St. George Coptic Orthodox Church

The Lord of glory resurrected from the dead by His own power and authority on the Sunday of Resurrection after delivering up His spirit on the Cross on Great Friday.  He resurrected for us as He died for us and bestowed upon us the bountiful blessings of the Resurrection and the victory over sin.  Through the death of Christ the old man is cast off and buried in the tomb and through the resurrection of Christ we put on the new man who is superior and is capable of living once more in the newness of life with his Savior.

In 1 Corinthians 15:55 St. Paul writes, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”  Through the Resurrection we are triumphant as the work of the Second Adam has repaired the ruins of the first.  Therefore, man is redeemed and the power of death is terminated.  The venomous poison of the sting of the serpent is now nonexistent and the power of the grave is abolished as the soul transcends the walls of the tomb and is reposed in the bosom of its Creator.  We sing with the Psalmist, “Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you” (Psalm 116:7).

Fr. Mina Shaheid

“You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as your self…do this and you shall live” (Luke 10:27-28).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  This is the first commandment.  And the second is like it, is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

The central core of the Bible is Love.  It is a love story. It is love granted by God to man.  It is love freely given by the Creator to His creation.  It is love bestowed upon children by their Father.  It is love rendered to a bride by her Bridegroom. In His benevolence, God created man according to His own image and placed him in a high rank to rule over His creation.  Although man transgressed against the commandment of God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and hence, his punishment was death, God’s love remained unchanged.  As it is written in Malachi, “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (3:6).  Therefore, a plan of action was necessary to rectify the horrific outcome of the enormity of man’s sin.  God chose His people, protected and blessed them.  He educated them and led them victorious over all their enemies.  But man continued to resist God’s hand and vehemently insisted on straying away.  Regardless of God’s efforts, man always rejected God’s way.  Yet God’s love remained unchanged and He gave His only begotten Son to the brutality of the cross.  As a result, reconciliation was granted and life and liberty were once again restored.

But why should we love Him.  “We love Him because He loved us first.”

The entire story evolves around the concept of love, a twofold love.  First, love the Lord your God with your entire being and second, love your neighbor as yourself.  Saint Augustine writes, “Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all.”

When the Israelites were enslaved under Pharaoh in the land of Egypt, God called for Moses to proclaim to Pharaoh that he must let God’s people go.  When Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, God plagued the Egyptians and rescued His people by a miraculous act of wonder, as the Red Sea was split into two.  God’s people were saved from the hands of their enemies.  When the Israelites hungered, God sent them Manna and Quail from heaven for food.  When the Israelites thirsted, God brought forth water from a rock to quench their thirst.  During the night, God sent a pillar of fire to lead the way and as the sun beat on them during the heat of the day, God sent a cloud to overshadow them.  Yet they always turned their backs on Him who loved them and saved them from all their troubles.

In order to renew His relationship with His people, God gave Moses His Law written on two tablets of stone to instruct individuals on their relationships with both God and neighbor.  God gave His people The Ten Commandments.  Theologians call the Ten Commandments the Ethical Decalogue.  The term ethical pertains to the science of ethics and moral philosophy.  Moral philosophy addresses how moral values should be determined and what moral values people must abide by.  The term Decalogue is a compound word consisting of two combing forms.  Etymologically, the combining form deca- derives from the Greek language referring to the number ten.  The combining form –logue derives from the Greek word logos meaning word and is used in the names of kinds of discourses, both written and spoken.  Since the number ten is a symbol of perfection, the Decalogue is the perfect divine law of God, authored by God and handed to Moses on mount Tabor.

Theologians and church scholars suggest that the Decalogue consists of two divisions.  The first tablet of the law constitutes the commands that pertain to the relationship between man and God:

1)       Thou shall have not other gods before Me.

2)      Thou shall not make unto thee any graven images.

3)      Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4)      Remember the Sabbath day.  Keep it holy.

The second tablet of the law constitutes the commands that pertain to the relationship between man and his neighbor:

5)       Honor thy father and thy mother.

6)      Thou shall not kill.

7)      Thou shall not commit adultery.

