Although Dec. 25 has passed, the Christmas season has carried on into the New Year for some students.
Members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East, participated in festivities this Sunday, Christmas Eve and this Monday, Christmas Day.
Students at N.C. State joined those around the world in celebrating the religious festival by attending services at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Raleigh, as well as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Archangel Raphael and St. John the Beloved in Chapel Hill.
As two of only three Coptic institutions in the state, both St. Mary and St. John draw members from all over the state, many from the Triangle who come together in the congregation.
Amanda Saad, senior in biological sciences and President of the campus Coptic Club, said Mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve with “a special nativity liturgy with nativity specific hymns and tunes.”
Also included in the Mass was the traditional Papal Message from Alexandria, Egypt describing major figures present in the nativity scene and symbolism as they relate to the daily lives of Copts. Saad also relayed the Pope’s words of “continuing on the heavenly and God-fearing path.”
Daniel Zaki, senior in mechanical and computer engineering, talked about how his family “attended service and then gathered together and had a feast.”
After 40 days and 40 nights of strict fasting during the period of Advent, including abstinence from all meat and animal products, observers gathered for a Christmas feast including all kinds of traditional foods. And like a traditional American Christmas, Zaki said the exchange of gifts was prevalent among family and friends, specifying, “clothes were most often the gift of choice.”
Coptic Christians, who represent about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 85 million, are celebrating their first Christmas under a new Islamic leader, Mohamed Morsi. Christians in Egypt have long complained about mistreatment by the state and the tension is even greater in the Coptic community after the passage of a new constitution that opens the door for adoption of stricter Islamic law in Egypt.
In his first Christmas Midnight Mass, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Theodoros II, called on his congregants to “not be afraid,” attempting to reassure a global community anxious about the rise of an Islamic government to power there.
“Even if humans feel lots of fear, remember God will take care of you. This is a collective message because fear is contagious. … This is a message of reassurance.”
