Saint Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria

Pope Cyril VI (born Azer Youssef Atta; 2 August 1902 – 9 March 1971) was the 116th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark from 10 May 1959 until his death in 1971. Azer Youssef Atta was born on 2 August 1902 at Damanhour in the governorate of Beheira in Egypt into a middle-class Coptic Orthodox family. He resigned from a civil service position to become a monk in July 1927 (Paoni–Epip 1943). He passed his probationary period and, on 24 February 1928 (21 Meshir 1944), took his monastic vows at the Paromeos Monastery, assuming the name of Father Mina el-Baramosy (Father Mina of the Paromeos Monastery). He was also known as Father Mina the Elder. After helping to resolve a conflict between the abbot of El Baramous monastery and some of its elder monks, he requested from Pope John XIX of Alexandria to live in one of the windmills built in Old Cairo during the reign of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. He spent the start of his time in the windmill with no doors or a roof out of love for solitude. He was then pressured by the priests and an "Archon" (lay-leader) of a nearby church to renovate the windmill in order to be a more suitable environment to live. The ground floor served as a place for Fr Mina to live and the upper level he placed a sanctuary with an altar to pray daily liturgies in. He stayed in the windmill for some time before his relocation to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor. After his death, a church was built around the windmill. In 1944 he was nominated to become the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor and played a vital role in building a centre for the monastery in El Zawra, renovating the ancient churches of the monastery and building new monk cells. In 1947 (1963–1964), Father Mina built the Church of Saint Mina in Cairo. He also used to pray in the Church of the Holy Virgin in Babylon El-Darag before assuming the papacy. Father Mina became Pope of Alexandria on 10 May 1959 (2 Pashons 1975).