The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas).
7th January - 29th Keiahk
On this day, of the year 5510 of the world, as calculated by our glorious church, we celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God in the Flesh from the virgin St. Mary. Through the Divine plan of God and His foreknowledge, Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a general census in all the Roman Empire. For that reason, Joseph rose, and the virgin with him, and went from the city of Nazareth to «Bethlehem» to be counted in the census there because he was from the tribe of Judah, from the house of David. Bethlehem was the city of David. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the Virgin gave birth to her first born child and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and put him in a manger, for they did not have a place for them in the inn. Now there were, in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, «Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.» Suddenly there was, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: «Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.»
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, «Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.» And they came with haste and found the Babe, Mary, Joseph, and Salomi. The place was shining with light. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. Then they worshipped the child and they returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen. (Luke 2:1-20)
On this day, the prophecies about the birth of the Lord from a chaste virgin had been fulfilled. Isaiah the prophet said, «Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His Name Immanuel.» (Isaiah 7:14)
Ezekiel the prophet also said about this wonderful mystery, «And the Lord said to me, ‹This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it, therefore it shall be shut.»› (Ezekiel 44:2)
About this child, Daniel the prophet said, «I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and the Kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.» (Daniel 7:13-14)
Jeremiah the prophet said, «Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a Branch of Righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the earth. In His days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His Name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.» (Jeremiah 23:5-6) We must therefore now direct our minds toward the manger of Bethlehem, where the Son of God was lying in it in the flesh at the time of His birth, contemplating in silence and reverence worthy of the mystery of the incarnation of God, and His birth in a manger for our salvation. Knowing that He teaches us through this mystery to despise the
world and all the vain things in it, and that He urges us to be humble and to love our neighbor seeking his own good, and that we should live in virtue and holiness according to the Christian ethics; not ignoring the great dignity that has been granted to us by this Divine Incarnation.
Since we have kept this fast before the Advent, and have arrived at this glorious feast, we should receive it with purity and every good thing. We should extend our hand to comfort the weak, to help the poor, and to be instruments of peace and reconciliation among the people, taking our Lord Who has made an eternal peace by His Incarnation as our example. We should ask God in supplications to have compassion upon us and to forgive our sins, and to bless our gatherings, and to keep the life of His Holiness Pope ... , Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, to keep his pontificate for many years with the joy, peace and the safety of the church, and the advancement of his people in virtue. May God grant us many returns of this feast, filled with the blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who came for our salvation. To Him be the Glory and Honor forever. Amen.
The Departure of St. John, Archpriest of Scetis.
8th January - 30th Keiahk
On this day, St. John (Youannis), the archpriest (Heagomen) of Shiheet (Scetis) departed. When he was ordained archpriest for the monastery of St. Macarius, the whole wilderness was illumined by him and he became a father to many of the saints. Among those saints were Anba Gawarga and Anba Abraam, the two great stars, and Anba Mina, bishop of Tamai “Tamuz”, and Anba Zacharias and many others, through whom many souls were saved.
Because of his holiness and his great piety, when he was administering Holy Communion to the people, he was able to recognize those who were sinners and those who were righteous. Several times he saw Christ and the angels surrounding Him upon the altar. He once saw one of the priests, who was of bad reputation, coming to the church and the evil spirits surrounding him. When the priest arrived at the door of the church, the angel of the Lord came out from the sanctuary )Hekal( with a fiery sword in his hand and dismissed the unclean spirits. The priest entered the church and put on the service clothes and administered the liturgy and gave the Holy Communion to the people. After he was finished, he took off the service clothes and went out of the church, the evil spirits returned to him. This was what St. John said to his brethren the monks, to make them aware that there was no difference between a sinful and an unsinful priest in ministering the church sacraments. For it is for the sake of the people that the bread and the wine are transubstantiated to the Body and the Blood of Christ. He told them a parable, “As the picture of the emperor is imprinted on his seal that is made from iron or gold, and the seal is one, also the priesthood is one with the sinner and the righteous, and the Lord rewards everyone according to his deeds.”
