Monastery of the Holy Martyrs - Orthodox Monastery, Syriac Orthodox

 Have you stopped the monastery's new web site?  Come on by and visit, either on line or in person.  I love meeting new folks and make new friends.  I have never met anyone I did not like even those  who I seem to often and don't like me.  Lots of time they are the nicest people Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even Atheists are all welcome here. And we usually have coffee...and tea for those who want that.  nd some times the monastery's awesome soup.  It's awesome because my mother taught me how to make it.  But hers even even better and more awesome.



Monastery of the Holy Martyrs - Orthodox Monastery, Syriac Orthodox

What we Do

 Monks and nuns pray for us.  Because of monks and nuns, we are always remembered before God. What a great gift! Monks and nuns live away from the rest of the world in communities called monasteries.

  What we Do

GO - Mission: Witness, Part 5 —

 "We are not here on a vacation.  We are here on a mission."

 GO - Mission: Witness, Part 5 —

Heretics and Heresies Were Apart of the Orthodox Church But Truth Prevailed

Orthodox Confess to Priests and Eucharist Changes Mysteriously. Why?

Introduction to Orthodoxy | Become Orthodox

Introduction to Orthodoxy | Become Orthodox: The Orthodox Church was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ and is the living manifestation of His presence in the history of the mankind.

Deer in the Headlights Baptist Visits an Orthodox Church | A Field Guide to the Orthodox Church

Deer in the Headlights Baptist Visits an Orthodox Church | A Field Guide to the Orthodox Church: When one first enters an Orthodox church, it may be a scary or intimidating experience. There is often confusion about what everyone is doing, when and why they’re going around kissing things, and what a visitor should do or how to behave. “And did those people really just kiss the hand of that man in the Matrix outfit? Yes, I’m pretty sure that just happened.”

Monastery of the Holy Martyrs - Orthodox Monastery, Syriac Orthodox

Monastery of the Holy Martyrs - Orthodox Monastery, Syriac Orthodox    

Check our community's new web site.  Stop. Let us know how we can improve it.  You can also find us on Facebook. 

Nonviolent Jesus: Liberation from Wealth

Nonviolent Jesus: Liberation from Wealth  

"For this revolution is not, in fact, concerned with liberating us from
our poverty and misery, but rather from our wealth and our totally
excessive prosperity. It is not a liberation from what we lack, but
from our consumerism in which we are ultimately consuming our very
selves. It is not a liberation from our state of oppression, but from
the untransformed praxis of our own wishes and desires. It is not a
liberation from our powerlessness, but from our own form of
predominance. It frees us, not from the state of being dominated, but
from that of dominating; not from our suffering, but from our apathy;
not from our guilt, but from our innocence, or rather from that delusion
of innocence which the life of domination has long since spread out in
our souls." - Johann Baptist Metz, "Christians and Jews After
Auschwitz"

Orthodox life: Is the Holy Bible the ONLY source of faith?

Orthodox life: Is the Holy Bible the ONLY source of faith?: Recently, we had extended an invitation to Protestants everywhere. We had dared them to show us AT LEAST ONE VERSE OF THE HOLY BIBLE that says we should accept only the Holy Bible as the source of faith.

St Maria of Paris: Overshadowing Christ – Through the Grace of God

St Maria of Paris: Overshadowing Christ – Through the Grace of God: “We must not allow Christ to be overshadowed by any regulations, any customs, any traditions, any aesthetic considerations, or even any piety.” – St Maria of Paris

Mother Gavrilia: Life in Christ – Through the Grace of God

Mother Gavrilia: Life in Christ – Through the Grace of God: “In my life, wherever I was, I accepted everything as the Will of God and lived as if I were to stay in that place forever.

Message for the 4th Year on the Abduction of Boulos Yazigi and Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim | Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch

Message for the 4th Year on the Abduction of Boulos Yazigi and Mor Gregorius Youhanna Ibrahim | Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch 

We are being crucified in this East, suffering this great ordeal. The
world looks at the cross of our agony, and is satisfied merely by
expressing grief over us. Nevertheless, the power of this world will not
drive us out of our land, because we are the sons of the cross and the
resurrection. We have been displaced throughout history, and we are
still being displaced up to this day, but each of us is called to
remember that the land of Christ will not be emptied of his beloved ones
and of those who were named after him two thousand years ago. And if
the act of kidnapping the two archbishops and priests aims at defying
our Eastern Christian presence, and uprooting it from this land, our
answer is clear. Even though it has been four years since the two
archbishops were kidnapped and this crisis has lasted six years, we are
staying here next to the tombs of our fathers, and their hallowed
ground. We are deeply rooted in the womb of this East. We are determined
not to leave our land, furthermore we will defend it with our own blood
and lives.

Dr. Jeannie Constantinou. On the Resurrection of Christ, Part 1 / OrthoChristian.Com

Dr. Jeannie Constantinou. On the Resurrection of Christ, Part 1 / OrthoChristian.Com: So the professor asked the question: “Would you still be a Christian if the bones of Jesus were discovered?” I was stunned to hear virtually every other person in the class say such things as, “I would still be a Christian, my faith would not be shaken. My faith is strong enough to withstand such a thing”. Others said, “Jesus was a great teacher, it wouldn’t really affect my faith very much”. My jaw literally dropped as person after person expressed these kinds of sentiments, and I thought to myself, “If we don’t agree on the importance of the Resurrection, what do we have in common anymore?” This was my first introduction to the fact that many essentially Christian beliefs are simply not held in common.

The Meaning of the Great and Holy Friday - The Catalog of Good Deeds

The Meaning of the Great and Holy Friday - The Catalog of Good Deeds

 On Great and Holy Friday, the Orthodox Church
commemorates the sufferings of Christ: The mockery, the crown of thorns, the
scourging, the nails, the thirst, the vinegar and gall, the cry of desolation,
and all the Savior endured on the Cross. “Today He Who hung the earth on the
waters is hung on the tree.”

A Journey to the Ancient Church: Evangelicals Discovering Orthodox Chris...

Denver church destroyed after fire | 9news.com

Denver church destroyed after fire | 9news.com: A Denver church was destroyed after a fire tore through the building on Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters responded to Saint Mary's Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church on West Walsh Place around 2:30 p.m.

The church's pastor was taken to the hospital for from small burns and smoke inhalation, but has since been released,

Sinners in the Church

Sinners in the Church: And how reminiscent of God is His Orthodox Church ! By following His example, we do not send away anyone! WE ARE NOT INTERESTED in claiming we are the "church of the pure". After all, we already know that the Church of the Lord also has "tares" inside Her. Instead of concerning ourselves with preserving a good name, we prefer to pick up our sinned brother, show him the method of therapy, and if he so desires, be purified and whiten his robe once again, so that the betrothal of the Holy Spirit may begin to act within him.

Statement following the Terrorist Attacks near St. Mark Cathedral in Cairo – Egypt | Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch

Statement following the Terrorist Attacks near St. Mark Cathedral in Cairo – Egypt | Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch: Patriarch Aphrem II condemns the terrorist attack near St. Mark Cathedral in Cairo

Orthodoxy as a Community, Part III – Evolution of the Early Church

Orthodoxy as a Community, Part III – Evolution of the Early Church: Imagine being a part of a community where daily you meet with other Christians to depend on each others’ talents and resources, forming a particular type of sub-community within a very hostile, secular community. Imagine living within this community where you are able and willing to practice your God-given talents even to the point of death to protect and grow this community. This is the way the pre-Nicene, early Church, lived. Within the ancient writings of St Paul and other saints such as Clement, we know that the Church lived a communal life in every way that they possibly could, building a new kind of spiritual and philanthropic community that would eventually evolve into a Christian empire.

Orthodoxy as a Community, Part V – Foundations of Community

Orthodoxy as a Community, Part V – Foundations of Community: The primary function of the Church revolves not around temple service but around something much larger, something that the worship within the temple actually points us to: the call of philanthropy and community. We have seen that even Christ himself says that when we pass to eternity, at the Last Judgement, we will be judged based on this philanthropic calling (Matthew 25).

Almsgiving

AlmsgivingBut in the tradition of the Church, asceticism isn’t simply prayer and
fasting. Almsgiving and manual labor are (or should be) essential
ascetical disciplines.

Iraqi Orthodox Bishop: The West Cares More About Frogs Than Us | ncregister.com

Iraqi Orthodox Bishop: The West Cares More About Frogs Than Us | ncregister.com: Security and the rule of law are what Christians most need in Iraq, but it seems no one wishes to offer them, says Metropolitan Nicodemus Dauod Matti Sharaf, the Orthodox Syriac Archbishop of Mosul.

Speaking to the Register last month in Erbil, Metropolitan Nicodemus, who was the last bishop to leave Mosul when ISIS invaded the city in 2014, had strong words for the West: he said, citing an example, that the developed world places the welfare of frogs ahead of Christians, that the West needs to wake up to the threat of Islamism, and blamed past U.S. leaders and their allies for ruining his country. He likes President Trump, saying: “Let’s try the crazy one because we tried the normal one, and he destroyed our lives.”

Punks and Monks Part 2 (Monks)

Punks and Monks Part 1 (Punks)

Subhumanity – The Philosophy of the Absurd – Death To The World

Subhumanity – The Philosophy of the Absurd – Death To The World: The present age is, in a profound sense, an age of absurdity. Poets and dramatists, painters and sculptors proclaim and depict the world as a disjointed chaos, and man as a dehumanized fragment of that chaos. Politics, whether of the right, the left, or the center, can no longer be viewed as anything but an expedient whereby universal disorder is given, for the moment, a faint semblance of order; pacifists and militant crusaders are united in an absurd faith in the feeble powers of man to remedy an intolerable situation by means which can only make it worse. Philosophers and other supposedly responsible men in governmental, academic, and ecclesiastical circles, when they do not retreat behind the impersonal and irresponsible facade of specialization or bureaucracy,usually do no more than rationalize the incoherent state of contemporary man and his world, and counsel a futile “commitment” to a discredited humanist optimism, to a hopeless stoicism, to blind experimentation and irrationalism, or to “commitment” itself, a suicidal faith in “faith”.

Protopresbyter Peter Alban Heers, D. Theol., Secularism and Asceticism in Church and Family Life (Video)

Protopresbyter Peter Alban Heers, D. Theol., Secularism and Asceticism in Church and Family Life (Video): Fr. Peter Alban Heers' talk on "secularism and asceticism in Church and family life".

Great Lenten Prayers

Orthodox Church slams Islamic extremism / OrthoChristian.Com

Orthodox Church slams Islamic extremism / OrthoChristian.Com: Delivering his Christmas homily at St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral, Namungoona in Kampala on Christmas, Lwanga said that many Christians in Uganda and elsewhere in the world, had not fully grasped the Christian message of peace, love and justice, which evils like corruption, child-sacrifice and prostitution were still rampant in the country.

“In the name of absolute peace, morals have intentionally degenerates among the people. The economists, politicians, capitalists and academicians have also continued to monopolize the environment.

Russian Church Official Believes Orthodox Lifestyle is the Main Response to Pseudo-Islamic Extremism / OrthoChristian.Com

Russian Church Official Believes Orthodox Lifestyle is the Main Response to Pseudo-Islamic Extremism / OrthoChristian.Com: Christian countries can oppose pseudo-Islamic extremism only based on traditional religious values, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin believes.

Jesus, Superheroes, and the Presidency | Incommunion

Jesus, Superheroes, and the Presidency | Incommunion: Recently I’ve been reading an alternate universe Avengers comic in which Captain America is elected president of the US. It’s a very powerful fantasy that I find captivating. President Cap is the American to the bone, bleeding red white and blue. He’s the apple pie and baseball, blond hair and blue eyed super-soldier. He is America’s very own ubermensch, the ‘blond beast’ of Nietzche’s dreams and of Nazi propaganda. And it’s pretty cool. He flies around in his jet, jumps into crises with battle armor, and punches terrorists in the face.

Cover Story IC70: From Herod to ISIS through Christ | Incommunion

Cover Story IC70: From Herod to ISIS through Christ | Incommunion: The essay asks rhetorically “is violence—individual or large-scale––a possible Orthodox response?” To shape his answer, Fr. John looks at the examples of martyrs beginning with the first of the New Testament, St. John the Baptist, and the first of the new Church, St. Stephen. With each saint listed, Fr. John points to the historical record and it’s stunning silent testimony that “there was no record of retribution.”

Personal Stories: Making Christ the center of our life. - The Catalog of Good Deeds

Personal Stories: Making Christ the center of our life. - The Catalog of Good Deeds

My first
act of madness was made in 1993. I had a salary of about 459 rubles. I had a
family, children but I quit my job and went to work in church for 25 Rubles. Of
course looking back, I understand that it was pure madness, but madness with
good intentions. The Apostles were fools for Christ in the same way. They were not
rich folk and all they had to their name was their fishing boat and nets.
However, as Christ passes by and says: “Leave everything and follow me”, and
they leave their current life behind and follow him.

Faith and humility are the ‘being’ of the Church

Faith and humility are the ‘being’ of the Church: Faith and humility are the ‘being’ of the Church

How I Came to the Syriac Orthodox Church

Significance of Symbolism in the Syrian Orthodox Churches

Fr. James Guirguis. Divided by Politics or United in Christ? / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. James Guirguis. Divided by Politics or United in Christ? / OrthoChristian.Com: Let me be clear so that no one misunderstands the point here. We as a Church pray for our elected officials. We even pray for our leaders regardless of how they came to power. Let me also be clear that we as a community and God’s family will not spend time reflecting the idolatry and misguided zeal of the world around us.

Fr. Stephen Freeman. Democratic Madness / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. Stephen Freeman. Democratic Madness / OrthoChristian.Com: Much of what today passes for Protestantism is nothing of the sort. Rather, it is a thinly veiled cloak for the democratic spirit at “prayer.” “Salvation by grace through faith” is a slogan for individualism, a Christianity “by right.” There are no works, no requirements, only a “grace-filled” entitlement. For the ultimate form of democracy is the person who needs no one else: no Church, no priest, no sacrament, only the God of my understanding who saves me by grace and guarantees that I can do it alone.

Our outward forms of Christianity are morphing as quickly as the market can imagine them. Even the “New Atheist” Sunday meetings differ little from many Christian gatherings. God Himself may not be necessary to the spirituality of our democracy. Where does God fit in a world of equals?

Abba Dorotheos. The Fifteenth Instruction. On the holy forty days of Lent / OrthoChristian.Com

Abba Dorotheos. The Fifteenth Instruction. On the holy forty days of Lent / OrthoChristian.Com: In the Law it is written that God commanded the sons of Israel to give a tenth part of all they had acquired during each year, and thereby bring a blessing upon all their deeds. With this in mind, the Holy Apostles established and committed to us as a help and benefaction for our souls something yet greater and more exalted--that we should set apart a tenth portion of the very days of our lives and devote them to God. Thereby might we also receive a blessing for all our deeds, and yearly cleanse the sins we have committed over the course of the whole year.

Our core values

What we do must be guided by: Respect for human dignity – exhibited by a reverence for and commitment to promoting and protecting the dignity of all persons; Compassion – characterized by an empathetic consciousness toward others expressed in caring service ; Solidarity with the Poor – ensuring that the needs of the poor and vulnerable are met through advocacy and action; Justice and Peace – forging right relationships, recreating a sustainable environment, promoting the common good—all in the pursuit of peace.  

We are called to help the poor

We are a Monastic Community  and intentional Christian community who live according to the Gospel. We strive for a balance of communal and private prayer, work, and leisure in our lives. Through our diverse ministries we are committed to helping create a more just and compassionate world. Christ tells us “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, so you do unto me.” If we listen, we hear the call to be open to one another, to give what we have and to welcome all guests as we would welcome Christ.

Is it my obligation?

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Do not tell me, as a good man did today, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my  poor?”  But contrary to Emerson’s sentiments, even if I am not to blame for the poor being poor, Scripture tells me I am still responsible to help them. 

Met. Georges Khodr. The Path of Giving / OrthoChristian.Com

Met. Georges Khodr. The Path of Giving / OrthoChristian.Com: A rich young man asks Jesus, "What should I do to inherit eternal life?" The Lord responds, "In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must keep the commandments," and He listed some of them. The young man said, "I have fulfilled these since my childhood," as though he was searching for something else in order to enter the kingdom of his Lord, which this new Teacher came to proclaim in Galilee and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Then Jesus replied, "You lack one thing: that you sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Then, come and follow Me."

Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis. A Personal Encounter with Christ / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis. A Personal Encounter with Christ / OrthoChristian.Com: We’ve discussed many times why we receive Holy Communion. In today’s reflection we will discuss how to receive Communion, both from a practical and spiritual perspective. First, the decision to receive Communion should be made well in advance of the call to receive given by the priest. Second, the decision to receive Communion is just that, a decision, that one makes with careful consideration. We are not supposed to hear the words of invitation to Communion and just “go” because they are said. We know that the invitation is coming, so we should prepare to receive Communion well in advance of the Divine Liturgy.

Fr. Sergius Nezhbort. "The Church is not a Social Club" / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. Sergius Nezhbort. "The Church is not a Social Club" / OrthoChristian.Com: The Church is not just a social club, where you can go if you want, where you can listen to choirs, have a rest for your soul, console yourself and then leave it go on your way. It a place where we meet God. And this meeting changes a person significantly.

Fr. Alexey Young. Man’s Spiritual Nature. Orthodox Spirituality, Part 2 / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. Alexey Young. Man’s Spiritual Nature. Orthodox Spirituality, Part 2 / OrthoChristian.Com: In the spiritual and theological Tradition of the Orthodox Church we can distinguish various degrees of knowledge or ways of knowing. In St. Isaac of Syria we find a schema of three levels of knowledg

Fr. Alexey Young. What is Holiness? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 1 / OrthoChristian.Com

Fr. Alexey Young. What is Holiness? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 1 / OrthoChristian.Com: In order to talk about holiness, we need to talk about the saints, who are our best examples of holiness. For this purpose we must say that a saint doesn’t exist outside of Orthodoxy. Of course there are outstanding people—Mother Theresa for example, but in the precise Orthodox understanding sainthood is limited to the Orthodox Church.

5 Ways Eastern Orthodox Differs From Other Christian Denominations / OrthoChristian.Com

5 Ways Eastern Orthodox Differs From Other Christian Denominations / OrthoChristian.Com: Eastern Orthodox Christianity predates Protestantism by about 500 years. Their core beliefs are similar to those of Catholicism.

In fact, the creeds of the two denominations are nearly identical. However, there are key differences between Orthodox Christianity and other Christian denominations.

Here are five ways Eastern Orthodox differs from other Christian denominations

The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary - Orthodox Church in America

The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary - Orthodox Church in America: On Sunday, October 1, during the All Night Vigil, when the church was overflowing with those at prayer, the Fool-for-Christ Saint Andrew (October 2), at the fourth hour, lifted up his eyes towards the heavens and beheld our most Holy Lady Theotokos coming through the air, resplendent with heavenly light and surrounded by an assembly of the Saints. Saint John the Baptist and the holy Apostle John the Theologian accompanied the Queen of Heaven. On bended knees the Most Holy Virgin tearfully prayed for Christians for a long time. Then, coming near the Bishop’s Throne, she continued her prayer.

Blessed Andrew the Fool-For-Christ at Constantinople - Orthodox Church in America

Blessed Andrew the Fool-For-Christ at Constantinople - Orthodox Church in America: Blessed Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, was a Slav and lived in the tenth century at Constantinople. From his early years, he loved God’s Church and the Holy Scriptures. Once during a dream, the saint beheld a vision of two armies. In the one were men in radiant garb, in the other, black and fiercesome devils. An angel of God, who held wondrous crowns, said to Andrew, that these crowns were not adornments from the earthly world, but rather a celestial treasure, with which the Lord rewards His warriors, victorious over the dark hordes. “Proceed with this good deed,” the angel said to Andrew. “Be a fool for My sake and you will receive much in the day of My Kingdom.”

The Archbishops

Prayer Service for the Two kidnapped Archbishops

Join us Saturday April 22 for a Special Prayer Service for the Two kidnapped Archbishops

Prayers will start at 10 AM

Two Syrian Archbishops were kidnapped by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo over three years ago

Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi were seized by “a terrorist group” in the village of Kfar Dael as they were “carrying out humanitarian work”.

Their driver a deacon was killed and will also be prayed for. 

 

The Apostle of America

Saint Innocent

Can A Juror Be Disqualified For Following Jesus? – Red Letter Christians

Can A Juror Be Disqualified For Following Jesus? – Red Letter Christians: The constitution of our nation specifically states that our governing bodies must not utilize religious tests in determining who can and who cannot serve in government posts. Unless, I am missing something, the courts in Texas ignored that principal when selecting a jury for the trial of Mr. Chris Young. A woman who was being considered as a juror was disqualified in this case, according to a petition filed by his attorneys with the U.S. Supreme Court, primarily because she was involved in outreach ministries of the Baptist Church where she holds her membership.

Welcome -- Please join us

St. Mary the Protectress Syriac Orthodox Community is a monastic community and intentional Orthodox Christian community Few Christian denominations can claim the antiquity of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, whose foundations can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. The Church justifiably prides itself as being one of the earliest established apostolic churches.

Sunday Mass—Holy Qurbana 10:30 AM
Daily Services 9 AM, 12 Noon, 6:30 PM

The church has ignored and even blandly rejected whole groups of people base upon their appearance or lifestyle.

We are a community of people who some think have given upon the church. While others have given up on us and focused more on law and social perceptions thereby losing the true message of Christ, we have returned to where He started.

While some chose to walk away, we chose the last true rebellion and returned to the ancient church as started by Christ. We listen to you. We walk with you. We do what Christ taught all of us to do.
The Orthodox Christian Church is the original from which all others have moved away. Over the centuries other Christian churches separated themselves from, or altered, their understanding of Christian Tradition: pray God that all may have the blessing of the True Faith, undiminished and undiluted.

The church is evangelical, but not Protestant; orthodox, but not Jewish; catholic, but not Roman. She isn't non-denominational - she is pre-denominational."

Some live within community, some do not. We come together to worship and praise God. Some are monks or nuns, but most are just regular people. They are you and me.

Our fellowship following the Sunday Holy Qurbana is more than fellowship. We have a simple meal and discussed how we can make a difference in our community. We also celebrate, worship, and praise each day.

Traditional Orthodox Christianity. Serving God by Serving the Poor and the Poorest of the Poor in America's Inner Cities and Missions. Bringing the truth of Orthodox Christianity to the disenfranchised and marginalized, the poor and forgotten...the Message of the Stable. “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John9:4-6

Chalcedonian and Coptic Orthodox; history, similarities, and differences

Chalcedonian and Coptic Orthodox; history, similarities, and differences

Discovering Orthodox - Beginning with .. Church History

The Two Families of Orthodoxy

Meet the Oriental Orthodox Christians and Their Controversial Christology - Taylor Marshall

Meet the Oriental Orthodox Christians and Their Controversial Christology - Taylor Marshall: The Non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox Christians rejected this Council because Saint Cyril of Alexandria spoke of one nature (Greek: mia physis) in the incarnate Christ. These Non-Chalcedonian Christians rejected the Council of Chalcedon on grounds that a great saint and doctor of the Church, Saint Cyril, spoke of “one nature” or “mia physis.” According to them, how then could the Council teach “two natures”?

Syriac Influence on the Style of the Kur'an. By The Rev. Alphonse Mingana, D.D.

Syriac Influence on the Style of the Kur'an. By The Rev. Alphonse Mingana, D.D.: THE time has surely come to subject the text of the Kur'an to the same criticism as that to which we subject the Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jewish Bible, and the Greek of the Christian Scriptures. Apart from some stray comparative remarks by a few eminent scholars, the only comprehensively critical work on the subject is still that of Nöldeke, printed in 1860. It is to be regretted that in the new edition of Nöldeke's classical work undertaken by Schwally and Bergsträsser - which contains most useful references to an astounding number of Arabic printed books and MSS. - the editors have not seen fit to multiply the critical and comparative remarks on the sacred text itself. Much useful information can also be gathered from another classical study of Nöldeke : the Neue Beiträge.

A very recent study on the historical narratives of the Kur'an has lately been written by J. Horovitz1. The section dealing with proper names (pp. 85-155) is full of erudition, but I think that in some places he has built too much on the Muslim tradition and on the so-called pre-Islamic or early Arabian poetry. Setting aside as irrelevant the South Arabian and other inscriptions - I believe that we have not a single Arabic page on which we can lay our hands with safety and say that it is pre-Islamic, and I hold with Margoliouth2 that all the edifice of pre-Islamic poetry is shaky and unstable, and that the Kur'an is the first genuine Arabic book that we possess. It is in place here to repeat what I wrote on this subject in 1920:3

Abba John the Dwarf

Abba John the Dwarf said, "If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy's city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh; if a man goes about fasting and hungry the enemies of his soul grow weak."
The old man also said this to a certain brother about the soul, which wishes to be converted, "There was in a city a courtesan who had many lovers. One of the governors approached her, saying, "Promise me you will be good, and I will marry you." She promised this and he took her and brought her to his house. Her lovers, seeking her again, said to one another, "That lord has taken her with him to his house, so if we go to his house and he learns of it, he will condemn us. But let us go to the back, and whistle to her. Then, when she recognizes the sound of the whistle she will come down to us; as for us, we shall be unassailable." When she heard the whistle, the woman stopped her ears and withdrew to the inner chamber and shut the doors." The old man said that this courtesan is our soul, that her lovers are the passions and other men; that the lord is Christ; that the inner chamber is the eternal dwelling; those who whistle are the evil demons, but the soul always takes refuge in the Lord.

Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told an old man this: "I find myself in peace, without an enemy," he said. The old man said to him, "Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you may regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress." So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, "Lord, give me strength for the fight."

Brief History of the Church | Malankara Archdiocese of The Syrian Orthodox Church In North America

Brief History of the Church | Malankara Archdiocese of The Syrian Orthodox Church In North America: The foundation of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. It is the first established church in Christendom which gathered, converted Jews and Gentiles in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and second church after that of Jerusalem.

According to ecclesiastical history and tradition, St. Peter the Apostle established a bishopric in Antioch and became its first bishop and was succeeded by Evodius for the converted Jews and St. Ignatius the Illuminator for the converted Gentiles. After the martyrdom of St. Peter in Rome, he was succeeded by St. Evodius and St. Ignatius respectively. Likewise, St. Peter was succeeded by a line of distinguished Patriarchs, most of whom amazed the world with their sanctity, wonderful writings and other accomplishments in many fields. The See of Antioch then becomes the first, the oldest, and the most famous Church in Christianity. It was the foundation of the Christianity in the East and mother of the gentile churches and the headquarters of Christianity in Asia. It is proud to be the origin of the word Christian; it was in Antioch, after all, that the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians as we are told in the New Testament, “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26).

The Eucharistic Liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church(1).pdf

The Eucharistic Liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church(1).pdf: The E
ucharistic Liturgy of The Syrian Orthodox Church is perhaps the richest in all of
Christendom with more than eighty existing anaphoras in testimony. Among these is the Liturgy
of St. James, acclaimed by liturgical scholars to be among the earliest, if not
the first, liturgies of
the Christian Church. We shall attempt in this brief paper to examine the Liturgy of St. James in
order to provide a general introduction to the Eucharistic Liturgy of the ancient Church of
Antioch.

www - Women in the Syriac Orthodox CHurch.pdf

www - Women in the Syriac Orthodox CHurch.pdf: Article by
Moran mor Ignatius Zakka-I Iwas
The Patriarch of the Apostolic See of Antioch & All the East
The Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church
The Role of Women in the
Syrian
Orthodox Church of Antioch
*
T
he Role of Women is a topic of importance today in our Syriac Orthodox Church which is a deeply
rooted traditional apostolic church.”
In our presentation, we shall depend upon the Holy Scripture and
the tradition of the Church, namely the teachings of
the Apostles which have not been recorded in the
Scriptures. We also shall depend on the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils and general and local
synods, as well as on liturgical practices and the te
achings of our Holy Church Fathers, which have all
been passed down to us from our predecessors.

What Do We Mean By Death to the World

What Do We Mean By Death to the World

"The world is the general name for all the passions. When we wish to call the passions by a common name, we call them the world. But when we wish to distinguish them by their special names, we call them the passions.

Looking for a Christ Centered Community? Get to Know the Original

Looking for a Christ Centered Community?

Get to Know the Original

We haven't loved as Jesus loved.

We like to think of ourselves as gracious and loving, but, the truth be told, that is predicated on an overly-naïve and overly-romanticized notion of love. We don't really love as Jesus invites us to when he says: Love each other as I have loved you! The tail-end of that sentence contains the challenge: Jesus doesn't say, love each other according to the spontaneous movements of your heart; nor, love each other as society defines love, but rather: Love each other as I have loved you! And, for the most part, we haven't done that.

"Every man has a guardian angel at conception

"Every man has a guardian angel at conception. When a man gets baptized, he gets a second guardian angel which accompanies the man for the rest of his life. And these two angels meet the man's soul when it leaves the body. A lot of people who have returned from the other world witnessed that they've been met by the angels. Each man whether baptized or not can pray to God and an angel is the one who delivers the prayer to God. Many people feel the care of God even those outside the church. They say "God guides me and I just feel it." The guardian angel brings this feeling. - Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov