NORTH SYRACUSE — Each year, St. Mary and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in North Syracuse invites the community to feast on authentic Egyptian fare, tour the church and learn about its roots in ancient Alexandria. The sixth annual St. Mary’s Egyptian Festival takes place next weekend, July 22-24.
The festival returned last year after a COVID-forced hiatus in 2020.
“We were fortunate last year that cases were down, and we’re hoping that is the case this year,” said Father Kyrillos Sadek, the priest at St. Mary and St. Mina. “We just enjoy the time where we interact with our community.”
Proceeds from the festival benefit the church’s upkeep and ministries here in Central New York and in Egypt. The church recently replaced the roof of the sanctuary and has plans to renovate a lounge for the youth group. The congregation also raises money for projects that allow Egyptians living in poverty to generate their own income.
While the church held online services in the early months of the pandemic, the spacious sanctuary has allowed congregants to maintain a safe physical distance while still celebrating their faith and culture together. Each month, Fr. Kyrillos goes to Ithaca to pray Mass with Coptic students of Cornell University and Ithaca College.
Maintaining a connection is especially important for Coptic youth, Fr. Kyrillos said, as the pandemic has continued.
“The two years of the pandemic really had their toll on our youth. They lack the social life and interaction [they had before]. We’re trying to revive it because it’s very important for their mental health and their spiritual health,” he said. “People got so much more attached to social media and phones, and they lost that sense of community and connection.”
St. Mary and St. Mina partnered with a Boston-area Coptic church for a youth retreat, and the North Syracuse church recently hosted the annual Sports League for Upstate Coptic Youth (St. LUCY) games for young Copts from Buffalo, Rochester and Albany.
“We found out later that St. Lucia is a martyr from Siracusa, Italy, so she is the patron saint of the league,” Fr. Kyrillos said.
Young members of the St. Mary and St. Mina flock will volunteer at the festival: greeting guests, serving food and running games and crafts for kids. Church members are already hard at work rolling grape leaves and preparing other Egyptian dishes for next weekend.
The festival is not just a fundraiser or open house for the church, but a chance for the community to come together.
“That’s a blessed time. It’s a fellowship time where people are working together knowing that they are showcasing our church to the bigger Syracuse area,” Fr. Kyrillos said.
St. Mary’s Egyptian Festival takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 22; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 23; and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, July 24, at St. Mary and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church, located at 106 Church St. in North Syracuse. Visit stmarystminacopticchurch.org/egyptfest.html for more information or to order food online.