8)      Thou shall not steal.

9)      Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10)  Thou shall not covet.

These commandments are God’s covenant with man, in which God, the Covenanter, made a promise to His people, the covenantees, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).  He made a promise to His people, “Do this and you shall be saved” (Luke 10:28).

In this day in age, many people claim that they love God but do not follow His commandments.  Our Lord admonished those who gathered to hear Him, “Did not Moses give you the Law, yet none of you keep the Law” (John 7:19).  St. John in his second epistle writes, “This is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands.  As you have heard from the beginning His command is that you walk in love” (2 John 6).  Saint Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law” (13:8-10).

In brevity, let us relinquish all worldly cares, physical lewdness, and perverted thoughts that we may offer our lives as a sacrifice of love to Him who loved us first and gave His life for us.

Fr. Mina Shaheid

The Church celebrates the feast of Ascension on the 40^th day after the resurrection of our Lord from the dead.  The Ascension feast is one of the seven Major Feasts of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Ascension feast is where our Lord Jesus Christ ascended by His own divine power into heaven.  He ascended in the flesh in a glorified manner to the highest heaven and sat on the right hand of the Father—at the right hand of the power of God.

After His resurrection from the dead and until the 39^th day, our Lord Jesus Christ prepared His disciples for the ministry they were about to embark upon.  They were taught the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and were prepared to preach His life, works, doctrine, death, resurrection and to call out for the life of repentance and the coming of the Kingdom.

By His resurrection from the dead, Christ bestowed upon us the newness of life, which is the ability to live with God once more.  He reconciled the Heavenly with the earthly and abolished the stigma of our fallen nature.  By putting on the cloak of the human flesh, Christ altered man’s nature and lifted it up from the dunghills of sin, saturating it with His own metaphysical essence.

After His numerous apparitions to His disciples to prepare them for the path they were about to take, Christ ascended into Heaven to proclaim their spiritual maturity and their ability to inseminate His glory through their own service.  Therefore, His ascension into Heaven marked the end of their training period and the beginning of their service.  After His ascension, the remaining ten days until the completion of the Pentecostal season, the disciples prepared themselves for the receiving of the Holy Spirit by prayers and praises.  After receiving the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, they preached the name of Christ to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

In truth, the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven is a living proof of our own ascension, for our Lord has gone to prepare a place for us.  Our ability to ascend was exemplified in His ascension into Heaven in the flesh.  St. Paul the apostle writes, “He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

The ascension of Christ grants THREE promises:

1)      Receiving the Holy Spirit—“It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you but if I depart I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).

2)      The Second Coming—“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).

3)      Our Heavenly Inheritance—“And if I am lifted up from the earth will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).

In truth, this is the day where we ought to lift our eyes up towards Heaven, forsaking all immaterial and secular desires, gazing at the treasures of Heaven and longing for the eternal life that is to come.

Fr. Mina Shaheid

“The devil has planted in people’s hearts the thorns and thistles of sins and I have come to cast fire upon the earth to burn such thorns. For this reason I came to cast fire on the earth as to cleanse my land. For I must exterminate by fire all bitter and noxious roots which the devil has planted so as to sow the heavenly plants into pure souls…I have to cast fire on the earth so as to nullify and consume the snow of inequity with which the devil has covered people’s souls and so make these souls bud anew and flower in serenity and purity” (St. John Chrysostom).

Our Lord Jesus Christ made the purpose of His coming clear; it is to sanctify a defiled humanity by the fire of His divinity. He purposed to renew His pure image, which was tarnished by the perniciousness of humanity’s fall. His plan was to eradicate all evil and impish roots planted by satanic wiles.  The concept of the extermination of evil has been tremendously altered from the times of antiquity. By the coming of the Word, the love of the Father has tamed a wrathful hand to one of mercy and compassion. As humanity continues to live in salaciousness, treachery and backsliding, God no longer uses the methods of old as He abolished Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. As mankind’s worship subsists as one of a coven, God does not resort to the ruptures of the clouds of heaven to flood the earth as in the time of Noah. However, God offered His only begotten Son as propitiation that those who believe in Him may not perish but have everlasting life. To the world He sent His Light to shine brightly in the darkness of sin, to reveal righteousness and godliness to lives wasted to a morbid spiritual death.

