This week’s entry will address marriage and what true love really is. Now it’s not about the Sacrament of Marriage itself, but the sociological factors, and I don’t mean to make it in depth either. This entry has come as a result of an assignment I had in a sociology class. I would like to speak just a word about that: we shouldn’t let anything that we do go to absolute waste, if we find something edifying in it, we should share it with others so they can be edified. Now moving on to the point, marriage and what true love really is.
In this American culture, many believe that “falling in love,” is the reason a man and a woman should get married. However when one, at least if he or she has conventional wisdom, sits down and starts counting the cost of marriage finds that there should be certain prerequisites that should be met. Such as economic stability, which means a good, guaranteed job, and enough money to support all the costs that will come in the marriage, such as bills, housing, food, and other necessities. These factors contribute to the department of responsibility, and of course if there is a real love that is not characterized by physical attraction only, this department of economy, which literally means, “the law of the house,” coming from the Greek word, must be checked off on the checklist as being stable.
The factor of culture and family is also a very big part of whether or not the marriage will take place. Even though today, being in a Western and mixed culture, many think that this is no longer a problem. If this is the case, let an American man go and meet a Russian woman in Russia or an American woman go and meet an Iranian man in Iran, they would then definitely know that they too have a sense of culture and that it is the American culture. Culture still holds a big place in the decision of whether a man and woman will marry or not, even in America. Groups such as the Greeks, Armenians, Copts, and all those newly immigrating groups, which usually come from the above list in large numbers today, still, for most of the time, go by the rule of culture when it comes to marriage.
Overall the factors behind marriage shouldn’t only be whether a man and woman fall in love, although this fact is usually the most painful when realized. There has to be the economic stability and the guarantee that the two will be independent by themselves after the wedding. The culture rule also helps because when the two are of the same culture the problems that arise when the two aren’t, will be eliminated. Truly, it is not a real love if none of the above factors are counted in. Pope Shenouda III has said, “Love is always giving, lust is always taking.” The verb “to marry,” in Spanish, from it’s etymology, literally means, “to make the house,” so it is implying that there are factors that have to be attended to that are not on the individual basis but more of a basis of family.
True love is not romantic love, which seems to be paraded these days everywhere we go. This idea that true love is romantic love without problems is the result of a brainwash that has come from the western culture. But don’t misunderstand, romance is okay, but it is not first, if at anything it should be lastly considered in every decision by engaged couples, and what husband and wife does. I heard a priest, who is a psychiatrist, citing research that found that a normal sex drive for another person lasts only 20 days. The group that was around me gasped when they heard this, because no one could honestly have been expecting that answer. But that is to say what isn’t true love.
True love, however, is the love that is always giving. That means when your spouse has some type of problem, you shouldn’t be thinking, “oh this is completely unromantic,” you should be thinking of how to help. The only thing that our God saw that was not good in the entire Creation was that Adam was alone; therefore he created Eve for him, as a support. Romantic love, which is actually lust if it is the only reason for marriage, is actually a big problem for marriages, and this is what has contributed to the statistic of divorce that differs between 51% - 66%. In fact, here is something we should thank our God for: Protestant marriages, according to a statistic I heard through Protestants, end in divorce higher than non-Christian marriages. But in Orthodox marriages, only 1 in 11,000 fail. That is 0.00011%! Compare that rate to others! True love then, is the love that moves the husband to work to support the family, which moves the wife to raise up the kids at home, which moves the spouses to build a Christian and Godly home, which raises up kids strong in faith, and which gives and doesn’t take.
May God grant us the grace of true love in marriage, that our eyes would always be on Him in whatever we do, following His example and worshipping Him and building our houses on Him; the Rock. Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Apparition of Holy Virgin Theotokos Saint Mary in Church of Zeitoun, Egypt
"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." -John 20:29
There is an event that not many know about outside of the Coptic Orthodox Community, that happened 41 years ago on this day, April 2nd. What happened on April 2, 1968, was the beginning of the most massive and longest apparition of the Holy Theotokos St. Mary. This event lasted for three years, from 1968-1971. My family have always told me stories about this event, because they themselves witnessed it, and also I have been involved in something pertaining to this event since June of 2008. This event holds a special place in my heart, so I would like to share a little bit about it from the Coptic Synaxarium.
