St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church/Sunday School

Different Scenes from Life

A wise man was walking next to a mountain when he saw a group of men cutting stones. One of these men looked depressed and uneasy. The wise man approached him and asked him why he was cutting stones. The man gravely answered: Because I am sentenced to hard labor for life. The wise man said a few words of comfort to him and left.

After a short walk, he saw another group of men doing the same work . He approached one of them and asked him the same question: Why are you cutting stones? The man answered in great grief and sadness: The is the only work I can do and if I don’t do it, my children will die of hunger. The wise man advised him to be patient and to have faith in God.

Continuing on his way, the wise man found a third group of workers doing the same work, cutting stones from the mountain. This time he noticed that those men were very active and working with great energy. They looked very happy and were singing songs in gratitude to God who gave them the opportunity to do that work. The wise man was so astonished and wondered why this group was different. His curiosity encouraged him to ask one of them the same question he asked the other two workers: Why do you cut stones? The man answered happily with a big smile on his face while he pointed at some people not far away from where they were working “Do you see what’s going on there?” The wise man looked at what the worker was pointing at and answered “I see a group of builders”. The worker said “that’s right, they’re building a new church and we’re cutting the stones needed for the building”.

The wise man pondered the three different kinds of people who were doing the same work in the same place. He realized that true happiness comes from working in the field of God.

Which of the Two Churches Should be Demolished ?

In the year 1072 AD, lived in Egypt a Christian minister whose heart was full of love for Christianity . He wished to build a church in the name of St. Barbara in an old district near Cairo called “Misr Al Kadima”. This matter was not easy. It needed great efforts to convince the “Caliph” to give his permission to build that church. With faith that filled his heart and many prayers he got the permission.

After the new church was complete, he desired deeply to renovate an old church which was already existing in the name of St. Abu Serga. After the renovation was done, it looked a brand new church. When the Caliph heard about it, he was furious because he thought the minister established two new churches instead of one.

Accordingly, he issued a decree to demolish one of the two churches and asked the minister to choose which one of them is to be demolished. That decree left the minister in great grief and sadness which led to his death. The Caliph was saddened over the minister’s death and cancelled his decree.

To this day, the two churches are still existing, evidence of how much our fathers loved the church.

أى الكنيستين تهدم ؟

فى عام 1072 ميلادية ، عاش فى مصر وزير قبطى مؤمن يملىء قلبه حب جارف للمسيحية ، وغيرة لاحدود لها على الكنيسة القبطية .

وتملكت هذا الرجل رغبة قوية فى بناء كنيسة على إسم القديسة بربارة بمصر القديمة . ولم يكن ذلك أمرا سهلا . ولكنه بالإيمان والصبر والصلاة ، وبعد بذل مجهودات كبيرة ، إستطاع أن يحصل على إذن ببناء هذه الكنيسة .

وبعد أن تمت عمليات البناء ، وبدأت الصلوات والتسابيح تتردد داخل الكنيسة الجديدة ، ثارت فى نفس هذا الوزير رغبة شديدة فى أن يقوم بتجديد كنيسة القديس أبى سرجة تجديدا كاملا فبدت وكأنها كنيسة جديدة .

وغضب الخليفة فى ذلك الحين غضبا شديدا ، وثار ثورة عارمة . فقد وصل إلى علمه أن الوزير قام ببناء كنيستين بينما لم يأذن له إلا ببناء كنيسة واحدة فقط . وفى ثورة غضبه أصدر أمرا بهدم

واحدة منهما . وترك للوزير أن يختار الكنيسة التى تهدم .

ووقف الوزير حائرا وقد ملأ قلبه حزن شديد . وظل يتنقل بين الكنيستين يصلى ويتضرع إلى الله ، إلى أن سقط ميتا من شدة الغم والأسى .

ولما علم الخليفة بحقيقة الأمر ، وأن قراره المتعسف كان سببا فى موت هذا الوزير حزن عليه لأنه كات مثالا للرجل الأمين المخلص فى عمله ، وتأسف لأنه وضعه فى هذا الموقف الصعب ، ورجع عن قرار الهدم .

وما زالت هاتان الكنيستان قائمتين حتى الآن تشهدان على محبة آبائنا للكنيسة وكم ضحوا من أجلها حتى تبقى شامخة لتحتضن الأجيال القادمة بعدهم .

Endure without grumbling

Here’s a nice story as told by Tamav Ireny.

“I’m going to tell you a story that shows how when you do your work with joy and thanksgiving, and without grumbling, God’s comfort comes to you so great and more than you can ask for.”

