SAINT JOACHIM OF ALEXANDRIA

We know very little about the existence of the great Churches of Alexandria and Antioch after the collapse of the unity of these once powerful apostolic patriarchates as a result of their refusal to agree with the decrees of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon and the subsequent Islamic conquests. The Life of Patriarch Joachim of Alexandria helps us learn a lot.

1 On September 30, the Church commemorates St. Joachim of Alexandria. The saint lived an extremely long life, 119 years, and was the Greek Orthodox Patriarch from 1487 to 1567, with a break.

2 In 1516-17, as a result of the Ottoman-Mamluk War, Egypt was conquered by the Ottomans. The Mamluk Sultanate ceased to exist, and the Ottoman Empire became a world empire, almost equal in territory and dominance to the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, in its heyday.

3 Christianity in Egypt was represented mainly by the Copts. At one time, the Egyptian Church did not accept the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451 in Chalcedon on Christology and church structure and from 537, headed by its “Monophysite” Patriarch and hierarchy, it existed separately from the Universal Church. The flock of this Church numbered in the millions.

4 The Greek Orthodox Patriarch remained in an absolute minority. Gradually, he became the envoy of the Patriarch of Constantinople to the Egyptian Court. At first, he led about 300,000 Orthodox Christians, but this number quickly declined. During the time of St. Patriarch Joachim, there were only about 1,000 Orthodox families.

5 Joachim’s contemporaries felt that God had placed a great ancient prophet at the head of the small flock of the Church of Alexandria. He was a strict ascetic, a devotee, and a man of prayer, revered even by people of other faiths. Attempts to poison him were unsuccessful, and once, according to his life, at his prayer, in confirmation of the words of the Gospel, the mountains shook.

6 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32). In our days of universal шindifference and unbelief, Saint Patriarch Joachim inspires the faithful with his great example of perseverance and good deeds, despite all the circumstances of the times.