SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

ordinary mortal can describe this wonderful angelic voice which would draw the attention of everyone present." No matter how exaggerated this statement may have been, his recitation must have been awe-inspiring. This also was the only time that the monks or the monastery visitors would hear his voice over a significant period of time. There is nothing more appropriate to conclude the description of this aspect of his life than to quote Fr. John Watson words about him, 'He loved the Coptic language so much that just before his death he asked for a book of the Lenten prophesies [In Coptic] and read it in his cell." Among the Copts p. 26. Fr. Yustus and Archdeacon Yustos Takla: In 1976, Archdeacon Yustos Takla, then Mr. Noshy Takla, visited Egypt for the first time since he left it with his family in 1970. Visiting the monasteries was an important part of that short trip. In St. Antony monastery the two met. It was brief and abrupt, which is typical of people's encounter with him. In fact his reply to Mr. Takla's polite invitation to join them at the refectory to have his blessing was a stern and short rebuke for saying 'to have his blessing.' Nonetheless, Mr. Takla, at the encouragement of the accompanying priest, he took a picture of him afterward as he was sitting on the floor of his cell with a seemingly empty tin teacup. Mr. Takla was afraid that his entire film would share the same fate that someone else from the church had in an earlier trip. That earlier episode, Fr. Yustus

objected to being photographed because he felt it was being done out of ridicule. This time, by looking at the photograph, he seemed to have been posing in profile. This occurred about three and a half-month before his departure from our world. It is the second known photograph of him. Upon Mr. Takla return to Los Angeles and the successful development of the photograph, the mention of this saint was always part of his conversation with any one that would listen. The effect here was profound and lasting. Mr. Takla later became a prime force in preserving the monastery of St. Antony in California until 1989, when H.H. Pope Shenouda sent the first permanent group of monks to inhabit the monastery. In recognition for his tireless efforts he was ordained in the same year as a consecrated full deacon under the name of his choice, 'Yustos'! Bibliography: The following is a list of the more important literature that dealt with the life and/or mention of our saint: Maximous al-Antuni, The Life of the Anchorite Saint Yustus Al-Antuni, (Arabic) Cairo 1989. O.F.A. Meinardus, Monks and Monasteries of the Egyptian Deserts (Revised Edition) Cairo: American University Press, 1989. J. H. Watson, Abba Justus: A Modern Desert Father, London: Medan Books, 1993. J. H. Watson, Among the Copts, Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2000. R. Yanney, Father Justus of Saint Antony, Coptic Church Review vol. 6, 1985.

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter St. Mark’s Coptic Museum: Coptic Art - A Living Tradition (Helene Moussa, Ed.D.) Shenouda III. In July 1999 the Museum was opened to the public.

St. Mark’s Coptic Museum is located at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, which is the first Coptic Church in North America (1964). On November 27 th 1996, the Museum was launched and blessed by His Holiness Pope

It took 25 years and several trips to Egypt, France, and the US to research and collect some of the initial items in the Museum. The first acquisition was in 1972, a triptych of the

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