Annual general meeting of the CMS trustees

9/12/07, Birmingham


 
 
1. New trustees were elected: Mr Magdy Michel, Mr Michael Georgy,Maria Dimitry, Mark Michel and
Claire Raphael. Nagy Aziz to be contacted to see if he wishes to serve as a trusteee to cover Manchester.
the young people wish to call thrmselves " Coptic Health Carers" ; to widen the umbrella and include
all those who work in health, not just medics
2.Essam presented the accounts up to 31/3/07, Gross income £140771.00, Gross expenditure 139930.00.
 Main areas of spending: Palliative Cancer Care, Support of the poor and needy, Support of new doctors.Accounts approved
It was suggested that CMS membership to remain at £10 annually, but a voluntary contribution of
£100 a year is to be encouraged
3.In order to increase membership and awareness of the society, the following was suggested:
  a.Have reps to cover various regions, Magdy to cover Nottingham, need a cover for Manchester
  b. Produce a leaflet explaining the range of activities, ( MB) to coordinate
  c. A get together Fri evening and Saturday. Fr Yohanna and Fr Thomas to be approached
      Kamel Sharobeem, Magda Youssef, Samia Georgy to work on this. Aims : social/ spiritual,but
      light
  d.Fundraising for Baroness Cox ? March 08, Fayek to coordinate with Onsy Luca and Ibrahim Habib
4.Magdy Bassilious presented his work. The Alexandria Hospice is progressing well. Anticipated date
to open May 08. A doctor and a nurse will come in Feb 08 for a month for training. The Hospice; the
1st in Egypt will have 8 beds, a day center. Work will also go on in community setting. Projected
cost around £50,000.00
The Kenya project is also progressing well. Magdy purchased equipment worth new in excess of £700,000 ,
for only £50,000 from NHS auction. Cost of shipping and storage will take overall cost to £70,000.
Anba Boulos is very appreciative. Endoscopes, ventillators, theater equpment, blood testing
machines, etc.
Fayek asked if trustees are to contribute £1000 each to support, this was agreed
All trustees thanked Magdy for his work

 

 
 

Coptic Medical Society Newsletter

 

There is an ongoing support of needy patients, the poor in Egypt and Africa, and support of newly arriving doctors. However, the last few months saw some very exciting progress for the CMS.

In Africa: His Grace Bishop Boulos, visited London in May 2007. He explained the great need for medical equipment for the Coptic Hospital in Kenya. A new hospital is being planned for Nigeria. The hospital programme is necessary for the Coptic mission in Africa. The cost of equipment is high. Dr Magdi Bassilious attended several NHS auctions and managed to purchase large quantities of medical equipment at a fraction of the cost price.

 

The following equipment were purchased: eight ventilators, six monitors for BP, oxymetry, CO2, blood gas machines to test acidosis, suction machine, nebulizers, three gastroscopes, a bronchoscope, a colonoscope and a light source, two theatre tables, six diathermy machines, monitors for the operating theatre as well as a large set of surgical instruments for orthopaedic, plastic and gynaecology operations. Laryngoscopes, stethoscopes, 15 ripple mattresses, Kitchen food warmer, washing machine and dishwasher, mobile X-ray machine and equipped dental unit. The real cost of the above is in the region of £650 000. Magdi was able to get the above for around £30 000. One large container was sent to Kenya recently and another one is to be sent soon.

 

In Alexandria: A charitable foundation is about to be registered in Alexandria through the social affairs ministry. The foundation will support the running of probably the first hospice in Egypt for cancer patients. A large six bedroom flat was purchased in Fleming, Alexandria. The plan is to have eight beds, operating theatre for nerve blocks including epidurals to control cancer pain. The hospice will offer facilities for physiotherapy, occupational therapy and a roof terrace including a kitchen. The official opening is planned for January 2008.

