There are many who fast it (with water and salt), that is without
oil........Many add a third week to it, as a kind of vow. There are also
those who vow to fast this fast without eating or drinking till the
appearance of the stars in heaven........
What then is the secret behind this care? First: The love of Copts for The Virgin who had visited and blessed
their country, and left her traces in numerous places where churches have
been built.
Second: The multiple miracles which happened in Egypt through
the intercession of our Lady The Virgin, made many people optimistic to
build churches dedicated to her name.
The apparition of The Virgin in her church at Zeitoun, and the many
miracles that accompanied this apparition, have certainly increased the
affection of the Copts for The Virgin, and for the fast which bears her
name.
HER FEASTS
Each saint has one feast in the Church, that is the day of his death or
his martyrdom; and may be another one that is the finding of his
remnants, or a miracle which happened relatively to his name, or the
building of a church for him.
But The Holy Virgin has a very great number of feasts. Of them,
there are:
1. The feast of the announcement of her nativity: It is on the 7th of Misra, when the angel of the Lord announced her
father Joachim of her birth. He and her mother Anna were then joyful,
and they vowed her for the Lord.
2. The feast of her nativity: The Church celebrates it on the first of Bashans.
3. The feast of her entry to the Temple: The Church celebrates it on the 3rd of Kiahk. It is the day when
she entered the Temple to adore God in the special house for the virgins.
4. The feast of her coming to Egypt: She was with the Christ our Lord, and Joseph the Carpenter. The
Church celebrates it on the 24th of Bashans
5. The feast of the death of The Virgin: It is on the 21st of Tubah. The Church also commemorates in it
the miracles which were accomplished in that day, when the fathers
apostles were surrounding her, with the exception of saint Thomas who
was then preaching in India.
6. The monthly feast of the Virgin:
10
It is on the 21st of every coptic month, in commemoration of her
death on the 21st of Tubah.
7. The feast of the ascent of her body to heaven: The Church celebrates it on the 16th of Misra , the 22nd of August,
which is preceded by the Fast of The Virgin (15 days).
8. The feast of her miracle: (the disssolution of iron): It is on the 21st of Baouna. In it we commemorate her miracle in
delivering the apostle saint Matthias and those who were with him from
prison, by dissoluting the iron which bounded them.
In that day also we celebrate the feast of the building of the first
church on her name in Philippi. All these feasts have special hymns and doxologies in the rites of the
Church, which contain many prophecies and special symbols from the
Old Testament, concerning her.
9. The feast of her apparition in Zeitoun on the domes of the church of The Virgin. It was on the 2nd of
April 1968, the 24th of Baramhat, and it remained during years.
In addition to all that, we celebrate during all the month of Kiahk,
(from December until the 7th of January), with hymns which are all about
the honor of our Lady The Virgin.
THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY
IN THE CHURCH'S FAITH
The Orthodox Coptic Church honors our Lady The Virgin with due
honor without exageration, and without lessening of her position.
1. She is, in the belief of the Church, the mother of God, (Theotokos in Coptic), and not the mother of "Jesus" as the Nestorians
had claimed, those whom saint Kirillos the Alexandrian fought, and
whom the sacred oecumenical council of Ephesus excommuniated.
2. The Church believes that the Holy Spirit has sanctified the
depository of The Virgin during the pregnancy with Christ. That was according to what the angel said to her "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 sanctifying by the Holy Spirit of her depository, makes the
One born of her, be conceived without the impurity of the original sin. As
for The Virgin herself, her mother conceived, like all people, and so The
Virgin said in her hymn: "my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior"
(Luke 1:47).
It is on the 21st of every coptic month, in commemoration of her
death on the 21st of Tubah.
7. The feast of the ascent of her body to heaven: The Church celebrates it on the 16th of Misra , the 22nd of August,
which is preceded by the Fast of The Virgin (15 days).
8. The feast of her miracle: (the disssolution of iron): It is on the 21st of Baouna. In it we commemorate her miracle in
delivering the apostle saint Matthias and those who were with him from
prison, by dissoluting the iron which bounded them.
In that day also we celebrate the feast of the building of the first
church on her name in Philippi. All these feasts have special hymns and doxologies in the rites of the
Church, which contain many prophecies and special symbols from the
Old Testament, concerning her.
9. The feast of her apparition in Zeitoun on the domes of the church of The Virgin. It was on the 2nd of
April 1968, the 24th of Baramhat, and it remained during years.
In addition to all that, we celebrate during all the month of Kiahk,
(from December until the 7th of January), with hymns which are all about
the honor of our Lady The Virgin.
THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY
IN THE CHURCH'S FAITH
The Orthodox Coptic Church honors our Lady The Virgin with due
honor without exageration, and without lessening of her position.
1. She is, in the belief of the Church, the mother of God, (Theotokos in Coptic), and not the mother of "Jesus" as the Nestorians
had claimed, those whom saint Kirillos the Alexandrian fought, and
whom the sacred oecumenical council of Ephesus excommuniated.
2. The Church believes that the Holy Spirit has sanctified the
depository of The Virgin during the pregnancy with Christ. That was according to what the angel said to her "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 sanctifying by the Holy Spirit of her depository, makes the
One born of her, be conceived without the impurity of the original sin. As
for The Virgin herself, her mother conceived, like all people, and so The
Virgin said in her hymn: "my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior"
(Luke 1:47).
11
That is why the Church does not agree that The Virgin was
conceived without the impurity of the original sin, as our brothers the
Catholics beleive.
3. The Church believes in the intercession of The Virgin. She places her intercession before the intercession of angels and
archangels, because she is the mother of God, and she is the Queen who
is at the right hand of the King.
4. The Holy Bible gives to The Virgin the surname "filled with
grace". It is regrettable that the Beyrouth translation of the Bible, in a way
that lessens the situations of The Virgin, translates this surname "highly
favored one".........All human beings are highly favoured, but The Virgin
is filled with grace........ although grace does not mean infallibility.
5. The Church believes in the perpetuality of the virginity of The
Virgin. The only exception to this rule, are our brothers the Protestants,
who claim that The Virgin gave birth to sons after Christ.
6. The Church believes in the Ascent of the body of The Virgin to
heaven, and celebrates that feast on the 16th of Misra.
HER SURNAMES AND SYMBOLS
A. Surnames as regards her greatness
and her relation with God:
1. We give her the surname of The Queen who is by the right side
of The King. In this, we mention the words of the psalm "At your hand stands
the queen in gold from Ophir" (Ps. 45:9). That is why, in her icon, she is
portrayed at the right hand of the Christ our Lord. And we say about her
in the divine mass "the Lady and the Queen of us all"......
2. Also we say about her: "Our mother the Holy Virgin". When the Christ our Lord was on the Cross, He said about that to
his disciple the beloved saint John: "Behold your mother" (John 19:27).
3. The Virgin is also compared to the ladder of Jacob" That ladder which "was set up on the earth, and its top reached to
heaven" (Gen. 28:12). That is the symbol of The Virgin who, by her
giving birth to Christ, made the inhabitants of the earth reach to heaven.
4. She was also called "the bride" because she is the true bride of the Lord of glory. The word of the
Lord in the psalm was realised in her: "Listen, O daughter consider and
incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father's house; so
the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord,
That is why the Church does not agree that The Virgin was
conceived without the impurity of the original sin, as our brothers the
Catholics beleive.
3. The Church believes in the intercession of The Virgin. She places her intercession before the intercession of angels and
archangels, because she is the mother of God, and she is the Queen who
is at the right hand of the King.
4. The Holy Bible gives to The Virgin the surname "filled with
grace". It is regrettable that the Beyrouth translation of the Bible, in a way
that lessens the situations of The Virgin, translates this surname "highly
favored one".........All human beings are highly favoured, but The Virgin
is filled with grace........ although grace does not mean infallibility.
5. The Church believes in the perpetuality of the virginity of The
Virgin. The only exception to this rule, are our brothers the Protestants,
who claim that The Virgin gave birth to sons after Christ.
6. The Church believes in the Ascent of the body of The Virgin to
heaven, and celebrates that feast on the 16th of Misra.
HER SURNAMES AND SYMBOLS
A. Surnames as regards her greatness
and her relation with God:
1. We give her the surname of The Queen who is by the right side
of The King. In this, we mention the words of the psalm "At your hand stands
the queen in gold from Ophir" (Ps. 45:9). That is why, in her icon, she is
portrayed at the right hand of the Christ our Lord. And we say about her
in the divine mass "the Lady and the Queen of us all"......
2. Also we say about her: "Our mother the Holy Virgin". When the Christ our Lord was on the Cross, He said about that to
his disciple the beloved saint John: "Behold your mother" (John 19:27).
3. The Virgin is also compared to the ladder of Jacob" That ladder which "was set up on the earth, and its top reached to
heaven" (Gen. 28:12). That is the symbol of The Virgin who, by her
giving birth to Christ, made the inhabitants of the earth reach to heaven.
4. She was also called "the bride" because she is the true bride of the Lord of glory. The word of the
Lord in the psalm was realised in her: "Listen, O daughter consider and
incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father's house; so
the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord,
st takla.org
No comments:
Post a Comment