Holy Family

THE HOLY FAMILY AT EL-ZARANIK AND FARMA

Christ's footprint on a stone - Virgin Mary Church - Kafr El Sheikh

According to the sources of the Coptic Church, the Holy Family proceeded from Bethlehem to Gaza, and then to El-Zaraniq (also known as Floussiat), some 37 kms west of El-Arish; then they threaded their way along northern Sinai until they reached Farma (ancient Pelusium) mid-way between El-Arish and present-day Port Said. Their last stop was in Sinai; and with the next leg of their journey they put the perils of the wilderness behind them.

THE HOLY FAMILY AT BASTA TOWN

Tel Basta - or Basta which they now enter, is a short distance from Zagazig, the main town in the Sharqiah Governorate, about 100 kms north-east of Cairo. Here, Jesus caused a waterspring to well up from the ground, and His presence caused the idols to crumble, as foretold by the prophets. The townsfolk, in consequence, turned malevolent and aggressive, whereupuon the Holy Family turned their backs on the town and headed southwards.

In due course, they reached Mostorod (called, in those days, 'Al Mahamma') about 10 kms away from Cairo. 'Al Mahamma' means 'the Bathing Place', a name given to the town because the Virgin Mary bathed Christ and washed his clothes there. It is worth noting that, eventually, on their way back to Palestine, the Holy Family stopped once more at Mostorod. Jesus caused a spring to gush from the earth which still flows to the present day.

THE HOLY FAMILY AT THE TOWN OF BELBEIS

From Mostorod, the Holy Family made their way north-eastwards to Belbeis (ancient Philippos), back in Sharqiah Governorate, about 55 kms from Cairo. They rested there in the shade of a tree which came to be called, 'The Virgin Mary's Tree'.

THE HOLY FAMILY AT MENIET SAMANOUD

Having left their mark on Belbeis, the Holy Family set off in a north-westerly direction and, reaching the small township of Meniet Samanoud (known also Meniet Genah), they crossed the Nile to the city of Samanoud (or Jemnoty) in the Delta, where the local population received them with a kindness and hospitality that earned them deserved blessing. To this day, in Samanoud, there is a large granite trough which, according to local belief, was used by the Virgin for kneading dough, and a water-well which the Christ Child Himself hallowed.

Again towards the north west the Holy Family now travelled until they reached the city of sakha, in the lake district of burullus in the present day governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh.

THE HOLY FAMILY AT SAKHA TOWN

The coptic name of the town, 'Pekha-Issous', (vernacularized to Lysous) means, 'the foot of Jesus'; for the Holy Child's foot print was marked, here, in bas-relief on a rock. The rock was preserved, but hidden for centuries for fear of robbery, and only unearthed again 13 years ago.

The natural course of the Holy Family's journey from Samannoud to Sakha would have taken them through many of the towns and cities now lying in both the Governorates of Gharbia and Kafr El-Sheikh and, according to traditions, through the Belqas wastelands as well.

THE HOLY FAMILY AT WADI EL NATROUN

Grapes Squeezer at El- Sorian Monastery

Their trail from Sakha, is recorded in the documentation of Pope Theophilus's vision, and attested to by Coptic practice in the Christian era. After crossing the Rosetta branch of the Nile to the western Delta, they headed south in 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 many monasteries in spiritual commemoration of the Holy Family's passage through the Valley.