St Irene the great Martyr

of Thessaloniki

Commemorated May 5

Holy Great Martyr Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of the pagan king Licinius, and her parents named her Penelope. Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her isolated in a high tower from the time she was six so that she would not be exposed to Christianity. He also placed thirteen young maidens in the tower with her. An old tutor by the name of Apellian was assigned to give her the best possible education. Apellian was a Christian, and during her lessons, he told the girl about Christ the Saviour and taught her the Christian Faith and the Christian virtues.

When Penelope reached adolescence, her parents began to think about her marriage. One day, a dove flew through the window carrying an olive branch in its beak, depositing it upon a table. Then an eagle swooped in with a wreath of flowers in its beak, and placed it upon the table. Finally, a raven flew in carrying a snake, which it dropped on the table. These events puzzled Penelope and she wondered what they meant. Apellian explained that the dove signified her education, and the olive branch stood for the grace of God, which is received in Baptism. The eagle with the wreath of flowers represented success in her future life. The raven and the snake foretold her future suffering and sorrow.

At the end of the conversation, Apellian said that the Lord wished to betroth her to Himself and that Penelope would undergo much suffering for her heavenly Bridegroom. After this Penelope refused marriage, the priest Timothy baptized her with the new name Irene (meaning peace in Greek). She even urged her own parents to become Christians. Shortly after this, she destroyed all her father's idols.

Prophet Jeremiah

May 1st

When the people of Jerusalem refused to listen to his warnings of impending disaster, he decided to take drastic action. From a helpful farmer, he managed to obtain a great wooden yoke of the kind worn by oxen when they pull a plow. Without pausing to reflect, he attached the yoke to his own neck. Now he looked like a beast of burden. He looked grotesque, and he looked frightening.

Wearing the enormous yoke on his bent shoulders, he wandered the streets of the Holy City – while crying out in a loud voice that the Lord God was angry at the Israelites because of their idol-worship, and that they were going to pay a terrible price for having rejected Almighty God and turned their backs on Heaven.

The residents of the great city stood gaping at him in amazement. His name was Jeremiah – they knew that much – and he was reportedly a God-fearing man, the son of a Hebrew priest name Helkiah. Apparently, he TAKEN FEOM

الصلاة القلبية

للقديس الأسقف ثيوفانس الحبيس

تعريب الأب أنطوان ملكي

كتبت إحدى البنات الروحيات للقدّيس: زارتني امرأة تقيّة وكنّا نناقش أموراً روحيّة إلى أن وصلنا إلى موضوع الصلاة، وقد فوجئتُ لسماع ضيفتي تصرّ على أن العائشين في العالم ليسوا فقط بلا قوة للصلاة القلبيّة إنّما هي حتى لا تناسبهم. قلتُ ما بوسعي لكنّي أرغب بطلب كلمة منكم حول هذا الأمر. فأجابها برسالة جاء فيها:

لقد كانت ضيفتك على خطأ في تفكيرها. مَن ليس عنده الصلاة القلبيّة هو بلا صلاة، إذ إن الصلاة القلبيّة وحدها هي الصلاة الحقيقيّة المقبولة عند الله والمرضيّة له. إنها تشكل روح

IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS

An Orthodox Explanation

of the Mystery of Confession

1. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 5-10, 2:1-2)

Sunday of the Paralytic

(Acts 9: 32-42; John 5: 1-15)

The epistle shows us Peter, a man renewed by the Resurrection, now renewing others. In Acts, the work of Peter and Paul is described so that the two saints achieve parallel results. This gives them a kind of equality, which outweighs their conflict in developing the work of Christ. Today’s epistle shows a greater parallel. The story of the two healings is like those of Jesus’ own acts. The second one, about raising Tabitha or Dorcas to life, resembles the story in Mark 5: 37 ff and Luke 8: 51 ff – the raising of Jairus’ daughter. The first story, the curing of Anaeas a paralytic at Lydda, is like the healing of the paralytic in today’s gospel

Before we look at this, let us note that the epistle shows that the Church was developing and at peace, and that there was a habit of doing charitable work, which Dorcas or Tabitha had practised. The Apostolic Church believed itself to be fulfilling its faith in the resurrection, so nothing difficult about healing the paralysed, clothing the naked, or raising the dead. All of this had already happened, and Jesus had given his followers the power to make it happen.

