editor@elmanara.org.auPublished by the Diocese of Sydney & its Affi liated Regions

AN INITIATIVE OF THE MEDIA COMMITTEE - DIOCESE OF SYDNEY & AFFILIATED REGIONS

COPTS’ NEWS“I have been crucifi ed with Christ. It is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20).

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E 8th Amshir 1731

15th February 2015

Volume 1, Issue 181

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L-MANARA

youth meeting hg BiShoP daniel With hg BiShoP mouSSa - St aBanouB ChurCh

- BlaCKtoWn - 14/1/2015

Prime miniSter ViSit

ordination oF reV. Fr alexander - 17 January 2015

hg BiShoP daniel traVelled to rome

15th February 2015

editor@elmanara.org.au2

H.H. Pope Tawadros II

ON THE DAY OF THEOPHANYby John Maximovitch (Russian Saint)

Today the nature of the watersis sanctifi ed. Today the Son ofGod is baptized in the watersof the Jordan, having no needHimself of cleansing, but in orderto cleanse the sinful human racefrom defi lement.

Now the heavens open and thevoice of God the Father is heard:This is My beloved Son. The HolySpirit descends upon the Saviorof the world, Who stands in theJordan, thereby confi rming thatthis indeed is He Who is theincarnate Son of God. The Holy

Trinity is clearly made manifestand is revealed to mankind.The waters of the Jordan aresanctifi ed, and together withthem all the waters of creation,the very nature of water. Wateris given power to cleanse notonly the body, but also man’swhole soul, and to regeneratethe whole man unto a new lifethrough Baptism.Through water all of nature iscleansed, for out of water theworld was made, and moisturepenetrates everywhere, givinglife to everything else in nature.Without moisture neither animals

nor plants can live; moisturepenetrates into rocks, into everyplace in the world.The waters are sanctifi ed andthrough them the whole world,in preparation for renewal andregeneration for God’s eternalKingdom which is to come.Every year on this day the

glory of God is revealed,renewing and confi rming whatwas accomplished at Christ’sBaptism. Again the heavens areopened; again the Holy Spiritdescends. We do not see this withour bodily eyes, but we senseits power. At the rite of blessing,the waters which are therebysanctifi ed are transformed; thebecome incorruptible and retaintheir freshness for many years.Everyone can see this- bothbelievers and unbelievers, boththe wise and the ignorant.Whence do the water acquire

this property?It is the action of the Holy Spirit.Those who with faith drink thesewaters and anoint themselveswith them receive relief andhealing from spiritual and bodilyinfi rmities. Homes are sanctifi edby these waters, the power

of demons is expelled, God’sblessing is brought down uponall that is sprinkled with thesewaters. Through the sanctifyingof the waters God’s blessingis again imparted to the wholeworld, cleansing it from the sinswe have committed and guardingit from the machinations of thedevil.Today the Holy Spirit, descendingup on the waters when the Crossof Christ is immersed into them,descends up on all of nature.Only in man He cannot enterwithout his will.

Let us open our hearts and soulsto receive Him and with faith cryfrom the depths of our souls:“Great art Thou, O Lord, andmarvelous are Thy works, andthere is no word which suffi cethto hymn Thy wonders.”

Copts’ News8th Amshir 1731

Published by the Diocese of Sydney & its Affiliated Regions 3

THE BLESSINGS OF THE SAINTS IN OUR LIFE

Romans 8:35-39…“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation of distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities, nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Next week, we will celebrate the Feast of El Nayrouz, which is the start of the Coptic New Year 1731

And on this day, we honour those who offered their lives to the Lord as a sweet smelling sacrifice, by witnessing their faith, with great love and commitment.

And so, to remember these saints, and keep their message alive in our hearts every day, our church adopted a calendar called the “Calendar of Martyrs”.

And because we love them so much, we number each year as being: “in the year of the martyrs.”

But I want to ask…what is martyrdom? Is it something that only happened in the past, to those who shed their blood for the sake of their beloved Lord Jesus?

Or is martyrdom something that can still be alive today?

⇨ In Greek, the word ‘MARTYR’ means ‘TO WITNESS’, and so this means that martyrdom is not only in the form of bloodshed, but in any way that makes us witness for the Lord. You can live the life of the martyrs by following in their steps of: - having strong faith- having courage- having long-suffering- and looking forward for eternal life. All of these virtues we can achieve with God’s grace

1. We can live the life of martyrdom today, through living a life of righteousness, and being a good example for others. In this way, we can be strong witnesses for the Lord.

