Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-05

the messages of st. Mark to the church
at Jerusalem. A Coptic church also
marks the place where the infant Jesus
was laid when brought to Egypt by
Joseph and Mary, but the authenticity
of that site has little or no historical
support.
Certain it is that the church in Africa
was founded and ministered to by st.
Mark He was the first patriarch or
bishop of Alexandria, and there his
bones were buried for manv years, I'M
til they were stolen away by Venetian
pirates and carried to Venice to be
buried in the magnificent cathedral
which bears his name. The successor
to the see of St. Mark, the patriarch of
Alexandria, now has his seat in Cairo
He is the supreme head of the Coptic
church in Egypt and of the church of
Abyssinia. The Coptic church has had
separate existence since A. D. 451
After the council of Chalcedon, held in
that year, the African church seeded
from the general orthodox body. 1t
was the century of schisms and the era
of subtle doctrinal disputes. The Afri-
cans held that Jesus Christ had but
one nature, which was at once human
and divine. The council had held that
Jesus had a dual nature. divine and
human. Both factions agreed that
Jusus had but one will. The Africans
declined to admit the logic which held
that a man with dual nature could
have but a single will and so led the
great schism. 1t is difficult for Chris
tians of the twentieth century to APP
preciate the vital Importance of such
subtle differences of theological defini-
tions, but it is far cry from the fifth
to the twentieth centuries.
The Church in Africa had given to
Christianity some of its greatest men
in the days of the early fathers. Saint
Anthony. Saint Augustine and Saint
Chrysostom will keep alive its name
forever. The monastic principle was
born under the wing of the African
church, and the hoary monasteries of
the wilderness of Sinai today attest
the ancient glory of this church.
The Copts did not nave Il peaceful
career after the great division in the
church. Theological disputes were
backed with the sword in those early
days and the green valley of the Nile
was FLASHED with the blood of Chris
tians who believed that Jesus had a
single nature, put to the sword by
Christians who believed that Jesus had
dual nature. The emperors of the
east supported their clergy with their
armies and for years Egypt was
ONeITuH ana the COptS prosecuted.
When the green flag of the crescent
of conquering Islam was seen to ap-
proach across the desert from Arabia,
the Copts welcomed the invaders that
they might be rid of their Byzantine
oppressors. The Moslems took possess
sion of the country at the beginning of
the eighth century and have held it
ever since. The Copts were well treat
ed at first, as they were allies. But
the militant spirit of Islam did not
brook the prosperity of the infidels
The Copts soon were being forced to
adhere to the prophet on pain of death.
Then came King David of Abyssinia,
who controlled the sources of life in
Egypt. He told the Caliphs that the
persecution of the Copts must cease
or he would divert the waters of the
Nile and fertile Egypt would become a
vast desert. The threat had its effect
and the slaughter of the Copts was
stopped. Yet through all the twelve
centuries since the Arab conquest the
Copts have suffered deprivations and
humiliations from the stronger Mo-
hammedan race. No one can fail to
admire the zeal and devotion, the
self-immolating faith, which has kept
the church of the Copts alive.
Yet the Coptic church is so bound up
with oriental conservatism that it con-
fers upon its people very few of the