In July 1976, about fifty years ago, this touching story took place: His Eminence of blessed memory, Metropolitan Bakhomius of Beheira, Egypt, and Pentapolis, was residing in the temporary bishopric headquarters at Archangel Michael Church in Damanhur. He was about to get to the weekly servants meeting at 6 pm; however, it seemed that a certain problem occurred that made him upset. He went out and stood on the pavement of the building, facing the church, holding his staff, and waiting for the meeting time at six. A little girl named Marian, about six years old, approached him and stood before him saying: “You are beautiful and sweet as sugar.” He greeted her and smiled, and his expression changed and he entered the service meeting. He made the sermon topic be “The Value of a Word,” recounting this story and how a small child, with simple words, changed the mood, and how a word can have a great impact in the life of service.

On March 30, 2025, we commemorated the departure of the elder of metropolitans of blessed memory, whom God granted the blessing of a long life of nearly ninety years (1935–2025), during which he served for seventy-five years, spanning from the second half of the twentieth century to the first quarter of the twenty-first century. He lived through six patriarchs (from the 113 Pope to the 118), and served as a bishop and metropolitan of a vast diocese for fifty-four years without weariness or rest. He was succeeded by four venerable bishops who built on the spiritual steps he laid. His service was crowned when he became the patriarchal locum tenens following the departure of the Late Pope Shenouda III in March 2012.

Divine providence willed that I be a witness, a disciple, and a learner during the episcopal period of the late Metropolitan Bakhomius when he became Bishop of Beheira in December 1971. At that time, I was beginning my university studies, in my church, Archangel Michael Church in Damanhur, which was the bishopric headquarters during the first ten years of his episcopate.

Therefore, it is fitting to present some of the experiences of His Eminence in the service as I saw, lived, and experienced them:

• Designating specific days in the year to be “local feasts” for the diocese in various service groups, such as July 23 (Annual Servants’ Day), October 6 (Annual Youth Day), the second Friday of March (Day of the Consecrated), the last week of August (revival of the patron saint of repentance, Saint Augustine), the first Monday of the Advent, Great Lent, and Apostles’ fasts (diocese clergy meeting), the first Friday of August (gathering of residents of the Pentapolis in Damanhur), and November 11 (celebrating his monastic anniversary with a liturgy for all the people in the monastery).

• His love for serving the poor and the needy, organizing this service, and establishing guiding principles such as: no hungry person is deprived of food, no girl is deprived of the opportunity to marry, and so on. These principles along with others he established for a total of ten, became a beacon for a strong service.

• On the mornings of the Feasts of the Nativity, Resurrection, and Nayrouz, he would share breakfast with all the workers in the churches of the diocese and greet them in a meeting of fatherly care and attention for this group (orban maker, security guard…etc).

• On any occasion, when he met a woman dressed in black, he would ask her why. When he learned who had departed, he would console her and might visit her family at their home.

• His interest in saints’ glorifications, especially the Virgin Mary and Saint Mark, and holding nights of vigil and praise on their feast days, along with the service of beautiful hymns in the month of Kiahk, Nayrouz, and other occasions.

• He was keen on passing on experience in dealing with officials and government authorities. He took me with him many times when submitting documents for the building of a church application, visiting a senior official and presenting an appropriate gift, enthroning a bishop outside Egypt, preparing for Pope Shenouda’s visit to Libya in 2003, receiving officials during feasts and Ramadan tables, as well as receiving foreign delegations.

• He encouraged education and the development of servants and youth. He encouraged me to attend a conference on Development and the Church in Cyprus in 1990, and another on Leadership and the Church in Singapore in 1999. Not only me, but many servants and priests were encouraged by him in such matters since they would serve the Church as a whole.

• He gave special attention to the consecration of young men and women, entrusting them with many responsibilities so that their talents and abilities would be seen. It is enough to know that one church in the diocese presented more than thirty priests, monks, nuns, and consecrated servants over a period of about twenty years.

• He was very keen on inviting metropolitans, bishops, and priests, whether for annual revivals or annual conferences for youth and servants. Inviting a bishop during priestly ordinations was a priority for him, and he rarely ordained a priest without the presence of one of the venerable bishops.

• He encouraged the churches of the diocese to participate in central activities organized by the Patriarchate, such as the annual Kiraza Mahragan and annual youth and servants’ conferences, and others. He also encouraged attendance at any collective meetings or conferences, as he cared for the unity of the Church across all its dioceses as one entity under the leadership of the Pope and Patriarch. Among the phrases he often said when he saw reluctance in such matters was: “Better not let Saint Mark be upset,” as if he always saw the See (the preaching, Al-kiraza) as one united mission.

• The evangelistic dimension was always before him. He evangelized in Sudan and in some African countries such as Libya, Ethiopia, and others. He had a special passion for evangelism among non-Christians and spoke about it with many experiences and great joy.

• The service of the mobile altar and the service bag for the mobile altar in villages without churches occupied much of his thought and time. He ordained priests for this blessed service and studied its importance as if he were planting seeds that would grow over time. Many of these service locations became churches serving large numbers of Copts. Without exaggeration, village service constituted nearly half of the diocesan service, and he often said, “The village is the wall of the city.”

Of course, it is not possible to enumerate all the experiences and principles he established, but what has been mentioned is a small part of his service and impact. Through it, we remember a faithful servant in the history of our holy Church, whom we follow in our service from generation to generation.

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