Saint Isaac of Dafra is an Egyptian

Egyptians

Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

 martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

 and saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

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Isaac was born in Dafra, near the modern city of Tanta

Tanta

Tanta is a city in Egypt. It is the country's fifth largest populated area, with an estimated 429,000 inhabitants . Tanta is located north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria...

. According to Coptic

Coptic language

Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...

 manuscripts, an angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

 encouraged him to travel to the town of Towa

Towa

- Japanese municipalities:*Tōwa, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture*Tōwa, Iwate, a town in Iwate Prefecture*Towa, Kōchi, a village in Kōchi Prefecture*Tōwa, Yamaguchi, a former town in Yamaguchi Prefecture...

, near Beba

Bêba

Beba is a town in Nyingchi County, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies at an altitude of 3231 metres .-See also:*List of towns and villages in Tibet...

 in the Bani Suwayf Governorate

Bani Suwayf Governorate

Beni Suef is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is situated in the center of the country.-Overview:This governorate's capital is the city of Beni Suef, located about 120 km south of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile River. The area is well known in Egypt for its cement factories...

, where he professed his Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 faith in front of the governor. The governor tortured Isaac then sent him to Oxyrhynchus

Oxyrhynchus

Oxyrhynchus is a city in Upper Egypt, located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered...

 for further torture and, eventually, execution. Some Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s returned Isaac's body to his town of Dafra, where a church was later built after him. Many miracles were attributed to him during the time of his torture, such as giving sight to two blind men on two different occasions.

The feast day of Saint Isaac of Defra is on 6 Pashons

Pashons 6 (Coptic Orthodox liturgics)

5 Pashons - Coptic calendar - 7 Pashons-Fixed commemorations:All fixed commemorations below are observed on 6 Pashons by the Coptic Orthodox Church-Saints:*Saint Isaac of Dafra*Saint Macarius of Alexandria *Saint Paphnutius of Al Bandarah...

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Source

• Coptic Synexarion