Every Psalm Is

The Voice

Of The Church

by St. Basil the Great

Our father among the saints Basil the Great (ca. 330 – January 1, 379), was bishop of Caesarea, a leading churchman in the 4th century.

The Church considers him a saint and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Saints Gregory the Theologian (Gregory Nazianzus) and John Chrysostom. Basil, Gregory the Theologian, and Basil’s brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa are called the Cappadocian Fathers.

“Any part of the Scriptures you like to choose is inspired by God. The Holy Spirit composed the Scriptures so that in them, as in a pharmacy open to all souls, we might each of us be able to find the medicine suited to our own particular illness.

Thus, the teaching of the Prophets is one thing, and that of the historical books is another. And, again, the Law has one meaning, and the advice we read in the Book of Proverbs has a different one.

.أقوال في الكاهن

إعداد راهبات دير مار يعقوب الفارسي – دده، الكورة بقدر ما يصلّي الكاهن للعالم أثناء الذبيحة الإلهيّة، بقدر ما يُرحَم هو من الله. (الأب جرمانوس القبرصيّ ... إنّ الكاهن في اشتراكه المتواتر بسرّ الشكر، يُمنح نعمة الله بدون حدود، وعلى الجميع أن يأخذوا منه نعمة الله الغزيرة، وعليه هو أن يسعى جاهداً إلى أن تمتدّ نعمة الله أكثر فأكثر وألاّ يحتفظ بها لنفسه. (القدّيس يوحنّا كرونشتادت).

الكاهن يتألّم لأجل العالم بأسره. يصير كلّ شيء للكلّ (القدّيس يوحنّا كرونشتادت).

ما نقاوة شفتي الكاهن اللتين بهما يلفظ دوماً الاسم القدّوس، اسم الآب والابن والروح القدس! ما نقاوة القلب حتّى يحوي حلاوة هذا الاسم المجيد

Sunday of the Paralytic

The life of the Paralytic, who waited at the sheep pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, was dramatic. For thirty eight years he was paralized and abandoned. Alone, amongst so many ill people and fellow country men, waited with patiently the miraculous movement of the waters, which cured the first person to fall in. In this environment Christ meets with the paralytic. God meets with His creation. The God-man with man.

Christ approached with philanthropic intentions the Paralytic and asks him: “Do you want to be sound?” The Lord with discretion asks, in order to cure; with love He seeks, in order to save.

حاجة الانسان المعاصر الى سر الاعتراف

: غربةُ الإنسان في عصرنا

تركوني أنا ينبوع المياه الحي واحتفروا لأنفسهم آباراً، آباراً مشقّقة لا تمسك الماء" (ارميا ٢:۱٣)يؤكد غير قليل من المعطيات السائدة في بيئاتنا الاجتماعية أننا نعيش في عصر لا يقيم وزناً لفضائل مثل التيقظ الروحي والسهر على حفظ الحواس وصون النفس من الزلل. مجتمعاتنا الجادة في طلب السعادة عبر وسائل اللذّة والاستهلاك والتكنولوجية لم تعد تتحسس الابعاد الروحية للقيم كالجمال والطبيعة والفن والجسد... البشر جملةً في حركة متسارعة الى اللهو. كلام كثير يذاع هنا وثمّة عن "حقوق الانسان"، ومعظمه لا غاية له سوى استغلال الانسان وانتهاك حرماته أو بكلام آخر جعله باسم الحرية عبداً. هذا، ويذهب غير قليل من المحلّلين الاجتماعيين الى أن فلسفات الأنسنة والتي هي وليدة عصور "التنوير الغربي"، لم تترك مكاناً للبعد الروحي في حياتنا. حضارة اليوم تدعو كلّ واحد منّا وتمهّد له السبيل للاستغناء همّا هو ديني روحي، ليكتفي بالغايات الآنية لوجوده، فيرتاح الى ما يحقّقه من انجازات بشرية صغيرة كانت أم كبيرة، ويبني أهراءات المال والسلطة واللذة التي تؤمّن مستقبل مجتمعه واستقراره.غير أن الحقيقة الأكثر صدقاً أن انساننا

Sermon on the Sunday of the Paralytic

by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (1914 – August 4, 2003) was bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland. He wrote masterfully about Christian prayer, and many Orthodox Christians in Great Britain and throughout the world consider him to be a saint.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
How tragic today’s story of the life of Christ is. A man had been paralysed for years. He had lain at a short distance from healing, but he himself had no strength to merge into the waters of ablution. And no one – no one in the course of all these years – had had compassion on him.
The ones rushed to be the first in order to be healed. Others who were attached to them by love, by friendship, helped them to be healed. But no one cast a glance at this man, who for years had longed for healing and was not in himself able to find strength to become whole.

