Coptic Orthodox

Spiritual weapons to fight the devil

Matthew 4:1-11 

In the Gospel of St. Matthew 4: 1-11, the evangelist tells a beautiful story of how our Lord Jesus can help us fight the devil and his temptations, especially during Great Lent. Our Lord had just been baptized and the revelation of the Trinity had occurred. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Here the wilderness can represent the world which is full of various evils and under the devil’s sway. Our Lord shows us 3 main ways to fight the devil. The first is that he fasted for forty days and forty nights. This helps strengthen our spirit when the body is broken and allows us to fight against temptations, and we

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By His Holiness Pope Shenouda III

God's children should be strong because they were created in His image and likeness (Gn 1: 26); and God is powerful.  We say about Him "Holy is the Lord God Almighty"; therefore, they should be strong like Him.

In the book of Numbers, when God ordered Moses to take a census of the people, this was restricted to young men who can go to war (Nu 1: 3).  When the Song of Solomon talks about the men around King Solomon's throne, it describes them as valiant men; "They all hold swords, Being expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh, Because of fear in the night." (Sgs 3: 8)

Read more: God's Children are Strong

lent

"However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21). 

Great Lent is understood to be the holiest fast as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself fasted it for us. Therefore, during Great Lent we must strive to follow the example set by our Lord Jesus Christ, who had fasted on our behalf for forty days and forty nights, which we read in Matthew  chapter 4. During Great Lent, the Church in her wisdom teaches us how to receive Him by using the great means of repentance along with prayer and fasting. But many are fooled by what the true meaning of fasting is; fasting does not mean to just abstain from certain foods and drinks. Fasting without prayer is essentially nothing less than a bodily act. Fasting provides us with an opportunity for prayer because when a person fasts, their soul is occupied with internal work with God and so when the body is humbled by hunger, the soul also is humbled. We must train ourselves while fasting to not let a change of food be the only thing different we do in this fast, but rather let the fast be striving for change toward a better spiritual life. We must struggle to remove defects and weaknesses that we may feel exist not only within ourselves, but with our relationship with God, and our brothers and sisters through Christ. However, as we fast we must not try to make our fast visible to anyone except our Father in Heaven who sees everything in secret. And as we journey through this most sacred time of the year we must examine ourselves, our salvation, our repentance, and our spiritual life. Sit down not only with yourself but your spiritual father, seek the guidance that us all sinners are in desperate need of as we grow daily in the knowledge of God. 

+ May God help us all to see the importance of prayer and to lift up our hearts and thoughts to Him alone and may He grant us to have a blessed and holy fast as we seek for repentance +

“I will praise you, O Lord, for your mercies are forever. From generation to generation, my mouth shall declare Your truth.”
- First Doxology of the Sunday Readings during the Great and Holy Lent

وهم غلبوه بدم الخروف وبكلمة شهادتهم ولم يحبوا حياتهم حتى الموت
رؤ12: 11 

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 
(Rev. 12: 11)

بطرس وبولس سحقا قوة الشيطان وردوا الأمم للأيمان بالثالوث أبونا بطرس أكمل بموت الصليب فى مدينة روما العظمى لأجل اسم ربنا يسوع المسيح وهكذا أيضا بولس نزعت رأسه هناك من قبل الملك نيرون فى يوم واحد نالا المجد من الملك المسيح واستراحا معه فى ملكوته الأبدى والحياة الدائمة
ذكصولوجية للقديسين بطرس بولس  

Peter and Paul, trampled the power of

The Apostles’ Fast

By: GEORGE YOUSSEF

May 28th of this year marks the first day of the Apostles’ fast which concludes on July 11th. This fast precedes the Apostles’ feast on the fifth day of Epip, the day St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred.  Through the Apostles’ fast, we thank God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, we acknowledge the struggles and tribulations of the holy apostles as they preached and established the foundation of the Christian church, and we prepare ourselves to serve and preach. This fast reflects the fast the apostles took on after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them on the day of Pentecost. Just as Our Lord fasted for forty days in the wilderness following the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him during the Theophany, the holy apostles too fasted when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.

To this day, we apply the wisdom of the holy apostles to our

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