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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
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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.
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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:
-
sensitivity
-
permission
-
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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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 | |
