[i]Syriac Dialogue, Vienna, February 1996./[/i] Saint Cyril wrote three letters to Nestorius asking him to reconcile his teaching with the orthodox teachings of the fathers of the church, but Nestorius did not accept. The letters of Saint Cyril always began with the salutation: "To the most pious and most God-loving bishop Nestorius". His third and last letter to Nestorius was sent from "Cyril and the synod assembled in Alexandria from the diocese of Egypt". On – …

What is Intercession?‎ The formal definition of intercession is a “supplication to God in behalf of another ‎person. Christ intercedes before God the Fr. on behalf of the repentant sinner, and ‎God’s people intercede for one another.”‎ We ask the intercessions of Saint Mary, the Angels, and Archangels. We ask the ‎disciples, apostles, martyrs, fathers, and saints to pray on our behalf.‎ Not only do we intercede to the saints are in heaven, but also – …

YOU ARE GOD’S BEAUTIFUL WORLD! From time to time a person feels that his life is empty and meaningless, similar to the rugged land “without form,” void of splendor and beauty, a useless life, surrounded by “darkness” (Gen. 1:2). Or like a debased life which deserves to fall under God’s wrath, such as in the time of the flood, from which no one was saved, except Noah and his family in the ark, and when – …

The inward state of Christ’s disciples, when before His passion He talked with them as with children of great things, but in such a ‎way as befitted the great things to be spoken to children, because, having not yet received the Holy Spirit, as they did after His ‎resurrection, either by His own breathing upon them, or by descent from above, they had a mental capacity for the human rather than ‎the divine,—is everywhere declared – …

Originally published in El Karaza Magains, on Friday, August 5, 2005 I would like to meditate with you in the teachings of St. Paul the Apostle about the spiritual building, as mentioned in his first Epistle to Corinthians, where he said: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he – …

Now we find that three dead persons were raised by the Lord "visibly," thousands "invisibly." No, who knows even how many dead He raised visibly? For all the things that He did are not written. John tells us this, "Many other things Jesus did, the which if they should be written, I suppose that the whole world could not contain the books." So then there were without doubt many others raised: but it is not – …

This optimism comes from faith and hope: faith in God being the beneficent, and hope for what He is going to do. Successively After the flood of water, there was the Ark. And God promised that He shall never destroy the earth anymore (Gen. 8). After the Crucifixion events, there was the joy of the resurrection. As God said to His disciples: "but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your – …

We often say, "I am just human." We usually use this phrase as an excuse for our shortcomings and weaknesses. But what does it really mean to be human? It is the scriptural teaching than man was created in the image and likeness of God and our Christian faith gives great dignity to man. Adam was not created by nature; he was created by God and was given the breath (the spirit) of life. "And – …

The period of the Fifty Holy Days is a special period in the ecclesiastical cycle. The prominent feature of this period is joy. The Church prays with a festal tune in all Her liturgies and prayers, including the funerals. During this period, the Church lives the life of happiness, which was experienced by the holy disciples after Christ’s resurrection and His appearance to them. The Divine inspiration describes this joy as such, “Then the disciples – …

As we look at the Church in the Apostolic age, we find that She was characterized by the communal life; they had one accord with unity of heart, soul, and thought (Acts 2: 42-47; 4:32-37). Whenever a dispute arose, the apostles would discuss it, and then they resolved the problem by agreeing on one decision (Acts 6: 1-26; 15: 1-29). This was achieved through the Holy Spirit, Who preserved the one accord and the one – …

Issued by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church and His Holiness Karekin I, Catholicos of all Armenians Preface H.H. Catholicos Karakin I, the Catholicos of all Armenia, visited Egypt from January 14-18, 1998. On Wednesday, January 14, he visited H.H. Pope Shenoud who introduced him and invited him to address the thousands of people who usually attend H.H. Pope Shenouda’s weekly meeting. The Catholicos spoke about the importance of Church – …

Christianity today is struggling; arguing not to carry the cross. People are asking, why do I have to carry ‎my cross? why do I have to suffer? Do I have to suffer to be a Christian? Is this really necessary? ‎ When we hear the Lord asking us to carry the cross and to share the Cross with Him, it is a call to share the ‎Lord in His grief. Him who said, “My soul – …