Egypt, safe haven for The Holy Family
Egypt, Culture, 1/24/2000

The advent of the Holy Family to Egypt, seeking refuge, is an event of the utmost significance in the country's long history.

Such an arduous journey it was, fraught with hazard every step of the way. In those far-off days, there were three routes which could be followed by travelers traversing Sinai from Palestine to Egypt, a crossing which was usually undertaken in groups, for without the protection of well-organized caravans, the ever-present dangers - even along these known and trodden paths-were ominously forbidding.

But, in their escape from the infanticidal fury of King Herod, the Holy Family - understandably - had to avoid the beaten tracks altogether, and to pursue unknown paths, guided by God and His Angel.

They picked their way, day after day, through hidden valleys and across uncharted plateaus in the (then) rugged wastelands of Sinai, enduring the scorching heat of the sun by day and the bitter cold of the desert nights, preserved from the threat of wild beasts and savage tribesmen, their daily sustenance miraculously provided, the all-too-human fears of the young Mother for her Infant allayed by the faith that infused her with His birth.

And so they arrived, at last, safely, for God had preordained that Egypt should be the refuge for the One who was to bring the message of peace and love to mankind.

According to the sources of the Coptic Church, chief among which is the vision documented by Pope Theophilus, and recorded in the Coptic Senexarium, the Holy Family proceeded from Bethlehem to Gaza, and thence to El-Zaranio (also known as Floussiat), some 37 Km west of El-Arish.

Then they threaded their way along northern Sinai until they reached Farma (ancient Pelusium) midway between El-Arish and present-day Port Said. It was their last stop in Sinai; and with the next leg of their journey they put the perils of the wilderness behind them.

Their trail from Sakha, is recorded in the documentation of Pope Theophilus's vision, and attested to by Coptic practice in the Christian era. For it was to Wadi el Natroun (Natroun Valley) that they now came, after crossing the Rosetta branch of the Nile to the western Delta, and heading south into Wadi el-Natroun (then called Al Asqeet) in the Western Desert of Egypt. In the earliest decades of Christianity, the desert expanses of Wadi el-Natroun became the site of anchoretic settlement and, later, of many monasteries, in spiritual commemoration of the Holy Family's passage through the Valley.

Eventually, they left the desert behind them and made their way southwards, crossing the Nile to its eastern bank, and heading for Matariyah and Ain Shams (ancient Heliopolis, the site of the oldest university in history called since earliest Pharaonic times, ëOn). Both these adjacent districts are outlying suburbs of present day Cairo, only 10 km or so from the city center.

We have an entirely different story in the warm welcome with which the holy refugees were met at their next stop at Meir (or Meira) only 7 km west of Qoussia . Here, they were welcomed with due respect and hospitality wherever they went, for which treatment the town and its people were blessed.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian minister of tourism follows projects to revive holy family's route in Egypt   (10/6/1999)
  Tourism project Portrays the holy family's journey in Egypt   (8/27/1999)
  Cairo presents film The Way of the Holy Family in 43 countries   (8/12/1999)

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