The Commemoration of the Entry of the Lord Christ to Egypt
1st June - 24th Bashans
On this day, our Lord Jesus Christ came to the land of Egypt when He was a two years old child, as the Bible says in (Mt. 2:13) that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” This was for two reasons: A. If He fell in the hand of Herod, and Herod could not kill Him, he would have thought that His flesh was a phantom.
B. The second reason was to bless the people of Egypt by being among them, so that the prophecy of Hosea (11:1) could be fulfilled which says: “... out of Egypt I called My Son.” And also the prophecy of Isaiah (19:1) be fulfilled: “Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt, the idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.”
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 ElNatroun, 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.
We ought to celebrate this feast spiritually with joy, for Our Lord Jesus honored our land.
Glory to His Holy Name for ever. Amen.
The Departure of the Prophet Habakkuk
1st June - 24th Bashans
On this day also, the prophet Habakkuk departed. He was one of the twelve minor prophets, and he was from the tribe of Levi. He was a singer using stringed musical instruments as it is indicated in this verse: «The Lord God is my
strength; He will make my feet like deer›s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. To the chief musician. With my stringed instruments.« )Habakkuk 3:19(.
He prophesied at the time of king Jehoiakim. He lived long enough to see the return of the children of Israel from exile, and he prayed saying: (Habakkuk 3:2) He prophesied about the Incarnation of Christ and His birth, saying: (Habakkuk 3:3).
He finished his course, and departed in peace. A church after his name was built in Bartsa - El-Behera in Egypt at the time of the Christian Emperor Anastasius, and consecrated on the twenty fourth of Bashans. May the prayers of this prophet be with us. Amen. The Commemoration of the Appearance of the Bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the .Prophe t
2nd June - 25th Bashans
On this day, the church celebrates the appearance of the bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet, the disciple of Elijah the Prophet, in the city .of Alexandria
Julian the Infidel wished to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, having been destroyed by Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus. He intended with malice to prove the invalidity of the saying of the Lord in the Holy Gospel: «Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left her upon another, that shall not be thrown down« )Matthew 24:2(. He supplied the Jewish people with money to rebuild it. He put Elebius, who .asked the Jews to assist him secretly, in charge
Many of the Jews, men, wome, old and young, gathered. They started digging the foundation with eagerness, transferring the dirt and rocks away, some with baskets and the others in the tails of their dresses. St. Kyrillos (Cyril), bishop of Jerusalem, ridiculed what .they were doing
When they finished raising the rocks of the old foundation, they started to put down the new one. A severe earthquake took place, filled the excavation with dirt, dispersed the building material and killed many of the workers. The Jews were not terrified of that, and returned to the work again. Out of the depths of the earth, fiery balls came, showering the workers with rocks and hitting them so they stopped building. Many of them believed because of that and especially because they had fulfilled the prophesy of the Lord Christ, with their hands, about the destruction of the .building of the temple from its foundation
St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom had mentioned this incident. The Jewish historian Emian, in the fifth century, had mentioned this ac.count also incidentally in his writings
Nevertheless, the Jews told the Emperor, «The reason for what happened is the presence of the bodies of Christian leaders in that place. They must be removed from it, otherwise the temple will not be built.« Julian ordered that the bodies of the saints be removed from the place and burned. When they took the bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet to burn them, some believers came forward to the soldiers, gave them a sum of silver and took the two bodies. They brought them to St. Athanasius, Pope of Alexandria. He was pleased and placed them in a special place until he could build a church .for them
One day St. Athanasius was sitting in the garden with his scribe, the one to be Pope Theophilos (23rd Pope) who succeeded him on the Chair, and told him, «If God gives me long days, I will build in this place a church in the names of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet, and I will lay their bodies in «.it
When Pope Theophilos was enthroned on the Chair of the See of St. Mark, he remembered what Pope Athanasius had told him. He built the church and relocated the pure bodies to it. On their way to the church carrying the holy bodies, they passed by a house of a pagan woman. This woman was in labor for the last four days. She had a difficult labor and she was in severe pain. When she heard the singing and the chanting of the people as they passed by, and when she knew what was happening, she vowed, saying, «O John, the saint of God, if you deliver me from this tribulation, I will become a Christian.« Before she had finished what she was saying, she gave birth to a boy, and she called him John. Then, her family and she were baptized. They laid the bodies with great honor in the church. Many miracles and .wonders were manifested through them :As of the end of Julian the infidel was as follows He decided to declare a war against Sapor, King of .Persia
