The memory of Saint George was celebrated behind closed doors and without worshipers at the homonymous Holy Monastery located in Old Cairo.
Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa officiated at the Vespers, accompanied by Metropolitan Nicodemus of Memphis, Metropolitan Nephon of Pelusium, and the Abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Damaskinos. Patriarch Theodore wished to fight the pandemic of the coronavirus, characterizing this situation as slavery.
“No matter how many pandemics come, St. George is a Trophy-bearer,” said the Primate of the Second-throne Patriarchate, adding: “He is a rider, he is a winner. And he will patrol with his holy horse all mankind to scatter the black clouds of the pandemic.” On the occasion of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, Patriarch Theodore wished “God who loves the whole world to oversee everyone, Christians and Muslims.”
The monastery and the church of St. George in Cairo is one of the most important monuments of Christianity in Old Cairo. It was built on the foundations of the Old Fortress of Babylon in the greater area of Memphis which was the ancient capital of Lower Egypt.
In 383 AD Theodosius the Great, by his decree, turned the fortress into a temple in honor of the soldier Saint George. The temple is built on the fourth floor of a Roman fortress tower, which often served as a Christian refuge.
The sanctuary of St. George was dedicated to the martyr St. George who was tortured and beheaded in the fortress of Babylon. The monastery has been associated with the presence of Greeks in the country of the Nile. Over the centuries it has functioned as a nunnery, a hospital, a poorhouse, a nursing home and school. At the initiative of Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore, the monument was thoroughly restored and its historic route, which began in the Roman period, and continued in Byzantium, to the Arab conquest until modern times, has been highlighted.
Source: ekkairo