This saint suffered many tribulations. The “Berbers” took him captive to their country. He stayed there for many years, during which he was tortured. He met St. Samuel, the abbot of the monastery of Qualamon, during his captivity.
By the grace of God, he returned to his monastery. When he knew in a vision the day of his departure, he called the brethren and commanded them to keep the Commandments of the Lord, and to walk in the pathway of the saintly fathers, to share
with them the good portion and the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. Shortly after, he became ill and he saw a crowd of saints were coming to take his spirit, and he gave up the spirit in the hand of the Lord. His brethren carried him to the church and because of their strong love for him and their firm belief in his holiness, they kept a portion of his burial clothes which was a source of healing for many sicknesses. This father lived for 90 years. His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
The Martyrdom of St. Stephen the Archdeacon.
9th January - 1st Toba This day marks the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the Archdeacon and the first martyr )protomartyr(. St. Luke testified about him in the Acts of the Apostles saying, “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8) The Jews envied him and seized him and brought him to the Council. They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” (Acts 6:12-13) And all who sat in the Council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. (Acts 6:13) Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” St. Stephen answered with convincing words and told them the history from Abraham to Moses. The coming out of Abraham from Haran, the birth and the circumcision of Isaac, Jacob and his sons and their selling of Joseph, and how Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. St. Stephen continued to narrate to them all the events until the building of the temple. He concluded by saying, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of Whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers; who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” (Acts 7:51-53) When they heard these things they were cut to their hearts, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran toward him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.
They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus receive my Spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:51-60) Devout men carried St. Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. His prayers be with us. Amen.
The Departure of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian. 12th January - 4th Toba
On this day, in the year 100 A.D., St. John, the virgin, the evangelist, and apostle who was the son of Zebedee, departed. St. John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth) said that St. John the Evangelist was originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist. He was the brother of St. James the Elder, who was killed by Herod by the sword. The Lord called him with his brother “Boanerges” (Mark 3:17), that is “sons of thunder,” for their strong zeal and great faith. He was also the disciple whom Jesus loved. The lot fell on him to go to Asia. The people of this area were stiff-necked, so he prayed to Christ to be with him. He went to Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. They embarked
on a ship, but the ship was wrecked on the way and every one of the passengers clung to a plank of the ship’s wood. The waves washed out Prochorus to an island, but St. John remained among the waves of the sea for several days, until the waves carried him, by the will of God, to the same island where his disciple Prochorus was. When they met together, they offered thanks to God for taking care of them.
From there, St. John went to the city of Ephesus where he preached the word of salvation. Its people did not accept his message at first, until a day when an only child fell in the furnace of a public bath managed by the child’s mother. They took him in haste out of the fire, but he was dead and his mother wept bitterly At this time, St. John went to the child, prayed fervently to God, made the sign of the Cross over him, breathed in the child’s face, and life came back to him right away. His mother rejoiced and she kissed the feet of the Apostle and tears of joy were in her eyes. From this time on, the people of the city came to hear his teachings and many of them believed and were baptized by St. John. This made the priests of the idols resent him and they tried to kill him several times but they could not, for the Lord protects all His chosen ones. After a great effort and many hardships, St. John led them to the knowledge of God and ordained bishops and priests for them.
From there, he went to other places in Asia (Minor) and converted many of its people to the Faith of Christ.
This saint lived 90 years, and they used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. Because of his old age, he only gave them very short sermons saying, “My children, love one another.”
He wrote the gospel known after him, and the Book of Revelation which he had seen on the island of Patmos, which is full of divine mysteries. He also wrote the three epistles known by his name. He was with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration. He leaned (reclined) on the chest of our Lord at the Last Supper. He asked the Lord, “Who is he that shall betray you?” He was standing near the Cross with the Virgin St. Mary and the Lord said to his mother, “Behold your Son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.” He was the disciple about whom Peter asked the Lord, “And this one, what of him?” The Lord said to Peter, “If it be that I wish him to be here until I come, what is that to you?”
