days and Fridays are fast-days; Holy Communion must be given to every child (except in case of impossibility) immediately after baptism; marriage with a Melkite is invalid, unless performed by a Coptic priest.[1] It was under Christodulos that the story of the martyr Nekam occurred. Nekam was a young Copt who apostatized to Islam. Then he repented, returned to the faith of Christ, refused to hide himself, or to accept a chance of life by pretending to be mad; and boldly bore the death (by beheading) which was the fate of everyone who renounced Islam for Christianity.[2] This story is typical of many others which honour the sect during the long ages of its oppression.
Christodulos established himself permanently at Cairo. He made the churches of St. Mercurius[3] outside Fusṭāṭ and of the Blessed Virgin, in the "Greek Street" (arRūm) at Cairo, his Patriarchal churches. From his time the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria has resided at Cairo. His successor is said to have fixed the Patriarch's dress — blue silk for ordinary wear, red silk embroidered with gold for festal occasions.[4] We may leave Christodulos with an edifying anecdote about him. As part of the spasmodic persecution which fills Coptic history he was once thrown into prison till he had paid a fine. At the same time the Government in a fit of zeal erased the inscription: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, one God"[5] over the door of his house. The Patriarch had to let them do so; but he said: "You cannot erase the words from my heart"[6] — which is the attitude of the Copts during their centuries of persecution. Under Christodulos' successor, Cyril II (1078-1092), a great number of Armenians settled in Egypt. The Khalif
- ↑ More of Christodulos' canons will be found quoted in Neale: Hist. of the Holy Eastern Church, ii. 213-214.
- ↑ Neale: op. cit. ii. 215-216.
- ↑ Called Abū-sSaifain ("father of the two swords") in Arabic, because he is represented as brandishing a sword in either hand. The monastery and church of Abū-sSaifain is one of the most important of Coptic buildings. It is described at length in Butler: Ancient Coptic Churches, i. pp. 75-154. The legend of St. Mercurius will be found ib. ii. 357-360.
- ↑ Maḳrīzī, ed. cit. 66-67.
- ↑ Arab-speaking Christians use this formula (bismi-lāb walibn warrūhi-lḳudus allāhi-lwāhid) constantly, as their equivalent to the Moslem: "In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate."
- ↑ S. Lane-Poole: Hist. of Egypt, p. 144.