Providentially, the time of mercy has not yet elapsed as God’s tenderheartedness continues to usher our lives into the path of penance and purity. As the world immerses itself deeper into the dungeon of darkness, God’s desire to inseminate His Light to His creation becomes more passionate. As deviation from the statutes of God become the norms of society and as the hearts of men become less of flesh and more of stone, one’s mind should not fail to ponder the verdict of the most just Judge.

A thorough reflection on the manner of life we lead should be conducted with sincere honesty, to ensure that the time of our earthly sojourning may not be concluded in vain. As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ we must bring to remembrance the purpose of His suffering and agony, that with an unwavering sagacity we achieve a complete comprehension of the immense gift that was bestowed to mankind.

God is the merciful and compassionate Father, who in mercy called us by His Name, to be royal heirs to His kingdom. However, He is also the great just judge, who in His magnanimity will execute punishment on the haughty and the sinful. In His first coming He came with mercy but in His second coming He will execute justice. In His first coming He came in weakness but at His second coming He will come in power and glory, to give each one according to their deeds. Thus, let us search our thoughts and explore the inner chambers of our hearts, that when He returns He finds us prepared to receive Him.

Fr. Mina Shaheid

Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha (Easter).  The purpose of Great Lent is to prepare the faithful to not only commemorate, but to enter into the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus.

The Great Lent is intended to be a workshop where the character of the believer is spiritually uplifted and strengthened; where his life is rededicated to the principles and ideals of the Gospel; where fasting and prayer culminate in deep conviction of life; where apathy and disinterest turn into vigorous activities of faith and good works.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“For everything which is of God is Christ; He Himself is the Wisdom of God, the Power of God, the Righteousness of God, Holiness and Redemption, and thus the Prudent Wisdom of God” (Origen).

The Reason:

Death was inseminated throughout the world by one man’s submission to sin and life was granted to all by one Man’s submission to death.  “In Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).  Origen called Adam the “murderer of all men” since in Adam all must die. When Adam sinned in the Paradise of Eden, he committed a crime against the Eternal God; therefore, his crime was everlasting.  Adam violated a command given by the Limitless God; therefore, his violation was without limits.  Adam transgressed the commandment given by the Omnipresent God; therefore, his transgression was ubiquitous. Adam sinned and the price of his sin was eternal damnation; death was the consequence.  Since his sin was against the Eternal and Limitless God, Adam’s death was to be eternal, he was to be exiled forever into the limitless and godforsaken abyss, tormented by the prince of the air; “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Sin exposed the nakedness of man. Hence, stigmatized by his actions, Adam hid himself from the sight of God.  But the Omniscient God, who searches the hearts and comprehends the hidden thoughts of the mind, knew that to save Adam one greater than Adam must die; one who is without sin, untarnished, without blemish, impeccable, infallible, endless, limitless and eternal.  God knew that He must send His only Son to redeem the world from Adam’s sin, that “whoever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).  It was imperative that the Word of God take flesh and die for the propitiation of mankind, “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).  In order to save mankind both complete attributes and natures of God and man must be united in one person.  St. Athanasius the Apostolic calls the Word the Man-God for He is complete Man and complete God.  Origen writes, “When the Son of God wished to appear to men and live among men for the salvation of the human race, He took not only a human body but also a soul and one like our souls in its nature, but like Himself in purpose and power.  Therefore, Saint Paul states, “Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).

“Sin is a turning away from His source of light, life and holiness, a fall into essential non-being out of the knowledge of God.  Sin is the real death, of which bodily death is only an image” (Origen).

