Let us lift up in prayer the 21 Coptic New Martyrs killed today . . .

May they intercede for us!

Alex

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants".

The names of the New Martyrs of Egypt:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9_HryrCMAAsr5d.jpg:large

Draft troparion of the Libyan Martyrs. Suggestions for improvement are very welcome.!

Tone 1 Kyivan, perhaps?

Like meek lambs ye cried out with your last breaths,/' O Lord Jesus',/ and like roses blooming in the desert of Libya,/ ye shed your blood for the Master./ With godly valour, ye showed your godless persecuters/ true strength from the true faith,/ O pride of Minya and boast of the church of St Mark, / intercede with Christ that our souls may be saved.

I love it as is!!

Alex

echo!

This is beautiful. Can I use or cite the text?

Certainly! Here's a matching Kontakion, written with the Byzantine melody in mind.

Kontakion in Tone 8
(to the special melody 'To thee the Champion Leader')

O ye new-martyrs, faithful sons of the nation of the Cross,
Ye denied not Christ to save your mortal lives,
with your constancy ye earned the true crowns of life.
Ye are witnesses to us who venerate your sufferings
that the Lord gives courage in the hour of trial,
By your example we sing:
O Lord Jesus, be our comfort and strength!

Oh, may we all be so "Yong" at heart!

Alex

Dear Friends,

The Egyptian government will build a Coptic Orthodox Church at Minya in honour of these 21 New Martyrs (who died with the Name of Jesus Christ on their lips).

This will be the first time that a Muslim government will honour Christian martyrs in this way.

And although these were all Coptic Orthodox (yes?), mainly Coptic Catholics have been aggressively proclaiming their true martyrdom.

Through the prayers of the 21 New Martyrs of Minya, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us!

Alex

Thanks, for the tidbit!

May they continually intercede with Christ God, to save our souls

Our Coptic Orthodox Church of St Mark at 4 Glendinning not only displays the relics of St Mark and St Stephen etc., but also those of recent New Martyrs killed in Egypt.

This reflects the spirit of the Early Church that didn't take its time with canonizing its martyrs . . .

The Russian Orthodox Church glorified her New Martyrs in 2000 and stipulated that new names would be added just AS SOON as they would be revealed over time - and indeed, many New Martyrs and Confessors have been added since that time.

And Martyrdom is very ecumenical, as we see, since it tears down confessional walls as we all come to honour martyrs as soon as we hear of them.

May the Holy New Martyrs of Minya intercede for us!

Alex

Icon of the New Martyrs (Canonized today by the Coptic Pope)



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--3uXF-WU_...lOAX_iSdg6k/s1600/21%2BNew%2BMartyrs.jpg

Another image:

Yaa Rabb urHam,
Yaa Rabb urHam,
Yaa Rabb urHam.

(Arabic = "Lord, have mercy")

Holy New Martyrs of Minya, pray unto God for us!!

The Holy Coptic Church has not only witnessed to Christ through her speedy glorification of her New Martyrs, but has also served to illustrate how the early persecuted Church would glorify her Martyrs.

I've been distributing pictures of the above icon to friends and family.

Alex

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. ~

ايها الرب يسوع المسيح ابن اله إرحمنا

The icon of the 21 Coptic martyrs is now available for purchase through Legacy Icons: http://www.legacyicons.com/collections/frontpage/products/21-martyrs-icon

wow, one of the Copts set my Troparion and Kontakion to Coptic chant!!!

https://soundcloud.com/hotmailhack/...ion-for-21-martyrs-of-libya-mina-ghattas

Nice, Edward! I keep forgetting to pass on your arrangement to my friend, who's a choir director at the OCA parish I attend.

A new icon:



Link: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2015/10/a-new-image-of-coptic-martyrs-of-libya.html

I prefer the one commissioned by the LA Diocese of the Coptic Orthodox. Was the above endorsed by one of the dioceses?

Yes, this icon is a bit too depressing and doesn't really inspire one to want to pray before it . . .

I agree with Lester!

Alex

The icon is on display at the Coptic Orthodox Monastery in Brenkhausen, Germany, which is the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Germany. I would interpret that as an endorsement.

At first glance it resembles some type of microprocessor chip.

Only thing missing is a bright green background.

I like the above icon but it looks a bit cartoonish.



Whereas I find this icon quite striking to look at. It speaks to me of their heroic fidelity to Christ while facing the reality of a gruesome death. It inspires me to prayer.

The icon that is the subject of this discussion departs from the tradition by depicting the torturers and executioners.

I cannot think of any Icons of Martyrs which show those who inflicted evils against them.

What about the icon of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist...



...or the icons of the New Martyrs of Russia?:

https://www.holycross-hermitage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/New-Martyrs.jpg



There are many other examples:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qEqEV79j7W4/Uwy35vm4o9I/AAAAAAAAnEs/pW6IR7G_-c4/s1600/martyrs11.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3JWW-hYkVdk/UdwiIJDjosI/AAAAAAAAjwk/ch6yHBFIf-o/s1600/michael.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OPNDgRSOz...zn-uSlBnyAs/s1600/apostolosmartyrdom.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3zMsuxB6..._d7AHzFY/s1600/loukilianos+martyrdom.jpg

And the slaughter of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem by Herod:

Both of those atrocities occurred before Christ's Pascha, placing those martyrdoms in a special class. For example, before the Pauline reforms the Holy Innocents was celebrated by the Latin church with violet vestments rather than red.

Post Pascha, post Pentecost...are there Icons of the Apostles, the early hiermartyrs Polycarp and Igantius; Thekla, Barbara, etc, depicting their violent end?

Here is one of Saint Panteleimon, with his life along, along with his tortures, along the edge (13th cen) Icon of St Panteleimon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pantaleon#/media/File:St_Panteleimon.jpg

This is a blog page on the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, including several examples of their martyrdom, along with crowns at the top:
http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/holy-forty-martyrs-of-sebaste.html

Of course, there are. I'm surprised you are not aware of them:

St. Peter the Apostle: link.

St. Paul the Apostle: link.

St. Andrew: link.

St. Polycarp: link.

Saint Ignatius: link.

Saint Barbara: link.

Saint Thekla: link.

One would hope that by now we all have a copy of an icon of the Coptic New Martyrs in our home shrines/icon corners!

Alex

I have one, in a frame. It's hanging on my icon corner, in the bedroom.

There's an icon of the Coptic, and Ethiopian martyrs, at one of the icon spaces, in my OCA parish.

Is it this one?:

You've outdone yourself Greigo Amigo!

A beautiful icon in the traditional Ethiopic style!

Alex

Yes!

But who are the Ethiopian Martyrs here?

Alex

It is my understanding that they were two groups of Ethiopian Christians who were killed in Libya. One group wore the orange jumpsuits while the other group wore black.

I am not aware of any published list of names nor if they have been canonized by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Thank you sir - I will ask my Ethiopian priestly acquaintance!

Alex