The practices of monastic companionship and cohabitation described in the Spiritual Meadow had emerged long before the late sixth century. The practice of cohabiting monks first developed in the course of the fourth century, in the early years of the Christian monastic movement in Egypt. One of the earliest Christian saint’s lives, Athanasios’s Life of …
“A faithful friend is an elixir of life… A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter” (Ecc 6: 14,16). For what would a genuine friend not do? what pleasure would he not create for us? what benefit? what safety? Though you were to name a thousand treasures, there is nothing comparable to a real friend. First …
Abba John (the Dwarf) said, “Humility and the fear of God are above all virtues.” Abba Poemen said, “As the breath which comes out of his nostrils, so does a man need humility and the fear of God. Die daily, that you might live eternally, for one who fears God will live forever. St. Anthony …
So many people flee from the words “Fear of God”, seeing that such words are not suitable for the covenant of grace which we live. On what bases do they build their claim? 1. They say: why should I fear God while He accepted Augustine who had been ungodly for a long time? God also …
The official title of the head of the Coptic Church has traditionally been as follows, “Pope and Patriarch of the great city of Alexandria and of all Egypt, the Pentapolis and Pelousia, Nubia, the Sudan, Jerusalem, Libya, Ethiopia and all Africa, and all countries of the preaching of Saint Mark." And only in the last …
Born Wagih Subhi Baky Soliman in the Delta region of Mansoura, Egypt on the 4th of November 1952. His father passed away when Wagih was only 13 years old, and was mostly raised by his uncles, two of whom are Fr Youhana Baky from St Mark’s church in Heliopolis and the late Fr Antonious Baky …
Abouna Mina's life as a monk had begun at the age of 25 when he resigned from Thomas Cook's, the celebrated travel agency, after obtaining the Patriarch's personal permission to become a monk. While in secondary school in Alexandria, he had been inspired by reading the lives of famous monks; the monastery he selected was …
Christian Behaviour: according to the Saint Pope Kyrollos the Sixth, is a great little book that captures the spirituality of this great saint, not while he was a Pope but in his first few years in the monastic life. The book reveals the spiritual insight of this saint and the virtuous life that he practiced …
A truly historic event in our Coptic Church history occurred on Sunday 18 November 2012 that many of us have never witnessed – the enthronement of our new Patriarch, Pope Abba Tawadros II, Pope, Patriarch and Archbishop of the great city of Alexandria and the See of Saint Mark. The enthronement was a delightful and …
It is impossible to determine theoretically how long one should exercise oneself in a virtue before becoming established in it. Everyone must determine this for himself, considering his state, circumstances and achievements in spiritual life, and especially according to the judgment of his staretz or the spiritual father who directs him. Still, if a man's …
