Every mother has a story. Every mother came from somewhere, and where she came from affects how she raises her children and interacts with her husband. One mother, however, the mother of all of us, has a story that I think is awe-inspiring. The volumes that are written and could be written about our blessed mother, the Theotokos, the God-bearer and the Christ-Bearer, are countless. She’s not just some lady that got lucky. No, we know that God – …

One of the signs of modern courtship is the growing trend of elaborate marriage proposals, which are oftentimes choreographed and shared on social media. We see them all the time: a young man invites a young woman to some sentimental place (oftentimes with a view of the ocean) and “pops the question” (oftentimes using candles, signs, and/or balloons) shortly before all of their family and friends come out of hiding to congratulate them and celebrate. – …

The Early Fathers of the Church teach us that, when God created Adam and Eve, they were clothed in the Divine light of God Himself. Sadly, when they sinned, they lost the glory of God, and that’s when they realized they were naked. This is our past, which we lost because of sin. Through the lifegiving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, however, this is also our future. In Matthew 13:43, we hear from the – …

In or around the first year of the Lord, a meeting took place that would forever change the course of history. There was in those days an older woman living in the hill country of Judea. At this particular time, she was hiding, because something wondrous had happened to her. Despite the old age of this woman and her husband, a Jewish priest, and despite the fact that she, as a woman, was unable to – …

In the account of the Annunciation of the Birth of our Savior, we read the following response of the Holy Virgin Mary to the Holy Archangel Gabriel’s announcement that she would miraculously conceive and give birth to the Savior of the world: “How can this be, since I know not a man?” (Lk 1:34). From this response, we learn the important lesson that, sometimes, there is value in ignorance. The Holy Virgin Mary’s response to – …

+ In a room, at the outskirts of a city, a young woman, 21 years, is giving birth to her first child, her baby girl. Her sisters,  mother, and  female cousins and friends are all around her. They console her, they squeeze her hand, and they also laugh that “knowing laugh”, while she screams in pain. They are all familiar with the joy of motherhood, the joy that comes after the pain. Some of the girls have not yet – …

I once visited a Coptic Orthodox parish for a weekday meeting. Before the meeting began, a “praise and worship team” came into the church with their instruments and began singing a couple of Protestant songs. As odd and surreal as it was to hear these songs in a holy place in which mystical and spiritual hymns are chanted, this is not our present focus. 1 Rather, it is the song that was chosen, a song entitled – …

Today, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the martyrdom of St. Marina the Holy Martyr of Antioch, a wonderful role model especially for young women. She was raised as an unbeliever by her parents until her mother died. Afterwards, she believed in our Lord Jesus Christ and vowed to remain a virgin for Him, but her father disowned her because of her faith, which ultimately resulted in her martyrdom. She shunned marriage, pleasure, fame, wealth, family, – …

Q&A: What do I do when I don’t feel like striving anymore? I know I’m supposed to, but it’s brutal. Response: What an honest question. You’re right, sometimes friends and counsellors or others sometimes emphasise the need for us to strive. Often we know that we need to strive, but the issue is not knowing it, the issue is sometimes simply getting through it. a) Where there’s purpose, find it. Think of the flight of – …

Today is the eve of the feast of one of the most inspiring Saints of the Church universal. He belongs to the whole church, irrespective of nationality, denomination, or biases. What makes so many people fall in love with him, I think, is the relatable nature of this man. St. Moses was real. Most people are familiar with his story, so I am going to go through just a few aspects of his with which – …

+ This is not meant to be a political post, nor is it an angry rant that the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of homosexual marriage. This has been expected for a long time, so really, nothing shocking occurred. Rather, it’s a personal rumination and critique over how in our being so cliché, we are actually being very inconsistent and harming society. I want to get at the reasoning behind the ruling, and why – …

+Christ is risen and ascended! This post may seem cliché, but it’s true in this present moment. My family welcomes to the world Gabriel Macarius. He comes just two years after the loss of his older brother, Anthony Paul. To express in words the happiness and joy at Gabriel’s arrival would trivialise the real meaningfulness within us. Sadness is more common than it ought to be. Stuff happens. Illness, disease, suffering, woundedness and yes, death – they all happen. – …