This year marks the anniversary of H.G. Bishop David’s ordination as a bishop and 10 years of his blessed service here on the east coast.  His Grace Bishop David was honored at two functions, a banquet held in his honor at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, NJ on Nov. 17, 2009 and an anniversary celebration held at St. Aedan’s Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City, NJ on Nov. 18, 2009.   Attending these events were some of our blessed hierarchs of our sister oriental orthodox churches,  distinguished political guests, clergy, and congregation.

Among those in attendance was H.E. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Orthodox Church, H.E. Metropolitan Zacharias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Very Rev. Chorepiscopus John Meno, on behalf of H.E. Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim of the Syrian Orthodox Church.  Both nights were filled with speeches, video presentations (see below), choirs, etc… that were an attempt, but could not express our love and gratitude to our beloved Anba David.

May the Lord keep for us the life of our holy righteous father, our patriarch Pope Shenouda III, and his partner in the apostolic ministry, our father the Bishop Anba David for many years and peaceful times.  Amen. Amen. Amen.

Ordination of H.G. Bishop David

10 Years of Service

Recording of H.G. Bishop David’s 10th Anniversary Banquet

click to begin play

Among those ordained by H.H. Pope Shenouda III on November 14, 2009, was Fr. Thomas Nashed, formerly known as Hany Nashed, to serve in the church of St. George & St. Shenouda Church in Jersey City, NJ.  I would like to congratulate Fr. Thomas, Mona, Mark, Thomas, Daniel, the family, and the congregation on this blessed ordination.  May the Lord bless Fr. Thomas’ service to be fruitful and effective in the youth of our church. Here are the two videos of selected clips from the ordination.

Ordination Video  – Short Version (5:32)

Contains: Beginning of Prayers, Fr. Thomas is Called, Fr. Thomas is Dressed in his Priestly Garments, Fr. Thomas is Crowned with his Priestly Crown, Fr. Thomas Prays a Part in the Liturgy

Ordination Video – Long Version (17:11)

Contains: Beginning of Prayers, The Oath of Priesthood, The Prayers of Blessing, Fr. Thomas is Called, Fr. Thomas is Dressed in his Priestly Garments, Fr. Thomas is Crowned with his Priestly Crown, Fr. Thomas Prays a Part in the Liturgy, The Confession

Today, on November 14, 2009, the 38th Anniversary of the Enthronement of H.H. Pope Shenouda III as Pope and Patriarch on the See of St. Mark, H.H. Pope Shenouda III, the gathered Metropolitans, and Bishops ordained many priests.

They ordained 22 new priests:

1. Father Tomas (Thomas), formerly known as Hany Nashed of Jersey City, NJ, to serve St. George & St. Shenouda Church in Jersey City, NJ, USA
2. Father George to serve St. George Church in Ottawa, Canada
3. Father Youssef (Joseph) to serve St. Abraam Church in Toronto, Canada
4. Father Mikhail (Michael) to serve St. Mark Church in Brazil
5. Father Elia (Elijah) to serve St. Antonius & St. Paul Church in Ezbet El Nakhl, Cairo, Egypt
6. Father Yostos to serve St. Antonius & St. Paul Church in Ezbet El Nakhl, Cairo, Egypt
7. Father Boules (Paul) to serve Virgin Mary Church in El Matareya, Cairo, Egypt
8. Father Bola (Paul) to serve Virgin Mary Church in El Matareya, Cairo, Egypt
9. Father Filopateer to serve Virgin Mary Church in El Matareya, Cairo, Egypt
10. Father Angelos (Angel) to serve Virgin Mary Church in El Matareya, Cairo, Egypt
11. Father Samoeel (Samuel) to serve Virgin Mary Church in Hart El Room, Egypt
12. Father Bola (Paul) to serve Virgin Mary Church in Hart El Room, Egypt
13. Father Mina to serve Virgin Mary & St. Mina Church in Madenat Nasr, Egypt
14. Father Bishoy to serve St. Shenouda Church in El Hadaba Bosta, Egypt
15. Father Rafael to serve St. Shenouda Church in El Hadaba Bosta, Egypt
16. Father Shenouda to serve St. Shenouda Church in El Hadaba Bosta, Egypt
17. Father Timothaos (Timothy) to serve St. Mina Church in Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt
18. Father Arsanios to serve St. Mina Church in Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt
19. Father Mousa (Moses) to serve St. Mina Church in Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt
20. Father Markos (Mark) to serve Virgin Mary & Archangel Michael in Egypt
21. Father Yohanna (John) to serve Virgin Mary & St. John in Bab El Looh, Cairo, Egypt
22. Father Mina, formerly knows as Mina Abdelshahid of Brooklyn, NY, to serve our churches in USA

May the Lord continue to bless His Church and increase her service. We congratulate His Holiness Pope Shenouda III on the ordinations of these new servants of Christ. We also congratulate the newly ordained fathers the priests, their families, and the congregations of these blessed churches.