هل للسيد المسيح اخوة؟
 ومن هم أخوة يسوع؟؟

:ما معنى عبارة اخوة يسوع

لا توجد اية واحدة في الكتاب المقدس ولا دليل على ان المدعوين اخوة يسوع:

1- قالوا أن اباهم هو القديس يوسف خطيب العذراء.

2- أو انهم اولاد مريم العذراء أو بناتها.

3- أو أن المدعوّين اخوة يسوع ولدتهم مريم العذراء أم يسوع.

4- أو ان احدأ منهم قال أو وصف بأن العذراء أمه ويوسف ابوه.

5- أو مريم العذراء عندها اولاد قبل ولادةالسيد المسيح أو بعد .

6- أو ولادة أو موت أي واحد منهم ( اخوة يسوع ) قبل موت السيد المسيح.
READ MORE

القديس العظيم في الشهداء

جاورجيوس اللابس الظفر

( نقلاً عن سنكسار الأرشمندريت توما بيطار )

من أبرز قدّيسي كنيسة المسيح وأكثرهم شيوعاً في إكرام العامّة من المؤمنين. في الأودية السابعة من قانون السّحر نرتّل له: "أيها الشّهيد إنّ اسمك العجيب يُشاد به في كلّ الأرض، لأنّه لا يوجد بَرّ ولا بحر ولا مدينة ولا قفر إلاّ وتتدفّق فيه، بالحقيقة، مجاري عجائبك الغزيرة". يتخذ المؤمنون اسمه أكثر، فيما يبدو، من اسم آخر. وقد اعتادت الكنيسة، هنا وثمّة، على تسمية العديد من الكنائس باسمه، منذ القرن الرّابع الميلادي. كنيسة القدّيس جاورجيوس، في تسالونيكية مثلاً، تعود، في نظر الدارسين إلى تلك الفترة. إلى ذلك يُستفاد من النقوش القديمة اقتران اسمه بالعديد من الكنائس الخربة في سوريا وبلاد ما بين النهرين ومصر.

Great-Martyr George, the Trophy Bearer
April 23rd
When the Roman Emperor warned that those who professed Christianity would be hunted down and killed, the great Roman soldier was not afraid.
Instead of going into hiding, George the Tribune – sometimes referred to as the “Dragon-Slayer” – decided to publicly proclaim his allegiance to Jesus Christ. After selling all his property and freeing all his slaves, he strode boldly into the Roman Senate and asked to be heard. Because he was a respected officer (a Tribune in those days commanded a thousand men), he was given permission to speak.

Without hesitating, the blunt-spoken Tribune told the stunned Senators that he was a practicing Christian . . . and that he had no intention of giving up his faith, regardless of the recent decision by the Emperor Diocletian (284-305) that Christians would now be persecuted throughout the land.

Stunned, the Senators shook their heads in disbelief. Then they asked him to explain why in the world he had decided to challenge the mighty Emperor’s authority in broad daylight, in front of the entire Senate. But the Tribune only smiled. Then, in a bold and determined voice, he told them quite simply, according to historians of the period: “I am a servant of Christ, my God, and trusting on Him, I have come amidst ye at mine own will, to witness concerning the Truth.”  TAKEN FROM

قضايا عاجلة

الحسن بن طلال

الدستور الأردنية

تَعْرًضُ اليوم لحياتنا العربية، محلياً وكونياً، جملة من المسائل والقضايا التي تمثّل تحديات حقيقية وتتطلب مواقف حاسمة. من بين هذه المسائل والقضايا: التعددية الدينية، والعلاقات مع الغرب، ومطالب الواقع الإنساني.

في مقدمة هذه المسائل ما يثور من هواجس وتوجسات في شأن الحقائق الاجتماعية

البحث عن يسوع القائم

في هذه الايام المفعمة بالفرح الفصحي ، الكنيسة ما زالت تحتفل بسر القيامة وتختبر الفرح العظيم ، الناتج عبر بشرى السارة في انتصار المسيح على الشر والموت.

