The Coming of the King
Jerusalem is the city of the Great King as Psalm 48 says. It is the city in which God, in the Old Testament, first placed His sanctuary in preparation for redemption. Then afterwards, His sanctuary has been everywhere on earth and in the hearts of all believers.
A Divine Choice
The enthronement of H.H. Thrice Blessed Pope Shenouda III on the throne of St. Mark was undoubtedly a divine choice. During his blessed pontificate, the Church expanded both inside and outside Egypt, and the congregation grew in the love of God, in spiritual knowledge, and being closely tied to the church to a great degree.
A great Pope, a Great Teacher
Before sunset of Saturday, March 17, 2012 H.H. Pope Shenouda III departed to heaven surrounded by the angels and the saints.
The victorious Christ in the temptation (3)
We talked about our Lord Jesus the victorious leader in spiritual warfare and that there is victory awaiting us at the end of the journey of fasting. We also talked about the deceptive schemes that our enemy always uses. Now, we will talk about the temptations that the Lord faced for our sake.
The victorious Christ in the temptation (2)
In the previous article, we talked about Jesus, our leader in spiritual warfare, who joins our battle and wins victory for us. He accepted the challenge of the devil, and came out to confront him on the mountain of temptation to crush him, and to grant us His victory.
The victorious Christ in the temptation (1)
The Church selects for us the chapter of the temptation at the beginning of the journey of Lent, although the temptation of the Lord Jesus on the mountain and his victory over Satan was at the end of his fasting for 40 days. Perhaps the Church wants to tell us that at the end of the journey of fasting, there will be victory and triumph, and that through fasting, we become capable of this triumph. Through fasting, we also become qualified to be served by the Angles, when they came to serve Christ after His victory over the temptation of the devil (Matthew 4:11). Thus, we become encouraged and strengthened at the beginning of the journey of fasting. As though, the Church assures us that whoever joins with Christ in the journey of fasting, will receive strength, wisdom, and grace to overcome the devil and all his evil deceptions.
The School of Alexandria and its Fathers (3)
In the previous two articles, we presented a general introduction about the theological school of Alexandria, its origins and mission, then we presented the biography of some of its famous fathers and theological teachers. In this article, we continue to introduce the rest of the great fathers of this school:
The School of Alexandria and its Fathers (2)
In the previous article, we talked about the scholar Athenagoras and St. Pantaenus. In this article, we will continue our topic about St. Clement and the scholar Origen.
The School of Alexandria and its Fathers (1)
* Before Christianity, Alexandria was famous for its various schools. Some of its greatest and most famous schools are the "Musaeum” [origin of the word Museum] which was established by Ptolemy, it’s library had 200,000-500,000 books and manuscript. There was also the Serapeum school and several other Jewish schools.
Lying
Lying is a very serious sin, which we ought to discuss. In that regard, I was presented with the following two questions:
A Coptic monastery in the US
In December of last year, 2011, It was a blessing for me to spend few days of retreat time at the Monastery of St. Mary and St. Moses the Black in Texas. It is the second established Coptic monastery in the US after the monastery of St Anthony in Bristow, California.
The Wedding at Cana of Galilee
Today, Tobah 13 January 22, the Church celebrates the transformation of water to wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. It is one of the Lord’s minor feasts according to the rites of our church, for it is the first miracle that the Lord Jesus made and with which He started his declared ministry. Let us meditate upon this marvelous miracle.