Search Results

Series Introduction On an unassuming day in late May of the year 325 A.D., in the lakeside city of Nicaea, 318[1] bishops from all across the Roman Empire came together at the invitation of the Emperor in what would become one of the most venerated and consequential events in Christian history. Their convocation, necessitated by novel — and yet, upon closer examination, not entirely original — doctrinal contentions maintained by a popular and elderly Alexandrian presbyter, Arius, along with his supporters and fellow heretics, carried the potential for either vindication of the Faith delivered by Christ “once for all to the saints,”[2] or formal acceptance by the Church of an entirely heretical doctrinal framework. Despite the gravity of the Council of Nicaea, the first “ecumenical”[3] council in the Church’s history, and its central role in the eventual triumph of Orthodoxy over what amounted to a threatening and popularly attractive deviant dogmatic system, its historical background, doctrinal concerns, and subsequent legacy remain until today relatively obscure and unfamiliar to the average Christian. Indeed, besides perhaps limited superficial awareness of the occurrence of this council, and potentially also an association of the great Saint Athanasius with it, if even that, the ordinary believer is — and this is a disheartening and lamentable fact — woefully unaware of its monumental significance. In our humble effort to contribute to remedying the foregoing, especially on this 1700th anniversary of the Council, by providing a serviceable introduction to its history, import, and legacy, we will begin by providing an overview of the “makings,” character, and life of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic, whose theological acumen and spiritual prodigiousness became renowned even from a young age and proved timely — even divinely-prepared — for the ecclesial contentions of his lifetime. Abba Athanasius emerges from the doctrinal battlegrounds of the Nicene era as the victorious defender of Orthodox Christianity, one may add at great personal cost[4] and not without the invaluable assistance and support of several other faithful, pious, and theologically adept believers from among both the clergy and the laity, and his unshakeable personality, deep piety, and heartfelt defense of his Faith — rather than some theoretical set of impersonal dogmatic tenets — deserve careful attention, if only for the sake of spiritual edification and inspiration to piety and doctrinal concern. Having so introduced Athanasius, albeit in necessarily cursory fashion, we will proceed to highlight the theological, social, and ecclesial backgrounds and contexts that underpinned the subject theological dispute, along with a discussion of the catalyst behind it, Arius of Alexandria, his dogmatic ideas which later came to be collectively known as Arianism, along with its many variants, and his repeated clashes with the Alexandrian Church between 313 and 325 A.D. in the lead-up to the Council. Finally, we will dedicate the third entry of our series to a discussion of the aftermath of the Council, especially the chaotic and volatile period that lasted until approximately 381 A.D. and caused immense suffering to both the Church generally and Athanasius and his fellow supporters and defenders of Nicaea specifically. It is our hope that by God’s grace, this limited series will serve as a helpful introductory foray into the contentious world of fourth-century Christianity, and an inspiring and convicting opportunity for readers to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation not only of Saint Athanasius and his defense of the Faith against Arianism, but also of the truly nuanced and consequential nature of theological debate and the immense sacrifice the Fathers of the Church offered, due to their unwavering faithfulness, in order to preserve and deliver the Faith they had received and which they were entrusted by the Lord to uphold, proclaim, and transmit in His Church. The Makings and Character of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic It would doubtless be remiss, for our purposes, to commence our discussion of the Council of Nicaea and the Arian Controversy without first examining the makings and character of the man who emerged from that unenviable period as the Champion of Orthodoxy — Saint Athanasius the Apostolic. It would, without exaggeration, be impossible to either adequately capture the magnitude of the Church’s triumph over Arianism — which at one point had enamored and captivated almost the whole of Christendom — or elicit from this unfortunate period of the Church’s history perhaps any modicum of spiritual edification without properly understanding, inasmuch as we are able, the man who, against all odds and in opposition to, almost literally, the whole word, possessed the clarity of mind and soundness of understanding to be able to properly comprehend and synthesize what had been handed down in the Church from the beginning, had undergone the requisite education and training to be able to distinguish nuanced deviations from sound doctrine and respond to them clearly and forcefully, and stood firm, despite great personal loss, against a popular, attractive, and politically connected heresy. Indeed, to understand and appreciate the Nicene victory over Arianism, one must first understand and appreciate Athanasius. Athanasius was born to a pious and wealthy Egyptian Christian family in or around 298 A.D. He was baptized in his infancy, and it was his family that planted within him the seed of truth, nourished him in the Christian life, and facilitated the earliest and most important years of his physical, spiritual, and intellectual development. While we know little about his parents from his writings, we are certain that they routinely attended the liturgical services of the Church, bringing with them little Athanasius. He routinely attended Divine Liturgies, baptisms, weddings, and all other services in the Church, and, as we will see shortly, he was incredibly attentive during these, soaking in the prayers, hymns, readings, and ecclesial atmosphere since his infancy. It was therefore his family that constituted the first formative force that influenced his life, character, and thought. The liturgical experience, to which he was accustomed and in which he was raised, left an indelible mark on the life of our saint. It is clear from the historical data that Athanasius was quite familiar since a young age with the liturgical prayers of the Church. For instance, a famous story recorded about him by several early Christian historians tells that one day, Pope Alexander spotted young Athanasius playing with his friends by the seashore in Alexandria. As he watched them play, he recognized that they were acting out the liturgy of baptism, and so when he had called them over and investigated their play, he discovered that Athanasius, who fulfilled the role of the bishop in the act, conducted the rite precisely and with great enthusiasm and reverence.[5] But how could Athanasius do so without reference to the liturgical rubrics or texts unless he had memorized the prayer and rite of baptism, and how could he have done so if he had not already, despite his young age, attended many baptisms and paid close attention to and participated in the celebration? Athanasius did not abandon this liturgical mode of life as he grew; even after he became patriarch, he practiced the liturgical life faithfully, competently, and with great love and care. This is easily appreciated, for instance, in his recounting that, after he had already become the bishop of Alexandria, he was once in the church praying the Midnight Praises (Tasbeha), when at the time of the Second Canticle (Ϩⲱⲥ), more than five thousand guards seized upon the church to arrest him. As a faithful shepherd, Athanasius insisted that all those present first be permitted to depart unharmed; when all had departed, the guards entered the church to find it empty, with even Athanasius having managed to secretly flee.[6] All throughout his life, Athanasius was keen to observe the liturgical worship of his beloved Church, and the influence of that liturgical experience is clearly perceptible in the stories about him as well as his own writings. It suffices to read his beautiful Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms to see how deeply and lovingly Athanasius approached the life of prayer and what great familiarity and facility he had with the Psalter, which was, of course, a main liturgical book both in the practice of the Egyptian churches and among the monastics in his day. Beyond liturgical worship, Athanasius was deeply influenced by the persecution that arose in his early youth. From the time that he was a young boy until his mid-teens, Athanasius lived through the so-called Diocletianic Persecution, which lasted from 303 A.D. until 313 A.D. Thus, Athanasius experienced the most severe era of early Christian persecution from when he was about five years old until he was about fifteen. He likely prayed in hiding along with his fellow believers during these years; perhaps he, like many other Christians, was forced to flee his home along with his family; and he saw at least some among his teachers, relatives, and friends martyred for the sake of Christ.[7] This experience, particularly during these formative years, left a profound mark on his spirituality, intellectual framework, and theological understanding, so much so that when writing his first great treatise, Against the Heathen and On the Incarnation, only a few years after the persecution ended — that is, when he was only about 18 or 20 years old — Athanasius considers as among the most powerful witnesses to the truth of the resurrection of our Lord, besides the purity and chastity of young Christian men and women, which he undoubtedly practiced and saw among his friends and fellow believers in his young age, the courage and peace of the men and women who went with joy to their martyrdom.[8] Had he not seen such men and women with his own eyes, or been educated by, or perhaps even related to, some of them, he would not have been able to speak with such force and in so moving a way about them, and he might not have appreciated the convicting power of their witness or its implications when understood in light of the sound Faith of Christ. And so Athanasius, having seen martyrdom up close and personally, was able to hold fast to the truth of Christ when faced with a new form of persecution and personal suffering for His sake. In addition to his upbringing by pious parents, liturgical practice, and experience of the Great Persecution, Athanasius was deeply influenced by his discipleship — to the renowned monastic elders of his day and to Pope Alexander himself — and especially the ascetical life with which he had through that discipleship been introduced and become quite accustomed. He enjoyed a close personal relationship with the great Abba Antony, even being within his inner circle and “pouring water on his hands,”[9] a sign of personal trust and close discipleship. He spent so much time with Antony, in fact, that when he was asked to write the account of that saint’s life, he was able to prepare his great work, The Life of Antony, predominantly from memory, but for supportive reliance on other disciples of Antony who had perhaps spent more time with him or had been present for events in his life for which Athanasius had been absent.[10] And Abba Antony, of course, deeply respected and loved his disciple Athanasius, to the point of leaving the inner mountain and traveling to Alexandria at the request of Athanasius and the other “bishops and all the brethren” to assist them in their opposition to Arianism[11] — one of only two or three times that Antony left the desert to visit the city after undertaking the monastic life — and bequeathing to him one of the only two garments he owned at the time of his departure.[12] Besides Antony, Athanasius was also well acquainted with Abba Pachomius, seeking even to ordain him to the presbytery, which ordination Pachomius famously refused by going into hiding until Athanasius agreed not to move forward with it.[13] And certainly Athanasius was closely acquainted and associated with many great monastics in his day, visiting the monasteries in a pastoral capacity, ordaining bishops from among the monks — for the first time in Christian history — in order to assist him, given their renowned theological training and intellectual prowess, in opposing Arianism and defending the Faith of Nicaea, and even being able to take refuge among the monks of the Egyptian desert during his third and fourth (of five) exiles, receiving during those exiles news of ongoing events and communicating with his flock through loyal and skilled messengers acting within an established and effective system of monastic communication. Of course, his discipleship to the great Pope Alexander, his predecessor in the papacy, is also well known. It was that patriarch who first “discovered” Athanasius, as mentioned above, and who facilitated his theological education in the School of Alexandria, ordained him when he was still in his early twenties to the diaconate due to his rare brilliance, spiritual and academic excellence, piety of life, and sincerity in discipleship, and granted him to accompany him to the great Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., and to participate there in defending the Faith against the Arians. In this manner, Athanasius was well-discipled — to spiritually faithful and theologically competent teachers and elders — and embodied the spirit of sound discipleship, and was therefore able to deliver the true faith and spirit of Christ to his own disciples and to the following generation of believers, both due to his personal receipt of that doctrine and spirit from those who held fast to, properly understood, and lived according to it and, as we will now see, also through his formal education and theological training. Beyond the aforementioned factors, and in tandem with them, Athanasius was influenced by his academic and theological training and study. As previously noted, Pope Alexander ensured that the young Athanasius obtained the highest caliber of education in his day, and in the information known of Athanasius’ life prior to his encountering Pope Alexander, it is likewise clear that his own parents emphasized his education in their own right when he was a young boy. Athanasius therefore benefitted greatly from a sound, well-rounded education, and was thus well trained in Greek philosophy, rhetoric, logic, grammar, literature, Greco-Roman religion, and other disciplines. It was this training, along with his mastery of the Scriptures, that ultimately proved most useful to him, enabling him to recognize, understand, and refute Arius’ doctrinal framework and theological misunderstandings, and persuade the believers of the truth and reasonableness of Orthodoxy, with not only scriptural arguments, but also by using philosophy, reason, and other pertinent disciplines.[14] The foregoing influences, great and impactful as they were in the life of the great defender of Orthodoxy, were, it must be said, insufficient on their own to produce the spiritually, intellectually, and doctrinally imposing, albeit physically unimpressive, Athanasius. Indeed, what bound these together and produced in Athanasius the unique, inspiring, and indefatigable heart, mind and spirit he possessed throughout his life were none other than, first, a profound knowledge and mastery of the Scriptures, and, second, an extraordinary and inextinguishable love for Christ. Athanasius was renowned for and deeply influenced by an encyclopedic knowledge of the Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers who preceded him. He memorized the Scriptures, like many of the saints from the early Church until today, and this mastery of the Scriptures was key to his ability to correct and refute the Arians, since they relied on many verses and passages from the Scriptures, but taken out of context, interpreted inconsistently and disharmoniously with the patristic tradition, and used manipulatively — eisegetically — to further their arguments and agendas. Athanasius’ scriptural knowledge and understanding of the work of the saints and biblical interpreters who came before him — along with his faithful spirit — enabled him to properly understand the verses utilized by the Arians, correct, expose, and masterfully counter their manipulative and unfaithful usage of them, and thereby safeguard the believers from his time until today from the error of that ignominious heresy. Meanwhile, an illimitable and deeply personal love of Christ and the Church — a palpable piety and sincere theological humility — was perhaps the central driving force behind Athanasius’ impassioned, lifelong commitment to and defense of the Nicene cause and the extermination of Arianism. As one scholar summarized, “[i]t was not as a theologian, but as a believing soul in need of a Saviour, that Athanasius approached the mystery of Christ.”[15] And as another beautifully expressed: “Athanasius was on fire with the love of Christ . . . His love of Christ is the key to his whole life and also to his writings.”[16] Athanasius was therefore not, as some have come to conceive of theology, an academic or speculative theologian to whom matters of doctrine were objects of mere intellectual interest and theoretical contemplation. Rather, he was, in every respect, a “great Christian pastor”[17] to whom “Christianity is not a dead system of doctrine and statements of faith, but living faith in Jesus Christ.”[18] And so, despite the great difficulties he suffered at the hands of the Arians and their political and religious supporters, “[t]he glory of God and the welfare of the Church absorbed him fully at all times.”[19] The influences in the life, understanding, and character of this great saint — of which we have here spoken in cursory fashion and with words that of necessity fall short of conveying the full sense of his nobility and splendor — must be understood collectively. They worked together in him both to render him the saint that he became, by God’s grace and his own uncompromising conviction to the life with God until the last breath, and to enable him to defend the Faith of Christ and to overcome the monstrous threat of Arianism — one that could have eliminated sound Orthodoxy from the world entirely. As one considers Abba Athanasius, the insufficiency of words in adequately conveying to the reader even a glimpse of his greatness becomes obvious. And yet, despite that inadequacy, through them one immediately recognizes in him an awe-inspiring and decisive resoluteness worthy of wholehearted imitation.[20] He was in every respect human — having his share of flaws, weaknesses, and biases, as with any other person, but with a dynamic, enthusiastic, and active personality distinguished by deep piety, singularity of purpose, clarity of thought, unmistakable loyalty, uncompromisable dignity, infectious joy, and a lighthearted sense of humor. It was this Athanasius who, by God’s grace, would rise to the occasion of refuting and resisting Arius and his fellow heretics — from whom, as will be seen, there emerged in Athanasius’ lifetime several groups divided along various theological lines — and to whom Orthodox Christianity would forever be indebted as perhaps its greatest defender. — [1] Evagrius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31; Athanasius, Epistle to the African Bishops; Hilarius, Contra Constantium; Jerome, Chronicon; Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History 10.1. [2] Jude 3. [3] That is, universal, or having representation from, and applicability to, the entire [Christian] world (oikoumene). [4] See, e.g., Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History 10.15: “But he had such struggles to undergo in the church for the integrity of the faith that the following passage seems to have been written about him too: ‘I will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name.’ For the whole world conspired to persecute him and the princes of the earth were moved, nations, kingdoms, and armies gathered against him. But he guarded that divine utterance which runs: ‘If camps are set up against me, my heart will not fear, if battle is waged against me, in him will I hope.’ But because his deeds are so outstanding that their greatness does not allow me to omit any of them, yet their number compels me to pass over very many, and thus my mind is troubled by uncertainty, unable to decide which to keep and which to pass over. We shall therefore relate a few of the pertinent matters, leaving the rest to be told by his fame, which will, however, doubtless find itself recounting the lesser things. For it will discover nothing that it could add.” [5] For the complete telling of this account, see Socrates, Ecclesiastical History 1.15; Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History 2.17; Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History 10.15. [6] For the full account in Athanasius’ own words, see Athanasius, Apologia de Fuga 24. [7] See On the Incarnation 56. [8] Id. at 28, 48, 52. [9] See Life of Antony, Prologue. [10] Ibid. [11] Id. at 69-71. [12] Id. at 91. [13] The Bohairic Life of Pachomius 28. [14] It suffices to read his Against the Arians to see how well Athanasius comprehends these disciplines and capitalizes on his knowledge of them to pick apart Arius’ belief system and theological assertions. [15] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers II.IV), xv. [16] Dominic Unger, “A Special Aspect of Athanasian Soteriology,” Franciscan Studies 6 (1946), 30. [17] W. Emery Barnes, “Athanasius” in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings, gen. ed. Volume 2, 170-171. [18] Friedrich Lauchert, Die Lehre Des Heiligen Athanasius des Grossen (Leipzig: Gustav Fock Verlag, 1895), 12. [19] Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers II.IV), lxvii. [20] It was this sublime character of Athanasius that led St. Gregory of Nazianzus to declare: “In praising Athanasius, I shall be praising virtue. To speak of him and to praise virtue are identical, because he had, or, to speak more truly, has embraced virtue in its entirety.” (Oration 21.1). —

Introduction Digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Social Media today predominate the non-physical online realm, transcending time and space and allowing for instantaneous communication and connectivity from any location globally. With this unprecedented technological proliferation, the notion of remoteness is quickly becoming obsolete, as even in the deserts, one can be completely engaged in and connected to a world of communication and information. Despite the overbearing inescapability of this modern immersive condition, the desert still lends her wisdom, for there can be found until today the richest Christian men and women following in the footsteps of those who have sought for centuries to fulfill through monasticism the high calling of Christianity. The founder of this monastic movement, Antony of Egypt, himself retreated to the desert in a quest to live out the Christian Faith in complete devotion, being convinced that the message of Christianity must be internalized and transfigured within himself so that he might fulfill the Lord’s command to be perfect. [1] Equipped with this conviction, Antony forsook all his possessions and began his long journey into the inner desert — a journey to perfect virtue and true Christlikeness — ultimately becoming the lamp of monasticism (as he is called in the Coptic Orthodox Tradition) and an example for all Christians. Antony recognized that Christianity properly lived requires unwavering personal devotion and complete integration into one’s life — the Christian is required to “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14) and not be “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). As online technological advancements continue to gain prevalence in people’s daily lives, imposing upon Christians a new “gospel,” a conscious consideration of the necessary features of the human experience according to the Christian framework is perhaps more necessary today than ever before. [2] Of these advancements, Artificial Intelligence, being by its very nature antithetical to and devoid of any measure of living experience, raises especially alarming concerns, particularly for evangelization and the Christian life. In contrast to several of those concerns, however, stands the life and standard of Antony, which remains until today a grounding example for Christian believers and emphasizes several features of the human experience which they must consciously guard within themselves in the face of the threats posed by these technologies. Encountering Antony of Egypt Journeying from his village to the desert, Antony sought to fulfill the calling of Christian discipleship to Christ, creating a balanced environment conducive to Christian formation [3] and not evading any component of the human experience. Athanasius’ description, in The Life of Antony , of Antony's emergence from the Roman fort in response to the demands of the masses depicts this state of balance that Antony achieved: “…Antony came forth as out of a shrine, as one initiated into sacred mysteries and filled with the spirit of God. It was the first time that he showed himself outside the fort to those who came to him. When they saw him, they were astonished to see that his body had kept its former appearance, that it was neither obese from want of exercise, not emaciated from his fasting and struggles with the demons: he was the same man they had known before his retirement. Again, the state of his soul was pure, for it was neither contracted by grief, nor dissipated by pleasure, not pervaded by jollity or dejection…No, he had himself completely under control — a man guided by reason and stable in his character.” [4] The balance of personal development with interpersonal communication and communal connection which Antony maintained deserves not only admiration, but also emulation, [5] for he became thereby the model of a complete Christian — “the man of God.” [6] Antony and the Self The primary resources pertaining to Antony — The Life of Antony , his sayings, and his letters — depict and emphasize the absolute necessity of sound identity formation in Christian experience, dependent upon scriptural internalization, virtue attainment, and enlightened self-understanding. This formation led Antony to order his life in submission to the Scriptures and thereby to become a conduit for the Lord to permeate the lives of his disciples. From a young age, Antony knew the Scriptures, contemplated upon them often, and took them personally. Upon hearing the Gospel being read in church shortly after his parents’ death, he submitted to its teaching and allowed it to radically transform his life. It was the Scriptures, after all, that initiated his journey into the wilderness. In his later encounters with demons, his mastery of the Scriptures is especially evident, as he used them as his shield to overcome demonic attacks. [7] His scriptural formation also flows seamlessly into his teaching: when many came to learn from him, he said to them, “The Scriptures are really sufficient for our instruction.” [8] Similarly, when asked what one must do “in order to please God,” he responded “…always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures.” [9] His second letter, [10] moreover, is almost entirely formulated out of scriptural passages woven together. By thus internalizing the Scriptures, and that through memorization rather than relying on any exterior aids to merely read them, [11] Antony succeeded to embody them in his real lived experience. “[L]ike a wise bee,” [12] Antony built upon his scriptural grounding by cultivating within himself the good qualities he observed in virtuous people: “He observed the graciousness of one, the earnestness at prayer in another; studied the even temper of one and the kindheartedness of another…and in one and all alike he marked especially devotion to Christ and the love they had for one another.” [13] Understanding the necessity of good works, [14] he urgently worked to internalize and assimilate virtuous qualities in himself [15] rather than simply observing and admiring virtuous people. He would later teach his disciples: “Really, [virtue] is not far from us, nor is its home apart from us; no, the thing is within us, and its accomplishment is easy if we but have the will. Greeks go abroad and cross the sea to study letters; but we have no need to go abroad for the Kingdom of Heaven nor to cross the sea to obtain virtue.” [16] By pursuing virtue, Antony became a powerful witness to the Lord, so that those whom he imitated [17] identified him as “God’s Friend” even though he strove to surpass them in virtuosity. [18] His virtue thus became a powerful instrument of evangelization and exhortation, attracting many to the desert to encounter and imitate him. [19] Having learned the Scriptures and become virtuous, Antony recognized and frequently emphasized the importance of knowing oneself. Echoing the advice of Paul the Apostle to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:16), he advised his disciples to know themselves — at least six times in his first seven Letters — for “he who knows himself knows God and his dispensations for his creatures.” [20] He consequently identified any doctrinal or behavioral deviance from the Faith of the Church as a result of improper self-understanding and a failure to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in oneself: “As for Arius…that man has begun a great task, an unsealable wound. If he had known himself, his tongue would not have spoken about what he did not know. It is, however, manifest, that he did not know himself.” [21] In knowing himself, moreover, Antony recognized his natural dependence upon his brethren in the Faith, and was for this reason deeply concerned with his neighbors in the world as they struggled against general laxity in spiritual life [22] and consequent heresy. He therefore takes up the medium of writing in order to exhort them to take personally and submit to the true Christian Faith: “I beseech you, my beloved in the Lord, who are joint heirs with the saints, to raise up your minds in the fear of God.” [23] Antony and Community Believing that “…he who loves his neighbor loves God, and he who loves God loves his own soul,” [24] Antony sought his salvation not only in the context of solitude, but also in that of interaction and communication with others. Upon commencing his monastic commitment, Antony first discipled himself to an elder, and sought to maintain this discipleship when he desired to venture deeper into the desert: “He met the old man referred to above [25] and begged him to live with him in the desert.” [26] Later, he would become a father and teacher to monks, [27] caring not only for their spiritual wellbeing, but also for their physical nourishment: “…seeing that people were coming to him again, he began to raise a few vegetables too, that the visitor might have a little something to restore him after the weariness of that hard road.” [28] Later, when he was ninety years old, Antony sought out Paul of Thebes, who had undertaken monasticism prior to him, and traveled to visit and converse with him. [29] Interestingly, the first question Paul asked Antony was “how fares the human race?” [30] While Antony and Paul retreated to the desert, seeking in its stillness to discern the voice of God, they nevertheless remained deeply connected to the city and community of believers, understanding, in Antony’s own words, that “our life and our death is with our neighbour.” [31] Evidently, Antony did not leave for the desert to escape from human interaction, but rather out of his longing for a deeply contemplative atmosphere, away from the distractions of the city, in order to live in complete relation with God, [32] recognizing that “silence is necessary for prayer and for effective communication.” [33] He therefore remained connected to and interested in the affairs of the city, saying to those who came to him, for example: “Be you, therefore, like children and bring to your father what you know and tell it, while I, being your senior, share with you my knowledge and my experience.” [34] Having heard of the spread of Arianism, Antony traveled to Alexandria to encourage the faithful in their defense of the orthodox Faith: “The entire city ran together to see Antony. Pagans, too, and even their so-called priests came to the church saying: ‘We would like to see the man of God’ — for so they all called him…and, indeed, as many became Christians in those few days as one would have seen in a year.” [35] At the time of the persecution under Maximin, Antony went again to the city, longing to suffer martyrdom, and “ministered to the confessors in the mines and in the prisons.” [36] His care for the edification and salvation of all is evident even in his interaction with Emperor Constantine, who had written to him. Although he “did not like to accept letters, saying that he did not know what to answer to such things,” he decided to write back to Emperor Constantine simply so that he could exhort him “not to think highly of the things of this world, but rather to bear in