Wisdom of the Oriental Orthodox Fathers

[Severian]

The Spirit also descends upon him because of us. Now this Spirit is not one of the ministering spirits, but it is the Spirit of God, the consubstantial Spirit who reigns at the same time with him and with the Father. It is why, indeed, the evangelist himself said in a demonstrative manner: the Spirit of God, this Spirit who had abandoned the human race, on the subject of which the Lord God said: My Spirit will not remain eternally among men, because they are flesh. But this charitable being, who, by the generosity of his grace, as he himself willed to modify his own decree, abolishing for us this sentence, after also being made flesh without change himself, draws the Spirit upon the flesh, at the moment when he united his divinity with the creature who had been condemned and thus sends grace to all our race.

St. Severus of Antioch, 4th-5th Century

What's the reference? Thank you!

[minasoliman]

The Spirit also descends upon him because of us. Now this Spirit is not one of the ministering spirits, but it is the Spirit of God, the consubstantial Spirit who reigns at the same time with him and with the Father. It is why, indeed, the evangelist himself said in a demonstrative manner: the Spirit of God, this Spirit who had abandoned the human race, on the subject of which the Lord God said: My Spirit will not remain eternally among men, because they are flesh. But this charitable being, who, by the generosity of his grace, as he himself willed to modify his own decree, abolishing for us this sentence, after also being made flesh without change himself, draws the Spirit upon the flesh, at the moment when he united his divinity with the creature who had been condemned and thus sends grace to all our race.

St. Severus of Antioch, 4th-5th Century

What's the reference? Thank you!

What you just posted before 

[Severian]

The Spirit also descends upon him because of us. Now this Spirit is not one of the ministering spirits, but it is the Spirit of God, the consubstantial Spirit who reigns at the same time with him and with the Father. It is why, indeed, the evangelist himself said in a demonstrative manner: the Spirit of God, this Spirit who had abandoned the human race, on the subject of which the Lord God said: My Spirit will not remain eternally among men, because they are flesh. But this charitable being, who, by the generosity of his grace, as he himself willed to modify his own decree, abolishing for us this sentence, after also being made flesh without change himself, draws the Spirit upon the flesh, at the moment when he united his divinity with the creature who had been condemned and thus sends grace to all our race.

St. Severus of Antioch, 4th-5th Century

What's the reference? Thank you!

What you just posted before 

Lol. Silly me! Slow day today...

[minasoliman]

If You want, You have the means;
as much as You want, You can do,
You, Who are more enriched by giving than receiving.
Your treasure increases more by sharing than gathering.
Your estate grows more by disbursing than collecting.
Your stores pile up more by distributing than hoarding.
All this gives me faith that through you
I might find the path to salvation.

St. Gregory of Narek, or St. Grigor Narekatsi (10th-11th Century)

[Suryoyutho]

Mor Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani (+1969), possibly my relative on my father's side...

The week before he died, when he saw his last article in the Patriarchal Magazine, he said: "I don’t like death to break my pen, because the Church and our youth still needs my pen, but may God’s will be done".

[minasoliman]

We do not take the saying by intellectual power only.  We need also the spiritual power of faith.  That is why the Lord says His ways are spirit and life.  Also this means that we are not going to take the Body of the Lord without the Divinity of the Lord, because we never believe that the two natures are separated in the Lord.  Therefore we take both the human and the divine together in one nature, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, it is a complete fact and a definite doctrine we no more deal with bread and wine, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and we are taking the Lord Himself into our hearts and lives.

His Grace Bishop Moussa, late 20th Century

[Severian]

We do not take the saying by intellectual power only.  We need also the spiritual power of faith.  That is why the Lord says His ways are spirit and life.  Also this means that we are not going to take the Body of the Lord without the Divinity of the Lord, because we never believe that the two natures are separated in the Lord.  Therefore we take both the human and the divine together in one nature, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, it is a complete fact and a definite doctrine we no more deal with bread and wine, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and we are taking the Lord Himself into our hearts and lives.

His Grace Bishop Moussa, late 20th Century

Source please? Thank you.

Great quote, though.

[minasoliman]

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, who has passed from among us, has not left us orphans.

...

For our church, my beloved, is a mother. She is not barren. She gives birth to generation after generation. And that which we have received from our ancestors and our saints, we pass on to the coming generations with complete honesty.

...

And we look ahead with the eyes of hope, that in the manner the Lord used [HH Pope Tawadros II] in past years, He shall use him again unto the end of the ages, O our beloved master.

We, on this joyous day, hand the church to His Holiness. And inasmuch as the Lord worked through us in the recent past to take the responsibility of the work, through your prayers and fasts, the Lord has done many great things with us until He brought us unto this blessed day.

My beloved, having taken on the responsibility of the church, we return to our diocese reduced in stature under the feet of His Holiness, our beloved father.

I say this from my heart: I shall be a son to him and a servant under his feet. And all of us in the Holy Synod, we believe in spiritual paternity. There is no conflict over authority in our church!

