God’s love for His saints¹
We celebrated on 5 Abib (12 July) the feast of the pure Apostles, and on 7 Abib the feast of the great Saint Anba Shenouda the Archimandrite, and on 8 Abib (today) the feast of the two great saints Anba Bishoy and Anba Karas the Anchorite.
And I would like to take this opportunity to speak to you about “God’s love for His saints.”
God’s love for His saints¹
There is a beautiful verse in the Epistle to the Romans which says: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29, 30). And it says that these He called, justified, and also glorified…
It is a beautiful thing to be known by God. And even more beautiful is that a person is known by God even before he is born.
God said to Jeremiah the prophet: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). He became a prophet before he was born!! Truly, out of God’s love He chose many from their mothers’ wombs, even before they were conceived…
Among these examples are John the Baptist, Samson, Anba Shenouda, and others.
The Baptist—before his mother conceived him—the angel said of him that: “He will be great in the sight of the Lord… and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God… to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk. 1:15–17).
Likewise the great Saint Anba Shenouda, God appointed him as father of the monks before his mother conceived him; and Jacob the patriarch was given leadership and dominion before he was born, and it was said of him, as God knew him by His foreknowledge: “Jacob I have loved…” (Rom. 9:13).
Yes, how many saints God entrusted with responsibilities before they were born.
“Whom He foreknew, He also predestined; these He also called” (Rom. 8:29, 30), and His relationship with them began before their birth, even from eternity, by His foreknowledge.
Out of His love for them He chose them to build His kingdom, as He said to His disciples: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (Jn. 15:16).
And from God’s love for His saints, He endowed them with wondrous powers… He made His Holy Spirit dwell in them, and granted them His grace, and said to them: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
And in His love for them, He gave them blessing, and even made them a blessing.
As He said to our father Abraham: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Gen. 12:2, 3).
How many saints became a blessing for their generation or for all generations… becoming bearers of God (Theophorus), presenting Him to the world… And how many saints God revealed to them what is unseen, granting them revelations and visions, so that Paul was threatened with being exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations! (2 Cor. 12:7).
And there are saints to whom God granted inspiration, saints whom God spoke to mouth to ear, and saints to whom He gave the power to perform miracles, like Moses who parted the Red Sea, brought water from the rock, and caused manna and quail to descend.
When God loves, He gives without measure, without limit. He opens the windows of heaven so that His blessings descend until we say: “Enough, enough”…
When God loved His saints He gave them the Holy Spirit, gave them blessing, grace, and love, and made His dwelling within them. He gave them the power to perform miracles, granted them wisdom, gave them all that they asked for themselves and for others. Their prayers became keys to heaven. And out of His love for them, He took their counsel and fulfilled their requests, as He did with Moses and with Abraham.
And from God’s love for His saints, He attributed His works to them…
He says: “The Law of Moses,” though it is the Law of the Lord. And we say the Church of St. George, while it is the Church of God. And a miracle of healing occurs at the hands of the Virgin, whereas God is the healer… And the Lord says: “He who honors you honors Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me” (Lk. 10:16).
And by God’s love for His saints He worked in them, through them, and with them, making them His ambassadors, stewards, and mediators on earth, conveying His grace to others. And He said to them: “No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you friends” (Jn. 15:15). He even called them His brethren, and became “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29).
And it was said of Him: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (Jn. 13:1). And in this love He counted them as Himself.
We even read an astonishing statement He said to them about performing miracles: “The works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do” (Jn. 14:12). And we stand astonished before the phrase “greater works,” saying: What kind of love is this?!
And from God’s love for His saints, He allowed them to experience His companionship and friendship.
Moses sat with Him on the mountain forty days. And the Lord spent forty days with His disciples after the Resurrection, speaking to them about matters pertaining to the kingdom of God. And it was said of Abraham that he was the friend of God. And these not only accompanied Him, but enjoyed Him. David said: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8)… How wondrous is this taste!!
