Synaxarium

On this day is the commemoration of the return of the head of Saint Mark the Apostle to the Egyptian lands. May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever and ever. Amen.

On this day in the year 617 AD, the holy father Anba Andronicus, Pope of Alexandria, the thirty-seventh, departed. This father was from a noble family of glory. His cousin was the head of the administration of Alexandria, so he was educated, refined, studied the Holy Scriptures, and excelled in understanding their meanings. Due to his knowledge, piety, and charity towards the poor, he was ordained a deacon, then it was agreed to elect him patriarch. Unlike the righteous predecessors, he did not live in the monasteries but remained in Alexandria throughout his patriarchate, uninterested in the power of the Melkites. However, the atmosphere was not peaceful for him because the Persians had invaded the lands of the East, crossed the Euphrates River, seized Aleppo, Antioch, Jerusalem, and others, killing and capturing many Christians. Then they invaded Egypt and came to Alexandria, where there were six hundred monasteries full of monks; they killed those inside, plundered, and destroyed them. When the people of Alexandria learned what they had done, they opened the city gates to them. The camp commander saw in a night vision someone telling him: "This city has been delivered to you; do not destroy it, but kill its champions because they are hypocrites." So he arrested the governor and bound him. Then he ordered the city elders to bring out men from eighteen to fifty years old to pay each twenty dinars and enlist them as soldiers for the city. Eighty thousand men came out to him. He wrote their names and then killed them all by the sword. After that, he headed with his army to Upper Egypt; on his way, he passed through the city of Naqius and heard that there were seven hundred monks in the caves around it, so he sent men to kill them. He continued killing and destroying until Heraclius defeated him and expelled him from the country. As for the patriarch, he lived a virtuous life. After completing six years in the patriarchate, he departed in peace. May his prayers be with us. Amen.

On this day in the year 656 AD, the blessed father Saint Anba Benjamin, Pope of Alexandria, the thirty-eighth, departed. This father was from Beheira, from the town of Barshut. His parents were wealthy, and he became a monk under a holy elder named Theonas at the Monastery of Saint Canopus near Alexandria. He grew in virtue and memorized the church books until he reached the degree of Christian perfection. One night he heard in a vision someone saying to him: "Rejoice, Benjamin, for you will shepherd the flock of Christ." When he told his father about the vision, his father said to him: "The devil wants to hinder you, so beware of pride." He increased in virtue, then his spiritual father took him to Pope Andronicus and informed him of the vision. The patriarch ordained him priest and entrusted him with the affairs of the church, and he managed them well. When he was chosen for the patriarchate, many hardships befell him. The angel of the Lord revealed to him what hardships would befall the church and ordered him and his bishops to flee. Anba Benjamin celebrated the Divine Liturgy, gave the people the Holy Sacraments, exhorted them to remain steadfast in the faith of their fathers, and informed them of what would happen. Then he wrote a letter to all the bishops and heads of monasteries to hide until this trial passed. He himself went to the wilderness of Saint Macarius, then to Upper Egypt. After the patriarch left the church, the Chalcedonian governor Al-Muqawqis arrived, holding the authority and patriarchate over the Egyptian lands by order of King Heraclius. He seized the churches, persecuted the faithful, arrested Mina, the brother of Saint Benjamin, tortured him severely, burned his sides, then drowned him. Shortly after, Amr ibn al-As came to Egypt, invaded the country, and stayed there for three years. In the year 360 of the martyrs, he went to Alexandria and seized its fortress. There was unrest and insecurity, and many evildoers took advantage of the opportunity to burn churches, including the Church of Saint Mark on the seashore, as well as the surrounding churches and monasteries, plundering all they contained. One of the sailors from the ships entered the Church of Saint Mark and put his hand into the shrine, thinking it contained money. He found only the body, but took the head and hid it on his ship without telling anyone of his deed. When Amr ibn al-As learned of the disappearance of Pope Benjamin, he sent a letter to the rest of Egypt saying: "The place where Benjamin, Patriarch of the Coptic Christians, is, has the covenant, safety, and peace. Let him come safely and securely to manage his people and churches." So Anba Benjamin came after having been in hiding for thirteen years. Amr honored him greatly and ordered that he receive his churches and their properties. When Amr's army intended to leave Alexandria for the Pentapolis, one of the ships did not move. They questioned its captain and searched it, finding the head of Saint Mark. They called the patriarch, who took it and went with the priests and people, chanting joyfully until they reached Alexandria. The ship's captain gave the patriarch a large sum of money to build a church in the name of Saint Mark. This father struggled much in returning non-believers to the faith. He departed in peace after serving in the patriarchate for thirty-seven years.

May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever and ever. Amen.

On this day, we commemorate the departure of Pope Zacharias the 64th. May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever and ever. Amen.

On this day, we commemorate the departure of Pope Gabriel V the 88th. May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever and ever. Amen.

On this day, the consecration of the Church of Saint Macarius in his monastery took place by the holy father Anba Benjamin, the 38th Pope of Alexandria. This occurred when Al-Muqawqis was appointed governor and patriarch over Egypt by King Heraclius. Both were adherents of the Chalcedonian Council's doctrine. Al-Muqawqis began persecuting the Copts because they did not submit to his opinion and pursued Saint Benjamin, the legitimate patriarch. Thus, this father fled to Upper Egypt, moving among churches and monasteries, strengthening his flock in the faith. He remained in this state for ten years until the Muslims conquered Egypt and Al-Muqawqis died. When Anba Benjamin returned to his patriarchal seat, the elders of the sacred desert of Sheheet came to him and asked him to consecrate the new church they had built there in the name of Saint Macarius. He joyfully went with them, and as he approached the monastery, the monks received him with palm branches and olive branches in their hands, just as Jerusalem received the Lord Christ upon His entry. When he consecrated the church and began consecrating the altar, he saw the hand of the Lord Christ anointing the altar with him, so he fell on his face in fear. One of the cherubim raised him and removed his fear. Anba Benjamin said: Truly, this is the house of the Lord, and this is the gate of heaven. He looked toward the western side of the church and saw an elder standing there, radiating dignity and reverence, his face shining like the face of an angel. He said to himself: Truly, if the seat becomes vacant, I will make this one a bishop over it. The angel said to him: Will you make this one a bishop? He is Saint Macarius, the father of all patriarchs, bishops, and monks, and today he has come in spirit to rejoice with his children. Truly, may this place remain inhabited by righteous monks so that there will never be a lack of a leader or chief among them, nor will its dwellings lack spiritual fruit. Anba Benjamin said: Blessed is he and blessed are his children. The angel said: If his children keep his commandments and follow his orders, they will be with him wherever he is in glory. But if they disobey, they will have no share with him. Saint Macarius said: Do not cut off, my lord, my children like this. For if even one grape remains in the cluster, the blessing of the Lord is upon it. Because if love remains among them for one another, I believe the Lord will not remove them from His kingdom. Anba Benjamin marveled at the great mercy of Saint Macarius. He wrote this account and placed it in the church as a perpetual commemoration. Then he asked the Lord Christ to make the day of his departure on this day. It was granted, and he departed on the eighth of Tobe, after he had served in the patriarchate for thirty-nine years. The sanctuary in which the Lord Christ appeared to him was named after him. May his prayers be with us. Amen.