In this lecture, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks with heartfelt love and devotion toward his homeland, affirming that all Egyptians are children of one beloved country united by sincere affection for their land. He expresses this love in a broad and profound way, saying that we love everything in our homeland — its Nile and fields, its streets and alleys, its farms and deserts, its workers and farmers, its past, present, and future. This love remains constant through both joy and hardship, in times of defeat as well as victory.

The Pope emphasizes that love for one’s homeland is unwavering: we love it during the setback of June 1967 just as we love it in the victory of October 1973. Our homeland is part of our very being and identity. He deepens this thought poetically by saying he loves the Nile not only as it flows through the valley but also as it flows through the heart — showing that true patriotism lives within the soul.

His Holiness then connects this patriotic love to faith, affirming that we all worship one God — the only God — to whom praise and prostration belong. We worship Him here on earth and in heaven, for He is the source and giver of existence, the Creator of all beings: angels, matter, plants, animals, and humankind.

The Pope concludes with glorification to the infinite God — the One who exists everywhere, beyond time and space, through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing came to be. To Him belong glory and honor forever and ever.

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