I would like to wish a special CONGRATULATIONS to Fr. Tomas Nashed, Mona, Mark, Thomas, Daniel, the whole family, and congregation of St. George & St. Shenouda!

Coptic Clergy Ordinations Video

I will be live streaming video of two events coming up:

1. Celebration for the Anniversary of H.H. Pope Shenouda III of Enthronement at 11:00am EST on Friday,  Nov. 13, 2009.

2. Ordination of Coptic Clergy at 1:00am EST on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009.

His Grace Bishop Suriel of Melbourne is completing the development of the Theological Seminary in Melbourne and will open it to the general public. Moreover, the Seminary will soon be accredited through His Grace’s leadership.

What a wonderful and awesome endeavor that is greatly needed for our Church and for the public at large.

We ask our Good Savior to continue advancing these efforts for the glory of His Holy Name.

Please check out this wonderful video about the Seminary:

More Information available at: http://www.sacotc.org/

H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Pope & Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church

H.H. Pope Shenouda III presided over the North American Annual Coptic Clergy Seminar (NAACCS) which was held in Holy Virgin Mary’s Spiritual Vineyard of Charlton, MA from Monday, September 14, 2009 through Wednesday, September 16, 2009. There were 14 bishops and over 220 priests from the United States & Canada in attendance. Among the bishops in attendance where: H.G. Bishop Pisenti (Helwan), H.G. Bishop Botros (Patmos), H.G. Bishop Serapion (Los Angles), H.G. Bishop Youssef (Southern), H.G. Bishop Suriel (Melbourne), H.G. Bishop Agathon (Brazil), H.G. Bishop Youssef (Bolivia), H.G. Bishop Reweis (General Bishop), H.G. Bishop Makarious (General Bishop), H.G. Bishop Youannis (General Bishop), H.G. Bishop Youhanna (General Bishop), H.G. Bishop Armia (General Bishop), H.G. Bishop David (General Bishop), and H.G. Bishop Michael (General Bishop).  The Seminar consisted of spiritual words of wisdom delivered by H.H. Pope Shenouda III and Their Graces the Bishops to the Reverend Fathers, as well as Question & Answer sessions.

On Tuesday morning, September 15, 2009, H.H. along with Their Graces the Bishop and Reverend Fathers travelled to Nashua, New Hampshire to consecrate the Coptic Orthodox Church of Virgin Mary & Archangel Michael (41 Chandler St, Nashua, NH 03064-2816). After consecrating the church H.H. and the clergy returned to the vineyard to continue their seminar.

On Tuesday evening, H.H. received and welcomed FTFT! (First Timothy Four: Twelve!), a faith-based church-supervised youth-managed missionary service organization. FTFT! presented to H.H., and all the clergy in attendance their origin, history, and goals.  FTFT! explained that they are answering H.H.’ call for missionary service in the United States.  They are serving with the spiritual goal of bringing people to Christ.  They serve the neediest of our Lord’s people such as those who are hungry, homeless, sick, elderly, lonely, and imprisoned both Copts and non-Copts. H.H. was pleased with the group’s presentation, he blessed and encouraged them.  H.H. distributed gifts to the presenters and took a group picture with them. H.G. Bishop David (Overseer of FTFT!) suggested that any priest interested in getting their local youth involved in such a service could contact FTFT! for help getting started.

To read more about the Seminar please visit:

• http://www.telegram.com/article/20090917/NEWS/909170670/1101

To learn more about FTFT! please visit:

• http://www.ftftmission.org/

Only 3 months late, I have just now received word of the resolutions and decrees of the past Holy Synod Session which convened on June 6, 2009.  Below is a news post from the Lacopts.org website with a brief summary of the resolutions.

2009 Resolutions of the Holy Synod

On June 6, 2009, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church convened on the Glorious Feast of Pentecost to discuss several important issues in the life of the church and its faithful.

The attached file, compiled by Fr. Youhanna Mouris, contains an explanation of all of the Holy Synod’s decrees in Arabic and English.