St. Basilius the Great, the author of the liturgy, and some bishops went to meet him. Emperor Julian asked them, «Why have you come.« St. Basilius replied, «We came asking for a shepherd« He mocked them saying, «Where did you leave the son of the carpenter?« The Saint answered with courage and pride, «We left him making a coffin for you, for you have lost all wisdom and knowledge.« Julian told him, «I have read and memorized it.« St. Basilius replied, «But you did not comprehend it.« Julian be-
came angry and ordered them seized, to be slain after his return from the war with Sapor. St. Basilius told him, «You will not come back, for God has spoken by my mouth.« The Emperor ordered them .imprisoned
The Emperor went to the war. St. Basilius prayed before the icon of St. Marcurius Abu-saifain, asking for the chastisement of the Emperor because he insulted his Lord Christ. St. Marcurius disappeared from the icon, and when he returned, his sword was .dripping blood
During the war, Julian was shot by an arrow in his liver. Thlodoritius said in his history of the church: «When this infidel Emperor was stabbed, he took a handful of the blood that was pouring out of his side and scattered it toward the heaven, saying, ‹You have defeated me O Son of Mary.›« The prophesy of St. Basilius was fulfilled in him and the church .was saved from his evil
When St. Macarius, Bishop of Edko, was martyred, they placed his body with the bodies of St. John the .Baptist and Elisha the Prophet .May their prayers be with us. Amen .The Departure Of St. Simon the Stylite 6th June - 29th Bashans
On this day of the year 461 A.D., St. Simon departed. He was born in Antioch in 392 A.D. His father›s name was John, and his mother›s name was Martha. Many miraculous things happened because of him. Before his mother had conceived of him, St. John the Baptist appeared to her in a dream and told her of her conception and what he would become. At age sixteen, he became a monk in the mountain of Antioch, and he led a great ascetic life in worship and prayer. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and guided him in his monastic life to the life of St. Pachomius. He excelled in his worship to a level beyond the normal human level, so that he lived alone on a high place like a pillar, for 45 years, during which he ate grass.
This father wrote many useful ascetic teachings, and explained many church books. He departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us, and glory be to God forever. Amen.
The sixth Sunday of the Holy Pentecost. Today Sunday 1st June 2025 – 24th of Bashans 1741 of the Coptic calendar is the sixth Sunday of the Holy Pentecost and the Holy Eucharist liturgical bible reading for today is:
Pauline (Letters of St Paul): 1st Corinthians 15:57 to 16:8: be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Catholic (Universal) Letters: 1st Peter 1:212: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold.
Praxis (Acts of the Apostles): Acts 20: 1-16: And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.
Holy Bible: John 16: 23-33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
+ Until now you have asked nothing in My name
The Lord appeared to King Solomon in a dream at night and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon answered “O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in, therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? (1Kgs 3: 5-15) So the words were good in the eyes of the Lord, because Solomon asked this matter. He did not ask for himself many days, or wealth, or the souls of his enemies. Hence, the Lord gave him a wise and distinguished heart, so that there was no like him before or after him. And he gave him what he did not ask; riches, dignity and length of
days. Solomon asked once in his whole life, but it is sufficient for everything. This is the request that the Lord rejoiced in because it was a request according to His will and His pleasure. In fact, there are many who ask, but they waste their time asking. There are those who ask for many days. Of these is King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20). The Lord actually gave him fifteen years to increase his life. Indeed, Hezekiah was a righteous king who feared God, but what did Hezekiah do with these fifteen years? He was very happy that he was healed from his illness. The king of Babylon sent him gifts when he recovered from his illness and Hezekiah showed them all that was in his treasures. It was a cause of stumble for Israel; for the Lord told him that the king of Babylon would take everything from him (2 Kings 2: 12 - 21). Enoch was the least-lived of the prophets of his time (he lived only 365 years compared to those who lived in the limits of the 900 years of his clan), but it was a blessing for his generation and for future generations as well (Genesis 5:22).