The Method:

In the fullness of time, and after centuries of preparation, the divine plan of salvation was now in progress.  By the collaboration of the Holy Spirit, the Christ was born of a virgin girl, according to the prophecies, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel” (Isa. 7:14).  The Holy Spirit descended hypostatically into the Virgin’s womb in order to serve three quintessential purposes.  First, the Virgin conceived without seed of man.  The Holy Spirit enabled that miraculous occurrence to happen that the Lord Christ may be in her womb through no man.  Hence the words of the angel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).  St. Augustine of Hippo exclaims, “The Word was born of the Father, without a mother, before all ages, and in the fullness of time the Word was born in the flesh of a mother, without a father, in order to save us.”  Second, the Holy Spirit sanctified the womb of the Virgin that it may be a fitting place for the Creator of the universe.  The womb of the Virgin became God’s kingdom; the Word dwelt within her for nine full months.  Third, the Holy Spirit shielded the Word that by being born from mankind He may not be tarnished by the inheritable sin of Adam, for everyone born of flesh inherits Adam’s shame.  The Holy Spirit purified and sanctified the Virgin’s womb so that the Child to whom she gave birth would inherit nothing of the original sin, hence the term “Immaculate Conception.”

The Purpose:

God created man in His own image and likeness.  When man sinned he lost the image that was given him.  The desire of God was to restore man once again to his authority, bestowing upon him once again the liberty of life that was granted him from the beginning of creation.  Christ became man to renew the image of God in man that man might become once more in the image of God.  The whole world has fallen and needed setting aright; in Christ all might be made alive.  Origen gives 7 purposes for the incarnation:

1)      To Join us with Himself

“The reason is that man, to avoid serving God, has risen in futile revolt against God; and the Father, who is the Creator of all beings, in His wish to redeem mankind has sent into this world the Logs, His Only-begotten Son, to the end that the Son might be made flesh and go forth, without changing His divine nature, to preach deliverance to the captives and to give sight to the blind” (Origen).

2)      To renew our nature

“The Lord became man to resurrect our fallen human nature, and to change it from earth unto heaven.  Therefore, our Lord and Savior wanting to resurrect that which had gone into the earth, took an earthly body that he might carry it raised up from the earth to heaven” (Origen).

3) To grant man victory over sin, the evil world and the devil

“We have fallen under the power of our enemies, namely, the ‘ruler of this age’ and his subordinate evil powers; hence we required redemption, through the One who buys us back from our state of alienation from Him.  Hence our Savior gave His own blood as a ransom for us” (Origen).

4) To grant man victory on death

“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death” (Revelation 21:4).

5) To grant us the true effective knowledge

“Within the divinity of the Word is power not only to help and cure those who are sick but to show to the pure in body and mind the revelation of the mystery” (Origen).

6)      To convert the lost sheep of the house of Israel

“All of Israel will be saved.  The deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26)

7)      He registers as the Head of our race

“We register Christ as our head through the divine regeneration, which has become a pattern for us, of His death and resurrection” (Origen).        

“Give me Yourself, O my God!  Restore yourself to me!  Behold I love You, and if it be too little, let me love you more strongly” (St. Augustine of Hippo).

Fr. Mina Shaheid

It is the voice of my Beloved; He knocks saying, “Open for ME” (Song of Solomon 5:2).

The Church has put together, by the wisdom of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit, spiritual preparatory periods, in which God and man may be united in spiritual intercourse.  These are periods of prayer and fasting; periods of spiritual elevation from the earthly to the heavenly and from the secular to the divine.  Although fasting is abstaining from food and drink yet we find Christ knocking on the doors of our hearts saying, “Eat O friends! Drink deeply, O beloved ones” (Song of Solomon 5:1).  Eat not of the food that perishes but the food that endures to everlasting life (John 6:27).  Drink not of the well of Jacob but drink from His side that you may be quenched forever (John 4).

In the preparation for the Advent of Christ, the Church dedicates a period of forty-three days for fasting and prayers.  This period of fasting is constituted of the forty days in which Moses fasted on the mountain before receiving the commandments written by the finger of God and the three days in which the church fasted for the moving of mount Mokatam in Egypt.

Moses fasted before receiving the commandments of God and likewise we also fast before receiving the incarnate God, who took our form to save us from the death of our sins.  Let us prepare our hearts to be fitting mangers for the birth of Christ.  Let us sanctify our souls to be suitable dwellings for the Divine.

