St. George anniversary celebrations launched in Luxor on Nov. 11

CAIRO - 11 November 2019: On Nov. 11, Luxor Governorate will witness the official launch of St. George Balersiqat Monastery's celebrations in Mount Rizeigat in the city of Armant.

The celebrations will be held with the participation of thousands of members of the church for a period of 7 days, ending on Nov. 17. This comes amid intensified security measures and increased deployment of the Luxor Police and Civil Protection forces.

The seven-day celebrations will witness special sermons every day at 2 p.m. It is also decided that the closing ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 16 in the heart of the monastery in the presence of thousands of Copts.

The Directorate of Luxor has set a tight plan to secure the Saint George celebrations, deploying explosive experts and special services around the monastery and in vital locations. The security plan also includes a routine check.

Furthermore, the Civil Protection Department instructed the explosives experts to inspect all cars and visitors of the monastery to detect any “unusual bodies”. The Civil Protection Department stressed the need to secure all parts of the monastery and the roads leading to it.

It is worth mentioning that the official celebration of the memory of Saint George in the Monastery of Mount Rizeigat runs from Nov. 11 to 17, and falls on the first to the seventh of the month of Hathor.

This also coincides with the anniversary of the dedication of the first church to the name of the great martyr Saint George in the city of Lod in Palestine. Hundreds of families travel before this date to stay in the monastery in tents on an area of more than 60 acres set up for this purpose. The surrounding area is also packed with thousands of visitors as the closing night approaches.

The Saint George Balersiqat Monastery dates back to the period between 1850 and 1870 AD, and in some other narrative dates back to 1896, in the reign of St. Mark.