Early Church

Festal Letter 1

Of Fasting, Trumpets, and Feasts

Saint Athanasius the Great
| Monday, April 5, 2010 | No comments.

 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.

The Holy Spirit in the Church of the Apostles

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
| Friday, May 1, 2009 | No comments.

The Holy Spirit was the One who gave the necessary power for the work of preaching. The sending of the Holy Spirit was a promise from the Lord (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7), however, despite this He said to them, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Fr. upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:29). Where will this power come from? He said to them regarding this, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8).

The Spirit of God was essential to them for they could not work without Him. The Holy Spirit worked with them in preaching and teaching. They waited according to the Lord’s command. Their previous preparation for service which lasted more than three years did not dispense them of the Holy Spirit and His work in and with them. Perhaps these ten days which they waited were days of prayer and hope, from the heart, in preparation for the coming work.

Treasures of the Fathers: Feast of Pentecost

Passover and Pentecost

Origen of Alexandria
| Friday, May 1, 2009 | No comments.

…If it be objected to us on this subject that we ourselves are accustomed ‎to observe certain days, as for example the Lord’s day, the Preparation, the ‎Passover, or Pentecost, I have to answer, that to the perfect Christian, who is ‎ever in his thoughts, words, and deeds serving his natural Lord, God the Word, ‎all his days are the Lord’s, and he is always keeping the Lord’s day. He also ‎who is unceasingly preparing himself for the true life, and abstaining from the ‎pleasures of this life which lead astray so many,—who is not indulging the lust ‎of the flesh, but "keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection,"—‎such a one is always keeping Preparation-day. ‎

St. Polycarp, the Beloved Peacemaker

His Grace Bishop Youssef
| Thursday, April 30, 2009 | No comments.

Pangratios was born about 69 AD to a Christian family who received its Christian faith from the very Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Apostolic Ages, the young church survived and was strengthened by visits from the chosen Apostles and the Apostles disciples.

Life in the Fourth Century Church: The Liturgy at Jerusalem

Fr. Moses Samaan
| Saturday, November 8, 2008 | No comments.

Editor’s Note: The following account comes from Egeria, a Spanish or Gallic nun who traveled to the Holy Land from approximately 381 to 384 A.D. and wrote about her observations in a work entitled Itenerarium Egeriae in Latin (“Travels of Egeria”). Unfortunately, her complete text is now lost, but a good portion of this valuable text remains. The value of this text lies in its status as a firsthand observation of many holy places and liturgical practices in the early Church at Jerusalem.