The cross is the door to mysteries. Through this door the intellect makes entrance in to the knowledge of heavenly mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is concealed in the sufferings of the cross. And the more our participation in its sufferings, the greater the perception we gain through the cross. For, as the Apostle says, `As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ."
(St. Isaac of Syrian)

Towards A Unity Of The Apostolic Churches

Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:53:26 -0000
From: "arbible"
Subject: Re: question                 

The Patriarchs of Jerusalem and of Moscow and All Russia referred to in this article both belong to the Eastern Orthodox family of Orthodox Churches. The Coptic Orthodox Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of Orthodox Churches. Sadly, the two families of Orthodox Churches are not yet in full communion with each other.
____________________________________________________________________
From: "rodelf edward" <rodelf_roro@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed Mar 1, 2006  2:03 am
Subject: RE: question  rodelfedward
Why the Coptic orthodox are never mentioned in the meetings between the patriarchs as if they do not exist or as if they don't consider pope Shenouda as a patriarch ??!!  

Good Question!!!  Does any body have an answer? Please!

Are we voluntary or involuntary isolated from the Orthodox Family? All Popes talk about unity with seen efforts. Are we frozen since 1990!?

Pope Benedict XVI is meeting Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Turkey, on the second day of a landmark visit to the largely Muslim country.  The Istanbul talks with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians aim to heal an old rift.

These were followed by the establishment of a Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which has held four meetings : Chambesy, Geneva (December 1985), Anba BISHOY monastery, Egypt (June 1989), Chambesy II (September 1990) and Chambesy III (November 1993). Ignorance of the remarkable advance towards the eventual reunion of the "two families" is still widespread and it is a sad reflection on the lack of understanding of what has been agreed already that some journals, commenting on the recent reception of the British Orthodox Church by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, are still impugning the Orthodoxy of the Oriental Orthodox churches with accusations of the Monophysite heresy.

There is, of course, always the zealot fringe, which has rather foolishly and improbably attempted to stigmatize the deep and careful deliberations of the Joint Commission as just another step in the liberal, ecumenist sell-out, preferring - for its own reasons - to re-open old wounds rather than pour out the healing balm of charity and truth. In accordance with the Bulletin's declared policy of explaining our common understanding of the Orthodox faith, we published in this issue the key texts issued by the Joint Commission...."  continued on "The Creed" page.

From the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States: Q & A     Is there any chance that you (monophysite Orthodox Coptic Church) will become united (unified) with other Orthodox Churches worldwide?

"The term monophysite comes from two Greek words meaning "single nature". Monophysitism endorses the merging of the Lord Jesus Christ's Humanity into His Divinity. So that effectively meant that in the Lord Jesus Christ there was only a single nature, a Divine Nature. This is NOT what the Coptic Orthodox believes. We believe that "the Lord Jesus Christ was a perfect human and a perfect Divinity and His two natures are united together into a one nature (Miaphysitism). Also we believe that His Divinity parted not from His Humanity not even for a single moment nor a twinkling of an eye" and we recite this statement in every Divine Liturgy. The term (miaphysite) is used by St. Cyril and it reflects the belief of the Coptic Church in the One Nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately until today, the Coptic Church has been accused of believing in monophysitism (single nature) which is a heresy condemned by the Coptic Church. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox (Miaphysite) Churches now have come to a realization that they profess the same faith. Their separation in the fifth and sixth centuries can now be seen as having been due to linguistic, political and national factors. Since they have all along had the same faith, all that remains for the two churches now to do is to remove a few secondary difficulties such as mutual anathemas, the non-recognition of each other's saints and parallel jurisdictions. When these difficulties are resolved, a new step will be achieved in the Ecumenical Movement, which eagerly desires the union of all churches."

Please see History of Chalcedon,  progress statements, and researches  on "The Creed" page. More updates will  follow.

Visit: http://www.heresiesandheretics.com

Towards A Unity Of The Apostolic Churches

Saints are Citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom and Now They are up Together in One United Church, the Victorious Church!

"And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God."  ( Rev. 20:3 )

Please see the history of schisms on the page of "The Creed"

" For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Mt 18:20)

It must be stated at the beginning that the only true "saint" or holy one (Hagios) is God Himself. The Bible states "For I am the Lord your God; you shall name yourselves holy and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy ... " (Lev. 11:44; 19:2 and 20:7). Man becomes holy and "sainted" by participation in the holiness of God. " Once you are alienated from God...But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..."(Col. 1:21-23)

Holiness or sainthood is a gift (charisma) given by God to man, through the Holy Spirit. Man's effort to become a participant in the life of divine holiness is indispensable, but sanctification itself is the work of the Holy Trinity, especially through the sanctifying power of Jesus Christ, who was incarnate, suffered crucifixion, and rose from the dead, in order to lead us to the life of holiness, through the communion with the Holy Spirit. In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians St. Paul suggests: "But we are bound to thank God always for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because from the beginning of time God chose you to find salvation in the Spirit that consecrates you, and in the truth that you believe. It was for this that He called you through the Gospel we brought, so that you might possess for your own the splendor of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2: 13–14).