mind the judgment to come; and to know that Christ alone is the true and eternal King. He begged them to show themselves humane and to have a regard for justice and for the poor.” [37] The importance of interpersonal communication and community to Antony is therefore easily perceptible. Along with offering his guidance to the monastic community that was forming around him, seeking in the process to balance his social interaction with personal reflection, Antony communicated with Christian believers generally through visits and letters. In a word, having actively and intentionally submitted to and identified with the Christian message, Antony permitted it to mold him into an icon of the Lord Jesus, becoming in the process the image of what it means to be a truly living human, “the glory of God.” [38] His witness and life therefore became the inspiration for the monastic movement until today, converting and leading countless people into a deeper love of and life with Christ. Artificial Intelligence and the Human Experience Contrary to the immersive, incarnate, and deeply personal experience of Christianity as expressed and lived in the person of Antony of Egypt, modern technologies discarnate the human experience, being deeply formative and developmental, even at the neurological level. [39] Moreover, as Neil Postman points out: “Technology…carries with it a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore require scrutiny, criticism, and control.” [40] It is necessary, then, to examine the place of digital technologies in the human experience, especially as humanity furthers its dependence on such mediums. Indeed, “a discarnate world, like the one we now live in, is a tremendous menace to an incarnate Church.” [41] Artificial Intelligence and the Self Artificial Intelligence, more than the digital technologies that preceded it, is a deeply non-human technology, facilitating creation without human involvement and depriving products of the human element that was previously inherent to their production. Romano Guardini, in observing the rise of machine reliance, makes an important distinction: in times past, “people did, of course, use tools and aids in great numbers and with great delicacy. But these were only supports, extending the range of activity of natural human organs…and a limit was always set to make possible direct and living execution.” [42] With the availability of Artificial Intelligence, however, a human can simply command technology to produce a desired product, and within moments, that product is packaged together irrespective of that person’s knowledge, skillset, or experience, and without their contribution. Walter Ong comments: “Knowledge is hard to come by and precious, and society regards highly those wise old men and women who specialize in conserving it, who know and can tell the stories of the days of old. By storing knowledge outside the mind, writing and, even more, print downgrade the figures of the wise old man and the wise old woman, repeaters of the past, in favor of younger discoverers of something new.” [43] Because the need to internalize information is minimized by Artificial Intelligence, its user is made perpetually dependent upon it, rendering it the arbiter of truth, knowledge, and goodness: “The manner in which one asks a search engine, the algorithms of an artificial intelligence, or a computer for answers to questions that concern private life reveals that one relates to the device and its response with a fideistic attitude.” [44] Such technology therefore divests the human of humanity, substituting knowledge and firsthand experience with emptiness and reliance on exterior aids for information and fulfillment. Artificial Intelligence and Community Artificial Intelligence’s divestment of humanity’s humanity also carries communal consequences. As a powerful analytical tool, Artificial Intelligence introduces a novel way of thinking: “This knowledge does not inspect; it analyzes. It does not construct a picture of the world, but a formula. Its desire is to achieve power so as to bring force to bear on things, a law that can be formulated rationally. Here we have the basis and character of its dominion: compulsion, arbitrary compulsion devoid of all respect.” [45] Establishing a new primary residence for humanity within the virtual world and introducing a new role for humanity as spectator rather than creator, Artificial Intelligence threatens humanity’s very nature: “What takes place here is not human, at least if we measure the human by the human beings who lived before us. It is not natural if we measure the natural by nature as it once was.” [46] Having identified such trends in the early stages of the technological age, Guardini remarks: “A system of machines is engulfing life. It defends itself. It seeks free air and a secure basis. Can life retain its living character in this system?” [47] Only in the ecclesial community, “the place where the experience of God creates communion and the sharing of life,” [48] in the real, physical world, can life retain its living character. [49] Christianity, as experienced by Antony, is wholly concerned with reality, and is inherently meant for life — personal and communal experience. Through primarily physical means of encounter and perception, one most effectively “tastes” (Psalm 34:8) the Christian message and becomes transformed by it, allowing it to permeate his encounters with others. It was in this way that Antony succeeded to inspire others to venture deeper into the Faith. His effort in evangelization and exhortation flourished without the aid of any sophisticated technologies because it was purely and wholly incarnate. Michelle Borras identified that “since the Gospel is a message of the incarnate Love that alone saves, it can only be proclaimed adequately in an incarnate way…The Gospel must always have a ‘face.’” [50] Because Antony internalized the Christian message and lived through it, thereby allowing it to reflect the love of Christ to others, the Gospel in him indeed had a face — the face of Christ. Conclusion The monastic movement was inaugurated by Antony as Christian men and women imitated him by flocking to the desert to embody and live out the Christian message of discipleship to Christ. Understanding that the Faith must be taken personally, Antony and all who imitated him left the world for the desert in order to focus on fulfilling the divine commandments. Thus, in writing The Life of Antony , Athanasius exhorts his readers “to model [their] lives after his zeal” [51] and advises that his biography be read even to pagans. [52] Artificial Intelligence, being by nature an external and non-human tool of creation, is in contrast an obstacle to venturing into a personal and intimate relationship with God, developing within the human an authenticity-limiting exterior dependency in creativity, communication, and informational retention. Artificial Intelligence’s inability to capture or express human life and spirit is evident in a simple yet revealing exercise: when tasked with writing a doxology for Antony, ChatGPT produced a biographical, impersonal, and detached composition [53] in comparison to the personal and exhortatory doxology for Antony authored by Coptic Orthodox believers for liturgical prayer. [54] If we “hope for the word of God to dwell in us richly in the digital age,” [55] Artificial Intelligence and similar technologies must be thoroughly examined in light of the ethos of Christianity, with those among these technologies that do not comport with the Christian “spirit and life” [56] being actively guarded against, lest by becoming tools of evangelization and mediums for Faith delivery and formation, they compromise rather than uphold the message and spirit of Christianity. — [1] He reached this understanding through hearing the words of the Scriptures being read during the liturgical service: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21); “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34). Antony understood these divinely-inspired words as being “directed especially to him” ( See Athanasius, The Life of Antony 2-3, in Robert T. Meyer, Ancient Christian Writers: The Works of the Fathers in Translation, Volume 10: St. Athanasius: The Life of Saint Antony , 19-21). [2] Daniella Zsupan-Jerome notes: “After [the Word], communication of his good news becomes the Spirit-led task of the Church. This age-old mission to communicate is at the heart of the Church. From this perspective, the digital media are but the latest chapter in the long story of how the Church has gone about expressing this identity and mission to communicate” ( Connected Toward Communion: The Church and Social Communication in the Digital Age , 2). [3] Daniella Zsupan-Jerome offers a definition to Christian formation as being “part of the language of articulating the task of catechesis, the process by which believers are nurtured toward conversion of mind and heart to Jesus Christ” ( Ibid. , 10-11). [4] Athanasius, The Life of Antony 14 (Meyer, 32) [5] See Ibid. , Prologue (Meyer, 17) [6] See Ibid. , 93 (Meyer, 96) [7] See e.g., Ibid ., 6-7, (Meyer, 23-26) [8] Ibid. , 16 (Meyer, 33) Antony sought to understand the Scriptures even through personal encounters with the saints. When he found difficulty with a passage of Scripture, for example, he did not first seek to discover its meaning in books, but rather “went out into the desert…a long way off and stood there praying, crying in a loud voice, ‘God, send Moses, to make me understand this saying.’ Then there came a voice speaking with him” (Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers , 7 (Anthony the Great, Saying 26)). [9] Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers , 2 (Anthony the Great, Saying 3) [10] See Samuel Rubenson, The Letters of St. Antony: Monasticism and the Making of a Saint , 203-205 [11] “Again, he was so attentive at the reading of the Scripture lessons that nothing escaped him: he retained everything and so his memory served him in place of books” (Athanasius, The Life of Antony 3 (Meyer, 21)). In response to those who sought to discredit him for not receiving any schooling, Antony also said: “…one who has a sound mind has no need of letters” ( Ibid. , 73 (Meyer, 80)). [12] Athanasius, The Life of Antony 3 (Meyer, 20) [13] Ibid. , 4 (Meyer, 21) [14] See e.g. , Matthew 5:16; James 2:14-26; Titus 2 [15] See Athanasius, The Life of Antony 4 (Meyer, 21-22) [16] Ibid. , 20 (Meyer, 37) [17] See 1 Corinthians 11:1 [18] Athanasius, The Life of Antony 4 (Meyer, 21) [19] See e.g. , Ibid. , 46 (Meyer, 59-60) [20] See e.g. , Rubenson, 208 [21] Ibid. , 211 [22] “The Peace of Constantine, which brought about mass conversions, had the paradoxical effect of diminishing the lay contribution to the activity and holiness of the Church. Monasticism is a witness to this fact; for the monk is not a layman, and his status is to be explained as a reaction against the growth of mediocrity in the ranks of the simple faithful. The fervent part took its stand deliberately, and as an institution, over against the majority of the flock. This is no matter for surprise; the ideal conditions for a full Christian life do not coincide with taking things easy” (Henri de Riedmatten, “The Part of the Laity in the History of the Church” in Blackfriars , November 1958, Vol. 39, No. 464, p. 458). [23] Rubenson, 230 [24] Ibid. , 222 [25] See Athanasius, The Life of Antony 3 (Meyer, 20) [26] Ibid. , 11 (Meyer, 29) [27] Ibid. , 14 (Meyer, 32-33) [28] Ibid. , 50 (Meyer, 63) [29] See Jerome, The Life of Paulus the First Hermit [30] Ibid., 10 [31] Ward, 3 (Anthony the Great, Saying 9) [32] “This making a City of the Wilderness was no mere flight, nor a rejection of matter as evil…It was rooted in a stark realism of faith in God and acceptance of the battle which is not against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual things of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Derwas Chitty, The Desert A City , xvi). [33] Fr. Jonah Lynch, FSCB and Michelle K. Borras, Technology and the New Evangelization: Criteria for Discernment , 30 [34] Athanasius, The Life of Antony 16 (Meyer, 33-34) [35] Ibid. , 70 (Meyer, 79) [36] Ibid. , 46 (Meyer, 59) [37] Ibid. , 81 (Meyer, 87) [38] See Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV.XX.VII [39] “Gutenberg attaches itself to the left hemisphere [of the brain]; the oral, the acoustic and consequently the electric, to the right hemisphere” (Marshall McLuhan, The Medium and the Light: Reflections on Religion , 52). [40] Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology , 185 [41] McLuhan, 50 [42] Romano Guardini, Letters from Lake Como: Explorations in Technology and the Human Race , 66 [43] Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word , 41 [44] Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, Directory for Catechesis 366 [45] Guardini, 44 [46] Ibid. , 73 [47] Ibid. , 49 [48] Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization , Directory for Catechesis 372 [49] Timothy O’Malley, emphasizing the importance of liturgical participation to evangelization efforts, writes: “Liturgical prayer is essential to the new evangelization. Precisely, because in every liturgical rite, we human beings return to our vocation as those made in the image and likeness of God. We are capacitated for the kind of self-gift, which comes to transfigure society. Those who return to our sacramental life should encounter there a beautiful and humanizing liturgy, one that elevates the desires of the human heart, allowing them to become an offering of love to the Father. We are immersed in a cosmos in which the primary narrative is not one of grasping, seizing, but the prodigal logic of self-gift. Lay communities, connected to parishes, may incarnate this liturgical life in concrete ways in cities and rural areas as we seek to manifest to the world that wisdom of a Catholic life, given over to the sacramental logic of the triune God” ( Liturgy and the New Evangelization: Practicing the Art of Self-Giving Love , 132). [50] Lynch and Borras, 27-28 [51] Athanasius, The Life of Antony Prologue (Meyer, 17) [52] See Ibid. , 94 (Meyer, 98) [53] The ChatGPT -produced doxology reads: “Praise be to Antony, the desert’s sage, whose wisdom guided countless souls on pilgrimage. In solitude he found divine embrace, a beacon of light for all seeking grace. With fervent heart and humble ways, he taught love, compassion, and righteous praise. In Egypt’s sands, his spirit soared high, a timeless legacy that will never die. Amen.” [54] “Remove from your hearts the thoughts of evil and the pretentious images that darken the mind. Contemplate with understanding the great miracles of our blessed father, my great lord Abba Antony — this is he who became our guide and harbor for salvation; he invited us with joy to the eternal life. The fragrance of his virtues delighted our souls, like the blossomed aroma in the Paradise. Let us truly be confirmed in the upright faith of the great Antony, proclaiming and saying: ‘I sought and I found; I asked and I was given; I knocked and I believed that it will be opened for me’ ( see Matthew 7:7-8; Jerome, The Life of Paulus the First Hermit 9 ). Hail to our father Antony, the lamp of monasticism; hail to our father Abba Paul, the beloved of Christ. Pray to the Lord on our behalf, O my masters and fathers who love their children, Abba Antony and Abba Paul, that He may forgive us our sins” (Coptic Doxology for St. Antony). [55] See Zsupan-Jerome, xv [56] See John 6:63 — This paper is an adaptation of course work submitted for “Evangelization, Media, & Technology,” offered by Dr. Brett Robinson in Summer 2023 at the University of Notre Dame. I express my gratitude to Dr. Robinson for his helpful guidance and encouragement, and wish to acknowledge his efforts in the preparation and delivery of this course, which provided the framework of this paper and many resources used throughout. — Cover Art: Gawdat Gabra, The Treasures of Coptic Art, 94 (Coptic Icon depicting the visit of St. Antony (left) to St. Paul of Thebes (Old Cairo, Monastery of St. Mercurius)).

The Discourse which Saint Athanasius, Archbishop of Rakote, pronounced concerning the passage in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, “The kingdom which is in the heavens is like unto a rich man, who came out in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” The Lord says in the Gospel of Matthew: [1] The kingdom which is in the heavens is like unto a certain rich man, who came out in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the laborers [to pay them] a stater a day, [and] he sent them into his vineyard. He came out [again] at the third hour, and he saw others standing in the market, and they were idle. He said unto these others, “Go into my vineyard, and that of which you are worthy I will give unto you;” and they went in. He came out again at the sixth hour, and again at the ninth hour [and saw other laborers], and he did the same with these. When, however, he came out again at the eleventh hour, he saw others standing [in the market]. He said unto them, “For what reason do you stand in this place the whole day doing nothing?” They said unto him, “Because no man has hired us.” He said unto them, “Go into my vineyard.” Now let us inquire carefully, and let us learn what are these kinds of laborers, and what this vineyard is, and who is this master. In the first place, the Master in this vineyard is God the Father, who has governed His creatures (or, creation) from the beginning. And moreover, He speaks with them through the prophet who has made known to us that the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah are the new and beloved plant. [2] The laborers whom He hired in the beginning are Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua the son of Nun. He called unto Moses in the land of Midian, saying, “Come, go down into Egypt, and you shall bring out My people from that land. And you shall labor in My vineyard in commandments, and decrees, and ordinances.” [3] And He covenanted with them for a stater, that is, Moses was to have the honorable rank of prophet, and Aaron was to hold the office of high priest over His people, and they were to serve [Him]. Those who were hired at the third hour were the Judges, whom He appointed to be over His people; “him of whom you are worthy will I give unto you.” They were not prophets, and they were not apostles, but they were those who were worthy of the title of ‘judge.’ Those who were hired at the sixth hour, and at the ninth hour, were Samuel, and David, and all the [other] Prophets. Samuel worked in the vineyard with a horn. [4] David transplanted a slip of the vine from the land of Egypt, and he cultivated it with the psaltery. Hosea found Israel to be like a vine in the desert in some respects, for he said, “Israel is a branch of a vine which is good, and his fruit is abundant.” [5] Those who were hired at the eleventh hour were the Apostles, whom He found to be idle the whole day. And they were idle in respect of the works of iniquity of all kinds, because no one had hired them, and the Devil could not hire them for the service of idols. He could not hire John the Baptist for the peddlers in the place of eating and drinking. Peter He could not hire for the service of unbelief. Andrew He could not hire in polluted marriage, and He could not make him to become the servant of a woman. For this reason he was called “Boanerges,” that is to say, “Son of the thunder of heaven.” [6] Therefore could no one hire them on earth to make them to work for him, and to give them wages according to what they were worth. Therefore were their wages abundant in the heavens. Therefore does the Savior say concerning all the Apostles, “O My Father, the men whom You have given Me from the world have I found to be chosen vessels.” [7] And again, “Of those whom You have given Me have I lost none,” [8] and, “No man is able to come to Me except through My Father, who has sent Me to draw him.” [9] Behold, these words make us to know that it is the Father who hires the laborers for His vineyard. Who is this Governor? I say, it is the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, in whose hand are all the possessions of God, which is a mystery. His power is in Israel and in the other nations, for He Himself said, “The Father loves the Son, and has given everything into His hand.” [10] The Son says, “To Him belongs the inheritance.” The Governor says, “It is He who gives wages unto those who labor, and the whole world is under His rule.” Therefore the key of David is in His hand, and He is the vine. [11] Therefore it is He who rejoices in all His creatures. He is the Bread. [12] Therefore it is He who gives meat and drink to all His creation. Now when the evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, “Call the laborers, give them their wages; begin with the last and continue until you come to the first; give unto each a stater.” [13] The Father said to the Son, “Either at the last day or today, You know [best], call the laborers and give them their wages, all the laborers who have labored for the race of men, give them the wages of their work.” Paul says, “Now certain men God placed in the Church, the first being the Apostles,” [14] unto whom He began to give [their] wages; and the second were the Prophets, et cetera . The first [laborers] came, thinking that they would receive more [than the others]. Hearken unto Him, for He said, “I say unto you, very many of the Prophets and Kings have desired eagerly to see the things which you see, and have not seen them.” [15] The stater which He gave unto them was the honor of Apostleship, and the Holy Offering. And, the Scripture says, when they had taken the stater, they murmured against the lord of the vineyard and said, “Why is it? These last have only labored for one hour, and yet you have paid them the same amount as you have paid to us.” Now, who are these who murmured and were envious of the laborers who came in last except the scribes and Pharisees, who had themselves been sent to labor in the vineyard? It is against these that the Scripture cries out saying, “Why have you burned up My vineyard? And why are the possessions plundered from the poor in your houses?” [16] For they themselves received the Law as the commands of angels, but they did not keep it, and they murmured against the Lord saying, “The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast. [17] Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat their bread, [18] they eat, they drink, they make merry. Even the Apostles cut down the ears of corn [19] and eat before Your very face, and they wander about at large in the world.” It was these very men that murmured saying, “Why have Your disciples made the Sabbath to be of no effect?”, who were envious of these last who were the laborers in truth. And the lord [of the vineyard] made answer, and said unto one of them, “Friend, I have done you no injustice. Did I not agree with you for one stater? Take what is yours and depart.” [20] And who was it who made all these complaints? I say that it was none other than he unto whom it was said, “Friend, that for which you have come, do,” [21] that is to say, it was Judas, who betrayed the Savior, and who spoke with great murmurings saying, “Why did they not sell the ointment for three hundred staters and give them to the poor?” [22] If you did care for the poor, O betrayer, why did you steal their property from the money box of the treasury? Or was your eye evil because I am good? [23] Now because he was a wicked man he stole the money which was cast into it ( i.e. , the money box). And the Savior Himself was good to him, and He showed Himself long-suffering in respect of him, for He said unto him, “I have not the power to do what I wish with the offerings that they bring.” This was God’s defense of him: “I, who am God, have not the power to pay more wages than those which a man shall earn, and I judge those who shall work wickedness.” These are the testimonies, and the murmurings of Judas: he murmured with his tongue, and he was cruel and merciless in his heart. He was a wicked man in his soul, he was a thief with his hands, and he was shameless in respect of his eyes. And when they were eating, the Apostles watched that they might not let their hands touch those of the Savior in the bowl, for they were afraid, and said, “Who are we that we should eat with God?” But Judas, the man with no right perception, did not hesitate to put his hand into the bowl with the Savior, and he was eager to dip his piece of bread at the same time, and to eat before the Savior. The Savior said nothing in order that we might understand. When the disciples had asked Him, “Who, then, is it that shall betray You?” He gave them a sign of the lack of right perception in Judas, saying, “He who shall dip his hand with Me into the bowl first is he who shall betray Me,” [24] and He said unto him, “That which you shall do, do quickly.” [25] For the Savior made haste to work out the salvation of His creation on the Cross, according to the wish and commandment of His Father. You will not find that He put out of the way, or was careless about that for which He had come, or that He was afraid of death; but He made manifest His readiness for the Cross like a valiant martyr, and [as is fitting of] God who is without fear. Therefore did He urge Judas onward, saying, “That which you shall do, do quickly. Hasten onward, for all these created beings are hindered; they await you, and moreover, they await Me. Those beings who are in the heavens await Me, and those beings who are in the abyss and chaos await you. My Father is with Me, and He will help Me; the Devil is with you, and he stands by your side, at your right hand, and he will help you. Those who are in the gates which are in the heavens, that is, the holy angels, will crown Me, and the avenging powers are making Amente [26] ready for you.” And He urged him onward with these words, “Hasten, for I am ready for the whips (or, scourgings).” Rightly therefore did Esdras say, “The creature may not hasten more than the Creator.” [27] Now since Judas was he who should betray Him, why did He cry out to him, “Friend, I do you no injustice”? Though He said to him, “Your eye is evil, but I Myself am good,” the Savior did not withhold the speech of friendship from him until the hour in which he betrayed Him. He called him “friend,” but he thought of enmity. He gave him the bag that held the money, and he became a thief. He chose him as a disciple, but he meditated guile. He chose him as a man, but he became a devil. O Judas, what is it that you did? And what did you gain when you did betray the Lord? You wasted your life and lost this great honor — the glory of Apostleship. For who is above his lot? After the appellation of “Angel” comes the title of “Apostle.” Now a man hardly considers his son to be worthy to eat with him, yet it was a helpless servant who was made to eat with his God, and Jesus, our Lord, considered him to be worthy to do so. He ate with the tax-gatherers, and He drank with Judas, the lawless man, and a pestilent man reached out his hand with [that of] God. This wretched man lost his life, and accepted death for himself; he exalted himself above his worth, and he fell down on to the ground according to his worth. Jesus chose him with the Apostles, and he lost his Apostleship. He was chosen to be an heir, and he himself abandoned [his] inheritance. Now the Apostles were the heirs of the Savior, and they were the light of the world, but Judas did not wish to give forth light. They were the salt of the earth, but Judas did not wish to purge away what was polluted. They were those whom God set in the Church, but Judas did not wish to continue with them. Therefore he was removed from the measure of manhood, and he became the portion of the Devil. Woe to you, O Judas! In what did you benefit yourself? Better is Cain, who killed a man, than Judas, who killed God. Better is Saul, who hated a man, than Judas, who hated God. Better is the hardheartedness of Pharaoh towards the people than the hardheartedness of Judas towards God. Better is the deceit of Balaam than the wickedness of Judas. Better is the rebellious speech of Korah in the desert than the stiffneckedness of Judas in Jerusalem. Better is Achar (Achan), who stole the accursed thing, than Judas, who stole the gifts of charity. Better is the arrogance of Absalom in respect of David than the contumacy of Judas in respect of God. Better is the evil counsel to David of Ahitophel, who hanged himself and died, than the condemnation of Judas, who hanged himself and is in Tartaros [28] , against the Savior. Better, by far, are the cursings by Shimei of David than the scorn of the Savior by Judas. Of far less evil was the bloody murder by Joab, which he committed in sheer wickedness, than the murder by Judas, which he committed in pitilessness. Better is the love money by Gehazi, who became a leper, than the avariciousness of Judas, who went to destruction. The sin of Jeroboam was less than the wickedness of Judas, for Jeroboam [only] made false gods, but Judas rejected the True God. “Friend, I do you no injustice; take that which is yours and depart.” [29] O evil friend Judas, it was not the Savior who did you injustice, but you yourself; take your curse, and depart into Amente! Now with Judas being in this state, Matthias [30] entered in and received the blessing, and became a disciple of the Master in his stead. He became an Apostle, he preached, and he sent forth light into the countries [round about]. He made himself salt, and purified souls; he made himself a servant, and was in subjection to God; he became a beloved son of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all, the Lord of all, the Glory of all, who rules all, who shall judge all, who shows compassion upon all, who does acts of mercy to all, who sustains all, who destroys all, who transforms all, who makes all new, who makes all glad, and through whom all endures. And now, O man, come and embark in the ship of salvation, which is the faith of the Church. It has two steering oars, from which it is guided, and these are the Testaments, upon which, if you meditate, they will bring you to a good place for tying up your boat. It has a mast, which is the Cross of the Lord, and a rudder: these are your hands which are stretched out in prayer to God. It has a sail which bears it forward, that is the Power of God, which directs you into every good course. It has a guiding pole, which is the Bishop in the Church. It has a helmsman to steer it, who is Jesus, who directs the course of the universe. The sailors on board are the clergy who are in the Church and who minister. There is a cargo borne upon it, and these are the Christian people. You shall arrive in a port, in a fair haven, that is to say, the harbor of Jesus, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. You shall inherit the things promised by God, that is to say, His good things, and you shall rest yourself with your fellow citizens, who are the angels and all the saints. And now behold, O my brethren, we have passed the whole day in exercising ourselves in the word, so that we might at length set the matter, to which we put our hands, upon its feet. And now, let us give thanks unto God, and unto the Holy Spirit, who has opened for us our mouth in speech, and has put into our mouth the words, in order that we may say the things which the Logos has bestowed upon us, which will benefit greatly our own souls and the souls of those who hear us. Let us ascribe blessing to the Logos, who has blessed us with the Holy Spirit. It is He, moreover, who spoke saying, “When they speak with you, take no thought as to what you shall say, for it shall be given unto you in that hour what you shall say. For it shall not be you who shall speak, but the Spirit of our Father who shall speak in you.” [31] And now let us ascribe glory to God, God Almighty, who has sent unto us the King, the Christ, through whom we bless and praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit — the consubstantial Trinity, from all ages to all ages. Amen. — [1] Matthew 20:1-16 [2] Isaiah 5:7 [3] See  Exodus 3:10 [4] See  1 Samuel 16:13 [5] Hosea 10:1 [6] (Ed.) This could be a conflation of persons or a transcription error where the transcriptionist missed some line(s) where the speaker continues to name the disciples until he reaches James and John. The irregularity here is also acknowledged by the original translator, E.A. Wallis Budge, with a marginal note “ sic. ” and without further elaboration. [7] See  John 17:6 [8] John 17:12; 18:9 [9] John 6:44 [10] John 3:35 [11] See  John 15:1 [12] See  John 6:35 [13] See  Matthew 20:8 [14] 1 Corinthians 12:28 [15] Matthew 13:17 [16] Isaiah 3:14 [17] Matthew 9:14 [18] Matthew 15:2 [19] Matthew 12:1 [20] Matthew 20:13 [21] John 13:27 [22] Mark 14:5 [23] See  Matthew 20:15 [24] Matthew 26:23 [25] John 13:27 [26] Hades, or Sheol. [27] 2 Esdras 5:44 [28] Hades, or Sheol. [29] Matthew 20:13, 14 [30] Acts 1:26 [31] Matthew 10:19-20 — E.A. Wallis Budge, Coptic Homilies in the Dialect of Upper Egypt: Edited From the Papyrus Codex Oriental 5001 in the British Museum, 80-89,   226-234 (Minor adaptations to the original translation have been made, primarily modernizing archaic terminology for ease of reading).  To access the original: https://archive.org/details/coptichomiliesin00budgrich . DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

