Fathers Sayings

"Rest assured and do not think 

too much about any matter. 

Leave it to God who is in control... 

Have you known anyone who has trusted 

in God and was let down? 

Heaven forbid."

Pope Kyrillos VI of Alexandria

Service of Enthronement of His Holiness the Pope of Alexandria

What to expect during the service of the Enthronement of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria:

One of the bishops will start the prayer according to the custom, the lections for the 17th of Hator are read until the Praxis (Acts) and the Synaxarium. 

Then the priests go out with their censers and the deacons carrying crosses to the Papal residence, where the metropolitans and the bishops are with the one chosen for the patriarchal throne, then the door of the cathedral is locked and the keys are given to one of the archdeacons to stand at the door, waiting for the new Pope when he comes in order to deliver the keys to him.

The Nomination then begins and is said: In the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit, the Holy undivided Trinity, One God, our God we the Orthodox Christians; in Whom we hope till the last breath and unto Whom we send up unto the highest the glory and the honor, forever.

We the metropolitans and the bishops and the priests and the deacons and all the Christ loving congregation of the cities of Alexandria and Cairo and all the region of Egypt, and the city of our God, Jerusalem, and all the countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. When the calamity befell us and we became orphans, when the triple blessed Pope Shenouda III of thrice blessed memory departed us to the heavenly chambers; him who has received all the holy promises, and departed to God whom he loved, and heard from Him that voice full of joy saying unto him: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”

When we became orphaned and the holy Church of God became a widow; this which he had shepherded with his teachings, we entreated the Most High to guide us to whom would be worthy of the great arch-priesthood, that he may shepherd us in the way of the Lord, and guide us to the haven of salvation, so with gift from on high and the election of the Holy Spirit, We have all agreed with one heart and elected the God fearing Abba Tawadros, general bishop of Albehera.

From the monks of St. Pishoy monastery as Pope and Patriarch and Archbishop for the Apostolic See, the See of Saint Mark the Evangelist of Egypt, Nubia, Sudan, Pentapolis, and all the regions of the See in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and  Australia.We have elected him because he is God fearing, hospitable, adorned by knowledge and understanding, pure, diligent in publishing the evangelical percepts, well in governing, watchful in the preservation of the rites and the traditions of the Church.

We have crowned him as principal shepherd, Pope and Patriarch of the holy Church of God, to shepherd us in compassion and meekness.Therefore we have inscribed this nomination and signed it, giving thanks unto the Holy Trinity, the father, the Son and the holy spirit. Amen.

To follow along on Sunday download the PDF attachment that includes the whole service in arabic and english.
Source: www.stmaryscopticorthodox.ca


https://www.copticworld.org/articles/1426/

New Coptic pope chosen in elaborate ceremony

EGYPT'S ancient Coptic Christian church chose a new pope in an elaborate Sunday ceremony meant to invoke the will of God, in which a blindfolded boy drew the name of the next patriarch from a crystal chalice.

Bishop Tawadros, 59, an aide to the acting pope, was selected to become Pope Tawadros II, replacing the charismatic Pope Shenouda III who died earlier this year after 40 years at the helm of the church.

 

All three senior clerics whose names were in the chalice were considered consensus candidates who stayed out of disputes both within the church and with other groups. Tawadros will assume the papacy as Egypt's Christians, estimated to make up 10 percent of the country's 83 million people, fear for their future amid the rise of Islamists to power in the wake of the 2011 ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

 

The death of Pope Shenouda III at age the of 88 this year heightened the sense of insecurity felt by many who had known him as patriarch for all or most of their lives.


At the televised ceremony held in the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo, acting Pope Pachomios laid the three names in clear balls inside a chalice before starting Mass. There was a moment of silence before the drawing by the blindfolded boy, an act believed to reflect God's will in the choice.

"We will pray that God will choose the good shepherd," Pachomios told the packed cathedral as he sealed the chalice with red wax before laying it on the altar during Mass.

The process of electing a new pope began weeks ago, when a committee from the church narrowed the list of potential candidates from 17 down to five monks and bishops. On Monday, about 2,400 clergymen and church notables drew up a short list of three that also included Bishop Raphael, 54, once an aide to the late Pope Shenouda, and Father Raphael Ava Mina, the oldest among them at 70, a monk in a monastery near Alexandria and a student of the pope who preceded Shenouda.

In addition to having stayed out of disputes with other groups, including Islamists, the bishops were chosen only from those without a diocese to avoid any risk of favouritism.

The papal election comes during a shift in Christian attitudes toward their relation to the state. For years, Christians largely relied on the church to secure protection for their rights, using Shenouda's close relationship with Mubarak.

But Shenouda had longstanding critics within the community who asked why a cleric should act as an intermediary between them and the state. Following the uprising and the pope's death, more Copts have been emboldened to act outside the church to independently demand rights, better representation and freedom of worship.

None of the candidates attended the ceremony, and are instead praying in their respective monasteries. The state's MENA news agency says church leaders will head to Tawadros's retreat in the monastery complex of Wadi Natrun northeast of Cairo to congratulate him.

Pope Tawadros II faces tremendous challenges as the country's transition to democracy is marred by a deep rift between increasingly politically powerful Islamist groups, from which the country's new president hails, and the liberal and secularist groups who were initially behind the revolt that ousted Mubarak last year.

At the center of the political squabbling in Egypt is the role of Islam in the country's new constitution, currently being drafted. The Christians, along with liberal and secularists, oppose demands by Islamists to increase the role of Islamic Shariah law.

Egypt's Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination by the state and the country's Muslim majority. Clashes with Muslims have occasionally broken out, often sparked by church construction, land disputes or Muslim-Christian love affairs.

The prospects of a stronger role for Islamic law in legislation increase the community's concern of further marginalisation, or of curtailing of their rights of worship and expression.

Late Saturday, Pachomios said during a popular TV program on the private station al-Nahar that Christians have never held senior state posts or leading positions such as university deans in Egypt's modern history. He also insisted there will be no clause in the constitution allowing state monitoring of the church's finances, a demand often made by Islamists.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/new-coptic-pope-chosen-in-elaborate-ceremony/story-fnd134gw-1226510208292