The Martyrdom MonthCelebrating The Coptic Church’s Martyrs The 21 Martyrs of Libya The 21 Martyrs of Libya stand as one of the most vivid testimonies of the Coptic Church faith in modern times.  The 20 Coptic Egyptians were simple laborers in Libya to provide for their families back home. The twenty-first was Matthew Ayariga, a Ghanaian…

Martyrdom of St. MarkFounder of the Church of AlexandriaPashons 1, 1741 – May 8, 2025 St. Mark was born in the city of Cyrene in Pentapolis, the western part of Libya. He was born of Jewish parents–Aristopoulos and Mary. His parents taught him in Greek and Hebrew, and he studied the Old Testament since he…

The First Christian Martyr and Deacon St. Stephen is known in Christianity as the first Martyr and Deacon. His story came to us through St. Luke’s testimony in Acts 6-7 about the apostolic period after Jesus’ Resurrection & Assentation. During the apostolic period, as the number of early Christians increased, the twelve Apostles struggled to…

On the 29th of Amshir, we commemorate the martyrdom of St. Polycarp of Smyrna (also known as Izmir). St. Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist’s. In St. John’s vision, an angel instructed him to write a message for St. Polycarp: “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things…

“I am the wheat of God and let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.” These powerful words were written by St. Ignatius of Antioch in his epistle to the Romans as he was escorted over 1,500 miles from Antioch to Rome, where…

The Martyrdom of St. Abakragoun On the 25th of Epep, St. Abakragoun from El-Batanoon was martyred. St. Abakragoun, who was a thief, had joined two young men in a plan to steal from a monks cell. When they had arrived at the monk’s cell they found him deep in prayer. They decide to wait for…

St. James the Mangled, also commonly known as St. James the Persian, was a prominent soldier in the army of the King of Persia. Because of his courage and might, he was promoted to the highest rank in the King’s army. Because of his high rank in the military, he became a close friend of…