 

Ibtisam, a recently retired army major who ran the army nursing school will be in charge of the palliative care centre. She will come for four weeks to London shortly for palliative care training in an English hospice and for further training by Samira Gabra, a palliative care consultant.

 

  Everyone is encouraged to contribute financially to complete the above and doctors support is needed . Donations by cheque in the name of The Coptic Medical Society at Furlongs, London Road, Surrey GU20 6PJ. Please give your name and address for tax claim purposes.

 

 
 

Sharing Faith with Patients

by

Mark Pickering

 

On the 24th June Mark Pickering the Student Secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) came to speak to the Coptic Medical Society about how Christian doctors can share their faith with their patients.  Dr. Pickering mentioned many barriers that doctors face which prevent them from talking about their faith, these included courage, uncertainty as to how to discuss spiritual issues, a lack of experience, difficulty in using the right language, the negative attitude of peers and the GMC, concern that you may be abusing your position as a doctor and finally a very real concern was a lack of time.

However, research shows that faith is important and has a strong relationship with health.  There is significant evidence to show that faith has a positive impact on illness prevention, coping, recovery from surgery and even improving treatment outcomes (on the other hand faith can also have a negative impact e.g. due to feelings of guilt or condemnation). Statistics show that 71% of the public have an important spiritual belief even though many do not express it in a religious way.

          So faith is important to patients and impacts on their health, but is it appropriate to talk about it in a medical setting? The answer is yes but there are three important things to remember when opening about spiritual matters:

  1. sensitivity
  2. permission
  3. respect

 

In Colossians 4:6 it says,

  “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

 

Thus we are called to be salt and light to the world… However, it is important to be just the right saltiness.  Doctors know this, when treating patients there are times when a high concentration of salt is needed to help them get better whilst other times a weaker concentration is needed (and a higher concentration would be deadly).

0.9% salt – usually a healthy amount

3% salt - sometimes need this much but rarely (can be deadly if used inappropriately)

5% dextrose (sugar) - can be bland (although it is good to give sweet words, it is not enough to survive, the salt is needed as well as the nice things)

 

If you turn to Act 17:16-34, we see how Paul speaks to the Athenians… To begin with when he spoke in the synagogue he was misunderstood, but in the Areopagus he met them on their own territory and spoke of things they understood e.g. the Unknown God, Greek poetry.  St. Paul did three important things in this second meeting with the people of Athens:

·         He created a safe environment – by talking to the people about what they feel comfortable about he made the people as comfortable as possible. 

·         He used words the people could understand - St. Paul used simple words and words that the Greeks were familiar with (much like how you should not use medical jargon, you should not use Christian jargon).

·         He gave them an opportunity for questions and discussions – if you give people small amounts of the truth and then let them ask questions and show you their understanding.

 

As doctors it is important to know what the General Medical Council expects of doctors and if speaking about spiritual matters is against their regulations. 

In the duties of a GMC registered doctor, there are 14 points to adhere to, including:

         Respect patients’ dignity and privacy

         Listen to patients and respect their views

         Give patients information in a way they can understand

         Respect the rights of patients to be fully involved in decisions about their care

         Make sure that your personal beliefs do not prejudice your patients’ care

         Avoid abusing your position as a doctor…

“In all these matters you must never discriminate unfairly against your patients or colleagues.   And you must always be prepared to justify your actions to them”

 

The GMC says that if you are talking about spiritual matters, it is important to firstly give good medical care.  Also, you are expected to be able to justify why what you said was important and why you said what you said.  In the GMC Annual Report 1993:4, the GMC spoke regarding the doctors’ use of professional standing to promote personal interests & beliefs, it concluded that it was important to be sensitive and give good care and that it would not be right to stop doctors from addressing their beliefs.

