Abraham was Syriac by birth.[2] He was a wealthy merchant who visited Egypt several times, and finally stayed there, residing in Alexandria. He was known for his goodness, devoutness, and love of the poor. After his ordination, he distributed half of his wealth to the needy and used the other half for building pools throughout Egypt, including the pool of Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo.
Electionedit
During the reign of Al-Muizz – who was the first Fatimid ruler of Egypt – the Islamic government was ambivalent in its treatment of the Copts, alternating sympathy and abuse with atrocity and brutality. At that time, St. Mark's Seat had been vacant for about two years. Finally the bishops and Coptic community leaders assembled in the Church of St. Serguis and Bacchus in Cairo in order to choose possible candidates. While they were convening, Abraham the Syrian, a man devoted to religion and piety, entered the church. One of the assembled turned to a bishop and said that if the bishop were looking for a candidate for the patriarchate, God had sent them a candidate. The whole group assembled was impressed by the selection, and they unanimously decided to elect him. They then took the protesting Abraham in iron fetters to Alexandria, where he was consecrated as the 62nd Patriarch of Alexandria.[3]
Patriarchateedit
Immediately upon taking office, Abraham suppressed the practice of simony which had become a significant problem during the last several patriarchates. He then turned his attention to the often degraded morals of the church archons, who frequently kept concubines as well as their legal wives. He went so far as to threaten anyone continuing to violate the sanctity of marriage with excommunication.[3]
Deathedit
Pope Abraham the Syriac died on 3 December 978 A.D.
pope, abraham, alexandria, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Pope Abraham of Alexandria news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pope Abraham of Alexandria was the 62nd Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark He is considered a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church He is also referred to as Efrem or Ephrem 1 SaintAbraham of AlexandriaPope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St MarkPapacy began975Papacy ended3 December 978PredecessorMina IISuccessorPhilotheosPersonal detailsBornEbn ZaraaSyriaDied3 December 978BuriedThe Hanging ChurchNationalityEgyptianDenominationCoptic Orthodox ChristianResidenceSaint Mark s ChurchSainthoodFeast day3 December 6 Kiahk in the Coptic calendar Contents 1 Early life 2 Election 3 Patriarchate 4 Death 5 See also 6 ReferencesEarly life editAbraham was Syriac by birth 2 He was a wealthy merchant who visited Egypt several times and finally stayed there residing in Alexandria He was known for his goodness devoutness and love of the poor After his ordination he distributed half of his wealth to the needy and used the other half for building pools throughout Egypt including the pool of Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo Election editDuring the reign of Al Muizz who was the first Fatimid ruler of Egypt the Islamic government was ambivalent in its treatment of the Copts alternating sympathy and abuse with atrocity and brutality At that time St Mark s Seat had been vacant for about two years Finally the bishops and Coptic community leaders assembled in the Church of St Serguis and Bacchus in Cairo in order to choose possible candidates While they were convening Abraham the Syrian a man devoted to religion and piety entered the church One of the assembled turned to a bishop and said that if the bishop were looking for a candidate for the patriarchate God had sent them a candidate The whole group assembled was impressed by the selection and they unanimously decided to elect him They then took the protesting Abraham in iron fetters to Alexandria where he was consecrated as the 62nd Patriarch of Alexandria 3 Patriarchate editImmediately upon taking office Abraham suppressed the practice of simony which had become a significant problem during the last several patriarchates He then turned his attention to the often degraded morals of the church archons who frequently kept concubines as well as their legal wives He went so far as to threaten anyone continuing to violate the sanctity of marriage with excommunication 3 Death editPope Abraham the Syriac died on 3 December 978 A D See also editSaint Simon the Tanner Al Muizz LideenillahReferences edit Cerulli Enrico 1943 Il libro etiopico dei Miracoli di Maria e le sue fonti nelle letterature del medio evo latino Rome G Bardi page 3 Pope Abraam CopticChurch net Retrieved 2018 03 14 a b Atiya Aziz S The Coptic Encyclopedia New York Macmillan Publishing Co 1991 ISBN 0 02 897025 X Preceded byPope Mina II of Alexandria Coptic Pope975 978 Succeeded byPope Philotheos of Alexandria Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pope Abraham of Alexandria amp oldid 1215684469, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
