Part Six
The Holy Family at Maadi
After
their short, but all-too-felt, stay in Old
Cairo, the Holy Family
moved in a southerly direction, reaching the modern Cairo suburb of
Maadi which, in earliest Pharaonic times, was an outlying district of
Memphis, the capital of Egypt then; and, at Maadi, they boarded a
sailing-boat which carried them up the Nile towards southern Egypt.
The historic church built upon the spot from which they embarked, also
dedicated to the Virgin, is further identified by the denominative,
'Al-Adaweya', the Virgin's Church 'of the Ferry'. (In fact, the name
of that now modern suburb, Maadi, derives from the Arabic word which
means 'the Crossing Point').
(Above: Virgin Mary Church - Maadi. Below: An icon of St. Demiana - Virgin Mary Church - Maadi.)
The
stone steps leading down to the River's bank, and believed to have
been used by the Holy Family, are accessible to pilgrims through the
Church courtyard.
An event of miraculous importance occurred on Friday the 3rd of the Coptic month of Baramhat – the 12th of March – 1976 AD. A Holy Bible of unknown provenance was carried by the lapping ripples of the Nile to the bank below the Church. It was open to the page of Isaiah 19:25 the page declaring, "Blessed be Egypt My People". The Bible is now behind glass in the Sanctuary of the Virgin in the Church for all to see.
(Above Left: The Holy Bible - Birgin Mary Church, Maadi. Above Right: The ancient stone steps - Virgin Mary Church, Maadi)
The Holy Family at Al Garnous Monastery, Maghagha
The sailboat docked at the village of Deir Al-Garnous (the later site of the Monastery of Arganos) 10 kms west of Ashnein el Nassara (a small village near the town of Maghagha). Outside the western wall of the Church of the Virgin there, a deep well is believed to have provided the Holy Family with the water they needed.
The Holy Family at Al Bahnassa
(Above: Wells at Al Garnous Monastery -
Maghagha)
They went on from there to a spot later named Abai Issous, "the Home of Jesus", the site of present-day Sandafa village, east of Al-Bahnassa which, itself, stand some 17 kms west of the town of Beni Mazar.
Gabal
Al Tair, Samalout
(Left: St. Mary Tree at Minia. Below Right: Viel of Sanctuary - El Barsha Monastery Church - Minia.)
On
towards the south they went from Bahnassa to Samalout and crossed the
Nile again from that town to the spot on the east bank of the River
where the Monastery of the Virgin now stands upon Gabal
El-Tair ('Bird
Mountain') east of Samalout, 2 kms south of Meadeyat Beni Khaled. It
is known by this name (Gabal El-Tair) because thousands of birds
gather there. The Holy Family rested in the cave which is now located
inside the ancient church there. Gabal El-Tair is also called Gabal
El-Kaf ('Palm Mountain'). Coptic tradition maintains that, as the Holy
Family rested in the shade of the Mountain, Jesus stretched His little
hand to hold back a rock which was about to detach itself from the
mountain-side and fall upon them. The imprint of His palm is still
visible.
When
they resumed their travels, the Holy Family passed a laurel tree a
stone's throw south of Gabal El-Tair, along the pathway flanking the
Nile and leading from the Mountain to Nazlet Ebeid and the New Minia
Bridge of today. It is claimed that this tree bowed to worship the
Lord Christ – glory be to Him – as He was passing. The
configuration of the Tree is, indeed, unique: all its branches incline
downwards, trailing on the ground, then turn upwards again, covered in
a cloak of green leaves. They call the tree, Al Abed – 'The
Worshipper'.
(Left: Virgin Mary Church - Gabal El Tair-Samalout, Minia. Below: Al-Abed (the Worshipper's) Tree - Nazlet Ebeid, Minia.)
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