Heaven’s gift to us all
Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart(1 Kings 8:18)
Truly, all who have seen, heard and witnessed the story of our church call it "the church of heaven." Every church, of course, is the church of heaven for her children on earth, leading them to heaven — but we want to say that our church is heaven's gift to us all; no human being can take credit for its existence.
Dairut is a large city, yet it had only the Church of the Virgin Mary (the Metropolitanate), which served the whole city — a wide, sprawling city with many districts — and obtaining a permit to build a church was almost impossible. But Is any thing too hard for the Lord?
(Genesis 18:14), and when the Lord commands a thing, who can say to Him "What doest Thou?" — For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
(Isaiah 14:27). Heaven gives its gift to the people of Christ, not in Dairut alone but everywhere, and because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass
(Genesis 41:32), everything was accomplished by the care and providence of the Lord of heaven. Here is the story from its beginning…
In the city of Dairut there was a cotton gin owned by some Greeks, and within it stood an Orthodox church, recorded on the survey maps since before 1905 and in the property tax registers. Prayers were held there regularly until the revolution nationalised the foreigners' properties, and the gins — church included — passed to the state. But God never abandons His house: those in charge of the gin allowed occasional prayers from that time until 2002.
As the gins were making great losses, the state decided to privatise the site, and it was sold to the Educational Buildings Authority to build a school complex. Knowing that the church of Christ was there, we applied to the Prime Minister to receive the church, purchase a plot of land and secure an entrance. The contract was signed and, after another series of approvals, the church was received. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated on 12 December 2002, the commemoration of the Entrance of the Virgin into the Temple — a sign of the blessing and joy of the Mother of Light in her place — and prayers continued regularly.
Then, at the Liturgy of the glorious Feast of the Theophany, there was an attempt to stop the prayer — but the hand of God was stronger: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand
(Isaiah 14:24). All the documents were submitted to the higher authorities, and the decision came that there was no objection to holding religious services in the church. For the record, His Holiness the Pope, our beloved holy father, played the great role with the authorities. Our diocese and church, represented by our beloved Bishop Anba Barsoum and some of the priests, were honoured to meet His Holiness and offer all love and thanks for his labour of love; yet His Holiness gave thanks to the priests for their steadfastness and for keeping their church without leaving it, and to the officials for understanding the law rightly. All thanks and worship belong to Christ our God, who kept, blessed and gave wisdom to all.
The church serves the whole western area of Dairut and its various districts — from nursing infants to the ministry to "the saints" (the elderly and the sick) — with its spiritual meetings and daily Liturgies.
Our beloved Bishop Anba Barsoum saw fit to build not merely an altar in the name of Anba Karas, but a complete, large church in the name of Anba Karas and the Anchorite Fathers, for they kept the church by their prayers and blessing in the years past — for the Almighty Lord does not leave His altar without a sacrifice. It is the first church to be named after our dear and beloved saint Anba Karas and the Anchorite Fathers, and altars in the name of Anba Karas have since spread in great churches. We ask every blessing from our beloved intercessor; the Church of Anba Karas and the Anchorite Fathers is an oasis and a place of rest for everyone seeking a blessing and every visitor, with its daily Liturgies and the shrine of Anba Karas and the Anchorite Fathers.
By the grace of our Lord a beautiful film of the life of Anba Karas has been made, and other films on the lives of the other anchorite fathers will follow, if the Lord wills and we live, together with printed works and pictures of our beloved Anba Karas in various sizes.
Blessed be Egypt my people