هذا الفرح القيامي لا يمتد فقط الى ثمانية ايام وانما ايضا خلال 50 يوما حتى العنصرة.

ان هذا الاعلان المذهل حقا ان الرب قام وقد ظهر لسمعان ( لوقا 24 – 34) هي البشرى السارة ، هذا هو الانجيل المعلن والمنقول من جيل الى جيل على مر العصور.

قيامة الرب هي عمل القدرة الالهية الذي لا يقهر ، انه حدث استثنائي جدا، لا يمكننا ان ندركه ، لانه يفقوق قدرتنا البشرية على معرفته بكل ابعاده، وايضا ان القيامة حدث تاريخب فعلي ومشهود وموثق ، القيامة هي جوهر ايماننا وعلته.

لايصف العهد الجديد قيامة يسوع خلال حدوثها ، انما بشير فقط الة شهادات الاشخاص الذين التقى بهم يسوع شخصيا بعد قيامته، منهم نساء حاملات الطيب ، الذين نعيد لهم اليوم وايضا القبر الفارغ من علامات قيامة الرب .

Christ's Limitless Love

Love is patient and kind; Love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

No doubt, in today’s society we are exposed to many messages about the meaning of love. Countless song titles speak on the subject - “What’s love got to do with it?” “Will you still love me tomorrow?” “All you need is love.” Amidst thousands of songs, movies, and book titles, our Lord’s Resurrection reminds us that it ‘is’ about God’s limitless and sacrificial love.

عظة للقديس يوحنا مكسيموفيتش

ألقاها في أبنائه في باريس، فصح سنة 1956

لننقِ حواسنا وننظر عِبر نور قيامة المسيح المضيئة التي لا يمكن بلوغها. الآن كل شيء ممتلئ بالنور،

السماوات والأرض وما تحت الأرض. الكل يستحمّ الآن بالنور. المسيح قام من بين الأموات. السماوات تبتهج، الأرض تفرح وما تحتها يمجّد. الملائكة ينشدون

“بقيامتك أيها المسيح السيد، أنت اجعلنا على الأرض أيضاً مستحقين لتمجيد بقلب نقي.

جوق الملائكة، الذي ارتعب من رؤية الخالق والسيد ميتاً، ينشد الآن نشيد الفرح ويمجدونه قائماً.  

  أحدالمخلع

رسالة وإنجيل هذا النهار يلتقيان في نفس الموضوع وفي نفس المعنى.

يدور الحديث فيهما عن الشفاء من المرض الروحي والنفسي والجسدي،

اي الإنتقال من حالةٍ الى حالة ثانية أفضل،

لأن يسوع اتي لتكون لنا الحياة وتكون لنا أفضل

ولينقلنا من سلطان الظلام الى نور اولاد الله

أي ينقلنا من الموت الى الحياة،

ونحن ما زلنا في زمن الفصح زمن القيامة وهذا ما تعنيه لنا قيامة المسيح.

ليس صدفة أن يُتلى الإنجيل والرسالة في نفس المضمون

On Confession
by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (1914 – August 4, 2003) was bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland. He wrote masterfully about Christian prayer, and many Orthodox Christians in Great Britain and throughout the world consider him to be a saint.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Many are those among you who have come to confession either yesterday or the days before, on occasions before, before you received communion, and I want you to reflect later on a very important point. The early Church knew nothing of the private confession which we use nowadays. People came to confess their sins to the whole community, to all their brothers and sisters in Christ because it was felt – as it should be felt by us but is very little perceived – that when one member of the body sins the whole body is wounded, that whatever sin I commit it soils and pollutes the whole body, and moreover that whenever I commit a sin against a brother, against a sister, indeed against myself I am partaking in the Crucifixion of Christ. Because He came into the world to save sinners and whoever is a sinner is to a greater or lesser extent responsible for the Incarnation He accepted in order to die for us. And in the early Church people had an intense sense of community and therefore when sin was committed it was confessed to all the community.

Prayer in the Orthodox Church

"He who is able to pray correctly, even if he is the poorest of all people, is essentially the richest. And he who does not have proper prayer, is the poorest of all, even if he sits on a royal throne"

(St John Chrysostom, PG 48, 767).

