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The church of The Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius started in April 1974 when four Coptic families organized a weekly prayer meeting for Coptic families and youth. The group met every Friday evening at one of their homes. The first meeting, in May 1974, was led by Father Marcos of St. Mark's Church in Toronto. The meeting was named " St. Athanasius " after our Coptic father the defender of the Christian faith. Bible studies, Coptic hymns and prayers were practiced, Father Marcos, Father Mankarius Awadalla, and Father Mittias EL Souriany (currently H.G. Bishop Roweis) took charge of the meeting at various times. In August 1974, Father Pishoi Kamel (1931-1979), of St. George Coptic Church, Sporting, Alexandria, visited Toronto. The group spent some time with him listening to the word of God. At one of the meetings, Father Pishoi suggested to get in touch with H.H. Pope Shenouda III and to register a Coptic church. The group accepted Father Pishoi's advice as they felt that this message was from God. The group wrote a letter to H.H. the Pope in August 1974 about the weekly meeting and their desire to register a new church in Toronto and asked for H.H.'s prayers, blessings and guidance. A few weeks later, the group met to select the name of the new church. They voted unanimously for "The Church of Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius".
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The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario. There are offically ten provinces and three territories in Canada, which is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area.While politically and legally an independant nation, the titular head of state for Canada is still Queen Elizabeth.On the east end of Canada, you have Montreal as the bastion of activity. Montreal is famous for two things, VICE magazine and the Montreal Jazz Festival. One is the bible of hipster life (disposable, of course) and the other is a world-famous event that draws more than two million people every summer. Quebec is a French speaking province that has almost seceded from Canada on several occasions, by the way..When you think of Canada, you think of . . . snow, right?But not on the West Coast. In Vancouver, it rains. And you'll find more of the population speaking Mandarin than French (but also Punjabi, Tagalog, Korean, Farsi, German, and much more).Like the other big cities in Canada, Vancouver is vividly multicultural and Vancouverites are very, very serious about their coffee.Your standard Vancouverite can be found attired head-to-toe in Lululemon gear, mainlining Cafe Artigiano Americanos (spot the irony for ten points).But here's a Vancouver secret only the coolest kids know: the best sandwiches in the city aren't found downtown. Actually, they're hidden in Edgemont Village at the foot of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore."It's actually worth coming to Canada for these sandwiches alone." -- Michelle Superle, VancouverText by Steve Smith.
