Coptic Orthodox Christians at
St. Mark's Church in Jersey City, New Jersey, this week held a three-day vigil of prayer and fasting. The memorials were in honor of the 24 people lost two weeks ago in riots in Cairo, Egypt.
From the article:
Father Markos Ayoub is one of the three priests assigned to St. Mark’s, which is the oldest Coptic Orthodox Church in the U.S., founded in 1970. He has been in the U.S. for 21 years and was trained as an engineer before becoming a priest. He talks to his parents and sister in Egypt daily.
“There is a sense of despair in the system but hope in God,” said Ayoub, who visited Egypt in 2010. He said their church is key back home since they “never had much support from the government.”
