Flight into Egypt

==Christian traditions associated with the Flight into Egypt==
The Flight into Egypt is one of the listed [[Our Lady of Sorrows|Seven Sorrows of Mary]].

A local French tradition states that [[Saint Aphrodisius]], an Egyptian saint who was venerated as the first [[bishop of Béziers]], was the man who sheltered the Holy Family when they fled into Egypt.<ref>[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1485 St. Aphrodisius – Catholic Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In [[Coptic Christianity]], it is also held that the Holy family visited many areas in Egypt, including [[Musturud]] (where there is now the Church of the Virgin Mary), [[Wadi El Natrun]] (which has four large monasteries), and Old Cairo,<ref>J. W. Meri, W. Ende, Nelly van Doorn-Harder, Houari Touati, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Th. Zarcone, M. Gaborieau, R. Seesemann and S. Reese, “Ziyāra”, in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 30 September 2018 {{doi|10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1390}} {{ISBN|9789004161214}}.</ref> along with [[Farama]], Tel Basta, Samanoud, [[Bilbais]], [[Samalout]], [[Maadi]], [[El Matareya, Dakahlia|Al-Maṭariyyah]],<ref>[http://www.egyptvoyager.com/features_holyfamily_route_pg3.htm Egypt voyager]</ref> [[Deir el-Garnus|Arganus]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=1991 |title=Dayr Al-Jarnus |url=https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/638/ |website=Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia}}</ref> and [[Asiut]] among others.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020324084755/http://www.st-mary-mons.org/english/holy_family_in_egypt.htm St Mary Mons]</ref> It is likewise tradition that the [[Holy Family]] visited [[Coptic Cairo]] and stayed at the site of [[Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga)]]<ref name=Egyptology>[http://www.egyptologyonline.com/coptic_cairo.htm Coptic Cairo<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214060519/http://www.egyptologyonline.com/coptic_cairo.htm |date=December 14, 2007 }}</ref> and the place where the [[Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag)]] stands now. At [[El Matareya, Cairo|Al-Maṭariyyah]], then in [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] and now part of Cairo, there is a [[sycamore]] tree (and adjacent chapel) that is a 1672 planting replacing an earlier tree under which Mary was said to have rested, or in some versions hidden from pursuers in the hollow trunk, while pious spiders covered the entrance with dense webs.<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Virgin_Mary_tree Commons category]; [http://www.planetware.com/egypt/el-matariya-egy-cai-elm.htm tourist info]</ref>