The Holy Family came to the village of Deir Al-Garnus, east of the city of Al-Bahnasa, 18 kilometers west of Maghagha and 10 kilometers from Ashnin Al-Nasara, on the 25th of Bashans, and a shepherd met them at that place, and there the Child Jesus planted three bushes.
Saint Joseph wrote a papyrus about their arrival, where he mentioned the day of their arrival and the duration of their blessing for the place, which some believe to be four days, and he left this docoment in this place. This was according to what was mentioned in the Mimar of Anba Qaryaqos, Bishop of Bahnasa in the seventh century AD, and according to manuscript No. 107 / A Theology and the date of the year 1433 AD in Abu Serga Church in Old Cairo.
Al-Waqidi (747-823 AD) mentions in the book “Futuh al-Sham” that Jesus felt very thirsty, so Virgin Mary took Christ’s finger and raised it over the well in which the water was deep, immediately the water rose to the surface of the well and the whole Family could drink from it.
Currently, in Deir Al-Garnus, a church in the name of the Virgin Mary was rebuilt in 1924 AD and was erected over the site of the ancient church that dates back to earlier ages, and it had been rebuilt several times in successive eras, and there is a well under the altar and another well next to the western wall of the church.