There are those who were wiser in their youth than the elders of their time. Indeed, life is never measured in day. Instead of asking for many days, ask for good days. One good day in your life is better than many years in evil and sin. Those who ask for many days are the ones who care about the materialistic and health of their bodies. O Beloved, ask for the safety and health of the soul first, and the matters of the body will be fulfilled by the Lord without asking. In addition, there are those who seek riches or worldly glory, and so many of them are! Absalom, son of David, was one of those. For the sake of kingship and riches, he fought his own father and wrestled him; he caused the destruction of himself
and all who were with him (2 Samuel 15-19). Many have lost themselves for the haughtiness of the world, its glories, and its positions. Ambition is a blessing if it is for good purposes, but it is easy to turn into greed and lust for worldly position and glory. There are those who seek to end the lives of their enemies and for this reason, they envy, hate, take revenge, and rejoice in evil. The history of the church still preserves a beautiful story about the teacher Ibrahim Al-Gowhary, who when his brother Gerges Al-Gowhary complained to him that a man used to curse him every day and curse him whenever he passed on the road, Ibrahim promised him that he would cut his tongue forever. Then the teacher Ibrahim asked about the man, and knew he was a poor, miserable person. Hence, Ibrahim sent him many gifts and supplies in the name of his brother Gerges. The man’s condition changed completely; whenever Gerges passed on the road, the man stood up for him in respect and prayed for him well. Indeed, he cut off the tongue of the evil in him. How beautiful is to ask forgiveness and peace for those who offend us instead of revenge, hatred and envy! Learn to be wise in your request. Seek what is good and beneficial for your spiritual life and the salvation of your soul. We have a strong Mediator with God the Father, and He is the name of the Lord Jesus our Saviour Who became our Mediator and reconciled us with Heaven by the blood of His cross. + I told you this so that you may have peace. Many say that they have to make material requests and for long lives, riches, dignity, the destruction of the enemies; for this is the guarantee to live in peace. It is very normal that a person who feels supported by something that he feels peace. It is even better to feel that someone who supports you is strong and able to give you everything. My beloved, never deceive yourself, if you think that you
will find comfort in this world you are deceived. The world does not have a rest to give you. The foolish rich believed that he would be the happiest person with his full treasuries, but he did not enjoy it for one night. As with Christ, there may be worldly troubles and hardships, but they are nothing beside the inner peace that the Lord gives to His children. Paul and Silas were in prison chanting and praying with true joy. Daniel spent his most beautiful time in harmony and praying with God in the den of lions. The Three Youth enjoyed the most wonderful and most important time of their lives in the fiery furnace. Beloved, with Christ there is true victory and glory. There is a victory over the whole world.
+ In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
How beautiful is the feeling of a warrior who knows that he will be victorious. How is the feeling of a student who is absolutely certain that he will succeed? How beautiful is the feeling of a fighter who knows perfectly that he will conquer? This feeling gives the soul a truly amazing peace and calm. Let us trust in the Lord Jesus; that as long as he is with us, we must be victorious. We must conquer the whole world. If we are assured that we will conquer the world, why do we make peace with it? Why make a treaty with the weak! O Beloved, break your covenants with the world. Renew your covenants with God. How wonderful it is for your ally and helper to be strong, victorious and triumphant.
Resurrection and Joy
by George Rofael
Dear brethren, we explained that psychological pain is more severe than physical pain after living through the events of the crucifixion and suffering, both physical and psychological. We find that the tenderness of the Lord Jesus does not leave his children to live in pain, but he showed us the joys of his glorious resurrection, which proves his victory over death, to show us his deep love and give us hope, and that no matter how long the suffering, but joy comes, and so that we have confidence that after every night comes day or after all his darkness comes light, as in the resurrection. We present to you this story so that we can jointly find solutions, each from our own perspective.
«Story: From the Grove of Pain to the Morning of Resurrection«
In a small house on the outskirts of the city, Mariam and Joseph lived for many years, bringing them together in love at the beginning, but little by little the voice of love began to fade, and the voice of criticism, blame, and harsh silence increased. Joseph, who was initially kind and affectionate, began to deal with hurtful words. He wasn›t beating, but he was mocking, belittled, and belittling everything Mary did. Mary began to close in on herself, isolates herself, afraid to speak, trying to avoid any clash, but she was broken from within.
On Holy Week, Mary attended a revival in the Church. She meditated on Christ, who silently accepted insults and went down the way of the cross knowing that it was not weakness, but a loving strength.
