Vol: 4 Issue: 12
Kiahk 1727 / December 2010
St Mary as an Example of Virginity By: St Ambrose of Milan Let then, the life of St Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast. The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? What more chaste than she who bore a body without contact with another body? For why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind, who stained the sincerity of its disposition by no guile, who was humble in heart, serious in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue. When did she cause pain to her parents even by a look? When did she disagree with her neighbors? When did she despise the lowly? When did she avoid the needy? Being wont only to go to such gatherings of men as mercy would not blush at, nor modesty pass by. She was unaccustomed to go from home, except for divine service, and this with parents or kinsfolk. Busy in private at home, accompanied by others abroad, yet with no better guardian than herself, as she, inspiring respect by her conduct and speech, progressed not so much by the motion of her feet as by step upon step of virtue. But though the Virgin had other persons who were protectors of her body, she alone guarded her character; she can learn many points if she be her own teacher, who possesses the perfection of all virtues, for whatever she did is a lesson. Mary attended to everything as though she were
warned by many, and fulfilled every obligation of virtue as though she were teaching rather than learning. Such has the Evangelist shown her, such did the angel find her, such did the Holy Spirit choose her. Why delay about details? How her parents loved her, strangers praised her, how worthy she was that the Son of God should be born of her. She, when the angel entered, was found at home in privacy, without a companion, that no one might interrupt her attention or disturb her; and she did not desire any women as companions, who had the companionship of good thoughts. Moreover, she seemed to herself to be less alone when she was alone. For how should she be alone, who had with her so many books, so many archangels, so many prophets? And so, too, when Gabriel visited her, did he find her, and Mary trembled, being disturbed, as though at the form of a man, but on hearing his name recognized him as one not unknown to her. And so she was a stranger as to men, but not as to the angel; that we might know that her ears were modest and her eyes bashful. Then when saluted she kept silence, and when addressed she answered, and she whose feelings were first troubled afterwards promised obedience. And holy Scripture points out how modest she was towards her neighbors. For she became more humble when she knew herself to be chosen of God, and went forthwith to her kinswoman in the hill country, not in order to gain belief by anything external, for she had believed the word of God. “Blessed,” she said, “art thou who didst believe.” And she abode with her three months. Now in such an interval of time it is not that faith is being sought for, but kindness which is being shown. And this was after that the child, leaping in his mother’s womb, had saluted the mother of the Lord, attaining to reason before birth. And then, in the many subsequent wonders, when the barren bore a son, the virgin conceived, the dumb spake, the wise men worshipped, Simeon waited, the stars gave notice. Mary, who was moved by the angel’s entrance, was unmoved by the miracles. “Mary,” it is said, “kept all these things in her heart,” Though she was the mother of the Lord, yet she desired to learn the precepts of the Lord, and she who brought forth God, yet desired to know God. And then, how she also went every year to Jerusalem at the solemn day of the Passover, and went with Joseph. Everywhere is modesty the companion of her singular virtues in the Virgin. This, without which virginity cannot exist, must be the inseparable companion of virginity. And so Mary did not go even to the temple without the guardianship of her modesty. This is the likeness of virginity. For Mary was such that her example alone is a lesson for all. If, then, the author displeases us not, let us make trial of the production, that
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whoever desires its reward for herself may imitate the pattern. How many kinds of virtues shine forth in one Virgin! The secret of modesty, the banner of faith, the service of devotion, the Virgin within the house, the companion for the ministry, the mother at the temple. Oh! how many virgins shall she meet, how many shall she embrace and bring to the Lord, and say: “She has been faithful to her espousal, to my Son; she has kept her bridal couch with spotless modesty.” How shall the Lord Himself commend them to His Father, repeating again those words of His: “Holy Father, these are they whom I have kept for Thee, on whom the Son of Man leant His head and rested; I ask that where I am there they may be with Me.” And if they ought to benefit not themselves only, who lived not for themselves alone, one virgin may redeem her parents, another her brothers. “Holy Father, the world hath not known Me, but these have known Me, and have willed not to know the world.” What a procession shall that be, what joy of applauding angels when she is found worthy of dwelling in heaven who lived on earth a heavenly life! Then too Mary, taking her timbrel, shall stir up the choirs of virgins, singing to the Lord because they have passed through the sea of this world without suffering from the waves of this world. Then each shall rejoice, saying: “I will go to the altar of God; to God Who maketh my youth glad;” and, “I will offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay my vows unto the Most High.” (From: St Ambrose, Concerning Virgins, book 1 chapter 2)
