A creaking door...

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I always enjoy Sundays. Even though we have a service of Holy Communion on Friday, it seems like Sunday is still the main event of the week. True, it is a working day here in Egypt, but it is still our Sabbath day and so it is for most of the English speaking congregation here.

And of course there is a significant amount of preparation before any service. The table must be set. The liturgy prepared and checked, the bread bought, and the music discussed, checked and practiced!


Yes, services require a fair amount of preparatory work.

I had some time before Bishop Mouneer arrived, as were celebrating together again, and I took the time to study in greater details the lovely murals which surround the main body of the cathedral.

They are painted very much in the modern African school, and the three panels represent the entirety of Scripture from Genesis right up to Revelation. 


I particularly like the way Jesus is portrayed, which is very much North African, without the full beard we are used to, and with darker skin. They certainly provide a great deal of inspiration.



It reminds me of an article I read this week concerning the discovery of an early Christian Church in Iznik, Turkey and dates from around the 3rd century. It contains a mural which shows one of the earliest depictions of Christ thus far. 

He is beardless, wearing aristocratic or royal Roman clothing, and carries a ram on his shoulders.

Its quite interesting how the church has almost completely westernized our image of Jesus over the years!

Our mass went well, and the congregation were very pleased. It is what we might term quite 'high church' at home, and Holy Communion is referred to very much in this fashion.

I think I have previously mentioned that we are all 'Father' here. (No Ted jokes please!!)

After coffee, I paid a visit to the Sudanese service which almost immediately follows ours. It is a joyous, colourful, and music filled service, and can be quite hard on the eardrums!

I must confess, however, that I didn't stay the full four hours!

There are so many heartbreaking stories of families here who have left everything due to the ongoing war in Sudan and have come to Egypt with literally nothing, to try and eke out a living for themselves and their families.

Yet when they come to church, they are dressed in the most vibrant, happy colours and everyone is smiling, singing, and dancing. 

Against the backdrop of the crisis in Sudan, a lady named Kirsten attended our mass this morning. She works for an NGO in Beirut and has had to evacuate, hopefully only temporarily to Egypt, as the conflict in Lebanon is becoming even more fraught.

Egypt is creaking at the seams already with refugees from conflict, North and South. And the church is doing remarkable work to try to cope and help in any small way that it can.

But I wonder, will it ever end?!!!



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