I Am He

I Am He: Common practices of the Great Lent between 4th cen... : Comparing between what we have in the Coptic Orthodox Church now and some practices from 4th century. Trying to find links related with the catechumen. During this week in the fourth century , you will see a deacon having a list of the candidates of the baptism “Catechumen” who will be cat...

During this week in the fourth century , you will see a deacon having a list of the candidates of the baptism “Catechumen” who will be catechized during the Great Lent and if they passed all tests including the witness from their neighbours. Then they can receive the “illumination” the Holy Baptism in the Feast of the Resurrection. Yes they are buried and raised with Him. Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:4. The curriculum the church used to teach them is having its traces in our Coptic Orthodox Lectionary  for the Great Lent ( Lent Latin Quadragesima: Fortieth)  (please visit http://stmary-ottawa.org/publications/Katameros_Lent.pdf   for the lectionary of the Great Lent). We will find the main structure of the daily prophecies “the teaching part for the catechumen” composed of the History of salvation in the Books of Moses,  where we remember that God who started the covenant with Israel is still exists and works in our time, life and space. Reading the prophecies ...

I Am He: Excerpts from St. Cyril of Alexandria commentary o... : I summarized some points worth mentioning by our great father St. Cyril of Alexandria :  1- The book of Jonah is a "shadow" to t...

I summarized some noteworthy points from our great father, St. Cyril of Alexandria:   1- The Book of Jonah serves as a 'shadow' to the 'mystery of the Incarnation of our Saviour.' 2- We should not apply the entire story of Jonah to Jesus. 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 highlight a comparison between how the Gentiles accepted the preaching and how the Jews rejected it. As St. Cyril explains, "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, ...