[In the Name of the Father,] the Son, and the Holy Spirit — one God. Amen. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the age of ages and eon of eons. Amen.  Our good God, we are between Your hands, You are the good Teacher, because You are God and we believe that You are God. We beseech You, O Lord, to teach us [] so that we may be perfect as You are perfect and holy as You are holy. O Creator of the universe and Renewer of the times, renew our hearts. O Satisfier of all with good things at all times, show us Your salvation, O our good Savior. O Keeper of the covenant and mercy, do not cast us off forever. Have mercy on us.  In the power of Your promise, O Lord, yes, in the power of Your promise, I open my mouth. O beloved, if ours is the principle about which our teacher Paul the apostle said, “for me to live is Christ,” [1] we know with full certainty that if we serve, it is not we ourselves who serve, but [we serve] through Christ who is ours, in Whom is our life. No one has served Christ except the one who has loved Christ, and no one can love Christ except the one who has first experienced His love. And if we have loved and experienced the love of God and His support for us, we would begin to love one another, and this is the sign that we love Christ: “By this they will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” [2] If we loved one another, we would feel the responsibility that is on the shoulder of each one of us toward his beloved and toward his brother. If we loved one another, we would feel the responsibility that is on each one of us toward his brother whom he loves, and here begins the responsibility that prompts us to the service. And if we feel a responsibility that prompts us to the service, we must know the purpose for which we serve one another. If we knew the purpose, we would not get lost, and our service would not be unfocused, but our service would have a known purpose []. Do you know the purpose of the service? The purpose of our service to one another [] is not our service to one another first, but the primary purpose is that I serve for the salvation of my own soul first. And when I serve for the salvation of my soul, I have experienced salvation working within me and I have experienced the love of God, and thus I will declare it, as Christ said to the one whom He healed []: “Go and tell how much the Lord has done for you.” [3] Because if I have not experienced the work of God in me and the love of God in me, I cannot speak, and if I speak theoretically, there is no benefit. But if it is my life — if my tongue is silent and my life speaks — in this is the true benefit.  You want to serve and you want to tell your brothers about your experience — first, we said we cannot serve unless we love the Lord, and we cannot love our Lord unless we experience His love and His benefactions. Therefore we must sit and contemplate every morning and every evening before we pray; before we praise God, sit and contemplate the benefactions of God toward us — what goodness He has shown us — one by one, not cumulatively, because when we know the benefactions of God one by one, we will give thanks, and naturally man is a servant of benefaction. When we contemplate the benefactions of God, love — the love of God — will begin to work in our hearts and we will be occupied with the One who does good to us.  My beloved, if you want to serve, place your hand in the hand of everyone who unites with you in the purpose. The meaning now, the meaning of this word, is that you, O servant, let there be fellowship between you and your fellow servants in the one purpose, and everyone you see who serves for the right purpose, place your hand in his hand.  And what is the right purpose? The one you see serving himself first, searching within his soul for its salvation, the one you see searching in his labors to find rest — put your hand in his hand and be assured of him, because as he strives for the salvation of his own soul, if he experiences this salvation and receives it from God, he will declare it to others and will share with you in the service of others. This is the positive side, but there is also a negative side: do not interfere with the affairs of one who differs with you in the purpose, as this becomes a hinderance, because we want all people to fit our terms, and this is not right. Do not interfere in the affairs of the one you find differing with you in the purpose, but one thing only is upon you: that you pray for him. And when you pray for him, your prayer, emanating from a loving heart, will be answered and you will gain him, and then this difference will transform into agreement, and when we agree in the purpose, we place our hands in one other’s hands, and when we put our hands in one another’s hands, the work will succeed. If you say, “I will pray for him” — I do not say to pray for only the one with whom you differed, but at the same time do not deprive him of your service. Serve all lest you lose the purpose. You intended the salvation of your soul — this is the purpose, part of the purpose — and the second part is the salvation of your brothers because you have loved them, and the one who loves guides his brothers, whom he loves, to that which he has tasted and found sweet and pleasant and in which he has found strength and joy and delight. And do not have a purpose except the consecration of yourself first — your soul first — for its salvation. And when you consecrate your soul for its salvation, you will benefit your Church. You will begin to serve the Church because you will have reformed a member of the members of the Church. And if we served our souls and if each one reformed himself — we are many members in the Church — necessarily the other members would take from us [] and would gain and profit. Know that if you desire to serve the Church — you have served yourself and were able to experience the love of God and experienced that He is able to change your weaknesses into strength and grant you victory so that you may have triumph. Have you experienced? — then you will begin to consecrate your life to the service of the Church.  And consecrating your life to the service of the Church is not only for the small, but also for the great. Do not underestimate yourself [in teaching] an elder; I am not telling you to teach him with your tongue, but let him look to you and find you a good example. You, O small one, show him that you are not by yourself but by the power of God working in you, by Christ with whom you have fellowship, Christ [] who loved you and loves you. Christ loved you and loves you and loves all.  Let the [soul] of the [elder] be consecrated to this purpose, that he begins to save his soul; he will take you as an [] example, and in truth he will not take you as an example, but he will take Christ who is in you so that He will be in him also. And at the same time, consecrate yourself to building the small souls: build [them] to love the Church, teach [them] the right principles, teach [them] the golden rules, and make [them] feel the effect of the Church rites. Teach him. Teach him!  Beautiful is the name to which Sunday School was changed. I feel that the Holy Spirit was in this change of name, in their changing it to Ecclesial Discipline. Once we began to learn superficial teaching, we became weary, but when we were in the offices — and of course you do not know the offices [] of the masters and sages, in which was the strike of the [stick], the strike of the blind master, wondering where the strike would land, [and it would land] wherever it fell — once we stopped saying that we “learned the Arabic,” and long ago they would say “learned the Arabic” to mean “learned the Psalms.” Once we stopped memorizing the Psalms, and our psalms began to emerge from our own minds, in personal prayers, superficiality commenced. We desire, if we are to teach the young children, to teach them within the embrace of the Church.  Hear, O my brothers: the Sunday School teacher is found in two states — a good condition and a bad condition, far be it from all of you. He is a living example of prayer, so if he consecrates himself and his service first to the service of his own soul, he will [] become an example of prayer, or, far be it from you, an example of deadly stumbling to evil, God forbid.  You have a duty to follow the first example — in persevering in prayer and reading the Holy Bible daily, in the morning and the evening, not reading in order to teach people, but reading in order to teach us the way and guide our steps. Reading so as to act according to it, how to become an example of prayer.  Also sacrifice! Sacrifice for the sake of the name of Christ by which you are called! As to the name of Christ by which you are called, we say to Him regarding this name: “Have mercy on us for the sake of Your name which is called upon us.” [4] Meaning we intercede by the name by which we are called! [] Sacrifice for the sake of this name which is a cause of your salvation, which is an intercessor for you.  This is the positive side, and the other, which we do not want to do, is the negative side. Beware of that other side.  Beware of stumbling! How do you beware of this issue? Persevere in repentance! And what is the meaning of repentance? The mystery. The mystery of repentance, which is the mystery of confession. Examine yourself at the end of the day and examine yourself in the morning for every small and great thing. Have regret, and ask God to grant you a desire for repentance, so that you might be saved and so that you do not stumble or cause anyone to stumble. Because we must ask of God: please, cast away from us the evil spirit of stumbling; do not let us stumble because of anyone and do not let us cause anyone to stumble, because both are sin and both are a net that may ensnare us and others. May God save us from it.  Repent! If you feel defeated, repent! And if you feel weak, commune, because communion is placed on the altar to renew the strength of the believers, to renew the strength of those who approach and partake of it. The Fathers said that the Christian believer who does not commune for forty days becomes weak, and if he becomes weak, he is overcome, and if he is overcome, what will the result be? Joy? Of course not. But there will be grief. Approach! It happens that we do not approach unless we are worthy, but how are we worthy? We are worthy in that we know our sins, and we are worthy in being victors by repenting of [them] and forsaking [them], and so He grants us to approach the mystery so as to receive power, which grants us to walk in the procession of repentance; it grants us to walk, it supports us and helps us.  Hear! Hear! The saintly fathers said that prayer is the mother of the virtues. Therefore Christ said, “Pray always and do not lose heart.” [5] Prayer is the ladder to heaven, lifting you from below to above. Prayer is food for the soul, because it is the food of angels, so it becomes food for us, to satisfy us. The joy of the saints! O how joyful it is when a person has a friend and sits to speak with him! How much more when we all desire to speak to our Heavenly Father. Prayer is a son in the presence of his Father, speaking with Him; it is joy for the children. If we are children of God, we must always speak to our Father. Do not neglect it. When we neglect it, we become weary. Prayer also has an important point. Do not ask for matters to proceed and take place according to your desire — you must have a plan and faith that God knows more than you what is right for you. Can one know better than his father?  Listen, I will not forget a story related in front of me about an Arab man. This Arab had a son, and God blessed this son so he gradually rose in governmental positions until he became a counselor. He came to visit his father, [] but when his father learned that the son had come, he did not rise to meet him outside, because he knew that he was a good son. The father rose to meet the lost son because he wanted to [restore him], [6] but this Arab knew that his son was polite. He did not rise to meet him outside. The son entered to greet his father, and all who were present with his father stood because he was a high-ranking counselor. He first held his father’s hand, bent down and kissed it, and then greeted those present, and his father told those present to be seated but did not tell him to be seated, so he remained standing and refused to sit, until his father told him: “Praise God for safety, go inside and greet the rest of the family.”  My children, no matter how exalted the son becomes, he cannot rise above his father, and no matter how ignorant the father is, it is not possible for his son to boast over him in his knowledge. The eye cannot rise above the eyebrow ever. The eye is [prominent], and the eyebrow is barren, yet the eyebrow is above the eye. No matter how the son rises in knowledge and has honors and baccalaureates, and whatever else of the current sciences — which I cannot pronounce [] — no matter what the son achieves, and no matter how ignorant the father is of [basic things], absolve me, no matter how ignorant the father is of [basic things], still the son does not rise above the father ever.  Your Heavenly Father knows more than you, and knows what is best for you. [7] So do not ask for something according to your desire in prayer, but ask Him — express to Him your desire and thereafter place this desire before the will of God: “Let Your will and Your purpose be done, O God, our God, for You know what is best more than I do.”  Do not neglect reading the Bible, for the words of God themselves said about it that it is a lamp, [8] and Christ said it is life: “Search the Scriptures, for in them is life.” [9] Whoever does not read the Bible, my brothers, is like a man walking in the wilderness without knowing the path, without a map and without a guide. The guide in our life [is] the word of God which points us to what is right, points us to what is good, and thus you can guide others.  Do not read the Bible only to teach the children, or to teach others; read the Bible, the word of God, as a guide for yourself, as a teacher for yourself, as a mentor for yourself first. And when you read the word so that it guides you and teaches you, you will experience the power of the words working within you. And when you have experienced, you will hear the voice of Christ saying to you, “Go and tell how God worked in you.” With His word! It changed conditions, it changed the circumstances, and it can change and have an effective impact on the souls of others. You also have another thing upon you, O Sunday School teacher, or teacher of the School of Ecclesial Discipline. He who knows his own faults is not repulsed by the faults of others. Do you know why we are repulsed by the faults of others? Because we do not know our own faults. Examine yourself! Know your fault! You will find that the faults of others are no longer faults before you, but what you will find before you will be your own fault, and you will want to strive to correct it.  They presented the woman who was caught in that act to Christ because they had forgotten their sins and forgotten their faults, but they saw the fault of the poor, pitiable, defeated woman who was overcome by Satan, who was overcome by sin. [10] They presented her. They presented her in order to test Christ and try Him! But to those who came to test Him, He taught a useful lesson for their souls. He told them: “Carry out the Law, but whoever strikes her with the first stone should be without sin. Whoever among you is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” [11] And they began examining their own souls. Then the sin of the woman disappeared from before them, and one by one they quietly retreated.  []   And also, if we contemplate our sins, we are not repulsed at the sins of others, nor do we become upset with them. We become preoccupied with correcting our own souls, and the primary purpose is restored: what are we doing? Dedicating our service to correcting ourselves first.  Not only this, [but] if I know my sin, there is a benefit: I would not become repulsed at the sins of my brothers, and all my brothers will be beloved before my eyes as righteous people. But I will also hold myself accountable and judge myself regarding my sin, and whoever judges himself is never judged by anyone — even God does not judge the one who judges himself!  Whoever judges himself says to Him, “I have sinned! Have mercy on me! I am not worthy of standing between your hands!” He says, “[] I will not hold you accountable because you confessed and asked forgiveness; I will not judge you.” But we do not judge ourselves; rather, we judge others. And while we judge others, we judge our own souls with [their] condemnation from the mouth of God!  Know your sin and you will not be repulsed by the sin of others. Judge yourself so that you are not judged by others, even those whom you have wronged. When you say to him, “I have sinned, my brother, forgive me,” regardless of what may be in his heart from the effect of your wrong toward him, you will find him forgiving.  Also, do not think of the old sin, as thinking about it renews it for you. Know that the old sin that has passed, and about which you have confessed, and which has ended, and which has gone far from you, if it is renewed, it is Satan renewing it to tire you; he renews it so that you fall into it. Therefore, do not think of it; think of the new continually, and leave the old behind. “Forget what is behind and push toward what is ahead.” [12] Also, it is common for someone to insult you; think of your insulter — not that he is offensive; do not think he is offensive! Do not think that he casts words like stones, that wounded you or hurt you. No! — think of your insulter as having freed you from false glory, because false glory causes you to fall short of eternal glory. Whoever insults you and does not say a good word has prevented false glory from you. Therefore, you will attain perfect glory. The man came out to curse David the prophet, and David’s men were behind him. “An impolite man! Leave us to kill him!” “How? God has provided him to curse me! So that false glory does not affect me or deprive me of the perfect glory, the everlasting glory.” [13] If you want to be a servant of the word of the Lord, serving for the salvation of your soul first and for the salvation of others, know that when you justify yourself, you fall into the most evil of vices. Therefore, Christ did not forget to open our minds to this matter. If you do all righteousness, do not say, “I am righteous.” If anything is attributed to you, do not say, “I am righteous.” But “if you do all righteousness, say, ‘I am an unprofitable servant.’” [14] Who among us is without sin, dear ones? Tell me.  Leave aside the sins of times past; let us focus on the sins of today. And leave aside the sins from morning to evening; rather, let each of us merely contemplate how his thoughts were after eating, or while eating; how his thoughts were when he was sleeping a little at noon; how his thoughts were while he was coming to church now. If we think but a little, we will find that there were deviant thoughts.  Do yourself a favor, do not justify yourself, because if you justify yourself, this is a great sin. But say, “there is no servant without sin, and no master without forgiveness. Forgive me, O Lord!” [15] Many times do we sin by our breaths: perhaps you might wonder how we might sin by our breaths. We see someone who bothered us a little, or did something which, according to my thought, is unpleasant, and we cannot talk, so we [scoff or huff]. Meaning we find even with our breaths [means of committing sin].  Sin is sinful. [16] It softens and solidifies. Flee from it, my beloved. Do not hate trials. Do not think that life is easy. But rejoice in trials, because by your struggle against trials, and in trials, you draw near to God and worship [Him].  Many of us hate difficult circumstances and hardships, but hardships are exceedingly sweet! “Call me in trouble, and I will save you.” [17] You draw near to God in the hardship. The sailor does not know God except at the time of drowning. Here is drowning — hardships! Call Him! And there is a great difference between you and the sailor. The sailor guides a ship, but you guide your soul. The sailor guides the ship to the port, but you guide your soul to the harbor of salvation! There are many hardships, there are many waves, there are many whirlwinds, there is uncomfortable wind which causes you to hold the rudders of the ship and pull, there are many things. Rejoice at the existence of these hardships, and do not rejoice that these hardships will end. Look to God, and when you look to God, you will draw near to Him, and He is near to you. Know that if you desire to be in holiness and desire to be in perfection, holiness does not spring up except from the ground of humility. If you desire to be a saint, like God, humble yourself like God. “Learn from me; I am gentle and lowly [in heart].” [18] What a wonder! The God of gods became the Son of Man so as to become poor, the King of kings who extends His hand so as to satisfy every living thing with goodness, had no place to lay His head. Glory to You! Humble yourself, my beloved, and your holiness will appear, and you will be perfected in glory — the glory which will lift you up higher and higher, not only higher, not above the people, but there, to bring you to Heaven. Glory to You, Lord. Grant me! Grant me!  Also, a point that one of the brethren mentioned to me on our way here. Do not hate the sinner, because if you hate the sinner, you will not pray for him, and if you pray for him, our Lord will not hear. The Lord says: “Do you ask for your brother while your heart is black toward him?” If you will hate, hate the sin that holds your brother captive! Ask our Lord for your eyes to become cleansed [toward] your brother. But if you hate the sinner, then here the matter becomes, forgive me, that I hate myself, because am I righteous? I am not righteous, and if I am not righteous, why do I hate the sinner? As I seek salvation for myself from sin, so I should seek for my brother salvation from sin. Listen! Sometimes we have an opportunity to see people watching each other and criticizing each other. No, this is not love. O teacher of the schools of Ecclesial Discipline, it is not love to see two looking at each other and adding to each other’s sins, because you place your brother in a position of judgment and condemnation. And as you wish for your brother, so it will be for you. But rejoice when you see your brothers’ hearts changed, their thoughts aligned, their hands joined together as we said in the beginning. If you wish to serve, place your hand in the hand of everyone whose purpose aligns with your purpose. But whoever disagrees with you in purpose, leave him; do not interfere in his matters, only pray for him. []  If you have experienced the love of God, and if our Lord has supported you in times of difficulty, support others. Encourage with your prayers the righteous so he may increase in righteousness. As we say, “those who are upright, protect them.” [19] And should you only encourage the righteous? No, but also encourage the sinner with your prayers — “and those who are fallen, raise up.” [20] Do not say to the sinner, “your prayers are not accepted.” Let us pray to God! Tell him to pray, and if he says to you, “I am a sinner,” say to him: “Christ will rejoice to hear your voice, O sinner.” Tell him there is a popular song that says: “Come, O sinner, come, the door is open.” Yes, encourage him. Encourage him, and when you encourage him, he will open [his heart], you will [gain] him; he will not flee from you. Encourage the weary so that he may find rest by your prayers. Encourage the weak in soul — if you see that you are able — according to your ability. There are many weak souls. The Bible says: “We who are strong ought to bear the scruples of the weak.” [21] Not to become repulsed; if we are strong, if we have the ability, but do not [belittle him] — all are weak. Encourage the weak; encourage the weak in soul and he will be strengthened.  Do not cast behind you the one who is careless! Remind him of the Law of God! Encourage him to not be careless! [] Encourage the beginner, so that he may bear fruit. The one who begins anything is fearful. Many young people say: “[I] want to serve in Sunday School, but I am not able.” O, my son, you are not the one who serves, but God. For the sake of His children, He gives you the grace by which you can serve yourself and serve others. If there is someone carrying hatred in his heart and wants to take revenge, encourage him [to forgive] with your love. Do not distance yourself from him. No! Embrace him. Encourage him with your love, and within himself, though his heart is bad, when he finds someone embracing him, he begins to forgive — even the one he hates. O my brothers, the purpose of our service is the salvation of our souls and the salvation of others’ souls, because the Lord came not for the righteous but for sinners, the sinners “of whom I am chief.” [22] When we encourage the one who hates, [] the storm that came upon him will dissipate; because our heart is full of love [], he will become calm []. When you embrace the one who is vengeful, he will regret his sin.  I heard a story long ago that one of the foreign missionary woman was in Ismailia, and she was serving in the clinics — the clinics of free treatment that serve the poor like me. Perhaps one is not poor because he has no money, and perhaps another is poor because his soul loves money, so he loves what is free. People always love what is free. [] She began to go to these people, kiss them, and [speak with them] — “What do you have?” And she would go to this one and that one, and to the rude one [], speak with her, embrace her, and kiss her, in order to [encourage them], saying to them, “May God heal you, may Christ heal you.” One woman said to her: “You are an English woman and you love filth?” She said to her: “[] I was like them, and He embraced me in His bosom! See His love!” When you encourage the captive, he repents; he will find the goodness that is in your heart. The goodness that is in your heart will overwhelm him. They do not paint white beneath black, lest the black overwhelm the white. But you, when you draw near, oh white one, to the black one, God will grant your whiteness to affect the blackness and the blackness will lighten. Draw near and the power of God will work.  Do not see someone upset and not smile toward him. Offer a smile to the one who is downcast and you will find that he will be overcome — but do not smile mockingly; smile with love and you will find that he will smile. [] Listen! One was sitting in a group and sneezed, and found that the rest also sneezed. Why? What is the secret? There is a secret. Souls desire to become like one another. Smile toward the one who is burdened, whose countenance is burdened, and encourage the fearful by your smile so that he knows that [] no matter how many fears surround a person, “If God is with us, who can be against us?” [23] These fears cannot affect us. He is protecting us, we are in His bosom.  Encourage with your words — your words are important — your pleasant words toward the one who is in need of a word of compassion. [] Gladden the one who is depressed with a word of reassurance, that his is the gift of peace, the peace which cannot be granted by the world, but [which comes from] One alone: Jesus. [] And not only this — the matter is not only words and a smile — something theoretical — but we seek the practical matter: encourage everyone in need of service by working with him so as to win him; the issue is not only encouragement with words or a smile, or such things, but also with work. Stretch out your hand!  Someone carrying a bag, who is tired and frazzled and for whom the bag is too heavy — extend your hand! The bag with two handles is carried by two. “May I help you in carrying this basket? May I help you in carrying this bag?” Do not be sparing. Labor with him and help him. [] Even if you do not know him. He will know that in you there is a secret.  Do not flee from the one who seeks mercy from you. Draw near to him! [] If someone asks you for something, put your hand in your pocket, [] extend your hand with mercy! [] The Disciples shrunk back, they said to Him “there are only five loaves, but what can these do for this many people?” He said to them, “Do not be afraid; bring them.” [24] Give what you have, as much as you are able. When you give as much as you are able, give more than half an hour, give more and more.  Encourage. Encourage with your work, your hand and your pocket. Encourage with your money. [] [See] your table, there are no less than seven types [of food]. You may say, “How are there seven types?” I will count them for you.  [] Is there a table without bread? There is bread. Is there a table without salt? There is salt! Is there a table without tomatoes, without water? There is water! Here are three which do not leave the table, even if you are not wealthy. [] One has four types [of food] and another cannot find [food to eat]. [] There are many who are poor and needy, encourage them with the things that God has granted you, and when you encourage him, you will gain him.  Encourage from your heart every servant and those you serve. []  Lift your heart to God so that He may grant you the grace of service — the service of your own soul first. Lift your heart for the sake of your brother servants, so our Lord may grant them grace in the service of their own souls first, [] to save them, and of others also.  To Him be glory. To Him be majesty. To Him be worship now and forever.  — [1] Philippians 1:21 [2] John 13:35 [3] Mark 5:19 [4] See e.g. , The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil: The Commemoration of the Saints [5] Luke 18:1 [6] See  Luke 15:20 [7] See  Matthew 6:8 [8] See  Psalm 119:105 [9] See  John 5:39 [10] See  John 8:1-11; This was a common theme in the teaching and guidance of Fr. Mikhail Ibrahim. [11] John 8:7 [12] Philippians 3:13 [13] See  2 Samuel 16:5-14 [14] Luke 17:10 [15] See e.g. , The Hymns of the Great Lent Season in the Coptic Orthodox Church [16] See  Romans 7:13 [17] Psalm 50:15 [18] Matthew 11:29 [19] See  The Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory: The Litanies [20] Ibid . [21] Romans 15:1 [22] See  1 Timothy 1:15; The Agpeya: The Conclusion of Every Hour [23] Romans 8:31 [24] See  Matthew 14:18; John 6:9 — To hear the original audio of this sermon, please visit: https://app.box.com/s/f1irtnalpi7kln27pnmrvboep9sh8bpa   Fr. Mikhail Ibrahim, born Mikhail Ibrahim Youssef in 1899 in Qafr Abdou, Quisna, Egypt, was raised in a devout household and formed deeply by the Church from a young age. He worked for many years as a police clerk before being ordained to the priesthood in 1951 to serve his home church in Qafr Abdou, after the departure of its priest. His civic life was characterized by integrity, seriousness, and zealous service wherever he was stationed; even then he was known for establishing spiritual communities and leading a pious and active ecclesial life.  He was well known even as a layman to many saints of his day, including St. Pope Kyrillos VI and His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, who related at his funeral that while residing at the Church of Saint Mina in Old Cairo as a layman himself, he would see him come to that church, prostrate himself outside at the front of the church, and again several times between the front door of the church and its altar before standing to pray in deep prayer.  After his ordination, he served his village in all humility and dedication before being caused to depart to Cairo, where he was brought into the service of the Church of Saint Mark in Shubra by its shepherd, Father Morcos Dawoud, which parish he continued to serve until his repose on March 26, 1975. His ministry in Shubra was marked by continued fruitfulness and expanding spiritual influence — he shepherded his parish with all purity and selflessness, was granted countless disciples, whom he guided with profound humility and wisdom, and was known for his seriousness, depth of prayer, simplicity, and complete dependence on God. Whenever anyone brought a problem to him, he would say, “let us pray, my son,” and assign a saint to handle the concern, and when anyone complained to him of having been wronged by another, he would simply respond, “this is Satan, my son, this is Satan,” in view of redirecting the complainant to discerning that sin originates from the devil and not from the one who sins, who is rather a victim enslaved by him — a common theme in his teaching. He was not a man of much public teaching — in fact, the translated homily and the corresponding Arabic recording herein represent the only known recorded lecture for Fr. Mikhail, despite his renown as a wise teacher and trusted counselor to many, including several of the Church’s saints of the twentieth century, in personal discipleship and confession.  Upon his departure, Pope Shenouda III, who was his disciple and son in confession for many years — and who officiated his funeral, at which he delivered a deeply moving eulogy, in which he called him a “profound guide,” “loving heart,” and “immense power” — requested that he be buried beneath the altar of the Great Cathedral of St. Mark, because, in his own words, “he was a public man who belongs to no single church, whose children are in every place and every village and every city, who should not be reserved for one place, but who should be buried [in the Cathedral], in a public place,” and, as His Holiness publicly admitted, he also privately wanted his pure body to remain near, as a support to him.   DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

