Sunday, the Muslims returned the favor.
They surrounded Christians celebrating Mass in Cairo's central plaza, ground zero for the secular pro-democracy protests reverberating throughout the Middle East.
"In the name of Jesus and Muhammed, we unify our ranks," the Rev. Ihab al-Kharat told the crowd in his sermon.
"We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny," he said.
Some of the worshipers began to cry as the congregation sang, "Bless our country, listen to the cries of our hearts."
Afterward, the crowd of both Muslims and Christians chanted "one hand" - meaning "we are one" - and held up a Koran and a cross.
Egypt's 10 million to 20 million Coptic Christians are the largest and oldest Christian community in the Middle East.
They have been targeted by Islamic extremist groups and systematically barred from official positions by President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
A year ago, nine Copts were killed and 13 were wounded when Muslim militants opened fire on worshipers leaving the church where they had celebrated Mass on the Coptic Christmas Eve, Jan. 6.
A month ago, on New Year's Eve, 23 Copts were killed and 97 injured in the bombing of a church in Alexandria during a midnight prayer service.
That history made the fellowship in Cairo yesterday all the more moving.
"Christians pray and Muslims defend them. It is a touching scene," Coptic activist Michael Muneer told Al Jazeera TV.
The images also contradict those who suggest the protesters are militants bent on installing a fundamentalist government.
Though police forces quit protecting anything - including churches - when the anti-Mubarak protests began two weeks ago, not one church has been attacked.
Mass wasn't the only ceremony yesterday at Tahrir Square.
Dr. Ahmad Zaafan and his fiancée, Oula Abdul Hamid, who had been camping in the square for 10 days, got married in the shadow of a tank.
It was like having 300,000 guests, they said.
"We both received blessings and congratulations from all over the world," said Zaafan, a volunteer medic who treated wounded protesters.
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