coptics – Faith Unto Ages

The Way of the Cross: Historical Persecution and Spiritual Endurance in the Coptic Church

The icon of the 2015 kidnapping and execution of the 21 Coptic Martyrs in Libya is one of the most recognizable modern icons in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It depicts the twenty-one martyrs dressed in orange garments, standing together in faith moments before their execution on a beach in Libya by ISIS militants in February 2015. In many icons, Christ is shown above them welcoming them into heaven, emphasizing their steadfast faith and martyrdom. The icon symbolizes courage, unity, forgiveness, and unwavering commitment to Christ even in the face of death. The martyrs were canonized by the Coptic Church shortly after their deaths and are commemorated annually on February 15.

The history of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is an enduring journey along the path of the Cross. Founded by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the middle of the first century, this ancient Apostolic see has preserved the spotless deposit of faith through eras of profound isolation, social marginalization, and overt hostility. To look upon the Coptic experience merely through the lens of modern secular politics is to miss the deeper spiritual reality of its survival. For the faithful, the ongoing hardships faced by the Christian minority in Egypt are not just social and political struggles, but a continuous participation in the suffering and endurance of Christ.¹

According to the United Nations international framework established in 1948, systematic discrimination and state-sanctioned oppression toward a distinct community are defined by specific criteria of systemic harm. Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention explicitly outlines these violations as, “Killing members of the group…Causing serious bodily or mental harm…physical destruction in whole or in part…imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group…forcibly transferring children of the group.”² While a common misconception assumes that systematic destruction must involve the immediate and spontaneous erasure of a massive population, international standards recognize that systemic persecution can be slow, hidden, and characterized by profound mental anguish. This criterion allows us to understand the true depth of the ongoing structural adversity faced by Coptic Christians throughout Egypt’s modern history.

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“There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is His subsistent Wisdom and Power and Eternal Image: perfect Begetter of the perfect Begotten, Father of the only-begotten Son. There is one Lord, Only of the Only, God of God, Image and Likeness of Deity, Efficient Word, Wisdom comprehensive of the constitution of all things, and Power formative of the whole creation, true Son of true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal and Eternal of Eternal. And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all. There is a perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignty, neither divided nor estranged. Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abides ever.” - A Declaration of Faith, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus

“Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they (the apostles) went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their first-fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe. And this they did in no new fashion; for indeed it had been written concerning bishops and deacons from very ancient times; for thus said the scripture in a certain place, I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith.”
- St. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96).

“A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, ‘Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved.’ So the old man said, ‘Go to the cemetery and abuse [insult] the dead.’ The brother went there, abused [insulted] them and threw stones at them; then he returned and told the old man about it. The latter said to him, ‘Didn’t they say anything to you?’ He replied, ‘No.’ The old man said, ‘Go back tomorrow and praise them.’ So the brother went away and praised them, calling them ‘Apostles, saints and righteous men.’ He returned to the old man and said to him, ‘I have complimented them.’ And the old man said to him, ‘Did they not answer you?’ The brother said no. The old man said to him, ‘You know how you insulted them and they did not reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak; so you too if you wish to be saved must do the same and become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be saved.’”