A Group of youth from St Mark Church Spending the day at the monastery
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St.Mary in the Sunday Theotokia By: One of the Youth Our beloved Mother St. Mary holds a very significant role in orthodoxy, and in no other period of the year do we venerate her more than during the Coptic month of Kiahk (10 Dec-8 Jan). The church is full of praise with mention of her ways and virtues to inspire us to lead a life of submission which she exemplified. She is placed in a position higher than all the saints, prophets, patriarchs, cherubim and seraphim. In his book, “On the Mother of God” St.Jacob of Serug talks about the value of the Virgin in the Christian life by saying; “Blessed of women by whom the curse of the Land was eradicated, and the sentence henceforth has come to an end. Modest, chaste and filled with beauties of holiness, so that my mouth is inadequate to speak a word concerning her” The Sunday theotokia is a portion of the midnight praise dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is rich in symbols and titles ascribed to the Virgin as well as deep theological explanations. The Sunday theotokia is made up of fifteen parts and in each of these parts we see the repetition of the two phrases, “Wherefore everyone magnifies you, O my Lady the Mother of God, the ever holy. And we too, hope to win mercy, through your intercessions with the Lover of mankind” and “Wherefore we exalt you befittingly with prophetic hymnology; for they spoke of you with great honour, O Holy city of the great King; we entreat and pray that we may win mercy through your intercessions with the lover of mankind.” Through these, we praise the Virgin for her righteousness and ask for her intercessions which are highly regarded before the Saviour. We repeatedly refer to the Virgin as “The holy city” and compare her to the Tabernacle as she held in her womb the holy of holies; Christ the Lord. Several titles of honour are ascribed to the St.Mary in the Sunday Theotokia and many of these have theological significance. One of the simplest yet most important is the term “Theotokos” (Mother of God) as it signifies both the divinity of Christ and the relationship between Jesus and St.Mary. Many contentions took place in history over the use of this title but the Orthodox church remained adamant in its stand on this issue. One of her other surnames is “Tai Shory” (The golden censer); by this, the church makes the association that she held the humanity of Christ (the coal) and his divinity (the fire) in her womb (the censer) without being burnt or overwhelmed. Similarly, she is referred to as “The second heaven” as she was the abode of God during the sacred pregnancy. Additionally, just like “The rod of Aaron” which budded and gave fruit without any planting or nurturing, St.Mary gave birth to the saviour without the seed of man and so is likened to this rod. The church fathers made the association between the Virgin Mary and the Old Testament tabernacle. Just like the tabernacle, The virgin: Held the holy of holies; Her virginity is everlasting like the wood of the Ark that would not decay; Is the vessel of manna wherein the bread of life was held; Page 4
Is like the candlestick of pure gold in the tabernacle, as she held the light of the world. In the Sunday theotokia, we say that all these symbols are proofs of “Your marvellous birth O Mary the virgin”. In the eighth part of the theotokia, the congregation sings aloud in praise to the virgin proclaiming many times “Shere ne Maria” (Hail to you O Mary). In every verse we mention some of the reasons why we praise her. For example because she is, the mother of the Lord, the joy of generations, the pride of Judah, grace of Daniel, power of Elijah etc. Throughout the Theotokia, although directed towards the Virgin, we continue to refer to the Lord Christ who is the centre of our every worship. He is the source of blessing that made St.Mary so honoured and is the aim of our prayer when we ask for her intercessions. The Coptic Church holds fast to the tradition of venerating the Virgin Mary and asking for her intercessions as much evidence of her assistance and strong prayers have been shown over many years. We are drawn to the life of humility and submission she lead and are urged to imitate her. Of her humility, St. Jacob of Serug says, “Daughter of poor ones who became the mother of the Lord of kings and gave riches to the needy world that it might live for him”. As she continues to appear to us both visibly and in various ways in our lives, we continue to sing praises to her, ask for her intercessions and beg her to open for us the gates of heaven.