Decrees of the Holy Synod 2009_E&A (PDF)

English Text of the Summary

The Holy Synod headed by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in its session on June 6, 2009. agreed on the recommendations of the following Commissions:

Commission on Faith and Education

1. Banning all closed and private meetings at any Coptic Orthodox Church as these meetings could be used to disseminate false teachings against the Orthodox faith.
2. Banning spiritual or educational meetings about faith or Bible study or the like at home, except with a written permission that is clear and of specific objective from HG the Bishop of the diocese.
3. His Holiness the Pope asked that, their Grace the Bishops are warned against ordaining priests without ascertaining their sound Orthodox faith and ensuring that they are not affected by the Protestant and Pentecostal infiltration attempts.
4. Activating and expanding of the membership all the disciplines of the Religious Books’ Audit Committee that were previously approved and formed by the Holy Synod, and the announcement of that in various ways in order to limit the spread of books that are not sound in terms of the education of the Christian Orthodox faith.
5. The film “Christ and the other” by Fayez Ghali has been reviewed and found that it does not agree with the texts of Bible and our Orthodox faith and it includes fictional and inappropriate scenes that are not consistent with the teachings of Christ and the texts of the Bible. These matters have been reported to the Oversight Committee on the Artistic Works. The Commission on Faith, Education and Legislation stresses the importance of the follow-up on this matter, in order to stop any material that offends the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Family, as well as the sacred texts of the Bible and Christian teachings.

Commission on the Dioceses’ Affairs

1. Regarding the medical examination before marriage: Do not bring up the examination of semen for young people or the external genital examination of the girls or anything that could cause embarrassment to both parties.

Commission on the Monasteries’ Affairs

1. Recognition of Anba Shenouda Monastery of Sydney – Australia
2. Recognition of Anba Antonios Monastery of Melbourne, Victoria – Australia Commission on Satellite Channels 1. Their Grace the Bishops and Their Reverent the Priests to decline the participation in non- Orthodox Christian channels and those that are not subject to the supervision of the church.

Commission on Rituals’ Affairs

1. Anyone of priesthood ranks is forbidden to pray special prayers aloud during the holy liturgy, except as indicated in the audible and inaudible liturgy prayers.
2. Regarding the Synaxarium on The Assumption of the Body of the Holy Virgin St. Mary:

Delete the following lines from the currently used Synaxarium:

[They saw her sitting on the right hand of her Son and her Lord, surrounded by the angelic Host, as David prophesied and said, "At your right hand stands the queen." (Psalm 45:9)].

Also, delete the following text:

[She spent twelve years of them in the temple, thirty years in the house of the righteous St. Joseph, and fourteen years in the care of St. John the Evangelist, as the Lord commanded her saying, "Woman behold your Son," and to St. John, "Behold your Mother."]

And replace it with the sentence: “St. Mary’s life on earth was sixty years”.

Add the underlined words in the following text:

“St. Thomas was absent at the time of St. Mary’s departure, but he came after the burial. On his way back from India to Jerusalem, St. Thomas saw in a vision angels carrying St. Mary’s pure body and ascending with it to heaven.”

3. Delete the insults against Pope Theophilos (23), and St. Epiphanius the Archbishop of Cyprus and against Queen Odoxia from the book of “Defnar”.
4. Correct as stated in the issuance in the “A Guide to (Dallal) the Holy Week” (the issuance of Anba Takla Church, the St. Mina Monastery, and St. George Church in Sporting, and others) regarding Isaiah 53: 10, in the prophecies of the Eleventh Hour of the Great Thursday and Sixth Hour of the Great Friday, as follows: “the Lord wanted to heal Him of the wounds and if you offer yourself a sacrifice for sin you will see a harvest of many blessings” Following is the recommended text to be published in the Dallal: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53: 10).
5. If the feast of the Entry of Jesus Christ into the land of Egypt comes during the Holy Fifty Days, the readings of the Holy Fifty Days are read as usual, the responses of both Resurrection and Entry of Christ into the land of Egypt are chanted, and that this blessed feast is referred to in the sermon.
6. Regarding the Prostration Prayers, the first Prostration Prayer is prayed in joyful tune; the second prayer starts in joyful tune then turns to annual tune starting with the gospel response; the third prayers is prayed in annual tune.

I am posting the video of this song in honor of St. Mary’s Fast which has started today.  The video was taken in an informal setting late night at Virgin Mary & St. Moses the Strong Abbey in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Hope you all enjoy it and may you have a blessed fast!

This is a quick translation of the song:

In the early morning, while I was praying,

A luminous angel, came and told me,

Peace to you O highly favored,

Exalted above all mankind.

Refrain:

O beautiful angel, How sweet you are,

How luminous you are, How spiritual you are,

Save us from destruction,

O Angel, so beautiful…, O Angel…

I said to my angel, Where did you come from?

I got goosebumps, I’m awestricken,

I’m not married, and I have no husband,

They will stone me, O my angel.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and His power will overshadow you,

and the one who shall be born from you,

The holy one who will be called the Son of the Highest.

This year was the 20th Anniversary for the East Coast Coptic Youth Convention (ECCYC).  This video commemorates the 20 years of ECCYCs. It is a compilation of pictures and clips from throughout the years. Congratulations to the ECCYC!