On the eve of this day of the year 1684 A.M. which coincide with Tuesday the 2nd of April 1968 A.D., during the papacy of Pope Kyrellos VI, the hundred sixteenth Pope of Alexandria, our Lady and the pride of our faith started to transfigure in luminous spiritual forms in and around the domes of the church dedicated to her immaculate name in Zeiton, a suburb of Cairo. This transfiguration continued in following nights in a manner that was never known in the East or the West. This transfiguration in some nights was as long as many hours, without stop, in front of tens of thousands of people from every race and religion, with every one seeing her, pointing at her and interceding to her with songs, hymns, tears, prayers and hails and She was looking to them in a compassionate way raising her hand at times to bless them in all directions. The first one to notice this transfiguration was the workmen at the garage of the Public Transit System, which was across the street from the church. The watchman Abdel-Aziz Aly, who was in charge of guarding the garage at that night, saw a luminous body over the dome of the church. He started shouting: 'light over the dome' and he called the other workers in the garage. They all came and saw the bright light over the large dome of the church. When they looked closely, they saw a young lady in white, kneeling by the cross at the top of the dome. Because the dome had a round, smooth, and very sloping surface, it held the men as though they were nailed in their places watching the fate of the lady. Few seconds passed then they saw the kneeling lady as she stood over the dome. They gave out a cry of fear that she might fall down. They thought she was a girl in despair trying to commit suicide and they cried warning that person not to jump down and some of them called the police. The pedestrians, men and women started to gather around. The view of the lady was getting clearer and she appeared as a beautiful girl in a bright gown of light and had branches of olive tree in her hand, and around her flew white doves. Then they realized that they were seeing a heavenly spiritual view. They directed flood light to the luminous picture to remove all doubt from their minds, but instead it became more clear and bright. They cut the electricity off all the area but the lady remained in her heavenly illumination and her bright gown of light became clearer. She started moving around in a circle of light radiating from her body to all the directions around her. All the people then realized that this lady in front of them, without no doubt is the Virgin Mary. They started to shout and cry saying: 'She is the Virgin ... She is the Mother of Light...' They prayed with songs, hymns and hails all the night until the next morning.
Since that night the pure Virgin had transfigured in different spiritual views in front of thousands and ten of thousands of masses, Egyptian and foreigners, Christians and non-Christians, men, women and children. Spiritual beings formed like doves would appear before, during and after the transfiguration zooming through the sky in a way raising the human from a materialistic to a heavenly atmosphere. This transfiguration was in different forms. One of the most significant ways this apparition took place was that; the head of St. Mary under the veil looking down as in the picture of the sad Virgin and she was looking toward the Cross and that view would stay like this at times or slowly bow before the Cross at other times. The Cross itself will shine and illuminate although it was made of concrete. And some times an angel would appear standing behind her spreading his wings. That view might stay as long as many hours. Another view was the view of the Mother of Light standing as a great Queen in a beautiful spiritual portrait radiating dignity, elegance and beauty. On her head was a crown of a queen as if it were made of diamonds and some times there appeared on the top of the crown a small luminous cross. And some times she appeared in the same way but carrying Christ, to Him is the Glory, in the form of a child on her hand and on His head a crown. And on other times she raised her both hands as She was blessing the world moving to the right, to the front, and to the left in a dignified way.
Many spiritual signs appeared before, during, and after the apparition of the Virgin the mother of the Lord's transfiguration. The appearance of tongues of yellowish flame would flash over the church and then subside and that repeated several times. Another form of the signs were the spiritual beings formed like doves, larger than the doves that we know, appear about midnight or after, flying in the middle of darkness illuminating in a fast speed, appeared suddenly from no where, and also disappeared suddenly. These spiritual beings appeared in different formations and in varying numbers. A fact we should be aware of that pigeons do not fly during the night. Another sign was the shooting stars, which were constantly falling and were seen very close to the apparition on many occasions as if coming down to glorify her from heaven. Another sign was the fragrance of incense. The smoke of the incense poured out of the domes in large quantities. Substance resembling clouds, thick fog or smoke would roll in toward the church and completely cover the church. Also the illuminated cloud that appeared over the domes of the church in large volume and often preceded the transfiguration of the Virgin or at times the cloud slowly formed in the shape of the virgin. Sometimes the apparition of the Virgin would appear from the clouds. This transfiguration and all the spiritual signs were a forerunner and announcement for serious or important events to come in the near and far future. Or it might be a spiritual gesture from heaven to indicate the Lord's caring for His church and His people and our country.
May the mercy of God be upon us all. May the Lord keep His people and church in peace, with the intercession of Our Lady and the pride of our race the pure Virgin St. Mary. Amen.
There is an event that not many know about outside of the Coptic Orthodox Community, that happened 41 years ago on this day, April 2nd. What happened on April 2, 1968, was the beginning of the most massive and longest apparition of the Holy Theotokos St. Mary. This event lasted for three years, from 1968-1971. My family have always told me stories about this event, because they themselves witnessed it, and also I have been involved in something pertaining to this event since June of 2008. This event holds a special place in my heart, so I would like to share a little bit about it from the Coptic Synaxarium.
