Christ Enters Egypt

     After Herod gave the command to slay the children from two years old and under that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof (Mt. 2:13-16), the just elder Joseph was then forewarned by God in a dream to depart into Egypt. (Mt. 2:13)

     According to tradition, as soon as Christ entered Egypt with his Mother and St. Joseph, all the idols fell on their faces, shattered and broke to pieces. This was in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy: “…the Lord…shall come to Egypt and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and their heart shall faint within them.” (Is. 19:1). When the dwellers saw this, they asked the Holy Family to leave.

     They journeyed from Palestine to Dair Al-Muharraq, entering into several villages and countries in between. entered the Nile Delta at Basatah (“Tell Al-Bastah”) where they beheld two robbers, one of whom was Demas (the future right hand theif). The latter protected them from possible harm from the other robber and as a result, the Virgin promised that Christ will reward him for having spared Him.

     From there, they went to “Al-Mahamma” (the Bath) as it is called today, where Christ had cased a spring to flow in which the Virgin bathed the Child and washed His clothes. Then they traveled to “Belbeis” and rested under the shade of a tree that is called today “The Virgin Mary’s Tree.”

     They traveled through many villages and stayed near a village of “Kafr El-Shaikh” where the Child left His footprint on a rock and is called “Jesus’ Heel.” From there, they went through the desert of “Wadi El Natrun” whose presence there seemed to have blessed the place, for it became the site of more than fifty monasteries, of which only four are inhabited today.

     At “Matareya,” a fragrant balsam tree sprouted where the Virgin had thrown the water wherewith she washed Christ’s clothes. This plant is used as one of the ingredients if making the Holy Myron (Sacred Oil that is used for baptism and other sacraments) until this day.

     Then they headed southward to Babylon of Old Cairo and finally to Upper Egypt where they settled at Cusae (“Qusam”), where a famous monastery for the Virgin, known as “El Muharraq” now lies until this day.