Synaxarium

On this day, the blessed Saint Praxias the Virgin departed. She was the daughter of noble parents from the city of Rome, from the family of King Anorius. Upon the death of her father, the king entrusted her to her mother. It happened that her mother came to Egypt to collect the income from the estates and orchards left to her by her husband. She brought her daughter with her, who was then nine years old, and they stayed in one of the virgins' monasteries.

The nuns there were very ascetic and strict; they did not eat rich foods, nor oil, nor fruit, nor did they taste wine, and they slept on the ground. This girl loved the monastery and became fond of the servant there. The servant said to her, "Promise me that you will not leave this monastery." She promised her that.

When her mother finished her work, which she had come for, the daughter refused to return with her, saying, "I have vowed myself to Christ, and I have no need for this world, for my true bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ." When her mother learned this, she distributed all her wealth to the poor and stayed with her in the monastery for several years, then departed in peace.

Anorius heard this news and sent for her. She answered him, saying that she had vowed herself to the Lord Jesus Christ and could not break her vow. The king marveled at her piety despite her young age. She led a virtuous life and practiced great devotion. She fasted two days, then three, then four, then a week. During the Great Lent, she did not eat anything cooked.

The devil envied her and struck her leg with a blow that caused her pain for a long time until the Lord had mercy on her and healed her. The Lord also granted her the gift of healing the sick. She was beloved by the sisters and the abbess, who was greatly obedient to her.

One night, the abbess saw crowns prepared. She asked, "For whom are these?" They said, "For your daughter Praxias; she will come to us shortly." The abbess told the sisters about the vision and instructed them not to inform Praxias of it.

When her time to leave this world came, she was seized by a slight fever. The abbess, sisters, and servant gathered around her and asked her to remember them before the divine throne. She departed in peace.

Afterward, her servant friend also departed, and shortly after, the mother became ill. She gathered the sisters and said to them, "Consider who will remain with you, for I am going to the Lord." The next morning, they found that she had departed. May the prayers of all be with us. Amen.

On this day, the Church commemorates the departure of Pope Peter VI, the 104th Patriarch, in the year 1442 A.M. (April 2, 1726 A.D.). This blessed and angelic father was the son of pure Christian parents from the city of Assiut, the city that loves God. They raised him well and educated him in ecclesiastical sciences and literature until he excelled in them. His name was Marjan, but he became known later as Peter the Assiuti.

The grace of God was upon him from his youth. When he reached maturity, he renounced the world and all that is in it and longed for the monastic life. He went to the monastery of the great Saint Anthony in Al-Arba'a, where he stayed, became a monk, wore the monastic habit, and exerted himself in worship. When he succeeded in virtue, ascetic life, purity, and humility, the fathers chose him as a priest. They took him against his will and brought him to Egypt, where he was ordained priest of the great Saint Anba Bola, the first of the hermits, along with other priests by the hand of Pope John Al-Toukhi, the 103rd Patriarch, in the church of the Virgin Mary in the Roman quarter. He increased in virtue, and his reputation spread among the people.

When Pope John mentioned above departed and the throne was vacant for two months and six days, they searched for a suitable candidate for this great rank. They chose some priests and monks, wrote their names on papers, placed them on the altar, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy. On the third day, the lot fell on this father after prayers and supplications to God to raise for them the chosen one from among them. They confirmed that he was chosen by God.

He was consecrated patriarch on the Markian throne on Sunday, 17 Misra, 1434 A.M. (August 21, 1718 A.D.) in the church of Saint Mercurius Abu Seifin in Old Cairo. There was great joy at his consecration. The Christian people, some Franks, Greeks, Armenians, and a group of soldiers attended his consecration.

Afterward, he went to the lands of Lower Egypt, visited the churches, and reached Alexandria to visit the church of Saint Mark the Evangelist on 11 Baramhat, 1438 A.M. He cared for architectural repairs inside the church and received the pure head relic. When he wanted to return, he learned that some in Alexandria had spoken ill of the head relic, so he hid it in the monastery from that time. He also presented a silver lamp as a gift and lit it on the evangelist's tomb. He surrounded it with a veil with openings looking inside and went to both Lower and Upper Egypt, where the people of the district rejoiced at him.

During this pope's days, a group of priests and deacons came from the Sultan of Ethiopia with luxurious gifts and a decree from the king requesting a metropolitan. He consulted with the teacher Lotf Allah Abu Yusuf, chief of the elders in Cairo, and the rest of the elders of the people about our honored father Christodoulos, Bishop of Jerusalem. They took him and consecrated him metropolitan because he was fully knowledgeable, a teacher, learned, and a virtuous priest. They went with joy and happiness. Christodoulos III took charge of this diocese from 1720 to 1742 A.D. He consecrated Anba Athanasius as bishop of Jerusalem.

During this pope's tenure, many churches were built and consecrated by his blessed hand, including the church of the Adawiya Monastery on the sea near Maadi, which was renewed by the teacher Markura, known as White Rooster, and the church of Archangel Michael in the southern part near Babylon, and the church of Saint Marina the Wonderworker at the mouth of the gulf in Egypt. These were funded by the famous earthworker and great elder teacher Lotf Allah Yusuf from his own pocket. Because of this renewal, the minister fined him forty bags of money, which he paid from his own money. This generous benefactor also, during his supervision of the Monastery of Saint Anthony, built the church of our fathers the apostles and consecrated it along with the church of Anba Mark in the mentioned monastery because he was filled with zeal and concern for the affairs of his nation and the Coptic Church. He also bore the expenses of the patriarchal enthronement ceremony at his own expense.

The days of this pope passed in calm and tranquility. He worked to implement church laws, abolishing divorce for any reason. For this purpose, he went to the governor, son of Ayyaz, and consulted Islamic scholars, who wrote him fatwas and a decree from the minister that divorce is only valid in the Christian religion and no one may oppose his rulings. He ordered priests not to perform marriages except by his hand in his residence. A man, the son of a priest, divorced his wife and married another without his knowledge. The pope ordered him to be brought and separated from her, but he refused and did not come. The pope excommunicated him, his wife, and his father, the priest. This man died with his mouth paralyzed, his tongue melted, and his teeth fell out. His father repented, sought forgiveness, and received absolution from the pope before he died.

This pope shepherded Christ's flock well. When he completed his service, he became ill slightly and departed on the 26th of Baramhat, 1442 A.M., during Great Lent. His body was placed in the tomb of the patriarchs in the church of Saint Mercurius Abu Seifin in Old Cairo. He sat on the throne for seven years, seven months, and eleven days. He was about forty-six years old and lived during the reign of Sultan Ahmed III of the Ottoman Empire. The throne was vacant after him for nine months and eleven days.

In the year of this pope's departure, a plague epidemic struck the country with severe drought. Many priests and bishops died, and death spread from Alexandria to Aswan. People were forced to abandon planting until they buried the dead in sacks due to the lack of shrouds. That year, wheat crops in the Nile Valley were destroyed, failing to meet the country's needs, causing famine and high prices. May God have mercy on His servants and benefit us by the blessings and prayers of the thrice-holy patriarch Pope Peter the Assiuti. Glory be to our Lord always. Amen.