When St. John felt that he was about to depart from this world, he summoned the people and administered to them the Body and the Blood of the Lord. He preached and commanded them to be steadfast in their faith. He then departed from the City of Ephesus for a short distance. He commanded his disciple and others with him to dig there a pit for him. He went down in it, raised his hands and prayed and then bade them farewell. He commanded them to return to the city and to confirm the brethren in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and said to them, “I am innocent of your blood, for I did not leave any command of God that I haven’t taught you, and now, let it be known that you will never see my face again, and God will reward everyone according to his deeds.”
When he said that, they kissed his hand and his feet, and they left him and returned to the city. When the people knew what had happened, they went out to where the saint was, and they found that he had departed. They wept and were deeply sad. They talked about his miracles and marvelled about his meekness.
In spite of the fact that he did not die by the sword, as the rest of the apostles did, he was equal to them in the heavenly glories, for his virginity and his holiness. His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
+ Feast of Holy Nativity: Friday 6th January: Nativity Paramon: Nativity Paramon Friday 6th January 7-9am
Three Divine Liturgies will be held at ST Mary’s Church as follows:
St. Mary’s Church: Early Morning Prayer 5 - 6pm
First Mass: 6 - 9pm (Arabic & English)
Second Mass 9-12 midnight (Arabic & English)
St John Chrysostom Church: At the Uniting Church, McKraken Street
Early Morning Prayer 7:45pm Mass: 9 - 12 midnight (English)
Sunday School Celebrations Saturday 7th January 11am
Sunday 8th Jan: One Mass 8-10am
Glorious Feast of Holy Nativity
Pauline: Hebrews 1: 1- 2:4
Catholicon: 2 Peter 1: 12 – 17
Acts: Acts 13: 26-33l
Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12 “And fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)
What an exalted love before which a person stands incapable to express it. The God of glory becomes a Child for our sake. To whom the heavenly powers tremble and submit, before whom kings and greats are crushed; accepted to be an Infant Child. To be carried on hands and needing food and drink like us. He is the one who feeds all creation, provides for it, develops it, and raises all. The Lord has become a human being to raise the level of my humanity. I am the one who allowed sin to enter my life. And by disobedience, I lost my royal status. By the incarnation of the Lord, we became heavenly creatures despite our weak and corrupt nature. How amazing; the heaven is permitted to a repentant thief on the cross and to a man who denies His Master three times and wept bitterly. The arms of the Lord are opened because He knows the weakness of my humanity. Wow, a murderer and an adulterer slave who seeks to know You; therefore, You reveal Yourself to him, and interact with the love of Your transcendent incarnation, so that he becomes a great saint, heir of the kingdom, and a teacher to the hosts of earthly angels; saint Moses the Black. Wow, a boastful adulteress who wants to overthrow even those who make pilgrimages to visit the Holy Sepulchre. But you, Lord understand what is within the human being, because You became a human being like me, so you stopped her to reconsider herself, cry, repent, and break out in an amazing love. She clung to Your Beloved Person and left everything else to sojourn in the wilderness for decades and became a saint and an example of repentance that turns adulterers into virgins; saint Mary of Egypt. Wow, Your inexpressible love!!!!!
You became a Child, my Lord, to bless my helpless childhood. You raised the level of my childhood so that childhood, with its simplicity, innocence and purity, became the desire of the saints and hermits. Rather, it became a prerequisite to enter the kingdom of heaven. I wanted with my pride to
grow and magnify. Furthermore, I wanted one day to reach heaven with my human stature through the Tower of Babel. So you broke my pride when you showed my inability even to understand, and here you Lord, you prepared me for childhood, which perceives and sees what the wise men and greats of this world did not understand. In Your childhood, the wise men of the world prostrated themselves to You when they saw in You the secret of wisdom and the depth of exalted love before which all humans submit.
