Fr. Markos was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. After having spent a decade pursuing a career in Dubai, he followed his dream to become a monk and joined the monastery of Jerusalem, in 2015. He embraced monastic life in 2017, on the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist, the founding figure of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Until 2022, Fr. Markos served as the head of the secretary of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. Currently, he bears the responsibility of overseeing real estate development for the Coptic Church in the Holy Land, particularly in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa region.
Fr. Markos pursued theological studies at a seminary college in Egypt. He currently dedicates time to learning Modern and Biblical Hebrew, as well as Biblical Greek at the Hebrew University.
In his talk, Fr. Markos will introduce the spirituality of the Coptic Church. The term “Coptic” finds its origins in the ancient Egyptian “Ha-Ko-ptah,” which refers to the “house of Ptah,” one of the deities of the Pharaohs. This term evolved over time, giving rise to “Egyptos,” “Gopts,” and eventually “Copts,” signifying the Egyptian heritage. During the month of September, numerous New Years are celebrated among which Rosh Ha Shana, the Jewish New Year. In his talk, he will particularly focus on the Coptic New Year: the feast of Nairouz, which will be celebrated on September 12th, the day of the talk.