Habib Guirguis
1876-1951 20th century
Patient stubbornness in the service of beginners; handing on the faith as a whole life's work.
Who was Habib Guirguis?
A Copt of Cairo, fatherless, at twenty he saw that the children of his Church knew almost nothing of their own tradition, and in 1900 opened the first Coptic Sunday schools. An archdeacon, dean of the theological seminary for forty years, he wrote, printed, founded a review, formed generations of catechists, and met inertia and jealousy without ever letting go. The Coptic Church has numbered him among its saints.
In their own words
Despite efforts that sapped my health and crushed my strength, I did not surrender for one day to anyone who resisted or envied me. Birds peck only at ripe fruits.