For example, we see how the story of St Anthony, had a great affect on the people of Rome, and it became the reason for monasticism to spread there. Also, when St Augustine read the story of St Anthony, he was greatly affected, and this led him to repent.

2. We can live the life of martyrdom today, through living a life of repentance.

For example, we see how God was merciful to saints like St Moses the Black and St Mary the Egyptian, and many others. We see how God helped them in their struggle not to return to their sin again. Don’t you think that this struggle is a form of martyrdom? Their repentant lives were a great witness to others, of their faith and love, and that’s why their spiritual fathers (St Isidore and St Zocima), glorified God in them.

3. We can live the life of martyrdom today, through living a life of love for others.

For example, it was because St Bishoy was full of love, that the Lord gave him the blessing of seeing the Him. Also, it was because St Stephen the Archdeacon was full of love for his enemies, that God gave him the honour of seeing the glory of heaven.

The Lord said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Don’t you think that these people who are full of love, are the best witnesses for the Lord? Even the Lord Himself said, that love will be the sign that will differentiate you from others.

4. We can live the life of martyrdom today, through living a life of serving others.

And we have many examples… We have the example of Deacon Habib Girgis. He spent all his life serving the church and establishing the Sunday School movement.

He became a great witness for others that many wanted to be his disciples. One of them was a young man named Nazeer Gayed, who was the fruit of Habib Girgis’s successful ministry.

Also the example of Fr Bishoy Kamel. This priest lived his whole life to serve others. He was a very effective witness to the Lord, and through his example, many people converted to Christianity, and many Christians repented and lived holy lives. Don’t you think this life of service is a life of martyrdom?

And the list is long…

So what we can learn here, is that each one of us can make the life of martyrdom and witnessing, relevant in our lives every day, by living a life of purity and righteousness.

I wish you all a blessed Feast of El-Nayrouz through the intercessions of the Virgin St Mary , all the Martyrs and by the blessings and prayers of HH Pope Tawadros II, may the Lord keep his life for many years to come.

Glory be to God Amen.

Bishop DanielBishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Sydney & Affiliated Regions

15th February 2015

editor@elmanara.org.au4

d i o C e S e n e W S

hg anBa mouSa youth

general BiShoP in

hiS ViSit to Sydney.

At General Youth meeting on 12 January 2015 at St Mark Church in Arncliff e with HG Anba Daniel.

SPiritual gathering dioCeSe PrieStS With hg BiShoP mouSSa - 12 January 2015 at St marK'S ChurCh – arnCliFFe

HG Bishop Daniel travelled to Rome -Italy to attend the Twelfth Joint Commission for the International Theological Dialogue between the Catholic

Church & the Oriental Orthodox Churches during the period from 23rd of January and up to 31st of January 2015.

His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch (co-chair), President of the Pontifi cal Council for Promoting Christian Unity; came to welcome Hg Bishop Daniel.

After HG Bishop Daniel praying the Holy Mass in St Mina’s Church – Rome – Italy.

hg BiShoP daniel traVelled to rome

hg BiShoP daniel Family ViSit

Copts’ News8th Amshir 1731

Published by the Diocese of Sydney & its Affiliated Regions 5

When you think about it, all of us aim to achieve one specific end. We relate to it a lot but a great many of us fail to comprehend its true meaning. Attempt to guess what I’m talking about. If I were to say; I need this then I will be (omitted) or if I get this job then I will be (omitted). Any guesses? Correct Happiness. All of us seek happiness as one of the main purposes or callings in our lives. But we all go about it the wrong way. One thing we must clarify is that the world cannot offer us our happiness. What the world offers is utility, or in other words satisfaction which is merely dynamic pleasure. According to the Greek philosopher Epicurus, dynamic pleasure is pleasure that is ultimately accompanied by pain. For example, everyone must eat and eating food can be enjoyable. But as you eat, and should you overindulge, you

would have stomach pains as a result. Any pleasure that has an end in pain or the removal of the aforementioned pleasure would cause pain is a dynamic pleasure. As everything in the world is in fact temporal, that is to say has an end, as opposed to being eternal, every form of happiness the world has to offer is a dynamic pleasure. Some people might argue that having a very good friend or friends will give you happiness but no friend is eternal and will eventually pass away causing you pain which again would make friendship a dynamic pleasure.This leads to my next point. If nothing finite can grant happiness than the only alternative to that is something that is infinite. And of course we all know that the only infinite being (in and outside of creation) is God. This follows that only being with God and having God

