Part Four
The Holy Family at Wadi El Natroun
El-Sorian Monastery - Wadi El Natroun
Their
trail from Sakha, is recorded in the documentation of Pope Theophilus'
vision, and attested to by Coptic practice in the Christian era. For
it was to Wadi el-Natroun
(Natroun Valley) that they now came, after
crossing the Rosetta branch of the Nile to the western Delta and
heading south into Wadi el-Natroun (then called Al Asqeet) in the
Western Desert of Egypt. In the earliest decades of Christianity, the
desert expanses of Wadi el-Natroun became the site of anchoretic
settlement and, later, of many monasteries, in spiritual commemoration
of the Holy Family's passage through the Valley.
(Above: Entrance to the Monastery Chapel. Left: The Prophecies Gate. Below: Grapes Squeezer.)
The Holy Family at Matareya and Ain Shams
Eventually,
they left the desert behind them and made their way southwards,
crossing the Nile to its eastern bank, and heading for Matariyah and
Ain Shams (ancient Heliopolis, the site of the oldest 'university' in
history called since earliest Pharaonic times, 'On'). Both these
adjacent districts are outlying suburbs of present day Cairo, only 10
kms or so from the city center.
(Left: St. Mary's Tree - Matariyah, Cairo)
The Holy Family at Zeitoun
(Left:
An icon at Virgin Mary Church - Zeitoun)
At the time of the Holy Family's arrival there, Ain Shams was home to a large Jewish community, who had erected a temple – the Synagogue of Unias, - for their worship. In Matariyah, a tree still stands to this day, still regularly visited, called "Mary's Tree", for the Family is believed to have rested in its shade. Here, too, the Infant Jesus caused water to flow from a spring, from which He drank and blessed, and in which the Virgin washed His clothes. She poured the washing water on to the ground, and from that spot, the fragrant balsam plant blossomed: besides the healing and pain-soothing properties of this balm, its essence is used in the preparation of the scents and perfumes of which the holy Chrism is composed.
Virgin Mary Church - Zeitoun
Setting
out next towards Old
Cairo, the Holy Family rested for a while in
Zeitoun, on their way; then proceeded along a course which traverses
what are now crowded, bustling quarters of Cairo, within which the
serene landmarks of an earlier Coptic heritage still stand, marking
the paths the Holy Family followed. A listing of these landmarks, at
this point, may be of pertinent interest.
(Left: An icon at Virgin Mary Church - Zeitoun)
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