peterfarrington
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I think that we have to struggle against creating stereotypes and treating all people as if they were the same. The English have a 1000 year antipathy towards the French who are our natural enemy. But in fact we know that people are not stereotype…
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Minagir, please be careful how you speak. This is a very serious issue and we should commend those who bring these urgent needs to our attention. The bishop in question is H.G. Archbishop Athanasius of the Syrian Orthodox Church whom I know. Most …
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There is some value in praying the prayers of our rule even if we feel very dark and distant from God. This is because: i. It helps to create a stable routine in our spiritual life, which is like the scaffolding constructed around a building. It is…
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Pray the Agpeya slowly and with great attention so that every word becomes your own. The prayers of the Church teach us how to pray when we have interiorised them. Also pray the Jesus Prayer with attention for a set period. Often we need to say les…
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May the Lord be with you family member and with you. Father Peter
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Mortality is a natural aspect of our humanity, the gift of grace is just that, a gift. It is received individually by each one of us when we are personally united to the new humanity of Christ. It must be preserved by each one of us individually. …
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But who says what we think and believe comes true? There is undoubtedly at least one person in the world who thinks any idea we could describe. But that doesn't mean that the idea is true. I have never heard any of the Fathers or any of the Scrip…
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So it needs two of us to agree?
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The Armenian Church has just celebrated the first Badarak in Dublin, Ireland, and has launched a mission in Wales. http://www.armenianchurch.co.uk/documents/iss30-vol1.pdf The problem with being a priest is finding time to worship with others. I w…
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Demons do not hide in long nails and real witches do not have long nails in any case. Real witches, in the West, are more likely to be middle class, well educated and deluded. The enemy does not usally advertise his presence. He is glad to make d…
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I'll answer this question first... The British Orthodox Church originated from the Syrian Orthodox Church in 1866, but under severe pressure from the Anglican Church in the UK, and in the Middle East, the BOC lost touch with the SOC. Very few Syria…
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Interestingly, the Armenian community in the UK under their new primate Father Vahan, who is a wonderful man, seems to be well aware of the need to educate the faithful and to use the English language as appropriate. Father Vahan has started an Engl…
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Most people who have moved in an Orthodox direction in the UK have had to do so without much help from Orthodox people until quite recently. So it is not too surprising that people have been led to a deeper spiritual life by God through books etc. …
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ChildofOrthodoxy, thanks for this post. You will see from some of my account that what mattered most was the opportunity to experience Orthodoxy. To experience and to participate in Orthodox Christian worship. I am still learning about Orthodoxy. I…
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Dear Ophadece, I am not entirely sure what you mean. About borrowing from other traditions I mean. Much of what we do in the Coptic Orthodox Church IS indeed borrrowed from other local Orthodox Churches, not least because in the past, before the I…
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The problem is that your view of Protestants is too narrow and one-dimensional. I have said this many times to many people. There are certainly US type evangelicals, and lots of new black churches, which sometimes tend to be very narrow and even c…
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You could perhaps look at the development of the Coptic language and the transition from the use of Greek in the Church to Coptic, and then to the decline of Coptic and the use of Arabic, and then consider the continuing use of Coptic in liturgical …
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Which subject is the research project for? Father Peter
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Perhaps I wil say a few words... This is not my entire life story of course. I grew up in a devout Evangelical home. From my earliest years I was often in Church. Indeed as a teenager I spent almost every day in Church or in a Church activity. On …
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In the Middle Ages the Coptic Church was loosely in communion with the Church of Rome. And actually some Syrians do say that the Coptic Church should be subject to the Syrian Church because St Mark was the disciple of St Peter, and Antioch is the s…
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Thanks minagir, I guess that several Churches use Sarkis as the form of Sergius. Yes? Certainly the Armenians do, which is why I wondered if he was part of the Armenian connection in Egypt. Father Peter
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If you mean the Catholics in Egypt I guess I am not sure what hymns they would be expected to sing? They surely consider themselves Coptic Christians in communion with the Pope of Rome, so they would say that they are as entitled to use the Coptic …
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But they are not 'our hymns' surely. There is no such thing as 'our' anything in the Church. We are only Orthodox Christians, or we are nothing. If we are Orthodox Christians then everything Orthodox belongs to ALL Orthodox Christians of whatever l…
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Is Cantor Sarkis an Armenian? It is an Armenian name?
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I can't find any mention in any reference books, including that of Bishop Mettaous which is very thorough and usually says something about most practices. On the one hand we must not make ourselves the judge of the teachings we receive in the Churc…
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I commend Zoxasi for reminding us to always turn to the Fathers. This is not something only for 'theologians' but for all of us. It would be truly wonderful if more people did refer to the Fathers when asking and answering questions since their tea…
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I have to say that I have never heard this, and wonder where it is written in any of the Scriptures or teachings of the Fathers? Do you have any more information? It does sound more like a pious custom than anything else. Father Peter
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But St Mark did not worship in Coptic. The liturgy of St Mark is Greek. The fathers of the Church all wrote and worshipped in Greek. The fact that 'O Only Begotten' written by St Severus is still sung by Copts in Greek shows that even at the time of…
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I have to smile when you say that only Coptic hymns can convey truth. I understand that you will say that, but it is not true. All languages are able to communicate the deep truths of our faith. What truths do you think are limited to Coptic? And s…
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All languages are beautiful. :)