❖	The word Coptic is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos which was derived from “Hikaptah”, one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of ancient Egypt.
❖	The modern use of the term Coptic describes Egyptian Christians.
❖	The term “Orthodoxy” refers to the preservation of the “Original Faith” by the Copts who throughout the ages defended the Old Creed against the numerous attacks aimed at it. Fewer changes have taken place in the COC than in any other church whether in ritual or doctrine.
❖	The COC is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who evangelized in Egypt in the first century.
❖	He was one of the four evangelists and the one who wrote the oldest canonical gospel.
❖	Christianity spread throughout Egypt soon after.

❖	Pope Tawadros II His Holiness Pope Tawadros II was born Wagih Sobhy Baky Soliman on November 4th, 1952 in Mansoura. His father was an irrigation engineer and his family moved around during his childhood from Mansoura to Sohag and then to Damanhour.
❖	He received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1975 from Alexandria University and earned a fellowship for the World Health Organization from the British International Health Institute in England in 1985.
❖	He attended the Coptic Seminary and graduated in 1983. He then worked as a manager in a pharmaceutical company in Damanhour that was owned by the Ministry of Health.

❖	The COC believes that the Holy Trinity: God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit are equal to each other in one unity, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world.
❖	He is God Himself the incarnate Logos, Who took to Himself a perfect manhood. His Divine nature is one with his human nature yet without mingling, confusion or alteration.
❖	The Church also believes in seven holy sacraments: Baptism, Holy Chrism, Confession, Communion, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Priesthood.
❖	The COC honors the saints and asks for their intercession in prayer. Every COC is named after one or more saints. The stories of the saints are taught in church as wonderful models of the faith.

❖	The only place that the Lord and the Holy family lived in besides Israel was Egypt.
❖	Monasticism started in Egypt by the Desert Fathers in the 3rd century AD. Among the earliest were Saint Paul of Thebes and Saint Anthony the Great.

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❖	1st century: COC founded by Saint Mark after crucifixion and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ
❖	3rd century: 284 AD, start of Coptic calendar in commemoration of the martyrs of the faith
❖	4th-5th centuries: Ecumenical councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus)
❖	Year 451 AD, separation of COC from rest of the churches at the council of Chalcedon

❖	Saint Demiana was born in Egypt in the early 4th century to Christian parents. Her father Mark was governor of a city in northern delta of the valley of the nile. She was the only daughter of her parents.
❖	When she was 15 years old her father wanted her to be wed. She refused and told him that she has vowed herself to be a bride to the Lord Jesus Christ.
❖	She asked her father to build her a place where she could worship God in seclusion with her virgin friends.
❖	He fulfilled her wishes and built her the house she wanted where she lived with forty other virgins and spent their time reading the holy scripture and in worship.
❖	Shortly after emperor Diocletian sent for Mark and ordered him to worship idols. Pressured by the situation, Mark worshipped the idols.
❖	Upon knowing, Saint Demiana rebuked her father for losing his faith and encouraged him to confess his faith. Mark did so and suffered martyrdom.
❖	Shortly after Saint Demiana had also confessed her steadfast faith before the emperor. She and the 40 virgins were martyred subsequently.
❖	The Coptic orthodox church celebrates her martyrdom on January 21st (13rd day of month of Tobah according to the Coptic calendar)

❖	The Diocese was established by the enthronement of Bishop Karas by the hands of Pope Tawadros II on November 11, 2017.
❖	His Grace Bishop Karas is the Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania And Affiliated Regions to currently include the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia. We are a Coptic community cultivated by fellowship, service, and love.

H.G. Bishop Karas

❖	On July 17, 2022, parishioners celebrated the closing Mass of the Church of Jesus Church In East Mountain. In November 2022, the Holy Name of Jesus Christ found life as a church again afterThe Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Pennsylvania bought it under the leadership of Bishop Karas now to be called Saint Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church. On January 21, 2023, the Church celebrated its first liturgy.
❖	History about the church : beginning of the Saint Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church building (previously Holy Name of Jesus Parish of the Catholic Church) was in 1938 when residents of East Mountain approached their Diocese with a request for a church in their neighborhood. In response, Bishop William J, Hafey conducted a census. It revealed that there were 150 Catholic families on East Mountain, with church attendance scattered throughout the South Side and beyond. The Bishop purchased property on July 9, 1938, and appointed the first pastor of the new parish, to be known as The Holy Name of Jesus.
❖	The people who belonged to Holy Name Parish showed great enthusiasm for their new parish. By 1939, undaunted by the depression and lack of steady work, the people were very anxious to form plans for the building of their parish church. In May 1939, ground was broken for the church. On November 12, 1939, the new Holy Name of Jesus Church was dedicated. Throughout the years, the church continued to serve the congregation in the East Mountain area of Scranton. Many of the parishioners were World War 2 veterans.