Synaxarium

On this day, the holy and striving father Anba Isaac, disciple of the great father Anba Apollos, departed. This saint renounced the world from his youth. He became a monk in the desert of Sheheet and was a disciple of Anba Apollos for twenty-five years. He exerted himself in struggle that consumed his body by mortifying the passions of the soul until he mastered steadfastness of purpose and perfected the virtue of silence and tranquility during prayers and liturgies. It was his habit during the liturgy to stand with his hands folded and head bowed until the end of the prayer, then return to his cell, close its door upon himself, and not meet anyone that day. When asked, "Why do you not speak to those who seek you during prayer or liturgy?" he answered, "There is a time for speech and a time for prayer." When the time of his departure approached, the monastic fathers gathered to receive his blessing and asked him, "Why did you flee from people?" He answered, "I did not flee from people but from the devil. For if a man holds a burning lamp in the air, it will be extinguished. Likewise, if our mind is enlightened by prayer and liturgy, then distracted by talk, our mind becomes darkened." When this father completed his good struggle, he departed in peace. May his prayers be with us. Amen.

On this day in the year 861 A.M. (April 5, 1145 A.D.), the great holy father Pope Gabriel II, the seventieth Patriarch of the See of Mark, known as Ibn Tureik, departed. This pope was one of the great men of the city of Egypt and its leaders. He was a knowledgeable, virtuous scribe and copyist of good conduct. He personally copied many Coptic and Arabic books, comprehended their contents, and understood their meanings. Therefore, the leaders and heads of the people chose him for the patriarchal throne, and he was consecrated on the 9th of Amshir, 847 A.M. (February 3, 1131 A.D.).

It happened that when he celebrated his first Divine Liturgy in the Monastery of Saint Macarius, as was the custom of the patriarchs in old times, he added to the confession recited at the end of the Liturgy after the phrase "I believe and confess to the last breath that this is the body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, who took it from our Lady, the all-holy Theotokos Saint Mary," the phrase "and made it one with His divinity." The monks denied this addition, fearing it might be understood as implying mingling. They asked him to remove it, but he refused, saying: "It was added by decision of the Council of Bishops." After long discussions, it was decided to add the phrase "without mingling, confusion, or change, so as to avoid falling into the heresy of Eutyches," and they agreed to that.

During his days, he consecrated 53 bishops and many priests, established laws and rulings concerning inheritances and others, and wrote many commentaries. It was not known that he took a single dirham from anyone, nor did he lay his hand on any church funds or the endowments of the poor. When the governor of that time demanded money from him, the leaders collected a thousand gold mithqals and paid it on his behalf. He served on the See of Mark for fourteen years, two months, and two days, then departed in peace. May his prayers be with us, and glory be to the Lord forever. Amen.