St Shenouda Monastery

The Crucified Jesus

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:57:55 +2000

The Crucified Jesus is a 20th century classic that has been finally made available in the English language. It is a group of contemplation on the events that took place during Holy Week. The last chapter has contemplations of the last words of Christ on the Cross.

Makes a Great Read for Lent

Metropolitan Malki's Visit

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:08:42 +2000

On Sat 10^th of Dec Metropolitan Malki the Met. of the Syrian Orthodox Church, came with a group of youth from his congregation to visit the monastery. During his visit he addressed the youth on the topic âContemplation on the Book of Psalms.â Bishop Anba Daniel and the fathers of the monastery thank H.E. Met Malki very much for his visit. H.E. has promised to make this a yearly event. Click below to download the talk.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Part 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Part 2

THE WONDER OF DIVINE NATIVITY

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:52:10 +2000

By: Jacob of Sarug

God has performed a great wonder at the nativity of His Son

who came forth into the open to redeem the world through His smallness.

A virgin conceived Him, a womb has contained Him and the manger

sustained Him: Who then is able to speak without wonder?

Mary's knees have escorted Him, arms have carried Him, a bosom embraced Him;

and on account of all these there is wonder and beÂwilderment to those who discern.

A breast is His sustenance, a cave His bridal chamber, a manger His bed;

and among these the mind wonders when it looks upon Him.

He is girded round in swaddling clothes and He sucks the milk humbly;

He is clothed in flame, yet He moves the wheels vigÂorously.

Syrian Bishop's Visit

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:41:14 +2000

Spiritual Canon

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:30:00 +2000

Spiritual Canon is an extensive and broad subject. It is not limited to the Canonical prayers or the Lordâs prayer or even genuflecting, (Matania), neither is it the reading of the Bible and spiritual books, nor adhering to the Sacraments of Confession and Eucharist. It is more intense than that.

We should not be concerned only with the external appearance of the Spiritual Canon: counting how many times we prayed or how well recited. More importantly is the spirit by which we carry our spiritual practices.

May our Lord enlighten us and bestow on us His grace to practice these Rules. May the Holy Spirit pave the path and help us in our spiritual walk all the days of our lives.

Lives of Martyrs

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:26:11 +2000

Click on the images below to read the life of the Martyr

St Dymiana and the 40Â VirginsÂ Â Sts Perpetua andÂ Filicity

ST. MARY'S VIRGINITY: A Biblical Reality

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:20:57 +2000

Aaronâs rod, in fact, is Mary.

It is a type of her virginity. She

conceived and bore the Son of the Most

High, the Word, without human seed.

Sunday Theotokia.

The virginity of St. Mary is not a matter of her own private life, but rather a âbiblical realityâ, which central to our faith in Jesus Christ. For when the Word of God was incarnated, He was not particular about the kind of place where he would be cradled, or the clothes He would wear, or the food He would eat; but He was definitely very particular about the Virgin who was to be His mother.

The prophet Isaiah gives us a prophetic sign of the Virginal Birth. âBehold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel.â (Isaiah 7: 14) Here the text refers to St. Mary the virgin mother of Emmanuel, directly and literally. It is a very accurate description of St. Maryâs state as being virgin and engaged at the same time. For the Hebrew term used for âvirginâ is âalmahâ and not âbetulahâ nor âissaâ. The word âalmahâ means a virgin maiden who may be engaged, while âbetulahâ means a virgin who is not engaged. The word âissaâ means a married lady.

If the Scripture uses the word âissaâ, it would not have signified an extraordinary miracle that was about to be performed by God, for the married woman can conceive and bear a son. If it uses the word âbetulahâ, it does not describe the state of St. Mary, who was engaged to St. Joseph. But it uses the word âalmahâ, which fits her state accurately, as a virgin and engaged to St. Joseph who protected her and became a faithful witness of her chastity, leaving no chance for any doubts or suspicion.

It is worth noting that this word âalmahâ is etymologically used in this sentence to mean the continuation of the state of virginity, and for this reason it has been translated âthe virginâ, and not âa virginâ, to describe the Emmanuel's mother as the virgin even after her child's birth.

Another prophet confirms St. Mary's perpetual virginity, as he says: âWhen he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looked towards the east, it was shut. Then the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince himself shall sit in it...â (Ezk. 44: 1-3).

This sealed eastern gate is a figure of St. Mary's perpetual virginity. For the Lord alone entered her womb, and this gate was never opened to another; its seals were not broken. In this effect the Coptic Church sings the following hymn: âEzekiel witnessed and told us: I have seen an eastern gate. The Lord, the Saviour entered it, and it remains shut as it was beforeâ.

The Sublime Life of Monasticism

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:33:54 +2000

The funeral prayer is prayed on the monk during his ordination so as to raise him from The earthly life to a heavenly life.

For this reason many people left the world and their family and lived in the deserts and caves longing for this life, the life of Christian perfection.

Today many books are published about the lives of these monks which drew many youth to the monastic life, yet one question is repeatedly asked âwhat are the signs of the Monastic calling?â

In this book there are many spiritual experiences of a monk who tasted the sweetness of this life in the wilderness of scetis and i hope that through this book you will find the answer to this question.

Feast of St. Shenouda

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:27:23 +2000

The celebration of St. Shenoudaâs Feast , will be on Saturday 16/7/2011 & Sunday 17/7/2011 instead of Thursday 14/7/2011 (The Actual feast day) So we can give better opportunity for many to attend.

On The Relaxation of the fast during the 50 days

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:35:51 +2000

By: St John Cassian

Abba Theonas visited us in our cell, and when evening prayers were over and we had been sitting for a short while on the ground we began to question him in considerable detail as to why they were so careful that no one ever kneel in prayer during all of Pentecost or presume to fast until the ninth hour, and we sought to understand this with so much the more diligence because we had never seen it observed with such care in the monasteries of Syria.

Thereupon Abba Theonas began to speak as follows: It certainly behooves us, even when the reason for it has not been grasped, to yield to the authority of the custom of our forebears which has existed for so many years, up until our own day, and to maintain it, as it was passed on of old, by a constant and reverent observance. But since you want to know the causes and the reason for this, listen for a short while to what has been passed down by our elders about this custom.

In Ecclesiastes the divine wisdom has indicated that there is an appropriate time for everything that is, for all things, whether they be fortunate or be considered unfortunate and sad. As it says: âThere is a time for all things, and a time for everything under heaven: a time for bringing forth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted, a time for killing and a time for healing, a time for destroying and a time for building, a time for weeping and a time for laughingâ etc. And a little later it says that âthere is a time for everything and for every deed.â

It has therefore been determined that none of these things is a permanent good, except when it is carried out at the right time and in correct fashion. Thus, the very things that turn out well now, since they were done at the right time, are found to be disadvantageous and harmful if they are tried at an inopportune or inappropriate moment. The only exception to this is those things that are essentially and of themselves either good or bad and that can never be turned to their contraries, such as justice, prudence, fortitude, temperance, and the other virtues.

If we include fasting among those things that are understood as virtues, by placing abstinence from food among the essential goods, then eating will be utterly evil and sinful. For whatever is contrary to an essential good is certainly to be considered essentially evil. The authority of Holy Scripture does not permit us to say this, because if we fast with such an understanding and attitude as to believe that we commit sin when we eat, then not only do we gain no fruit from our abstinence but, according to the Apostle, we even bring upon ourselves very grave guilt and the crime of sacrilege: They abstain from food that God created to be eaten with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving.

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