with you grants happiness. To illustrate my argument I would like to bring an example from the Old Testament. This illustrious example would be the story of Job. Now people might say that the story of Job is one solely of faith and faithfulness to God, but I believe that one of the core underlying principles is what gives a person happiness. I’ll just give a brief summary of the story. Job and his wife were both very wealthy and owned hundreds of livestock, lived a comfortable life and had many children. Pretty much everything they could’ve asked for. Job was a God fearing man and was spiritual and observed all his duties in relation to God and both he and his wife were happy. Then Satan came to God and said I can make your servant Job stumble merely by taking away the gifts that you have given to him. God allowed Satan to trouble Job and he and his wife lost everything. They lost their land, wealth,

livestock, health and even their children all died. Throughout all these tribulations, however, Job remained happy while his wife was incredibly unhappy - repeatedly urging Job to give up, curse God and die. The only difference between Job and his wife was that Job still loved God and said God has given and he can also take away.This shows us that unlike the common preconception happiness does not come from any outside source. Happiness comes from within us because God resides within us.In conclusion, God is the one who grants eternal happiness and all you have to do is be near him. Nothing the world has to offer can compare to it or last anywhere near as long.All I ask of you is that you take this into consideration and revaluate your goals and your way of viewing the concept of happiness. Thank you for your time.

PoPe Shenouda CoPtiC Centre Pope Shenouda Coptic Centre and Anba Abraam Church2 Wills Road, Long Point 2564Project progress reportWith the Grace of our Lord and the blessings of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and our beloved bishop His Grace Bishop Daniel, construction works are progressing at a great rate. Here is a summary of the latest progress- The old camp house was demolished and asbestos removed.- The old toilet block and pergola were demolished and asbestos removed.- Soil contamination remedy works were completed with a new remedial action plan in place.- Around 60 Gum trees were removed and the land cleared. - Retaining wall of the new soccer field is now complete.- Relocation of the soccer field is almost complete with irrigation system to be installed soon.- Fire Access road around soccer field is 80% complete.- Work in the underground storm water tanks is 80% complete.- The new waste water treatment plant was delivered

in December 2014 with three underground waste water tanks also delivered.- Hydraulics work started after Christmas and is progressing very well; this includes waste water and storm water underground network for the entire site.- Electricity connection to the waste water treatment plant is almost complete.- We are hoping to start working in the car parking and internal road very soon.

We appreciate your prayers and financial support of this great project which will serve the youth of Sydney for generations to come. All donations are tax deductible.

Pope Shenouda III Coptic CentreCommonwealth BankBSB: 062 199Account number: 0090 5761

For tax receipts, please email your details to mahfouznt@hotmail.com or contact the centre on 0407 955 332.

Nashaat MahfouzSecretaryPope Shenouda III Coptic Centre and Anba Abraam Church11/02/2014

St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox College is an independent Christian school in the greater west of Sydney supporting local students from K-12.The College celebrates success with its 2014 Year 12 cohort with 100% of its students successfully gaining ATAR admission. Special congratulations also goes to Mark Ishak (94.15%), Pavlos Hanna (92.4%), George Riad (90.55%) and Caroline Beshay who was named in the Distinguished Achievers List with exemplary results in both Arabic and Arabic extension 1. Caroline Beshay also came 4th in the State in Arabic. Mark Ishag also made it to the Distinguished Achievers List in Mathematics Extension 2. The College is also very proud of Joseph Eskander and Mikel Mikhael who have been offered sponsorship placements at Macquarie University studying a Bachelor of Chiropractor and Science and a Bachelor of Commerce and Psychology (respectively).The College, although thought by some to be too small and

disadvantaged to support a HSC cohort, is ranked 147 in the “School Ranking-Top Achievers 2014” List (http://b e t te r e d u c a t i o n .c o m . a u /Results/HscTopAchieverByQty.aspx and is proving to be educational institution of academic excellence in the greater west of Sydney.The College Principal, Mr Michael Atteya, credited the hard work and determination of teachers and students for its success. “These results go to show what can happen when the school community comes together with a common goal”. He went on to say; “Students here have the individual attention of their teachers- with class sizes as small as 2 students in some subjects, it’s more like tutoring really!” With a student population of some 300 students, Mr Atteya commented; “we embrace challenge and with blended learning and digital mediums, St Bishoy is placed to produce outstanding HSC results into the future- we are looking forward to 2015”!

