“Spiritual Awareness in the Church”
There are many matters in which we see the Church regard them with her spiritual perspective, and she has rid herself of many of the errors of the past and corrected people’s concepts…
We mention here some examples of this awareness…
New Year’s Eve:
Our Church in the devout East has her spiritual way of celebrating the New Year. She spends it in prayer throughout the whole night, in meditations, readings, sermons, hymns, and praises. The night ends with the Divine Liturgy, and many partake of Holy Communion, covenanting with God to begin this year with a good beginning.
How beautiful it is to begin the year with the Lord, so that He may be the first to whom we speak, and the first Friend to whom we confide our secrets…
Feasts of the Saints (Moulids):
People used to celebrate the feasts of the saints in the manner of moulids, and many of them were filled with amusement and frivolity. But now spiritual awareness has entered into the hearts of the people, and the feasts of the saints have become rich with spiritual programs and stories of faith.
When the Church saw errors in the moulids, she corrected them in a manner befitting the feasts of the saints, and she benefited from the popular gatherings in them in order to lead them in a spiritual path that would benefit them…
Retreat Houses:
Every one of the large monasteries began to build for itself a retreat house, in which it receives young people who desire to spend a spiritual period in seclusion with the Lord, under spiritual guidance, and in the spiritual atmosphere of the monasteries. In the majority of the dioceses, the fathers the bishops searched for an old monastery or an ancient church, and built there retreat houses for the youth…
As a result of this, the call to monasticism among us has grown, the spirit of consecration has increased, and the spiritual life has deepened more and more…
Increase of Spiritual Knowledge:
Among our people there is a great longing for spiritual knowledge. Among its manifestations are love of religious reading, the growth of private libraries, the crowded meetings in the majority of the churches, and love of discipleship under spiritual guides…
The matter was not limited to knowledge alone, but knowledge left its effect upon the heart, with training in application… Among its results was the supplying of the Church with a large number of servants…
Time would fail us if we were to speak about the manifestations of spiritual awareness in the Church, for they are many.
All this makes us always optimistic, looking toward the future with a cheerful heart, confident in the work of grace with us as a Church and as individuals…
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in Al-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year (First Issue) 2-1-1976.
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