In this book, Febe Armanios explores Coptic religious life in Ottoman Egypt (1517-1798), focusing closely on manuscripts housed in Coptic archives. Ottoman Copts frequently turned to religious discourses, practices, and rituals as they dealt with various transformations in the first centuries of Ottoman rule. These included the establishment of a new political regime, changes within communal leadership structures (favoring lay leaders over clergy), the economic ascent of the archons (lay elites), and developments in the Copts' relationship with other religious communities, particularly with Catholics. Coptic Christianity in Ottoman Egypt highlights how Copts, as a minority living in a dominant Islamic culture, identified and distinguished themselves from other groups by turning to an impressive array of religious traditions, such as the visitation of saints' shrines, the relocation of major festivals to remote destinations, the development of new pilgrimage practices, as well as the writing of sermons that articulated a Coptic religious ethos in reaction to Catholic missionary discourses. Within this discussion of religious life, the Copts' relationship to local political rulers, military elites, the Muslim religious establishment, and to other non-Muslim communities are also elucidated. In all, the book aims to document the Coptic experience within the Ottoman Egyptian context while focusing on new documentary sources and on an historical era that has been long neglected.

The services of Holy Week of the Orthodox Church in Greek and English. Contains: Holy Sunday evening (Nymphios), Holy Monday evening, Holy Tuesday evening, Holy Wednesday morning (Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts), the Service of Holy Oil (afternoon) and evening (Orthros of Holy Thursday), Holy Thursday morning (Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great) and evening (The Passion), Holy Friday morning (Great Hours), Holy Friday afternoon (Unnailing), Holy Friday evening (Lamentations w/ Greek phonetics), Holy Saturday morning (Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great), Holy Saturday evening (The Vigil of Pascha) and Holy Saturday afternoon (Vespers of Love). The texts of the services are uncut, and include the priestly prayers missing from other texts currently available. Appendix contains the Service of Preparation for Holy Communion, the Prayers of Thanksgiving after Holy Communion, and the entire Lamentations for Holy Friday evening (uncut with verses). The text also includes Gospel readings for Paschal Vespers (Love) in seventeen languages, as well as the Paschal greeting in 76 languages. Translation by Arch. Ephrem Lash, modified by Rev. Fr. Michael Monos. English text metered and set to traditional Byzantine melodies by David Melling. Paschal Canon adapted to traditional melodies by EIKONA.

Fourth-century church father Basil of Caesarea was an erudite Scripture commentator, an architect of Trinitarian theology, a founder of monasticism, and a metropolitan bishop. This introduction to Basil's thought surveys his theological, spiritual, and monastic writings, showing the importance of his work for contemporary theology and spirituality. It brings together various aspects of Basil's thought into a single whole and explores his uniqueness and creativity as a theologian. The volume engages specialized scholarship on Basil but makes his thought accessible to a wider audience. It is the third book in a series on the church fathers edited by Hans Boersma and Matthew Levering.

The Martyrs of Mount Ber'ain is the poignant tale of three noble Iranian siblings who are martyred under Shapur II. Composed in the seventh century, it demonstrates enduring concerns of Christian self-definition in Iran, especially with respect to the Zoroastrian priesthood.

The Syriac writers of Qatar themselves produced some of the best and most sophisticated writing to be found in all Syriac literature of the seventh century, but they have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve in the last half century. This volume seeks to redress this underdevelopment by setting the standard for further research in the sub-field of Beth Qatraye studies.

Following his retirement after twenty-five years of medical practice, he proceeded to writing the Sunday bulletins of the cathedral and essays on a variety of topics of interest to his fellow Orthodox parishioners. He was urged by the protopresbyter Steven Zorzos, the current dean of the cathedral, to publish his writings as books. This is the first in which he provides examples of how he has experienced and interpreted his reading of the Holy Scriptures. He provides examples of what is available within them that are frequently overlooked by many readers. Furthermore, the English translations of the Bible are filled with many errors, which can only be clarified by finding the most appropriate English words, among the many available, for translating the true meaning of some Greeks words in the original New Testament and the Septuagint. Many examples of this phenomenon are provided in this volume.

The life received by St. Anthony is one that is precisely in accordance with the Bible, one which was aided by tremendous power from the Holy Spirit. His going out into the wilderness as an eighteen year old, to live in the mountains and parched deserts, was an expression of the measure of intense faith that filled the heart of St Anthony, The young teen who was accustomed to living a lavish lifestyle, was not hindered by the circumstances of his one and only orphan sister, or the allure of three hundred acres of land that promised a comfortable earthly life in response to the gospel call This book explores the biblical basis of the monastic life through the lens of the life and writings of its founder

Focolare, Community of Sant'Egidio, Neocatechumenal Way, Legionaries of Christ, Communion and Liberation, Opus Dei. These are but a few of the most recognizable names in the broader context of the so-called ecclesial movements. Their history goes back to the period following the First Vatican Council, crosses Vatican II, and develops throughout the twentieth century. It is a history that prepares the movements' rise in the last three decades, from John Paul II to Francis. These movements are a complex phenomenon that shapes the Church now more than before, and they play a key role for the future of Catholicism as a global community, in transition from a Europe-centered tradition to a world Church.

Father Spyridon invites the reader to confront the reality of their own death. Through the ancient truths of the Orthodox Church he demonstrates how only when we have a true understanding of death can we begin to discover and live out the purpose of our existence. He dispels many modern myths concerning purgatory, the rapture, judgement, the soul, heaven and hell, angels and many more. Though deeply spiritual, Trampling Down Death By Death offers a pragmatic approach to the reality of our mortality.

""You shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in the heavens is perfect."" (Mt 5:48) These words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ represent one of the most daunting of the commandments he has given his followers. But how are we to accomplish such a lofty task, living in a world full of turmoil, distractions, and challenges to our spiritual progress? In simple but powerful language, Discussion at a Monastery addresses questions about the meaning of Orthodox Christian monasticism, and of the spiritual life in general, based on the real-life experiences of a contemporary Greek Orthodox monk and his fellow spiritual laborers. Far from being suited only to monastics, however, this profound little book contains deep spiritual insights that will illumine the souls of all readers. At the same time, it will challenge anyone who is interested in developing a clearer understanding of the nature of the spiritual life-which is fundamentally a life of prayer-to first develop a clearer understanding of his or her own inner nature. "Monk Macarius is a monk of the Holy Cenobitic Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Penteli, Attica, Greece."

The Martyrdom, and the later History, of Simeon bar Sabba'e narrate the death of the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon who was killed around the year 340 C.E. at the beginning of King Shapur II's "Great Persecution" of Christians in Sasanian Persia.

Memra 72 is a meditation on the fall of Adam and its consequences, subjecting all creation to corruption. God's mercy, however, will restore everything to a spiritual, incorruptible state that will exist eternally in the unending light of Christ.