His Holiness Pope Shenouda speaks about the attribute of God as the Protector, and how the believer feels that his life, actions, and efforts are preserved by God’s continuous providence and care.

Scriptural proofs of preservation
He cites the Psalms (for example: verses of Psalm 120, 103, 23) and biblical stories: the saving of Christ and John the Baptist from Herod’s plots, God’s promise to Paul “no one will attack you to harm you,” and His promise to Joshua “I am with you.”

Examples from Scripture and church history
He mentions God’s preservation of Saint Antony from the desert demons, the saving of baby Moses in the Nile, the deliverance of the three youths from the furnace, Daniel in the lions’ den, Jonah from the belly of the fish, and Peter’s release and other apostolic miracles.

Guardian angels and their role
He explains that God has angels of preservation — “angels of keeping” — whom He sends to protect people (guardian angels), and that they appear in saving events (freeing Peter from prison, stilling lions’ mouths for Daniel).

Preservation of the Church and the faith
He discusses how God preserved the Church from persecutions and heresies (such as Arius), and how He preserved nations from atheistic communism, restoring faith to peoples threatened with spiritual collapse.

Twofold preservation: physical and spiritual
He clarifies that preservation is not only from external dangers (enemies, natural disasters, magic) but also preservation of the soul and faith from the devil and from the self (keeping from spiritual falling and granting endurance in trials).

Call to watchfulness and thanksgiving
He encourages believers to keep the psalm verses in mind (“The Lord preserve you from all evil, He will keep your going out and your coming in”), to give thanks because preservation covers what we see and what was prevented, and to ask the Lord to strengthen faith when it is weak.

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