Poem: How harsh injustice has been to you
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III spoke about a poem he wrote in 1946, over sixty years ago, when he was a young man. The poem was presented at a conference on personal status issues and titled “How Much Injustice Fell Upon Me”, but the verses he shared in this talk are from another poem titled “Where Are My Fathers.”
🕊 Content of the Poem:
The Pope expresses deep sorrow and longing for the earlier generations of holy fathers who carried the faith with zeal and purity. He writes:
“Where are my fathers, Khouf and Sanfer? A past has gone, and we are left alone… All glory is lost; what glory remains around us? Only the Gospel of Jesus endures. It remains with us, remains as long as we live, and remains after us.”
He teaches that true glory is not earthly but lies in the steadfastness of the Gospel in our hearts, for every letter of it is more precious than our lives. He declares that true death is not the death of the body, but the neglect of the Gospel or forgetting Christ’s promise that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the Church.
🌿 Main Idea:
The poem is a call to remain steadfast in the Orthodox faith, holding firmly to the Gospel as the treasure that must never be abandoned.
💫 Spiritual Meaning:
These verses remind us that the Church remains alive as long as the Gospel lives within it. Earthly glory fades, but spiritual glory endures forever. It reaffirms faith in Christ’s promise that the gates of Hades shall not overcome His Church and calls us to return to the holiness and zeal of the early fathers.
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