The 1987 Icon of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt at the Monastery of the Syrians

Firsthand testimony

• Artist: the monk Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany.
• Year: 1987.
• Location: the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary (El-Sourian), Wadi El Natrun, Egypt.
• Source: the testimony of Samy Sorial, and the accompanying photograph.

This icon is part of the contemporary monastic artistic heritage of the Monastery of the Syrians, and is linked to the contribution of its monks to preserving and continuing Coptic church art.

The Icon in Its Place

In the accompanying photograph, taken by Father Abali El-Souriany in 2019, Father Okeen El-Souriany points to the icon of Saint Mar Okeen hanging on the wall. The icon shows the saint in the black monastic habit, holding the Cross, standing between his monastery on the mountain and the sea with a sailing ship, with the coral of the Red Sea at his feet and writing in Coptic letters on either side.

It appears to be the same icon shown on the Icons page as “A Coptic icon of the saint bearing his name in Coptic letters”. This remains to be confirmed.

The Inscriptions

The Coptic and Arabic inscriptions on the icon have not yet been transcribed, because the available photograph does not allow them to be read accurately. When close-up photographs arrive, the legible letters will be transcribed as they are, and anything unreadable will be marked […], without guessing, and without any change to the original photograph.

The artist’s name and the year of the icon are attributed to Samy Sorial’s testimony until they are confirmed from an independent source at the monastery.

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