 

“Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.” Philippians 2:14-16

 

These verses from the book of Philippians help us to take an eternal perspective when speaking to others.  We should pray for opportunities to speak to others about God, and ask God how we can help Him serve this person in what God is doing in this person’s life.  We must also consider the spiritual baggage of major influences and past experiences in the person’s life.  In reality most people meet Christ through ongoing influence in friends and relatives.  It is our role to help people get closer to Christ and often we can help be just one step on a long path towards Him.  So some people we meet will be far from Him and maybe we can make them less sceptical about the Church or Christ whilst others will be already close to Him and we can help draw them nearer.

 

Sometimes it is easier to discuss spiritual matters with a patient, such as when a patient is suffering from a terminal illness or major illness or when they are in a perioperative stage.  Also, during social and psychological problems like depression or at a time of loss, it may be something that the patient would like to discuss, or even during health maintenance examinations.

 

If it is appropriate just like taking any other history you can take a “Spiritual History”.

  • Belief – Do you have a personal faith that helps in a time like this?
  • Practice – How does this affect the way you live? Have you ever prayed about your situation?
  • Faith Community – Who gives you support? Do you belong to a faith community?

 

However, sometimes it is not the time for a “Spiritual History” or there simply is not time for one… in which case you can use faith flags.  These are small things which raise spiritual issues in a non-threatening quick way as a natural part of conversation.  They do not need a response but create an opportunity that the patient can grasp and lets them know that you are a member of God’s family.  Examples of faith flags include saying thank God or when asked about your weekend saying if you went to church.  Even just wearing a cross can be a faith flag.

 

Other people can also be involved in reaching out to patients e.g. fellow Christian healthcare professionals, chaplains or Christian counselors, church ministries e.g. the Alpha Course or you could recommend a book or give a booklet with the permission of the patient.

 

The passage in Philippians 2 speaks of penetrating the darkness for this it you need light, this involves being a good doctor, a good person and someone who really cares.  It is a great privilege that doctors have contact with so many people, far more people visit their doctor than go to church.  Also, it takes prayer, we should ask for wisdom, opportunities, courage and to know what God is doing in each situation.

 

Finally, Dr. Pickering reminded us that evangelism is a process, we just try and bring people closer to God but in the end their eternal destiny is in God’s hands and although we can introduce a person to Christ it is up to them if they want to really get to know Jesus.

 

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile, praying for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.  Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.  Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:2-6)xz

Lydia Dimitry

 

Doctors as tools in the hand of God

 

By Dr. Michael Henein

 

Wisdom 38:

 

“His knowledge will come from the Most High”.

 

The knowledge we receive in our career is from God Himself.  It is true that we work hard and do research but the knowledge itself is ultimately from Him. Our knowledge is given to us to help humanity and to alleviate their pain.

 

Although, it is true that medicine allows us to cure many diseases, we know that this is not always the case and that is why our words matter too.  It is important for us as Christian doctors to treat patients as a whole, to think of the third dimension and this can take much time.  When medicine cannot provide a cure, the patient’s family can often feel much grief, and we should try to provide comfort at this time.

 

Medicine is not a 9 to 5 job.  We are asked by God to serve His children.  I believe it is, or at least I look at it, like a human mission that needs to be guided by God rather than just a job. Our mission as Children of God is to try our utmost and to leave the situation in God’s hands and not to interfere with his plans. We, as Christians, need to believe in the importance of allowing God to work through us. The book of Isaiah says that we are tools in His hand.  Likewise, we should be vehicles for God to give His Word to the patient. 

 

Our work in medicine should be based on HONESTY, PATIENCE and UPDATED KNOWLEDGE.

 

HONESTY:  

 

Shortcuts are beloved to the human nature, we often choose ‘the route of least resistance’, on the other hand, to be a good doctor we should take the right path not necessarily the easiest. If we believe that we have surrendered the whole plan of our lives to God, and medicine is His plan for us then He has left a certain responsibility in our hands.  In the same way, as Abouna is entrusted with our spiritual lives, we are entrusted with the health of our patients.  It is true that the right way is not always easy; although we should not feel it as very hard. I see our work in medicine as similar to an order of prayer and not less important.

