THE FEAST OF ST GEORGE IN OLD CAIRO
With religious devotion and behind closed doors, the memory of the Holy glorious Great Martyr St George the Trophy Bearer was celebrated again this year, on April 23, at the Patriarchal Monastery of Old Cairo which bears his name.
His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, officiated at the Great Festal Vespers, while on the next day 24th April, His Beatitude officiated at Orthros and served the Divine Liturgy, together with His Eminence Metropolitan Nicodemus of Memphis, Patriarchal Vicar of Cairo and His Eminence Niphon, Metropolitan of Pilousion.
“As many epidemics as may come, St George is the Trophy Bearer, he is the rider, the victorious one. And he will patrol the whole of humanity with his sacred horse to scatter the black clouds of the pandemic ‘, the Alexandrian Primate emphasized.
At the same time, in the person of the only official, the Harbour Master of Port Said, Angelos Kiousis, who was the only official present, the Patriarch honoured the peaceful seas, praising the cooperation between the three countries: the beautiful and God-walked Egypt, glorious Greece and the martyred but also glorious Cyprus, likening their tripartite common cause to the Patriarchal triple candle which he holds in his hands during the Divine Liturgy, praying for the peace of the nations.
It should be noted that Patriarch Theodoros, on the occasion of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, prayed that ‘God, who loves the entire world, would protect everyone, Christians and Muslims’.
Finally, he congratulated the new head of the monastery, Fr. Damaskinos, and wished him great strength in his work. The feast of St. George in Old Cairo is traditionally held every Thursday and Friday after Pascha, regardless of the feast of the Saint on April 23.