How To Benefit Spiritually From Pascha Week

By - H.H. Pope Shenouda III

How do we enjoy the most spiritual week of the year?

1. Our behavior inside and outside church:

It is very noticeable that many people during Passion Week act very differently inside church than they do outside church. Inside church… black curtains, sad hymns, solemn readings, and complete concentration on the suffering of Christ. However, outside of church, we often laugh, joke around, socialize, think and talk about many worldly issues. We lose all the spiritual depth that we gained inside church. Let us concentrate our thoughts, conversations, and meditations around the events of this Holy Week and the passion of our Savior.

2. Retreat:

During our regular fasting days, we put the words of the Bible before us, "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly". (Joel 1: 14) How much more then should we apply this commandment during Holy Week? This week should be characterized by solitude and retreat with God by staying away from idle discussions, various means of entertainment and pleasures. Reserve your time for God and to spiritual activities worthy of this week.

3. Follow the steps of Christ:

Meditate on the events of the week one by one, from Palm Sunday when Christ refused His worldly kingdom and the Jews gave up their hopes in Him, until they crucified and buried Him. On Palm Sunday, ask yourself: Is Christ King and Lord over everything in my life? Do I, like Christ, turn down worldly glory for spiritual and eternal glory? And during the "general funeral" afterwards, consider yourself attending your own funeral (because during this week the church will not hold funeral services). Also, when the church denounces Judas' betrayal with a kiss on the eve of Wednesday's Pascha, ask yourself in prayer, "How often, O Lord, have I betrayed You?" "How many times have I told You words of love in prayers, while my actions show the opposite and my heart is far away from You?"

4. Share in the fellowship of His suffering:

St. Paul said "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death". (Philippians 3:10)  Can we give ourselves an exercise this week to share in the fellowship of His suffering and be conformed to His death? Can we follow Him in His suffering and ascend with Him to the cross? Can we say with St. Paul "With Christ I have been crucified; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Therefore, in order for Christ to live in us, we have to carry our cross and follow Him. If you have a cross in your life, don't complain about it, but rather rejoice in it and bear it for Christ’s sake. "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him but to suffer for His sake". (Phil. 1:29)

5. Asceticism:

Whoever puts the suffering of Christ before Him will not take any pleasure in eating, drinking or pampering the body. But in order to succeed in pursuing asceticism, we must satisfy our souls with spiritual food so that it may thrive and overcome physical hunger.

6. Spiritual readings:

Spiritual readings are also food for the soul. The church has organized for us a treasure of appropriate readings for every day of Holy Week. This consists of Gospel readings, Old Testament prophecies that correspond to the events of each day, spiritual explanations and sermons of the church fathers and on Holy Saturday (Apocalypse night) the church reads the entire book of Revelation.

7. Hymns:

The hymns of Passion Week are moving and full of spiritual depth. Also, Hymns, like reading, preserve thoughts from wandering and guides them in a spiritual direction.

8. Prayer:

Since the prayers of the Agpeya are not used during Holy Week, we are to substitute personal prayers in their place. This is in addition to the intensive prayers of the church asking the Lord, who bore the sins of the world and died for us, to forgive and have mercy upon us according to His great mercy.

Holding Patterns

Holding Patterns 

Many times, God will allow a painful situation or a painful circumstance in our life to "swallow us up".   In our spiritual growth, this is a holding pattern. We can't move to the left or the right.  All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of that great fish, so God can have our undivided attention and speak to us.

God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his heart. Jonah was all alone. There were no friends to call, no colleagues to drop by, no books to read, no food to eat, no interference, and no interruption. He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate, and pray.

When we're deep down in the midst of a difficult situation, God can talk to us. When He has our undivided attention, He can show us things about ourselves that we might not otherwise have seen.

A few of God's holding patterns:

1. When you are sick in your physical body and you have prayed but you're not yet healed, .. you are in a holding pattern.

2. When you are having problems with your children and you have put them on the altar, but God has not delivered them yet, .. you are in a holding pattern.

3. When you have been praying for a loved one to return to God, and they have not come back yet, .. you are in a holding pattern.

4. When you are in a broken relationship and you have given it over to God, but it has not been restored yet, .. you are in a holding pattern.

5. When the doors slam shut before you can even knock on them, .. you are in a holding pattern.

When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation, there are no interruptions.  God has our undivided attention.  All we can do is Sit, Think, Meditate, and Pray.  Like Jonah, we cannot run from God, because there are no mountains that are high enough, valleys that are low enough, rivers that are wide enough, rooms that are dark enough, or places that are hidden from Him.

We must remember to praise Him while we're waiting, and remember three things:

1. The pattern has a purpose.

2. The pattern has a plan.

3. The pattern has a process.

So stop struggling and start listening, praying and trusting.  He'll keep you right where you are until you can clearly hear Him say, "I love you."

Father, forgive my unbelief.  I know you love me and I will come to see the benefit of everything in my life, even this holding pattern, and the manifestation of my Good is assured through You. 

You have planned nothing for me but victories; and I am ready to receive them regardless of how difficult the path.

The Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod Statement

The Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod Statement towards Maspiro's clashes between the Egyptian Army forces and Copts - 10 October 2011

The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church under the leadership of Pope Shenouda III met with seventy in attendance on Monday October 10, 2011 in the Papal residence in Cairo, Egypt to discuss the events of the prior day in front of Maspiro where at least 24 of our beloved children have been killed and at least 200 have been injured. We ascertain that our Christian faith doesn't allow us to use violence of any kind. But we also know that strangers implanted themselves among our children and committed acts that are more suited to their morals. Coptic Christians feel that their problems are always being repeated without accountability and without the due justice of the law. The Holy Synod invites all Coptic Christians to fast and pray for three days beginning Tuesday October 12, 2011 that God may bring his peace to our beloved country of Egypt.

Not only so

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.

Romans 5: 3 NIV