The trip of the Holy Family to Egypt.. by Dr. Mohamed Dabasha

That journey began in year zero from Bethlehem in Palestine to the Nile Valley in the land of Egypt to escape the evil of Emperor Herod, who persecuted Christianity and wanted to kill Christ, peace be upon him, he and his mother, the Virgin Mary, and every child not older than two years of age, fearing for his king, so she came to Egypt carrying her child. The Holy (Virgin Mary - the Lord Jesus, a child under two years of age according to the Gospel of Matthew) accompanied Yusef al-Najjar, Mary’s preacher, in which a distance of two thousand kilometers went back and forth and lasted for three years. In the land of Egypt.

History tells us that the Virgin went out with her baby Jesus, peace be upon him, from the land of Palestine (Bethlehem), fleeing to Egypt, riding on a donkey carrying her baby in her arms and dragging the donkey Joseph the carpenter, walking through a harsh wilderness of deserts, plateaus and valleys without protection except from God Almighty.

 The journey began on the Egyptian lands, fleeing from Bethlehem to Gaza until the Zaranik reserve (Felusiyat), 37 km west of El-Arish, and walked in the Sinai desert from the northern side from the side of Ferma (Bloziom) located between the cities of El-Arish and Port Said, then the Holy Family entered the city of Tal Basta near From the city of Zagazig in the Sharkia governorate, and in it the Lord Jesus sprang a spring of water, and when the Holy Family entered that city, the idols fell on the ground and their people mistreated the Holy Family, so they left that city and headed towards the south until they reached the town of Mostorod - (Al Mahmah) and it was named by this name because it is a place of bathing and it was called so because The Virgin Mary protected Christ there and washed his clothes, and on the return of the Holy Family she also passed by Mostorod, and the Lord Christ, to Him be glory, sprang up a spring of water that still exists today, then she moved north to the city of Belbeis (Philip) in Belbeis in the Eastern Province, and she settled at a tree known as the Virgin Maryam then passed Belbeis on the return journey also and headed north to the town of Minya Samannoud and crossed the Nile River to the city of Samanoud (Jmenoti - Zebat Nashir) in the middle of the delta and her people received them well. They offered them food, and the Lord Christ blessed them, and she remained in that city for 17 days, and she was deported to the Burullus region until she reached the city of (Sakha - Khas - Bekha Issus) in Kafr El Sheikh governorate now.

From that spot, the Holy Family crossed the Nile River (Rosetta Branch) to the west of the delta and moved south to Wadi El-Natroun (Al-Aqqit). Jesus and his Virgin mother blessed this place, and from it the Holy Family traveled south and crossed the Nile, heading towards Al-Mataria and Ain Shams, which was inhabited by many Jews And they had a temple called the Temple of Onias, and in the rain, the Holy Family sat under a tree known to this day as the tree of Mary. Jesus, peace be upon him, sprang up a spring of water, drank from it and blessed it, then the Virgin washed the clothes of the baby Jesus and poured water on the ground, and in that spot grew an aromatic plant with a beautiful smell, known as the balsam plant or elderberry. Then the Holy Family rested for a short time with olive trees on their way to ancient Egypt, which is the area where the ancient Church of Our Lady of the Virgin is located in Zuweila neighborhood.

When the Holy Family arrived in ancient Egypt, they could only stay there for a few days, due to the destruction of the idols, so it provoked that and to Fustat, he wanted to kill Christ. That is why the Holy Family traveled from the area of ​​ancient Egypt heading to Maadi, a suburb of Memphis - the capital of ancient Egypt, and the Holy Family took off in A sailboat in the Nile heading south to the country of Upper Egypt from the spot on which the Church of the Virgin is now established, known as Al-Adawiya, because from it the Holy Family crossed the Nile on its journey to Upper Egypt and from there came the name of Maadi, and the stone stairway on which the Holy Family descended to the bank of the Nile still exists and has a shrine open from churchyard.

The Holy Family reached the village of Deir al-Jarnous (Arganus) - Maghagha Center, and next to the western wall of the Church of the Virgin Mary there is a deep well from which the Holy Family drank, and it also passed over a spot called Abai Issus, east of Al-Bahsana, and its place is now the village of Sandafa (Bani Mazar).

The Holy Family in Jabal Al-Tair - east of Samalout

The Holy Family traveled from the town of Al-Bahnasa to the town of Samalut, and from there they crossed the Nile, where the Monastery of the Virgin is now located in Jabal al-Tair (Accurs), east of Samalut, where the family settled in the cave located in the ancient church.

On

The altar of this church is a large stone on which the Lord Jesus Christ sat.

In this monastery, the good news came to Joseph Al-Najtar in a dream, saying: Get up, take the boy and his mother, and go to the land of Palestine, because those who were seeking the same boy have died.

On the way back, they took another road that diverted them to the south a little to Mount Assiut, known as Mount Darnaka, and was blessed by the Holy Family, where he built a monastery in the name of the Virgin, then they reached ancient Egypt, then Al-Matareya, then Mahmah, and from there to Sinai and then Palestine, where Saint Joseph and the Holy Family lived in the village of Nazareth In Galilee.

Every year, the Christian people will be well, healthy and happy on the occasion of the feasts of Christ