St BiShoy CoPtiC orthodox College

our ultimate goal

By Jonathan Hanna

15th February 2015

editor@elmanara.org.au6

Copts’ News8th Amshir 1731

Published by the Diocese of Sydney & its Affiliated Regions 7

First family weekend awayFriday, 23rd to Monday, 26th January 2015Wollongong Surf and Leisure ResortThrough the prayers and guidance of HG Bishop Daniel and HG Bishop Paula THEME OF THE WEEKEND Love never fails… (1 Corinthians 13:8) OUR TARGET• Newlyweds who want to gain the wisdom and strategies to bypass or cope with the inevitable challenges in the initial years that occur in "all" marriages. • Parents who want to be as best equipped spiritually and socially to bring up "saints"• Christians who want to be "one" in thought, body and spirit with their spouse. GUEST SPEAKER:HG Bishop Paula, Bishop of

Tanta SESSION TOPICS AND FACILITATORS: HG Bishop PaulaThe Marital Relationship – spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, social aspects (Deuteronomy 6)Fr Raphael IskanderFamily Time Pressures. Everything Has Its Time (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11) Fr Antonios KaldasRaising Children “There are many pressures on both children and parents today that make it so hard to raise sincerely Christian children.”Samia MikhailConcerning Behaviours - This side session will address the issue of concerning behaviours, it will describe the difference between bad habits, compulsive and addictive behaviours from a psychological perspective.

young CoPtiC FamilieS (yCF)

15th February 2015

editor@elmanara.org.au8

During these blessed days of Great Lent Fast, we all (including the fathers the Monks) need to have quiet time for contemplations and repenting and striving to reach the pure state of mind and heart.

“Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather

the elders and all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord”. (Joel .1:14).

To fast, pray and concentrate on your own sins, so you can repent, this is the most hard thing to do, although it is the most important thing to do for your Salvation, and that it is, because the Devil is always there around us and he hates us, and he is doing his utmost eff ort to prevent us from fasting or

praying or repenting, but rather fetching others weaknesses and sins so we perish at the end. Due to the needs of some Servants from all Churches, who asked if they could come to the Monastery for spiritual Retreat during the Great Lent Fast, The Monastery will allow them to come only during the fi rst 2 Weeks of the Fast. After that we will close. Book before you come. Whenever you are in the Monastery, remember that you are in a holy place, made for worship, in humility and quietness. Therefore it is inappropriate to talk loudly or make loud noises as you would commonly fi nd in the cities. Our holy Saints were accustomed to silence, so that they may have the chance to meditate and pray. Let us also imitate them and be silent and lift up our hearts to God in prayers. While you are in the

Monastery, don’t occupy yourself by commenting on what you see or hear. You should not judge anyone from the people or the Monks, so that you don’t lead yourself into condemnation rather than receiving blessings. When you visit the Monastery, please note the visiting and prayer hours, and participate in all the prayers. From all of my heart, I appreciate and thank everyone who works hard in the Monastery and all those who off ered all kind of donations, money and tithes as Off erings. We only thank you, but it is Our God alone, who is able to reward you all, with His Heavenly Rewards. Amen. Please keep in mind; when you donate, do any work or bring anything to the Monastery, you are not doing it, as a favour for any one of the Monks, but rather, it is a debt to God and to the Saints of the Monastery.

Youth are always welcome to come and have serious retreat during these Fasting days. Year 9 Boys group and younger are needed to come with their servants from Church. All Congregation are welcome to join us on: Palm Sunday, Good Thursday, Good Friday, the night of Apocalypse, the Holy Resurrection Liturgy and Easter Monday. After the Fasting, the Monastery will be more than happy to welcome all the Groups and Trips from all the Churches during any day of the Week. Please book before coming.

Thank you & God Bless You All.

Yours ServantThe Abbot of the Monastery

Bishop Anba Daniel.

23/1/2015.

a meSSage From St Shenouda monaStery. Sydney-auStralia.

Copts’ News8th Amshir 1731

Published by the Diocese of Sydney & its Affi liated Regions 9

A course run by St Luke's Iconography College

Course modules include:• The art style of the Coptic

Icon• The painting style of the

icon• A historical account of the icon from the time of the

Iron Age• The meanings behind the

icon• The meanings and placement of the cross in the

icon• The meanings of colours

in the icon• The meanings of shapes

in the icon• The meanings of items

pictured with the saints

Every Saturday starts Saturday 21/02/2015 at St Demiana & St Athanasius Coptic Church.

119 Highclere Ave, Punchbowl. From 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Course is free of charge, however students are to supply their own materials.

For registration call Mr Alfred Kaldass on 0422 104 740 or Mrs Nelly Grace on 0404 739 140

St.Anthony & St.PaulFeast

Celebration

Sunday 8th February St Anthony + St Pauls’,

Guildford

Old School Egyptian Food Theme Hawawashi -

Kawareh MOMBAR -Fateer-

Meshaltet Kofta Zalabyia

Om-Ali and other international food stalls Face painting

garage sale and lots more

The Art Of Iconography