Kyrillos VI
1902-1971 20th century Feast day: March 9
Leadership drawn from prayer, when action never leaves recollection.
Who was Kyrillos VI?
A Coptic monk who became a hermit in an old windmill near Cairo, he lived for years in solitude and the daily celebration of the liturgy. Elected pope of Alexandria against his longing for retreat, he governed the Coptic Church without leaving his prayer, keeping watch through whole nights. People came from everywhere to seek from this silent patriarch a counsel, an intercession, a peace.
In their own words
There are no good days and bad days; there are days of prayer and days without prayer.
I prayed for a pure heart; it took me long and hard struggle to discover that prayer itself is the only road to a pure heart.
Let prayer be the mirror in which you see yourself each day, the scale on which you weigh your heart.