(CE:1303a-1303b)
ISAAC, forty-first patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (686-689). Isaac
was a native of the district of Shubra, now part of modern Cairo,
before he took the monastic vow at DAYR ANBA MAQAR. Little
is known about his early secular life. In his monastery, however, he
became the spiritual son of a bishop by the name of Zacharias, who
was known for his Christian virtues, his dignity, his theological
learning, and his humility. Following his mentor in his qualities,
Isaac also concentrated on the literary activity of the monastery and
became a noted scribe of religious and biblical works. When JOHN
III, his predecessor, came to know of him, he invited him to join him
in Alexandria, where he actively assisted the patriarch in combating
a three-year famine and participated in the discharge of all the rest of
the patriarchal responsibilities.
John III willed his succession to Isaac, his admirable assistant.
Soon after his death, a council of bishops met to elect the new
patriarch. This council consisted of Gregorius, bishop of al-Qays;
Jacob, bishop of Arwat; JOHN OF NIKIOU; and a number of other
unnamed bishops, together with the clergy and the archons of
Alexandria. To the amazement of the congregation, their choice fell,
not on Isaac, John's nominee, but on a deacon from Sakha by the
name of Jirja. The election was made on a weekday without
consulting ‘Abd al Aziz ibn Marwan, the Arab governor of Egypt,
for his advance approval. The archdeacon of the city of Alexandria
protested, as the clergy were taking rapid steps to consecrate their
nominee. He insisted that the election should be made on a Sunday
in agreement with established tradition and that the late patriarch's
recommendation must be respected. At this moment the governor's
delegates reached Alexandria and stopped the preparatory measures
taken for consecrating Jirja. On reporting to the governor, ‘Abd al-
Aziz decided in favor of the late patriarch's nominee, and so Isaac
was formally invested. The history of the patriarchs comments on
the event as being the will of the Lord.
In spite of the brevity of Isaac's reign, for he remained on the
throne of Saint Mark only three years, his days were pregnant with
major events, both locally and internationally. First, on the local
scene, he restored the crumbling walks of Saint Mark's Cathedral
and renovated the patriarchal residence. Second, he celebrated the
Coptic liturgies in many churches previously dominated by the
Chalcedonians. Third, he built a church and founded a monastery of
Our Lady in Hilwan; at the same time he encouraged the Coptic
archons of the country to build dwellings at Hilwan in the
neighborhood of the palace of ‘Abd al-Aziz, who favored living
there. On the international scene, without consulting the Arab
governor of Egypt, Isaac mediated between the emperor of Ethiopia
and the Christian king of Nubia, who were in conflict at the time.
Apparently, this infuriated ‘Abd al-Aziz, who put the patriarch
under house arrest in Alexandria to prevent him from crossing the
frontier to the African potentates with whom Egypt was not in
harmony. But curiously his fury went beyond the patriarch to the
whole of the Coptic church, and the governor ordered all crosses,
even gold and silver ones, to be broken from churches. Furthermore,
he issued an order that posters should be fixed on the gates of all
churches bearing the inscription that Muhammad is the apostle of
Allah and that Jesus is only the prophet of God and not his son, for
Allah is neither born nor bearing.
At this unhappy juncture, Isaac died in 689 and was quietly
buried in the Cathedral of Saint Mark in a tomb that he had prepared
for himself next to that of his predecessor.
SUBHI Y. LABIB