In the Orthodox Church prayer is the elevation of the mind and the heart to God in praise, in

thanksgiving, and in petition for the spiritual and material goods we need. Our Lord Jesus Christ

commanded us to enter into our inner room and there pray to God the Father in secret. This inner room

means the heart, the core of our being.

The Apostle Paul says that we must always pray in our spirit. He commands prayer for all Christians

without exception and asks us to pray unceasingly.

Unity of the Faith

of the Church Throughout the

Whole World

By Saint Irenaeus (c. 202)

The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: She believes in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaims through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from the virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and His future manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one”…

The Church, having received this teaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves

As A Lamb To The Slaughter

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Our father among the saints, Nikolai Velimirovich, was a gifted theologian combining a high level of erudition with the simplicity of a soul steeped in Christ-like love and humility, is often referred to as the “new Chrysostom” for his inspired preaching.

As a spiritual father of the Serbian people, he constantly exhorted them to fulfill their calling as a nation: to serve Christ.

During WW II he was imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp. He later served as a hierarch here in America, where he died.

“Like a lamb lead to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).

Throughout the many centuries of time the discerning Prophet Isaiah foresaw the awesome sacrifice on Golgotha. From afar he saw the Lord Jesus Christ led to the slaughter as a lamb is lead to the slaughter. A lamb permits itself to be led to the laughter as it is led to the pasture: defenseless, without fear and without malice. Thus, Our Lord Christ was led to the slaughter without defense, without fear and without malice.

Neither does He say: “Men, do not do this!” Neither does He question: “Why are you doing this to Me?”

كن كاهناً لي

للأب ليف جيليه

((ليس كاهناً إلاّ واحدٌ))

لا يوجد كاهنٌ ،بالمعنى الكامل لكلمة كاهن، إلا واحدٌ وهو يسوع المسيح "المقرِّب والمقرَّب" بآن واحد، فذبيحة المسيح وضعت حداً للذبائح القديمة وللكنوت القديم وقُدمت هذه الذبيحة لله مرة وإلى الأبد لغفران الخطايا، غير أن يسوع أراد أن يشرك الناس في عمله الخلاصي المقدس ، لذلك جعل لنا نوعين من الكهنوت : كهنوت عام "ملوكي" وكهنوت خاص "أسراري".

الكهنوت العام والخاص كليهما ينبعان من كهنوت المسيح الوحيد. فالأسقُف والكاهن لا يتميزان سو أنهما يجسدان، في مكان معيّن وزمان

On The Lord’s Prayer

by St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Our father among the saints Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) was a distinguished theologian and archbishop of Jerusalem in the early Church. His famous 23 catechetical lectures, which he delivered while still a presbyter in 347 or 348, contain instructions on the principal topics of Christian faith and practise, in a popular rather than scientific manner, full of a warm pastoral love and care for the catechumens to whom they were delivered. Each lecture is based upon a text of Scripture, and there is an abundance of Scriptural quotation throughout. After a general introduction, eighteen lectures follow for the competentes, and the remaining five are addressed to the newly baptized, in preparation for the reception of Holy Communion.

Then, after these things, we say that Prayer which the Saviour delivered to His own disciples, with a pure conscience entitling God our Father, and saying, Our Father, which art in heaven. O most surpassing loving-kindness of God! On them who revolted from Him and were in the very extreme of

أحد حاملات الطيب

المسيح قام... حقاً قام

فرح القيامة

يستحيل أن يعرف الإنسان الفرح الحقيقي دون أن يعرف قبله الحزن الحقيقي. وقد عرف تلاميذ المسيح بوادر هذا الحزن في حين "إبتدأ يسوع يظهر لتلاميذه أنه ينبغي أن يذهب الى أورشليم ويتألم كثيراً من الشيوخ ورؤساء الكهنة والكتبة ويقتل وفي اليوم الثالث يقوم" (مت21:16). وقد عاد وأظهر لهم ذلك بجلاء، فيما كان صاعداً الى أورشليم للمرة الأخيرة مع الإثني عشر (مت17:20). وحين اقتربت الساعة لتسليمه جاء معهم الى ضيعة يقال لها

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, Christ is risen!

