The Coptic Monastery of St. Mary - Known as El Syrian
The Monastery of St. Mary that is known by El Seryan is one
of the four monasteries in the Wilderness of Shiheet
in the Valley of Natroun in the Western desert of
Egypt west of the Nile delta. The monastery was built approximately
in the fifth century. It is one of the monasteries that were
built on the name of St. Mary (The Theotokos) after refuting the
heresy of Nestor that claimed: “It is not proper to call the Virgin
Mary as Mother of God (The Theotokos).” The ecumenical
Council of Ephesus in 431 AD under the leadership of the
great Alexandrian Pope Kyrillos (Cyril) the First was summoned
and excommunicated Nestor and his teachings.
Thereafter, the Orthodox monks built several monasteries
on the name of The Theotokos to affirm that title and to
honor it and the monastery of St. Mary El Seryan was one
of such monasteries. The monastery was famous
because some Syrian monks lived in the monastery for a
number of centuries. It is still known by that although it
is a Coptic monastery as the recent discoveries showed
Coptic icons.
This clarifies the belief of the Coptic Church that the
Virgin is the Mother of God. There is a new discovered
icon for St. Mary nursing the Lord Christ (Maria Lacten)
when He was a child. This icon is important for the following
reasons.
This old Coptic icon proves the belief of the Coptic
Church since its start in the full carnation of Christ. It
shows that he was nursed and not eating solid food
during His infancy and grew little by little as it was
mentioned in the gospel of the apostle Luke the evangelist:
“And the child grew and was waxed in spirit,
filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon
Him,” Luke 2:40.
This refutes the encyclopedia that describes the
Church as Eutechian.
The Church believes in the full Divinity and
humanity of Jesus Christ and His mother is
Theotokos as we explained before and the
Church also believes in one nature (Mia
Physis) of the Incarnated Word; “The Word
became flesh,” John 1:14. His nature is the
nature of the Almighty God (Omnipotent)
that endured everything up to the death of the
cross. He had the ability and potentiality to
be incarnate before He took flesh.
Copyright © 2005 Saint Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, California, U.S.A. The above article may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Saint Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, California, U.S.A.
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