The Departure of St . Abraam (Abraham), Ebn-Zaraa, 62nd Pope of Alexandria .

On this day, of the year 970 A .D ., the saint Anba Abraam, 62nd Pope of Alexandria, departed .This father was a descendant of the Christians of the East, whose name was Ebn-Zaraa the Syrian .He was a rich merchant who visited Egypt often, then finally settled there .He was blessed with many virtues, including mercy to the needy . His reputation of righteousnessand knowledge became well known . When the Patriarchal Chair became vacant, the bishops andthe learned elders all agreed to choose him as Patriarch . When he sat on the chair of the See of St .Mark, he gave all his possessions to the poor and needy .During his days, Cosman Ebn-Mina, the Coptic minister, was appointed a Governor overPalestine . Before his departure to his new position, he entrusted one hundred thousand dinars tothe father, the Patriarch, asking him to hold them until his return . He asked the Pope to give themoney to the poor, the needy, the churches and the monasteries, if he died there . When the newsof the taking over of Syria and Palestine by Hafktin (Kormati), reached the Patriarch, he thoughtthat Cosman had died . He distributed that money according to Cosman's instructions . ButCosman was saved from death and returned to Egypt . The father, the Patriarch, told him what hedid with the money, and Cosman was glad and exceedingly happy .Among his accomplishments was the abolition of some corrupt and erroneous customs . Heprevented and excommunicated everyone who took bribes from anyone for the purpose of gaininga clerical position . He also strongly forbade the keeping of concubines . When the people whowere practicing that knew his orders, the fear of God moved them, for they also feared that thePatriarch might excommunicate them .They set all their concubines free and went to the Patriarch repenting, except for one of the richmen of the country . This man did not fear God nor did he heed the fact that this father, whochided him repeatedly and was very patient with him, would excommunicate him . He did notreturn from his evil way and was not afraid lest God should destroy him . In spite of that, thisfather did not slacken in teaching and rebuking him . Furthermore he humbled himself like Christ,his teacher, and he went to that man's house . When the man heard of the arrival of the Patriarch tohis house, he shut the door and refused to let him in . The father remained standing at the door fortwo hours knocking but the man neither opened the door for him, nor did he speak to him . Thefather realized that this wretched man had intentionally separated himself from the flock of Christand became a corrupt member .The Pope saw it fit to cut him from the body of the church, so as not to corrupt the rest of thebody . He excommunicated him saying, "Let his blood be on his own head," and then the Popeshook off the dust from his sandals at the door of the house of that man . At this moment God122manifested a sign before the eyes of those who were present, for the doorstep, which was made ofgranite, had split in two . Later on, the Lord showed his might, and the man lost all his wealth andhe was fired from his position in disgrace . He became ill which led to his death in a horrible way .He became an example to the others; since many sinners learned a lesson and were afraid as aresult of what happened to him .During the days of this father, El-Mu'izz, the Khalifa, had a Jewish Vizier; his name was, Jacob-Ebn-Yousef, who adopted the Muslim faith (Islam) . That minister had a Jewish friend (Ebn-Killis), who used to go with him frequently to the Khalifa and converse with him . That Jew tookadvantage of the favor that his friend had with the Khalifa, and found this to be an opportunity toask for the presence of the father, the Patriarch, in order that he might have a debate with him .Abba Abraam came along with Anba Severus Ebn-EI-Mukafaa, Bishop of Ashmunein . El-Mu'izzordered them to sit, so they sat down silently . He asked, "Why are you not debating?" AnbaSeverus answered, "How can we argue in the presence of El-Khalifa, with a man who is lessintelligent than an ox?" El-Mu'izz asked for an explanation . Anba Severus said, "God has declaredby the mouth of the prophet, 'The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib: but Israeldoes not know ."' (Isaiah 1:3) They debated that Jew and shamed him with all the unrefutablearguments that prove the soundness of the Christian faith . Then they left El-Mu'izz with greathonor .The minister and his Jewish friend were not able to bear the insults . So they sought the chance totake revenge of on Christians .A few days later, the Jewish Vizier; Jacob-Ebn-Yousef went to El-Mu'izz and maliciously toldhim, "Your royal highness knows that the faith of the Christians does not have a sound base . TheirBible states, 'If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, movefrom here to there, and it will move .' (Matthew 17:20) Prince of the faithful7 knows the falsehoodof these sayings . And to verify this, we will summon the Patriarch to give us the proof that theirChrist's sayings are true ."The Khalifa thought to himself, "If the saying of Christ is true, that would be of great benefit tous, for the Mukatam mount is too close to Cairo . If the mountain can be moved away, that wouldmake the position of the city greater than what it is now . If the saying is not true, that will give usthe justification to persecute the Christians ."El-Mu'izz called the father, the Patriarch, and placed this saying before him, and asked for theproof of its soundness . The Pope asked for a three-day respite, which was granted . When thePope left El-Khalifa, he gathered the monks and the bishops nearby and they all stayed in El-Mualaqua (the Suspended) Church in Old Cairo, three days fasting and supplicating God .7One of the titles used in addressing the Muslim Caliphs .123Before dawn of The Third Day

as Abba Abraam dozed off out of sheer weariness, our Holy Lady,the Virgin, St . Mary, the Mother of God, appeared to him and told him to rise up and go to thestreet which leads to the market . There he would find a one-eyed man bearing a pot of water onhis shoulder . She instructed Abba Abraam to tell him that he was the man designated by God toperform this sign .This holy man's name was Simeon and he was a Tanner . The father, the Patriarch, took him alongwith some of the priests, monks and people to see El-Mu'izz, who was out with the governmentleaders and the nobles of the city nearby the Mukatam Mountain . The father, the Patriarch, stoodwith those who were with him on one side and El-Mu'izz and his entourage stood on the otherside .The father, the Patriarch, and the believers prayed and knelt down three times, and every timethey knelt, they said, "Kirya-layson" Lord have mercy . Whenever the Patriarch and thecongregation lifted up their heads after each bow, the mountain would lift up and when theybowed down, the mountain was lowered down to the ground, and whenever they walked, themountain moved before them .A great fear came on the Khalifa and his companions and many fell on the ground . The Khalifaadvanced on his horse toward the Patriarch and said, "O great teacher, I now know that you are aholy man, ask whatsoever you wish and I will give it to you ." The Patriarch refused to ask foranything; but when the Khalifa insisted, he asked the Governor to allow him to build churches,especially the church of St . Mercurius (of the two swords) which was in Old Cairo . He wrote hima decree permitting the building and the renovation of churches and he gave him a large sum ofmoney from the treasury . The Patriarch thanked him and prayed for him, but he refused to takethe money . As a result, El-Mu'izz revered and respected him more for his piety and righteousness .When they started building the church of St . Mercurius, some evil men prevented them fromworking, whereupon El-Mu'izz came to the sight and kept the troublemakers away . He remainedthere, standing until they completed laying the foundation .This father renovated many churches all over the See of St . Mark . When he completed his course,he departed in peace after he sat on the chair for 3 years and 6 days .His prayers be with us . Amen .