Pope Kyrillos the 6th was born on August 2nd, 1902 – named Azer Youssef Atta to a God – loving family rooted in prayer and service in Damanhour, Egypt.  At a very young age, Azer was attracted to the beauty of holiness and solitude.  It was said that he had the majority of the Gospel of St. John memorized at a very early age in which he would happily recite the beautiful verses to his teachers and classmates, who ended up picking them up themselves.  

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When Azer was only about 7 years of age, his mother Esther, passed away.  And she gave him a very interesting gift before her passing.  That gift was an introduction to St. Mina the Martyr & Wonderworker.  While St. Mina today is a very well-known saint, at the time of the early 1900s, St. Mina was not at all popular.  It is important to understand that most of the time, patron saints chose us and not we, them.  And this is the most likely case in the blossoming relationship between young Azer and St. Mina.  As the years continued, their relationship became very direct and real.  

Azer continued in the love of God and was called to the monastic life in 1927 at the Baramous Monastery where he was ordained with the name Fr. Mina El-Baramousy.   Interestingly, the name Mina that he was named after was not the same St. Mina the Martyr and Wonderworker that he loved.  He was named after St. Mina the monk.  But we can only help to realize that the name Mina was chasing after him.  Fr. Mina El-Baramousy continued to grow strong in spirit and God gave him a multitude of talents in which the most popular of them are the gift of performing miracles. He is not considered a saint because of this God-given talent but, he is a saint because of his level of holiness and his great love for God. In his life, his virtues that gave him the ability of carrying out miracles by the name of God, was his life of prayer.  

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Fr. Mina El-Baramousy longed for a life of quietness and thus became a hermit in a cave near the monastery from 1934-1936.  Unfortunately, there was a very unpleasant situation with 6 monks who were to be expelled from the monastery on the Eve of Palm Sunday.  Fr. Mina El-Baramousy left his desert cave to take care of those expelled in an attempt to return them to their monastery, in which by the grace of God, was successful.  

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After returning the monks to their monastery, Fr. Mina left his desert cave and resided in a war torn, abandoned windmill on the outside of Cairo from 1936 to 1941.  He lived as an urban monk between his family and churches and became known as an extremely holy man performing great wonders.  As a result of this, many people followed after him.  Due to jealousy from some people, churches locked him out and he was forced to sleep on street curbs. 

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In 1944, while Fr. Mina was considered an urban monk living in St. Mina’s church in Old Cairo in which he built, he was appointed as the Head of the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor.  During this time, students would come to him to get his spiritual guidance.  Among the students were known people such as the future Pope Shenouda III, the future Fr. Matthew the Poor, the future Bishop Domadios of Giza, and the future Bishop Athanasius of Beni-Seuf, who were all vitally important in the Sunday School Movement which would prove to be instrumental in the revitalization of the Coptic Orthodox Church.  

In 1959, Fr. Mina the Hermit was ordained as Pope Kyrillos the 6th, the 116th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.  In his 12 years as a Pope, Pope Kyrillos the 6th became the lighthouse of the church, reflecting the Light of God throughout all his work and service. He reinstituted the importance of theological and spiritual knowledge in the churches and monasteries.  He renovated the glorious monasteries of the Egyptian deserts and the cathedral of St. Mark the Evangelist in Cairo.  He brought back the relics of St. Mark from Italy, and he established churches in the United States of America, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Africa.  Additionally, during his time as Pope, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared for all to see her on April 2nd, 1968 at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Zeitoun, Egypt.   

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The transformation of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the hands of Pope Kyrillos the 6th were due to his consistency in prayer.  Prayer was the main point of his life which moved the Hands of the One who moves the world.  Pope Kyrillos’ life of prayer was incredibly strong and consistent throughout his life. He urged all to stand before the Lord as having the attire of our soul woven with threads of love, without jealousy or hate.  He teaches us to persist in and honor reading, if possible, more than prayer because reading is the spring of intelligent prayer.  

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As a true man of prayer – prayer was on his mind, on his tongue, and most importantly in his heart.  There was a time where he fell ill and needed surgery.  While Pope Kyrillos was unconscious because of the medicine, he recited psalms, praises, and liturgical prayers.  As you can see, whether he be in a conscious state or unconscious state; in the city or the desert – his life was consistent in prayer to our Beloved God.  

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He is considered the silent patriarch because he chose silence over speaking. Not out of lack of education, as he was a very educated man who lived in the city of Alexandria and left the world and its riches, for the beauty of holiness.  A rare snippet from an article in which was published in a Theological Journal called the Harbor of Salvation on May 8th, 1928, Pope Kyrillos states, “Prayer is the mother of virtues in every instinct, the guard of every virtue and its protector, it is the store of graces, the guard of satisfaction, the controller of anger and the calming of the prideful spirit.  It is the victory of the warrior, the banner of the fighter, the seal of chastity, the reign of virginity, the guard of the travelers.  It is power for the weak, the wealth of the poor, a resort to the afflicted, a comfort to the grieving, and an intercessor for sinners.” 

Our father, St. Kyrillos the 116th Pope of the Church of Alexandria departed to the Heavenly Jerusalem on March 9th, 1971 and was canonized as a Saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church on June 20th, 2013. 

May his prayers be with us all. Amen