Since discussing the plight of Christians in their ancient homelands, I have become more and more concerned about their future, and of the many churches and monasteries where I have been privileged to worship with them from Iran to Egypt.

Pope Francis visited Cairo in April 2017 to show his solidarity with Coptic Christians of all denominations in Egypt after recent deadly bomb attacks and said: “How many martyrs in this land, from the first centuries of Christianity, have lived their faith heroically to the end, shedding their blood rather than denying their Lord?”

Aid to the Church in Need does an outstanding job in making us all aware of their plight as it continues to help our Egyptian brothers and sisters rebuild their churches and monasteries throughout Egypt; they face living with the uncertainty of persecution and discrimination hanging over them – and the possibility that they too could pay the ultimate price for their Christian faith. ACN are truly the hands of Jesus in their distress.

I am making a contribution to ACN from the sale of this book specifically to help the suffering Christians in Egypt. If any readers would like to do so too, however large or small your donation, please write to:

Aid to the Church in Need, 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4DA

or go online at www.acnuk.org/donate (http://www.acnuk.org/donate to receive regular information and updates. Tel: 020 8642 8668.

ACN stock this book and can also send you the other three books in my quartet:

The Cross, Meditations and Images, with a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales and an introduction by Abbot Timothy Wright; The Magi, their journey and their contemporaries, with a foreword by HM King Simeon of Bulgaria and an introduction by the Rt Rev’d Christopher Chessun, the Lord Bishop of Southwark and In the Footsteps of St Thomas with a foreword by His Holiness, Baselios Marthoma Paulos II and an introduction by historian Michael Wood.

Donations from these books go to ACN specifically to help the suffering Christians in Syria and Iraq, especially those returning to Mosul from the Nineveh Plains.

The story of the Wise Men who came to visit the baby Jesus is brought to life in a new book being launched next month to raise funds for a charity helping suffering Christians in the lands of the Bible and beyond.

The Magi, their journey & their contemporaries, a 300-page paperback complete with more than 200 illustrations, is the fruit of author Serena Fass’s labours investigating the famous figures from the Christmas story who come to the manger bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Following their journey to the stable in Bethlehem and assessing their changing portrayal in the annals of history, the book seeks to answer key questions – who were the Magi, where did they come from, and why did they come in search of Jesus.

With contributions by Zoroastrian, Jewish and Christian academics as well as clergy from numerous Christian denominations, the book opens with a foreword by King Simeon II of Bulgaria and an introduction by Bishop Christopher Chessun of Southwark.

The book – a companion volume to Serena Fass’s work The Cross released in the spring – is aimed at raising funds for Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s work supporting persecuted and other suffering Christians in Iraq and Syria.