Pints With Aquinas
Pints With Aquinas

The Miracle of Our Lady of Zeitoun (Fr. Anthony Mourad) | Ep. 601

October 19, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The 21 men executed on a Libyan beach in 2015 were not extraordinary Christians by any measure. They were construction workers, ordinary men who prayed in a corner of their room each night and read their Bibles. One of them, Matthew, was not even a Christian when he was captured—ISIS assumed he was because of his name and offered to release him. He refused. "Their God is my God," he said, and lined up with the others to be beheaded.

Father Anthony Mourad, a Coptic Orthodox priest in Ottawa, Canada, spent time with six of the martyrs' widows while filming a documentary in Egypt. What he heard changed how he understood faith. The women did not speak of their husbands as theologians or saints. They described ordinary men who simply refused to deny Christ. One priest, whose younger brother was among the 21, told his grieving mother that he wished he could have been martyred alongside him. She replied that God knew she could only bear losing one son, and kept the other to comfort her.

The context of persecution

The Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest Christian body in the Middle East, with 12 to 15 million members in Egypt and perhaps 20 million globally. It traces its lineage to Saint Mark the Apostle and counts among its fathers Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, and Anthony the Great, the first monastic. But its defining feature, according to Mourad, is persecution.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **21 Martyrs of Libya** - Fr. Anthony opens with the story of the Coptic martyrs beheaded by ISIS in 2015, setting the stage for a discussion on persecution and modern martyrdom.
  • 2 (03:20) **Introducing Fr. Anthony Mourad** - The host welcomes Fr. Anthony, a Coptic Orthodox priest from Ottawa, Canada, and they begin establishing context for the conversation.
  • 3 (09:46) **1973 Christological Agreement** - A key moment in ecumenical dialogue between the Coptic Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches is discussed.
  • 4 (18:56) **The Internet, Pride, and True Dialogue** - The conversation shifts to the problem of online Christian infighting and the virtue of humility.
  • 5 (23:08) **The 21 Martyrs: Deeper Story** - Fr. Anthony returns to the martyrs with more detail from his personal investigation in Egypt.
  • 6 (36:31) **The Danger of Justifying Our Passions** - The host and Fr. Anthony reflect on how easily Christians justify their own sins under the guise of defending the truth.
  • 7 (37:44) **Context for Our Lady of Zeitoun** - Fr. Anthony sets the historical and ecclesial stage for the Marian apparition in 1968.

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Show Notes

Coptic Orthodox priest, Fr. Anthony Mourad, is here to talk about the 21 Martyrs of Libya, the apparitions of Our Lady in Zeitoun, and why Christians need dialogue, not division, now more than ever.


Ep. 601


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📚 Resources Mentioned:


11-Day Journey to Egypt from the Pyramids to the Red Sea with Fr. Jason Charron and Matt & Cameron Fradd: https://www.signaturetours.com/JCharron27


AbbaMoses: https://abbamoses.org


Coptic Orthodox Answers: https://www.copticorthodoxanswers.org


YouTube | Coptic Orthodox Answers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLQqVJiXb98xK2274hUdyQ


Instagram | Coptic Orthodox Answers: https://www.instagram.com/copticorthodoxanswers/?hl=en


Elements: https://a.co/d/09X2GLSC


Theotokos Rosaries: https://dwplus.shop/TheotokosRosaries


Truthly 30 Day Free Trial: https://get.truthly.ai/TlbX/MATT30


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Today's Sponsors:


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Hallow - Join Hallow's Memento Mori Challenge starting October 26. Pray and reflect through C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce and explore what it means to live with eternity in mind. Get 3 months free at https://Hallow.com/FRADD


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