St. Mina and St. Abanoub Coptic Orthodox Church

The Third Day of the Blessed Month of Tute
Tute 3

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Council of Bishops took place in Alexandria

        On this day of the year 243 A.D., a holy synod convened in the city of Alexandria in the second year of the Papacy of St. Dionysius, the fourteenth Pope of Alexandria. This council was made because of certain people in the Arabian countries who believed that the soul dies with the body, and that on the day of the resurrection, it shall be raised up with it. They composed articles on this belief and sent them to certain people in Alexandria. When this reached the ears of Abba Dionysius, he was exceedingly sorry, and he tried to restrain the people from this evil, but they would not hearken unto him. Therefore, the council assembled, confronted them, and made manifest their perversion. As they neither repented nor turned away from their false belief, the holy synod and the Pope excommunicated them and wrote an article for them wherein he said, "The love of God for us is exceedingly great, and the soul neither dies nor perishes, but abideth as the angels and the devils, for it is spiritual, immutable, and incorruptable. When the soul goeth on the day of the resurrection, when the trumpet soundeth, the dead bodies shall rise by the command of God. The souls go each into the body to which it belongeth, and according to its work, it will either rejoice or suffer punishment forever."

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Great Earthquake in Cairo and Most of the Egyptian Cities

        On this day also a great earthquake took place in Cairo and most of the Egyptian cities at 9:00am. On this day, a church named after Michael the Archangel, at El-Gazrya in Cairo, was destroyed. It was said that certain ungodly people asked the Christians to pay a bribe to them, but they would not; and when it was evening these men came and destroyed the church completely. This happenedd in the ninth year of the Papacy of Abba Macarius in the 828th year of the Holy Martyrs (1112 A.D.)

May their prayers and blessings be with us all, and Glory be to God forever. Amen.