 

As Christian physicians we should not hesitate to approach the long way in this service of helping patients, although we may be deprived from our free time, this commandment (to take the right path) is no different from any of God’s other commandments. Even if in work, you are mocked or seem a little bit different because you use your spare time trying to find out the best treatment for your patient, rather than watching a television programme or participating in other social activities.  Although, these would be good and not doing them may leave you feeling left out, we should think of it as one of The Lord’s commandments, to put the health of our patients first.

 

I have learned from my uncle that I should research in books and the internet for the solutions for difficult cases the same evening that I meet the patients. A valuable piece of advice is that if you fail in solving a case on your own, then try to find a 2nd/3rd opinion even if they are abroad, in the US... or however difficult it may seem and do not be afraid to refer your patients to other doctors as needed. Looking after a patient is a great responsibility.  Be honest when looking after your patients’ health. The more knowledge you seek for your patients’ benefit the more blessing God will ordain you.

 

Sometimes you will find you are able to solve a very difficult case, one that your seniors were not able to solve (when you humble yourself).  Enlightenment comes from God, so humble yourself and let God work in your life.  God is not ‘slow’ to work through us if we humble ourselves and ask for his help.  He can help us acquire knowledge and help our understanding.

 

You can humble yourself before God in your bedroom but when you are on the playing field and you know the treatment for a patient you need to speak up, this is not the time to be humble.    We need to have knowledge but also wisdom to apply it appropriately.  If you are certain of your answer you need to be assertive however you should never, ever be assertive or stubborn out of selfish pride. 

 

PATIENCE

 

Don’t rush your study, you might need to study biochemistry as part of your degree and you do not enjoy it or find it hard.  However, you need to know it just in case one day one of the chemists comes to you discussing the effect of a certain drug; you will need to be fully aware of its chemical structure.  I do not mean to be harsh but anyway this is a serious bit of our life.  Success in medicine is not a gift or special talent, it’s an effort; a big and hard effort.

 

UPDATED KNOWLEDGE:

A physician should not stop studying a certain part of medicine. To fulfil the commitment, you need to continue your life updating your knowledge and you’ll be surprised by what God does through your effort.  God knows exactly when you will hang your stethoscope, when your last day in medicine will be.

 

On one occasion I was with Father Bishoy Kamel, a great spiritual leader in Alexandria, during his last days when he was dying of cancer.  He was talking to a group of people and he pointing at a certain man in front of the congregation and said: “You are the best one”.  It turned out that he was Father Bishoy’s physician throughout his last days. He had tried his best to alleviate Abouna’s terrible pain from cancer. 

 

At the end of the day, engineers deal with machines, but physicians deal with human beings. This is what grace we get from our job.

 

It’s a life mission if we respect it, we’ll be really successful.

 

Questions at end:

How can we choose our speciality?

We need to pray and ask God’s guidance.  We will hear many people saying many different things to us, ‘this is good for you’, ‘this is easier’, ‘this is less competitive’ etc; this is all like noise in our ears but we need to pray and we will know the speciality God wants for us.

 

Ask priest??

 

Do you find that medicine helps spirituality?

 

Yes, on one occasion, there was a surgeon doing an operation and I was the anaesthetist.  The patient had lost much blood and I could not find a pulse.  I had expected the next morning when I got to work that she would have passed away but to my surprise she was well and sitting up.  In this occasion, you can say that God wanted her to live and therefore we saw His hand in our w


Medical Society meeting held on Sunday 17th September 2006

 

                    

 

The Coptic Medical Society and the United Copts of Great Britain
 
Held a meeting on 18th Feb 2007
 
At Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotel NEC
 
Speaker was:
Bayoumi Kndil
Journalist, translator, researcher in Egyptology & linguistics
and short story writer & playwright & poet
 
