Pope Abraham of Alexandria

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Saint Abraham of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Icon of pope St.Abraham in the Hanging church
Papacy began	975
Papacy ended	3 December 978
Predecessor	Mina II
Successor	Philotheos
Personal details
Born	Ebn-Zaraa Syria
Died	3 December 978
Buried	The Hanging Church
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence	Saint Mark's Church
Sainthood
Feast day	3 December (6 Kiahk in the Coptic calendar)

Pope Abraham of Alexandria was the 62nd Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. He is considered a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church. He is also referred to as Efrem or Ephrem.^[1]

Early life

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Abraham was Syriac by birth.^[2] He was a wealthy merchant who visited Egypt several times, and finally stayed there, residing in Alexandria. He was known for his goodness, devoutness, and love of the poor. After his ordination, he distributed half of his wealth to the needy and used the other half for building pools throughout Egypt, including the pool of Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo.

Election

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During the reign of Al-Muizz – who was the first Fatimid ruler of Egypt – the Islamic government was ambivalent in its treatment of the Copts, alternating sympathy and abuse with atrocity and brutality. At that time, St. Mark's Seat had been vacant for about two years. Finally the bishops and Coptic community leaders assembled in the Church of St. Serguis and Bacchus in Cairo in order to choose possible candidates. While they were convening, Abraham the Syrian, a man devoted to religion and piety, entered the church. One of the assembled turned to a bishop and said that if the bishop were looking for a candidate for the patriarchate, God had sent them a candidate. The whole group assembled was impressed by the selection, and they unanimously decided to elect him. They then took the protesting Abraham in iron fetters to Alexandria, where he was consecrated as the 62nd Patriarch of Alexandria.^[3]

Patriarchate

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Immediately upon taking office, Abraham suppressed the practice of simony which had become a significant problem during the last several patriarchates. He then turned his attention to the often degraded morals of the church archons, who frequently kept concubines as well as their legal wives. He went so far as to threaten anyone continuing to violate the sanctity of marriage with excommunication.^[3]

Death

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Pope Abraham the Syriac died on 3 December 978 A.D.

References

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^ Cerulli, Enrico. 1943. Il libro etiopico dei Miracoli di Maria e le sue fonti nelle letterature del medio evo latino. Rome: G. Bardi, page 3.
^ "Pope Abraam". CopticChurch.net. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
^ ^a ^b Atiya, Aziz S. The Coptic Encyclopedia. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1991. ISBN 0-02-897025-X

Preceded by Pope Mina II of Alexandria	Coptic Pope 975–978	Succeeded by Pope Philotheos of Alexandria

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

v t e Saints in the Coptic Church
Patriarchs	Abraham Isaac Jacob Joseph
Prophets	Moses Job Samuel David Hosea Amos Micah Joel Obadiah Jonah Nahum Noah Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Isaiah Jeremiah Baruch Ezekiel Daniel John the Baptist
Theotokos	Mary, Our Lady of Assiut Belarus Poland Warraq Zeitoun
Seven Archangels	Michael Gabriel Raphael Suriel Zedekiel Sarathiel Ananiel
Apostles	Andrew Bartholomew James, son of Alphaeus James, son of Zebedee John Jude Matthew Matthias Paul Peter Philip Simon Thomas
Disciples	Apollos Barnabas Mary Magdalene Phoebe the Deaconess Philemon Priscilla and Aquila Silvanus Stephen Timothy Titus Seventy disciples
Evangelists	Matthew Mark Luke John
Martyrs	21 Martyrs of Libya Abāmūn Abāmūn Abanoub Abaskhiron Alexandrian Martyrs Arianus Apollonia Barbara Bashnouna Basilides and Potamiana Catherine Chrysanthus and Daria Chiaffredo Colluthus Cosmas and Damian Cyprian and Justina Cyrus and John Dasya Demiana Dorothea Elias and companions Epimachus Faustus, Abibus and Dionysius Felix and Regula Gabriel Abdel El-Metgaly Gallicanus George George Bishop of Assiut George El Mozahem Gereon Hor, Besoy, and Daydara Imbaba Martyrs Isaac of Dafra John of Senhout Kosheh martyrs Malati Marina the Martyr Maspero Martyrs Maurice Memnon Menas Mohrael Moura Nag Hammadi Otimus Philomena Philotheos Rais Sarah Sidhom Bishay Theban Legion Thecla Theoclia Theodora and Didymus Theodore Stratelates Varus Veronica Wadamoun Wanas
Popes	Mark I Anianus Avilius Kedron Justus Eumenes Markianos Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Theonas Felix of Rome Peter I Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I Timothy II Peter III Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon Simeon I Alexander II Theodore I Michael I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Abraham Zacharias Cyril II Macarius II Matthew I Gabriel VII John XIV Cyril V Macarius III Cyril VI
Bishops	Abadiu of Antinoe Abraam of Faiyum Alexander of Jerusalem Amun of Scetis Basil of Caesarea Cyril of Jerusalem Epiphanius of Cyprus Eusebius of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Neocaesarea Ignatius of Antioch Jacob of Nisibis James of Jerusalem John of Nikiû John of Jerusalem Karas of California Mikhaeil of Asyut Narcissus of Jerusalem Nicholas of Myra Paphnutius of Scetis Paphnutius of Thebes Polycarp of Smyrna Porphyrius of Gaza Psote of Ebsay Serapion of Thmuis Severian of Gabala Yousab el-Abah of Girga
Monks and nuns	Abdel Messih El-Makari Abib and Apollo Abraham of Farshut Abraham of Scetis Amun Anthony the Great Awgin Bashnouna Hilarion Horsiesius Hospitius Mother Irini Isaac of Nineveh Isidore of Pelusium John Climacus John the Dwarf Macarius of Alexandria Macarius of Egypt Marina the Monk Moses the Black Nilus of Sinai Pachomius the Great Pambo Parsoma Patapios Paul of Thebes Paul of Tammah Paul the Simple Petronius Pishoy Poemen Samuel the Confessor Sisoes the Great Tekle Haymanot Theodorus of Tabennese Theodora of Alexandria
Anchorites	Karas Mary Misael Onuphrius Paphnutius Paul Pijimi Shenouda Thomas Zosimas
Other saints	Ambrose Clement of Alexandria Didymus the Blind Euphrosyne Habib Girgis Candidus Simon the Tanner Three Holy Children Maximus and Domatius Verena
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Early life

Election

Patriarchate

Death

See also

References