At the dawn of the Resurrection, standing at Mass, she felt an inner voice saying to her: «I arose to raise you up too. I don›t want you broken. I don›t want you to accept injustice as fate. I give you the power of resurrection to stand, to speak, and to seek your truth with love and clarity.«
As for Joseph, he also participated as a deacon in the resurrection services. As he heard same sermon about Christ›s heart-breaking love, he felt a tingling in his conscience. He remembered how he mocked Mary, how he neglected her feelings. And he heard the voice in his heart:
«You arose not to rejoice in words, but to rise from your selfishness. I loved you despite your mistakes and weakness, didn›t you love her?« Days passed, and Joseph met Mary and said to her????
Call for reflection and participation
Do you see yourself in Joseph or Mary?
Have you ever felt treated in a way that breaks you internally? Or perhaps you have unintentionally hurt a loved one with your words?
What step can you begin today to establish a broken relationship with the power of the resurrection?
I hope that we discuss ways to solve this problem before it becomes more difficult to address.
Please Share any thoughts or contributions, and rest assured that we do not want to collect any private or personal information about you, nor will we display or publish your opinions. But the purpose is to dialogue to benefit from the ideas and opinions of the other.
Feast of Pentecost 8th June 2025
5:30am Matins prayers and the procession of the Resurrection.
6:30 - 8:30 am First Liturgical Service
8:30 - 10:30 am Second Liturgical Service English
8:30 - 10:30 am third Liturgical Service Arabic 11:30 - 1:30 pm Kneeling Down (Sajda) Prayers.
Hymns and Prayers:
Rituals during the Holy Fifty Days:
Prayers, hymns, and doxologies are recited throughout the day, including the Psalms of the Midnight Prayers and the Morning Prayers.
Processions:
Processions are typically included in the rituals, especially on the Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost, with three rounds around the altar and specific hymns.
Feast of the Ascension:
The Feast of the Ascension is celebrated with a Divine Liturgy that includes a procession and specific hymns.
Feast of Pentecost:
The Feast of Pentecost marks the culmination of the Holy Fifty Days, with specific hymns and prayers celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Communion:
During communion, Psalm 150 is chanted in a joyful tune, followed by the hymn “Acwmen”.
Concluding Canon:
The Concluding Canon of the Feast of the Pentecost is chanted at the conclusion of the liturgy.
New Portable Baptism Font Consecrated by HG Bishop Joseph during the Australian Clergy Conference on Tuesday 20th May 2025. It will be used for Baptisms at St John Chrysostom
His Grace Bishop Daniel Celebration of His Grace 46 years as a priest at St Anthony’s Monastery in Egypt (13th May 2025)
1st Page of the Weekly Bulletin in June 1980 when His Grace arrived Melbourne on 28th May 1980 to serve as a priest
Great blessed memories Your Grace Remember us in your prayers. Hope to see your Grace soon in Melboure
St Mary’s Church reminds you of Donations to support the Loans for the new building
The Bank Loan currently is $6,800,000 Thanks for all your generous support and prayers
One year ago on Lazarus Saturday 27th April 2024we started using the new build� . ing. we thank our Lord who supported us through the prayers of ST Mary and all the saints. We are waiting to start Child Care Service soon Thanks to all who offered support and prayers
«George Rafael (AKA Adel Naguib) has been a faithful member of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He grew up and served at St. Mark Cathedral in Alexandria. At an early age, HHG Late Metropolitan Pakhomius (of Behaira and five western cities) ordained him as an Aghnustus. Then Ebiziacon at St. Mary, Melbourne. He has actively participated in the liturgical life of the Church for over fifty years.
George holds a master›s degree in Primary Health Care and is currently pursuing a candidature for a Doctor of Social Work (CSU). He worked as a clinical and senior social worker for over forty-five years. He spent a decade as a senior social worker in the Education Department of Egypt. In Australia, he has gained experience in various acute and community health settings. Ultimately, he pursued a career as a private clinical psychosocial and family therapist.
From 1981 to 1991, George volunteered as a social worker at St. George›s COC—social office - Alex, (which covered about four thousand families in need).
George holds other qualifications, having studied LLB (four years prior to immigrating to Australia). Advanced Diploma in Electronics (Engineer Faculty—Alex Uni) and an Electrical A Class and contractor licence )Australia(.«
Nagui Edward Rofaiel
67 years old
Faculty of commerce Cairo university 1979
Chief Accountant before immigration
Immigration year 1988
Finish studies at RMIT
Member of institute of public Accountants
Married with 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren.
Ordained as a Deacon in St Mary 1995
Ordained as Episiacon 2005
Served in St Mary as a Deacon, Sunday School servant, and Treasurer