                       
On the 18th Feb, Copts United and the Coptic Medical Society held a meeting
at the Hilton Metropole, Birmingham.
The speaker, Mr Bayoumi Kandil, is a Coptic scholar and an Egyptian
thinker. He gave two valuable lectures. The first was on the concept that the
colloquial Arabic is an independent and equal to the classic Arabic. It is
in no way inferior to the classic Arabic. Mr Kandil spoke eloquently in
colloquial Arabic. The colloquial Arabic has various roots. The Coptic as
well as the Turkish roots left there prints on it. For example, Arm in Arabic
is zeraa. The word is feminine. The colloquial Arabic is deraa which is
masculine. To describe someone who is a thug, you say "Ayesh bel deraa", if
you try to translate this into classical Arabic, it will not make sense." He
lives with his arm" is meaningless. The Coptic word for deraa is shops which
is masculine. The expression is based on Coptic phrase.

Mr Kandil looked at the Iranian culture which includes Islam but not built
on Islam. A disciple of Al Khomeini was quoted as saying" Islam is my wife
and Iran is my mother. I could divorce my wife, but I cannot divorce my
mother". While Iranians adopted Islam, they kept their language and culture.
We should be looking at our common denominators with our Muslim brothers.
There is a common fabric that all Egyptians can identify with. Islamic
extremism can weaken such fabric. A secular party like "Mother Egypt" party
could be an umbrella to bring all Egyptians together.

We had live entertainment from Sophia and music from Emad Shaker
A much enjoyable afternoon. Thanks to Magda Youssef and Ibrahim Habib who
made it happen
.
"On the difference/differences between Modern Egyptian
          language, dubbed "Amiyya" and the Classical Arabic".
 
"The Urgent Necessity of a Political Party
          expressing & defending Egyptian Identity:
          an attempt towards translating a cultural perspective
          into a political program."
Egyptian live Music
لقاء الأستاذ بيومى قنديل
 مع جمعية الأطباء القبطية ببريطانيا و الأقباط المتحدون ببريطانيا
 يوم الأحد 18/2/07
بفندق هيلتون متروبول برمنجهام
dscf0013
المحاضرة الأولى: الفروق بين العامية والفصحى
تفوق العامية وجذورها القبطية
 أسئلة و أجوبة محاضرة اولى 
 المحاضرة الأولى مكتوبة
المحاضرة الثانية:الضرورة الملحة لقيام حزب سياسى
 يعبر عن الهوية المصرية ويترجم المضمون الثقافى
الى برنامج عمل
Audio
Part 1 Stream FolderPart 2 Stream FolderPart 3 Stream FolderPart 4 Stream Folder
 

 

The Egyptian Medical Society (UK)
  www.emsuk.org

Dr Magdy Ishak
elected 
president of
The Egyptian Medical Society (UK)
 
     
 
The Egyptian Medical Society (UK)

 

The Annual General Meeting and Dinner

 

                Saturday 28th October 2006

 

      Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill Hotel

 

 

 

Annual general meeting of the CMS trustees
Birmingham, 09/07/06

 
 
Trustees Present:  N Raphael, E S Dimitry, M Bassilious, R Gadelrab, I Neoman, N S Isshsk, I B Sidhom, M Youssef, M Bassilious
Members Present:  George Malek, Fayek Youssef, Samira Iskander-Gabra, Gamal Gabra, Inas Matta, Mary Atalla, M Ibrahim
Appologies:  S Shalaby, N Aziz
 
1 Approval of minutes of London meeting of 9th April 2005.


2 Approval of accounts of the charity for the period from 1/4/05 to 31/3/06 presented by ES Dimitry.


● Total donation of year £71879
 
● Total spent £52874:
 
                                 ● CMS newsletter £575  
                                 ● Global cancer care Egypt £7780
                                 ● New doctors support £8620
                                 ● The poor and the needy £35608
 
3 There is a problem with the £6000 that was sent to GCC Egypt, where the Egyptian Security forces have frozen the account for now. It was decided to try to move the money back to the account. It may be best to release the money in cash to be redirected to the poor and the needy as well as global cancer care, on the understanding that receipts will be provided.


