My Beloved, the Blessed Children of the Holy Church,

It is my pleasure to wish you a Blessed Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ and a joyous New Year.

My beloved children in the lands of immigration, both clergy and laity.

Peace to you and grace. My congratulations for the Feast of Nativity of our Lord, to Whom is Glory.

Be all well, shepherded by God who keeps you. May we hear all good about you. May you have contemplations in the Glorious Nativity and its happenings.

As for us, I want you not to worry about us – we are well……

The painful circumstances that happened to us have brought compassion upon us from all sides, as well as extreme care and eagerness in protecting the churches, as well as care for our cause. Also, tribulation, by its nature, makes the soul closer to God. And we believe that God is the Protector and Helper, and that “unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” We also believe the promise of the Lord to His Church, that the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Therefore all are in peacefulness.

We behold now a great and wondrous mystery. Shepherds with cries of joy come forth as messengers to the sons of mankind, not on their hilly pastures with their flocks conversing and not in the field with their sheep frolicking, but rather in the city of David Bethlehem spiritual songs exclaiming. In the highest sing Angels, proclaiming hymns Archangelic; the heavenly Cherubim and Seraphim sing out praises to the glory of God: “Holy, Holy, Holy…” Together all do celebrate this joyous feast, beholding God upon the earth, and mankind of earth amidst the heavens.

This week, as millions of Americans around the world give thanks during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Coptic Orthodox Church commemorates the exemplary life and departure of one of the most influential figures in the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: St. John Chrysostom (the “Golden-Mouthed”). St. John was one of the most eloquent preachers of Christ’s Gospel as well as an ascetic and great teacher. His love for our Lord Jesus Christ was great, as was his love for the poor. Following the example of our Lord, the Good Shepherd, he guided his flock in righteousness until the time of his departure.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of his divine mysteries. Now he bids them to shine out like lamps and to cast out their light not only over the land of the Jews but over every country under the sun and over people scattered in all directions and settled in distant lands. That man has spoken truly who said: No one takes honor upon himself, except the one who is called by God, for it was our Lord Jesus Christ who called his own disciples before all others to a most glorious apostolate. These holy men became the pillar and mainstay of the truth, and Jesus said that he was sending them just as the Father had sent him.

During these blessed and joyous weeks, we celebrate the The Feast of Nairouz and the beginning of another Coptic New Year. The Church chose the beginning of the reign of Emperor Diocletian in 284 A.D. to mark the beginning of the Church Calendar, because he was one of the cruelest emperors, who severely persecuted the Christians, especially in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church offered thousands of martyrs during the reign of this emperor.

Happiness in life is to be gained by living virtuously, inasmuch as thus a Christian, whilst despising glory and the favour of men, desires to please God alone in what he does.

1. In the first book we spoke of the duties which we thought befitted a virtuous life, whereon no one has ever doubted but that a blessed life, which the Scripture calls eternal life, depends. So great is the splendor of a virtuous life that a peaceful conscience and a calm innocence work out a happy life. And as the risen sun hides the globe of the moon and the light of the stars, so the brightness of a virtuous life, where it glitters in true pure glory, casts into the shade all other things, which, according to the desires of the body, are considered to be good, or are reckoned in the eyes of the world to be great and noble.

Few would dispute that the Coptic Church, which was founded by St. Mark the evangelist, began its modern renaissance towards the latter half of the nineteenth century, after many centuries of darkness. A darkness which was forced upon her by two major historical events. The first of which were the woeful decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) which separated her from the rest of Christiandom. The second was the Arab conquest of Egypt (641 A.D.), as a result of which the church’s major preoccupation was sheer survival. Indeed the survival of the Copts till this day is a miracle and a witness for thirteen centuries of unwavering faith.

The renaissance of the church is due to three important developments:

On Sunday, May 30, the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt issued a final decision in the case of a Copt who sued the Church for denying him authorization to remarry in the Church after divorcing his wife. The court decreed that the Egyptian constitution guarantees his right to remarry in the Church.

This decision, however, is contrary to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures and the Orthodox Church. His Holiness Pope Shenouda III respectfully rejected the Egyptian court’s verdict, saying, “…this is a strictly religious matter for which the Bible serves as our only reference.”

His Grace Bishop Serapion recorded a pastoral message to all parishioners in the diocese expressing his support and solidarity with His Holiness in this matter. The message may be heard and downloaded here:

Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” (Rom. 15:29) both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise whereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment. If such is the earnest, what the perfection? If such the first fruits, what the complete fulfillment? Furthermore, from this too may be apprehended the difference between the grace that comes from the Spirit and the baptism by water: in that John indeed baptized with water, but our Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Brethren, how fine a thing it is to move from festival to festival, from prayer to prayer, from holy day to holy day. The time is now at hand when we enter on a new beginning: the proclamation of the blessed Passover, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We feed as on the food of life, we constantly refresh our souls with his precious blood, as from a fountain. Yet we are always thirsting, burning to be satisfied. But he himself is present for those who thirst and in his goodness invites them to the feast day. Our Savior repeats his words: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

He quenched the thirst not only of those who came to him then. Whenever anyone seeks him he is freely admitted to the presence of the Saviour. The grace of the feast is not restricted to one occasion. Its rays of glory never set. It is always at hand to enlighten the mind of those who desire it.

 Come, my beloved, the season calls us to keep the feast. Again, ‘the Sun of Righteousness, causing His divine beams to rise upon us, proclaims beforehand the time of the feast, in which, obeying Him, we ought to celebrate it, lest when the time has passed by, gladness likewise may pass us by. For discerning the time is one of the duties most urgent on us, for the practice of virtue; so that the blessed Paul, when instructing his disciple, teaches him to observe the time, saying, ‘Stand (ready) in season, and out of season’—that knowing both the one and the other, he might do things befitting the season, and avoid the blame of unseasonableness. For thus the God of all, after the manner of wise Solomon, distributes everything in time and season, to the end that, in due time, the salvation of men should be everywhere spread abroad.

I. It is the Day of the Resurrection, and my Beginning has good auspices. Let us then keep the Festival with splendor,  and let us embrace one another. Let us say Brethren, even to those who hate us; much more to those who have done or suffered anything out of love for us. Let us forgive all offenses for the Resurrection’s sake: let us give one another pardon, I for the noble tyranny which I have suffered (for I can now call it noble); and you who exercised it, if you had cause to blame my tardiness; for perhaps this tardiness may be more precious in God’s sight than the haste of others. For it is a good thing even to hold back from God for a little while, as did the great Moses of old, and Jeremiah  later on; and then to run readily to Him when He calls, as did Aaron and Isaiah, so only both be done in a dutiful spirit;— the former because of his own want of strength; the latter because of the Might of Him That calls.

On March 28, 2010, (19 Baramhat 1726 A.M.) the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria celebrates with great joy the Feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), one of the major feasts of the Church commemorating the entry of our Lord as an earthly King into Jerusalem and as a Heavenly King into our hearts.

On March 14, 2010, (5 Baramhat 1726 A.M.) the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria observes the Fifth Sunday of the Great Lent, in which we profess our Lord Jesus Christ as the source of all healing for our bodies and souls alike. We also remember Bethsaida as a symbol of our baptism by which we are healed of our illnesses.

On February 28, 2010, (21 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria observes the Third Sunday of the Great Lent, in which we remember the Father embracing and kissing the neck of the Prodigal Son who returned to him in sincere repentance.

On February 14, 2010, (7 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria observed the First Sunday of the Great Lent, in which our Lord teaches us, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on… But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6.25, 33).