Friday, 25 December 2015

saint Mary the virgin part2


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The Virgin is the blessed saint, whose blessing is contin uous 
throughout the generations, as it has been mentioned in her hymn: 
"For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed" 
(Luke 1:46). 
The Church calls the Virgin by the surname of "the queen". This 
was mentionned by the psalm, about her: 
"At Your right hand stands the queen" (Ps. 45:9). That is why, many artists, when they draw the pictures of the Virgin, 
they put a crown on her head, and she appears in the image, on the right 
side of the Lord Christ. 
The reverence of the Virgin appears in the salutation of the 
archangel Gabriel to her: 
"Peace to you, O you full of grace, "the Lord is with you; blessed 
are you among women" (Luke 1:28). That is, with a special blessing, to 
which also saint Elisabeth gave testimony. "Then she spoke out with a 
loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the 
fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:42). 
Saint Elisabeth found herself small in front of the greatness of the 
Virgin, and she spoke with the feeling that she was not deserving, 
although she knew that her son "will be great in the sight of the Lord", 
and that "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah" 
(Luke 1: 15-17). She said: 
"But why is it granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should 
come to me?" (Luke 1:43). 
Probably the most evident proof of the greatness of the Virgin, and 
of her position in the sight of the Lord, is that when her mere greeting 
arrived to Elisabeth, the latter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and her 
babe felt it and leaped in her womb for joy. The divine Intuition says in 
that: 
"And it happened, when Elisabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that 
the babe leaped in her womb, and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy 
Spirit" (Luke 1:41). 
It is really an amazing greatness, that her mere greeting makes 
Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit! Who is he among the saints, whose 
greeting caused another to be filled with the Holy Spirit?! But here is 
Elizabeth testifying and saying: "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your 
greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy" (Luke 
1:44). 
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, by the greeting of Mary, 
and she also obtained the gift of prophecy and revelation: She then knew that this is the mother of her Lord, and that she 
believed " those things which were told her from the Lord", and she also 
knew that the leaping of the babe was "for joy". This joy, of course, was 

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because of the Blessed One who was in the womb of the Virgin, "blessed 
is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1: 41-45). 
The majesty of the Virgin shines brilliantly in the choice of her by 
the Lord, from among all the women of the world....... 

The only human being for whom the divine providence waited 
thousands of years, till He found her, and judged that she deserved that 
immense honor which the angel Gabriel explained saying: "The Holy 
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow 
you; therefore also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the 
Son of God" (Luke 1:35). 
The Virgin excels all women in her eminence: For that reason, the divine Intuition said about her: "Many 
daughters have done well, but you excel them all" (Prov. 31:29). It is 
probably from this divine text, that the song of the Church was taken: 
"Many women have obtained honors, but no one of them obtained like 
you"......... 
This Saint Virgin, was in the thought and in the providence of 
God, since the beginning. 
He said to our first parents, in the salvation which He promised 
them, that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent 
(Genesis 3:15). This woman is the Virgin, and her Seed is Christ, who has 
crushed the head of the serpent on the Cross....... 

A LIFE SURROUNDED BY MIRACLES 
In the life of The Virgin, miracles begin before her birth, and 
continue after her death. From these: 
1. She was generated with a miracle, from sterile parents, with an 
annunciation from the angel. 
2. The miracle of her bethrothal, in a divine manner which 
determined who will take her and care for her. 
3. The miracle of her conception of Christ while she is a virgin, and 
the continuation of her virginity after giving birth. 
4. The miracle during her visit to Elizabeth who, when she heard the 
voice of her greeting, the babe leaped for joy in her womb, and she was 
filled with the Holy Spirit. 
5. Innumerable miracles during her visit to Egypt, one of which is 
the fall of idols (Is. 19:1). 
6. The first miracle which the Lord did in Cana of Galilea, happened 
through her request. 
7. The miracle of the dissolution of iron, and the deliverance of the 
apostle Matthias, happened through her intervention. 
8. The miracle of Christ receiving her soul, at the hour of her death. 

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9. The miracle of the striking of the jews by the Lord, when they 
wanted to attack her corpse after her death. 
10. The miracle of the ascent of her body to heaven. 
11. The miracles which happened everywhere by her hands, about 
which books were written. 
12. Her apparition in numerous places, and especially her wonderful 
apparation in our churches in Zeitoun, and in Papadopoulo. 
Miracles are still happening everywhere, and will happen as a 
testimony to the honor of this saint. 

THE VIRGIN'S FAST 
The Church celebrates the fast of our Lady the Virgin beginning 
with the first of Mesra, (the 7th of August). It is a fast for which people 
care very much, and they practice it with forceful ascetism. Some add 
days to it, in regard of the great love of people for The Virgin. 
The fast of The Virgin is an occasion for spiritual renaissance in 
the majority of churches. 
They prepare a spiritual program for daily sermons, and daily 
masses too in some churches, even the churches which are not named by 
the name of The Virgin. 
There is a great feast for our Lady The Virgin, which is celebrated 
in her ancient church in Mostorod. 
Feasts of other saints are also celebrated in these days: The feast of saint Georges at the monastery in Mit Damsis, is 
celebrated in the second half of August, and also the feast of saint Abba 
Macarius the Great, and the feast of saint Georges in his monastery at 
Ruzeykat. 
In the same fast of The Virgin, we celebrate the feasts of reknown 
she saints: like saint Baïssa (2 Misra, 6 August), saint Julita (6 Misra, 12 
August), saint Marina (15 Misra, 21 August). 
In the fast of The Virgin, we also celebrate the feast of the glorious 
Transfiguration (13 Misra, 19 August). 
In the same month (7 Misra, 13 August), we celebrate the feast of 
the announcement, by the angel Gabriel to Joachim, of the birth of The 

Virgin Mary. The feast of The Virgin is not the only occasion on which the 
Church celebrates the feasts of The Virgin, but more is celebrated in the 
month of Kiahk which is full of hyms, doxologies, and psalms for the 
saint Virgin Mary. 
Copts in Egypt, and specially women, take care for the fast of The 
Virgin, in a manner that exceeds description
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