Fr Alexander Treiger: The Macarian Homilies and Maximus the Confessor as Sources of al-Firdaws al-ʿaqlī (The Noetic Paradise)

 The Macarian Homilies and Maximus the Confessor as Sources of al-Firdaws al-ʿaqlī (The Noetic Paradise)

 Abstract:

Al-Firdaws al-ʿaqlī (The Noetic Paradise) is an anonymous patristic treatise on spiritual life, which, as far as currently known, is lost in the original Greek and preserved only in Arabic. The purpose of the present contribution is to explore two of the principal sources of the Firdaws: the Macarian Homilies and the writings of St. Maximus the Confessor. This source-critical examination is a crucial preliminary step towards contextualizing the Firdaws and determining more precisely the location and time of its composition.

 

Read and download the full article here. 

Fr Touma (Bitar): Holiness and Sainthood: Fr Elias Morcos

 Arabic original here.

Holiness and Sainthood: Fr Elias Morcos

A saint isn't someone without sin. So he is not a "good person". The Teacher already affirmed that no one is good except for God! A saint is a repentant sinner. In repentance, there are two fundamental things:

A repentant person is someone who is aware of and knows his sin, not only those that he previously committed, but also those that he is committing now. This means that sin is not limited to a certain act, a certain idea, or even disobedience to a certain commandment. Sin is a continuous existential state. Man lives in sin so long as he does not live in love! Of course, sins can appear in deviant behavior, a stray thought, a distorted sense or things like this.

But what does it mean for sin to be a continuous existential state? The inner being is the heart. It is man's central point. It is what makes a person himself. It is you. It is yourself. Your identity is present in it. It is your spirit. It is the deepest thing in you, out of which your intention and all your purposes come, what defines your goals, to which everything returns, as though it squeezes out the sap of everything that comes to you, with or without your awareness. Thus the focus of the light within you is the existential state that you are in.

Sin, as a constant existential state, exposes that God's love is not within you. Perhaps it does not expose you in front of people, but it exposes you in front of your Lord, first and last. Despite this, if I ask, existentially, "What is my sin?," you have the only true answer: there is no love in me! I do not mean by this that I do not love, but that God's love "is not in me" so that I may love with God's love. And if I do not love with God's love, then my love-- if I claim it-- is for myself and from myself and thus is a shortcoming.

But how can I discern whether my love is from God or from myself?

So long as my love is from myself, I feel as though I have achieved my goal and come to be without sin. But if my love is from God, I experience in the deepest and most painful way what sin is. Sin appears to me as harm to the beloved! My sin, whether yesterday or now, is set up before me, at every time and in every situation. Or, in the words of the Prophet David, "My sin is always before me." It is only within this framework that the reality of the Chosen Apostle Paul's words may be understood: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first" (1 Timothy 1:15).

It is worth pointing out that the recollection of sin does not stop with forgiveness, but becomes more painful the more one grows in the love of God. Nothing is more painful than to wound the beloved! This, by your Lord's dispensation, is so that one will not forget his sin, so he will not return to it. God forgives, of course, but He does not forget and He does not want us to forget... for our own good!

The second fundamental thing with regard repentance is that repentance is more than return from sin, whatever that sin may be. Repentance is a constant path in which one seeks God's love in obedience. One does not seek only to repent, but all the more so, one seeks to be repentant. If one sins, one returns from his sin. But if one is repentant, then he constantly seeks love as his own breath.

How can obedience in the relationship with God make love grow? Obedience is the path of effacement for the sake of the beloved, so that he may appear within us. Not my will, but thy will! This is the mystery of perfect existence in perfect self-concealment. Your face, O Lord, I seek! My existence comes to be in you, not in myself. You become the object of my desire. It is you that I seek. This is the mystery of God! The mystery of love! The mystery of His being love! The mystery of the Holy Trinity! Man was created to be an icon of this mystery. Therefore, obedience is greater, in a certain sense, than love. Not love as existence that creates, but love as an unseen existence, completely hidden, in which you seek not yourself, but Him, your Lord. If this were not the case, then "Life for me is Christ" would not mean that obedience is the desire for unity in the Spirit. Not for Christ or in Christ, but Christ Himself! "I in them and You in Me... just as You, O Father, are in Me and I in You."