The Church fasted during a troubling time in which its integrity was questioned and its faith was threatened.  After spending three days in heartfelt prayers and ascetic fasts God revealed His power to the unbelievers and saved His people by the might of His arm.  Likewise we also must fast that God may save us from the bondage of death and usher us into the liberty of life.

Let us fast for the forgiveness of the sins that we have committed against our loving God.  Let us fast for the purification of our souls and our spirits.  Let us fast for the cleansing of our hearts and minds.  Let us fast for the renewal of our lives that we may be made worthy to live with Him in His kingdom.  Let us fast that we may be considered worthy to dwell in His indissoluble embrace forever.

Fr. Mina Shaheid

“We shall not be accused of not having performed miracles.  We will not be accused of having failed to be theologians or contemplatives.  But we shall surely have to answer to God for not having wept ceaselessly for our sins” (St. John Climacus).

“Whoever seeks deliverance from sins will find it in tears and weeping, and whoever wishes to advance in building up virtue will do so through weeping and tears” (St. Anthony).

The Most Precious Thing in the World:

God asked three of His angels to go down to earth and bring back to Him the most precious thing in the world.  After venturing the world, the three returned to God and submitted their findings.  The first reached into his feathers and brought out a vial containing a drop of blood from a person who had sacrificed his life to save another.  God said, “Surely this is precious in My sight for there is no greater love than this than for one to lay down his life for his friend, but it is not the most precious thing in the world.”

The second angel reached into his feathers and brought out a vial containing the last breath of a nurse who died from a dread disease she contracted from nursing others to health.  God smiled and said, “Surely this is precious in My sight, for doing so to my brethren she had surely done the same for me; but it is not the most precious thing in the world.”

The third angel approached deeply affected by his journey.  With a contrite face, the angel reached into his feathers and brought out his findings.  The angle captured a tear of a sinner who had repented and returned to God.  God beamed upon the angel as He said, “Surely, O angel, you have brought Me the most precious thing in the world—it is the tear of repentance that opens the gates of heaven.”

The Gift:

Saint John Climacus exclaimed that tears are a gift bestowed upon the human race through the tenderheartedness of God.  He had described it as a “joy-creating sorrow.”  When Adam and Eve were exiled from paradise for transgressing against God’s commandment, God gave them the gift of tears that would once again lead them back into paradise.  Saint John of Damascus explains that tears are among forms of baptism and that the gift of tears is connected with baptismal grace.  St. Symeon the new Theologian purports that tears are the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for sins committed after baptism cannot be forgiven without tears.  St. John Climacus depicts tears as a more powerful gift than baptism itself, for baptism cleanses from offenses previously committed yet tears cleanse from sins committed after baptism; tears are a second baptism.  Nicetas Stethatos, a Greek theologian monk, notes that the gift of tears can restore a lost virginity.  St. John Chrysostom explicates, “The fire of sin is intense but it is put out by a small amount of tears.”

A holy sage once said, “What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.” St. Photios speaks of the fountain of tears that drips down the cheeks and washes splendidly the soul.  Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninow writes, “A dirty garment cannot be washed without water; and without tears it is impossible for the soul to be washed and cleansed of its defilements and impurities.”  St. Symeon the new Theologian writes, “To wash a soiled garb without water is impossible; to purify a rusty, stained soul without tears is even more inconceivable.

The Ladder:

The gift of tears is the seventh rung of the 30 rungs of St. John Climacus’ ladder to heaven.  In his book, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent,” St. John Climacus speaks extensively about joyful mourning.  He cautions his retinue to hold fast to this precious gift for it is a powerful means to vanquish satanic soldiers, as he says, “Hold fast to the blessed and joyful sorrow of holy compunction and do not cease laboring for it until it lifts you high above the things of the world to present you, a cleansed offering, to Christ.”

The Cure:

One of man’s greatest detriments is guilt.  Guilt leads to physiological and psychological ailments.  It also produces anguish that is more distressing and more deleterious than physical pain.  Guilt is the cause of sleepless nights and doleful days.  Anthony Coniaris describes guilt as the “greatest tormentor.”