H.H. Pope Shenouda III, 1989 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: One God. Amen.  Being that this week is the Week of Prayer, I would like to speak to you about Prayer. Prayer according to its simplest meaning is a dialogue with God. But is it a dialogue of the tongue or that of the heart? Doubtless it is a dialogue of the heart. For this reason, the Lord Christ rebuked those who pray with their lips only, saying: “these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).  Thus, prayer is not merely words. Nor is it merely recitations or memorized utterances. But prayer is firstly the longing for God [] as David the Prophet says: “my soul longs for you, O God, as a thirsty land longs for water” (Psalms 143:6). And he also says: “O God, you are my God, my soul thirsts for you” (Psalms 63:1). And he says again: “as the deer longs” — the male deer which gallops quickly and tires [as a result] — “as the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for You, O God.” (Psalms 42:1) The more your soul longs for God, and speaks to Him as a result of this longing, the more you feel that you are speaking to Him from your heart and benefit from prayer. [] For prayer is not merely a longing, but it is a longing that springs forth from love. Thus prayer begins firstly in the heart as love, is then elevated to the mind as thought, and finally the tongue utters it as word. But it is in the first instance love. Love! [David] tells Him, “Oh how beloved is your name, O Lord, for it is my meditation all the day” (Psalms 119:97). Out of his love for God, the name of God is on his tongue and mind all day long in meditation. He also says to Him, “in your name I will lift up my hands; my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Psalms 63:4-5).  So prayer is satisfaction for the soul. Just as the flesh is nourished by food, so also the soul is nourished by being in the presence of God, and by conversing with God, and with the connection of the heart with our Lord. This is nourishment for the soul. If you pray and do not feel satisfied, then you are not truly praying. Prayer, as I have said, is love. Just as a droplet of water journeys until it pours into the great sea and unites with it, so also does the heart of man journey so as to unite with the heart of God and become joined to Him. And the first matter [here] is prayer. For this reason, prayer was said to be a golden bridge connecting the creature to the Creator. [] It was also said that prayer is likened to the ladder of Jacob which connected earth and heaven. Prayer was also said to be the language of the angels, or the praise of the angels.  Imagine — the Seraphim were standing before the throne of God saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth” (Isaiah 6:3), being satisfied with this love and their souls being satiated by it. This is prayer. Believe me, many claim that they converse with God while in fact they do not pray. They do not pray because they merely utter words without any feeling or emotion.  For this reason, prayer is connectedness [1] with God. [] In prayer you find a connection between yourself and God. You connect with God. As in the Divine Liturgy when we say, “stand [earnestly].” [2] You develop a connection between yourself and God such that you experience being in the presence of God. [] This is prayer. It is not mere words. You experience the presence of God and being with God, and the connection between you both.  Some think prayer to be words they utter or beautiful phrases they say. It is not so. I will give you an example. You see these lights — there are small bulbs and a large spotlight [] — imagine you have incredibly powerful lightbulbs — a bulb with the power of many volts — but it has no electric current running through it. What would be the benefit of this lightbulb to you? What is the benefit of a powerful lightbulb if the electric current is absent from it? In your prayers, you must feel this current running through your veins.  You feel pleasure in being with God [] so that even when you try to stop praying or cease from prayer, you find it difficult to do so. One stands to pray, and every time he tries to conclude the prayer, he says: “Lord let me spend some more time with You… [] a few more minutes… let me have some more time.” He is unable to leave Him! [] As it says in the Song of Songs, “I held him and would not let him go” (3:4). I can’t leave him! This is prayer.  This sort of prayer purifies the heart, [] because man, when he finds himself in the presence of God, is purified thereby. Even if a sinful thought comes to him, he is ashamed of it, saying: “My thoughts were just with God, how can I now mingle it with evil?” If any external warfare comes to him, you find him impervious to it, fortified by the inner purity which he obtains from prayer.  Deep prayer leads man to renounce the entire world, because after he finds himself in the presence of God, everything else becomes trivial in his eyes. For this reason, the Spiritual Elder [3] said: “the love of God alienated me” — that is, rendered me a stranger — “from mankind and the things of mankind.”  St. John of Assiut was once asked, “what is pure prayer?” He told them “it is death to the world,” meaning when one is praying, this world is wholly absent from his mind; because of his preoccupation with God, he no longer feels the present world.  Prayer is an honor for man — a great honor, for him to speak with God. There are many who occupy prestigious positions with whom you cannot speak. But God, out of His humility, permits you to speak with Him, even while He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and Creator of all. Thus, prayer is an honor with respect to man, and humility with respect to God. Of His humility He communicates with us. [] Do not dare to think that when you pray, you give to God anything at all — time, words. No. In prayer you receive and do not give. Just as we say to God in the Divine Liturgy, “You are not in need my worship, but rather I am in need of Your Lordship.” You need  to be found with God. You need  to speak with Him. You need  to receive from His love.  Imagine, regarding the pleasure of prayer, that David, when he prayed his psalms [] did not find the flute sufficient. We read in history that David had a large musical ensemble — a substantial chorus — one with a flute and one with a harp and another with an oud and another with stringed instruments and another with timbrels and another with cymbals and another with a trumpet — all of the musical instruments in his day, and sometimes the number would reach seventy people! And he prayed his psalms with the wondrous pleasure of music, and told them “Selah,” meaning “let us stop here and change the melody.” [] For this reason, sometimes prayer is a song sung by the soul to God. Imagine standing and singing to God! Where does this singing come from? For this reason he says, “sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalms 96:1). [] A song! One who rejoices in another — who loves another — and sings to Him. And God rejoices with this heart — this musical heart, in which one does not pluck the strings of the oud, but instead the strings of his heart, so that the words that spring from it are a beautiful song in the hearing of God.  See Miriam the Prophetess, the sister of Moses! She held the timbrel in her hand and sang to God! [] And we, do we not sing? We certainly sing! From this we see that our hymns are prayer. See the words, “Agios, Agios, Agios, Holy, Holy, Holy.” In joyful times we sing “Agios” to Him in a joyful hymn, and with melisma. And in mournful times, in the Passion Week, we sing “Agios” to Him in a mournful tone. And in Ⲕⲟⲓⲁϩⲕ we say it in a different way. And every time we say “Holy,” we say it to Him in a different way. The psalmody, is it not a prayer? But it is a song we sing to the Lord. We stand before God singing, rejoicing — one rejoicing greatly in God, and, seeing Him, sings for joy! []  For this reason we find praises — spiritual songs. The Bible says, “with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in your hearts to God” (Ephesians 5:19). [] Indeed, singing always springs forth from inner feeling. And we stand before God singing always: people rejoicing in God and singing to Him. How? When we come to read the gospel, we say it in a melody in the Church; when we come to read the Psalm, we sing it to Him. We have Psalms which, when the chanter stands to chant them, he says them with the fullness of love in his heart before God.  And the prayers and hymns of the Divine Liturgy are sung. For this reason, I am uncomfortable with those who rush through the Liturgy in a few minutes and without care for its hymns. No singing! What will God say to such people? “Is there no feeling? Do the strings of your heart not move?” In every word we say in the Liturgy, we sing. We sing before God, saying to Him: “Lord I am overjoyed in You [] and will sing to you all day and night!”  Long ago, each Psalm had its own hymn, and they said it in chant. Just like the hymns we have in the Second, Third, and Fourth ϩⲱⲥ. These are all Psalms. Here is the heart that prays.  But for one to pray with his tongue while his mind wanders in other things, where is the connection between him and God? Where is the dialogue between him and God? What is more, where is the etiquette of discussion between him and God? Do you speak to God while you are distracted, or while your senses are distracted; praying while looking here and there?  From here, prayer requires certain qualities so that it may be considered an acceptable prayer before God. There are prayers that are acceptable and those that are not.  To offer an acceptable prayer before God, the first point is to pray with understanding. While speaking, you understand the meaning of each word. You say, “Our Father who art in Heaven,” and every word is understood and has its depth, and is uttered in harmony between the tongue and the mind and the heart and the spirit and the flesh and the whole person. For this reason, you find in our hymns: “my heart and my tongue praise the Trinity” — “ⲡⲁϩⲏⲧ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲁⲗⲁⲥ.” []  Prayer does not only involve the tongue. Your tongue speaks, while your mind is occupied with the same words, while your heart experiences the same feeling, while your spirit calls to the Lord. And your body also participates: in kneeling with meekness, prostrating, lifting up your hands, your eyes directed upwards. In all of this, your body participates with your spirit. Thus, prayer encompasses the whole person: mind, heart, spirit, flesh, and tongue together.  For this reason, the one who prays often closes his eyes so as not to be distracted by or think about whatever is in front of him. He does not feel [] what happens around him. He leaves everything and devotes himself to God.  Prayer with understanding denotes meaning every word you say. For example, when you say to Him, “Thy kingdom come,” your mind should contemplate the meaning of the kingdom of God, how His kingdom rules over your heart, how His kingdom may spread among the people, how His kingdom may spread among those nations who do not yet know Him, how His kingdom may rule over the mind and heart and flesh and spirit, how His kingdom is the longing for the eternal kingdom. And you say the word “kingdom” as you find yourself entering into the deepest depths of this kingdom. Meaning every word; praying with understanding.  And if you pray with understanding, you will find that you also pray with concentration. [] Your mind will be occupied with the words, without deviation of thought or distraction. You will find yourself concentrating on the words and their meanings. You will pray with understanding, with concentration, and with depth, as David says, “out of the depths I have cried to You O Lord” (Psalms 130:1). Out of the depths! Out of the depths of my heart. Out of the depths of my mind. Out of the depths of my need for You. Out of the depths of my desires. Out of the depths in which I have fallen, I am lifted up to You and say: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord” (Psalms 130.1). You are in my inner depths, and I will to also reach Your depths.  The one who prays such prayer, which is with love and understanding, will necessarily also pray fervently. Because he pours himself out before God. See Hannah, who became Samuel’s mother. The Bible says that she “prayed a prayer” (1 Samuel 1.9-10). [] What does this mean? It was not just any prayer! [] She prayed a prayer which bore all the fullness of the meaning of the word. Her lips merely moved, as her heart was ablaze for God. To the point that Eli the Priest thought her to be drunk. Because she poured herself out as an offering before God. Imagine the term “pouring” himself out; a soul being “poured” out before God. I cannot find in the Arabic language words sufficient to express how one pours himself out, but you understand it. One who pours himself out before God. His soul is wrung out and he pours it into the hearing and heart of God, telling Him, “my very self is poured out before You.”  He who pours himself out before God does not have any awareness of his surroundings. If he is conscious of his surroundings, then his mind has become distracted and he is not poured out before God. The fervency of his prayer may be evident in his language, in his eyes, in his tears — from the extent of the fervency within him — in his love. He prays! You feel that this person prays.  You may find two priests standing before the altar praying the Divine Liturgy, but you feel that one is praying and one is not. He is not praying, he is only saying  the Liturgy. You may find two chanting a spiritual song, but only one chanting it from the depths of his heart so that you feel that he truly chants it, while for the other it is mere words. Words and musical melodies without spirit. [] She “prayed a prayer.” She poured herself out before God. Hannah. I read this very expression also concerning Elijah the Prophet in the fifth chapter of the Epistle of our teacher James. He says: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed a prayer that the heavens would not rain” (James 5:17). “Prayed a prayer” means not just any words. “Prayer” here means true prayer.  One might stand for fifteen minutes speaking, and the angels would say, “why isn’t this fellow praying?” You might say, “You see him speaking!” And they would say, “these are just words. There’s no prayer. It is only words but not prayer.” But there is another sort of person — when he stands up for prayer, you find that the twenty four priests from the Book of Revelation take the golden censers in their hands and retrieve the prayer and take it up with them ( see  Revelation 8:3). If you ask one of them why, he would say, “this is a prayer, I can’t leave it. I must store it in my golden censer and lift it up to God as a fragrance of incense.” The angels sitting in heaven would smell the sweet aroma of the incense coming from earth and ask, “what is this beautiful fragrance of incense?” And they would be told, “Oh, so and so is praying.” []  For this reason, just as God rejoices in our prayer, so also do the angels. They participate with us. [] They empower us in prayer, give us spirit, and take our prayers and ascend with them. Just as it was written about Jacob’s ladder, that there were angels ascending and descending on it ( see  Genesis 28:12). Ascending with the prayers from the earth, and descending with God’s response to them. The angels are always ascending and descending with our prayers.  The angels in heaven, when they hear someone praying, say to one another: “come, we have work today!” What is that work? “We will take [the prayers] and ascend and descend and connect heaven and earth!” Hence why it is said that prayer shakes the heavens. Not the earth. The heavens. The heavenly hosts. When a saint stands for prayer, they stand for prayer with him, participating with him, feeling that he is one of them — that he is one of the earthly angels from among the heavenly humans. Just like the angels. Or is prayer mere words? Does every person who says “I am praying” truly pray? No! What does “prayed a prayer” mean? It means not just any words. I would that you understand what prayer is and how to pray.  Do you realize that if we pray for oneness with this spirit, it would be accomplished immediately? Why? Because then souls are [truly] standing before God. God — what can I say, Lord? Just as He says in the Psalms, to the soul that pours itself out before Him in prayer, “turn your eyes from me, for they have overcome me” (Song of Solomon 6:5). [4] God says, “enough, I can’t withstand it any longer. Whatever you want I will give you. Enough.” How could God tell someone, “for your eyes have overcome me?” What is this [wonder]. In language I do not know an interpretation, but in the spirit we may understand its meaning. As it was said, “God was overcome by His compassion.” [5] Out of His love. He sees before Him a person who has been transformed into an angel on earth, speaking with Him in truth.  When God encounters hundreds of people, one of whom speaks to Him with a wandering mind, and another speaks to Him and then runs away, and another speaks to Him for a short while and then says “enough, I am bored of prayer,” and then finds one steadfast and speaking to Him with all love, He says “I can’t leave this person.” So what does He do? He grants that the Holy Spirit intercede for him with unutterable expressions, so that he is no longer praying but the Holy Spirit works in him and gives him the fervency ( see  Galatians 4:6). [] Just like one who says “heat up the car so it can run.” The Holy Spirit “heats up this car,” so it can run and ascend to the heavens.  There are those who have specialized in prayer. They have become specialists in prayer. Their work is prayer, such as the monks and solitaries and hermits. And there are those on earth who give to God some of their time, and there are those who give to God the leftovers of their time, and there are those who say to God, “go away for now and when it is more convenient I will call for you again,” as the [procurator, Felix,] told Paul (Acts 24:25).  For prayer to be accepted before God, it must also be offered with humility and lowliness of heart. Humility. Our Lord gave us an example in the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector. The prayer of the tax collector was accepted because it was offered with a humble heart, but the prayer of the Pharisee was not accepted. Not every prayer is accepted; the one who humbles himself before God[, that one’s prayer is accepted]. For this reason, you find some who speak to God with an unbefitting boldness, whereas we bow our heads and prostrate on the ground and sign the cross and ask Him to “make us worthy to say ‘Our Father.’” [] “I am not worthy to stand before You. Who am I? ‘I am a worm and not a man’ (Psalms 22:6), as David says. Who am I to put myself between the angels and archangels and the Seraphim and Cherubim to speak to You? Who am I? I am but dust! ‘I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes,’ (Genesis 18:27),” as Abraham the Father of Fathers said. For this reason the one who prays with humility prays with meekness.  One might say, “I am a son, and I have my rights as a son.” What rights are you speaking of, beloved? Are we discussing rights? Tell Him, “Lord, I am unworthy of anything. ‘I am unworthy to be called Your son’ (Luke 15:19). It is true that You have called me a son out of Your love, but I have not abided as a son. I am utterly cast down. How can I speak to You?” With lowliness of heart, one prostrates, one kneels, one lifts up his hands, and begins a beginning that evidences his humility before God. It is true that God called you a son. But does His calling you a son lead you to lose your meekness or respect for Him, or to pray with a prideful heart? All of this is unfitting. Do you need more [evidence] than the Cherubim and Seraphim? They stand before God praying. How? “With two wings they cover their faces, and with two they cover their feet” (Isaiah 6:2). They stand ashamed before God, covering their faces for their inability to look toward the great glory of God. [] For this reason, when the priest prays the Reconciliation Prayer in the Divine Liturgy, he holds a handkerchief [over his eyes], and so does the deacon across from him. Why? For their inability to lift their eyes toward God; ashamed before God and the divine glory, so they cover their eyes from the glory of God. But there is another who holds the handkerchief without understanding its meaning, [saying] “well, this is what they taught us in church.” As for the person who stands before God in meekness and lowliness of heart, God does not forget his lowliness of heart. He truly prays. He recognizes before Whom he stands. He is standing before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. See Moses, after he spent some time with Him, how his face was so radiant that the people could not look to him when he came down [from the mountain]. And that only because he spent a little time with Him. John the Beloved, who leaned on His chest, when God appeared to him in the Book of Revelation, said, “I fell at his feet as one dead” (Revelation 1:17). Why? For the greatness of God.  Your love for God and favor with Him should not lead you to lose your meekness before God. Your favor [with Him] might otherwise lead you to merely say words, like the one who prays while seated at mealtime. “Why are you sitting, brother? To Whom are you speaking?” He says, “I’m sitting to eat.” Are you sitting to eat or sitting to pray? Whenever I am in a foreign country and they ask me to pray before eating, I stand and they all follow suit. They are used to praying over the meal while seated. Is there no respect when speaking to God? Stand before Him with meekness. Tell Him, “thank you Lord for granting me food for my body. Grant me also food for my spirit.” And pray from your heart.  Many in the church pray while seated, and if someone tells one to stand, he says, “stand? You forget that we’re in the twentieth century, the age of technology, which exhausts the flesh and robs us of our energy. Before, the people were strong and could stand, but now the people are tired.” Remain as you are, O tired one, and pray prayers that are as tired as you, which do not ascend to the heights. When you stand to pray while tired, God will grant you the strength and energy to stand, because as you give, so you receive, and you receive what you give and say to Him, “of Your own we have given You” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Prayer needs meekness; to stand before God meekly. But for the one who stands before God while his legs are moving, his hands are moving, his eyes are looking around, as if he is praying with a wind-up, this is not prayer. If this one stands in the army, and they tell him to stand still, he would. If one stands still before an officer or a sergeant, how much more should he do so before God? Pray with meekness, pray with concentration, pray with respect and reverence before God.  Pray also with faith. He says, “whatever you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith” (Mark 11:24). Many times one prays but does not believe that what he asks will happen. He just prays to fulfill the obligation. But without faith. We need people to pray with faith — faith that he stands before God, and that God will respond, and that God will respond with whatever is good, regardless of the outcome. [] Prayer with persistence, never tiring. This is prayer. [] Prayer before God with spirit and thought, with love and feeling, and with concentration. This is all regarding the depth of prayer.  The one who experiences the beauty and tastes the sweetness of prayer loves to pray at all times. He loves that his mind is preoccupied with God at all times. He never tires from prayer. He does not say: “I don’t have time.” How do you not have time? As I have said to some, “do you not have time? See David the Prophet. He was a king and commander in chief of the army and led the people and had a large family and difficult circumstances, but regardless, he prayed evening and morning and at noontime” ( see Psalms 55:17). And he told Him, “seven times every day I do I praise You for your righteous judgments” (Psalms 119:164). Only during the day? He also told him, “I remembered you on my bed,” (Psalms 63:6), when he came to sleep, and “in the morning watches [I sang to you]” (Psalm 5:3), [] and “my eyes stay open through the watches of the night that I might meditate on your word” (Psalms 119:148), [and] “at midnight I arise to praise You for your righteous judgments” (Psalms 119.62). And after all this, he tells Him: “O God, you are my God, early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for you…” (Psalms 63:1). After all this, your soul [still] thirsts for Him?  This is the one who wants to pray. He does not tire from prayer, he is patient, he prays with long-suffering, and whenever Satan says “enough,” he tells him, “depart from me, you have no business with me. This is between me and God.” [] — [1] Arabic: سلاه [2] lit. “stand intently/earnestly;” Arabic: نقف بإتصال [3] i.e. John of Dalyatha [4] In instances such as this, when His Holiness misremembers the source of a verse or passage, it is important to note that His Holiness, in his usual manner, delivers the majority of his homily from memory and without much, if any, reference to written materials). [5] See  Monday Ⲑⲉⲟⲧⲟⲕⲓⲁ, Fifth Part — To hear the sermon by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in its original Arabic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIrTdvbo1Jg (Starting at 45:05 in the video)

A translation of the First Papal Sermon of His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI, delivered at his enthronement by the late Metropolitan Anba Lucas — May 10, 1959. — Our beloved brethren, the fathers, the metropolitans and bishops, and our dear children, the priests and deacons and all the people everywhere in the See of St. Mark. Grace and blessing and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I thank my good God, the Lord of Glory, who has called me and chosen my weakness for this holy service, not worthily, but out of the abundance of His grace, for the purpose of shepherding His blessed people and for the service, that the sign of His glory may be exalted, and for the preparation of individuals as well as nations for the inheritance of eternal life. Beloved, I feel in myself the responsibility that has been placed on my shoulder, and the holy deposit that has been tied around my neck, and these talents that have been delivered to me from the Lord of the Church – these talents in which I must invest to bear fruit and multiply. But who am I? It is the grace of God that works in us and with us. Certainly, He who has called me will assist me in the apostolic service. I trust in His blessed promise: “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron” (Is. 45:2). My entire trust is in the mercies of our God, who says to His Church: “‘For a brief moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” (Is. 54:7-8). What does the human need more than the service of the Spirit in this age of materialism, infidelity, atheism, and deviant intellectual tendencies? What will benefit the people except that they see Christ in our lives, and smell His beautiful fragrance in us. The Church is entrusted with a dangerous mission in the moment that the world is currently going through. She must establish faith in the hearts, and spread virtue, and send peace and tranquility to every troubled soul, so that stability may ensue and joy may increase. For the message of the Lord Christ is the inauguration of a better life for the people: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That is the pure, calm, purifying, and active life, which constitutes the good, productive citizen and the active member of the Church, who knows to be honest always to God and to country, cooperating with all with the spirit of collegiality and brotherhood. I rely on the support of God and your love, which I hold dearly, needing the spirit of the saintly fathers and [walking in] the footsteps of the past patriarchs, the successors of Saint Mark the Apostle, who fought the good fight and completed their struggle and kept the Faith and delivered to us the holy deposit. I wish that I may open to you my heart, that you may see the deep love that covers all, that is the love that pours forth from the heart of our Savior, who loved us and redeemed us by His blood. I ask all to persevere in the offering up of prayers for the sake of the peace of the Church and for my weakness, and for the sake of all servants and workers. “You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest” until He confirms and grants that His Church “may offer praise on the earth” (Is. 62:6-7). If our mission is so great and dangerous, then this matter calls for the unity of powers and efforts, that we may complete our work with joy. I am confident that our brethren the metropolitans and bishops, our blessed children the priests and deacons, the members of the general and individual lay councils, the various entities and active societies, and all servants in the vineyard of the Lord, will all work together in cooperation with us in love and loyalty, with self-sacrifice and the denial of the ego, in harmony with the leadership and the grace of the Great Shepherd of shepherds; may we disappear that He may appear with His blessed glory. I ask the Lord that He may grant us all oneness of spirit and heart and thought, that we may work together with one mind and one will, that is the will of the Holy Spirit, Who has guided the Church throughout her long glorious history. And we have one holy goal: the glory of God and the service of Truth and the highest aspirations. I do not aspire to anything and “neither is my soul haughtily raised within me” (Ps. 131:1), except that I may complete my struggle joyfully, and the service that I have taken from the Lord Jesus, knowing that you are my joy and pleasure and crown of boasting (cf. 1 Thess. 2:19). My joy is in your success, and my pleasure is in the steadfastness of your faith and the power of your hope and the increase of your love (cf. 1 Thess. 1:3). May the God of all love and peace shepherd the people of the United Arab Republic and keep the life of the President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of the Republic, and aid with wisdom and peace his struggle and hard work for the sake of peace and the liberty of the peoples. We also convey the sincerest greetings and our Apostolic blessings to the beloved blessed Orthodox brother, the honorable emperor Haile Selassie I, the emperor of Ethiopia, and to the honorable empress and princes, and our brothers the Metropolitan Anba Basilious, and all the bishops and priests and deacons and dear Ethiopian congregation. We implore God that He may preserve the congregations of the See of St. Mark, and grant peace and success to its governments in Africa and Asia, for the sake of the establishment and spread of the principles of love and peace in all the world, and to His greatness is due all thanks and glory and honor always and forever. Amen. — If you find this translation lacking or mistaken in any way, due to our own shortcomings and weakness and not those of our fellow workers, please let us know so we may correct it. Please pray for those who took part in this work and may this be for your edification. The link to the video is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGlZN37UFuk

