The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is a very conservative
Church,which preserves most carefully the Christian Faith, in its earliest and purest form,  passed on  from generation  to  generation,  unaltered  and true to the Apostolic doctrine and patterns of worship.  It is a deeply spiritual and even mystical Church,  with an emphasis upon holiness,  and the Mysteries of Faith, but at the same time it is a strongly doctrinal Church,  holding faithfully to the  canons of the  Holy Scripture  and the Apostolic and Orthodox  Creeds and Teachings of the Church Fathers of the first three Ecumenical Councils.

       The  Coptic Church  is  one of the most  ancient  Churches in the World (along side the Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome), having been founded by Saint Mark the Apostle, during the first  century  A.D. (traditionally,  in 43 A.D. or 61 A.D.).  Eusebius states, in his Ecclesiastic History, that Saint Mark  came to  Egypt  during  the  first  or  third year of  the Roman Emperor Claudius (i.e. in 41-42 A.D. or 43-44 A.D.) and  he visited  Alexandria again, to preach and evangelize, between 61 and 68 A.D.

       Saint Mark's first convert was a shoemaker of Alexandria, Anianus, who was consecrated a bishop, and later succeeded him as Patriarch. Saint Mark was the  first Patriarch  of  the Coptic Church,  and he received his martyrdom in Alexandria  on  the Feast of Resurrection (Easter) in 68 A.D.  at the hands of Pagan Egyptians  who were celebrating the feast of Serapis in the great temple
of Serapium.  The Patriarchs of the Coptic Orthodox Church have continued in a line of unbroken succession from Saint Mark until the present day. The current Patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, is the one hundred and seventeenth Patriarch to occupy the Chair  of  Saint Mark in the  See of Alexandria.  The full official title of the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church is "Pope and Patriarch of the great city  of  Alexandria,  the Middle East,  Ethiopia,  Nubia,  and the Pentapolis (*).

       Throughout the years the Coptic Orthodox Church has stood firm and  has remained  faithful  to her  Apostolic Traditions and  Orthodox Faith,  despite waves of fearful persecutions under pagan Roman Emperors, and to lesser extent under Byzantine and  Arab  rulers,  and in the face of  serious  heresies that attacked the very fiber and essence of the Christian Faith and threatened to split the Church and all of Christendom.

       The Egyptians were a deeply religious race by nature and they responded gladly to  the preaching of  Christian  Faith,  having been left  with a  deep spiritual  vacuum following  the final dethronement of  their Pharaoh and god, and the decline of the ancient Egyptian Religion, with its symbol of Ankh, the triads of gods,  the  eminence of the gods in the land of Egypt,  the national devotion to the goddess Isis and her son Horus, the death and the resurrection of a god, and the concepts of future judgement and immortality,  had done much to prepare the people for the coming of Christianity.

       The Egyptians were naturally proud of the fact that Christ has hallowed their land with His presence,  during  His  earthly life.  Egypt  was indeed blessed by God, as His people (Isaiah 19:25; Hosea 11:1).

       In 30 B.C.,  after the defeat of Mark Anthony  at the battle of Actium, Egypt has been incorporated into the Roman Empire, bringing an end to the rule of Ptolemies and sounding the final death knoll for the great  3,000 year long Ancient  Egyptian  Civilization.  Egypt now became  the granary of Rome, and a source of personal wealth  for the Emperor,  which resulted in a serious drain
upon  the resources of  the land and the people.  However, the external  Roman imperial conflicts and troubles over succession to the throne did not directly affect Egypt,  and she enjoyed a period of  little political change, in which the major event and development was the spread of  Christianity throughout the land.
 
       By the end of the Second Century,  Christianity was well established in Egypt,  although there were  still pockets  of paganism existing  side by side with the new Faith. By 190 A.D., the great Church of Alexandria was exchanging Paschal  epistles with the  Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch,  concerning the date of Easter, and there were about forty Bishoprics,  under the Patriarch of Alexandria,  in  the  North of  the country (in the Delta area).  By 202  A.D. Eusebius mentioned that there were  Christians in the whole Thebaid,  in Upper Egypt,  800 km  up the  Nile Valley.  Saint Athanasius  states, in  his Festal letters, that there were Christians in the small and large oases, in the heart of the desert, by 329 A.D.

       During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church,  the famous Catechetical  School  of  Alexandria  was  an  important  light  and  means of instruction in  the Christian Faith and the study of theology,  as well as of knowledge in the  Sciences, and the need to discuss and interpret their  faith
within  the philosophical  and  intellectual milieu  of Alexandria scholarship and learning.

       The pre-Christian school had been founded by Ptolemy Soter in 323 B.C., and during the region of Ptolemy Philadelphus in 288 B.C., it was developed to include, not only Greek philosopher, but also other nationalities, such as the 70 Jewish Rabbis who worked on the  Septuagint  Greek translation  of the Old Testament in Alexandria.  The School of Alexandria contained the  world famous Library and Museum (the Pagan School), and it became the major set of learning and philosophy for the whole of the Ancient Hellenistic World.

