Yesterday, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria started celebrating Christmas with many masses attending the event on top of those was of course The Pope of The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. The Islamic icon, Amr Khalid, was also present along with many of the country's recognized governmental figures. Pope Shenouda III is one of my favorite Christian personalities; very humble, very kind, looks through anyone talking to him and understands them easily and on top of that has an excellent sense of humor. The celebration took place in Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Catherdral in Abbasia, Cairo.

What I like about this is that yesterday I was watching a complete live feed from a very famous Egyptian program when they showed a report consisting of a series of interviews with people on the street and how they feel on this occasion. Many of them were Muslims who expressed their hopes of good wishes to the Christian brothers and the Pope's good health (Note: The Pope had a recent health problem that lasted for a bit of time. He has now recovered a lot). The singing was pretty nice to hear too...

Anyhow, some pictures from the event yesterday in the Catherdal:
Mr. Jamal Mubarak, the son of the president and a leading force in the current governmental party seated next to a group of other government figures.
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/govchurch.jpg
The Pope speaking
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/pope3.jpg
The Pope after taking off his crown to read the Bible.
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/pope2.jpg
The Pope at part of the celebration.
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/pope.jpg
Deep in prayer....
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/choir2.jpg
The religious tunes...
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Threadlike_2006/choir.jpg

Wishing all the Copts of Egypt and Africa and all around the world a merry Christmas :cute:

This is some truly interesting stuff, thanks for sharing :)

amazing photos
thanx for sharing TL!
Merry Christmas!

Good Stuff, TL.

Very nice and beautiful pics!

We in the West celebrate that feast too!

But we call it "Epiphany" which means "showing forth" in Greek. And we celebrate it as the day when Christ was revealed to the Gentiles, when the Magi arrived to worship him. We get two Christmases! :p

So, the Latins (like Marianna) call it Three Kings Day.

Interesting, it would've been nice if you added a link to them singing.

Are you sure he is called a Pope? I thought there was only one Pope?

Anyway ... HE HAS A BEARD! :D

"Pope" is just an English word deriving from "Papa" which means "Father" as you can guess.

In the West it is usually reserved for the Bishop of Rome: the successor of Peter and, in Catholic belief, the head of the entire Church of Christ throughout the world.

But in the past, other figure have been called Pope. And the one other figure for whom this term is used is the head of the Coptic Church.

Shaving for clerics is another Western custom, as opposed to the Eastern bearded look. There are exceptions: Capuchin friars don't shave.

So, Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, has a beard. And since he is a cardinal, he could be elected the next Pope. Then we would have a bearded Pope! Pope OF ROME, that is...

http://www.theswellesleyreport.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/archbishopOMalley.jpg

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Really nice of you to post this. It's a kind and open gesture of interest and fraternity from someone I admire more and more.

And it does also show that there is support and friendship between Christians and many Muslims in Egypt, which sheds some light on our other discussion.

Very, very good.

Since UmKhalid mentioned it, I thought I'd see if I could find some Coptic Chant to listen to.

Here it is. This chant is for Good Friday, the day of Jesus' death, not for Christmas. But it is the tradtional stuff, and chanted in the Coptic language, the ancient language of Egypt, which died out in the 17th century.

Coptic Good Friday Chant

This is very interesting, they are reciting verses from the bible, correct?

I find it interesting because even when reciting the Qur'an, Egyptians have a special way of reciting it, we can tell if the reciter is an Egyptian or not just by listening to the recitation. And although they are reciting the verses in Coptic, it still has that Egyptian tone to it.

Thanks for sharing, Jeff!

And thanks for clearing out why he is called Pope.

I was going to ask if they have a beard because Jesus :PBUH:had a beard, but then I remember that you do not go by his Physical appearance, but his actions... Or that is what I understood before.

"Pope" is just a short kind of nickname almost. It's short for "Pope of Rome". But even that is not official. The official titles of Benedict XVI and all who hold his office are:

* Bishop of Rome
* Vicar of Christ
* Successor of the Prince of the Apostles
* Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
* Primate of Italy
* Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
* Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City
* Servant of the Servants of God

Thanks people for stopping by the thread and yes Jeff, it kinda relates to our previous discussion...I can't imagine going back to Egypt and not finding the combination of Copts and Muslims, it'll just be...not Egypt at all!

It's amazing how the Coptic Church has revived the Coptic language...And how fluent they are in it to sing it is just brilliant!

It looks pretty too!

http://www.lib.umich.edu/pap/exhibits/writing/images/coptic.jpg

I mean no disrespect, but it looks scary.

That's an interesting comment, ti3gib! :p

But perceptive maybe. It IS a scary religion:

http://sg.geocities.com/saltandlight5/images/scourging.jpg

http://www.independentcritics.com/images/passion%20of%20the%20christ%20SPLASH.jpg

"Take up your Cross and follow Me."

"We are baptized into His Death."

"It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God."

"Unless the grain of wheat dies to itself, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit."

"Be ye perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect."

"We were bought for a price."

******

Terrifying, actually.



http://www.coptic.net/pictures/Icon.Crucifix-1.jpg

Coptic Crucifix

The guy looks scary! Is he the egyption pope?

They have b5oor too ? :P

interesting

I mean no disrespect, but it looks scary.
I was just about to write that :p

They have b5oor too ? :P

interesting
yes infact my husband bought some bhoor back from his country once and the first thing I thought was that the house smelt of a church.

Incense was one of the gifts the 3 Magi brought to Christ when they visited him.

I was just about to write that :p
Looking at photos of a man who resembles Gandalf in a bad mood is nothing like being INSIDE a church...

Like all places of worship, even ancient ruins of temples, you can feel the peace, serenity and you leave there feeling great.

The guy looks scary! Is he the egyption pope?

Awwwww, he looks like a pussy cat to me. I bet he's tame and eats cheese right out of your hand.

See?

http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Divofchr/Divofchr-5_1.jpg

It looks pretty too!

http://www.lib.umich.edu/pap/exhibits/writing/images/coptic.jpg


Oh I like the handwriting!! It is pretty!!

A very late Merry Xmas Jeff :p

Thank you, Pen It! And a Happy New Year to you!

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How's about next time you're in Alex, you take your camera and go to St. Mark's Cathedral and take us some Sabla pics?

I'd love to but I'd have to go 200 kilometers away from Alex for that, the Cathedral is in the capital, Cairo. But there are some lovely churches in Alexandria too...Let's see what I can do in the summer :D

Funnny, some ways.
People look funny their!

don't care, not interested :)