I am wishing you a happy feast of Saint Virgin Mary that we celebrated last Monday. Last article tackled the honor of Saint Virgin Mary for whom the Bible prophesied and the Quran exalted, her miraculous giving birth of Christ without human seed, that wondrous birth that is unprecedented in human history. Saint Virgin Mary has received great honor among people for the sake of Lord Christ born of her, it is said in the Bible, “For unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be calledWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” In the annunciation of the angel given to Saint Virgin Mary, we read, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” In the Quran, it is said about Lord Christ that He is the Word of God, “And when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allāh gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near to Allāh.” Also, it came in Surat Al-Nisaa, “and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him”
Lord Christ was characterized by wondrous traits, including His ability to heal diseases, cast out demons, raise the dead, and create: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” And also, “Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.” In the Quran, we read the following in Surat Al-Imran: “Idesign for you from clay like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind and the leper, and I give life to the dead – by permission of Allāh. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.” He kept capabilities in healing, creating, raising the dead and knowing the unknowns; it is also said about Him: “distinguished in this world and the Hereafter”, indicating His high status that is unparalleled.
Saint Virgin Mary has acquired great love and maintained great intimacy in the hearts of people. I remember the story of the Lebanese judge, Jocelyn Matta, who looked into the case of three young men between the ages of 16 and 18, who had offended Saint Virgin Mary, the judgment was unique! She sentenced them to memorizing verses from Surat Al-Imran in order to be released! So that they would learn religious tolerance and respect for the other’s beliefs and doctrines! Indeed, the young men were released after the judge was certain that they had memorized the Quran verses.
Contemplating in the life of Saint Virgin Mary, we get overwhelmed by the light of her virtues that are rarely to be found altogether in one person; she was filled with grace due to her holiness, she was known to be utterly meek and bearing, modest and humble and keenness to serve all. Today, we are concerned to tackle her meekness.
The life of Saint Virgin Mary was filled with meekness, and her meekness in essence contains an abundance of other virtues: a meek person is characterized by humility, and love that motivates him to serve.He is also a very tolerant and calm person, and does not talk much with people. These are virtues that are evident in the life of Saint VirginMary, who excelled in modesty that she became the mother of Lord Christ, a matter that even increased her modesty! As she answered Archangel Gabriel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord”. Among the situations in which we see the meekness of Saint Virgin Mary is her service in the temple during her childhood with submission and without grumbling, and also during the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, she bore situations of rejection and expulsion that go beyond human capacity, but out of her meekness, she endured without faltering or boredom.The meekness of Saint Virgin Mary is crystal clear in her service: she hastened to walk across rough roads on the mountains, to reach Elizabeth,her cousin during her pregnancy and giving birth to John the Baptist, to serve her. Service never stopped in her life. She has a heart that loved God; so she was not occupied with anything other than talking to God!
Happy feast to all of you, we ask Saint Virgin Mary to intercede for our country Egyptbefore God to protect it from all evil. And… stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