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – One God. Amen.   [General Announcements] As you know, of course, we started the Nativity Fast last Thursday. And as I always tell you, fasting is not about what we eat on the material side; it is about what we eat on the spiritual side. We give up something of the material in order to receive more and more of the spiritual, so that we may enter into a system. The Fast itself is not the goal. In the last days, we will not tell God that we have fasted. Fasting is a means — a way, a method, a training period — so that we may reach Jesus Christ our Lord, approach Him, and come closer to Him. Fasting is emptying  ourselves. We empty our senses of the things that do not glorify God. In our minds and our hearts, we are often concerned with what we will do, our future, how we may gain more money, and how to put ourselves in better situations — just me, me, me — while canceling others. This is not Christianity. Christianity is to cancel  yourself and to think about others, to feel  about others — and not just to feel, but to do something. It is not enough to say, “I feel sorry for that person,” and leave it at that. No! If you feel sorry, do something about it! Are you praying for him? Are you befriending him? Are you asking what he needs? Are you giving him more and more of what you have? Or am I selfish, keeping everything for myself? I must empty  — empty myself and fill others. The second point is this: to carry the Cross means to show the Cross and not be ashamed of it. In this society, sometimes we are ashamed of the Cross. Do you know where the Cross was discovered? [] It was discovered under a heap of garbage. The Cross was buried under filth. And this is what we are doing in our lives — we are throwing garbage on the Cross! We are Christians, yet we allow garbage to heap up like mountains over the Cross, and the Cross lies deep below. No one sees our Christianity anymore. In our lives, we have priorities, and Christianity is the last of them. We push it down, and on top of it — as I said just now — we might place our future, our friends, our lusts, our desires — everything but the Cross — while the Cross remains deep below. We must elevate the Cross! Where was the Cross erected? Was it in a valley? It was on a high mountain. Golgotha is a high mountain, to show the whole world. And that is why in the church, we place the Cross on the domes, and over the highest point of the church. We must show our Christianity and not be ashamed of or cover it. Sometimes we are ashamed. Here, they wear the cross as an ornament, but they do not know the Cross. Yet we are proud of those in societies where the Cross and Christianity are persecuted, and still they wear and show the cross — not merely as gold, but they show that they are Christians. They speak as Christians, act as Christians, cooperate with others as Christians, and preach Christ who is in them, not speak empty words [as they do] in our society and then shy away [from revealing their Christianity]. We are not stating the principles of our faith or of our Church. One fasts and then becomes ashamed lest others mock him — no! I am not telling you to display that you are fasting, but when someone does not know fasting, it is your duty to show him what fasting is by practicing fasting and to show others its purpose and use. The devil now shows himself everywhere. Have you ever seen the devil shy? No. He shows himself openly — in the media, among your friends, in every place. The devil pushes himself forward. Yet the Holy Spirit whom you carry is the power of our Lord — the power of God — and this power is far stronger than the power of the devil. If you allow the powers of the devil to act while you remain silent and negative, doing nothing, then you will give an account. In school, show that you are a Christian. At work, show that you are a Christian. Do not simply adopt what is in the world. For example, when people around us tell improper jokes or use inappropriate language, because we want to share with them we say the same things so that they do not say that we are odd, or weird, or different. No! Some participate [in such things], and what happens to the Cross? The Cross is buried. It may be bad words, curses, and [crude] jokes, and the Cross becomes buried under it all. So take care. Where is the Cross in your life? Where is your Christianity? The third and final point is this: carrying the Cross is to bear  the Cross — to accept suffering. The Cross sometimes means suffering. None of us is without a cross. Everyone has certain weaknesses, temptations, and difficult times. We will not rid ourselves of these things except in heaven. As long as we are in this world, we will experience suffering, weakness, misfortune, and our own faults.  How can we accept the Cross? We accept the Cross when we think of others. Sometimes we fail to appreciate what we have. If I have a problem, I allow it to overwhelm me and [consume] me, and forget all the other positives in my life — all the graces God has given me. I forget everything good; the devil causes you to focus only on the dark part so that you fall into despair, and to think “what is this quality of life?” But he blinds you to all the other things that you have — all the other gifts God has provided you. So first, if I am in tribulation — if I am sick, if I fail an exam, if I lose a friend, if I am betrayed — I must not allow myself to be consumed by it. Think about the positive points in your life, and more importantly, think about those who carry heavier crosses than you. I am now standing on my feet; some people cannot stand. Some people cannot sit. Some people cannot breathe. Some people have congenital defects. [Now,] speaking to parents — sometimes, we say, “Our children do this or that.” We are blessed with our kids. They are a blessing from God. You are blessed by your parents. So think of those in greater difficulty and say, “I thank You, Lord.” Do not let the devil trap you in prolonged suffering. Get out of it! Otherwise, it will consume you and lead you into despair and depression. Get out of it! Think! There was a man who said to God, “You have given me a very heavy cross that I cannot carry. Why?” Then he fell asleep, and Jesus took him into a room filled with crosses and said, “Choose any cross you want in this room. If you wish to give up your cross, go ahead. Choose any other sort of suffering that you want.” The man found a very small cross and said, “My Lord, I will choose this one.” The Lord said, “Read whose cross it is.” He chose the smallest cross, so He told him, “What is the name of the person carrying this cross? Read it!” And he found that it bore his own name. Meaning the Lord is telling him, “I am giving you the least; be thankful!” This is the first point. The second point is to remember always how I will be rewarded later. Whatever suffering we experience is temporary. One day it will end. But for every suffering that I bear, for every suffering that I accept with thanksgiving, I will be rewarded for it eternally. I will be rewarded with eternal glory. As I have told you, the devil’s job is always to bring you into despair. Say: “No. Even if God allows this suffering, He allows it for me so that I may partake of His glory later.” If you carry the Cross now, you will live the Resurrection later. The Cross — the phase of the Cross — is not forever. It ends at Golgotha, and afterward comes the joy of the Resurrection. And one more thing: whenever God gives you a cross to carry, He carries it with you. He loves you. You are His child. You are precious to Him. He will never allow you to carry the cross alone. Have you seen the film The Passion of the Christ ? In one scene, when Simon carries the Cross with Jesus walking with him, Simon could carry it and continue walking. Once Jesus took one step away from the Cross, what happened to Simon? He fell. We cannot carry suffering alone. Jesus is with you in every temptation, every suffering, every pain. He feels you! He is closer to you in times of suffering than other times because He is a father. He is a loving father. He would never allow his son to suffer while watching from afar. He will approach you and carry you. You already know the story of the footprints in the sand — He is there, carrying you in the temptation.  So we ask Him to grant us to enjoy the Cross, show the Cross, apply the Cross, reveal the Cross to others, and bear the Cross for the eternal glory with Him. To Him is glory forever and ever. Amen. — To hear the original audio of this sermon, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnWk9_MH-mY .   Fr. Sorial Sorial of blessed memory was born Eliya Sorial on January 6, 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan – one of seven children, including His Grace Bishop Karas of blessed memory, who was the first bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States and the first abbot of the Church’s first monastery outside of Egypt, in California. Fr. Sorial graduated from Khartoum Medical University with an M.D. in April 1981 and received his Ph.D from London University in 1989. In 1994, H.H. Pope Shenouda III ordained Eliya as Fr. Sorial to serve the altar of St. Mary and St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church in Brighton, England. After two years, His Holiness sent Fr. Sorial and his family to serve at St. George and St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church, Jersey City, NJ, USA alongside Hegumen Fr. Antonios Ragheb of blessed memory and Fr. Dawoud Bebawy. On February 7, 2007, Fr. Sorial was elevated to the rank of Hegumen. After a difficult battle with pancreatic cancer, Fr. Sorial reposed in the Lord on February 15, 2008. He was characterized by a profound humility and gentleness, tirelessness in service, simplicity, peacefulness, tears in prayer, and deep love for the Church’s prayers, praises, and hymnology, and is remembered by his beloved congregation and the many people whom he discipled. Cover Photo: Fr. Sorial Sorial (right) pictured alongside Fr. Dawoud Bebawy (left) at St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church, Jersey City, NJ.   DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

Much like the Church’s rites, iconography presents a unique and powerful avenue for depicting and expressing the spiritual and divine components of religious experience through physical means. The simple admiration of the artistic forms and expression of icons is therefore itself a formative experience. In learning to read an icon, one gleans a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the meaning and significance which icons portray, especially because icons are not merely artistic depictions but also expressions of theology and spirituality. Through a multifaceted reading of iconography — including narrative-based, cultural, and theological approaches — one begins to uncover the unique, compelling, and significant meanings of icons without demeaning, devaluing, or misinterpreting them. Indeed, a sound reading of icons requires an approach that considers the complex interplay between visual art, storytelling, cultural symbolism, and religious tradition. The Narrative-Based Approach Icons are most commonly interpreted through the textual and oral narratives which they depict. The illustration of a particular story enables readers to utilize their imaginative faculties, envision the story more concretely, and therefore cultivate a deeper comprehension of and resonation with the narrative. Both the cognitive and aesthetic characteristics of icons are important. The use of colors and beautifully designed artwork conveys the significance of the narrative and inspires a more immersive experience of the text itself. By recalling the story which an icon presents, one can breathe life into an otherwise two-dimensional canvas. In early Coptic manuscripts, icons were commonly used to depict scenes found in the Gospels, inviting readers to imagine and place themselves within the story and thereby gain a deeper understanding and experience of it.  Figure 1: A Coptic manuscript of the Gospels dating to 1250 A.D., including icons of Jesus’ arrest and trial (left: folio 56v) and His baptism in the Jordan River (right: folio 66r) (Bibliothèque de Fels (Fels Library), Institut Catholique de Paris, Ms. Copte-Arabe 1 ). Figure 2: An icon of the Holy Family on its journey to Egypt. The Arabic text reads “Out of Egypt I called My Son (Matthew 2:15)” As one example, in Figure 1, the depiction of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River moves the manuscript’s reader to visually imagine the unfolding scene — to feel the water splash against his skin, hear the rumblings of the gathered crowd, and even smell the fish. By engaging these senses, the icon translates a static narrative into an experienceable event. This exercise primarily carries an educational purpose. For this reason, instructive details were not uncommon; they further facilitated the educational emphases of the narrative-based approach. For instance, in Figure 2, the related prophecy of Hosea 11:1 which is referenced in Matthew 2:15 is directly incorporated into an icon of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. The interrelation of the narrative and the icon is inextricable. Just as an icon informs a deeper experience of a written or orally-delivered narrative, apart from the narrative, an icon falls short in delivering its experiential intentions. Remaining with the example of Figure 2, unless one connects the image with the narrative of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, he fails to uncover the deep symbolism and spiritually-applicable lessons which the icon depicts. Ascertaining these characters to be the Holy Family, and understanding the environment and contexts which the Gospel narratives express in relation to this specific experience in the incarnate life of Christ, opens up the icon to become an illustration of sacrificial fatherhood, in the person of Joseph who walks on foot and leads his family away from the comfort of home into uncertainty in Egypt, and endearing motherhood, in the person of Mary who swaddles Jesus and holds Him in her arms. In considering an icon through its narrative, and especially those that are widely known, iconography becomes a powerful medium for deeper reflection and education. Further, the experiential nature of iconography, and the narrative-based approach, is not bound by culture or theological mastery. While many individuals may feel ill-equipped or unable to relate to the cultural and theological roots of an icon, the narrative-based approach bridges the gap between readers and the narrative’s author, enabling readers to enter palpably and with all their senses into the narrative itself. However, icons are written within a particular cultural context and are naturally expressive of theology, and thus, a holistic approach to reading icons is necessary. While the narrative-based outlook carries important benefits, it should not be divorced from other approaches. The Cultural Approach Reading icons through the lens of their writers’ cultures, societal contexts, and artistic traditions facilitates a deeper experience of the icons’ depictions and a more refined appreciation for their message. Cultural considerations uncover the complexity behind the composition of an icon. To illustrate the importance of this approach, Pharaonic art was often adapted for use by Coptic iconographers in third-century Egypt. They found in the artwork of Isis nursing Horus inspiration for portraying the Virgin nursing the Christ Child, and associated Horus’ slaying Apophis with St. George’s slaying the dragon. [1] Figure 3: Isis nursing Horus (top left); the Virgin nursing Christ (top right); Horus slaying Apep (Apophis) (bottom left); Saint George slaying the dragon (bottom right). The visual similarities between Pharaonic art and Coptic iconography, especially in the above example, are fascinating: the Virgin holds Christ in the same manner that Isis holds Horus, both infants sit on the left side of their mothers, and both mothers are depicted with large eyes and as smiling. Given these strong resemblances, it is believed that the Egyptians were familiar with the pagan gods well into the fourth century A.D. and that such iconographic connections sought to assimilate former pagans. Rather than deny the background and certain cultural components of the Egyptian pagans, iconographers provided them with the means by which to incorporate their cultural identity into the experience of worship within the framework of their newly-accepted Christian beliefs. Since the Christian Faith is holistic and cannot be confined or compartmentalized into a mere aspect of the believer’s life, the acceptance of the Christian Faith by the Egyptians quickly affected their cultural expression. They yearned to use their culture to honor God, even in the artwork which they produced. Within this same context, the appropriation of pagan themes and narratives in Coptic art was not only an instrument of assimilation, but also emphasized the superiority of the Christian Faith to the pagan beliefs. In keeping with the earlier example of Horus, Horus’ royal assent to avenge his father gives way to the Lord’s superior salvific act for all mankind. The interrelation and inseparability of both the cultural and narrative approaches to reading icons are therefore evident. Further, the cultural approach enhances the understanding of artistic traditions. The influence of ancient Egyptian art on early Coptic art is perceived in Coptic iconographers’ use of gold leaf. Similarly, the use of intricate patterns and shapes in later icons testifies to the influence of Islamic art. As Egypt experienced a variety of artistic traditions over several millennia, such as Pharaonic art, Islamic art, and Western art, the cultural connection situates the icon within its appropriate place in the larger scheme of history. At the same time, because icons carry religious and spiritual foundations, they are not meant to be relegated to a historical setting. The narrative and cultural methods must therefore be united to a theological approach. The Theological Approach The reading of icons requires discernment of what they are depicting — not only the narratives they are expressing in visual form, but also the dogmatic, doctrinal, and spiritual underpinnings and implications of that narrative. For this reason, icons are referred to as being written  rather than drawn . In the Coptic tradition, the most significant aspect of iconography is the religious teaching which icons uphold and express. In a profound way, iconographers use symbolism and imagery to convey and deliver a deep teaching apprehensible even to an illiterate and uneducated viewer. A common feature of icons of the Virgin Mary, such as Figure 4, is the placement of three stars on her veil — one above her forehead, and one at each shoulder. This detail serves a deeper purpose than adornment: it may be understood as expressive of the Church’s understanding of the ever-virginity of the Mother of God — before, during, and after her pregnancy with the Lord Jesus Christ. Figure 4: A medieval Coptic icon of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The true richness of an icon is found in its spiritual depth. Ultimately, a theological reading of icons is an invitation into their most central purpose. By vivifying the most minuscule details of an icon, such as the stars on the Virgin’s veil, the theological approach transcends the narrative and cultural considerations. The disproportionately large eyes, ears, and heads of figures in Coptic iconography reflect the spiritual qualities of vigilance and contemplation; the smaller mouths and noses may similarly emphasize the spiritual dangers of an idle tongue and sensual pleasures. The diligent search for the theological significances of all aspects of icons is vital to their fullest experience and comprehension. Icons serve as spiritual windows and are a medium for veneration, meditation, and divine presence, enabling one to enter into the spiritual encounter of God Himself. Personal devotion is therefore an integral component in engaging with iconography. In one story of St. Mary of Egypt, the saint venerates the Virgin Mary through her icon, out of which she had heard a voice directing her to the life of asceticism. [2] Personal devotion, rooted in a multifaceted approach to and reading of the icon, enabled Mary of Egypt to encounter the blessed Virgin intimately and venture into the life of asceticism in the worship of Christ. Importantly, veneration and personal devotion must be distinguished from worship. Neither the icons nor their depicted stories are the subject of worship, though they are important facilitators for the worship of God. The theological reading, alongside the narrative-based and cultural approaches, allows for icons to unveil the profound depths of their depicted experiences and invite viewers into those very experiences to obtain the virtues and spiritual fruits they offer. Conclusion As expressions of art, icons move the spirit and inspire devotion in a myriad of ways. Iconography, therefore, cannot be confined to a specific methodological or systematic evaluation. A rich and holistic reading of icons, then, requires the incorporation of a variety of perspectives and a multifaceted approach. By weaving together consideration for icons’ narratives, cultural contexts, and theological significances, viewers and readers of icons become able to better understand and truly appreciate the complex interplays at work in iconography. At all times, at the heart of iconography is the invitation to personally encounter the Lord of the Church, and, having gazed at the beauty and reverberations of the life with Him, take up the journey towards perfection and virtue in the company of His saints. — [1] See  George Makary, “History,” George Makary Coptic Icons . [2] See  Wallis Budge, “ID 107: Story of and Homily on Saint Mary of Egypt, the Desert Mother previously driven by lust, who promises the Icon of the Virgin Mary that she will become a nun (sometimes in two parts),” Wendy Laura Belcher, Jeremy Brown, Mehari Worku, and Dawit Muluneh (ed.), Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracle of Mary) Stories (Princeton: Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary project ). — Mark Dawod serves as a Reader at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Princeton University and a current student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, pursuing a career in medicine. This paper is an adaptation of course work submitted for "Healing & Justice: The Virgin Mary in African Literature & Art," offered by Dr. Wendy Belcher in Spring 2023 at Princeton University. DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

“Of the several paths that lead to virtue, the broadest and the most promising is the way of imitation.” [1] In a short article on the pursuit of virtue, the renowned theologian Robert Louis Wilken rightly emphasizes the importance of imitation to the human experience and its bearings on spiritual life: “without examples, without imitation, there can be no human life or civilization, no art or culture, no virtue or holiness.” [2] In every aspect of human life, imitation and apprenticeship are integral. Children receive their most powerful formation through relation — namely, interacting with and observing and emulating their parents — such that the atmosphere in which they are reared as infants plays a significant role in their formation into adults. Likewise, self-expression and the creation of art draw inspiration from experience: by observation and emulation, a person forms their own unique personality and an artist develops their own style. Similarly, the development of thought progresses by way of discipleship and apprenticeship.  The transmission of the experience of God was primarily accomplished, in the history of humanity and particularly among the Israelites, through imitation. As the Creator of all things, God made Himself known to Adam and Eve, [3] so that by abiding in His presence and interacting with Him, they would remain in the Image after which they were made. Even after their sin and consequent expulsion from the Garden, [4] Adam and Eve were not abandoned to the end [5] by God, but continued in a then-altered relation with Him. In this way, by relation and experience — albeit in a limited and “veiled” [6] manner — the experience of God would be delivered from person to person. By narrating their own personal experience of God and that of their ancestors to their children, [7] the Israelites handed down faith in God to each generation. This same system of discipleship is observed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ: by taking flesh and becoming Man, God enabled humanity to abide once more in His presence and to observe Him, know Him, interact with Him, and experience Him deeply and most intimately. Thus, as Wilken remarks in a later article: “Christian faith lives by the simple act of handing down what others have passed on to us.” [8] This experiential nature of Christian life provides a most integral foundation to the pastoral dimension of liturgical administration, especially as it relates to the place, role, and function of children in the Church’s liturgical celebrations. The Christian life necessarily flows from observation and experience guided, informed, and contextualized by the necessary component of understanding. It requires holistic involvement and cannot be relegated merely to the intellectual dimension of the human experience. Christian education is life  delivered and received through an incarnate experience, requiring the whole Church. In his work Foundations for Christian Education,  John Boojamra notes:  “The whole Church educates. Not only is every person the object of the Church’s educational efforts, but every member of the Church is the subject of the Church’s educational effort. The whole Church educates in all of her life. The greatest error we can make is to identify education with children and school.” [9] As such, the worshipping community fulfills a central function in the upbringing and education of the Church’s members: “…people, both children and adults, become Christians not by learning about Christianity but by being integrated into an existing Church through experiencing the rites, symbols, and stories of the community.” [10] This systematic approach to Christian education comes to life beautifully in the experience of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who has deservedly garnered the world’s attention in 2025 as a result of the 1700th anniversary of the convening of the Church in 325 A.D. for the Council of Nicaea. Approximately 27 years before this Council, Athanasius was born into a faithful Christian family amidst a time of turmoil in the Empire. Despite the severe hardship and persecution of the Christians, Michael Molloy describes: “While just a ‘babe in arms’ [Athanasius] accompanied his parents to the services of the Church. And as everyone there prayed and worshipped, so he prayed and worshipped, too — as babies do. Before he was old enough to walk, the life of faith and worship were familiar to him: the music of the Psalter, the chiming of the bells, the fragrance of the incense, the glimmer of the candles, the chanting of the prayers, the sprinkling of the holy water, the gaze of the icons, [and] the taste of the Eucharist.” [11] This liturgical environment became deeply formative to the young Athanasius: “It is clear from the historical data that Athanasius was quite familiar since a young age with the liturgical prayers of the Church. For instance, a famous story recorded about him by several early Christian historians tells that one day, Pope Alexander spotted young Athanasius playing with his friends by the seashore in Alexandria. As he watched them play, he recognized that they were acting out the liturgy of baptism, and so when he had called them over and investigated their play, he discovered that Athanasius, who fulfilled the role of the bishop in the act, conducted the rite precisely and with great enthusiasm and reverence.” [12] Through a liturgically-integrated formation, paired with a living discipleship to his family, Alexander, Antony, and others, Athanasius grew up into the pillar of Orthodoxy we know and are greatly indebted to today.  While the importance of liturgy to faith formation cannot be understated, pastoral philosophies lead to a variety of approaches to liturgical participation with regard to children. These must be considered thoughtfully, if we hope through them to deliver the life of Faith to our children. As the great liturgical scholar, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, observed:  “Whether we want it or not, we are challenged today with the tremendously difficult task of rethinking Church tradition as a whole, of applying it in a situation radically different from that of the past. It will take more than one generation to solve this problem, but we must at least face it and also become aware of its meaning.” [13] The Cognitive Approach For some, the Divine Liturgy is approached from a cognitive, or intellectualistic, perspective. This position argues that the efficacy of the liturgical service hinges upon the worshippers’ mental comprehension of the liturgy and its prayers, readings, and rites. If young children and infants are incapable of understanding the liturgy, it follows that these should not participate in the liturgy. In a disheartening article, Roman Catholic priest Fr. Michael White writes: “There is something in Catholic Church culture that insists kids belong in the sanctuary for Mass. I must say I don’t totally understand it, but it is definitely a Catholic thing. Part of the thinking is that sheer exposure to the service imbues them with grace and other good things in some kind of effortless and mindless sort of way. But if they can’t understand the readings and they cannot take Communion, it is unclear what they are ‘receiving’ Sacramentally.” [14] Further, infants are critiqued for disrupting the services and preventing their parents and other worshipers from devoting their full attention to the service — liturgical “crimes” which justify their seclusion in isolated crying rooms or exclusion entirely from the liturgical gathering. [15] While a wise pastor would not advise parents to leave their children at home when they come for the liturgical services, he explores alternatives. Fr. White concludes: “This is why we invest in our children’s programs. We love the children of this parish so much we want them to have a great time and learn to love the Lord too, through age appropriate messages and worship. Meanwhile their parents can devote their full attention to worship.” [16] However, in elevating the intellect to a place of primary importance, a presumption is introduced in which the liturgy is understood as communicating theology and the Faith of the Church merely through information. As a result, liturgy comes to be understood as being “intended for adults.” [17] Consequently, it becomes subjected to an eisegetical approach: rather than allowing liturgy to itself nurture and instruct the faithful as it is intended and perfectly equipped to do, an imposition is introduced. For instance, “children’s liturgies” are established where young children are gathered apart from adults to attend a distilled version of the liturgical service violated with interruptive comments and educative lessons. This fission of the family enables the adults to participate in a different service without the “distractions” of their children, as the “children’s liturgy” is rendered a makeshift classroom, equipped with human instructors and students, so as to deliver an intellectually apprehensible experience of the sacrament. However, as Timothy O’Malley brilliantly responds to Fr. White’s article, “[i]f participation in the Eucharistic liturgy requires the same degree of intellectual capacity as a scholarly lecture, the fruits of the Eucharistic life are reserved only for those with the appropriate intellectual understanding.” [18] While understanding certainly comprises an important component to benefiting from the liturgy, “when one reduces the liturgical act to ‘understanding,’ then there is an erasure of the contemplative, aesthetic, and thus embodied formation that is integral to a worshipful existence.” [19] Beholding  is as integral as comprehending  the liturgy. This is especially relevant for infants and young children. [20] In a fascinating study, Mark Johnson reveals how the human person generates meaning through embodied movement, even before self-consciousness has fully developed: “[Babies and children] must learn to understand what is happening to them — what they are experiencing and what they are doing…We thus grow into a meaningful world by learning how to ‘take the measure’ of our ongoing, flowing, continuous experience. We grow into the ability to experience meaning, and we grow into shared, interpersonal meanings and experiences.” [21] Without immersion into the worshipping community, children are deprived of its formative experience. In returning to Wilken’s opening article, “before we can become doers we first must be spectators.” [22] This underlies the destructive dangers of dividing the worshipping community, especially by age. [23] Separated from their parents, children are robbed of the opportunity to observe and imitate them, and the natural progression of their growth from babes in arms to reverent adults is thereby stunted. While children may not be able to comprehend the sermon and other components of the liturgy, they are “discovering in the act of Eucharistic worship according to [their] capacity that this act really matters…They are learning the very meaning of what it means to be a liturgical creature even as they sleep in their mother’s or father’s arms during the Eucharistic liturgy.” [24] Hand-in-hand with their children, parents and adults likewise cultivate for themselves an atmosphere of edification, being invited to return again to the act of beholding  liturgy. O’Malley beautifully shares: “My toddler daughter does get bored at Mass. And my act of worship is not to whisk her away to some room where she can encounter God without me. Instead, it is to perform an act of worship where I slowly take her around the church…She is learning a worshipful mode of existence not through speech, not through some alternative liturgy appropriate to her toddlerhood. And as she learns, so do I. I learn once more to delight in genuflecting, in chanting, in singing, in beholding.” [25] As beholders of liturgy, children require the stimulation of all their senses. The liturgy itself facilitates the satisfaction of this need: the smell of the incense, the gaze of the iconography, the beauty of the architecture, and the symphony of the hymns and prayers altogether  deliver and make possible the transformative experience of the liturgy for the entire worshipping community — children and adults alike.  