On the eve of this day of the year 1684 A.M. which coincide with Tuesday the 2nd of April 1968 A.D., during the papacy of Pope Kyrellos VI, the hundred sixteenth Pope of Alexandria, our Lady and the pride of our faith started to transfigure in luminous spiritual forms in and around the domes of the church dedicated to her immaculate name in Zeiton, a suburb of Cairo. This transfiguration continued in following nights in a manner that was never known in the East or the West. This transfiguration in some nights was as long as many hours, without stop, in front of tens of thousands of people from every race and religion, with every one seeing her, pointing at her and interceding to her with songs, hymns, tears, prayers and hails and She was looking to them in a compassionate way raising her hand at times to bless them in all directions. The first one to notice this transfiguration was the workmen at the garage of the Public Transit System, which was across the street from the church. The watchman Abdel-Aziz Aly, who was in charge of guarding the garage at that night, saw a luminous body over the dome of the church. He started shouting: 'light over the dome' and he called the other workers in the garage. They all came and saw the bright light over the large dome of the church. When they looked closely, they saw a young lady in white, kneeling by the cross at the top of the dome. Because the dome had a round, smooth, and very sloping surface, it held the men as though they were nailed in their places watching the fate of the lady. Few seconds passed then they saw the kneeling lady as she stood over the dome. They gave out a cry of fear that she might fall down. They thought she was a girl in despair trying to commit suicide and they cried warning that person not to jump down and some of them called the police. The pedestrians, men and women started to gather around. The view of the lady was getting clearer and she appeared as a beautiful girl in a bright gown of light and had branches of olive tree in her hand, and around her flew white doves. Then they realized that they were seeing a heavenly spiritual view. They directed flood light to the luminous picture to remove all doubt from their minds, but instead it became more clear and bright. They cut the electricity off all the area but the lady remained in her heavenly illumination and her bright gown of light became clearer. She started moving around in a circle of light radiating from her body to all the directions around her. All the people then realized that this lady in front of them, without no doubt is the Virgin Mary. They started to shout and cry saying: 'She is the Virgin ... She is the Mother of Light...' They prayed with songs, hymns and hails all the night until the next morning.
Since that night the pure Virgin had transfigured in different spiritual views in front of thousands and ten of thousands of masses, Egyptian and foreigners, Christians and non-Christians, men, women and children. Spiritual beings formed like doves would appear before, during and after the transfiguration zooming through the sky in a way raising the human from a materialistic to a heavenly atmosphere. This transfiguration was in different forms. One of the most significant ways this apparition took place was that; the head of St. Mary under the veil looking down as in the picture of the sad Virgin and she was looking toward the Cross and that view would stay like this at times or slowly bow before the Cross at other times. The Cross itself will shine and illuminate although it was made of concrete. And some times an angel would appear standing behind her spreading his wings. That view might stay as long as many hours. Another view was the view of the Mother of Light standing as a great Queen in a beautiful spiritual portrait radiating dignity, elegance and beauty. On her head was a crown of a queen as if it were made of diamonds and some times there appeared on the top of the crown a small luminous cross. And some times she appeared in the same way but carrying Christ, to Him is the Glory, in the form of a child on her hand and on His head a crown. And on other times she raised her both hands as She was blessing the world moving to the right, to the front, and to the left in a dignified way.
Many spiritual signs appeared before, during, and after the apparition of the Virgin the mother of the Lord's transfiguration. The appearance of tongues of yellowish flame would flash over the church and then subside and that repeated several times. Another form of the signs were the spiritual beings formed like doves, larger than the doves that we know, appear about midnight or after, flying in the middle of darkness illuminating in a fast speed, appeared suddenly from no where, and also disappeared suddenly. These spiritual beings appeared in different formations and in varying numbers. A fact we should be aware of that pigeons do not fly during the night. Another sign was the shooting stars, which were constantly falling and were seen very close to the apparition on many occasions as if coming down to glorify her from heaven. Another sign was the fragrance of incense. The smoke of the incense poured out of the domes in large quantities. Substance resembling clouds, thick fog or smoke would roll in toward the church and completely cover the church. Also the illuminated cloud that appeared over the domes of the church in large volume and often preceded the transfiguration of the Virgin or at times the cloud slowly formed in the shape of the virgin. Sometimes the apparition of the Virgin would appear from the clouds. This transfiguration and all the spiritual signs were a forerunner and announcement for serious or important events to come in the near and far future. Or it might be a spiritual gesture from heaven to indicate the Lord's caring for His church and His people and our country.
May the mercy of God be upon us all. May the Lord keep His people and church in peace, with the intercession of Our Lady and the pride of our race the pure Virgin St. Mary. Amen.
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