Egyptian Christians mark Jesus’ escape to Egypt
By Mary Joseph, SAT-7 Communications Officer | Mary Joseph is based in Cairo, Egypt. She has also lived in Australia and worked as a journalist in secular and religious media. Her passions are reading, writing, travelling and photography.
“Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:15
Every 1 June, the Church in Egypt celebrates the entry of the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) to Egypt as they fled from the persecution of Herod over 2,000 years ago.
According to the traditions of the Church in Egypt, the Holy Family spent over three years there, travelling along the Nile Delta, visiting various towns and cities and leaving marks of their presence that remain to this day. Today, Egyptian Christians can visit the related sites.
In one of the stories, the Holy Family rest and drink from a spring that Jesus causes to flow with water. The site is now marked by Mary’s Tree, which stands in the heart of Cairo.
In another account, Jesus stretches out His little hand to hold back a rock that is about to detach itself from a mountainside and fall upon the family. At the Monastery of St Mary that stands upon Gabal al Tair, I have seen a stone bearing a small handprint.
The family also shelters from a hostile governor in a cave. This is associated with the Church of Abu Serga (St. Sergius) in Old Cairo, where I have drunk from the well.
I was very intrigued by the Bible in a glass box in St Mary’s Church, which stands by the bank of the Nile in Cairo. In 1976 this was found floating in the river, open to Isaiah 19:25, which reads “Blessed be Egypt my people”. The place marks the traditional site of the Holy Family’s boarding a sailing boat that carries them up the Nile.
Every year, some churches in Egypt hold a celebratory service on the first of June in remembrance of the presence of the Holy Family in Egypt. Sometimes the Coptic Orthodox Pope prays at the church by the Nile in Maadi Cairo, and after the service he comes out to bless the Nile.
This year, the Coptic Orthodox Church held a special service at the Church of the Virgin Mary in Harat Zuwaila. The church was built in the shape of Noah’s Ark on the site of another well featured in the stories. I have had the privilege of visiting this church and drinking from its water.
On Sunday 1 June, the Coptic Orthodox Church led by Pope Tawadros III also held a special celebration to commemorate the journey of the Holy Family through Egypt. Egyptian dignitaries and officials from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Antiquities attended the event. For me as an Egyptian Christian, the special sites are a visible reminder of how Jesus has protected Egypt and His people throughout various tribulations, and how this continues to the present day. It is a profound experience every 1 June to reflect on the physical presence of Jesus in my homeland, but also an important reminder that He is spiritually present in the hearts of believers throughout the ages everywhere.