Pope Gabriel VII of Alexandria (Anda Gabriel VII) was the
95th Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
He was born in the area around the monastery of El-Mouharraq, and at a young age he became a monk in the wilderness at the
Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great
The Monastery of Saint Macarius The Great also known as Dayr Aba Maqār ( ar, دير الأنبا مقار) is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, about north-west of Cairo, and off the highway betwee ...
. Known for his good conduct and great holiness, he was ordained Patriarch in 1525 A.D. following the death of Pope John XIII. Gabriel's patriarchate witnessed the early years of
Ottoman rule in Egypt.
Gabriel was patriarch for more than forty years. Some of his important accomplishments were the renovation of the monasteries of
Saint Anthony, and
Saint Paul, the first hermit, in the Eastern desert, and the monastery of El-Mouharraq in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient E ...
.
Some people in authority asked him to approve things against the welfare of his flock. The Pope chose to leave his Chair and he went to the Monastery of Saint Anthony, for he desired to keep what the Lord said: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) The Lord examined him but he endured thankfully, and received the blessing that the Lord gave for those persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Pope Gabriel died in 1570 following a brief illness.
References
;General
*
*Atiya, Aziz S. ''
The Coptic Encyclopedia
The ''Coptic Encyclopedia'' is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in th ...
''. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1991.
External links
The Official website of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy See of Saint Mark the ApostleCoptic Documents in French
16th-century Coptic Orthodox popes of Alexandria
1570 deaths
{{OrientalOrthodox-clergy-stub