By this love He appeared to many of His saints and spoke to them. He appeared to Anba Bishoy and washed the saint’s feet. And He appeared to Anba Bola the Hermit and said to him lovingly: “Enough toil, my beloved Bola”…
And He appeared to Elijah the prophet when he was afraid of Jezebel and comforted him, sending him an angel with food. And He appeared to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother Esau and comforted him with divine promises: “Behold, I am with you… and will bring you back to this land” (Gen. 28:15).
From God’s love for His saints is the wondrous comfort He grants them.
All who accompanied Him enjoyed comfort, peace, assurance, and joy. And thus the apostle said: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4).
With this comfort the holy fathers were able to live in the desert alone, without a companion, enjoying divine love, finding in the wilderness an indescribable consolation and a deep delight in divine companionship…
And from God’s love for His saints, He gave them the sense of being in His presence…
And about this David the prophet says: “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Ps. 16:8)… And Elijah the prophet says: “As the Lord God of hosts lives, before whom I stand” (1 Kgs. 18:15).
The human soul that has tasted God’s love says: “His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me” (Song 2:6), feeling that His love surrounds her…
And from God’s love for us, He surrounds us with His angels, who guard us and serve us.
St. Paul says about the angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation!” (Heb. 1:14). And Scripture says: “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Ps. 34:7).
How wondrous that angels serve us, when we are not worthy even to see them!
And from God’s love for His saints, He grants them the right of intercession as well.
When God wanted to forgive the sin of Job’s friends, He said to them after rebuking them: “Now therefore, take for yourselves… and My servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly…” (Job 42:8).
Thus God made His forgiveness conditional on Job’s prayer for them… And why do You not forgive directly, O Lord?! He says: “For I will accept his person.”
And the Lord appears to Saul of Tarsus and calls him to His service, but He does not explain what he must do; instead He sends him to His servant Ananias in Damascus to tell him what he ought to do.
The same happened with Cornelius, whose prayers and alms ascended before the Lord; an angel appeared to him informing him of this, but the Lord referred Cornelius to His servant Peter to tell him what he must do, for He desires to work through His apostles and His priests, thus honoring them as His stewards!
In His love for His saints, God gives them authority even over nature.
How wondrous are the words of Elijah the prophet: “There shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word” (1 Kgs. 17:1)!!
And truly the rain ceased for more than three years awaiting Elijah’s word…
And Elijah gives a blessing to the widow of Zarephath of Sidon, that the bin of flour shall not be used up and the jar of oil shall not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth (1 Kgs. 17:16)—and so it was…
God gave authority to Adam and Eve over all the birds of the sky, fish of the sea, and beasts of the earth.
With this authority Noah lived in the ark, unharmed by the beasts, but they coexisted with him; and Daniel in the lions’ den, where God sent His angel to shut their mouths. Likewise the whale did not harm Jonah. And these beloved of God found themselves in a state of exaltation.
At the departure of Anba Bola, God sent two lions to dig a grave for him, so that Anba Antony would not be burdened with this task, as he had commanded them…
God loved His saints and honored them in their life and also in their death.
He sends angels to carry the soul of poor Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham.
And the soul of Anba Amun was seen by Saint Anba Antony, carried by angels in joy, escorting it with praises to heaven…
And there are saints who at their departure see lights, and saints appear to them to receive their souls. And some of them give off the fragrance of incense at their death. Thus beautiful is the Scripture’s saying: “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” (Num. 23:10).
From God’s love for His saints is that He called them “gods.”
He said to them in the Psalm: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High’” (Ps. 82:6). And it was said: “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods” (Ps. 82:1). And the Lord said to Moses: “I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Ex. 7:1), meaning a lord. Yet it is an astonishing title, full of love…
And out of His love He created us in His likeness, in His image and resemblance…
And even in heaven, with the resurrection body, we shall be in the likeness of His glorious body! And out of His love He gave us some of His titles, for He says: “I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12), and He says to His disciples: “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14).
And from God’s love for His saints, He will make them with Him in eternity.
“…And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:3). Thus the heavenly Jerusalem becomes “the tabernacle of God with men” (Rev. 21:3), and we become “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).
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An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year 8 – Issue 29 – 22-7-1977
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