Wadi El-Natroun is the common name for the desert depression that lies to the west of the Delta, 50 km away from the area of El-Khatatba. It is located approximately in the middle of the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, where its northwestern edge is about 85 km from Alexandria, while the distance from its southeastern edge to Cairo is about 80 km. In the last third of the 4th century AD, the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great was established in Wadi El-Natrun by Abba Macarius (300-390 AD), the founder of the monastic movement in the Western Desert (Wadi El-Natrun). The monastery became famous as it was the first heir to the intellectual and cultural output of the Alexandrian School, which was transferred to it in the 5th century AD, following the events of the Council of Chalcedon and the conflicts that occurred then. This made the monastery a safe haven and a place of refuge for many patriarchs in times of crisis, so much so that many of them commanded to be buried there after their repose.

The Coptic Synaxarion mentions to us under the 8th of Toba (16th of January) the event of the consecration of the Church of Abba Macarius, the main church in the monastery, by Pope Benjamin I in the year 655 AD.

In this year 2025 AD, we, along with a large number of metropolitans, bishops, and monks from the monastery and other monasteries, celebrated the placing of the relics of 14 patriarchs buried in the monastery in a new shrine, after moisture seeped into the old shrine and caused damage. It is worth mentioning that history tells us that at least 29 patriarchs came out of this monastery, the most famous of whom is Pope Cyril I, the pillar of the faith, the 24th patriarch.

The custom of burying the patriarchs in the Monastery of St. Macarius began in the middle of the 9th century AD after the tombs of the patriarchs and monks were initially outside the monastery walls on the western side of the current monastery wall. In the 14th century AD, the tomb of the patriarchs with their relics was moved inside the monastery walls, then to Archangel Michael Church in the fortress, where they remained until the 20th century. In 1931 AD, the relics were moved to St. Macarius Church and placed in a rectangular cement shrine covered with a new wooden shrine beneath the three Saints Makarii relics, beside the northern wall inside the church. In 2024 AD, after rainwater seeped behind the northern wall of that church, causing damage to the relics by moisture, they were moved from that place, examined, and disinfected, and new boxes were made as well as a new shrine to be put beside the shrine of the three Saints Makarii on the western side of the same church, and they were transferred there.

After the thanksgiving prayer, we placed the fragrances on the wooden coffins and tubes that contain the relics amidst the joyful liturgical hymns and praises, and then the monks performed a procession of each coffin in the church and the altar before placing it in the new shrine.

The placement of the plant-based fragrances is an expression of the holy life that carried the sweet fragrance of Christ. The wooden coffins are also an expression of how each of these carried the wooden cross in their life’s journey, and all of this is done with hymns and praises that express their current state as they live in a new hymn where their resting place is.

The day ended with the Divine Liturgy in St. Macarius Church, where I gave a fitting sermon for this great event and participated in the Agape meal amidst a state of spiritual and heartfelt joy.

Below is a list of the fourteen patriarchs:

Pope Mark V [98] (1603–1619 AD)
26 Baona 1319 AM (30 June 1603 AD) – 1 Tout 1336 AM (9 September 1619 AD)

Pope Khail II [53] (849–851 AD)
24 Hatoor 566 AM (20 November 849 AD) – 22 Baramouda 567 AM (17 April 851 AD)

Pope Khail III (Michael I) [56] (880–907 AD)
30 Baramouda 596 AM (25 April 880 AD) – 20 Baramhat 623 AM (16 March 907 AD)

Pope Gabriel I [57] (909–920 AD)
21 Bashans 625 AM (16 May 909 AD) – 21 Amshir 636 AM (15 February 920 AD)

Pope Cosmas III [58] (920–932 AD)
4 Baramhat 636 AM (28 February 920 AD) – 3 Baramhat 648 AM (27 February 932 AD)

Pope Macarius I [59] (932–952 AD)
1 Baramouda 648 AM (27 March 932 AD) – 24 Baramhat 668 AM (20 March 952 AD)

Pope Christodoulos [66] (1046–1077 AD)
15 Kiahk 763 AM (11 December 1046 AD) – 14 Kiahk 794 AM (10 December 1077 AD)

Pope Cyril II [67] (1078–1092 AD)
22 Baramhat 794 AM (1078 AD) – 12 Baona 808 AM (July 1092 AD)

Pope Michael II [68] (1092–1102 AD)
12 Baba 809 AM (9 October 1092 AD) – 30 Bashans 818 AM (25 May 1102 AD)

Pope Macarius II [69] (1102–1128 AD)
13 Hatoor 819 AM (3 February 1102 AD) – 23 Kiahk 845 AM (19 December 1128 AD)

Pope Gabriel II (Ibn Turaik) [70] (1131–1145 AD)
9 Amshir 847 AM (9 November 1102 AD) – 10 Baramouda 861 AM (5 April 1145 AD)

Pope Michael III [71] (1145–1146 AD)
5 Mesra 861 AM (29 July 1145 AD) – 3 Baramouda 862 AM (29 March 1146 AD)

Pope John V [72] (1147–1166 AD)
2 Nasie 863 AM (25 August 1147 AD) – 4 Bashans 882 AM (29 April 1166 AD)

Pope Mark III (Ibn Zara’a) [73] (1166–1189 AD)
18 Baona 882 AM (12 June 1166 AD) – 6 Toba 905 AM (1 January 1189 AD)

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