Parlin parish opens doors to Christian flock seeking permanent pasture

(Editor’s note: The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25, has been celebrated for more than 100 years. In observing the week, Christians move toward the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper “that they may all be one” (cf. John 17:21), according to the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


The members of St. Mary and Archangel Raphael Coptic Orthodox congregation from Old Bridge are a Christian community without a permanent houses of worship to call their own.

Since receiving the blessing of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II to incorporate in January 2017, the congregation has celebrated the Holy Liturgy on Saturday, instead of the customary Sunday, in donated space.

For two years, a committee has been raising money to buy a church, ideally located in Middlesex County, where their 1,000 congregants can gather for meetings and worship. In the meantime, Father James W. Hagerman, pastor, St. Bernadette Parish, Parlin, agreed to open his church doors to the Christian flock, which is led by the Very Rev. Father Rafaeil Azmy Difalla, pastor.

Despite this transitory predicament, St. Mary’s has seen its congregation grow from just 50 members. Sub-Deacon Raymond Souweha anticipates that new families, as well as those attending liturgy sporadically, will get more involved after a new worship space is secured for their parish.

“Once we establish a church and we are able to pray on Sunday, everybody is going to come, and it might be even more [people],” said   Souweha about membership. “The priest is ready to start visiting all these families, but without a church here, and a building, it’s very hard to invite people to pray with us.”

Until then, the St. Mary congregation works around the St. Bernadette Parish calendar of activities that occasionally intersect with their weekly two-hour Saturday liturgy — if a funeral or Holy Week Masses are scheduled, for instance.

“Our holidays sometimes conflict and then we have to pray at off hours, in the middle of the night or early in the morning, like 3 a.m. So, we have to shift things,” says Souweha. “Our congregation has always been dedicated, and they’ve attended, but it’s been sort of hard for them with their work schedules and taking care of their families, their children, and all their responsibilities.”

A 5 a.m. liturgy is held every Wednesday, which is a day of fasting for the congregants, for 90 minutes. This weekly gathering is in remembrance of the Lord’s betrayal, explains Souweha, which occurred on a Wednesday in the timeline leading up to Easter. When they eventually settle into their own church, they will also pray on Fridays — the day of the Lord’s crucifixion.

Prayers are said in three languages to oblige their membership: Arabic for the elders who do not speak English, Coptic for those more advanced in the faith, and English for the youth of the congregation. Some hymns are sung in Coptic, which is the liturgical language of native Egyptian Churches.
 
“The Egyptian population [is] very deep in faith. They love to worship God. There’s a lot of persecution in Egypt,” said Souweha.

Online research shows that St. Mark brought Christianity to Egypt and founded the Church in the mid first Century in Alexandria. It is estimated that there are more than one million Coptic Orthodox Christians in the United States.

The Coptic Orthodox religion shares some of the same beliefs and rites as Roman Catholicism such as the seven sacraments, the intercession of saints, reverence to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the real presence of Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. However, there are some differences between the two, such as: priests can marry prior to their ordination; the sacrament of confirmation is administered immediately following the sacrament of baptism; the same altar cannot host the celebration of the Divine Liturgy more than once a day; and male chanters can be ordained at the age of six.

Sub-Deacon Souweha is optimistic that his congregation’s search for an available church will resonate with someone who can help locate a building for their parish family since they are ready to buy a worship space. Square footage is not a major concern except that it should be able to accommodate growth for future generations.

“The bigger, the better,” he recommends about the size of the space. “We’re here to pray, practice our religion and our faith.”