord, surrounded by thousands and thousands of angels, came to Her. He consoled her, and announced her with the everlasting joy which was prepared for Her. She was happy, and she stretched out her hands, blessed the Disciples, and the Virgins. Then, she delivered up her pure soul in the hand of her Son and God, Jesus Christ, Who ascended her to the higher habitations. As of the pure body, they shrouded it and carried it to Gethsemane.
On their way, some of the Jews blocked the way in the face of the disciples to prevent the burial. One of them seized the coffin. His hands were separated from his body, and remained hanging until he believed and repented for his mischievous deed. With the prayers of the holy disciples, his hands were reattached to his body as they had been before.
St. Thomas was absent at the time of St. Mary's departure, but he came after the burial. On his way back to Jerusalem, St. Thomas saw angels carrying St. Mary's pure body and ascending with it to heaven, and one of the angels said to him, "Hurry and kiss the pure body of St. Mary." When he arrived to the disciples, they informed him about St. Mary's departure. He told them, "I will not believe, unless I see her body, as you all know how I did doubt the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ before." They took him to the tomb, to uncover the body but they did not find it, and they were perplexed and amazed. St. Thomas told them how he saw the pure body ascending to heaven, carried by angels.
The Holy Spirit then told them, "The Lord did not Will to leave Her Holy body on earth." The Lord had promised his pure apostles that they would see her in flesh another time. They were waiting for the fulfilment of this truthful promise, until the sixteenth day of the month of Misra, when the promise of seeing her was fulfilled. They saw her sitting on the right hand of her Son and her Lord, surrounded by the angelic Host, as David prophesied and said, "At your right hand stands the queen." (Psalm 45:9) St. Mary's life on earth was sixty years. She spent twelve years of them in the temple, thirty years in the house of the righteous St. Joseph, and fourteen years in the care of St. John the Evangelist, as the Lord commanded her saying, "Woman behold your Son," and to St. John, "Behold your Mother."
I really don’t know if the 1st of the Coptic month Bashans coincide always with the 9th of May every year.
I found the two dates comes together in the years 1999- 2005 (6 years periods ), I am not sure if this is enough samples to say that the birth of the Virgin Mary is always on the 9th of May.
And because the Coptic Church uses the Coptic Calender in her estimation of the feasts, fasts and other commemoration of saints, lets say that the Birth of the Virgin St. Mary is on 1st of Bashans ( May ).
21st of Baouna
On that day we commemorate her miracle in
delivering the apostle saint Matthias and those who were with him from prison, by dissolving the iron which bounded him.
In that day also we celebrate
The feast of the building of the first church on her name in philippi.
The month of Kiahk ( from December until the 7th of January )
The month of Kiahk is called the "Marian month" because of its association with the great saint Mary, the Theotokos. This month has a special place in our Coptic Orthodox Church, for it is a month of preparation for the glorious Feast of the Nativity.
We celebrate this month with hymns which are all about the honour of our Lady the Virgin.
24th of Baramhat, On the 2nd of April 1968
on the domes of the church of The Virgin. It was on the 2nd of
April 1968, the 24th of Baramhat, and it continued for many years.
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III said about this:
Can we say that the holy Virgin has perhaps longed to visit the land of Egypt again, so she appeared on the domes of the church in Zeitoun in 1968, then in the Church in Babadoblo Shoubra twenty years later? Or is it that God willed the prophecy of Isaiah would continue remembered by the people that He may utter the words we love much, ““Blessed is Egypt My people””, ““ Out of Egypt I called My Son ““
From the Coptic Orthodox Synexarion
On the eve of 24th of Baramhat of the year 1684 A.M. which coincide with tuesday the 2nd. of April 1968 A.D., during the papacy of Pope Kyrillos VI, the hundred sixteenth Pope of Alexandria, our Lady and the pride of our faith started to transfigure in luminous spiritual forms in and around the domes of the church dedicated to her perfect and pure name in Zeitun, a suburb of Cairo.
This transfiguration continued in following nights in a manner that was never known in the East or the West. This transfiguration in some nights was as long as many hours, without stop, in front of tens of thousands of people from every race and religion, with every one seeing her, pointing at her and interceding to her with songs, hymns, tears, prayers and hails and She was looking to them in a compassionate way raising her hand at times to bless them in all directions.