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the holy myrrh-bearing women. The holy women were faithful disciples of Christ and always remained near the Lord in His earthly service. They listened to his preaching in Galilean synagogues, walked with Him to Jerusalem, were present at the resurrection of Lazarus, cried with the Mother of God at the foot of the Savior’s Cross and followed Joseph and Nicodemus to the tomb. They spent the hours following the Crucifixion in pain and agony with what was left of the Lord’s disciples. Undoubtedly, their hearts burnt with the desire to run to the Lord, but they observed the Sabbath with other Jews “because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity” (John 19:31 NRSV).

Yet the sacred day of the Sabbath of the Great Stillness came to an end, and with the first rays of the rising sun, having gathered all that was necessary for burial, the holy women hurried to Him, whom alone their hearts desired, to their beloved Teacher (Mark 16:2). Did they

أقوال آبائية عن القيامة

††† القديس غريغوريوس اللاهوتي†††

+ المسيحُ قام من بين الأموات، فقوموا أنتم معه.

+ المسيح عاد واستوى في مكانه، فعودوا أنتم معه.

المسيح تحرر من رُبُطِ القبر، فتحرروا أنتم من رُبُطِ الخطيئة.

+ أبواب الجحيم قد فُتحت، والموت ينحل.

+ آدم القديم يبتعد والجديد يعود إلينا.

+ فإذا كانت خليقةٌ جديدةٌ بالمسيح، فتجددوا أنتم.

+ الفصحُ فصحُ الرب. هذا عيد الأعياد وموسم المواسم، فهو فوق الأعياد والمحافل جميعا، وفضله على سائر الأعياد كفضل الشمس على سائر الكواكب. اليوم نعيِّد القيامة نفسها التي لم تعد أملاً ورجاءً، بل واقعاً حياً، وموضوع فرح دائم في غلبتنا الموت. فقد اشتملت العالم بأسره.  

حقاً قام 

 القديس يوحنا الذهبي الفم

قيامة المسيح هي "عيد الأعياد وموسم المواسم"، كما نردِّد في صلواتنا، في أعقاب أقوال القديس غريغوريوس اللاهوتي.

كيف لا تكون القيامة عيد الأعياد وموسم المواسم وهي تعني أن جسد يسوع الراقد في قبر محكم الإغلاق بحجر كبير، قد قام، وخرج من القبر دون أن تَدخل ملاك أو أُنس؟ لقد قام بمقدرته الذاتية. كيف قام جسد الميت؟ يسوع أقام لعازر وابن أرملة نايين وأبنة يايروس. عرفنا أن يصنع العجائب ولكن كيف قام هو نفسه بعد موته الخلاصي على الصليب؟ هذا سر

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

the Church of the Resurrection

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre – the Church of the Resurrection

The church of the Holy Sepulchre is also called by the Orthodox Christians, the Church of the Resurrection, because not death but resurrection is the foundation of Christian victory. The Holy Sepulcher Church is a settlement that the Crusaders had built in the eleventh century in place of the ancient churche built by Empress and Saint Helena in the fourth century in Jerusalem. The church bares the most precious vestiges for Christians: Mount Calvary and the Tomb of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Here, it is also found the cave where the Holy Cross – that our Lord was crucified on – was discovered by Empress Helena (the mother of St Constantine the Great).

كنيسة القيامة من أعرق كنائس بيت المقدس ،استغرق العمل في بنائها أحد عشر عاما إذ بدأ عام ثلاثمائة وخمسة وعشرين وانتهى عام ثلاثمائة وستة وثلاثين للميلاد.

أشرفت على بنائها الملكة هيلانه والدة الإمبراطور قسطنطين ..هذل وقد عثرت الملكة هيلانه أثناء زيارتها إلى بيت المقدس على خشبة الصليب الذي علق عليه السيد المسيح ،وأرادت بناء كنيسة في المكان.

لبى الإمبراطور رغبة والدته ،ولم يوفر مالا ولا حرفيين أو خبراء في سبيل بناء كنيسة لائقة، وأشرف على البناء بشكل مباشر مهندس سوري اسمه"زينو بيوس،ورجل دين من شيوخ الكنيسة اسمه يوستاثيوس.

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العبادة الفردية والعبادة الجماعية

الأب جورج فلورفسكي

مقدمة

في موضعين مختلفين من إنجيل متى وردت عبارتان تختصان بالصلاة تبدوان كأنهما تناقض إحداهما الأخرى. ففي الموعظة على الجبل علّم الرب يسوع الجموع أن يصلوا "في الخفاء"، أي أن تكون الصلاة انفرادية، على حد قوله "أغلق بابك": فيكون الإنسان في شركة مع الآب السماوي وحده (متى 6: 5). ولكن في موضوع آخر وفي مناسبة أخرى علّم الرب يسوع بضرورة الصلاة الجمهورية بقوله: "إذا اتفق اثنان منكم على الأرض في شيء يطلبانه فإنه يكون لهما" (متى 18: 19). 

Celebrating the Paschal Feast

by St. Athanasius of Alexandria

Our father among the saints Athanasius of Alexandria (also spelled “Athanasios”; from Greek, “immortal”) was a bishop of Alexandria and major theological writer in the fourth century. He is also called Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Apostolic. He was born in 298 and died on May 2, 373. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is January 18. This excerpt from a Easter letter by Saint Athanasius (Ep. 5:1-2: PG 26, 1379-1380) was written around 340 AD to prepare the people of Alexandria for the celebration of the Paschal Feast of Easter. It clearly demonstrates the sacramental and liturgical nature of worship in the early church.

أحد توما

كتبه الأب سلوان

تشكل القيامة مركز أعياد الكنيسة الأرثوذكسية وفيها نذوق طعم الفرح الحقيقي لأن فيها غلب المسيح الموت ودعانا أن نكون معه من الظافرين، بدونها لا يوجد معنى لأي عيد وهي أساس إيماننا بالمسيح كإله حقيقي وعليها يستند وجودنا كأبناء لله وأعضاء في جسده، الكنيسة.

تأخذ القيامة شكل حدث تاريخي يُعاش في الكنيسة يومياً وليس لمرة واحدة، أثبته المسيح

The Holy Apostle Thomas

As many of the Holy Church Fathers have pointed out, those who doubt the Word of God actually serve a very useful purpose, almost in spite of themselves. By reminding us of our human frailty, they show us how God loves us – even though, all too often, we fall short of achieving perfect faith in God.

That’s how it was with the struggling apostle, St. Thomas, whose well-known inability to accept the news of the Resurrection led to a glorious moment – described beautifully in Chapter 20 of the Book of John – during which the Son of God gave all of humanity a brief verbal glimpse of His suffering body . . . along with an unforgettable statement TAKEN FROM

Sermon 72

On The Lord’s Resurrection

by St. Leo the Great

St. Leo the Great was the bishop of Rome during difficult times. He was an eminent scholar of Scripture and rhetoric.   During an invasion by Attila the Hun, St. Leo met him outside the gates of Rome. After some short words, to everyone’s surprise, Attila turned and left.  Three years later, during an invasion by Genseric the Vandal, St. Leo’s intercession again saved the Eternal City from destruction.

I. The Cross is not only the mystery of salvation, but an example to follow

The whole of the Easter mystery, dearly-beloved, has been brought before us in the Gospel narrative, and the ears of the mind have been so reached through the ear of flesh that none of you can fail to have a picture of the events: for the text of the Divinely-inspired story has clearly shown the treachery of the Lord Jesus Christ’s betrayal, the judgment by which He was condemned, the barbarity of His crucifixion, and glory of His resurrection.

But a sermon is still required of us, that the priests’ exhortation may be added to the solemn reading of Holy Writ, as I am sure you are with pious expectation demanding of us as your accustomed due. Because

Homily on Pascha

by St. Gregory the Theologian

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;—

Paschal Greetings
Afrikaans - Kristus het opgestaan! Hom het waarlik opgestaan!
Aleut - Kristus aq ungwektaq! Pichinuq ungwektaq!
Arabic - !المسيح قام! حقا قام (al-Masīḥ qām! Ḥaqqan qām!)
Armenian - Քրիստոս յարեաւ ի մեռելոց՜ Օրհնեալ է յայտնութիւնն Քրիստոսի՜ (Christos harjav i merelotz! Orhniale harutjun Christosi! -- Christ is risen! Blessed is the resurrection of Christ!)
Belarusian - Хрыстос уваскрос! Сапраўды ўваскрос! (Khrystos Uvaskros! Saprawdy Wvaskros!)
Bulgarian - Христос Возкресе! Воистина Возкресе! (Christos Vozkrese! Voistina Vozkrese!)
Czech - Kristus vstal z mrtvých! Vpravdě vstal z mrtvých!

Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!

المسيح قام! حقاً قام!

Χριστός Άνέστη! Άληθώς Άνέστη!