(CE:1968A-1975B) PILGRIMAGES. There Are More Than Sixty
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(CE:1968a-1975b) PILGRIMAGES. There are more than sixty centers of Coptic pilgrimage in Egypt, of which the main ones are those of the Virgin Mary at Musturud, Saint Menas at Maryut, Saint George (Mar Jirjis) of Mit Damsis, Sitt Dimyanah near Bilqas, and Anba Shinudah at Dayr al-Abyad, near Suhaj. For the Copts, pilgrimage is a religious act of public worship of high spiritual and social value, consisting of an act of veneration offered directly to God and his saints, or to God through his saints. In contrast to abstinence, fasting, and almsgiving, which are simple acts of corporal asceticism or charity, pilgrimage is a complex event. It implies, in effect, bodily fatigue, asceticism, and often a vow, with an offering being made and the poor receiving their share of alms. In short, pilgrimage is a religious act, perfect and complete, and if made with pure and righteous intent, it is a means of sanctification and glorification of God and his saints. While the private and public usefulness and the sanctity of pilgrimage are evident, yet at all times and in all countries, it has been abused. Such abuses have been denounced by responsible spiritual people, like the monk SHENUTE, who, in the fifth century, accused the pilgrimages of being commercial fairs and sites of fun and leisure. The Length and Dates of the Pilgrimages Most pilgrimages last seven days, unless they coincide with a liturgical season, such as the feast of Ascension or the Fast of the Virgin. The last day of the pilgrimage, that of the saint's feastday, is particularly celebrated. The last night, that of the vigil, is called "the Great Night," and on this night, no one sleeps and the pilgrims remain in the church where the ceremonies unfold or visit the many public tents erected around the church on the occasion for various activities. Certain very popular pilgrimages are not held on the saint's liturgical feastday, as is the case with Saint George of Mit Damsis or the numerous pilgrimages concurrent with the Ascension. The Seven Specific Aspects of a Pilgrimage Seven specific activities manifest the religious aspect of the Coptic pilgrimage: special prayer, baptisms, vows, offerings, and gatherings of the poor, the sick, and the possessed. 1. Special prayer. During the pilgrimage, many pilgrims present themselves before the icon of the Virgin or before the tomb, relics, or icon of the venerated saint, where they perform a tamjid, or song of praise, accompanied by the rhythmic clanging of cymbals. 2. Baptisms. There is great activity around the baptistry of the church during the pilgrimage, for many of the faithful have vowed to have their children baptized in this or that place in honor of a particular saint. Baptized and then confirmed, the children are carried in procession to the church, where they receive Holy Communion. 3. Vows. People often go on a pilgrimage as the result of a vow made during a sickness or other ordeal or to give thanks for a favor granted during the year. 4. Offering. It is often as a result of a vow that the faithful take offerings to the church that is the object of their pilgrimage: money, candles, oil, incense, icons, chandeliers, veils for the altar or the doors of the iconostasis, rugs, or the like. The most typical offering, however, is a sheep, which is slain near the church and divided into three parts—one for the church, one for the poor, and one for the family. 5. Gathering of the poor. Numerous poor people crowd into the centers of pilgrimage, where they receive part of the offerings of the slain sheep and alms. Among these poor, there are groups from orphanages that animate the activities by their boisterousness. 6. Gathering of the sick. Many of those who are sick or possessed by demons go to the centers of pilgrimage, hoping to be delivered from their sufferings. They spend the night in the church awaiting the apparition of the saint, who will cure them. 7. Gathering of the possessed. Within the church itself, or in a room specially reserved for this purpose, exorcisms take place in certain centers of pilgrimage. Here many curious, mysterious, and impressive events have been verified. The Secular Aspect of the Pilgrimage It is the secular aspect of the Coptic pilgrimage that is often the most striking. During the day, and particularly at night, crowds fill restaurants, cafes, and theaters that have all been erected for the occasion under immense tents of motley color and design around the church or monastery of pilgrimage. In the evening, this village of tents is illuminated by gas lamps, and here the pilgrim can find everything—bakers, grocers, sugarcane vendors, and peddlers of religious objects and saints' images, with all kinds of ahjibahs (singular hijab, a protective talisman). Some specialists do tattoos, while other shopkeepers sell hummus and halawah (confections and sweetmeats), and cooks offer kabab or fasikh, a small fermented fish that is one of the specialties of the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage occupies an important place in the religious and social life of the Christians in Egypt. Places of pilgrimage are like oases of prayer and joy in the daily life of the Copts. Famous Pilgrimages 24 January (16 Tubah): Al-Amir Tadrus (Saint Theodorus) of Madinat Habu, Luxor. The pilgrimage takes place in a church dedicated to the martyr Tadrus al-Muharib, the soldier. 29 January (21 Tubah): The mother of the Savior at JABAL AL-TAYR. Rising over the eastern bank of the river Nile opposite the village of al-Bayahu in the neighborhood of the town of Samalut, Jabal al-Tayr is associated with the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, and the Virgin Mary is highly venerated in a church partly hewn in the mountainside. An inscription inside the church dated A.D. 328 confirms the fact that the church was constructed by order of Saint Helena, mother of Emperor CONSTANTINE I. In bygone days, a monastery of Our Lady stood on that mountain, and its monks welcomed the pilgrims who came to venerate the Virgin Mary. Its church was restored in 1938. Though the monastery is deserted at present, al-Maqrizi wrote that in the fifteenth century the monastery was still flourishing, with numerous monks residing therein. He called the mountain Jabal al- Kahf (Mountain of the Cavern). Vansleb visited that monastery in February 1673 and called it Dair il Baccar (probably a corruption of buqir, a migrating bird mentioned by al-Maqrizi, which went to this mountain once every year). Jabal al-Tayr has another church built in 1889, one dedicated to Saint MACARIUS the EGYPTIAN. Pilgrims used to visit the mountain every year to venerate the mother of the Savior on the day of the anniversary of her death, according to Coptic tradition. The greater pilgrimage, however, was fixed for 16 Misra (22 August), when all persons possessed by evil spirits there sought deliverance through intercession of the Virgin Mary. 2 April: The Virgin Mary at Zaytun, Cairo (see VIRGIN, APPARITION OF THE). 20 May (12 Bashans): Sitt Dimyanah, near Bilqas, in the Monastery of al-Barari is located in Za‘faran, a few miles from Bilqas in Daqahliyyah Province in the Delta. Her father, a governor of Za‘faran, built a convent for her in the area. She was followed there by forty other virgins (see DAYR SITT DIMYANAH). She and her forty companions were martyred under DIOCLETIAN. Her pilgrimage is one of the most important for the Copts. 30 May (23 Ba’unah): Apa Nob of Samannud. Apa Nob came from Nahisah in the Daqahliyyah Province. He embraced Christianity early and became a martyr under Diocletian in the town of Samannud. Two celebrations take place in his honor, a pilgrimage on 30 May and a commemoration on 31 July. 19 June (12 Ba’unah): Al-Malak Mika’il of Sibirbay. This pilgrimage is dedicated to the archangel Michael. It occurs in a little village called Sibirbay, east of Tanta in the Delta. 22 June (15 Ba’unah): Mar Mina, Maryut. A martyr under Diocletian, Saint Menas was miraculously buried at Maryut (see ABU MINA). The site has been famous since the third century. Pilgrims flock there to collect water from its source. The water is believed to have curative powers. In the fifth century a large basilica and a large pilgrimage center was built at Maryut. 28 June (21 Ba’unah): The Virgin Mary at DAYR AL- MUHARRAQ. Jabal Qusqam is the ancient Apollinopolis Parva, situated about 8 miles (13 km) west of the town of al-Qusiyyah, the final station in the progress of the Holy Family into Upper Egypt. This is the site of Dayr Jabal Qusqam, better known as Dayr al- Muharraq, established in honor of the Virgin Mary and in commemoration of the flight of the Holy Family. It is said that the monastery was founded by Saint PACHOMIUS (d. 348) or one of his disciples. The Church of Our Lady within its precincts is presumably the earliest known Christian church in Egypt. It is said that in 390 the twenty-third patriarch of Alexandria, THEOPHILUS (385-412), went to this monastery to consecrate the church himself; the anniversary of that consecration is annually celebrated in the Coptic liturgy on 6 Hatur (15 November). 14 July (7 Abib): Saint SHENUTE, founder of the monastery bearing his name. DAYR ANBA SHINUDAH, also known as the White Monastery, lies near the city of Suhaj on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Akhmim. Anba Shinudah, who was born around 348, is said to have lived 118 years.