Through the work of the Holy Trinity all Christians could be called saints; especially in the early Church as long as they were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, they received the Seal of the Spirit in chrismation and frequently participated in the Holy Sacraments (Eucharist). In the same spirit St. Paul, when writing to the Churches he had visited, calls all the faithful "saints." Writing to the Ephesians, he addresses "the saints who live in Ephesus" (1:1); writing to the Corinthians he uses the same expressions (2 Co. 1:11). St. Basil, commenting on this point, writes that Paul refers to all those who are united with God, who is the Being, the Life and the Truth (Against Eunomius, II, 19). Furthermore, St. Paul writes to the Colossians that God has reconciled men by Christ's death, "so that He may present you before Himself holy, without blemish and innocent in His sight" (1:22).

In our society, however, who can be addressed as a saint? Who are those men and women and children who may be called saints by the Church today? Many theologians classify the saints in six categories:

1. The Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God. She is the Queen of all intercessors. If it is  fitting to believe in the communion of Saints, and to ask them with our loved ones to pray and intercede for us before the Lord? how much more it is fitting to ask The Mother of God to pray and intercede for us in our need? WE DON'T WORSHIP THE HOLY QUEEN, BUT WE LOVE HER, MAGNIFY HER, AND ASK HER TO INTERCEDE FOR US BEFORE HER SON, JESUS, THE LORD, FOR WHOM WE WORSHIP ONLY, FAST, AND PRAY.

2.  The Apostles, and the disciples who were the first ones to spread the message of the Incarnation of the Word of God and of salvation through Christ.

3.   The Martyrs, and the Confessors, for sacrificing their lives and fearlessly confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.

4. The Fathers and Hierarchs of the Church, who excelled in explaining and in defending, by, behavior, word and deed, the Christian faith, detached from the world luxuries and possessions.

5. The Saints and Monks, who lived in monasteries or in seclusion or in the desert and dedicated themselves to spiritual exercise, reaching, as far as possible, perfection in Christ.

6. The Righteous, those who lived in the world, leading exemplary lives as clergy or laity,  becoming examples for holiness in society. They can pray and intercede as we used to say:" Please pray for me, or remember me in your prayers

Each and every one among all these saints has his or her own calling and characteristics: they all fought the "good fight for the faith" (1 Ti. 6:12 and 2 Ti. 4:7). All of them applied in their lives the scriptural virtues of "justice, piety, fidelity, love, fortitude, and gentleness" (1 Ti. 6:11).

The ultimate goal of the saint is to imitate God and live the life of deification . St. Maximos the Confessor (seventh century) writes that the saints are men who have reached theosis (deification); they have avoided unnatural development of the soul, that is, sin, and tried to live the natural way of life (i.e., living according to created nature), turning and looking always towards God, thus achieving total unity with God through the Holy Spirit.        (On Theology, 7.73).

It may be stated here that the Saints are first of all "friends" of God. Secondly, through their genuine piety and absolute obedience to God, they pleased Him and have therefore been "sanctified" both in soul and body, and subsequently glorified in this world. Thirdly, they have been accepted in God's bosom after their passing from the world into eternal life. Fourth, many of them have been given special "grace" or "favor" to perform miracles either before their departure from this world or after. Fifth, they have been granted the special gift to pray and intercede for those still living in this world and fighting the "good fight" for the glory of God and their own perfection in Christ. This intercession springs from the fact that they also are part of the "Communion of Saints". They share prayers and good works with Christians on earth and there is a constant interaction and unity between the glorified saints in the Victorious Church in Heaven and Christians who still live and struggle in the world.

"The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs, Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by tremendous yearning." ( St. Bernard of Clairvaux )

"Blessed is God! In our time as well martyrs have come forth, and we have been made worthy to see people sacrificed for the Lord Christ, people who shed their holy blood to irrigate the entire church. We have been worthy to see people, advocates of piety, who are victorious; who are crowned and we now have these crowned ones among us." - St. John Chrysostom

V V V

The fact that Christians ask the prayers of saints and their intercession is prefigured in the New Testament. St. Paul asks the Christian Ephesians, Thessalonians, Colossians and Romans to pray for him (Eph. 6:19, 1 Th. 5:25; Col. 4:3, and Ro. 15:30-31). In every Liturgy, we ask God the Father to accept, on our behalf, "the prayers and the intercession" of all the Saints who now live in heaven. The Fathers of the Church also accept as a matter of course the prayers and the intercession of all the saints.

