Our church
has carried and preserved the Christian Faith since the early Apostolic
Era until the present day. The cost for this preservation was thousands
of martyrs who defended their faith and their church, without fear
from torture or persecution. Their lives, not only were a blessing
to the generations of Christians who followed after them, but also
in contemporary times continue to light the world.
The biography
and history of the many martyrs and saints were compiled and written
in our Synaxarium, by the early Holy Fathers. The term "Synaxarium"
means collection. The exact date the Synaxarium was authored is
unknown. But authors consisted of great Holy Fathers such as Anba
Botros El-Gameel (Bishop of Meleeg), Anba Mikhail (Bishop of Etreeb),
and Anba Yohanna (Bishop of El-Borollos).
Reading
the biography and history of the martyrs and saints is one of the
most important sources in building the faith of the new generations
in our church. Due to this, the church in its wisdom, arranged a reading
of a part of the Book of the Synaxarium after reading a part of Acts
of the Apostles, during the Divine Liturgy. The church considers the
biography and history of the martyrs and saints as a continuation
to the Acts of the Apostles.
Nine
copies of the Synaxarium have been found in different locations and
are considered as the original source of the Book of the Synaxarium
which we presently use.
-
Three
are present in El-Dar El-Batriarchia with the date of repair written
on them, YEAR 1114 AM.
- Two copies
are present in El-Baramos Monastery (Egypt). One repaired by the
care of Moallem Ibrahim El-Gohary in 1496 AM. The second was dated
1360 AM.
- Two copies
are present in the Coptic Museum, Cairo. Those two copies are of
great importance, as they are ancient and right. A copy was dated
1056 AM. The second was dated 1450 AM and translated from Ethiopian
Language to Arabic by Saint Christozolo the Metropolitan of Ethiopia
at that time. These copies were written on deer leather.
- A copy was
discovered printed in Beirut (Lebanon) in the year 1905 AD after
an older copy dated 1430 AM.
- A copy was
printed in Paris in year 1299 AD in Arabic and French.
"And they
that be wise shall shine, as the brightness of the firmament, and
they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars, forever and ever."
(Daniel 12:3)
Note:
We are now in the Year 2000 AD and 1717 AM (annu martydom) means "year
of the martyr" and denotes the Coptic year.
