How should we praise in the Church? Besides the great awe of this inheritance, yet how much we distort it whenever the worship is changed to just a ritual and this appears a lot in: The competition of voices in the church, so that some people try to reply and sing the hymn before the… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Final
Fasting is not very alive and well in the Christian world. Much of that world has long lost any living connection with the historical memory of Christian fasting. It is as though they were Jews who heard there was such a thing as kosher and decided to make up the rules for what to eat… Continue reading Hesychasm!
Psalias Connected with the four Canticles and the seven Theotokias are seven Epsalias. The word “epsalia” means a hymn. The hymn in our Coptic Church is distinguishable in that the reply in each verse ends with the name of Jesus. An example of this: The Epsalia for Monday: “My Lord Jesus” The Epsalia for Tuesday:… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 5
In this discussion, we will focus on the titles of Saint Mary, most of which come from the Old Testament. There is no woman about whom the prophets prophesied more about than the Virgin Mary. Many titles of Saint Mary are contained in the Old Testament. Many of her titles are recited in the Sunday… Continue reading The Titles Of St Mary!
The Mystery of the Incarnation: The Theotokias Indeed, the personality of the Virgin, the Mother of God, has above the greatest importance concerning the mystery of the incarnation. We cannot taste or touch it and feel or live it and take its blessings except after comprehending the divine connection between the divine and human natures… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 4
Abba Boctor, the writer and abbot of the Descending Monastery, commonly known as the Glass Monastery in the city of Alexandria said: Listen my beloved brethren and believers of the Lord Jesus, I shall tell you what I saw with my own eyes! At the age of twelve, I greatly desired monasticism and so came… Continue reading 10 Days To Live!
The Third Canticle: (The Praise of the Three Saintly Youths) It is the praise of the three saintly youths. (It is a writing in the Holy Bible and the Protestants omitted it in the Beirut edition). It can be summed up that the king commanded the elimination of the three youths in the fiery furnace.… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 3
Abba Stephanos the Hermit, in the wilderness of El Fayoum. Listen my friends and I will tell you what I witnessed with my own eyes and heard with my own ears… One day, I was wandering in the wilderness and meditating on its valleys, mountains, and many wild beasts which becomes tame to humans. So… Continue reading The Skull That Spoke!
The Divisions of the Midnight Praises The First Canticle (hos): It is the praise of Moses the Prophet after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15). “Let us praise the Lord for with glory he is glorified…” The Red Sea was a symbol of baptism which is considered a complete barrier between Pharaoh and his soldiers… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 2
To have a powerful effect on your spiritual life during Advent, you need to follow certain exercises. These exercises, when you apply them to life’s situations, will help you benefit from your fast: To exercise giving up a specific sin, from the sins that prevail upon you, and which is repeated in many of… Continue reading Spiritual Exercises While Fasting!
Over the Next week i will dedicate my blog to a series of articles by Fr Bishoy Kamel – who will take us on a spiritual Journey through the Praises Of Kiahk. The praise of Kiahk (also called “7 and 4”) on the Eve of Sunday is the praise of every eve of Sunday all… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 1
Did St. Mary remain a virgin after giving birth to the Lord? Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces towards the east, but it was shut. And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by… Continue reading The Betrothed!
Nathan, a teenage boy, walked into the lounge room at home and switched on the T.V. He switched over to his favourite show and tried to concentrate on what was going on. But he was unsuccessful. The only thing on his mind was the gorgeous brunette girl, Amelia. He has tried everything under the sun… Continue reading Attention Please!
The Nature of Our Knowledge of God God in his essence is incomprehensible. God dwells in the unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, says the Apostle Paul (1 Tim. 6:16). Nevertheless, to a certain extent, we do have a knowledge of God a knowledge to the extent that He has revealed… Continue reading The Attributes Of God!
In the Christian tradition of both east and west, the twelve days of Christmas refer to the period from Christmas Day to Theophany. The days leading up to Christmas were for preparation; a practice affirmed in the Orthodox tradition by the Christmas fast that runs from November 25 to Christmas day. The celebration of Christmas… Continue reading Commercialisation Of Christmas!
The late Pope Kyrillos VI of triple blessedness, wrote this moving message to his children that had emigrated to other countries on the occasion of holy Lent. It was written shortly before his departure. Peace to you from the Lord and grace and blessing. Our Good and Compassionate God, Who preserves His children everywhere and… Continue reading Pope Cyril VI On Fasting!
How you begin and conduct your fast will largely determine your success.You have to plan to make your time with the Lord more meaningful and spiritually rewarding. Set Your Objective Why are you fasting?Is it just as a tradition of the church or Is it for spiritual renewal, for guidance, for healing, for the resolution… Continue reading Benefiting From The Nativity Fast!
Have you heard about Moses and the burning bush? That is a story in the Bible from the Book of Exodus. Moses had grown up in Egypt in the palace of the Pharaoh. When he was about 40 years old, he ran away from Egypt because he killed an Egyptian that was beating up a… Continue reading The Burning Bush!
We started out with this wonderful experience, this intimate knowledge, this almost chummy companionship with God—and then the magic was gone. It was as if God had fallen asleep or left us beside the road in pursuit of some other, newer convert. I don’t know if this is any consolation for you, but this experience… Continue reading The Magic Is Gone!
Today the Coptic Church begins the nativity fast in anticiaption of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ who came into the world to save us from the sin that Adam dared to commit in Paradise! The Church journeys toward the birth of Christ God, steered by the ship that is the Nativity fast. She… Continue reading The Advent Fast Begins Today!
Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy while imprisoned in Rome. His life was nearly at an end, but more importantly, he knew that his work was done: For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have… Continue reading The Masters Vessel!
One of the most difficult things to deal with as a Christian, or as human beings in general, is that of the hurt that others inflict upon us. There might be nothing like it. The reason such becomes so difficult is that, normally, our emotions and the deepest parts of us get involved. That’s because… Continue reading The Hurt Heart!
Lit candles and Icon lamps (lampadas) have a special symbolic meaning in the Christian Church, and no Christian service can be held without them. In the Old Testament, when the first temple of God was built on earth the Tabernacle services were held in it with lamps as the Lord Himself had ordained (Ex. 40:5,… Continue reading Why Candles?
Weep over your sin: it is a spiritual ailment; it is death to your immortal soul; it deserves ceaseless, unending weeping and crying; let all tears flow for it, and sighing come forth without ceasing from the depths of your heart. In profound humility I weep for all my sins, voluntary and involuntary, conscious and unconscious, covert… Continue reading Lamenting Over My Sin!
Through the advice of the serpent which he advised to Eve, Adam went out from Paradise. Its punishment was hard and grievous. God took from it its food and gave to it the dust. It was thrown on the earth and moved on its belly. He made it without feet, because by them it had… Continue reading Are You Like The Serpent?
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