One of the most disturbing ideas I’ve heard in the recent push to “modernize” the Coptic Orthodox Church and make it more “attractive” to people in today’s society is the idea of priests putting aside their priestly cassocks in favor of pants, shirts, and collars, like other western clergy. The general arguments in favor of abandoning the priestly cassock essentially argue that it is too traditional to the point of alienating people in modern society. …

One of the signs of modern courtship is the growing trend of elaborate marriage proposals, which are oftentimes choreographed and shared on social media. We see them all the time: a young man invites a young woman to some sentimental place (oftentimes with a view of the ocean) and “pops the question” (oftentimes using candles, signs, and/or balloons) shortly before all of their family and friends come out of hiding to congratulate them and celebrate. …

The Early Fathers of the Church teach us that, when God created Adam and Eve, they were clothed in the Divine light of God Himself. Sadly, when they sinned, they lost the glory of God, and that’s when they realized they were naked. This is our past, which we lost because of sin. Through the lifegiving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, however, this is also our future. In Matthew 13:43, we hear from the …

In or around the first year of the Lord, a meeting took place that would forever change the course of history. There was in those days an older woman living in the hill country of Judea. At this particular time, she was hiding, because something wondrous had happened to her. Despite the old age of this woman and her husband, a Jewish priest, and despite the fact that she, as a woman, was unable to …

In the account of the Annunciation of the Birth of our Savior, we read the following response of the Holy Virgin Mary to the Holy Archangel Gabriel’s announcement that she would miraculously conceive and give birth to the Savior of the world: “How can this be, since I know not a man?” (Lk 1:34). From this response, we learn the important lesson that, sometimes, there is value in ignorance. The Holy Virgin Mary’s response to …

I once visited a Coptic Orthodox parish for a weekday meeting. Before the meeting began, a “praise and worship team” came into the church with their instruments and began singing a couple of Protestant songs. As odd and surreal as it was to hear these songs in a holy place in which mystical and spiritual hymns are chanted, this is not our present focus. [1. This is not directed at any particular parish, because these songs …

Today, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the martyrdom of St. Marina the Holy Martyr of Antioch, a wonderful role model especially for young women. She was raised as an unbeliever by her parents until her mother died. Afterwards, she believed in our Lord Jesus Christ and vowed to remain a virgin for Him, but her father disowned her because of her faith, which ultimately resulted in her martyrdom. She shunned marriage, pleasure, fame, wealth, family, …

The beautiful and sacred art of iconography in the Coptic Orthodox Church is dying before our eyes.Without realizing it, we have been witnessing its death on social media, especially on Facebook. Its death is manifested when our News Feed becomes filled with images like this:To be honest, I don’t know what this image is supposed to mean, but it must mean something to many Copts, because these types of images are flooding the social media …

Today, our Mother, the Holy Church, nourished us with a passage from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 9:10-17, which contains the story of the Miraculous Feeding, that great miracle in which our Savior multiplied five loaves and two fish in order to feed a hungry crowd of at least 5,000 in a deserted place. The Holy Apostles were concerned for this multitude, because they were in a deserted place, “in the middle of …

Lately, I’ve noticed a dangerous trend growing among Coptic Orthodox faithful: we treat Church services and events as though they are products that we consume, i.e., things that we are free to accept, reject, or even modify. For example, let’s say a parish has a weekly meeting for parents of young children. The idea is that, every week, these parents will come to the Church and hear the Voice of God in this service. What …