Is your reality a reality among other realities or The Reality among other realties?


(Title adopted from the title of the ecumenical patriarch or the patriarch of Alexandria “First among others or first among Others) (notice the sensitivity of letter’s case position)

The picture is copied from http://www.unitedwaysteelecounty.org/About_Us.php 
                           



Recognizing the presence of the others is a valuable virtue. Without the other, you do not exist. In the 20 letters of St. Anthony, Samuel Rubenson mentioned that one important quality of St. Anthony the Great is that in order to be saved, you should lead others too to their ways of salvation. This reminds me of a quote from the Indian creed, “the hurt of one is the hurt of all and the honour of one is the honour of all,” which also coincides with what the blessed St. Paul said to his disciples Timothy in his first epistle “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2:3-4).


If you want to see just the book of the Letters of St. Anthony it is here, but I am sure you will not buy it … go and see: http://www.amazon.com/Letters-St-Antony-Monasticism-Christianity/dp/0800629108/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1360573449&sr=8-15&keywords=The+letters+of+St.+anthony

Comments

  1. Fr. Bishoy LamieFebruary 14, 2013 at 3:47 AM

    You find extracts from the letters of St. Anthony, if you find please write here so the reader can share some of virtues of His life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The themes of Sunday Liturgical Readings in the Coptic Orthodox Church

Reading of Sundays Excerpted from many sermons by The V. Rev. Fr. Athanasius K. Farag Sunday reading aims to show us the work of the Holy Trinity in the creation, redemption and glorification  of the human, it is called the economia of the Holy Trinity. Month of Tut In the first month of Tut we read the love of God the Father who called all for repentance “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” I Ti.2:4 Month of Babah In the second month of Babah, the churches tells us “Who is this Saviour?” we see him through his work miracles of healing the paralyzed, casting out demons, raising the dead. Month of Hatour In Hatour we see who is the Saviour through His word which is planted in our hearts. Month of Keyhak •       All from Luke chapter 1: the scenes which accompanied the Nativity season Month of Toba the incarnation of the Only Begotten Son who called us from darkness to the light, who walked on earth and we saw His gl
Read more

Excerpts from St. Cyril of Alexandria commentary on The Book of Jonah

I summarized some points worth mentioning by our great father St. Cyril of Alexandria :  1- The book of Jonah is a "shadow" to the "mystery of the Incarnation of our Saviour". 2- We should not apply the whole story to Jesus, as for example "he was sent to preach to the Ninevites, but tried to flee from the face of God, and proved reluctant about his mission; the Son also was sent by the God and Father to preach to the nations, but did not lack enthusiasm for his ministry, nor seek to flee from the face of the God and Father."  3- the story is meant to be a comparison between how the gentiles accepted the preaching while the Jews rejected it "what happened was by way of condemnation of Israel; they were convicted of being forward, unresponsive, paying little heed to the laws of God.After all, at a single prophet's preaching . the Ninevites were instantly brought around to a sense of obligation to repent, despite suffering from extreme deception
Read more

The real spiritual struggle is to spend time with God in your room.

Image
The real spiritual struggle is to spend time with God in your room. Pope Shenouda in front of his cave in the desert  His Holiness Pope Shenouda as we commemorate His Departure on March 17 th once said, the minute you want to sit with yourself to evaluate yourself, the Satan will not allow you to do so, as he knows the power which can come out of your sincere meeting with yourself. Tamav Erene while she is praying in one of the meeting with the people  Tamav Erene the abbess of St. Philopater Mercurius Convent for nuns in Old Cairo once said when she visited US. A day in my cell is better than all these beautiful views in the US. She found God in her very tight room, she made her room paradise. (This 3 minutes clip shows you the cell of Tamav Erene in which she counted it paradise  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tw2HreKqbY  ) Fr. Bishoy Kamel  Fr. Bishoy Kamel once said, the true indicator of one ’ s true service for God is your holiness.
Read more