Guilt entered into the world through the fall of Adam.  Guilt is the byproduct of Adam’s sin.  Sin exposed the nakedness of man. Hence, stigmatized by his actions, Adam hid himself from the sight of God out of guilt for his transgression.

Although guilt is the byproduct of sin yet at the same time it is the cure for our sins.  Just as guilt is the byproduct of sin, repentance and tears are the byproduct of guilt.  Guilt is the cure from our sins, as our conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit, redirects us to the path of God once more.

Tears of Jesus:

Jesus wept three times; once over the death of Lazarus; once over the unbelief of Jerusalem; and once for the sins of humanity as He prayed at the garden of Gethsemane.

In the case of the death of Lazarus, Christ wept over the death that entered into the world through the guile of the devil and caused His nature in us to be subjected to death.

In the case of the unbelief of Jerusalem, Christ wept over His people’s unbelief and hypocrisy.  He wept over His people, who made sacrilegious that which is most sacred.  He wept as “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

In the case of His weeping at the garden of Gethsemane, He wept over humanity.  Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus tells the women on the road to Golgotha “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me but weep rather for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28).

Tears of Peter:

Simon Peter denied Christ three times and “wept bitterly” after realizing what he had done.  It was Peter’s sorrowful tears that washed away the residue of his denial and before His ascension Christ invited Peter to follow Him and to feed His sheep.

Tears of David:

David sinned by committing two horrific sins, adultery and murder.  But it was his ever-flowing fountain of tears that caused God to say, “I’ve not found a heart that resembles My own except for My servant David.”   St. John Chrysostom said, “Do you wish to see what makes a bed truly beautiful?  I will show you now the splendor of a bed, not of citizen or a soldier, but of a king…the blessed David.  It was not adorned all over with silver and gold, but with tears and confessions.  David says, ‘I shall wash my bed every night; I shall water my couch with tears…’ You also ought to make a bed like this for yourselves.”

Tears of the Prostitute:

In the Litany of the Second Watch of the Midnight prayer the reader recites, “Lord, grand me many fountains of tears as you’ve granted in the past the sinful woman.  Make me worthy to wash Your feet, which have liberated me from the path of straying…and to gain through repentance a pure life.”  The sinful woman was justified and forgiven because she “loved much,” while the Pharisee, the man of God, was condemned for his impure thoughts and his lack of love.

Tears of Mary Magdalene:

Mary Magdalene wept as she couldn’t find the body of Lord in the tomb, as He had resurrected to the embrace of His Father.  However, upon hearing the voice of the Lord who called out her name, her joy was once again restored and she became the first preacher of the resurrection.  Let us also be vigilant in hearing that voice full of joy calling out our names.

No More Tears:

God the most tenderhearted and benevolent Lord will give comfort to sorrowful hearts and will wipe away every tear shed, as it is described, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).  In His love Christ says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Let us bring ourselves to the Cross of the Lord, and shed our tears, with His mother Mary, over our sins that had caused Him to suffer such excruciating pains.  In the Fraction of the Son it says, “We are the ones who sinned, and He was the One who suffered.  We are the ones who are indebted to Divine justice as a result of our sins, and He was the One who paid off our debts for our sakes…It is our sins that are the thorns that plunged into His holy head.”

Let us, then, grieve for our sins that have inflicted such excruciating pains on our compassionate redeemer.  Let us cherish His suffering as our treasure; His crown of thorns as our glory; His pains as our joy; His myrrh as sweetness in our mouths; His blood as our life; and His love as our honor.

Fr.  Mina Shaheid

St. Mary’s Fast:
The fast of the holy Virgin Mary, a period of 15 days, begins on the first day of the Coptic month of Mesra and ends on the 16 day of the same month with the celebration of the Dormition and Assumption of the holy Virgin.  Tradition accounts that this fast was pressed upon the church by the believers, due to their love for the Mother of God, the Theotokos, and was added to the holy fasts of the Church. In origin, this fast was not part of the fasts assigned by the apostles and the early church fathers, and its addition was not until the early thirteenth century.