4 Money collected for support of Global cancer care should be spent on global cancer care.
A steering group for Global Cancer care involves N Isshak, Samira Gabra, Fayek Youssef, Magdy Bassilious, and Nabil Aziz.


5 A method of regular communication between the chairman, treasurer and the trustees. All e-mails were collected for future use (Raafat gadelrab).


6 Detailed report on progress of Global Cancer care in Egypt and projected activities (Mr. N S Isshsk & S Iskander-Gabra)
- Training and teaching activities.
- Contacts with various organisations and individuals e.g. Ragaa centre, Rev. L Daoud, national organisations and churches.
- Palliative care provision to cancer care in Egypt
       
 Ihab Karam in Cairo
        
Dr. Gordon Hafez & Dr. Ghobrial Kamal in Alexandria
        
Dr. Soheir Kamel in Tanta.
- Establishing two cancer care centres in Warrak, Embaba, Giza & Al-Romany   
Hospital, Al-Hadra, Alexandria


7 Fundraising for the charity activities:
- Personal invitation, standing order, Gift aid forms, Global Cancer care  information.
- Fundraising dinners at Manchester, Birmingham and London with Good speakers.
- The donators need to know the expenditure on the palliative care and encourage the Donators to help and support the services with medicine.

8 Assistance to new comers doctors from Egypt (E Dimitry, F Youssef, K Sharobeem & Father J Albair)

 
9 Three meetings of the CMS Medical student  through 2005-2006

 

 

 
Coptic Music
Classic  &  Modern
Fundraising Dinner
Sunday 14th of May 2006
Maria Centre
23 Kensington Square, London
Guest Speaker
Mr. Nabil Kamel
Coptic Musician, Alexandria

 

+

Coptic Music from pre-entering Christianity to Egypt to the 21st Century

 

it has been said perhaps a little too often that "East is east and West is west, and never the Twain shall meet." But if there is one medium through which I am sure they can and eventually will meet, it is that of Music…….

These themes (Coptic Music) are in many cases extremely fine. In some instances they are magnificent. They compare favorably with those of the greatest masters in musical history.

ERNEST NEWLANDSMITH

A lecture delivered at the University of Oxford,

On May 21, 1931

 

A wider understanding to several issues related to the characteristics of Coptic music, deeper spiritual meditations, answering questions on why the Coptic Hymns are always sung by Ow www, ae eee, Why it’s only vocal Music, why some hymns are long and other questions, comes from a Spiritual, historical and Musical view to the Coptic Hymns.

 

Main features

Before we start our tour, we should take a look at the main features of the Coptic Music.

When we listen to any Church Hymn or we say it we'll find that the long part of the theme  is on the "O"," Aó", "Ee", etc.. And if we notice we will find that these letters are the VOWELS of the language.

If we take any Hymn for example as “Alleloya” we'll find that the long parts of the theme are on the "A", "E", "O" and "A", other like “Hi ten ni ebresvia” we'll find the long part of the theme is on the "I", and so on for any other theme, so one of the main features of the Coptic Hymns is that the long part of the theme is centered on the vowels, there is a  reason for that, and it will appear later

 

The proof

Now the major question from where are we going to know about the music of pre-entering Christianity to Egypt, and what is the relation between today Coptic Music and pre-entering Christianity Music ?

 

Dr Er.Newlandsmith said “For seeing that this music is Coptic, that St. Mark-the-Evangelist was the first Patriarch of the Coptic Church, and that there has been an unbroken patriarchal succession from his day until now, it is practically certain that this music not only dates back to the first days of the Christian Era but that it probably dates from a much earlier date. We know that the Coptic Church took over many usages from the ancient Egyptian temple worship such as the surplice and the tonsure; and, in view of the deeply spiritual part that music played in the worship of the ancient Egyptians, it is almost certain that some of this music also must have been carried over.”