Obedience in sin is subservience, estrangement, dominance, oppression, something repulsive! While obedience in love is something else entirely: trust, certainty, surrender, and then peace, joy, the realization of existence and eternal life.

So a saint is a model of repentance!

Is Fr Elias (Morcos) a saint in this sense?

Canonically, this is in principle declared by the Holy Synod of Antioch. And this is the tradition as it has come down to us.

Nevertheless, in the deep sense of holiness, without the slightest doubt Fr Elias is a saint.

Four things bear witness to his repentance: his tears, his prayer, his poverty and his love. Assuredly, his tears permeated everything. He acquired them through struggle and toil, through putting his sin and shortcoming before himself at all times, through putting himself below others, forcefully, and then, through his persistence! It does not escape me that he acquired him first of all by God's grace. It is no exaggeration to say that no one crosses the threshold of the kingdom without tears. These are not the tears of emotions or what belongs to the soul and body. These are existential tears. The deep inner heart is in pain: for oneself, for others, for God Himself because we do not love Him enough! For His love, for His kindness, for His gentleness. One who does not cry for God does not know Him!

Among the sayings of St Isaac the Syrian: "He who is able to weep for himself for an hour is greater than one who teaches the entire universe. And he who discerns the depth of his infirmities is greater than one who beholds the angels."

Fr Elias wept as he breathed. He stood at prayer and tears welled up. They flowed quietly. He heard of someone's pain and wept. Like this, automatically. Spontaneously. Without effort. With ease, his heart ached.

He would laugh, joke, chat and play like children then, after a few moments, if he stood to pray or if someone asked him to pray for them, he would find himself in a different existential state and would weep. Strange! His tears were always present. Like something normal in his daily habits. He would appear like everyone and at the same time it was as though, in his being, he was easily moved on another level, steadily, like someone who had no connection to what was around him.

And what should I say about his prayer? His tears revealed the identity of his prayer. He prayed like someone going out from the world into the world. Prayer was always his desired dwelling-place. He was aware that a son of Adam is called to become an instrument of prayer. His concern was not with the form of the prayer, but with standing, in the heart, before the Most High. For him, being a monk is for praying. Prayer was the groundwater of all reading, writing, working, thinking, sowing, building and relationship that he undertook. He wept to pray and prayed to weep. The value of everything that came or was brought to him was for it to be a source of prayer and a scope for prayer. Therefore, his eye was not on anything but to abide in God's eye.

If I had to talk about his poverty, I would say one thing about it: According to him, wherever there was a trace of a possession, there was no place for a monk or for God in his heart. His ragged sock stayed ragged for years. As for the broken chair and the shaky table, he did not think to repair them and was not even feel that there was anything strange about them being in the condition they were in. Nothing here was what he was seeking. "Your face, O Lord, I seek." He accepted everything with its faults and didn't pay attention. According to the image of his Teacher, he wanted to be: "You are of this world but I am not of this world." He accepted. He didn't seek anything. He was content with everything. When he was given, he took. If he was not given, he did not seek. He gave. Things were asked of him or were not asked of him. A little or a lot had the same value for him. Poverty, with him, is concealed by silence. It is not an object of study, but an ordinary part of life with God.

And his love? His heart broke over people's pain, suffering and hardship. In contrast to the monastic way of life, he sought to visit and console people. He would go from house to house. Friendship for him was a holy obligation. He did not avoid what other people considered to be an annoyance. His prayer motivated him to be with people, not to avoid people. The time, for him, was a time of suffering and people need consolation.

Fr Elias was a monk, but not necessarily like other monks in his style. He combined strictness in how he treated himself with compassion for people and animals. He was free in his conscience, easy in his affections. He was not harsh with anyone. He was very merciful. He did not burden anyone by causing him to feel sin. His purpose was to lighten people's loads.

Most of what Fr Elias taught me is that the Lord is near and that it is always possible for you to start anew. But let know one injure the beloved! The pain of sin is in its seed. Your Lord weeps for you! The important thing, O servant, is not to hurt yourself.