This occurrence was first recorded in a book written by the elder Abu-Elmakarem Saad-Allah Girgis Masoud.  It is documented that Abu-Elmakarem had died in the year 1209 A.D, thus, rendering the obvious conclusion that this fast was an addition to the church fasts only during the early thirteenth century. The Church has placed St. Mary’s fast in a fourth degree category; that is, it is placed after the fasts dedicated to our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles fast.

St. Mary’s Virginity:
The prophet Isaiah writes, “Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and His name shall be called Emmanuel” (7:14).  This text refers directly and distinctly to Saint Mary as the Mother of the Son of God. It describes Saint Mary as Virgin yet conceiving and giving birth to a child. In the Hebrew language the term used for virgin in this text is “Almah,” which means a virgin maiden who may be engaged. The Scriptures here depict the extraordinary miracle of the birth of the Son of God through a virgin. It must be noted that the word “Almah” is etymologically used in this text to mean the continuation of the state of virginity, and hence it has been translated “The Virgin” and not “A Virgin.” This has been done by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to indicate St. Mary’s perpetual virginity, being the “Ever Virgin,” even after the birth of her Son.

St. Mary’s Conception:
By the collaboration of the Holy Spirit, the Christ was born of a virgin girl, according to the prophecies, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel” (Isaiah. 7:14). The Holy Spirit descended hypostatically into the Virgin’s womb in order to serve three quintessential purposes. First, the Virgin conceived without seed of man.  The Holy Spirit enabled that miraculous occurrence to happen that the Lord Christ may be in her womb through no man.  Hence the words of the angel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). St. Augustine of Hippo exclaims, “The Word was born of the Father, without a mother, before all ages, and in the fullness of time the Word was born in the flesh of a mother, without a father, in order to save us.” Second, the Holy Spirit sanctified the womb of the Virgin that it may be a fitting place for the Creator of the universe. The womb of the Virgin became God’s kingdom; the Word dwelt within her for nine full months. Third, the Holy Spirit shielded the Word that by being born from mankind He may not be tarnished by the inheritable sin of Adam, for everyone born of flesh inherits Adam’s shame. The Holy Spirit purified and sanctified the Virgin’s womb so that the Child to whom she gave birth would inherit nothing of the original sin, hence the term “Immaculate Conception.”

Theotokos:
Saint Mary is referred to as the Theotokos, which is a term that was adopted at the Third Ecumenical Council as a title for the Virgin Mary. Theotokos was recognized by the Chruch at the Third Ecumenical Council, held at Ephesus in 431.  The theological significance of the title is to emphasize that Jesus Christ, whom Saint Mary bore and gave birth to, is fully God and fully human, and that Jesus Christ’s two natures, divine and human, were united in a single Person of the Trinity. The competing view at that council was that St. Mary was to be called Christotokos, meaning “Birth-giver to Christ” rather than being called the Mother or Bearer of God. This was the view advocated by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople at the time. The intent behind calling her Christotokos was to restrict her role as merely the mother of Christ’s humanity and not His divine nature.

Saint Mary
Nestorius’ view was anathematized by the Council as heresy, since it was considered to be dividing Jesus into two distinct persons. The Council also retained the glory of St. Mary as the Theotokos, Mother of God, and not merely a bearer of a human. St. Cyril of Alexandria, also known as the Pillar of Faith, was a central figure in the Council of Ephesus, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople. He contributed to the Church the composition of the Prelude to the Creed (We exalt you, Mother of the True Light etc.).

The Feasts of St. Mary:
1 ·The Annunciation to her parents (7 of Messra)
2 ·Her Nativity (1 of Pashans)
3 ·Her Presentation in the Temple (3 of Keyahk)
4 ·Her Dormition (death) (21 of Touba)
5 ·Her Assumption(16 of Messra)
6 ·Dedication of her Churches at Philliponis & Atrib, Egypt (21 of Ba-ouna)
7 ·Her Apparition in Zeitoun (Cairo) (2 of April)

Fr. Mina Shaheid