01
Saint Mark
The Gospel reached Alexandria with Saint Mark in the first century. The Coptic Church has carried it ever since.
Our story
We take the crosses, interlace and painted letters of Coptic icons and put them on clothes made for every day.
The icon
Read the icon
An icon is written, not painted. Every part of it is saying something. Scroll to read it.
01
The halo
A ring of gold around the head. It marks a life lived so close to God that it shines.
02
The eyes
Large and wide open. Saints in Coptic icons have big eyes because they are fixed on heaven and see past this world.
03
The gold
The background is gold, not sky. It is the light of heaven: no shadow, no sunset, no time of day.
04
The hands
Raised in blessing, or holding a cross or the Gospel. The hands show what the saint carries.
05
The letters
The saint's name is written in Coptic beside them. An icon is not finished until it is named.
The faith
What we carry
02
The cross
Equal arms, with three points on each end for the Trinity. Twelve points in all, one for each apostle.
03
The martyrs
The Coptic calendar counts its years from 284 AD, the Era of the Martyrs. A faith that cost something is a faith remembered.
04
The desert
Monastic life began in the Egyptian desert with Saint Anthony. Silence, prayer and a simple life, still lived today.
05
The fast
More than half the year is spent fasting, on mostly plant-based food. Discipline you can feel.