SO GOOD QUOTES

As is customary in many Egyptian households, the day before Great Lent is an occasion of great feasting, whereby the very last remains of all non-fasting foods are consumed in a joyous celebration. On one such eve of Great Lent, Azer arrived home from primary school and walked into the dining room to behold a lavish and exorbitant feast. “Why should we have an abundance of food,” questioned Azer, “while others have plain bread?” His family hardly expected such a reaction from a ravenous schoolboy. Azer turned to his mother in disappointment and added, “How can we eat this luxurious food while a poor Kurdish family lives next to us?” Their neighbors were an elderly Turkish Muslim family that had no source of income and survived on the bare necessities. Encouraged, conceivably by his mother’s silent dismay, and with delight returning to his face, he continued, “It would be good for us to offer them this food for Christ’s sake. Tomorrow we will fast and be satisfied with a modest meal.” According to the memoir, though surprised and famished by this point, his family members could not withstand Azer’s integrity and fervor. His parents immediately gathered their feast and brought it to their Kurdish neighbors, whose only response to the act of generosity was to kiss and bless the young Azer.

A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI (1902–1971)
Fr. Daniel Fanous