A Group of Sunday School youth from St Abou Sefeen Church spending a day in the monastery
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ST. MARY'S VIRGINITY A Biblical Reality By: Fr Tadros Malaty Aaron’s rod, in fact, is Mary. It is a type of her virginity. She conceived and bore the Son of the Most High, the Word, without human seed. Sunday Theotokia. The virginity of St. Mary is not a matter of her own private life, but rather a ‘biblical reality’, which central to our faith in Jesus Christ. For when the Word of God was incarnated, He was not particular about the kind of place where he would be cradled, or the clothes He would wear, or the food He would eat; but He was definitely very particular about the Virgin who was to be His mother. The prophet Isaiah gives us a prophetic sign of the Virginal Birth. “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel.” (Isaiah 7: 14) Here the text refers to St. Mary the virgin mother of Emmanuel, directly and literally. It is a very accurate description of St. Mary’s state as being virgin and engaged at the same time. For the Hebrew term used for “virgin” is ‘almah’ and not ‘betulah’ nor ‘issa’. The word ‘almah’ means a virgin maiden who may be engaged, while ‘betulah’ means a virgin who is not engaged. The word ‘issa’ means a married lady. If the Scripture uses the word ‘issa’, it would not have signified an extraordinary miracle that was about to be performed by God, for the married woman can conceive and bear a son. If it uses the word ‘betulah’, it does not describe the state of St. Mary, who was engaged to St. Joseph. But it uses the word ‘almah’, which fits her state accurately, as a virgin and engaged to St. Joseph who protected her and became a faithful witness of her chastity, leaving no chance for any doubts or suspicion. It is worth noting that this word ‘almah’ is etymologically used in this sentence to mean the continuation of the state of virginity, and for this reason it has been translated ‘the virgin’, and not ‘a virgin’, to describe the Emmanuel's mother as the virgin even after her child's birth. Another prophet confirms St. Mary's perpetual virginity, as he says: “When he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looked towards the east, it was shut. Then the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered Page 6
by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince himself shall sit in it...” (Ezk. 44: 1-3). This sealed eastern gate is a figure of St. Mary's perpetual virginity. For the Lord alone entered her womb, and this gate was never opened to another; its seals were not broken. In this effect the Coptic Church sings the following hymn: “Ezekiel witnessed and told us: I have seen an eastern gate. The Lord, the Saviour entered it, and it remains shut as it was before”. (From Fr Tadros Malaty, St Mary in the Orthodox Concept)
A Group of youth from Archangel Michael Church spending a retreat at the monastery A Group of boys from St Mark’s Church spending a retreat at the monastery
A Group of youth from St Dymiana Church Spending a retreat at the monastery Page 7
Latest Publication The Kiahk Psalmody For use during the blessed month of Kiahk there is now available the “Kiahk Psalmody in English, Arabic
and Coptic”.
This book was originally made in spiral bound form for use in the Monastery but due to demand from parishioners we have now revised it, updated it and hard bound it for long life and convenience of use. The book includes the Vespers Praise which is said on Saturday afternoons.
Prayer Program for December and January Kiahk Praises: Sat 11th Sat 18th Sat 25th Sat 1st
Dec 2010 Dec 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011
Vespers Midnight Tasbeha First Liturgy Second Liturgy
5:00pm 11:00pm 4:00am 10:00am
– 6:30pm – 3:00am – 6:00am – 12:00pm
Midnight Tasbeha Holy Liturgy
11:00pm – 3:00am 4:00am – 6:00am
New Year Eve: Friday: 31st Dec 2010
Glorious Feast of Christmas: ( Friday : 7 Jan 2011). Thursday: 6th Jan 2011
Paramoun Liturgy Feast Liturgy
9:00am – 12:00pm 9:00pm – 12:00 am Page 8