During her lifetime, mother Irini was considered a saint, a spiritual rockstar. For most of her life, she lived behind thick monastery walls and a door locked with a key about twenty centimetres long. Yet there was always a steady stream of Coptic visitors who came to seek her advice and ask for intercessory prayers. They were not allowed to take pictures of her or record her voice. She was afraid that they would start worshipping her image instead of the divine power that the faithful themselves could experience, a power through which the miraculous events took place. Furthermore, Mother Irini attributed those events to the help of the monastery's patron saint, St Abu Saifein, and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Moeder Irini: saint and 'spiritual rockstar'
Mother Irini (1936-2006), was a nun in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt. Between 1962 and 2006, she was mother superior of the monastery of St Mercury or Abu Saifein in Old Cairo. Under her leadership, the convent was revived and expanded, even today there is a waiting list of aspiring nuns. This particular nun's popularity remains undiminished.
