Some monasteries in Egypt are not so very old, though they may
have a shrine are remains that are, and therefore they have become a
pilgrimage site. So it is with the Coptic monastery of Saint Damiana
in the northern Nile Delta, not very far to the south of
Damietta. The
shrine here is dedicated to a woman known as Damiana (Dimyana,
Damyana, Damyanah, Demiana) who, according to tradition, was the
daughter of Marcus, a Christian governor who lived in the middle of
the third century AD. Her story is different, though in some ways,
very reminiscent of St. Catherine, who is perhaps better known
because of her association with the more famous
Monastery of St.
Catherine in the Sinai.
Nevertheless, it is Saint Damiana who is frequently referred to as
the founder of female monastic life.
When Damiana flowered into womanhood, her father chose a nobleman
for her to marry. However, Damiana refused, for she had ben taught
the Christian virtue of virginity. "If you really care for me, built
me a castle where I can live and preserve my virginity and serve my
Christ," she told her father. Being a beloved child, the
father
complied, building her a large palace that covered an area of
fifteen feddans. Soon afterwards, the daughters of other noblemen
followed her example, so together with forty other virgins, she took
up residence in the palace to serve their lord.
One day, Diocletian, the Roman emperor, summoned all of the
noblemen from Egypt, demanding that they worship the Roman gods.
Those who refused to worship the gods were promptly persecuted.
Indeed, Damiana's father, Marcus, decided to give up his Christian
faith, but upon his return to
Egypt, his daughter warned that,
"Either you become a Christian again, or I refuse to be called your
daughter." Of course, that was his doom, for he went back to
Diocletian and made a Christian confession, whereupon the king had
him killed. After the king discovered that it was Damiana who had
inspired her father to this treachery, he sent a statue of himself
to Damiana's castle, demanding that she and her virgins worship it,
rather than their god. They, of course, refused to do so and were
consequently also tortured and killed.
There is also an oral tradition regarding the journey of the
Holy Family in
Egypt. According to the homily of Zacharias, the Holy family
traveled north to nearby al-Burullus which, because of its salt
marshes of Lake Burullus, was a good place to hide from the soldiers
of Herod. Hence, if the Holy Family passed through al-Burullus, they
could have also passed through Damiana, which is often described as
"the wilderness of Bilqas," in reference to the surrounding salt
marshes. According to this tradition, Saint Damiana had her palace
constructed on the very spot
where local
Coptic Christians believe the Holy Family rested, hence adding
to the allure of the complex as a religious pilgrimage destination.
According to tradition, it was Saint Helena, the mother of
Constantine, who later built Damiana and her forty virgins a tomb,
and around that tomb a monastery was eventually erected. The first
church of that complex is said to have been erected on the orders of
John I (496-505), the twenty-ninth patriarch of Alexandria. That
church, however, was destroyed when ocean floods covered the whole
land. Even the tomb of Saint Damiana and her forty virgins remained
under water for seventy years. Finally, the local Christians began
to pray, asking God to withdraw the waters from their holy shrine,
and the waters afterwards receded. Then, John II camped near the
original location of the tomb, he had a dream in which Saint Damiana
appeared to him and ordered him to build a church. He complied with
her wishes, building her a church which today is located in the
southwest part of the complex. There is no
doubt that it is in the
most ancient part of the monastery.
Actually, these days this is a convent, rather than a monastery. The Shrine of Saint Damiana, or Dair Sitt Dimyana, once belonged to the diocese of the metropolitan of Jerusalem, but was served from very ancient times by the monks from the Monastery of Saint Antony. However, since 1970, the Shrine has been incorporated into the newly formed diocese of Damietta, and is now administered by nuns, though there are still priests for the services held in the convent.
Today, there are four churches in the convent, including the
First Church of Saint Damiana, the oldest, the Second Church of
Saint Damiana, the Third Church of Saint, Damina, and the Church
of
the Holy Virgin Mary. The Second Church is known as the Old Church,
even though it was built in the latter part of the nineteenth
century by Anba Yuhanna of the metropolitan of Burullus.
One reaches this church through the inner court of the convent.
Other than the wooden screen, the church is rather uninteresting
historically. It has one haikal, which is dedicated to Saint Damiana,
and which bears the date of 1845, thus antedating the construction
of this church. North of the sanctuary is a prayer chamber with
icons and paintings of Saint
Damina, Saint George and the Holy
Virgin Mary. Before the prayer chamber is a candelabrum with an icon
of Saint Damiana and her forty virgins. To the south of the
sanctuary is the gynaikion, the prayer chamber for women, which is
completely undecorated. In t he western part of his church is the
tomb of Saint Damiana.
The Third Church of Saint Damiana located in the outer court of
the convent is a very recent addition, built in 1932 on the orders
of Bishop Peter of
Mansura, though it was completed under Bishop Timonthy. It
measures forty meters by twenty meters. Within there is only one haikal.
The fourth church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary, dates to 1879 and is situated on the first floor of the south wing of the inner court.
Early foreign visitors to the church include Wansleben, who came in 1672, and Father C. Sicard s.j., who in May 1714 describes coming via Mansura and Bilqas to the shrine of "Sainte Germianne, where he saw a church with twenty-two domes. Sr. Gardner Wilkinson (1843) mentions the shrine and tells of a fair associated with it, but Leeder provides a rather more complete account of the Moulid:
"The moolid is still attended every year, between May 5 and May
20, by some 4,000 to 6,000 pilgrims coming from all parts of Egypt.
They usually pitch a tent round the monastery, and live there for a
period of not less than eight and not more than fifteen days, ending
with the actual day of the celebrations. Numbers of merchants
usually go and hold bazaars, in which they sell food, drink,
sometimes clothing, ornaments, perfumes, rings,
handkerchiefs,
sticks, etc., and especially wooden and brass crosses imported for
Jerusalem. They refer o Sitt Damiana for the ability to give
fruitfulness to women, or long life the the children of a woman who
has lost many in infancy. Therefore, many gifts of money, jewels,
gold and silver are presented to her church."
Today, the pilgrimage takes place annually on May 21, celebrating the date on which the church was believed to have been dedicated by Saint Helena, and on January 20th, the day of the martyrdom of Saint Damiana, and it remains a major moulid for Coptic Christians.
The "new" Church at the Convent of Damiana in
Egypt
On May 7th, 1975, Pope Shenuda III consecrated the new cells for the nuns and the new buildings of the convent. Some nuns follow a strictly contemplative life, while others are engaged in social and welfare work. Still others are devoted to painting icons and embroidering liturgical textiles. A clinic at the Convent serves pilgrims, the population of the region and the nuns.
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Last Updated: 12/11/2006