Our beloved children of the Church
Blessings and peace with you all,
Wishing you all a blessed and happy new year.
As we are continuing to witness the repercussions of the terrorist attack on the Saints Church of Alexandria, that claimed the life of tens of martyrs and left tens more wounded; with an overwhelming feeling of sadness, confidence, and peace. We are saddened that evil has dominated the souls of those who carried out this horrid attack but at the same time we are confident of God’s promise to His Church, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” Matthew 16:18.
We feel peace for we know the fate of our martyrs in eternal happiness. I am asking all of you clergy and congregation to dedicate Sunday, January 2, 2011 to pray in all our Churches for the souls of our martyrs, for the speedy recovery of the wounded, for the peace of the Church, we also pray for our Faithful shepherd, H.H. Pope Shenouda III, for our beloved country Egypt, and its national unity, and to all those who prosecute us so God may bestow on them the light of truth.
I candidly appreciate and support your wishes to express your feelings and to expose the injustice endured by our brethren and sisters to the society, and I am confident in your ability to signify your feelings in accordance to our Christian faith while preserving the dignity of our martyrs.
This painful accident gives our celebration of the Nativity feast this year a spiritual depth, revealing the greatness of God’s incarnation to cure the evil which polluted the world.
For this reason I am asking you to focus on the profound spiritual meanings for celebrating the feast of Nativity. I invite you to participate wholeheartedly in the liturgies of this feast at all the Churches. Also I regret to inform you that I shall not be available to receive any visitors on the morning of Friday, January 7, 2011, to celebrate the feast, as I am dedicating this day for prayers and spiritual retreat.
We pray that God may repose the souls of our martyrs in peace in the paradise of joy and to grant us His heavenly condolences in our hearts.
Wishing you a happy new year,
Bishop Serapion
Download the Statement in Arabic (PDF)
| Arabic Statement 1-1-2011.pdf | 372.3 KB |