 

 Philo (20 B.C.-50 A.D.)

“From his book about Church of Alexandria” said

 “First, the Christians took from ancient themes in Egypt for worship, if they took from it as it is, or they took from it and add to it a spiritual depth, or if they did not take, but at the beginning of Christianity the Arts (referring to the Hymns) were Egyptian by flesh and blood”

   So we can see that the Hymns of the Coptic Church are related to the period of pre-entering Christianity to Egypt, after Christianity some themes where used as it is with changing the lyrics to Christ and some other where composed “in style of” music of that time, exactly as today when a student study music composition he is asked to compose “in style of” Mozart for example, so he composes exactly like Mozart style when any body listen to the composed music its exactly Mozart but its not Mozart composition, its in style of Mozart.

Also since Chaledonian (4th Century B.C.) till today the Coptic Church didn't change any of its belief and the way of practicing it. 

 

Pre-Christian Egypt

  The ancient Egyptians used Music in every occasion such as Marriage, Birthdays, during work, in funerals, in teaching, also every season of the year got a special type of music, there was instrumental music and vocal music, the vocal music was very important at that time and especially the sacred, and was sung by the use of vowels

Alexandrian philosopher Philo

The ancient Egyptian priests prayed using the seven vowels, which were retained in the Greek and Coptic languages”.

  During this period (round 4th/5th century A.D.) there was common researches  between the  Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Greeks round several subjects and one of the important was Astronomy, they figured out many theories one of them by Aristotle(322-384 BC) that was very famous was the Cosmic Theory which is a study related to our planet and the universe, also there was several researches related to the seven planets that where discovered at this period (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars), and due to their researches they figured out something called Cosmic Music which is a study about sound which occurs from outer space, due to their researches they found that each planet of the seven planets when moves occur a sound and they found that each plant gives a sound similar to the vowels, -there is a research by NASA related to the sound of the planets we’ll speak about it-

Philo says “These vowels were believed to have been derived from the sounds of the seven planets in distant antiquity and were therefore venerated by the ancient Egyptians. For them, the hieroglyphics were 'divine words'. The ancient Egyptians thus used the sounds of the heavens to praise the creator of the heavens”.

So the use of vowels was very important at that time, and by using them they felt as if they were speaking by the language of the universe, since the vocal music occurs from a human being so it’s much near to the universe sound than the sound of an invented instrument.

The use of vowels was on Sacred Music, Healing in which the priests where using it with physicians, also the music scale is related to the vowels, Pythagoras   taught in the school he founded in Croton “Magna Graecia” that the seven notes of the musical scale came from the sounds of the planets

 

Christian Egypt

  The fathers of the Church started using the same technique (singing by vowels) but they add to it a spiritual, Theological, belief depth,

so when we listen to Abouna saying for example ´Efnoty´ (O LOARD), well find the long part of the theme is on the ´O´ and we’ll find the theme is going up, that to indicates that we are ascending to the LORD in heaven with all our thoughts and every things, then sometimes the theme go up three tones indicating Trinity.

 

20th/21st Century

   Several researches where made by NASA about the sound that occurs form the planets when they move and they found that the Sun streams a wind called a Solar wind and when it hits the planets it makes sound Dr. Maged S. says “the winds only become potentially audible when they meet the earth's magnetic field, which moves outward in circular movements, and again modifies the flow of this energy. The vibrations, or frequencies of the solar winds arriving from each planet, or directly from the sun, vary according to the size of the planet and its distance from the earth. Each planet, therefore, produces a different 'sound' “

 

Coptic Personalities in the 20th/21st Century

Cantor Mikhail Gerges El-Batanony (1887-1957 )

 “The Great Man” as described by Prof. Ernest Newlandsmith.