The first one to notice this transfiguration was the workmen at the garage of the Public Transit System which was across the street from the church. The watchman Abdel-Aziz Aly, who was in charge of guarding the garage at that night, saw a luminous body over the dome of the church. He started shouting: "light over the dome" and he called the other workers in the garage. They all came and saw the bright light over the large dome of the church. When they looked closely, they saw a young lady in white, kneeling by the cross at the top of the dome. Because the dome had a round, smooth, and very sloping surface, it held the men as though they were nailed in their places watching the fate of the lady. Few seconds passed then they saw the kneeling lady as she stood over the dome. They gave out a cry of fear that she might fall down. They thought she was a girl in despair trying to commit suicide and they cried warning that person not to jump down and some of them called the police. The pedestrians, men and women started to gather around. The view of the lady was getting more clear and she appeared as a beautiful girl in a bright gown of light and had branches of olive tree in her hand, and around her flew white doves. Then they realized that they were seeing a heavenly spiritual view. They directed flood light to the luminous picture to remove all doubt from their minds, but instead it became more clear and bright. They cut the electricity off all the area but the lady remained in her heavenly illumination and her bright gown of light became more clear. She started moving around in a circle of light radiating from her body to all the directions around her. All the people then realized that this lady in front of them, without no doubt is the Virgin Mary. They started to shout and cry saying: "She is the Virgin ... She is the Mother of Light ... " They prayed with songs, hymns and hails all the night until the next morning.
Since that night the pure Virgin had transfigured in different spiritual views in front of thousands and ten of thousands of masses, Egyptian and foreigners, Christians and non-christians, men, women and children. Spiritual beings formed like doves would appear before, during and after the transfiguration zooming through the sky in a way raising the human from a materialistic to a heavenly atmosphere.
This transfiguration was in different forms. One of the most significant ways this apparition took place was that; the head of St. Mary under the vail looking down as in the picture of the sad Virgin and she was looking toward the Cross and that view would stay like this at times or slowly bow before the Cross at other times. The Cross itself will shine and illuminate although it was made of concrete. And some times an angel would appear standing behind her spreading his wings. That view might stay as long as many hours.
Another view was the view of the Mother of Light standing as a great Queen in a beautiful spiritual portrait radiating dignity, elegance and beauty. On her head was a crown of a queen as if it were made of diamonds and some times there appeared on the top of the crown a small luminous cross. And some times she appeared in the same way but carrying Christ, to Him is the Glory, in the form of a child on her hand and on His head a crown. And on other times she raised her both hands as She was blessing the world moving to the right, to the front, and to the left in a dignified way.
Many spiritual signs appeared before, during, and after the apparition of the Virgin the mother of the Lord's transfiguration. The appearance of tongues of yellowish flame would flash over the church and then subside and that repeated several times. Another form of the signs were the spiritual beings formed like doves, larger than the doves that we know, appear about midnight or after, flying in the middle of darkness illuminating in a fast speed, appeared suddenly from no where, and also disappeared suddenly. These spiritual beings appeared in different formations and in varying numbers. A fact we should be aware of that pigeons do not fly during the night. Another sign was the shooting stars which were constantly falling and were seen very close to the apparition on many occasions as if coming down to glorify her from heaven. Another sign was the fragrance of incense. The smoke of the incense poured out of the domes in large quantities. Substance resembling clouds, thick fog or smoke would roll in toward the church and completely cover the church.
Also the illuminated cloud that appeared over the domes of the church in large volume and often proceeded the transfiguration of the Virgin or at times the cloud slowly formed in the shape of the virgin. Sometimes the apparition of the Virgin would appear from the clouds.
This transfiguration and all the spiritual signs were a forerunner and announcement for serious or important events to come in the near and far future. Or it might be a spiritual gesture from heaven to indicate the Lord's caring for His church and His people and our country.
May the mercy of God be upon us all. May the Lord keep His people and church in peace, with the intercession of Our Lady and the pride of our race the pure Virgin St. Mary. Amen.