Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day
All of Egypt celebrated Mother’s Day on 21/3. It is a beautiful occasion to salute motherhood, thank it, and commemorate its virtues and favors.
And we do not forget that the first commandment in human relationships was “Honor your father and your mother,” and it is the first commandment with a promise, as mentioned by Saint Paul the Apostle (Eph. 6:1, 2).
And the Lord Christ cared for His mother, even while He was on the cross, and entrusted her to His most beloved disciple, Saint John the Beloved, and she lived in his house until she departed in peace.
And the first miracle performed by the Lord Christ was at the wedding of Cana of Galilee, through the intercession of His mother, the holy Virgin (John 2:3–5).
And the Lord Christ honored His Virgin Mother in her departure, and in the ascension of her body into heaven, and in accepting her intercession through many miracles, and in her appearance in Egypt in Zeitoun and Papa Doble, and in building hundreds of churches and many monasteries in her name. And her beautiful icon has been preserved in the churches; the priest offers incense to it on the right side of the altar when he comes out from it with incense to the people. The Virgin came to have many feasts celebrated by the Church, and her name became glorified in the Church rites and hymns.
The history of motherhood is wonderful in the Holy Bible and in the biographies of the saints…
Perhaps among them is Saint Elizabeth, whose son John was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still a fetus in her womb.
And the mother of Saint Basil the Great, who gave birth to Saint Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and his brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa, and his brother Saint Peter, Bishop of Sebasteia, and their sister Saint Macrina, their spiritual guide and head of the monastery.
And among the virtuous mothers is Jochebed, the mother of Moses the prophet:
who raised him in his early childhood years with an upbringing through which he was able to resist the pagan worship in Pharaoh’s palace, and even become a hero of faith in his era.
And how beautiful it is to speak about the mothers of the martyrs:
especially the one whose five sons were slaughtered on her lap while she encouraged them to accept martyrdom.
And we also remember the mothers of monastic life:
such as Mother Melania, Mother Sarah, Mother Paula, and the great anchorite, the repentant Saint Mary the Copt.
In every mother we remember many virtues:
among them tenderness, love, endurance, sacrifice, patience in raising children, and in bearing what children produce of mistakes, and the cleanliness and healthcare they require, and home care during their childhood, and training them to speak, and all the requirements of life.
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