Few days ago, Christians started St. Mary’s Fast. St. Mary is greatly honored by Egyptians for she is mentioned in the Pentateuch, Gospels, and the Quran.
The Pentateuch
Solomon the Sage writes in the Proverbs, “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.” Prophet Isaiah foretold that she gives birth to a son, “…Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Prophet Ezekiel describes her as follows, “The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it.” This means that St. Mary continues to be a virgin in spite of giving birth to her son, Christ. Also, in Isaiah, we read, “See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.” This cloud is but St. Mary who carried her son in their escape from whoever wanted to slay him. In the psalms, we read, “At your right side stands the queen…”
The Pentateuch also has symbols of St. Mary like Aaron’s staff which sprouted. Likewise, St. Mary gave birth to a son without human intervention.
History records the story of an elder called Simeon who was one of the seventy scholars that translated the Pentateuch from Hebrew to Greek during the tenure of Ptolemy, around 269 B.C. Ptolemy had summoned seventy Jewish sages and ordered them to translate the Pentateuch from Hebrew to Greek. He was so intelligent that he ordered to isolate each two translators in a separate place in order to reach the most meticulous translation. While Simeon was translating, he reached the verse which reads, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son…” Here, Simeon feared lest he write “virgin will conceive” for this would have made the king insult him. So, he thought for a while until he decided to replace “virgin” with “girl”. Yet, in a vision, he got to know that he would not die until he saw the child who the virgin would give birth to. This did happen: for Simeon lived about three hundred years to witness Christ’s birth. In fact, one day, God guided him to go to the temple, having got blind. When he carried the child in his arms, he praised the Lord, saying, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
The Gospels
St. Mary is mentioned in the story of the annunciation which Luke, the physician, recounts. Angel Gabriel appeared to her in the city of Nazareth to foretell her conception and birth of Christ. He started by greeting her and saying, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!” Finding that Mary got troubled, the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Then, St. Luke continues that Mary headed to her relative, Elizabeth who had a conceived a son at an old age to serve her, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth… Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”
When the time came for the baby to be born, Mary found nowhere to place him except a manger! Then, the child’s life became endangered, which is why an angel appeared to St. Joseph in a vision and warned him from Herod who wanted to kill the child. St. Matthew writes, “Get up,” [the angel] said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him… So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.” Though it was nighttime, they did not hesitate to flee. Some history chronicles mention that the holy Family stayed in Egypt for three and a half years. When Herod died, the angel reappeared to St. Joseph and told him to take the child and his mother, Mary and return to live in Nazareth. We learn that St. John the Beloved took care of St. Mary until her departure, “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,”
The Quran
The Quran venerates St. Mary exceedingly, for we read in Surat al-Umran, “The angels said, O Mary, God has purged and chosen you out of all the women of His creation.” In Muslim’s Commentary, we learn of St. Mary’s purity and the inability of the devil to approach her, “All humans are touched by the devil upon their birth, except Mary and her son.” St. Mary conceived and gave birth to a child while still a virgin. This is a miracle. In Surat al-Tahrim (Forbidding Chapter), we read, “Mary, the daughter of Umran, was chaste. So, we breathed of Our Spirit in her womb, and she believed in God’s words and books and was pious.” Moreover, she is the only woman whose name is lent to a chapter in the Quran, Surat Mariam (Chapter of Mary), God called her by the name, and she is superior to the women of all creation.
St. Mary’s mother was a barren, and wished she had a child. So, she beseeched God for one, pledging it for Him. In Surat al-Umran, we read, “And Umran’s wife said, O Lord, I have pledged to You my child to be. Do accept my vow, for You are the Omniscient and all-listening.” God accepted her prayers and granted her a daughter who she called Mary. She was pledged to serve God since her childhood. Thus, Mary lived in God’s temple. Then, she became an orphan. Her childhood was full of fasting and prayers. In Surat al-Umran, we read, “God accepted her, and she became a good girl. Zechariah took care of her. Whenever he entered her cell, he would find abundance therein, and say, ‘O Mary, where did you get this from?’ She would answer, ‘God gives abundantly whoever He pleases.” Then, she left the temple and was foretold Christ’s birth by the angel. In Surat Mariam, we read that angel Gabriel appeared to her while praying to tell her about giving birth to Christ, “She secluded herself, so We sent her a spirit that she saw in human shape.” Troubled by the sight, the angel reassured Mary that he was sent by God to foretell Christ’ birth: “She said, ‘May God protect me from you if you are a bad spirit.’ He said, ‘I am but your God’s messenger: for He will grant you a good child’ She said, ‘How come I conceive when I am still a virgin, and I have never been a whore.’ He said, ‘God favors you. He will make your child wondrous and merciful.’ This was fulfilled.”
In the Gospel, we read that St. Mary asked, “How will this be… since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” So, Mary complied with God’s will, saying, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”
God never abandons whoever resorts to Him. This is quite clear in St. Mary’s story. She was chosen by God out of all women. In Surat Mariam, we read that God made her child tell her to see what was beneath her; she found it was a water spring: “He called her from underneath her, saying, ‘Grieve not, for God has made a water spring gush forth beneath you.” He also told her to look upwards to see ripe dates hanging on palm trees: “Shake the palm tree, and it will let fall tasty ripe dates.”
Thus we see how great, holy, and pure St. Mary is. She gave birth to her child without human intervention. Such a wonder has no equal.
During these holy days, we beseech God to grant Egypt peace and prosperity. May He also send His peace unto Iraq, Syria, Palestine and all the Arab nations, and … Stories shall never end in Beautiful Egypt.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