 When the Coptic Hymns are sung in tonality and clear pure voice, we can feel the musical effect of the theme, and vice versa, Cantor Mikhail is a message introducing us how can we feel the beauty of the theme when it’s sung in tonality and purely.

Dr Ragheb Moftah says in an article about him

“On winter 1928, I began to work with Mlm.Mikhail as I had already invited the world known musicologist Prof. Ernest Newlandsmith to transcribe the music of liturgies and offices of the Coptic Orthodox Church. By this time, people claimed that Mlm.Mikhail is changing and adding to the original hymns which made me avoid asking him at first. I compiled a list of names of all cantors all over Egypt & asked them all of them to come to Cairo to perform before Prof. Newlandsmith. This latter listened carefully to them & finally told: "I should like to apologize & cancel our deal since I can't do this job accurately.. Those cantors' voices are not clear & pure & include a lot of deviations...”

I could nothing but bring Mlm.Mikhail who rescued me!! I still remember this decisive instant in recording the Church Heritage as if I see it now! We were on a Golden ship in the Nile in front of El-Dobara Palace.. Under us, still water of the Nile flew in peace and we were surrounded by wonderful gardens on both banks.. Mlm.Mikhail entered and beholds two great musicians met!! I asked him to recite a Coptic hymn to the professor. An example to show the beauty & value of the Church Music... He performed the hymn: "Vi et ou enmashg..." - "He who has ears let him listen what the Spirit says unto the churches". On the mode of the Hymn of Virtues & other hymns...”

 So as we can see for nine years Dr. Ragheb Moftah invited Pro. Newlandsmith for the purpose of transcribing the Church Hymns and the source he transcribed from was Cantor Mikhail, Dr Ragheb added “He was a loud "Baritone" which is the most suitable voice for Church Music. His rhythm & accurate counting was also good, performing notes clearly without no mistakes nor deviations

He was also able to recite any hymn starting at any middle point without the slightest hesitation... Sometimes he knew two versions for the same hymn. Amongst were The Joyful Trisagion and the big Ti-shory”

 

Dr. Ragheb Moftah (1898-2001)

  He Studied in Germany at the Faculty of Agriculture in the University of Bonn in the Rhineland, his great passion was music, he obtained degrees in Music from Germany, he devoted his life to the recording and notation of Coptic liturgical texts, and he made a studio at St.Mary Coptic Orthodox Church Kasriet El-Rihan in Old Cairo.

- In 1927 he invited Prof.Ernst Newlandsmith from London who transcribed all the Coptic Heritage 1928-1936

- In 1955 he was responsible for the Music & Hymn Department at the Institute of Coptic studies and moved the primary studio he had already made in St. Mary Church, and began recording the hymns and all the Church services with Mlm.Mikhail voice and then published in more talented voices in Cassette Tapes the number of tapes achieved are 54 tapes.

- In 1970, he invited the scientist Margaret Toth to co-operate in achieving St.Basil's Mass transcription which Prof.Newlandsmith had prepared only responses and the first part in each priest (solo) part, The work lasted until everything was accomplished, all the mass with hymns in Musical notation with the Coptic, English and Arabic text.

- In 1992, he offered all his works to the American Congress Library, Washington DC to be kept over generations using the latest technology.

-In 1998 The America University in Cairo published the Music transcription of St. Basil's Mass. 

 

Other Personalities

    Since 1975 several personalities gave a Master and PhD. theses in Coptic music, such as Salwa El-Shawan, Nabil Kamal Boutros

Nabila Erian, Fouad Asaad Attia, Maged Samuel, Adel Kamel.

 

Dr. Adel Kamel (1942-2003)

Music Critic, Musicologist and composer, he was one of the writers in “Watani” newspaper, the founder of “Panorama” section, he was also a lecturer in Universities in Egypt and abroad, a member of jury in international choir competitions, member of many international organizations, and also he had a several publicatio