Fr Elias was an outstanding teacher, a school of the heart. Therefore, he appeared in my eyes as the image of Antioch, formed by the convolutions of these lands.

Do not forget us, Abouna Elias, even if we have forgotten you! Your prayer is our provision.

Archimandrite Touma (Bitar)

Abbot of the Monastery of St Silouan the Athonite-- Douma, Lebanon

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Met Ephrem (Kyriakos): The Transfiguration

 Arabic original here.

The Transfiguration

Christ's human nature was transfigured with the light of the divinity dwelling within Him.

The eyes of the apostles' hearts were opened by the Holy Spirit so that they could see Christ's divinity on His human face.

Today we too can see the face of Christ shining through the mysteries of the Church-- the Eucharist, for example-- and even through the face of our neighbor. This is because our neighbor is also a member in Christ's body, the Church.

There is also, of course, the Bible. Through it, we can discover the face of Christ, if we read it through the lens of the Holy Spirit.

In the Bible, there are lights in Paul's Epistles and in the Psalms, for example. In it, and also in the depths of our heart, we discover the luminous face. It says in the Epistle of the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 1:19):

"We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

The dark place is this world in which we live and the Bible is none other than the luminous lamp which is the face of Christ. The morning star is Christ Himself, the sun of justice made manifest within us.

Saint Silouan says, "Humility is the light through which we can see the true light."

Saint Irenaeus in the second century also says, "The vision of God and His glory is man's perfect life." God created us so that we might see His face. This is the purpose of creation. The purpose of the economy of salvation is for us to see God's eternal face.

On Mount Tabor, the apostles beheld the light of divinity on Christ's face, which caused them to realize the mystery of the cross, to realize that the cross is the path or resurrection for Christ and for us.

Which means that it is within our ability, even in this present life, to have a foretaste of seeing the Lord's eternal face.

The great joy that lies in seeing God is the uncreated light.

+Ephrem

Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies

Hasan Çolak: When a Catholic is invested as the Orthodox patriarch of Antioch (Open-Access)

Hasan Çolak, "When a Catholic is invested as the Orthodox patriarch of Antioch: Serafeim/Kyrillos Tanas and the Ottoman central administration in 1745," Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 20 (2023): 29-55.

Abstract:

While a lot has been written on the earlier phases of the Antiochian Schism of 1724, the rivalry between Serafeim/Kyrillos Tanas and Silvestros in the 1740s is mostly noted in passing. This article introduces the unpublished and often-ignored Ottoman documents relating to Kyrillos’ brief tenure, most notably his berat of investiture preserved in the Ottoman Archives. The article has three major purposes: First, it establishes a solid chronological context, which adds a more global nature to this episode. Second, by contextualizing the episode with special focus on the Ottoman dynamics, it searches for the major reasons for Kyrillos’ appointment by the Ottoman administration through a discussion of his discourse presenting himself as a reliable partner with the Porte. Third, it analyzes Kyrillos’ unpublished berat in comparison with the earlier and later berats and a contemporary French translation preserved in the Archives nationales in Paris.

 

Read and download the entire article here.

Asad Rustom on the Era of Patriarch Cyril al-Za'im (II)

Translated from: Asad Rustum, Kanisat Madinat Allah Antakya al-'Uzma [The Church of the Great City of God Antioch], Jounieh: Editions St. Paul (1988), vol. 3, pp. 106-111

 Part I here.

Part III here.

The beginning of the Jesuit mission: Rome continued to demand unity of the Church by means of submission and obedience to a single bishop, which it considered to be the "bishop of bishops". It sharpened its desire for this unity, according to her resolution at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), and started to prepare for it. In 1553, it issued a bull for the establishment of three colleges in Jerusalem, Constantinople and Cyprus. In 1576 Gregory XIII established the Greek College of St Athanasius in Rome and in 1584 a college for the Maronites was also established in Rome. France set as one of its chief objectives in the Middle East the protection of the "Catholic religion" in the lands of Islam, revealing the concern of its followers to "bring the schismatic Christians back into obedience."

