A Letter From HG Bishop Karas

Dearly beloved, Peace and Grace,

 I pray that you are all well and enjoying the blessing of the resurrection season. It gives me great joy to announce the opening of the registration for the diocese-wide 2022 Mahragan El-Keraza. The theme of this year’s Mahragan is ” Live in Peace.” The Mahragan is a spiritual growth fellowship opportunity for our Coptic children and young adults in the diocese to come together and compete in spiritual studies, Coptic language, hymns, sports, choir, and drama. Spiritual Studies emphasize the Holy Bible and the history, doctrine, and rites of the Coptic Orthodox Church. I am delighted to announce that this year we have 13 churches from the diocese joining the Mahragan. New this year, the Mahragan will have three levels of competitions; 1. Core spiritual competition (Spiritual (mandatory), Coptic, and Hymns), 2- Advanced-level contests (Arts, Photography (New), Coptic Calligraphy (New), Performing Arts, Creative Writing, Research, Video Composition), and 3- Sports Competition (Soccer, Ping Pong, and hybrid Chess). The Mahragan will be a hybrid this year. In the first phase (August 13), all participating churches will participate in an online preliminary competition (Spiritual, Hymns, and Coptic). On August 20, churches participating in Sports will meet at St. Mary, Cooksville, to play against each other. On August 27, the top 3 winners in the spiritual, Coptic, and hymns competitions (across each age group) will meet at St. Mary, Cooksville, to compete in person in the final round.

Thanks to all the 13 churches who are participating this year. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless your efforts and service and reward you abundantly.

Bishop Karas, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and its Affiliated regions