St Mary and St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church of St Louis

St Mary and St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church of St Louis

St. Mary and St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Louis is a church in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

A group of immigrants from Egypt felt the need to attend the liturgy . They invited Fr. Raphael Younaan, then of Montreal, Canada to visit St. Louis and celebrate the liturgy. Fr. Raphael came to St. Louis in late 1970 and the Coptic Mass was celebrated for the first time ever in St. Louis in an apartment near Deaconess Hospital on Oakland Ave. Approximately 20 people attended. Fr. Raphael agreed to visit St. Louis regularly bi- monthly. From the second visit on, the celebration of liturgy was held at the Deaconess Hospital Chapel. in 1974, Fr. Hanna Tadros of St. Mary Church, Queens, NY became the visiting Priest instead since he it was easier for him to visit. Fr. Hanna held most services in a small Baptist Church on Jefferson Ave. Among other priests visiting St. Louis: the late Fr. Antonius Baky, Fr. Ibrahim Aziz, Fr. Gabriel Abd- Elsayed, Fr. Zakaria, Fr. Marcos Daoud, and Fr. Mankarios Awadalla. The latter celebrated Palm Sunday which was the first time in St. Louis a feast was celebrated in the presence of a priest. Delegations visited the Patriarchate in Cairo who met with his Holiness Pope Shenouda III who promised to send a priest to serve the Coptic community in St. Louis and surrounding area. Shortly before Christmas 1979, Fr. Wessa Besada was chosen by the Pope to serve as the priest of St. Mary and St. Abraam Coptic Church in St. Louis. Fr. Bessada was contacted by members of the church council. Arrangements were made for his arrival in St. Louis. Fr. Wesaa and his wife arrived in St. Louis shortly before Christmas 1979. He celebrated the first Christmas at St. Mary and St. Abraam on January 7, 1980. About a year earlier, a house was bought and modified to be used as the priest's residence. Initially, the adjoining garage was linked to another garage to be used as the Church . Most of the members (25 families) enthusiastically labored to get the church and the residence ready for the priest's arrival. The work was a labor of love which was done in great cooperative spirit. Fr Wessa also helped in the construction work. A library room and a community hall (St. Mark's Hall) were later added. Bishop Wessa, the Bishop of Balianna visited the church and blessed the congregation during the time Fr. Wessa was the Priest. Fr. Wessa moved to Staten Island, NY in August 1980. During the period from August 1980 to March 1981 several priests celebrated the liturgy including Fr. Salib Ava Mina of St. Mina Monastery. In a visit by Fr. Shenouda of St. Mark Church in Chicago, the congregation learned the news that Fr. Ekladious Hanna was selected to become the priest of the church. Fr. Ekladious arrived to St. Louis in April, 1981 and he has been the priest of the church ever since. Fr. Ekladious has been active in spreading the good news not only in St. Louis, but he has been serving wherever there is need. He has traveled to Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, KS; Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; Ames, IA; Orlando, FL; Daytona, FL,...etc. Fr. Ekladious was transferred to central Florida in November, 1987. He worked with the local congregation in Orlando and surrounding area to find a permanent location for St. Mary and Arc -Angel Michael Church which was using the building another non-orthodox church fitting their service time to their service schedule. they moved to the new church in 1991. His Holiness sent a monk to St. Louis, Fr. Reuis Anba Paula served in St. Louis for a year. He paid special attention to Children, youth, and Adult Bible Studies. He increased number of Sunday School teachers to give children more quality learning. He took every opportunity to ordain youth as sub-deacons, and he held bible studies in the homes on a rotating basis to have no excuse.

In November, 1988, His Holiness appointed Fr. Bassellious Sedrak as the priest of St. Mary & St. Abraam Coptic Church. He also gave him the responsibility to serve at St. Mark & St. Bishoy in Chicago until a permanent priest is appointed on that Church. Fr. Bassellious continued the efforts of the previous pastors, and added more effort in the areas of Youth service by giving an English language sermon every Sunday, he teaches Coptic Language, and we have a weekly in -depth Bible Study at the Church after the raising of incense on Saturdays.

The New Church Building construction project is starting to take off. We completed all engineering drawings and have all the required municipal permits on hand. We pray that it will be completed soon and the Lord will add more people to his church in St. Louis, and keep those already in the fold in his faith.(This is the first of a series about the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church in America. We welcome information about the church in your area.) [ Since the First Edition was published in 1994, the Church building was completed and it was a miracle that we were able to get a loan for $750,000 from the same bank that refused to lend the Church 10 years earlier. Also, through an ideal presented to the Church to hire its own general contractor the cost was reduced from $1,200,000 to less than $800,000 and the Glory always be to God and we are grateful also for the Intercession of the Holy Virgin St. Mary, and the Prayers of Anba Abraam for a beautiful Church building and the prayers that are offered in the Church.]

External links

* [http://www.stmary-church.com Church website]


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