Urban VIII wished to take advantage of the friendship that existed between France and the Ottoman Empire, so he opened discussions with the government of Louis XIII about bringing "schismatic" Christians back into obedience. It agreed with him, and so he issued an order to the Carmelites, Capuchins and Jesuits to send their priests to the Near East, especially Syria, to bring its Christians back into obedience. Louis XIII ordered these missionaries to go and wrote to his ambassador in the Ottoman capital, de Césy, who in turn issued the order to the consuls of France in Alexandria, Sidon, Damascus and Aleppo. The missionaries began their activities in Aleppo, the most important city of Syria and Lebanon at that time, as well as the closest to Asia Minor and Iraq. In the years 1625-1627, they established there centers for their activities, in cooperation with the Franciscans, benefiting from their long experience and advice. They then went out from Aleppo and were active in Damascus, Sidon, Tripoli, Chios, Smyrna and Naxos. "They practiced medicine for free and meddled in the affairs of bishops and priests. They frequented Orthodox churches and the homes of Christians, feigning love, meekness and unity of faith, spreading the idea among ordinary people that their beliefs were Orthodox, no different in any way whatsoever from the beliefs of the Eastern Church, apart from a few unimportant issues. They defended many things in Eastern dogma and ritual that today the Westerners consider to be errors. They publicly declared that they rejected the most important dogmas held by the non-Orthodox. This is what led Patriarch Euthymius IV al-Saqizi to house some of them in the patriarchal residence." He permitted them to teach members of the community, to offer the sacrament of confession in Orthodox churches and to visit the homes of Christians.

These missionaries sowed the sees of their teachings through the sacrament of confession. They did not ask of the simple, ordinary masses of Orthodox believers anything more than the faith of their fathers and the decisions of the councils, but they spoke openly with educated people in specific circumstances, compelling them to return from error. Here is what one of the Jesuit fathers said in 1650 about his method for attracting souls:

"When an Orthodox comes to confess with us, we ask him if he believes what the Greek fathers-- Basil, Athanasius, Gregory and Chrysostom-- taught and he responds 'yes'. Then we ask him whether he repudiates and anathematizes every teaching that is not in agreement with what those holy fathers taught, and he responds 'yes'. Since their Creed only differs from our Creed by the word "and the Son" and since we regard this word as merely an explanation of the Creed, we ask him whether or not he understands the Creed as the fathers of the Church and the holy councils understood it, and he responds 'yes'. Then he recites the Creed and we absolve him. All the intelligent, rational Orthodox confess the primacy of the Pope because they read in their books how Chrysostom took refuge with the Pope during his time of trial and how the Pope returned him to his see, excommunicating the emperor and empress. They then deduce that the Orthodox and the emperor himself submitted to the Pope during the era of Chrysostom."

In this way, while the Orthodox leaders were quarreling and dividing the community, these Latin missionaries were working to draw hearts and minds toward Rome and its pope. The ambassadors and consuls of the Catholic countries did everything in their power to support them with the means to implement Rome's desire to make Catholics.