For my sake, Lord, you became a Child that carried on hands and needed food and drink. Rather, You became in need of a human being in order to hold me again in Your arms. I strayed like a lost sheep, so You became a lamb for my sake. You call me and I understand You, run to you, and I rest in your bosom. When the holy Virgin carried You in her arms, You embraced my humanity to you, so you made me feel the warmth of Your love. You needed my humanity to complete the shortcomings of my nature. You came to me in order to raise me from the lowliness of my soul. The martyrs saw a wonderful example in You, so they set off in processions of martyrdom as if it was an open gate to the heaven. They were attracted by this wondrous warmth, so they threw themselves into your bosom, feeling no pain. The hermits wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. You, O Lord, have become their support, their strength, their preoccupation, their fullness, and their love. How wonderful, a God Who needs a human being. With Him, the human being became a dweller in the bosom of God
My Lord, you accepted to be swaddled and placed in a manger. The heaven and the heaven of the heavens are nothing in front of Your greatness, O Lord, so how do You become bound in swaddling clothes, limited in a manger for my sake. You accepted the chains in order to free me from my chains. You became bound to take me out of the limits of my weakness and the corruption of my nature to freedom and glory of the children of God. With your chains, O Lord, I was freed from the chains of materialism, so I despised the world and began to pass through it as
a stranger, like my Master, who had no place to rest his head, and accepted to be without a dwelling place, even in His birth, in the midst of our cruel world. O my weak soul, become strong, for the Lord has become weak to strengthen you. O my despised soul, rejoice, for the Lord has become without a rest place or shelter in order to raise the level of your estrangement to the outlets of heaven. O my helpless soul, be pious, for the Lord has tested my inability, so He became helpless for my sake, so that I would find in Him strength, steadfastness, and launch into the depth of His love. Give me, Lord, in your birth, that I may be born again in You and become a child, to live in the simplicity of Your childhood, the meekness of Your birth, and the humility of Your manger. Give me O Lord, to prostrate to Your childhood with the Magi, offering you my heart as a gift.
Be Bountiful and Fruitful by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
When we celebrate the Birth of our lord Jesus Christ, we are celebrating a cosmic event that has many aspects: biblical, historical, geographical, prophetical, spiritual, humanitarian, etc.. However, it is important to know that the lord Jesus Christ chose the circumstances around His Birth, unlike any other person in the world since each one of US was born in a family we did not choose, in a country we did not select, at a time we did not choose, and in social, cultural or political conditions we did not choose. The lord Jesus could have been born in the country of philosophy like Athens, or the country of power like Rome. Yet, He chose Palestine that has a simple village and people, and a poor house, as well as a poor girl to be born from.
The time of His Birth coincided with the census ordered by Caesar Augustus for the entire Roman Empire (Luke 1 -2). Thus, being numbered as an earthly citizen, as He often called Himself ‘The Son of Man.’
With this in mind, we find that the lord Jesus Christ bears two names, each of which has a strong significance in the life of whomever believes in Him. The first is ‘Jesus,’ which means Saviour: “... and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). It is the name that marks the beginning of salvation from the effects of Adam and Eve’s sin. As for the second name, it is ‘Emmanuel’: ‘“Behold, the virgin shall be with Child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with US’” (Matthew 1:23). This is the richness of the Birth and Incarnation of our lord Jesus Christ, as He, out of His love to US humans, dwells in us and with US in love that surpasses knowledge.
For all of the above, the Nativity became to be rich in all its details and events. What is remarkable is that it is a ‘fruitful event’ in the sense that
each of the individuals involved have offered something or, more accurately, ‘gave birth/begotten’ a joyful fruit. Saint Mary the Virgin gave birth to the lord Jesus, and He chose her because she is ‘full of grace’ according to the angel’s saying (Luke 1:28). Then there is the village of Bethlehem, nameless, unknown and smallest among its neighbouring [villages]; it offered a simple manger to be a place for the lord Jesus and to become the most famous in the world. We often find a manger with animals in the Nativity icons, most importantly the ox and the donkey, as it is mentioned in the prophecy: “The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know. My people do not consider” (Isaiah 1:3). Then the shepherds who were tending their flocks in the desert came and offered affection and joy as they became the first to know about the Birth of Christ. Moreover, and from faraway lands, comes the Magi those wise men and scholars who followed a star in the east until they reached Bethlehem and offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). Even the angels in heaven offered praises of joy and gladness with their ever-lasting chant of “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” All of these individuals offered something and bore fruit with their lives and the variety of gifts they offered.