We are the sons of Saint Mark and the many patriarchs until Pope Shenouda. We have learned humility from them. We learned penitence from them. We learned the service of the washing of feet from them. So our goal is only the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and His service.

His Eminence Metropolitan Bakhomious of el Beheira, 21st Century, a speech given on the enthronement of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, who was a disciple of His Eminence Metropolitan Bakhomious for many decades before his papacy.

[minasoliman]

Truth was crucified by love and love was crucified to show us that there is no truth without love.  Seek truth and love in everything and you will remain the true disciple of Jesus Christ who came to institute truth and love as the two feet of His grace.  If truth is lacking and there is no love be aware that the cross has two arms--love and truth--which must embrace us to bring us to fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ.


Abbot Sophronius of Upper Egypt, 10th Century

[Suryoyutho]

The Church imitates Christ. All that Christ has done the Church also does; He becomes its life. Christ's call to Matthew ("Follow me") was intended by Him to mean "Take my life for you." The Church has adopted this call as a scheme of its own.

Fasting, in the life and works of Christ, ranks as the first response to the act of unction and of being filled with the Holy Spirit. It represents the first battle in which Christ did away with His adversary, the prince of this world. In His forty days' experience of absolute fasting, Christ laid down for us the basis of our dealings with our enemy—along with all his allurements and vain illusions. "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting" (Mk. 9:29). For when a person enters into prayerful fasting, Satan departs from the flesh.

As the Son of God, Christ did not need fasting, nor did He need an open confrontation with Satan or baptism or filling with the Holy Spirit. Yet He fulfilled everything for our sake so His life and deeds would become ours.

Abouna Matta El Meskin (+2006)

I'm actually translating something by Abouna to swedish, but I could need some help and it's pretty much just a few sentences. So if anyone has the skills needed to help, please pm me.

[minasoliman]

From one of the posts on Facebook from Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim of the Coptic Diocese of Southern California:

There is a woman who dreamt consecutive dreams about the departure of HG Bishop Makarios (of Qena).  One day, she dreamt that HG was sitting on a throne and he had a crown on his head:  it was as if he was at a feast.

She asked him, "Are you going to pray a Divine Liturgy now, Your Grace?"

He answered and said, "Prayers here are continuous without ceasing," and then he added, "I want you to deliver a message to Father.  Tell Father:  sermons became too many, in cassette tapes and books, but the most important thing that all of you are coming here soon.  Stress in the sermons the importance of repentance, confession, and communion, because those who confess and partake of the Holy Eucharist have a great position with the saints in Heaven."

The same message and vision were repeated with a different person, in a different city, around the same time, and he is currently a monk in one of our monasteries.

From the witnesses of the miracles of HG Bishop St. Makarios of Qena, departed February 3, 1991

[JamesR]

I like how the Oriental Fathers are so allegorical and metaphoric in everything they say. It's just so deep and profound.

[minasoliman]

Abouna Mikhail was a man of sorrows, he lost two sons, Philemon and Paul as infants. He also lost his eldest son Ibrahim, when Ibrahim was a promising young Doctor. This was followed shortly by the departure of his dear wife, Mary. To the people who came to comfort him, he gave the words of comfort: "I thank God because I have three sons and their mother praying for me."

From the new Synexarium entry of Fr. St. Mikhail Ibrahim, departed 1975

[minasoliman]

Whenever physical hunger turned cruel against me, I found my gratification in prayer. Whenever the biting cold of winter was unkind to me, I found my warmth in prayer. Whenever people were harsh to me (and their harshness was severe indeed) I found my comfort in prayer. In short, prayer became my food and my drink, my outfit and my armor, whether by night or by day.


+Abouna Matta el Maskeen (1919-2006)

[minasoliman]

Consider, O man, the extent of your wretchedness that when your God wished to weep for you, He shed tears not only from His eyes but from every pore in His body in such abundance that they appeared as great drops of blood, as proof of His great love to you. What manner of thanks is due to you O Son of God!

+Abouna Mannaseh Youhanna (1899-1930)

[Cyrillic]

Socrates saw a woman who had hanged herself on a tree, and he said, "Would that all trees bore such fruit as this!"
- Bar Hebraeus, Laughable Stories (Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, 1264-1286)

 Couldn't resist it

[dhinuus]

Bar Hebraeus, Laughable Stories (Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, 1264-1286)

Actually Bar Habraeus was not a Patriarch of Antioch. He was the Maphrian (aka Catholicose) of the East within the Syriac Orthodox Church.

[Cyrillic]

Bar Hebraeus, Laughable Stories (Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, 1264-1286)

Actually Bar Habraeus was not a Patriarch of Antioch. He was the Maphrian (aka Catholicose) of the East within the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Then I incorrectly assumed that catholicos and Patriarch are synonyms.

[sheenj]

Bar Hebraeus, Laughable Stories (Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, 1264-1286)

Actually Bar Habraeus was not a Patriarch of Antioch. He was the Maphrian (aka Catholicose) of the East within the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Then I incorrectly assumed that catholicos and Patriarch are synonyms.

They pretty much are, it is his See that you mixed up.

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