Athanasius IV [in modern reckoning, III] (1686-1694): The Archdiocese of Aleppo was widowed and its children began in earnest to seek a worthy clergyman. The Latin missionaries were interested in the matter and directed their gaze to Jerusalem, pointing to Procopius, abbot of the monastery of Bethlehem. Procopius (or Paisius) was born in Damascus to Orthodox parents. He grew up there with the name Paul al-Dabbas and studied with the Jesuit fathers, emulating their faith. Embarking on adult life, he practiced the trade of weaving for some time. He was good-looking and "was afraid of being enticed by wicked people" and so left Damascus for Jerusalem to consecrate himself to God. He took the schema at the Monastery of Saint Saba, mastering the Greek language and religious sciences. He was ordained as a priest, then appointed abbot of the monastery of the Greeks in Bethlehem. He came into contact with the Franciscan friars "and among them renewed and consolidated his Roman faith after his laxity in frequenting the schismatics" [both quotes from a work by the contemporary Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo Germanus Farhat]. Lay notables from Aleppo went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, getting into contact with the missionaries' candidate and finding him meek, jovial, mastering the religious sciences and well-versed in both Arabic and Greek. They sought his election as bishop of Aleppo and convinced him to leave the monastery and accompany them there, passing through Damascus to be consecrated on the way. When they reached Damascus and discussed the matter with Patriarch Cyril, he agreed at first and then declined. He detested the Aleppines and so the Franciscans acted, "wanting to establish Procopius as patriarch of Antioch because of his holding the holy Roman faith, in place of Cyril, who was a schismatic. So they worked for this and set him up as patriarch by order of the sultan" [ibid.]. Procopius had an uncle whose name was Mikhail Tarazi, who was one of the local notables, and he went to Constantinople bearing a petition signed by the notables of the community in Aleppo and letters of recommendation from some of the consuls of the Frankish countries in Aleppo to their ambassadors in Constantinople. When he arrived there, he presented his papers to the synod and so the synod deposed Cyril and issued to Procopius the decrees from the sultan as was the custom. The uncle returned to Damascus and informed the governor and the qadi of the sultan's decrees. At the time, Cyril was touring his diocese, and so Procopius' consecration as patriarch of Antioch took place in his absence on Wednesday, August 25, 1686, in the presence of three metropolitans: Leontius, metropolitan of Saidnaya; Joasaph, metropolitan of Nablus; and the metropolitan of Hawran. He took the name Athanasius. When news of this reached Cyril, he wrote to the capital and requested decrees and a berat from the sultan, entered Damascus and took possession of the patriarch's residence. As for Athanasius, he resided in the metochion of Mar Mikhail and then moved to Aleppo.

On April 10, 1687, Athanasius wrote to the ambassador of France in Constantinople, stating that he grew up Catholic in Damascus thanks to the Jesuit Fathers and that a few months previously he had sent his Catholic confession of faith to the Pope in the care of the Franciscans. He then asks the ambassador to be under the protection of the king of France, to receive this protection at the necessary time and to enjoy this protections whenever he asks for it. He adds that he seeks to keep an eye out on his opponents, the opponents of the Roman Church, and to prevent them from causing harm to him at the Sublime Porte.

Athanasius' Catholic confession of faith was written on July 4, 1686, seven weeks before becoming patriarch. It is entitled "The Confession of Athanasius, Patriarch of Antioch for the Community of the Rum" and here are some excerpts, as taken from the book of the [Catholic] priest Constantine Basha, History of the Melkite Community, translating from the original that is kept in Rome:

"I firmly believe and hold everything contained in the articles of faith used in the Holy Roman Church... then [I confess] the Fourth Council of Constantinople which is the eighth general council. I believe that Photius was repudiated there and was justly and truly judged and that Saint Ignatius took his place on the See of Constantinople....  [I confess] the Council of Florence and I believe everything defined at it, namely that the Holy Spirit is eternal from the Father and the Son and that He Himself remains together with the Father and the Son forever that He proceeds from both as from one principle and one breath. For this reason, the phrase 'and the Son' was necessarily and truly put in the Creed in order to explain this great and necessary truth... Now, freely and gladly, with all my heart I believe it and I truly and honestly hold it, free of blame until my life's last breath, firmly with the help of God almighty. I preserve and confess it and seek for it to be held, taught and preached by those who are under my jurisdiction and who are in the flock subject to me. I, Athanasius, Patriarch of Antioch for the Rum community promise, declare and swear, may God help me, by the holy Gospels, praise be to God always."

Evils and strife arose, with some taking the side of one and some the other. Each excommunicated the other. On June 6, 1687 Rome recognized Athanasius as Patriarch of Antioch "despite the irregularities surrounding his election" and "Sylvester Dahhan was appointed as bishop of Beirut, with the idea that he would be installed by Athanasius. And he said, 'Our patriarch is a Frank and I do not wish for my episcopacy to be by his hand." [This latter quote is from the Chronicle of the Metropolitans of Beirut].

