It is indeed a pleasure to address all of you here to participate in this pilgrimage of Egypt. Egypt is not only a great historic land, a land of the Pharaohs, but it is as well a holy and blessed land. The reason why we are assembled here in different faiths is not only to strengthen the bridges between us that have been broken, but also to remind ourselves that we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, created in the Image of God our Creator.
Egypt is a holy land, because it protected the Holy Family who hid from King Herod that wanted to kill Jesus Christ, our Lord. Many great Saints and Prophets came out of its land. The Holy Family walked on the grounds of Egypt; thus, Egypt was receiving blessing upon blessing with every step on which they tread.
There were several apparitions of our Lady on the domes of the Coptic Churches. Everybody saw Her shimmering with light, and during her visitations, many miracles occurred. We shall also be visiting a Church by the river Nile in Maadi, where the monks found a Holy Bible floating on the banks of the river Nile near their monastery. It was open in the section from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 19:25 where it said: “The Lord Almighty will give His blessing in these words: ‘Blessed be My people Egypt.’”
In this journey we will be sharing our meals, our talks; we will be eating together, walking together, travelling together, visiting places, so in this way our knowledge of each other will increase; this sort of togetherness is called a Unity of life in its diversity, which is in fact a unity put into practice. The interfaith or ecumenical dialogues are good, but not sufficient; they become sterile and like ashes if they are not put into practice.
Our journey will take us across the desert to visit the Mount of Moses, where he received the Ten Commandments from God, as well to the famous Monastery of St. Catherine. According to a historic event, a Covenant called the Ashtiname, was made and signed by the Prophet Muhammad, peace upon him. It is a charter or writ granting protection and other privileges to the followers of Jesus, as it says, given to the monks of Saint Catherine’s Monastery. It is sealed with an imprint representing Prophet Muhammad’s hand! This original writ is in the museum of the Monastery which we hope we can visit.
Now, in these End of Times, God is manifesting Himself more than ever, showing to the world clearly His boundless Mercy, a Mercy that the world in its wickedness and egoism does not deserve. Let us understand that His Mercy comes from His unconditional Love that He has for us. His Mercy binds us to be together to remind all of us the following when He said these words to me back in 1985,: “I have fathered you, you come from Me, you descend from Me, you belong to Me, you are Mine, you are My seed…”
Let us remind ourselves that we all live under the same sun and are one big family under God’s Light, and in the Eyes of God, no matter of what creed we happen to be, or what part of the world we may come from. Those who are in different religions are not less; we are all creatures made in the Image of God and destined ultimately to live in the House of God. May this effort of our brotherly approach be blessed by God and be pleasing to God.
But if we don’t abide in God’s rules, He will hold us accountable for every uncharitable gesture: for disobedience to His Law, for our tepidity towards Him and our arrogance, our hypocrisy and for any insufficiency. We have to listen to Him, otherwise, if we don’t shape up He will ship us all out, just as He did then to the old Israelites.
God has chosen us; we did not choose Him. We were chosen to be God’s Ambassadors of peace, reconciliation and unity in diversity. He commissions anyone who is willing to go out and bear good fruit that lasts. Our primary mission then is to love God and to serve Him and love one another – doing good for the rest of our lives, thus glorifying God. We must lower our voice the Lord says, so that we hear His Voice, lower our heads so that His Head will be seen; we should lower ourselves entirely so that He is able to lift us.
So here I end with a message from our Lady given on the 31stJanuary, 1991:
“Praised be the Lord and peace to you all; God is calling you to Himself; meditate upon this; God has been calling you since you were born; born for Him; born to love Him, born to please Him, born to return to Him; (…) God is calling everyone to Himself, try to understand God’s Call of Peace; I exhort you to pray for Peace, be zealous for Peace, blessed children, let Me tell you once more that I need your prayers of Peace for I take them all and offer them as a bouquet of spring flowers to the Almighty; your prayers do not go in vain, they are a real glory to God; they are a proof of your love…”
Greeting in Arabic:
Sabah el keir. Good morning. Aheb aoul le-koule wahed menkoum, ahlan wasahlan fe Masr, om ed-dounia, balad elle andaha Tarikh azeem. I would like to tell to each one of you, welcome to Egypt, the mother of the world, and a country that has an amazing history. Ashkour – koum lell forsa el helwa, ennou nenkoun koullena sawa. I thank you for the nice opportunity of being together.
Ana, bent el Nil, ashan etwallat fe Masr. Awel ma eneya fatahet fel dounia, shafet nour Masr. I am a daughter of the Nile, As soon as my eyes opened to this world, they saw the light of Egypt.
Habl sorretti lessa marbout fe Masr. Le hobbi fiha wa fi ahalaha. My umbilical cord is still attached to Egypt. I love her and her nation.
Ana arfa el alb el masreyeen, albohom malayan hob. I know the Egyptians, their heart is full of love.
Ehna kollena hena alashan nekkarrem Esm Rabbenna We are all here so that we glorify the Name of God.
Etmana lel koll-wahed-menkom hena, ayyamat haj helwa. Wa atlob men Rabbenna Ye-barrekkom. Shoukran
I wish for everyone here, lovely pilgrimage days. And I ask from God to bless you.
Thank you.