Now, the question to you, my dear reader, is: Are you bountiful in your life? Are you fruitful in your days? What have you offered in the past? What do you offer in your present? And what will you offer in your future?
I will answer these questions and express with you how to be bountiful and fruitful, and how to have a life rich with offering through some examples and models:
1- Some bring sons and daughters on the physical level through holy marriage and through wise upbringing. This results in beneficial individuals brought up to be good
citizens in every aspect of the word, useful to the society, the Church, and the whole world. The father and mother in a strong, stable and happy family, which we call “the body of love”, it can nourish and teach, not only knowledge, but also morals, principles, and values. It can also nourish the society and the homeland with enlightening and serving role models that labour to enrich social life and human life in various ways 2- Some bring sons and daughters on the human level through faithful and continuous discipleship in the various social services: they are those who hand down experience and skill to their disciples, whether in the fields of manufacturing, agriculture or economics. This faithful handing-down that extends over years and years enriches humanity and is the reason for its progress and meeting its needs in all the various forms. On the spiritual and ecclesiastical level in all types of consecration, where a person learns from a spiritual father in a continuous spiritual disciple-ship, they receive spiritual experience and fortification that can benefit others; thus, a person giving birth/begetting others in all fields
3- Some offer inventions, innovations, or discoveries on the scientific level that make life have more joy, comfort, and peace, like those who offer and discover many medications that cure millions of people, such as Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin. These people beget through their minds and success new concepts in every generation, working for the good of mankind. Yet, science and scientists continue to offer that which is greater and more beneficial to humanity, treat dis-eases, facilitate lives, and raise the Standards of living
4- Some offer and bring forth different talents in various fields such as literature, culture, art and sports. These talents be-come like stars in the sky of humanity. Any society takes pride in offering such outstanding talents, just as Egypt offered Taha Hussein and Naguib Mahfouz in the field of literature and others in music, art, and sports; many bright names, not only in Egypt, but all over the world
5- Some offer unforgettable and great services to humanity, and since the needs of people are many, the ultimate goal for the former is to serve people as God gave them this specificity in serving others, such as serving the disabled and those with special needs, addicts, orphans, immigrants, cases of injustice among young males and females, widows, prisoners, homeless children, and those who have no one to serve or care for them. Among the prevalent role models of our time is the service of Sir Magdi Yacoub in the field of cardiology and the wonderful civil service that he offers with his eager team through chains of hope that saved the lives of thousands of the young and old, and many others. The ultimate Nativity lesson is to be bountiful and fruitful, and not unproductive or fruitless. Your humanity needs you to produce, to offer, and to bear fruit whether in your family, or your church, or your community, or your country, or in the world you live in.
On this happy occasion and the beginning of the new Gregorian year, we extend our sincere congratulations to the great people of Egypt, and in the forefront, to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the President of the Republic, and all officials and his aides, praying that God preserves our beloved country Egypt in safety and peace, and that it overcomes all difficulties and crises caused by hopeless wars and conflicts. We pray for the peace of the world, especially in areas of conflict and clash, and may God grant joy and grace to anyone who lives honestly and faithfully to his country, homeland, and society. May you continue to be in His sublime care, wishing you all the best this year and the years to come.
Pope Tawadros II
Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Construction of New Buildings started Thursday 28th April
The new Building is expected to be ready within 12 months. church services are continuing as normal as in the Timetable inside the Bulletin. You can donate monthly contribution using Direct Debit forms available in the church or downloaded from church website. Cost of building works is around $12,000,000. Your support and donations will be blessing and very appreciated.