       The   Christian  School  of  Alexandria  (called  Didascalium)  offered instruction in the Christian faith and theology, along side study of the civil science, such as philosophy, medicine, physics, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, mathematics,  geometry, astronomy, history, geography, music, and  ancient and modern languages. It was open for Catechumens (pagans who believed  in  Christ but who had not yet  been baptized), and for Deacons or Christian students who desired a deeper knowledge and understanding of  Christian Doctrine and Faith, as well as for pagans students who were still searching for the Truth.

       According  to  Tradition,  St. Mark  had  opened  the  first  Christian Catechetical School in Alexandria for the instruction of the new converts, and during  the following two centuries,  the Didascalium  developed  and expanded under  the  Deanship  of  great philosophers and doctors of  theology, such as Athenagoras, Pantaenus, St. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Athanasius and,
St. Didymus the Blind.

       Under the  supervision  of  St.  Pantaenus  and  St.  Clement, the  New Testament was translated from Greek into Coptic, a translation  which is still highly  respected  and  used  to this day in  the Coptic Orthodox Church.  The Catechetical  School  of  Alexandria  has  also  the Canon  of Holy Scripture. Several of  the  early  Deans of the School also became Patriarchs, like  Abba Justus,  the first dean of the School,  who became the 6th  Patriarch (132-143 A.D.);  Abba  Eumanius,  7th Patriarch  (143-154 A.D.);  Abba  Markianos,  8th Patriarch (154-163 A.D.);  Abba Heraclus, 13th Patriarch (232-249 A.D.);  Abba Dionysius,  14th  Patriarch  (249-270 A.D.);  Abba  Petros,  the "Seal  of the Martyrs", 17th Patriarch (293-303 A.D.),  and Abba Archelaus,  18th  Patriarch (303 A.D.). Other distinguished teachers  or  graduates of  the  school became Patriarchs of  the  Coptic  Church,  among  whom  were  Abba  Alexandros, 19th Patriarch (303-326 A.D); St. Athanasius the Apostolic, 20th Patriarch (378-384 A.D.);  Abba Kyrillos "The Pillar of Faith", 24th Patriarch (412-443 A.D.) and
Abba Dioscorus,  "The Interpid Hero",  25th  Patriarch  (444-456 A.D.).  These early  Patriarchs  were  considered the "Guardians  of  Orthodoxy"  and  their learning  earned them the reputation of "Universal Teachers".

       Graduates  from  other  theological  schools,  in  other  parts  of the Christian World, later came to study at the  school of  Alexandria,  including St. Gregory the Theologian (329-389 A.D.); St. Basil the Great (330-379 A.D.); St. John  Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.); St. Jerome (342-420 A.D.) and St. Rufinus (345-410 A.D.).  Thus  the  School  of  Alexandria  became  the  Lighthouse of Christianity, for a span of five centuries, until the reign of Justinian  (529 A.D.).  After  451  A.D.  and  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  the  Emperors  of Constantinople, in their persecution against the  Copts, closed the school and carried  away most of the books, The  main center of  learning for  the Coptic Church was  then transferred to  the Monastery of  St. Macarius, in the  Wadi El-Natroun desert, where it continued for several centuries.
 
       The Church of Egypt enjoyed peace for almost the first two centuries of her  existence,  until A.D. 203,  when the Emperor Septimus Severus issued an edict forbidding conversions to both Christianity  and  Judaism.  Torture, martyrdom, and the  temporary  closure of the  School at Alexandria  resulted.
Great persecutions  were suffered  under Emperor Decius  (249-251 A.D.) and in 250 A.D., an imperial edict decreed the enforced offering of  worship of idols by every Roman subject, upon the penalty  of execution.  Cruel persecutions of the Christians  continued under Emperor Gaius (251-253 A.D.) and under Emperor Valerian (253-260 A.D.), until the Edict of Tolerance, issued by his successor, Gallienus (260-268 AD), which brought a temporary end to the  persecution  and allowed churches to be built.

       However, this  period of  peace was only a  short respite, for with the acceptance to the imperial throne of "Diocletian" in A.D. 284, the most severe and  bloodiest  period of persecution of the Coptic Church began. In A.D. 303, "Diocletian" issued a decree that ordered all  churches to be  demolished, all Scriptures  and  sacred  books  be  burnt  and  all  Christians, who  were not officials, to be made slaves. This  intense period of  persecution resulted in the  widespread of  torture and  the  martyrdom of  thousands  of  Christians, because of their  courageous  testimony for  Christ. So many Coptic Christians lost their lives during this period, for their faith, that the  Coptic  Church dates her calendar from A.D. 284, the year of accession to the imperial throne of Diocletian, and the beginning of the Era of Martyrs (Anno Martyri or A.M.).

       After the  Abdication of  Diocletian  and  the succession  of  Galerius (305-311 A.D.) and Maximinus  Daia (311-313 A.D.), there was a brief  respite for Egyptian Christians, but it was not long before a new Edict of Persecution was issued by  these two rulers.  Only  after the  accession to  the  imperial throne of Constantine the Great, his conversion to Christianity and the  Edict of Tolerance in A.D. 313, after the Battle of Milan,  did Christianity  become the recognized  religion.