[1] The Holy Forty-Day Fast

The questions that are answered in the Friday meeting at the Cathedral, which are sent to the magazine.

The Holy Forty-Day Fast

Question

How do we call the Great Fast “the Holy Forty-Day Fast,” while it is 55 days and not 40 days?

Answer

In fact, the Great Fast includes three fasts:

1- The fast of the Holy Forty Days which the Lord Christ, to Him be glory, fasted. It includes 6 weeks ending with the Friday of the conclusion of the fast.

2- The Fast of the Pascha (Holy Week) – the last week.

3- The first week: concerning it two opinions have been said.

(A) That it is a preparatory week for the Holy Forty.

(B) That it is a compensation for the Saturdays during which abstaining from food is not permitted throughout the Holy Forty. And this opinion may be the more correct.

What is the meaning of the Pascha

What is the Pascha? What is its meaning? What is its story? What are its symbols? And its contemplations in our lives?

Answer:

The word Pascha is the Passover, and its meaning is “passing over.”

In it we remember the story of the Passover lamb in the Book of Exodus. On the night of the Passover, the destroying angel was going to strike all the firstborn, but all those whose doors were smeared with the blood of the Passover lamb were saved—the lamb of the passing over—by whose blood the angel passed over them. As the Lord said:
“And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you…” (Exodus 12:13).

And the week of the Passover is the Week of Sufferings. In it we remember how we were under the rule of death. And when the Lord saw the blood of His beloved Son, He passed over us, so we did not perish and did not die…

Therefore the Passover symbolizes Christ, as the apostle says:
“For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor. 5:7).
The blood of the Passover lamb symbolizes the blood of Christ, by which we were saved from the hand of the destroyer.

And in the Week of Sufferings we remember the blood of Christ, the blood of the Passover lamb; therefore we call it the Week of the Pascha, that is, the Week of the Passover or the Week of the Passing Over.

The Place of Baptism

Question

What is the location of the place of baptism in the church? Some churches place the baptismal font beside the sanctuary in the east; is this a correct placement?

Answer

The proper placement of the baptismal font is in the northwestern corner of the church, that is, the western northern corner. This location has symbols…

The east is a symbol of light and life, and the west is a symbol of darkness and death. The person who is far from baptism is far from light and life, far from the east; the western place suits him.

The non-believer stands in the west. If he is baptized, he moves to the east where the sanctuary is, where the holy table is, to partake from it… Therefore it is not proper for the baptismal font to be in the east beside the sanctuary.

Also the right symbolizes righteousness, and the left symbolizes sin and evil; therefore it is fitting that the baptized person be in the north (the maritime side) first, before becoming among those of the right (the southern side where heat and light are abundant).

Likewise the maritime section (before baptism) symbolizes coldness, unlike the southern section which is the place of warmth and heat.

And all this is clear in the rite of baptism: the mother stands facing the west, carrying her unbaptized child on her left shoulder, then she renounces Satan, as though she is in the west facing Satan.

This matter shows us the meaning of the north and the west in baptism…

Then afterward the mother turns toward the east, carries her child on her right shoulder, and recites the Creed.

For all this, the baptismal font is placed in the northwestern corner of the church. Originally the baptismal font was in a building outside the church (in its courtyard).

Then after the child is baptized, he is allowed to enter the church.

Photo: Dr. Hussein Fawzi at the memorial ceremony of Dr. Murad Kamel, behind him the picture of the late honored one, and beneath it his decorations and medals.

[1] Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in El-Keraza Magazine, sixth year, issue eleven, 14 March 1975.

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