An initiative of the Mary of Nazareth Association November 2 – Coptic Church: Memorial of the Holy Family in Egypt A new pilgrimage in Egypt Flight into Egypt, by Gentile da Fabriano (Wikipedia) "In the Footsteps of the Holy Family" is the new pilgrimage route proposed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the Coptic Orthodox Church. The flight of the Holy Family to Egypt is reported in the second chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. When King Herod learned of the birth of the "King of the Jews" in Bethlehem, he feared for his power and sent his soldiers to kill all the male children under two years of age. Warned in a dream of this cruel plan, Joseph took the infant Jesus and his mother, as the Gospel says, and all three fled to Egypt, where they stayed for three and a half years, until the death of Herod. The Gospel says no more about the Holy Family’s stay in Egypt. According to the Coptic Church, the Holy Family first stayed in the Nile Delta, then went to Cairo, then to Memphis, before going south and to Upper Egypt. Their journey probably took them to Doronka just before Assiut, where we can visit the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of the Virgin Mary. Their long, adventurous journey is now relived through this new pilgrimage that will take pilgrims to meaningful places which bear the traces of the passage of Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus. Source: fr.radiovaticana.va Rest of the Virgin during The Flight into Egypt by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1504, Staatliche Museen, Berlin) [Wikipedia] Marian Texts in the New Testament British Orientalist artist Edwin Long, Anno Domini, 1883, shows the arrival in Egypt Let’s pray together Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.