In one of his letters, St. Basil explicitly writes that he accepts the intercession of the apostles, prophets and martyrs, and he seeks their prayers to God (Letter 360). Then, speaking about the Forty Martyrs, who suffered martyrdom for Christ, he emphasizes that "they are common friends of the human race, strong ambassadors and collaborators in fervent prayers" (Chapter 8). St. Gregory of Nyssa  asks St. Theodore the Martyr "to fervently pray to our Common King, our God, for the country and the people" (Tribute to Martyr Theodore). The same language is used by St. Gregory the Theologian in his encomium to St. Cyprian.  St. John Chrysostom says that we should seek the intercession and the fervent prayers of the saints, because they have special "boldness"  before God.

In the Apostolic Church the worship given to God is completely different from the honor of love (agape) and respect, or even veneration , "paid to all those endowed with some dignity" (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. III, 40). The churches honor the saints to express their love and gratitude to God, who has "perfected" the saints. As St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, "God is the teacher of the Prophets, the co-traveler with the Apostles, the power of the Martyrs, the inspiration of the Fathers and Teachers, the perfection of all saints."

Throughout early Christianity, Christians customarily met at the places where the martyrs had died, to build churches in their honor, venerate their relics and memory, and present their example for imitation by others. Interesting information on this subject derives from the time of the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp when  the early Christians reverently collected the remains of the saints and honored them "more than precious stones." They also met on the day of their death to commemorate "their new birthday, the day they entered into their new life, in Heaven." To this day the concerned churches have maintained the liturgical custom of meeting on the day of the saint's death, of building churches honoring their names, and of paying special respect to their relics and icons. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787 A.D.), in summarizing this practice of the Church, declares that "we adore and respect God our Lord; and those who have been genuine servants of our common Lord we honor and venerate because they have the power to make us friends with God the King of all."

The feast days and the celebrations honoring the saints had become a common practice by the fourth century. The twentieth canon of the Council of Gangra in Asia Minor (between the years 325 and 381) anathematizes those who reject the feast days of the saints. So great was the esteem in which the Apostles, prophets, and martyrs were held in the Church, that many writings appeared describing their spiritual achievements, love and devotion to God.

The Fathers, and all early Christians in general, paid especially great respect to the relics of the martyrs. In addition to the sources already mentioned, the Church historian 'Eusebius', says that "those who suffered for the glory of Christ always have fellowship with the living God" (Church History, 5:1). In the Apostolic Constitutions (5:1) the martyrs are called "brothers of the Lord" and "vessels of the Holy Spirit." This helps to explains the special honor and respect which the Church paid to the relics of the martyrs. St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. John Chrysostom remind us that the relics of the martyrs "are filled with spiritual grace," that even their tombs are filled with a special "blessing." This Patristic practice still continues today, and people from all over the world visit churches that possess the relics of martyrs and saints. Also, according to the ancient tradition, the consecration of new churches takes place with the deposition of holy relics in the Holy Table of the sanctuary.

Great controversies occurred in the past over the special honor due to the icons of Christ as well as those of the saints of the Church. The Iconoclastic controversies which began in Byzantium in the seventh century shook the entire church. The Fathers of the Church, however, declared quite clearly that the honor belongs to the "prototype" and not to the material image of Christ or the Saints. The Acts of the Fourth session of the Seventh Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (787 A.D.) illuminate this particular point:

"We accept  the word of the Lord and his Apostles through which we have been taught to honor and magnify  in the first place Her who is properly and truly the Mother of God (Theotokos) and exalted above all the heavenly Powers; also the holy and angelic Powers; the blessed and all-lauded Apostles; and the glorious Prophets and the triumphant Martyrs who fought for Christ; holy and God fearing Doctors, and all holy men; to seek their intercession  to make us at home with the all-royal God of all, so long as we keep his commandments and strive to live virtuously. Moreover we accept the image of the honorable and life-giving Cross, and the holy relics of the saints; and we receive the holy and venerable images; we accept them and we embrace them, according to the ancient traditions of the Holy Catholic Church of God, that is to say our holy Fathers, who also received these things and established them in all the most holy Churches of God and in every place of His dominion. These honorable and venerable images, as has been said, we honor, accept and reverently venerate: the image of the incarnation of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, and that of our immaculate Lady, the all-holy Mother of God, from whom He pleased to take flesh and to save and deliver us from all impious idolatry; also the images of the holy and incorporeal Angels, who appeared to the just as men. Likewise we also venerate the figures and the effigies of the divine and all-lauded Apostles, the God-speaking Prophets, and the suffering martyrs and holy men, so that through their representations  we may be able to be led back in memory and recollections to the prototype, and participate in their holiness"  (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 14, P. 541]

That every individual soul has a guardian angel  has never been defined by the Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the "mind of the Church ", as Saint Jerome expressed it: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." 

This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans like Menander and Plutarch  and Neo-Platonists like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians. Their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the great,  says: "He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub)  of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed."  Please see a prayer for the Guardian Angel among the prayers at 'Let Us Pray'.

The Heavenly Hosts

The Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers:

PLEASE SEE DETAILS OF THE HEAVENLY HOSTS NEXT PAGE 'about this site'.

SAINTS IN ARABIC