The Great Day of October 6
The Great Day of October 6
On the anniversary of this great day, it is fitting for us to pause briefly to contemplate the spiritual meanings it carries and the lessons it offers to our souls.
The first lesson we contemplate is hope and the absence of despair.
The enemy had been occupying parts of our country with violence and self-pride, in an open challenge and arrogance, trying to make our nation feel that there was no hope, and that Israeli aggression must continue, and might expand, and might intensify, and might occupy one area after another of our lands, and that we had no ability to resist.
But our leaders never despaired at all. They were confident in the justice of God and in His intervention if the justice of the earth failed—and indeed the justice of the earth had failed.
So God intervened, and there was victory.
Great believing souls do not weaken no matter how narrow the circle becomes. Rather, the faith within them grants them strength and hope. This hope strengthens their resolve, so they work—in patience and in confidence.
The second lesson is calm, precise, and non-impulsive work.
Here we commend the great role carried out by the leader of Egypt, Anwar Sadat. He presents to the sons of his nation an example of calm, wise, and balanced work, facing the enemy’s provocation and violence with composure and calm. He does not allow provocation to draw him into impulsiveness, but thinks deeply and manages matters with deliberation, no matter how loudly voices around him cry out demanding haste. Thus the man endured and was patient. He continued to prepare and personally supervised this preparation, until he found the time appropriate, and then issued his decision after study and examination. Salutation to this sober method of work, this depth in planning, and this strength that rises above provocation.
The third lesson is the victory of truth, even if delayed.
Falsehood may boast at first, may achieve initial victory, and thus grow in its own eyes, become tyrannical, and imagine that there is no Watcher in heaven and no reckoning on earth. During that time, truth appears as though it is weak. But God soon restores matters to their proper place, so arrogant falsehood is broken, and the head of oppressed truth is lifted. In this way the Jews were defeated in their arrogance, and truth was raised in Egypt and in Syria.
Sincere congratulations are offered by the Coptic Church in all its bodies to the beloved President Anwar Sadat, to Field Marshal Ahmed Ismail, to all the leaders of the army, to Egypt as a whole, and to the entire Arab nation.
May God place our cause as a trust with Him, and bless our country and our people.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Kiraza Magazine – Fifth Year – First Issue – October 5, 1974
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