Pray
The Synaxarium
The saints the Church commemorates today, the Katameros readings appointed for the day, and the season it is kept in.
Commemorated today
The Appearance of the Head of St. John the Baptistlocal
On this day we celebrate the commemoration of the appearance of the head of St. John the Baptist. Herod commanded his head to be cut off and brought on a platter and given to Herodias, according to her request. (Mark 6:7-28) It was said that after the feast he regretted the slaying of St. John so he kept the head in his house. Aritas, the Arabic King, Herod's father-in-law, was enraged because Herod banished his daughter and married the wife of his brother, while his brother was still alive. Aritas instigated a war against Herod in revenge for his daughter. He overcame Herod, dispersed his army and destroyed the cities of Galilee. When Tiberius Caesar learned that the reason for these wars was the slaying of a prophet, who was great among his people, by Herod, who banished his wife, the daughter of Aritas, the Arabian king, and married his brother's wife, he summoned Herod and Herodias to Rome. Herod hid the head of St. John in his palace and went to Rome. When he arrived there, Tiberius removed him from his position and stripped him of all his possessions and exiled him to Spain where he died. Herod's palace was ruined and became an example for those who might think of following in his footsteps. A few years later, two believing men from Homs went to Jerusalem to spend the holy fast (Lent) there. Night fell on them while passing by the ruins of Herod's palace, so they spent the night there. St. John appeared to one of them and told him about his name and the whereabouts of his head and ordered him to take it to his house. When he woke up, the man told this to his friend and they went to the place where the head was buried. They dug and found a sealed pottery vessel. When they opened that vessel, a sweet aroma spread out of it. They found the holy head, took its blessing and placed it back in the vessel. The man that saw the vision took it to his house. He put it in a safe place and put a candle in front of it. Before his departure, he told his sister about it and she went on doing the same thing. The head was handed from one person to another until it came to the hand of a follower of Arius who attributed the wonders and miracles that happened through the holy head to the heresy of Arius. The Lord commanded someone to force him out of his house. The place of the head remained unknown until the time of St. Cyril (Kyrillos), Bishop of Jerusalem. St. John appeared to Abba Martianus, Bishop of Homs, in his sleep and told him about the place of the head. He went there and found the head and that was on the thirtieth of the month of Amshir. May the prayers of this saint be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Read it at copticchurch.net →The Departure of Pope Kyrillos VI, the 116th Pope of Alexandrialocal
On this day also of the year 1687 of the martyrs (March 9, 1971 A.D.), the holy and righteous father Abba Kyrillos the Sixth, the 116th Pope of Alexandria, departed. He was born in the city of Damanhour to godly and righteous parents. His name was Azer Yousef Atta. The Hegumen Tadros El-Baramousy, an elder monk used to frequently visit them, he foretold his monastic life. When he grew he practiced the monastic life at home persevering in studying the Holy Books, church subjects, its rituals and hymns. In July 1927 he went to the monastery of el-Baramous where he became a monk by the name Mina el-Baramousy. On July 18, 1931 he was ordained a priest. He joined the seminary at Helwan. When he heard that Pope Youannis (113th Patriarch) intended to ordain him a bishop, he fled to Upper Egypt and stayed in St. Shenouda monastery in Souhag. He returned later on and met the Patriarch who agreed to his request of solitary life and assigned a pious monk Hegumen Abdel Messih al-Baramousy to be his spiritual guide. Then he lived in a cave, one hour walking distance from the monastery. He only came to the monastery Saturday night to take care of the elder monks, attend vespers and the Sunday liturgy to partake of the Holy Mysteries. Early in 1936 he lived in a deserted mill on the Mokattam mount in Old Cairo, where he diligently held a daily liturgy. In 1941 he was assigned to be the abbot of Anba Samuel the Confessor monastery in Qalamoun Mount. He renovated the monastery, the church and built new cells for the monks. The church was consecrated by the late Bishop Anba Athanasius of Beni Sweif who gave him the rank of Hegumen. In 1947 he returned to Old Cairo where he built a church after the name of St. Mina. In that church several pious monks became his disciples, many of them later on became bishops of the church. Because of his perpetual prayers and strong faith, he healed the sick, cast out evil spirits and solved many problems for his visitors. When Pope Yousab II departed and after the long process of nominations, the elections were concluded and an altar lot was drawn the anchorite Hegumen Mina el-Baramousy was chosen to be the 116th Pope of Alexandria. His consecration took place on Sunday May 10, 1959 as Pope Cyril VI. In June 28, 1959 Н.H. consecrated a Patriarch Catholicos for the Ethiopian church to strengthen the ties between the sister churches. In November 1959 Pope Kyrollos put the foundation stone of the monastery of the martyr Mari Mina the wonder worker in the wilderness of Mariot and relocated his pure relics to it. In 1967 Pope Kyrollos compounded the holy Myron which was a historical occasion since this was only done 26 times in the history of the Coptic Church. In April and, 1968 the pure Mother of God St. Mary was transfigured on the domes of her church in Zeitoun. In June 1968 Pope Kyrollos received the relics of St. Mark after sojourning away from Egypt for close to eleven centuries. He laid it to rest in a reliquary specially built under the altar of the great cathedral of St. Mark which Pope Kyrollos built in the area of Anba Roweis, el-Abbasyah. This Cathedral was inaugurated in a magnificent celebration attended by the then president Naser and the late Emperor HaileSilasi and delegates from churches all over the world. Pope Kyrollos never forgot that he is the poor monk Mina the anchorite. His food was very simple. Many days he would subsist on a meal of dry bread, salt and cumin after the late divine Liturgies which concluded in the evening. He was diligent in singing midnight praise daily. His daily liturgy was serene and profound. God has accorded this pure father the gift of working great miracles even after his departure. When God wanted to give him rest from the afflictions of this present age, he had a brief illness, and on the day of his departure he received a number of his children, he raised the cross and said "May the Lord arrange your affairs" then he delivered his pure soul into the hands of God whom he served and loved. On November 25, 1972 his pure relics were relocated to the monastery of St. Mina at Mariot according to his hand written will. On the day of the relocation of his relics heaven honored him for the sky thundered and rain came down in such a way that had never been seen before. The blessing of the prayers of this Holy Father be with us all and glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Read it at copticchurch.net →
The feasts and fasts ahead
- Tout 15, 1743 AMCoptic New Year (Nayrouz)
- Tout 17, 1743 AMFeast of the Cross
- Tout 29, 1743 AMAnnunciation, Nativity, and Resurrection
- Hatour 16, 1743 AMAdvent Fast
- Kiahk 1, 1743 AMKiahk
- Kiahk 26, 1743 AMNativity Paramoun
- Kiahk 29, 1743 AMNativity Feast
- Touba 6, 1743 AMCircumcision Feast
- Touba 8, 1743 AMTheophany Paramoun
- Touba 11, 1743 AMTheophany Feast
- Touba 13, 1743 AMWedding of Cana of Galilee Feast
- Amshir 8, 1743 AMEntrance into the Temple Feast
Synaxarium accounts are credited to copticchurch.net. The calendar is computed from the Coptic Paschalion; readings are cited, not reproduced. Supplemented entries are marked local where the Church keeps a commemoration the published Synaxarium predates.