“I was the youngest nun and I had many duties at the convent and one Sunday I asked of the Mother in charge of kitchen work that I may attend the liturgy first. She answered me saying ‘Our holy fathers said that work is like prayer’. I said to myself, I better get used to that. Truly, I used to work gladly from my heart. The days passed and the Mother promised that I can attend the first liturgy on the next day, on the condition that I return right away so I can finish my work. I was exceedingly joyful because I was longing to have Communion. That night, really late, I was told that I wasn’t going to be able to go to liturgy because there was too much to do the next day. I agreed without dismay and I said ‘yes. I would be blessed just like attending the liturgy’ and I thanked God.”

“During that night, while praying, a man came and told me ‘come and pray with the “travelers”

(those who are able through the spirit of God to go anywhere) and I will bring you back in time before you start work’ I asked him ‘how shall I go?’ he said ‘hold on to the hem of my cloak’.

“When I held on, I was lifted up and I found myself in a church in the desert with a cross on top of it. It had a low door and to enter you must bow down low. It was a simple church, very spacious and big and had tremendous spirituality. I attended the liturgy and had Communion along with the travelers and in the end they gave me a ‘korban’. I asked them where we were and they said we are in a church for the travelers in the mount of St Antony. I suddenly found myself in my cell and the korban in my hand and my heart full of unimaginable comfort and great internal joy for a very long time”.

“Before I went back to work, I went to see our Mother Superior and I had the korban in my hand and told her about all I that saw. She said to me ‘you had communion, I’ll take the korban’. So I gave it to her and she distributed it to the Mothers as a blessing”.

STORY

One of the Church Fathers tells us this allegorical short story:

A monk fervently asked God to guide him to a place where he can live alone far away from all people. God answered his prayers led him to a place on a mountaintop in Lebanon.

The monk went to the mountaintop and built a shed for himself out of tree branches and lived in it. When winter arrived, he started to feel the cold weather. He looked below from the mountain and saw other sheds that belonged to shepherds who lived below. He climbed down from the mountain and pleaded with them to lend him a cover to protect himself from the cold . They gladly gave him a blanket.

Several weeks went by and the monk went back to the shepherds complaining about mice that chewed up pieces away from his blanket. They felt sorry for him and gave him another blanket.

The problem kept recurring. So the shepherds suggested that he bring a cat to live with him to scare away the mice. He thought it was a great idea and brought a cat to live with him. The mice were in fact deterred by the presence of the cat and never returned. However, another problem developed: what was he going to feed the cat? Our monk went back to the shepherds asking them for milk. They gave him the milk and he went back to them every time he finished the milk. They finally suggested that they give him a sheep that he can milk every morning so he can feed the cat that chased away the mice that ate his blanket!

The monk forgot that the sheep needed food! He went to the Bedouins and they gave him a pickaxe and some seeds. He started using a small plot of land to plant some food for the poor sheep. The amazing thing was that the land was very fruitful and fertile and he was able to harvest it abundantly. That encouraged him to expand the plot and plant more seeds. His farming project was a huge success!

The monk’s little farming project became a large plot of land that included a dairy complete with imported machinery. One day, a visitor came to look at the production of the “company”! The monk went over to warmly welcome his visitor and give him a tour of the enterprise showing him the different cattle and the mixed breeding area and the tens of different kinds of cheese and other dairy products. He finally took his guest to his prestigious office!

When the guest sat down, he examined the monk searchingly and finally said to him “Is this why I brought you here?”!!

What actually happened is that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came to seek the monk, whereas the monk thought he was meeting with a wealthy importer!

Note: This is a symbolic story, but it shows how a person deviates from his goal to expand his horizons, or how the main goal transforms into many smaller and equal goals. This is how a person may begin on a spiritual journey and continues it in the flesh.

The Lord Listens

“For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers” I Peter 3:12

The Saint Abba Isaiah said “Love prayer always for it enlightens your heart with God’s mysteries”

The Lord longs to hear your voice in prayer and to answer your petitions. He even cried out to you saying “Ask and you shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened to you” and because He always wants to hear from you He said through St. Paul in Thessalonians “Pray without ceasing”.

Call upon Him in faith and persistence for this pleases Him and He responds as He responded to Saint Pandalaemon the physician. He prayed over a blind man and the Lord responded by giving the man back his sight. When the governor found out, he tortured the saint and right before he died he prayed to the Lord and heard a voice from heaven encouraging him on to glories that awaited him and all those who were present immediately believed in Christ and were also martyred because of their belief.

Continue in your prayers, even if it doesn’t seem like you’re being comforted, God hears you with great concern and He will let you feel His presence. He will be with you to the end and will reward you in heaven.

Pray today before everything you do and before everything you say and be confident that God hears you and He’s happy to hear your prayers.