This split resulted in great losses, upheavals and disturbances. Some bishops and local notables threatened to elect a third patriarch. "Athanasius was greatly saddened by these events and by the expenses of administration. He desired peace and calm for the Church and so he conceded to Cyril in October of 1694" [this is a quote from Athanasius' own history of the Patriarchs of Antioch, written in Greek]. The two sides agreed that Cyril would have the patriarchate and that the Archdiocese of Aleppo would be given to Athanasius, who would live there and receive its income and the income of Idlib and Kilis, keeping the title of 'patriarch' until one of them dies. Then the other would hold the patriarchate and no one else would be elected. All of this was decided at a council of bishops, with the agreement of the ordinary people of Damascus and Aleppo. Rome, however, was not pleased with this agreement and Pope Innocent XII did not recognize it, but rather encouraged Athanasius to return to the patriarchal see.

After the truce was made between Cyril and Athanasius, Athanasius went to Constantinople, Wallachia and Moldavia to seek support in March of 1700, during the reign of the right-believing Prince Constantin [Brâncoveanu]. The prince was sympathetic and offered gifts. When he learned that the books of the Church of Antioch were still copied by hand, he was seized by zeal and he ordered Arabic type to be produced and Arabic printing was honored with the printing of the Orthodox liturgy and the Horologion.When Athanasius returned to Aleppo, he brought this press with him and it was then transferred to Balamand Monastery. The tradition of Balamand is that this press was later moved to the Monastery of Saint John in Choueir with the monks loyal to Rome who went there, while the Choueirite tradition claims that the press there was independently established by Abdallah Zakhir.

Met Ephrem (Kyriakos): Apostolicity, Again and Again

 Arabic original here.

Apostolicity, Again and Again

On the Sunday of Thomas, Jesus said to the disciples, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23).

"The Holy Spirit is light and life... Spirit of Wisdom, Spirit of understanding..."

Understanding comes from the Spirit. Not from the mind alone and not from knowledge alone, but from the Spirit of holiness.

The saint searches first for wellness of soul. He desires purity and humility. The Gospel is wellness of soul.

The Gospel is translated into action. It is translated into witness and martyrdom.

In the Creed we say, "I believe in one, holy catholic and apostolic Church."

Our Church is apostolic because she preserves the teachings of the Apostles. 

The Apostle Paul says, "You are... fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20).

The message of the Apostles is a message of meekness, kindness and giving.

They do not desire fighting and domination. They have a message of love before all else.

They do not say, "I am so-and-so's son and you are so-and-so's son." Influence and partisanship divide people.

It says in the Acts of the Apostles about the disciples of Christ, "They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers... all who believed were together, and had all things in common" (Acts 2:42 and 44).

They had the power of love.

Not the power of money, the power of authority or the power of lust.

Apostolicity is based first of all on the faith of the Apostles, the true faith of the Gospel without any innovation. It is also based on an apostolic way of acting, a life resembling the life of the Apostles. 

The love they had was for all.

+Ephrem

Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies

Met Ephrem (Kyriakos): The Mystery of the Church

Arabic original here.

The Mystery of the Church

The life of the Church is a constant, ongoing Pentecost.

The Feast of All Saints indicates the transfiguration of humanity over time, until the Second Coming.

Now, at the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, it points especially to the apostolic evangelism, which is another point of distinction of the mystery of the Church.

It highlights the witness to Christ's resurrection by fishing men for Him.

What do you think is the need for the Church?

Is her existence necessary for our spiritual life?

Why is there holy tradition and the orders of the priesthood?

Why exactly does the Church exist?

Can we reach Christ directly without her?

The answer to this is easy, since Christ Himself wanted it this way, since he said to Peter:

"You are Peter and on this rock I shall build My Church" (Matthew 16:18).

And Peter says in his First Epistle, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession" (1 Peter 2:9).

Paul also states that you are "fellow citizens with the saints ... built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20).

Jesus Himself wanted to make us members of His own body, which is the Church, of which He is the head and we are the members.

The Lord wanted to distance us from our individualist and selfish being and the Apostles became the foundations of the Church. As for the priests and bishops, they are in principle living icons of Christ.

This is despite their weaknesses, inasmuch as the Church has not yet entered into her glory at the Second Coming.

The will of Christ is clear from His words: "Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent Me" (Luke 10:16).

Let us pray, then, at this feast, the Feast of the pure Apostles, let us pray that Christ will distance us from every schism, every heresy, so that we may be able to love each other in one faith, in one Church, and in one earthly nation.

Christ said, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

 

+Ephrem

Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies