By Fr. Moses Samaan – Parish Priest from St. Marina Coptic Orthodox Church, California, USA. The Agpeya or the seven canonical prayers started as early as the Apostolic age during the earliest days of Christianity. The believers received this spiritual practice from the head of the Alexandrine Church: St. Mark the Apostle, who was also the... Continue Reading →

By St Cyril of Alexandria - Sermon LXXVIII in his Commentary on the Gospel of St Luke Luke 11:5‐10. And He said to them, Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves: for my friend has come to me from... Continue Reading →

By Fr. Gabriel Wissa - Parish Priest from St. George & St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church, Montreal, Canada. Today we will discuss one of the key elements of Orthodox Spiritual Life, without it, it is very difficult, or nearly impossible, to really have a meaningful relationship with the Holy Trinity. When it comes to prayer,... Continue Reading →

By St. Macarius the Great. 1. We ought to pray, not according to any bodily habit nor with a habit of loud noise nor out of a custom of silence or on bended knees. But we ought soberly to have an attentive mind, waiting expectantly on God until He comes and visits the soul by... Continue Reading →

By Fr. Peter Farrington – St. George Ministry – Coptic Mission Communities in the UK. Growing up as a committed evangelical Christian I always struggled to develop a regular spiritual life because I had no models to follow and received no instruction from my congregation. One of the great blessings in discovering aspects of traditional and... Continue Reading →

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III. The prayers in the “Agpeya” are the seven prayers recited at fixed different hours of the day. Each hour includes a general introduction, Psalms, intercessions, a few biblical passages, a closing prayer, and a general prayer to conclude all the prayers included at a specific time of the day. Why... Continue Reading →

By Fr. Matthew the Poor (Matta El-Meskeen). “Lord teach us to pray” — Lk 11:1 “You have said, ‘seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” — Ps 27:8 Prayer that is spiritual and genuine is both a call and a response: a divine call and a human response.... Continue Reading →

By Fr. Matthew the Poor (Matta El-Meskeen). Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God- neither salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of his own thinking. He is like... Continue Reading →

By Fr. Moses Samaan - Parish Priest from St. Marina Coptic Orthodox Church, California, USA. The most important thing in the lives of the faithful and those inquiring into the Orthodox faith is prayer. It is the one thing that informs and sanctifies everything else in a person’s life. Every major event and decision in the... Continue Reading →