ABBA Give me a WORD Series

Sermons

In the Holy Gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of the Holy Great Fast (Matthew 4:1-11), His Grace reads for us the following: 
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil..."

His Grace shares with us that the temptations to sin comes upon all of us and is expected. Yet we need to focus on our Lord Jesus Christ and not on the temptation itself.

St. John Chrysostom (Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew):
"For since Jesus did and underwent everything with a view to our instruction He likewise consented to be led there and wrestle against the devil in order that every baptized person who, after baptism, has to endure greater temptations may not be troubled as though this outcome were unexpected, but may continue to endure everything nobly as though it were happening in the natural course of things. For indeed, this was the reason you took up arms, not to be idle, but to fight."

Barsanuphius and John, Barsanuphius and John: Letters, ed. Thomas P. Halton, trans. John Chryssavgis, vol. 113, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2006), 183:
"Do not contradict temptation; for that is what the demons want, and then they will never stop. Rather, resist it by taking refuge in God, casting your weakness before him; for he is able not only to shut their mouths but also to abolish them." 

Elder Porphyrius (EO Saint)
"Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for the light to enter, and the darkness will disappear." 

Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian:
"O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Your servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art You, unto ages of ages. Amen."


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ABBA Give me a WORD

ABBA Give Me A WORD: Fighting Temptations with Light by HG Bishop Gregory

البابا شنودة الثالث - ارجع مرة تاني لربنا

Tune in to Father Anthony Paul as he confronts us to examine our relationship with the Lord this Holy Week, sharing practical advice on how to build our relationship with God by getting to know Him better

Lord, who are you? - Thursday Eve, Fr Anthony Paul

What do the phrases cried out by the people on Hosanna Sunday mean? Did you ever notice that the Lord never described Himself as the "Son of David", despite it being true? Tune in to Father Anthony Paul as he delves into the history and context underpinning Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, and what kind of King He really was!

An Uninformed Joy - Palm Sunday, Fr Anthony Paul

Look at Me- Fr. Louka Sidarous

If We Look- Fr. Louka Sidarous

Gods Love In Your Life - H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Reasons for Spiritual Dryness - Fr. Anthony Paul .mp3

This is an introduction to a new series called "ABBA Give me a WORD".

When the Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples, He called them by a few simple words..."Follow Me".

INTRO to ABBA Give me a WORD by HG Bishop Gregory

This is part of the series called "ABBA Give me a WORD".

His Grace shares with us some words from St. John of Dalyatha about the power of repentance and how the chains are broken and adversities changed into joy.

“Their chains are broken and their adversities are changed into joy and their tears into great rejoicing. He who had bound them is himself bound by their reins of darkness and delivered by them to the scourgers. Repentance destroys all his works, and all the pains he cause the servants who are not his, she HEALS and RESTORES. All whom he has killed she resuscitates, all his traps she shatters, and all his snares she cuts to bits.[…] She makes fornicators virgins” (Letter 43)


When the Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples, He called them by a few simple words..."Follow Me".

ABBA Give me a WORD: Do Not Despair by HG Bishop Gregory

This is part of the series called "ABBA Give me a WORD" by HG Bishop Gregory.

His Grace shares with us some words from St. John Climacus:
“Run from places of sin as from the plague. For when fruit is not present, we have no frequent desire to eat it." (Ladder of Divine Ascent Step 3.9)

Then His Graces shares with some words from St. Gregory of Nyssa:
“Now having learned what great power for evil the disease of pleasure possesses, we should conduct our lives as far removed from it as possible; otherwise the disease may find some opening against us, like fire whose very proximity causes an evil flame.[…] So also it is in our power to remain unaffected by passion as long as we stay far away from the thing that enflames. […] For the evils of the passions, like a plague, when once they have gained possession of the critical parts, stop only at death.” ("The Life of Moses” 2.303)

When the Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples, He called them by a few simple words..."Follow Me".

ABBA Give me a WORD: Avoiding the Virus by HG Bishop Gregory

This is part of the series called "ABBA Give me a WORD".

His Grace shares with us some words from St Eusebius of Caesarea says concerning this treatise:
“A pestilent disease took possession of many provinces of the whole world, and especially Alexandria and Egypt; as Dionysius writes, and the treatise of Cyprian ‘concerning the Mortality’ bears witness.”(1)

Then His Graces shares with some words from St. Cyprian of Carthage’s Treatise 7: On the Mortality, Part 16:
“…beloved brethren, what is it, what a great thing is it, how pertinent, how necessary, that that pestilence and plague which seems horrible and deadly, searches out the righteousness of each one, and examines the minds of the human race, to see (1) whether they who are in health tend the sick; (2) whether relations affectionately love their family; (3) whether masters pity their weakened servants; (4) whether physicians do not forsake the beseeching patients; (5) whether the fierce suppress their violence; (6) whether the greedy can quench the ever insatiable desire of their raging avarice even by the fear of death; (7) whether the arrogant bend their neck; (8) whether the wicked soften their boldness; (9) whether, when their dear ones perish, the rich, even then bestow anything, and give, when they are to die without heirs. (10) Even although this mortality conferred nothing else, it has done this benefit to Christians and to God’s servants, that we begin gladly to desire martyrdom as we learn not to fear death. These are trainings for us, not deaths: they give the mind the glory of fortitude; by contempt of death they prepare for the crown.” (2)

References:
(1)	Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds., Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, vol. 5, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886)

(2)	Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds., Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, vol. 5, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886).

When the Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples, He called them by a few simple words..."Follow Me".

ABBA Give me a WORD: Use Pestilence to Search me O God by HG Bishop Basil

This is part of the series called "ABBA Give me a WORD".

His Grace shares with us some words from St. Gregory the Theologian in Oration 17:
“Just take the first step. Comfort is near, on your lips and in your heart. I remembered God, says the Psalmist, and rejoiced. What could be easier than remembering? You too remember and rejoice. The remedy is so simple! The cure so fast! The gift so magnificent! The remembrance of God not only lulls the sense of desolation and anguish but also gives rise to joy.”

His Graces asks us to train ourselves to remember God!

When the Lord Jesus Christ called His disciples, He called them by a few simple words..."Follow Me".

ABBA Give me a WORD: Remember God by HG Bishop Gregory

Spiritual Warfare  Captivity And Passion - Fr. Antony Paul

اقدر احب الاعداء؟ ابونا لوقا سيداروس

Thinking Critically (Fr. Anthony Paul).m4a

The official SoundCloud and podcast for the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States under the auspices of His Grace Bishop Youssef.

ABBA Give Me A WORD: Fighting Temptations with Light by HG Bishop Gregory

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