Therefore, as Fr. Schmemann asserts: “[T]he first duty of parents and educators is to ‘Let the children come…and do not hinder them’ (Matt. 19:14) from attending Church. It is in church that children must hear the word ‘God’ for the first time. In a classroom it is difficult to understand, it remains abstract; but in church it is ‘in its own element.’ In our childhood we have the capacity to understand, not intellectually, but with our whole being, that there is no greater joy on earth than to be in church, to participate in church services, to breathe the fragrance of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is ‘joy and peace in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom. 14:17).” [26] This consideration uncovers a different approach to the involvement of children in the liturgical setting. The Sensory Approach While some approach the liturgy from a perspective of cognitive primacy, others prefer a sensory approach. Proponents of this position maintain that by involving children in the liturgical service directly, such as through the ranks of Chanter [27] and Reader, this participation will correlate to their edification and their liturgical responsibilities will root them within the ecclesial community. This approach, however, falls short on various fronts.  At the ecclesial level, the sensory-driven approach is not without infringement. The bestowal of ecclesial ranks upon children carries no Scriptural foundation, and in fact violates the teaching of the Scriptures regarding ordination. Ordination into the ranks of the Church was exclusively for the sake of the benefit of the service: the ranks were not means of establishing personal edification. The seven deacons selected by the Apostles in Acts 6 were ordained for the sake of the community, and not necessarily for their own upbuilding. [28] The servant is expected, in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, to pour himself out for the sake of those whom he serves. [29] For this reason, the criteria for election and ordination were exacting. In his advice to his disciple Timothy, the apostle Paul writes: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands;” [30] “Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for gain; they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then if they prove themselves blameless let them serve as deacons.” [31] The ecclesial ranks, being central to the administration of the liturgical services, impart a grave accountability to God which requires understanding, a blameless manner of life, a wealth of spiritual experience, a certain mastery of the Church’s hymnology and ritual orders, and an ability to read and rightly interpret the Church’s liturgical texts and Scriptural readings. Thus, at the personal level, the ordination of children fails to account for sound human development and age-appropriate capabilities. People learn developmentally and “differently at different ages; they learn more efficiently, effectively, and meaningfully as they mature, because all learning is relational and contextual.” [32] The Lord Jesus Christ, being Himself the creator of man, understood and illustrated a proper approach to social ministry that takes into account such developmental considerations. In her book Our Church and Our Children , Sophie Koulomzin remarks: “Another aspect of the method of teaching of Jesus Christ is that He approaches each person at that person’s own particular level of development.” [33] The ordination of children into the ranks of the Church constitutes a failure to recognize their learning stages and abilities. It prematurely places upon them significant responsibilities which they are unable to adequately fulfill. Before infants can receive solid foods, they are nurtured and receive all that is necessary for their growth through their mother’s milk; circumventing this stage of their growth and feeding them with solid, nutrient-rich foods would place the infant at risk of death. Similarly, the premature conferral of ecclesial responsibility to children without their adequate preparation and before they are appropriately nurtured and formed to effectively fulfill the duties proper to the ranks to which they are ordained directly accrues to their detriment. Meanwhile, the sensory approach engenders interpersonal conflicts within the worshipping community, particularly by inventing an occasion for stumbling for those upon whom the Church does not confer her ecclesial orders. For instance, the adolescent girl who does not yet understand the different gender-designated entrustments given to both men and women in God’s design for the human and in His arrangement for the Church will certainly feel unfairly treated when she finds her infant brother struggling at the service of the altar — a service which, due to her more advanced age, experience, and understanding, apart from her gender, she would be entirely justified in believing herself more adequately prepared to fulfill. In response, some seek to remedy this artificial contention through advocating for the conferral of new ecclesial ranks and the invention of orders for female chanters to vest and participate in novel ways in the administration of the liturgical service. [34] These, however, only give rise to further divisions and distinctions within the communal body, such as by relegating the service of chanting only to the vested choruses, thereby relegating the rest of the assembled believers to the position of spectators, whereas the liturgical hymns and congregational responses are not the responsibility or purview of a select few, but of all the faithful together, so that, as St. Ignatius of Antioch says, “with one voice and one mind, taking the key-note of God, you may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, and He may hear you and recognize you, in your good works, as members of His Son.” [35] These interpersonal hindrances likewise uncover further issues related to the ordination of children. At the communal level, the direct involvement of children in administering the liturgical service creates barriers to offering a well-ordered and aesthetically pleasing prayer, since children are neither capable nor trained to deliver the deeply profound and transformative beauty of the liturgical experience in its requisite fullness. “The liturgy is art, translated into terms of life,” writes Romano Guardini. [36] The aesthetic dimensions of the liturgical services are important: the content and form of the liturgy cannot be divorced of each other. Beauty befits the house of God. As the Psalmist proclaims: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord , and to inquire in His temple.” [37] Liturgy “should be celebrated with the utmost perfection,” [38] because “liturgical celebration ideally should provide access to an experience of beauty, an encounter with beauty and an opportunity to become co-creators of beauty in God’s presence.” [39] Clare Johnson further elaborates: “What is less-than-beautiful in the manner of celebrating the liturgy thus must be avoided at all costs. If what is at stake is the faith-life of believers, which poor celebrations risk weakening or destroying, then good celebrations, beautiful celebrations, are vital because the encounter with Christ’s beauty in the liturgy is that which changes us/opens us up to desire the promotion of what we have experienced: exposure to God’s beauty prompts us both to promote and emulate that beauty beyond the realm of the liturgical.” [40] Through the aesthetic components of liturgy, worshippers are granted to enter into the essential act of beholding liturgy, and through it, to encounter most perfectly — that is, with all of their faculties — the beauty and presence of God. Through liturgical beauty, then, “the Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized.” [41] Dom Gérard Calvet expounds: “…one enters the Church by two doors: the door of the intelligence and the door of beauty…[The beauty of the liturgy] deserves to be called the splendour of the truth . It opens to the small and the great alike the treasures of its magnificence: the beauty of psalmody, sacred chants and texts, candles, harmony of movement and dignity of bearing. With sovereign art the liturgy exercises a truly seductive influence on souls, whom it touches directly, even before the spirit perceives its influence.” [42] The poorly administered service therefore fails to communicate this profound depth and beauty of the Church’s life. [43] Accordingly, children struggle to enter into the act of beholding, for either the beauty which they ought to behold is masked behind cacophony or their allocated responsibilities in the administration and celebration of the services overburden them, discourage them, and take them away from the act of beholding altogether, with the adults also themselves consequently experiencing often insurmountable barriers to both beholding and comprehending liturgy. An Integrated Approach The integration of both the experiential and intellectual components is therefore essential to the work of liturgy. Shawn Tribe, the founder of the Liturgical Arts Journal , explains: “That our experiences, actions and other external dimensions of life generally have a profound influence upon us, forming us, moving us and so forth, is really a matter of common sense and experience. We are creatures founded in both of these aspects and we live and respond accordingly. What is true of life in general is also true of the liturgical and ecclesiastical life.” [44] When each is considered in isolation or as more important than the other, an imbalance is introduced. A haphazardly-implemented model of pastoral care, as it pertains to the liturgical experience, therefore carries the potential of disturbing and distorting the efficacious work of the liturgy. The administration of the Church’s liturgical services must be carefully and thoughtfully assessed, especially as the believers of every generation are guarantors of the Church’s liturgical tradition. The Church has safeguarded and delivered to the believers a holistic model of formation, attending to both their physical and metaphysical needs. Thus, the apostle Paul, providing a paradigm for ministers, prays: “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [45] At the heart of this work of nurturing and raising healthy members of the Body of Christ is the life of liturgy, and “indeed, in a very real sense liturgy is not only at the heart of the Church’s life; liturgy is the Church’s life.” [46] From the altar, every other aspect of the Church’s life and service flows. [47] Fr. Schmemann therefore asserts: “What then should Christian education be, if not the introduction into this life of the Church, an unfolding of its meaning, its contents and its purpose? And how can it introduce anyone into this life, if not by participation in the liturgical services on the one hand, and their explanation on the other hand? ‘O taste and see how good is the Lord’: first taste, then see — i.e. understand. The method of liturgical catechesis is truly the Orthodox method of religious education because it proceeds from the Church and because the Church is its goal.” [48] Similarly, Boojamra notes: “Roots in the Church can be built only by a step-by-step participation in the life of the Church as well as by an increasing understanding of what the Church is.” [49] Accordingly, the pastoral model which excludes children from the liturgical gathering deprives them of the intimate experience of the Church’s life. The creation of special liturgies for children likewise inflicts damage upon their sound formation, separating them from parents and equating the act of worship with an academic endeavor. What is needed, then, is to administer the liturgical service with careful attention to both its intellectual and contemplative details. As important as the sermon and theological exposition of the day’s Scriptural readings is the ritual itself, as well as the hymnology, iconography, architecture, and every other physical component of the ecclesial experience. By fostering an atmosphere of aesthetic and intellectual beauty together, all the faithful, each according to their unique capabilities, gifts, personality, and character, are enabled to fully enjoy and benefit from the divine gift which God has freely offered to man in and through liturgy. Within such an atmosphere, we must allow children to be  children, and as their caregivers, nourish them by the presence of the Lord, who said: “Let the children come to Me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” [50] — [1] Robert Louis Wilken, “The Lives of the Saints and the Pursuit of Virtue,” First Things  (December 1990) [2] Ibid. [3] See  Genesis 3:8 [4] See  Genesis 3:23-24 [5] See  The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil: The Anaphora [6] See e.g. , 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 [7] See e.g. , Deuteronomy 4 [8] Robert Louis Wilken, “Hand On What You Have Received,” First Things  (June 2014) [9] John Boojamra, Foundations for Christian Education , 21-22 [10] Ibid ., 30-31 [11] Michael E. Molloy, Champion of Truth: The Life of Saint Athanasius , 3 [12] Anthony A. Doss, “Athanasius, Arianism, and the Council of Nicaea — Part One: The Makings and Character of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria,” Doss Press  (May 2025) [13] Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience , 14 [14] Fr. Michael White, “Why We Don’t Encourage (little) Kids In Church,” Make Church Matter  (January 2019) [15] Ibid. [16] Ibid. [17] Ibid. [18] Timothy O’Malley, “The Liturgy Is for (Little) Kids,” Church Life Journal  (January 2019) [19] Ibid . [20] “We do not have special children’s services, because we realize that our experience of the services of the Church is not merely rational. Even if a child cannot yet understand all that is happening, he can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch for himself, and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit. We must not deprive our children of this experience; we must prepare them to appreciate it, to look forward to it, and to participate in it by prayer and in as many other ways as possible” (Sister Magdalen, Children in the Church Today: An Orthodox Perspective , 59). [21] Mark Johnson, The Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics of Human Understanding , 35 [22] Robert Louis Wilken, “The Lives of the Saints and the Pursuit of Virtue,” First Things  (December 1990) [23] The division of the ecclesial community by any means is addressed in the second century by Ignatius of Antioch, who wrote to the Philadelphians: “Be zealous, then, in the observance of one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and one chalice that brings union in His blood. There is one altar, as there is one bishop with the priests and deacons, who are my fellow workers. And so, whatever you do, let it be done in the name of God” (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians  § 4).  [24] Timothy O’Malley, “The Liturgy Is for (Little) Kids,” Church Life Journal  (January 2019) [25] Ibid. [26] Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience , 16 [27] For a helpful discussion regarding the role and order of the Chanter, see  Daniel N. Girgis, “On the Order of Chanter in the Coptic Tradition,” Living Tradition — Daniel Girgis’ Blog (November 2025). [28] See  Acts 6:1-6 [29] See  Hegumen Antonios Ragheb, Ten Commandments For Sunday School Servants , 8-9 [30] 1 Timothy 5:22 [31] 1 Timothy 3:8-10 [32] John Boojamra, Foundations for Christian Education , 10 [33] Sophie Koulomzin, Our Church and Our Children , 25 [34] The subject of deaconesses remains outside the purview of this paper. However, for a nuanced historical presentation regarding deaconesses, see  Aimé Georges Martimort, Deaconesses: An Historical Study . In it, Martimort pertinently writes: “…the Byzantine tradition, to the extent that it was a living tradition, did not assign any liturgical role to deaconesses at all, as we have had occasion to verify” (Aimé Georges Martimort, Deaconesses: An Historical Study , 246). He concludes: “For the fact is that the ancient institution of deaconesses, even in its own time, was encumbered with not a few ambiguities, as we have seen. In my opinion, if the restoration of the institution of deaconesses were indeed to be sought after so many centuries, such a restoration itself could only be fraught with ambiguity. The real importance and efficaciousness of the role of women in the Church has always been vividly perceived in the consciousness of the hierarchy and of the faithful as much more broad than the historical role that deaconesses in fact played. And perhaps a proposal based on an ‘archaeological’ institution might even obscure the fact that the call to serve the Church is urgently addressed today to all  women, especially in the area of the transmission of Faith and works of charity” ( Ibid. , 250). [35] Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians  § 4. Importantly, this does not negate the specific role of the Chanter in preserving, delivering, and leading the congregation in the responses, praises, and hymns of the Church, according to their respective structures. [36] Romano Guardini, The Spirit of the Liturgy , 73 [37] Psalm 27:4; As it relates to our earlier point, before  the Psalmist inquires, he beholds. [38] See  Inter Oecumenici, Instruction on Implementing the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy  § 13 [39] Clare V. Johnson, “Portals to Transcendence,” Maxwell E. Johnson, Timothy O’Malley, and Demetrio S. Yocum, At the Heart of the Liturgy: Conversations with Nathan D. Mitchell’s ‘Amen Corners,’ 1991-2012 , 94 [40] Ibid ., 96-97 [41] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium § 24 [42] Dom Gérard Calvet OSB, Four Benefits of the Liturgy , 19-20 [43] “Adults who sing, or read, or serve, or share in the prayer of the congregation, must take care to do their part in a manner worthy of God, so as to inspire those present, and especially so as not to put off the children and others present who are not committed church members” (Sister Magdalen, Children in the Church Today: An Orthodox Perspective , 62). [44] Shawn Tribe, “The Importance of Liturgical Beauty,” Liturgical Arts Journal (March 2018) [45] 1 Thessalonians 5:23 [46] Robert F. Taft, “The Liturgy in the Life of the Church,” Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Volume 40 (1999) Nos. 104 , 188 [47] “In the Orthodox experience, Christian catechesis is comprehensible and truly possible only within the context of worship, i.e., within the living experience and expression of the faith. Worship encompasses the whole of Christian life, for worship is ‘liturgy’ in the widest possible sense, meaning both liturgical celebration in the gathered community and witness and service to Christ in the world” (Constance J. Tarasar, “The Orthodox Experience,” John H. Westerhoff III and O.C. Edwards Jr. (ed.), A Faithful Church: Issues in the History of Catechesis , 236). [48] Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience , 13 [49] John Boojamra, Foundations for Christian Education , 21 [50] Matthew 19:14 — Cover Art: Adam van Noort, Christ Among Children (c. 16th/17th century).

“[Y]ou see in yourself word and understanding, an imitation of the very Mind and Word. Again, God is love…the Fashioner of our nature has made this to be our feature too.” —  St. Gregory of Nyssa,  On the Making of Man 5.2 These words of St. Gregory wonderfully and concisely capture the human condition as being made in the Image and Likeness of God. Often, despite striving to reach the measure of God’s love and to cultivate pure, selfless hearts in accordance with His example, we find ourselves unable to love as He loves, and may even realize that we can go so far as to hurt those whom we love the most. “Why is this the case,” we may wonder. In his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul provides an insightful response: “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [1] As a result of sin and the corruption which it caused to human nature, humanity is unable to offer a perfect love apart from God who is Himself love. In its very essence, sin — the corruption that marred God’s “very good” [2]  creation – is separation . [3]  After Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the fruit of the tree, the results of their sin were realized: they perceived their nakedness and their differences, and suddenly, the unity and harmony which they previously enjoyed was replaced with separation both from one another, and, as they would quickly discover, from God as well. [4]  In their response to God, the mark of selfishness likewise becomes evident: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” [5]  Indeed, selfishness and self-interest become those characteristics which divide and separate us from others, and, ultimately, from God. I. The Body of Christ: “As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” [6] In contrast with the separation and division which entered into the human condition through sin is the oneness of the Body of the sinless One — the Church. St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, exhorts them towards unity: “[b]ut God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” [7] A failure to cultivate this oneness on the part of the believers, which requires the selfless carrying of one another’s burdens and sufferings, keeps the walls of separation strong. St. Basil the Great echoes this teaching of St. Paul, explaining that it is selfishness that leads to the destruction of community and the loss of true love; to seek one’s own advantage is to deny the command to love one another as Christ has loved us. [8] Self-interest, as St. Basil reveals, becomes the foundation of failure within relations. For instance, a spouse who demands to be treated according to their own “love language” and disregards that of their partner practices an imperfect, selfish love; likewise, a child who expresses frustration in their parents’ failure to understand them while denying them the opportunity to understand them, or even a parent who exerts their own preferences on their child without attempting to understand their child and their differences from them, similarly practice an imperfect love. The expectations of what another “should do” in a relationship, or what one “deserves” from a relationship, ought not be divorced from the kind of love which God both instructs us to establish and exemplifies in His relation with us. Regarding selfish love and its faults, the Scriptures speak at length. In the Song of Songs, we observe the separation that results from self-interested expectations and selfishness. There, King Solomon tells of the Shulamite’s troubled night which begins when he seeks her and receives no answer. Upon hearing his voice, the Shulamite says: “I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, ‘Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.’ I have taken off my robe; how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how can I defile them? My beloved put his hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for him. I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, My fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock. I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil away from me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick!” [9] While the Shulamite hears her beloved’s voice and is overjoyed at the opportunity to see him, her self-concern delays her and causes her to just miss her bridegroom who was waiting for her at the door. Her self-awareness and hesitancy in putting her robe back on and defiling her feet again to open the door for her bridegroom directly cause her to miss him — he leaves before she reaches him. Suddenly, what was once a door separating them became much more, and the Shulamite found herself struck, wounded, and lovesick for her beloved who was just behind the door waiting for her. [10]  Augustine writes of selfishness in love, that “two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; and the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.” [11] Despite the presence of deep love, one’s self-centered orientation causes harm both to himself and to those whom he strives to love, sometimes even unknowingly and alongside good intentions. This inclination and weakness thus make something as simple (though crucial to the spiritual life) as love feel almost impossible. St. Paul describes this spiritual struggle, stating: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” [12] It is then evident that absent God’s hand and guidance, humanity alone cannot truly love perfectly. Its love remains imperfect because humanity fell from the Image after which it was created — that of Him who is Himself perfect love. The effects of this selfish love are innumerable, as discussed, and appear most clearly in one’s blindness to the needs of others in preference to their own desires. As St. Basil writes “[y]es, while the glitter of gold so allures you, you fail to notice how great are the groans of the needy that follow you wherever you go.” [13] The route to true, Christ-like, holy love is kenosis , or self-emptying. [14] From the life of His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI, and most prominently his self-denial, we may extrapolate a framework and blueprint for the self-emptying love that Christ models for us and towards which He exhorts us. We are told by Fr. Daniel Fanous in his biographical work on Pope Kyrillos VI that “Kyrillos was utterly convinced that…unity must in a very real sense be kenotic, that is, self-emptying . [He believed that] [e]ach competing voice of reform…must, without compromise, ‘disappear’ that Christ might appear and heal his despondent Church.” [15] It is His Holiness’ conscious emptying of his own desires, thoughts, and preferences that laid the groundwork for the positive Church reforms of his papacy. What allowed His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI to lead the Church towards edification and flourishing was this deep faith and conviction that God, and not himself or any man, is the beneficent Pantocrator  who cares and provides for His Bride, the Church. Modeling ourselves after this saint’s example requires us to acknowledge and recognize Christ’s hand in our lives. Despite our weaknesses and shortcomings, He assures us, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” [16] It is He who helps carry the crosses of His children each day, and it is likewise He who ultimately died on the Cross for them. This sacrificial, kenotic act is precisely what He exhorts His children to emulate and exemplify in their dealings with each person. In order to take up this journey of conformity to Christ, and of walking with Him towards perfection, we must first discern the condition of imperfect love. St. Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” [17] By looking to Him who is Love, we can see most clearly the perfect love which beckons us to walk according to His steps. This perspective enables us to trust in His love and care for those whom we seek to love. Augustine, in his Expositions on the Psalms , instructs us to entrust those whom we love — and even our enemies — to Him, for His love is perfect. [18] In submitting ourselves to Him, we fulfill the advice of the Apostle Peter, “casting all [our] cares upon Him,” including also those whom we love, and their wellbeing, “for He cares for [us].” [19] This is the ultimate and perfect act of love — giving our whole being to Him who loves us most perfectly, even to the point of death on our behalf. [20] II. Christ: Meeting our Bridegroom As Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden as a result of their sin, God was already working the ultimate plan of their restoration to and reunification with Him. While humanity would experience many highs and lows in its journey to its Beloved, He patiently watched, guided, and prepared His bride — the Church, His chosen People — in anticipation of the wedding feast ahead. Much like the Shulamite bride on her troubled night, humanity’s selfish and self-centered tendencies often led it to miss its Bridegroom, even when He was to be found just behind the door. While Christ “stand[s] at the door and knock[s]” [21] we may frequently find ourselves still occupied with putting on our robes or worried about soiling our feet. In contrast, the Lord’s selfless love leads Him to the road to Golgotha, to His betrothal to His Church, not with the finest of robes, but rather with a striped back and crown of thorns. Through this dichotomy, human love is assuredly differentiated from divine love. Many fathers of the Church therefore caution against this self-seeking approach to one’s relationship with God. For example, St. Basil writes: “[A] beginning is made by detaching oneself from all external goods: property, vainglory, life in society, [and] useless desires, after the example of the Lord’s holy disciples. James and John left their father Zebedee and the very boat upon which their whole livelihood depended. Matthew left his counting house and followed the Lord, not merely leaving behind the profits of his occupation but also paying no attention to the dangers which were sure to befall both himself and his family at the hands of the magistrates because he had left the tax accounts unfinished. To Paul, finally, the whole world was crucified, and he to the world.” [22] By cultivating this selfless love for God and all His creation, we come to learn the truth of the Lord’s saying, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light,” [23] for when one loves God for Who He is, and not merely on account of the blessings He provides, he realizes the profound joy and gladness that ensue from walking with the Lord. The Scriptures warn against seeking Christ merely for material purposes. When the Lord was sought by the multitudes after they were miraculously fed by Him, He emphasizes this perspective to them: “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” [24] Correcting their improper approach, He continues: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” [25] Apart from the Lord’s direct teaching in the Gospels, the Old Testament likewise carries this message. In the experience of Job, it is evident that if Job’s love for God was founded in the material wealth and many blessings he enjoyed, he would have surely turned away from Him when those things were abruptly taken from him in his trial by the devil. Rather, Job’s love for God Himself allowed him to remain steadfast and faithful, even when his own wife and close friends goaded him to “curse God and die.” [26] The pursuit of ease and personal gain in this life prevents one from enjoying the presence of God and blinds his eyes from seeing Christ because it rather fixes his attention on himself. Thus, St. Augustine plainly reflects: “he loves You too little who loves anything with You, which he loves not for You.” [27] St. John Chrysostom similarly exhorts his hearers: “He came to do away with the old things, to call us to a greater country. Therefore He does all, to deliver us from things unnecessary, and from our affection for the earth. For this cause He mentioned the heathens also, saying that the Gentiles seek after these things; they whose whole labor is for the present life, who have no regard for the things to come, nor any thought of Heaven. But to you not these present are chief things, but other than these. For we were not born for this end, that we should eat and drink and be clothed, but that we might please God, and attain unto the good things to come. Therefore as things here are secondary in our labor, so also in our prayers let them be secondary.” [28] By seeking God for His own sake, we receive the means by which to obtain perfect love. When one finds God, he finds love, for God is just that — love . It is only with and through God that we can learn to love perfectly. For this reason, St. Macarius the Great writes that “[t]he lamp is always burning and shining, but when it is specially trimmed, it kindles up with intoxication of the love of God; and then again by God’s dispensation it gives in, and though the light is always there, it is comparatively dull.” [29] Indeed, as the Scriptures reveal: “without Me you can do nothing,” [30] and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” [31] From the spiritual journey of the Apostle Peter, this worldview comes to life. The Gospels do not shy away from displaying the shortcomings of even the closest disciples of Christ, for the edification of His followers thereafter. Shortly before the Pascha of our Lord, St. Peter exclaims, “[e]ven if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” [32] When Christ tells him that he will deny Him, he responds emphatically, “[e]ven if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” [33] Shortly thereafter, as the rooster crows, we find St. Peter struck deeply by Christ’s words to him and weeping bitterly. [34] It is only after the Resurrection of Christ that St. Peter is shown how to love Him. Christ reveals to him the sacrificial nature of perfect love, calling him to feed His lambs, tend His sheep, and feed His sheep. [35] The love which the Lord embodies, teaches, and shows His disciples is palpably self-emptying. It is centered around serving others: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” [36] In its foundation, the quintessential ingredient for knowing and experiencing this love is therefore service   — looking away from one’s personal gain for the sake of others. While venturing into this love is as treading into uncharted waters, when we fix our gaze on Him who is Himself love, who is able not only to walk on water, but also to enable St. Peter to do the same, we find ourselves capable of walking confidently towards Him. [37] And like St. Peter, only when we begin to fear for ourselves and our own good, happiness, and gain do we consequently find ourselves sinking quickly. [38] In spite of our own shortcomings, God is faithful to extend His hand and pull us out of the depths and into His secure, nurturing, and loving embrace. [39] St. Macarius the Great neatly summarizes this teaching, writing that “faithful souls receive that divine and heavenly fire…and that fire forms a heavenly image upon their humanity.” [40] By seeking to be reconciled once again to the Image of God after which we were created, through the grace of God, we are able to perfect our otherwise imperfect love, for “we love Him because He first loved us.” [41] — [1] Romans 3:23 NKJV (Hereinafter, all Scriptural references are taken from the New King James Version). [2]  See Genesis 1:31. [3] “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). [4] "For if sin sunders and dissevers man from God, surely righteousness will be a bond of union, and will somehow set us by the side of God Himself, with nothing to part us." (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John ); See generally Genesis. [5] Genesis 3:12. [6] 1 Corinthians 12:20. [7] 1 Corinthians 12: 24-26. [8]  See generally St. Basil of Caesarea, On Social Justice , Homily 2, To the Rich . [9] Song of Songs 5:2-8. [10] It is pertinent to note that this does not only apply to human relationships, but also one’s relationship with God. As the Song of Songs is a representation of Christ’s love of His Church, one cannot discuss this Scriptural book without noting that it is this same selfishness that separates us from Christ, even when He knocks at the door. [11] St. Augustine, City of God, Book XIV, Chapter 13 . [12] Romans 7:15-20. [13]  See C. Paul Schroeder, On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great , 64   (SVS Press, 2009). [14]  See Philippians 2:5-7. [15] Fr. Daniel Fanous, A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI: Life and Legacy , 226. [16] 2 Corinthians 12:9. [17] Ephesians 5:1-2. [18]  See Augustine,  Expositions on the Psalms  (Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, vol. 8, pg. 210). [19] 1 Peter 5:7. [20] It would be regretful to not note that in Christ’s unceasing and immense mercy, even our mere acknowledgement that we have hurt those we love, and our repentance and will to place them into His perfect hands despite what it may mean for us, not only results in what is best for them but also provides us immense spiritual blessing. [21]  See Revelation 3:20. [22] St. Basil of Caesarea, Long Rules  8. [23] Matthew 11:30. [24] John 6:26. [25] John 6:27. [26] Job 2:9; see generally Job. [27] St. Augustine, Confessions, X.29. [28] St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew 22.4. [29] Macarius, Homily 8.2 (A.J. Mason, The Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , 66). [30] John 15:5. [31] Philippians 4:13. [32] Matthew 26:33. [33] Matthew 26:35. [34] Matthew 26:75. [35] John 21:15-17. [36] Mark 10:45. [37] Matthew 14. [38]  Ibid. [39]  Ibid. [40] Macarius , Homily 11.2 (Mason, 80). [41] 1 John 4:19. — Hilana Said is a Coptic Orthodox Christian and a licensed attorney. She graduated from Albany Law School in 2023. Hilana developed a love for academic reading and writing during her time on the Executive Board of the Albany Law Review. Her deep faith and Coptic Orthodox heritage play an integral role in her personal and professional life and serve as constant inspiration for her academic pursuits. Cover Image by Johann Sadeler. DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

In commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the departure of Fr. Moussa El-Gohary, hegumen of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, Natick, Massachusetts USA, the following is a translation of a homily on the Fourth Sunday of Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ, delivered on October 8, 2000 by Fr. Moussa El-Gohary. May his prayers be with us. —  [In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit], one God, Amen. May His grace, mercy, and blessings be upon us, now and forever. Amen.  Our teacher, Luke the Evangelist, in chapter 7, recites for us this event, or occasion — the Lord Jesus Christ’s encounter with a sinful soul in the house of Simon the Pharisee.  [] God is concerned about the state of our homes, what it is like. He likes to enter our houses. We understand that God is in heaven and we are on earth, and the relationship between us and Him is only letters going, petitions rising to heaven and answers descending. But the truth is that God is quite concerned and ready to visit our homes. He loves to be present in our homes.  He knocks at the door of the house, saying, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If no one invites me in, I will not enter.” [1] He accepts the invitation of every person, regardless of his state, and loves to enter any home without prior arrangements or preparation or readying or decor or appearances.  The one who pages through the Scriptures finds that the Lord Jesus Christ loved to enter the homes. Most recently, last week’s reading, where it says: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house” [Luke 19:5]. Perhaps this may be absent from our minds — that while we establish the home or arrange the home or tidy the home, we do not call to mind that Jesus may enter the home, may live with us, may stay with us, may come visit us.  Today, a Pharisee — irrespective of, for instance, the others, Zacchaeus, He knew that Zacchaeus would repent and become a disciple, or [] Matthew would be a saint or would be a servant — but today, a Pharisee, a fanatic Jew, said to Him “would you come over, Teacher?” And He said “I will come.” Because He loves to enter the homes and to reside with us in our homes.  And the evidence for this is, when He sent His apostles and disciples, He said to them: “whatever house you enter” — meaning every house — “every house you enter, say peace, and sit, eat and drink, give them peace, and bless that place with My name.” He advised the disciples to go to the homes. And not only this — He told them to pray and ask peace for them. And the confirmation that there will be an encounter between ourselves and the Lord Jesus is not only with the entrance of the disciples, not only with our opening of our hearts, [but] because there dwells the son of peace. “If the son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon it” [Luke 10:6]. So then if Jesus resides in the home, the disciples go to visit [it] but Christ also resides in the home.  And He said to them “Lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the ages” [Matthew 28:20]. Whatever the disciples did, the Church does also. Whenever the servant of the Church enters a home, he proclaims the name of the Lord Jesus such that he opens the door for Christ to enter with him, and peace rests in that home.  In summary, the Lord has a share in our homes. How wonderful is the home when it is arranged, and the rooms are arranged, and we rejoice greatly that there are people who have furniture made and renovate the rooms, and go from a cramped home to a spacious home, or go from an apartment to a house []. It is beautiful that a person desires to elevate [his circumstances] and expand and reside in a comfortable home, because his whole life is lived in the home. And he is concerned that he has a bedroom for the boys, and a bedroom for the girls, and a master bedroom, and a guest room or two rooms, or anything else, as he wills, and a large table and a small table — as much as God gives him, many things, of course, and a reception [room] and many things. But where does the Lord lay His head in this house? Did it not concern us, as we were arranging and preparing our homes, where the Lord would lay His head in this house? Is there a place for the Lord in this house? Is He the unseen guest in every house? Is He the One seated with us at the table, when we eat and when we drink? And is He suitable for every conversation — while we speak, do we know that Jesus is there?  Today, many high scientific institutions and bodies are undertaking the study of new disciplines in preserving the family entity, offering family counseling, Christian family counseling, and many things — social workers — to examine the disputes in the home. The conflict between children and parents, and the conflict between spouses, and the conflict between the children, and the conflict between the family and its neighbors and relatives. Because there is not found a place for Christ in that home.  If the person is raised in a Christian home knowing that the Lord has a place, [] before his eye at all times, and in his inner feeling sensing that the Lord is present with us, our manner of conduct and behavior and thinking and life and purpose in this life will change.  When the person sits to eat, and if a good, dignified guest is there, he would behave differently than he would if no one was with him. Or at least we might say that he would select the sorts of foods that befit the honor of the guest. He may say, “this guest does not like,” for instance, “these things, and likes these things.” Sometimes, we ask, when we have bishops [visiting], [whether] one bishop eats fish and one bishop eats meat [].  But when Christ comes to the home, what does He eat? He eats all things. But He does not eat unrighteous mammon. He drinks all things. But He does not drink alcohol.  Is the food in our home [lawful], and is the livelihood in it [lawful]? Does our home not have the impermissible things which He forbade by His blessed voice in the Bible?  He loves to walk through the home and to bless every home. Can He enter a home and [find us] telling him: “no, no, no, do not enter this home because it is unkempt. This room is cluttered.” Why! “All things are mine, and I am yours and you are mine. Why would you close a door? Leave the door open.” “No, but there are things we do not want You to see.”  God is concerned for our homes. Let us revisit the readiness of our homes, for He is the beloved guest who delights to always enter our home.  Simply, once a person prays, the Holy Spirit is present in the prayer and the Lord Jesus Christ comes and is found in the place, so He is present in the home. But He is saddened when He is present in a home that has enmity, judgment, evil, hostility, hatred, warfare, [and] selfishness. He enters the home, but all of those in the home do not see the Lord Jesus Christ or sense Him.  An example of this: this Pharisee invited the Lord Jesus to the home, and the Lord came and accepted this invitation and responded. But his eyes were not on Christ. Sadly. He was preoccupied with other things — the table, the food and drink, the showiness, the guests. And he wanted to see what compliments and thanks and praise and appreciation Christ would give him. But he did not spiritually enjoy the presence of Christ or His attendance. And in his emptiness, his eye began to wander left and right, so that it met the eye of the sinful woman in his home, whom he did not invite, and he became angry: “how can this sinful woman be in the house?”  Whoever of us studies the traditions of those days knows that the Pharisees were distinguished to a great degree, meaning that even the entrance of a woman [] — the wife of the Pharisee — was not permitted. Until today, in the culture of religious Jews, a woman does not sit with men when they sit with people, and when they walk in the street, she walks behind [her husband] — the religious among them, as were these Pharisees. How much more [then] if the woman present was not invited and had a bad reputation?  And Christ was in this house — I would have loved to read in the end of this reading and see how this visit concluded, but the Gospel was silent. The reading of the Gospel concluded with verse 50, when He told her “go in peace.” But it did not mention how the Lord left this home, which He entered as a guest but where He was cast into a place of judgment and condemnation. The master judged Him. This Simon judged the Lord — “if He were truly a prophet, He would have known who this woman was. They say He can perform miracles and can know the hidden things and [so on]. And see, He is letting this woman touch Him.” When he said: “this woman who is touching Him” [Luke 7:39]. [] I would have loved to know what He said to Simon as He was leaving. Can we contemplate this? Can any of you picture the Lord Jesus, as He was leaving the house of Simon, what He said to him? Did He make rude gestures towards his face and yell, telling him “let your house remain desolate, see I am leaving the house?” I do not suppose Jesus would ever do this. I suppose, in my own weak and sinful imagination, that He would look to the face of Simon, and smile towards him, and look away from him. I suppose that He could not say “peace” to him. We say “alright, peace [to you]” to one another. Jesus cannot be a hypocrite. He cannot leave peace in that house. Peace from where? He granted the portion of peace He had in His bosom to the sinful woman, saying to her “go in peace” [Luke 7:50]. But as for this man, where would He grant peace? Where is the place of peace in the heart of this person? He cannot say “peace [to you], Simon,” because he judged the Lord and judged the woman. And he fell, while supposing himself to be religious, in the simplest principles and precepts of religion.  An eye that differs from an eye. The eye of Simon — a judgmental and cruel eye. A harsh, oppressive eye. And in the cruelty of this eye, it fiercely attacked the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and reproached the Lord. [What boldness!] How can man reproach the Lord? And you, do you not reproach our Lord? How often do we reproach the Lord for His doings, and in our ignorance and stupidity we say to our Lord: “What are You doing? Why are You doing this to me? Why? What did I do to You?” Some people say this to our Lord sometimes.  Some people accuse our Lord of being the source of evils and disasters and temptations. And some people accuse God — among us, the believers — that “our Lord does not hear me” or “does not love me” or “does not want to give me what I desire.” Many do not understand the love of God for us, and reproach and criticize Him. How many of us are those who look to one another and say “why not me? [] You gave to this person and that person [] and You gave success to this one or that one and You did this or that, and why not me, and everyone is happy but not me, and I lack this or that.” It is reproach, it is a critical eye by which we criticize the Lord Jesus Christ in His good works which He performs with us.  This is the eye of this man named Simon. [] He nitpicked the Lord from top to bottom, saying to him “are You a prophet?” and the Lord cast His gaze downward, not wanting to say to him “Yes, I am a prophet, Simon. And greater than a prophet. I am the One who sent to you the prophets and Moses the arch-prophet.” He did not speak of Himself in this manner, but He was silent.  “If this man were a prophet?” “That is alright, let us let this one slide. It concerns me, [and] I forgive. I forgive. Forgive them, for they do not know what they say.” And then he turned to the woman and said “Who is this woman,” and “what is her condition,” and “she is a sinner.” Three statements he said concerning the woman. “If He knew who this woman is, and what the condition is of this woman who touched Him, that she is a sinner.” He said to him “no. See, wrong Me and I will forgive you. But wrong your brother, judge your brother or judge your sister, I will judge you.” A difficult thing. Difficult on one side, but great on the other side.  God relinquishes His personal rights to any extent, even to the Cross. He ascended the Cross for our sake, and said “I forgive all sinners, even those who crucified Me. Even those who spat on Me and flogged Me. I forgive all, because within Me is love that wipes away every sin.” But for us to judge one another? No. This cannot be. Judgment is for the Just God and not for us to begin to judge one another and blame one another.  “For she is a sinner.”  He said to him “no, wait, Simon. I have something to say to you.” “Master, say it” [Luke 7:40]. So the Lord exposed the closed book, the secret within. He may say “did I say anything? It is in my thought, in my heart.” And here we learn that we will give an account for sinful thoughts. Lest some say “I swear, but within my heart,” or “there are things in my mind, of which I do not speak. Will He judge me for these?” Yes, see? He judges the man for these. It was confined to his mind — he was sitting there quietly and respectfully and with dignity, but [in his heart] he was saying “this woman is a sinner. I do not know what brought her here. And this man sitting there who acts as though He is a prophet, should He not pay attention?” So He says “Listen! Open your heart. I see what is in your heart. One word I say to you: you will be judged as to what is in your heart.”  What is in my heart and what is in your heart, and what is in my mind, what the people do not know, God knows, and He will judge us for it if it is evil.  He said to him: “as to prophet, leave this aside, but as to her being a sinner, come, you have placed yourself in the balance. [] See, with one word, how many trials and evils you have brought upon yourself. You continued on saying ‘she is this’ and ‘she is that,’ come now, tell Me, what about [yourself]? You did not do what she did.” And He counted for him many things — it is not the time now for me to enumerate the negative things he fell into in this judgment. But in this good work [to which Christ pointed in rebuking Simon], the sinful woman had surpassed him.  Then He gave him a lesson he could not forget. He told him: “look, my beloved Simon. Two were debtors to a man, one [owed] so much and the other so much, and they could not repay the debt” [Luke 7:41]. And He translated the story for him and led him to understand that it is a story of love. [] “You have walked into a power line.” Do you know, for instance, one who enters an area with very high voltage, and it [has a sign that] says “3,000 Kilowatt Volts,” and there is a fallen power line that lands on a car [there] and burns it? The highest voltage in the Divine love is found in the heart of God towards sinners. Let not any one of us dare interfere with this area — the area of God’s relationship with sinners.  Let us not dare judge anyone and say “she is a sinner. She is evil and wicked, I do not like her. She cannot enter my home. I do not want to speak with her because she walks in unrighteousness.” Or “I do not want to speak with him because he has an unbelieving and unchristian manner of life [].” See? You have walked into an area with the [power] wire, from which a great judgment might burst forth towards us.  Here, He told him “do not dare!” Because the love of God with all of its capabilities pours forth towards sinners, such as this woman. This man erred by interfering with this line, so he received what he received in rebuke from the Lord Jesus Christ.  The love of God is unexplainable. The love of God towards the fallen is unfathomable. And this reveals the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, what He desires when He meets a person and encounters a human soul.  There was a great joy in this house, of course. An exceedingly large feast. When the patriarch or dignitaries visit us, we spend time arranging things. When he comes to inaugurate a church or any place, we place a ribbon and he cuts the ribbon and the deacons vest and there is joy, and once the women see the patriarch enter, they ululate. What do these ululations symbolize? Joy!  Where the Lord is, there is joy. When the Lord is present, joy is present. And this joy, in its origin and foundation, is not intended to complete the picture or [for the sake of] appearances, or as a show befitting the occasion, but the joy that accompanies the presence of the Lord is the portion of the sinners coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning, as soon as He enters through the door, He says: “where are the sinners? Where are those who intend to repent? Where are the weary? Where are those who have lost hope? Where are those who cannot overcome sin? Where are the lost? Where are the prodigal? Where are the irretrievable?” “Come to Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” [2] So joy and love are intertwined with the sinner.  Often, many sorrows prevail in our lives, and sorrows enter our homes, and then, [as] psychologists call it, “complexes.” One says “when I enter the house, I have a complex (بتعقد). I become depressed.” “Why, sir?” He says “grumpiness (نكد) all day long! Nagging and discussion and debate. One cannot stand it, and stays out [of the house instead].” “My son, stay at home.” He says “I left it for her and the kids.” And she says “once I enter the house, I distract myself with anything, I don’t want to talk.” “Why?” She says “I am fed up.” And the issues become complexes. Although it is written for this house that it is for the Lord, and it must have ever-present joy and contentment with the presence of the Lord. What happened? Why is it lacking love and joy?  If your home is devoid of joy and peace, it is because you do not sense the presence of the Lord Jesus. “But I am a sinner, will Christ come to me?” Where else will He go but to sinners? As you can see — He went to Simon, and even in Simon’s house, Simon considered himself well — “I am perfect, I am great, I am not a sinner, thank God all is well.” A sinner entered and stole the blessing. A sinner entered who could not lift her gaze. She looked to the ground and wept bitterly [], rivers of water, until she washed the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ with tears [Luke 7:38]. She received the blessing. So, blessing is in your homes. Joy is in your homes.  Do you know that the Church and this altar, on which the Sacrifice is present, are the center of all joy in the world, on earth []? Because for whom does the Lord come? For whom was the Lord sacrificed on the Cross? Sinners! And the Sacrifice is offered — He told them “do this mystery which I delivered to you. My Body and My Blood are present with you every day on the altar.” For whom does the Body and Blood come, of which we partake? Why do we partake of It? Because we are sinners!  The moment of the sinner’s encounter with the Lord is a moment of joy. And the place of the sinner’s encounter with the Lord is a place of contentment and delight. For this reason, in this place, and in the church before the Lord, and in the holy Church, and before the holy Sacrifice, the fullness of contentment and joy and delight is present. Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents! Heaven rejoices!  Sometimes, we enter the church and leave downcast. Why is there not the anointing of joy? Why is there no peace? We have come to the holiest place in the entire world — the place where the Lord is present. People pay great sums of money to go and see where Christ rose, and was born, and the Jordan, and the Cross and the place of the Resurrection. And He is with us here every day!  How can we depart from this banquet — as the saints say — without being filled with joy! Is it because we are not sinners? The one who does not rejoice [in meeting the Lord] is not a sinner! Do you know who rejoices? The sinner. The sinner rejoices, as you were saying in the songs. He is the one who rejoices, because he is the one who feels “Christ is coming for my sake. He is coming for me. He is coming for me because I am a sinner. I am the worst sinner, so He is coming for my sake.” Perpetual joy, and immeasurable and inexplicable contentment, are in the Lord’s encounter with sinners.  He promised us of this. “[Come to me], all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” Rest and peace and joy.  My beloved, we sometimes imagine that we are serving our Lord, and we divide the service into committees, and teams and individuals, activities, and many things — and this one serves in relations and this one serves in the magazines and this one serves in interviews and this one serves in conventions and serves in publications, and [so on] — but how far are we in our services as Christians from the moment of encounter between ourselves and our Lord?  Does any one of us serve with joy? Does any one of us serve while having met the Lord Jesus Christ? The look in the eye is enough. Or do we serve the Lord Jesus Christ with ninety-nine percent of our energy, and not leave Him a moment of love [equalling] one percent? Where is prayer? Where is sitting [] at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ? All we do for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ is a bland, unsalted, and tasteless dish if it is not seasoned and salted with the tears of love.  Do not now go cook and pour your tears into the pot and say “from the extent of frustration and heartache and problems I will cook your food with my tears.” No! He desires the tears of love. And these tears are not offered to anyone but the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a matter of appearances or externalities. But let every work be girded with tears at the feet of the Lord Jesus.  Silence and tears. These are the things that express: “for the sake of this love, I, Lord, am offering to You this service. I am not offering to You this service at the beginning, so that You love me.” He loved us as sinners.  This woman is wondrous. This woman is wondrous and moves the souls of many. So much so that this particular Gospel [pericope] is read in the Midnight Prayer in the Agpeya every day, so that we might remember God’s tenderness and His immense love towards sinners, and how God deals with sinners, is generous towards them, honors them, defends them, and embraces them.  I wish that I could know this woman’s name. They did not mention her name, because in the nature of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit does not mention the names of sinners, because He promised covering. He does not mention their names. In Heaven we will see them as saints because they usurped Heaven by their tears.  This woman, this great saint, who deserved the praise of the Lord, did not do much besides looking within herself and seeing her sin. In simplicity. She did not [beat around the bush] or evade or defend or philosophize or say “but…” or “I am…” or “we are…” Some people say “no, ask about us. We are good people. We are from so and so’s family, and from this village, from this city,” and “I am from this church, and I am a servant in this place, ask about me. These evil things are not found among us.” This woman did not say “we” or “I.”  There was a sinner who said to Him “have mercy on me, I the sinner,” so he “went away justified.” [3] But as for this woman, we did not hear a sound from her. She might even have found it difficult to make a sound in the presence of the respectable people present. She poured out all of her emotions and her expressions with a closed eye and tears pouring forth ceaselessly.  Rather than looking to ourselves and measuring ourselves up and giving ourselves credit, cross out all of your credit and say “I am nothing.” “But I, who am I,” said Paul the Apostle. I am nothing. All I have is useless. All I have learned is useless. All I have gathered or inherited or was born into or came into is useless to me. What is useful to me is one thing: who is Christ to me? Is He the Savior? Or is He merely a visiting guest passing by us and leaving?  For this reason, this woman received forgiveness. He said to her “your sins are forgiven you,” and the Lord praised her because she loved the Lord much. And here the Gospel proclaims a mystery: the love of God, the open avenue between the heart of the sinners and the heart of our Lord.  By the way, the people who know the love of God most are the repentant sinners. And the  people who were deepened in holiness the most were those who dealt with God when they were sinners. And the people to whom God revealed the mysteries of the eternal life and the Kingdom most are those who felt within themselves that they are sinners. God reveals Himself to the humble, not the haughty.  “Your sins are forgiven,” “for she loved much.”  I truly love discussion in these topics — consoling words as to which a person cannot restrain himself. But I leave to you this passage, to read it and contemplate it and pray. And do not forget that we often cry — we all weep. We sometimes weep over things we lose or people we lose, or disrespect, or oppression. Many things. But we never weep before our Lord over our sins.  I trust that anyone whose feelings are hurt — any one of us, we who are present, and I have full faith in what I am saying — if someone, God forbid, hurts his feelings in a significant [manner], perhaps from the severity of his bitterness he might say “tears fell from my eyes.” We are able to weep over our loss of dignity.   Often, people weep for years because she lost her husband or her son, or he lost his mother or sister or wife. And he cries and says “oh the lost days,” and “I am deprived.” But from these tears no profit may accrue.  How many tears gush due to our sins? We weep over ourselves, over our dignity, over oppression, over worthless things, we weep over things that do not deserve tears. But we do not weep whatsoever over our sins. Our Lord can use tears properly when they are let down for the sake of our sins.  I would like to tell you regarding this woman who wept, that she has a hidden honor in the Gospel that is quite wondrous. Go back and read the events of Covenant Thursday, when the Lord rose up from the supper and took a cloth and girded Himself, and brought a plate and poured water into it, and bent down and washed the feet of the disciples. [] In our rite today, the priest, when he washes the feet of the congregation on Covenant Thursday, brings a small deacon and bends down and says “my son, sign the Cross over my legs.” So we even sign the Cross over the legs of the priest, or wash his feet. If there is a metropolitan [present], I must go and wash his legs. If there is a patriarch [present], the metropolitan washes his legs, and the patriarch washes the legs of the people. “So also you must wash one another’s feet” [John 13:14]. Where are your feet, O Jesus, on the night of Covenant Thursday? Who from among the disciples rose so as to wash your feet? Nobody. See what this sinful woman received by her tears? She was elevated over this level — what the twelve or eleven disciples did not offer, she received. Peter could have said to Him “now would You please sit so that we might wash Your feet as You washed our feet? You said to wash one another’s feet. Who has washed Your feet?”  The feet of the Lord Jesus Christ were not washed by apostles or disciples or servants, but were washed by sinners. Of course, if the sinners are disciples, or servants, or priests, so be it. The feet of the Lord remain extended to receive the tears of sinners. And when we wash the feet of the Lord by our tears, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the grace of forgiveness and joy and peace are poured into our hearts, and He witnesses to us in Heaven that we have “loved much,” and so were deserving of this great grace.  To our God is due glory in His Church from now and forever. Amen.  [Here, Fr. Moussa delivers the week’s announcements.] — [1] See Revelation 3:20 [2] See Matthew 11:28 [3] See Luke 18:14 — The sermon, in its original Arabic, is available here . Fr. Moussa El-Gohary was born on March 5, 1935, in el-Minya, Egypt, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1980 at the hands of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of blessed memory. He served as a parish priest at St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in el-Manial, Cairo, Egypt, before being sent by Pope Shenouda III, in December 1990, to St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, to serve as that parish's first permanent priest. Following over three decades of faithful ministry to that community, and many others in the United States and abroad, Fr. Moussa reposed in the Lord on November 5, 2021. This homily was translated by Beshoy Armanios, a member of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick, MA, and a lifelong disciple of Fr. Moussa El-Gohary. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Connecticut. DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.

In commemoration of the third anniversary of the departure of Fr. Moussa El-Gohary, hegumen of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, Natick, Massachusetts USA, the following is a translation of a homily delivered on August 11, 2002 by Fr. Moussa El-Gohary. May his prayers be with us. —  In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — One God. Amen. May His grace, mercy, and blessing be with us all, now and forever, and unto the age of all ages. Amen. []   Today, our subject is from the Gospel of our teacher St. Luke the Evangelist, chapter 20. The Lord Jesus Christ, during the last week [of His earthly ministry], would go to the Temple and return to Bethany. In those final days, He entered the Temple and found in it sellers of doves, sheep, and cattle, and so He was deeply grieved that the house of prayer was converted into a place of trade and profit. This reflects also on the sellers, the thieves, the priests, the scribes, the elders, and the leaders of the people. They were all giving one another. And so He was grieved that the house of holiness and prayer was converted into a place of business. Using a whip, he drove out the sellers of doves and overturned their tables, and said to those who were buying and selling, and those who kept the money, “My house is a house of prayer” (Luke 19:46) which is a prophecy from the Old Testament in which the Lord said: “My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” ( see Jeremiah 7:11).   As a result of this event, the people gathered to hear Him, as it was their custom, because they enjoyed hearing His words. He gave them a similar parable, which is the parable of the vineyard and the vinedressers:   “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away shamefully treated. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him...’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:9-16).   The Lord said these words as a parable, “and when they heard it they said, ‘Certainly not!’” (Luke 20:16), meaning that they understood the analogy and that it applied to them, and that the vinedressers were those thieves and robbers. It is as if they understood what they were doing, and so they said “certainly not!” But as for Him, “He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’? Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.’ And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people — for they knew He had spoken this parable against them” (Luke 20:17-19).   How does this parable apply to the scribes and pharisees? The vineyard is the Church of the New Testament: the Lord has chosen His people, set them apart, taught them, trained them, and granted them all the commandments and teachings and promises and oaths so that they would be the chosen people of God. So this is the vineyard. He showed them the way, the path of blessing, and the cursed path [which is] the path of sin. He gave them many examples, worked goodness for them, and freed them from lowliness and slavery by the hand of Moses the Arch-prophet. When He went with them to the wilderness, God would speak with them and they would hear Him, to the extent that they would be afraid ( see Exodus 20:18-20). And every day, they would see God in the figure of the pillar of cloud going before them by day and a pillar of fire guiding them by night (Exodus 13:21-22). They saw Moses when he descended from the mountain with his face full of light such that no one was able to look at him [after] he had spent forty days and nights speaking to the Lord (Exodus 34:29-35). They also experienced how all of the commandments which the Lord sent to them were all helpful and greatly beneficial to them. This is the vineyard which He planted.   The subject of the vineyard is found in the Old Testament: the Lord also spoke of the vineyard which is the house of Israel. Of course, what is meant by this is not that the vineyard is the house of Israel, and that since Israel did not obey and became divided and scattered, and that the story of Israel ended, that the vineyard has also ended. No. The vineyard is the people of God, or the Church of God. In the Old Testament it was handed over to the vinedressers who were the Levites, the priests, the scribes, the leaders of the faith, and the elders. So these vinedressers received the vineyard, and it is known that when someone goes to rent a field, garden, or vineyard, they are supposed to look after it and work in it for the sake of its owner, and to give an account for this work that was stewarded to him — an income or wage. He receives the vineyard, cultivates it and eats bread from it, but he must also offer from the vineyard, to the owner of the vineyard, from its fruits and the income of the vineyard in which he works. It was an obligation for them to offer fruit to the owner of the vineyard. The fruit, of course, is holiness and good works, or the works that conform to the Law, rules, [and] teachings [] which the Lord gave to them.   The one who toiled in the planting and work of the vineyard is the Lord. Of course, it says here “a certain man planted a vineyard” in symbolism — the man who planted the vineyard is God the Father; “planted a vineyard” is the Church of the Old Testament; “leased it to vinedressers” who are the scribes, priests, elders and Levites. Then, it says he traveled “for a long time” and waited many eons for this vineyard, every now and then sending a prophet — and it was known that they killed the prophets in the Old Testament, such that even Elijah himself said before the Lord: “[they have] torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets” ( see  1 Kings 19:10). They killed, sawed, and stoned many people: Zechariah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and many from the Old Testament. These are they about whom He spoke here when He said, “he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.” When the prophets came and began to ask and exhort the people, saying to them “where have you gone,” they began to speak also to the priests. When we read in the prophecies of the Old Testament, such as that of Joel which says “lament, you priests; wail over the sacrifice that has been cut off and over the captivity in which you have entered” (Joel 1:13) — Israel was in captivity many times because of sin and because of their straying from the Lord; and they lost wars although they were sometimes victorious without a weapon. [For instance,] in the days of Joshua, once Joshua became the leader after Moses, they walked around a village and destroyed it, or a city and destroyed it, knocking down Jericho by their shouting — saying that the war is for the Lord — and as they went around the city, they were just shouting, screaming, and praising the Lord, and so the walls were destroyed ( see  Joshua 6). But then when they stood in great wars against small villages, they lost because they had forsaken the Lord. When they held fast to the Lord, He would always deliver them. The prophets would always reproach them, saying to them “Why are you forsaking the Lord?” So when the prophets would reproach them, they would persecute the prophets. He sent to them one prophet and a second and a third from the men of the Old Testament — the men of God — but they “beat him and sent him away empty-handed.” And here it says “Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also,” and more than this, they “treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed” or “shamefully treated.” “And again he sent a third,” and alongside the beating and humiliation, they “wounded him also and cast him out” and expelled him also.   What does this mean? If we stop here for a moment, we find that the owner of the vineyard is insistent that there be fruit in the vineyard. He would not relent until this vineyard, which He intended to bear fruits, must bring forth fruits. He forgave them several times with the messengers whom he sent, and he forgave them with the hope that they would awaken and realize that his will is that all “are saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” ( see  1 Timothy 2:4). The will of God is that there must be spiritual fruit: there must be godliness, holiness, righteousness, obedience to the commandment, adherence to the Law, and behavior according to the Lord’s charges. This is the insistence of the Lord, that there must be fruit in the vineyard.   []   [recording skips]   []   He sowed the seeds and he will return to look for the fruit of the seeds. Here, it is not saying that he sowed seeds, but the parable is that he planted a vineyard, which is a very different stage than merely planting seeds: he has thrown and planted the seeds, grown them, watered them, and is now waiting for the fruits. He has done everything himself and has merely entrusted it to the oversight of the vinedressers to care for it and collect its fruits for the sake of the owner of the vineyard.   [Now] see the persistence of God for the salvation of mankind. So “the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do?’” He is not worried about those who were killed and humiliated, or that they have dishonored him personally, or that they have prevented the fruits that he wants for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He is rather concerned that this vineyard not be ruined — it must bring forth fruit. He said, “‘What shall I do?’ I will send my beloved son.” “They have disrespected those whom I have sent, and I have to solve this problem, so I will send my beloved son, because when they see my beloved son, they will be embarrassed in knowing that he is the owner of profit and the owner of the vineyard.” “But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’” This reveals the ingratitude of the Church of the Old Testament, or the ingratitude of the Jews, Hebrews, scribes, and elders whom Christ came and rebuked in Matthew saying “woe to you, scribes and pharisees” ( see Matthew 23); [] all of these woes applied to them because their hearts did not move at all, but they rather dared to seize the owner of the vineyard to kill him.   We realize here that insolence has reached an extensive degree in those evil people. According to the parable, they saw the only son and said “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.” Has anyone ever seen a servant brought to serve in a house to work and receive a wage at the end of the day, go on to kill the master of the house in order to inherit his house? Does any servant inherit from his master? Does any servant get rid of the owner of the house, considering himself entitled — see the evil that they are living in: “let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.” By what law? Neither a secular law, nor a moral law, nor a spiritual law gives them the right to inherit this inheritance. But this shows that avarice and greed [] usurp this stewarded property, the vineyard, and made this vineyard their own property. So because of the extent to which they took possession of these fruits and harvested them and took them to themselves, they put in their minds, because of the extent of the evil in which they lived, that this was rightfully theirs and no one else’s. So [because of] their darkened minds and their thoughts that were full of evil and selfishness, when they saw the son, they said “behold this is the heir, come let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.” So they “took him outside the vineyard and killed him” and this of course is the Lord Jesus Christ alluding to Himself in this parable. That this is the Son!   And when He speaks and says “when the vinedressers saw him, they said ‘this is the heir, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours,’” [this is] because they saw that when Christ spoke and preached the people and spoke to the people, all the people began to follow Him. So they became scared about themselves and their authority. So much so that the high priest said “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!” (John 12:19). [] And in the end, the high priest, with foolishness and ignorance, said “let him die!” “…it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish” (John 11:50). He did not understand that he was uttering a prophecy, but he was expressing the hate that was within him and the hate that was in the shepherds and judges of the Old Testament who led the people — the evil Levites.   And truly “they took him outside the vineyard,” and at this time Christ had not been killed [and] had not been crucified. “They took him outside the vineyard and killed him.” He was warning them regarding what was in their hearts. And here, in this parable, the Lord was uncovering the past and the present and what would occur in the future also. So He said “what will the owner of the vineyard do with them?” The owner of the vineyard is still insistent, because He desires fruit from this vineyard. So He said, “he will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”   If this parable was a general parable given for warning or teaching or preaching, they would have merely heard it and said “what is He saying?,” “how do we understand [it]?,” [] “what does He mean?,” and one would say “He means this or that.” But because they understood every word, because the Old Testament is full of parables in which God addresses the vineyard and says, “What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4). “I planted a vineyard of a choice sort and built for it a fence and built a winepress in it and built for it a tower and set guards over it, and asked of it that it would produce good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes” ( see Isaiah 5:2) . [1]  These words are often found in the Old Testament, so when He speaks of the vineyard, their ears are open. So they understand everything [He is saying] but are acting ignorant.   So when He said “what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others,” they understood that He was saying this about them, so they said “certainly not!” [That is,] “far be it from us.” They were saying “far be it from us.” “Far be it from us” that He would come and destroy them and take the vineyard and bestow it to ones who are faithful.   But what about what you are doing, is it evil or not? The fact that you have stolen the vineyard from the owner of the vineyard, is this not evil? You have considered what you were doing to be good. The standards of measurement in your minds have become darkened, O priests or trustees or Levites of the Old Testament, and you considered the vineyard to be your own personal property, and that when it is taken from you and given to its [rightful] owners, this is evil, so you say, “far be it from us.” And when you kill the son of the owner of the vineyard, is this not evil? And when you kill his servants, is this not evil? And when you take possession of the vineyard and do not give its fruit to its owner, is this not evil? They did not see any of this to be evil, but they considered it evil for this authority to be taken from them and given to others.   Of course, when they said “certainly not!,” they did not say “certainly not!” as in “far be it from us to kill someone” [or] “far be it from us to participate in a crime” [or] “perhaps they were thieves and wicked but let them not be criminals and murderers.” But they did not say these things. They said “certainly not for the vineyard to be taken from us for the sake of our portion and that of our children.”   This shows [] those priests and those laborers or servants, who served the Church of the Old Testament, that their eyes saw the benefit of the service to be an earthly benefit. And this is among the most fearful things, my beloved, in the service over all the ages and eras — that the service is transformed into a trade or the service is transformed into a personal interest in which the servant, or the trustee, thinks that this is a post for him or a position for him to live by, not understanding that in the first instance, he is coming to labor and to offer fruit to the kingdom of heaven or to the owner of the vineyard who is God. So once the vision strays, or the vision of the servant or slave or vinedresser or laborer deviates from this truth, he begins to fear lest this parable apply to him such that instead of being in the vineyard of the Lord laboring for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, he instead labors in his own stolen vineyard which will inevitably be restored to the owner of the vineyard and for which he will give a difficult account.   So their hearts were occupied with personal interests, and here Ezekiel and Jeremiah and the Old Testament prophets spoke of the shepherds who cared for themselves and left the sheep and slaughtered the fattened calf and ate and drank from the produce of the sheep and destroyed it, and did not offer to its owner the account of the stewardship. This shows the outcome of those who prefer their own personal interests to that of God.   This is with respect to the service and with respect to shepherding and with respect to the vineyard.   Of course, as we continue in the parable, He said “he will destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” The Church does not die due to the corruption of those who are set upon her, but the Church is transferred — or the service of God or the kingdom of God on earth is transferred — from hand to hand while God watches over His Church. It cannot perish and cannot be ended or stopped because of a minority that is corrupt or domineering or authoritarian. But God is able, at the proper time, to transfer it into the hands of the faithful about whom the Holy Bible says: “shepherds after my own heart” (Jeremiah 3:15). To shepherd the sheep and shepherd the flock with honesty, watchfulness, nurturing, and care.   So He has transferred this shepherding and this Church in the New Testament to the Church of Christ — the Christian Church — and delivered it to the Apostles and the Disciples. And from that time, He truly transferred it to those vinedressers. And of course, the shepherding of the New Testament differs entirely from the shepherding of the Old Testament, because He considered that all who came to follow Him must follow [His example] or imitate Him. If the owner of the vineyard did not have compassion on his only-begotten son, but gave his only-begotten son so that the vineyard might be rooted and fruitful and bear good fruit, then all the servants and laborers who follow Him in the Church of the New Testament have before their eyes Christ as the example of the manner by which the shepherds must live in the New Testament.   For this reason, we hear in most of the eras and most of the times and ages that have passed over the leadership of the Church, how much the shepherd, in all ranks and levels of responsibility in the Church, watches over the sheep and watches over the flock and serves the flock with honesty and uprightness and also if it comes to him giving his life, many were martyred because they were entrusted with the service of the flock and the service of the Church. Many examples — Peter, the twelve, Paul, the martyrs of the first and second and third centuries. Many examples of the Christian leaders who were subjected — and until this day and until yesterday and this morning continue to be subjected — to humiliation and harshness and wounding for no reason besides their watchfulness over the Church and her vitality. And all of us read and hear how much the newspapers are libeling and defaming the Church. Because this age is considered among the ages of revitalization in our Church in this generation and in this modern era. How many churches have opened and how many people have come to know God and how many services are being undertaken and how many activities are being undertaken and how much God’s glory is spreading over the face of the earth. May God continue His work and bless it and cause it to grow, and how many souls know God today, and are gathered and congregated around Christ and around His Body and Blood. For this reason, when the world becomes envious over this, you find a kind of wounding and humiliation and this shows us that in the Church of the New Testament, no one is searching for his own selfish ends or his own honor but puts his honor under the Cross, and shuts his mouth as Christ about whom it is said “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). So also are all faithful servants — in the time of wounding and harshness and humiliation, they do not open their mouths and are content with looking to the Example and saying “it is enough for us to be like Christ our true shepherd, the Good Shepherd, who said about Himself: ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep’ (John 10:11).”   Until here, what has been said applies to the parable. Perhaps the hearer might say, or you may be seated here saying: “We are not shepherds, and these words are consoling and sweet and good and we have understood them, but what does it have to do with us?” Do you know that you are laborers in this vineyard? Awaken and revive! This vineyard is not only with respect to the priest and bishop and patriarch and the servants, but it is the responsibility of the flock understood from the parable. The vineyard is your life also. It is the vineyard which Christ has planted. Your life and your home — your personal life — is your vineyard. So do not forget or think that this parable does not apply to you. It applies to you and to me personally and applies to us as a community and a church and applies to us as servants and as trustees and shepherds.   So when we look at it from the perspective of applying this parable to our lives, see: “the Lord planted a vineyard.” He has given us this grace and planted His knowledge in our hearts. We who were first sinners and who did not know anything and who were far from our Lord, He has made us sons. We were evil. He has made us sons by baptism. And He has delivered to us the Holy Spirit and made us a vessel for the Holy Spirit and granted the Holy Spirit to dwell in us such that He calls us “temples of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit dwells in us” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). And we read in Galatians that the Holy Spirit has fruits. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are known and many, and include love, joy, peace, faith, gentleness, chastity, longsuffering, kindness, goodness — many fruits for the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). He who has the Holy Spirit has in him a vineyard — the vineyard of the Lord, or the kingdom of God dwelling within you ( see  Luke 17:21). So this kingdom is the vineyard.   The vineyard within you, when Jesus sends one, two, and three messengers — what are the messengers He sends? The word that is read, the word that is heard, the sermon that you hear or the tape that you hear. The word that reaches you by any means or in any way is a servant of the servants of God or one means which God sends to you to tell you “I want fruit. Where is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that is in you? You shut your ear, you toss aside the word, you neglect the sermon, you neglect the Bible, you neglect to read the word of God.” We “don’t feel like reading the Holy Bible.” None of us cares [for it], we read it for knowledge while not knowing that when we read the Holy Bible, it is a real source of blessing and consolation, [] a source of spiritual nourishment, a source of the Holy Spirit, but also a messenger from the Spirit of God — from God speaking to us to alert and bring to our recognition that we will offer an account of our stewardship and offer an account of the field we have been given or the vineyard which has been entrusted to us.   God has granted us talents and gifts, and the word of God we read in the Holy Bible is a word of warning and notice and caution that we will inevitably give [an account]. And many times we read the Holy Bible without caring, and many times it is read in our hearing while we are sleepy, and many times we hear sermons that go in one ear and out the other. While we do not know that these are all counted for us, my beloved, just as the Lord counted on those servants whom He sent and who returned empty-handed. For this reason, the Lord speaks straightforwardly in the Holy Bible, saying: “my word does not return void” (Isaiah 55:11). He has set it with a certain measure and a certain efficacy. The word of our Lord, when He utters it, the word we hear, the word our Lord grants us from the Bible or from any sermon or from any word, must not return void. Not “not return void” as in for example a hundred hear, at least two or three or five repent and return to God and confess and become good and commit to living with God. No! The meaning of “does not return void” [is] hold onto the word of God in your heart and do not permit it to return void! If you have nothing, offer even a small cake ( see  1 Kings 17:13-15). Even five loaves ( see  Matthew 14:17-18). Even the crumbs [you have]. It must “not return void” from your home, as a person. Do not look to those around you. Look to yourself. The word of God “ must  not return void.” When you hear the word of God — it says, “when you hear His voice,” the Holy Bible, “do not harden your hearts!” (Hebrews 3:15). So every word you hear is counted. You must offer something for it. It does not return void.   Tell Him, “Lord, I heard the word of today, and I offer you from today’s word that I will be awake and watchful over this vineyard.” You hear a word about purity and righteousness, you say “Lord, I heard this word and help me to try to begin to purify my senses and pay attention to my [fleshly] life so that I may live in purity.” When you hear any word, as much as you can, as much as you are able, as much as your means permit, the word of God must not return void. The Lord says “my word does not return void” and “I am watchful over my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:12 DARBY).   My beloved, when the Lord transmits to us His words, sometimes we forget our own vineyard and look to the vineyard of the neighbors and say “how sad, they do not have fruits” or “this one does not have fruit” or “this one is bad” or “this one has spoiled” or “this one has thorns” or “this one has sour grapes” or “the foxes or crows have eaten this one.” What have you done with your vineyard? Some are even far-sighted and say “what about those who are not Christians, what is their fault?” [] Do not waste your time over [such matters]! Pay attention to what our Lord has granted you! You were born in Christianity, you are immersed in grace and you are entirely full of blessings and gifts! Do not waste your time! The vineyard entrusted to you comes with a responsibility! What have you to do with who has received and who has not? Our Lord will search for the non-Christian and knows how to deal with him and knows how to judge him and knows how to send him the word. This is His way — it is His work and His specialty. But you take heed to your own vineyard.   So you as a person are responsible for this vineyard. The Lord sends to you laborers, or the Lord sends to you servants once, twice, and thrice. And then, the Lord also, out of His tenderness, kindness, patience, and compassion on us, sends us His Only-Begotten Son. How many times does the Lord Jesus Christ Himself personally stand at your door and say “open to me! Enough! Wake up! Return from the path you are on! Enough hardness of heart! Enough sin! Enough ingratitude! Enough love of the world! Enough running after the blessings and gifts I have given you — life and health and money and talents — for the sake of your earthly life!”   The Hebrews were of this sort. They took the blessings God had granted them, over which He had made them stewards, and lived in them so as to fill and satisfy and enrich and fatten themselves, but did not trade with them for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. So they used this vineyard in a carnal, earthly way, and were therefore deprived of the kingdom of heaven. So also we, my beloved, often become preoccupied with our daily lives and are concerned with the kingdom our Lord has granted us, or the vineyard our Lord has granted us, in a carnal way. And care for the flesh is “enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Care for the flesh is death, but care for the spirit is life, because we work for the good of the kingdom of heaven.   So the Lord sends to us Himself when we hear His voice in the word, when He offers Himself on the altar, when we hear His warnings and directions and exhortations that we turn away from sin and return and become reconciled to Him and cast away sin from our hearts and transform our hearts and transform our thoughts and transform our emotions and become reconciled and live in peace and live in love and become transformed for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is incredibly precious and incredibly sweet! So we may attain it!   Believe me, because of grudges, we miss out on the kingdom of heaven. This is not my own [teaching]. It is from the Bible! Grudges prevent us from the kingdom of heaven. The Lord said: if you come to receive communion, “and there remember that your brother has something against you” (Matthew 5:23-24), do not partake of communion! You are not entitled to communion. Meaning you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven! Meaning if I die while holding a grudge against someone, I will not enter the kingdom of heaven! If I die while I am fighting [with someone], I will not enter the kingdom of heaven! If I die while there is something between me and someone else, I will not enter [the kingdom of heaven]. If I die while judging people, I will not enter the kingdom of heaven. My beloved, awaken! Because this is not cruelty, or difficulty in entering the kingdom of heaven, because the kingdom of heaven is very precious and very costly and very great! It deserves some labor from us — not to lie, not to swear, not to curse, not to hold grudges, not to judge, not to become upset with another, not to commit daily sins or impurity or evil or negligence or postpone the word of God and repentance.   For this reason, when the Lord speaks to us, let us not harden our hearts. But let us know that He is warning us because He will come one day and ask for the fruit of this vineyard. So when we hear this parable, my beloved, let us awaken, because this parable is very precious. It was uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ before His crucifixion on the Cross, and He says, as did John the Baptist, “even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. [Therefore] every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). When He cuts down and throws into the fire, my beloved, He will not be cruel. Because what preceded this was the [offering] of love and tenderness and patience. He was patient. He sent one messenger in a season and another in another season and yet another in another season, and at the end He sent His beloved Son, and despite sending His beloved Son, He was not occupied with the fact that His beloved Son died as much as He is concerned with the fact that the vineyard must bear fruit. God insists that your life and my life have fruit.   And if it does not bear fruit, He will confront us in the last day and say “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4). What could there be that I have fallen short in? If our Lord stood with us today in a sort of mock trial. [] If He stands with you and me one by one today before we walk out of the door of the church, and says: “what did I fall short in doing with you? Why do you not bear fruit for the kingdom of God? What do you lack? Tell me, what did I fall short in doing with you? Did I fall short with you in sending you My word? In sending to you the Holy Spirit? In granting you the Mysteries? In granting you warnings? In granting you life and health and willpower and a mind and all means by which you could say ‘have mercy on me, Lord’ as did the sinner and the tax-collector and the right-hand thief and the adulteress. Why have you not repented?” “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4).   So the one who hears the voice of the Lord and the one who hears the word of God and the one who hears the warnings and threats and promises must know and awaken not because our Lord is cruel, but because our Lord persists and insists and demands that we go to the kingdom of heaven. Look at it in this way, my beloved. He does not want us to be deprived of the kingdom. He wants us to enter the kingdom of heaven. So He requires us to be watchful and pass our daily, difficult lives in which we live, in which we find excuses and [] find ourselves unable to awaken or become invigorated or rise or pray or worship or fast or cry out to God or repent, because the kingdom is easy.   With some simple labor, we will spend eternity in glory and a kingdom indescribable! Which cannot be compared to any bodily enjoyment or pleasure! Because all bodily pleasures are petty and despicable and end with the end of the bodily life. But godly enjoyment and the pleasure of the kingdom of heaven is incomparable and inexhaustible. The human on earth — nothing satisfies him. But there, we will feel satiation, gratification, peace, reassurance, and we will feel that we are truly at rest. Here, even while someone is enjoying anything, he feels at the very least [] fearful lest he become deprived of this pleasure, because he cannot guarantee its persistence. Here, nothing is certain. But there, at the very least, there is certainty. There is no thief or anyone to take it from me or anyone to deprive me of it or anyone to remove me from the kingdom. For this reason, my beloved, the Lord persists and insists that we all have a share in the kingdom of heaven.   When we read this parable, let us pray for one another, for the sake of our souls and for the sake of the Church, so that God may always grant in every generation fruit in His vineyard, and that He might support and strengthen the shepherds or the servants or the vinedressers, that they may be faithful until the last breath.   To our God be glory in His Church now and forever. Amen.   — [1] Fr. Moussa is reciting this verse from memory. — The sermon, in its original Arabic, is available here . Fr. Moussa El-Gohary was born on March 5, 1935, in el-Minya, Egypt, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1980 at the hands of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of blessed memory. He served as a parish priest at St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in el-Manial, Cairo, Egypt, before being sent by Pope Shenouda III, in December 1990, to St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, to serve as that parish's first permanent priest. Following over three decades of faithful ministry to that community, and many others in the United States and abroad, Fr. Moussa reposed in the Lord on November 5, 2021. This homily was translated by Beshoy Armanios, a member of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick, MA, and a lifelong disciple of Fr. Moussa El-Gohary. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Connecticut. DossPress.com  is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.