Saint Mary & Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox Church Syracuse, NYstmarystminacopticchurch.org/Final...

Saint Mary & Saint Mina

Coptic Orthodox Church Syracuse, NY

K ey to L i f e Maga z ine M a r c h 2 0 1 5 , V o l . N o . 1

St. Mary & St. Mina Church

411 Oswego Street

Syracuse, NY 13204

Phone:(315) 476– 7303

http://www.stmarystminacopticchurch.org

Email: [email protected]

2

http://stmarystminacopticchurch.org

Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1

1– Tell O’ History

Page 3

2- Journey back to paradise

Page 4

3-The Pope’s Tears

Page 5

4-- Fathers’ sayings

Page 6

5– Questions in need of an answer

Page 7 & 8

6- Nehemiah

Page 9

7- Bible study Questions

Page 10& 11

8- Crossword puzzle

Page 12

9- Easter double Puzzle

Page 13

10– Coloring sheet

Page 14

11– Church life

Page 15

Contents

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During a celestial and mag-nificent scene and in rare wondrous steadfastness, the Coptic Church presented to the whole world, during the 21st century, a wonderful viv-id image of the first centuries of Christianity, when it gave to heaven in a joyful proces-sion the souls of the 21 mar-tyrs that are among the right-eous sons of Egypt.

Those heroes acquired the crown of martyrdom on the hands of a radical group that lost the way and whom the Enemy of the Good blinded their eyes, their hearts and their consciences so that they would not discern between truth and falsehood. As for those honorable martyred, they were firm in their faith and never renounced Christ for a period of forty days. They were led in silence and firmness, following the ex-ample of their Master whom the Scriptures describe as, “..a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7).

They were not afraid of they who would kill the body and who afterwards could not do more (Luke 12:4). On the

contrary they were convers-ing with the Lord Who bought them with His pre-cious Blood, and the last words they uttered were the name of the Salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Since there is no name under heav-en given to people with which we are saved” (Acts 4:12).

From where have you ac-quired the strength, bravery and firm faith O martyrs? Indeed your struggle has ex-ceeded a multitude of ascetics and desert dwellers, and you received the greatest of crowns because you gave your precious life and your pure blood shed acceptably to our Savior. We pray for those criminals that the Lord would open their eyes like he did with St. Paul the apostle and Arianus the governor, the greatest persecutors of Chris-tianity.

Tell O history

“Lo! How have you en-dured...tyranny and unbe-lief?” (An excerpt from the poem How severe was injus-tice towards you by Pope Shenouda III)

They wonder about the re-sistance of our martyred he-roes in Libya and their firm-ness in their faith despite all the intimidation and terror for a period no less than 40 days.

They then try to interpret this with their point of view using ways that do not agree with

what we have seen and watched with our own eyes. That is because they do not have the knowledge and spir-itual experience with the Lord Jesus, who sustains all His martyrs in their struggle.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit in us that makes us be-lieve in and testify to the Lord. “No one can say that 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). It is the work of Grace that elevates man above the mate-rial and the earthly, soaring high with his senses over high prospects towards the spiritual and the celestial in a state of spiritual ecstasy.

It is the divine love that trans-cends all other love, which would only be known to those who tasted it, whose hearts are filled with heaven-ly joy and peace, “which transcends all understand-ing” (Philippians 4:7). This wondrous spiritual strength and this rare courage is noth-ing new to our Coptic Church, the church of heroes and martyrs. The Feast of Neirouz is the “Feast of Mar-tyrs”, which is the start of our Coptic calendar.

The Holy Bible recounts con-cerning Saint Steven that, his persecutors saw his face like that of an angel (Acts 6:15) after he delivered a strong message to the Sanhedrin and the chief priest. “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious

and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts: 54, 55).

Recount O’ history concern-ing the martyrs of Esna who gave their heads to their kill-ers to receive the crown of martyrdom. Recount O’ his-tory concerning the 49 elders of Sheeheet, the chaste St. Dimyana and the forty vir-gins, the righteous Marina, and the forty martyrs of Se-bastia. I lack the time to tell about St. Mark, St. George, St. Mina, St. Philopater Mer-curius, the child St. Abanoob, St. Moses the Strong and many others that, “… faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mis-treated— and the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 36- 38).

Ask the Lord on our behalf, O martyrs and struggling he-roes, so that we may continue our struggle until our last breath.

His Grace Bishop David interprets the condition of our martyrs in Libya at the mo-

ment of their martyrdom responding to the false interpretations of psychologists

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The Great Lent – A journey back to paradise

Inspired by the words of

Christ when He spoke about

fasting and warned us

against appearing with “a

sad countenance” (Matthew

6: 16) when we fast, the fa-

thers of the church always

saw in fasting a golden op-

portunity to “rejoice”. Nat-

urally, there is a difference

between what is meant by

“joy” and what is meant

“happiness”. The joy that

the church saw in Lent, and

the joy that Christ promised

to His disciples (John

16:12) is one that no one

can take away from us, is

permanent, and is not de-

pendent upon what is

“happening” . Instead, the

source of that joy is Christ

Himself, who dwells in our

hearts and who is really the

only source of true joy.

Having said that then, it be-

comes clear that in order for

us to regain the joy that we

lost because of sin, the only

way for us is to turn back to

God. This “turning back to

God” is the essence of re-

pentance (in fact the Greek

word for repentance

“metanoia” means a change

in mind or making a U-

turn), which always accom-

panies fasting. If we quick-

ly remind ourselves of the

Gospels which our Coptic

Orthodox Church, through

the guidance of the Holy

Spirit, has selected for the

Sundays of the Great Lent,

we would immediately see a

very strong emphasis on

repentance as the door to

true and everlasting joy.

We see this for example in

the Gospel of the third Sun-

day which tells us the story

of the prodigal son who re-

turns back to his father’s

bosom and whom his father

accepts joyfully and arrang-

es a great celebration to re-

joice in the fact that his son

was dead and now is alive

(Luke 15:24). We see it in

the story of the Samaritan

woman whose thirst could

not be quenched by the wa-

ters that this material world

provides but only through

the living water that Christ

provides (John 4:13). We

also see it in the Gospels of

the fifth and sixth Sundays

which talk about the para-

lytic man and the man born-

blind, who both resemble

the condition of humanity

without the power and light

of Christ and whom Christ

heals by His Healing and

Life-giving Hands.

When we live away from

Christ and His church, we

are exactly like the prodi-

gal son living in exile, liv-

ing away from our true

home. We should view

lent and repentance as our

return from exile, as our

journey back to paradise, a

journey back to the bosom

of our loving Father, who

always stands waiting in

patience for the return of

His prodigal son or daugh-

ter. We should view Lent as

the opportunity for our for

our souls to be healed like

the paralytic man by the true

Physician of our souls and

bodies, and for our eyes,

whose light has been

dimmed because of sin, to

be opened like the man born

blind. Experiencing this

return from exile during lent

is the only way for us to tru-

ly rejoice in the Glorious

resurrection of our Lord,

God, and Savior Jesus

Christ who has alone con-

quered sin and death, and

who joyfully grants His

children this great victory of

His.

With our best wishes to you all for a blessed Lent and a Glorious Feast of the Resur-rection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, the King of Glory !

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FORTY FOURTH DEPARTURE COMMEMORATION OF

HIS HOLINESS POPE KYRILLOS THE SIXTH

Pope Kyrillos the 6th is a

great Coptic saint from the

twentieth century. He is well

known through his contin-

ued shepherding to us, the

struggling church on earth,

by positively reacting to our

supplications, quickly inter-

ceding on our behalf. You

can feel him looking down

on us from his Father’s

house up in heaven interact-

ing with our emotions.

The greatness of the man

appeared on the day of his

ordination to the papacy of

the Coptic Church. During

his ordination ceremony, the

man wept profusely and

tears streamed continuously

down his cheeks. These

tears quickly proved to be

those of fully understanding

the responsibilities of his

new post. He felt the need

for God’s help. This proved

to be Solomon wisdom. For

God helped him and guided

him throughout his leader-

ship of the church.

You shall marvel about

those tears if you knew his

holiness saw a vision of his

ascendancy to the papacy

years before it took place.

Upon the departure to heav-

en of Pope Youannis the

nineteenth (113th pope), Fa-

ther Mina the Solitary (Pope

Kyrillos monastic name be-

fore his papacy) would con-

duct daily masses in com-

memoration of the departed

pope. Father Mina had a

special affection to Pope

Youannis since he was the

one who recommended him

to the monastery of Paramos

while a Metropolitan. Pope

Youannis also followed Fa-

ther Mina spiritual growth,

occasionally visiting him in

his cave of worship in a

mountain in the wilderness

and later in the windmill he

inhabited on mount Mo-

Kattam near Cairo. On the

fortieth day of commemora-

tion Fr. Mina slept after the

early mass. While sleeping

he saw in a vision as Pope

Youannis was ascending the

mountain to visit with him

as he used to do while alive.

Fr. Mina descended the

mountain to meet with the

aged pope halfway. While

greeting his holiness, Pope

Youannis presented his staff

to Fr. Mina complaining to

him with sadness the staff

has been broken. Fr. Mina

requested of the pope to

hand it to him so he fixes it,

to which the pope consented.

When Fr. Mina fixed it, he

wanted to hand it back to the

departed pope, but the de-

parted pope refrained from

accepting it and said: KEEP

IT ABOUNA. THE

CHURCH SHALL

FLOURISH AT YOUR

HANDS. The departed pope

disappeared and father Mena

awoke and recognized it as a

vision.

You shall marvel further to

know Father Mena refrained

from presenting his name as

candidate to the papacy (in

spite of the vision) three

times over fifteen years. He

refrained from the 1944

elections that brought Pope

Makarios (114th pope) to

the papacy, then the 1946

elections that brought Pope

Youssab(115th pope) to the

papacy then the 1959 elec-

tions. Metropolitan Athana-

sius of Beni Sweif presented

Father Mina’s name as can-

didate to the papacy in 1959

and only told him of it after

the closure of the candidacy

widow of opportunity, so

Father Mina does not abort

the effort.

Still, Fr. Mina, now Pope

Kyrillos the 6th, cried upon

his ordination. He practical-

ly demonstrated the church

teaching; WE ARE NOTH-

ING BY OURSELVES,

BUT, EVERYTHING

THHROUGH CHRIST

THE LORDWHO

STRENGTHEN US.

Those tears made him one of

the most innovative popes of

Egypt. May he intercede on

our behalf always. Amen.

THE POPE’S TEARS

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Success is not in the number of the people served , but in those individuals whom you

were able to change their lives and bring closer to God .

The spiritual man, in fasting , prayers, and asceticism, allows the Lord Jesus Christ

to find a home inside him. The Lord then enlightens himby the light and beam of

the Holy Spirit , conquers the devil, and overcomes the lusts of the flesh.

Do not stop doing good deeds because of people’s words, and do not do any deed

for the people’s praise.

Departure of Pope Kyrillos VI

March 9

Departure of Fr. Faltaous

March 17

When you fall in sin, do not think too much of the sin, but rather ask Jesus than He

would save you from drowning as He saved Peter Departure of

Fr. Bishoy Kamel March 21

Departure of Pope Shenouda III

March 17

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QUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWERQUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWERQUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWER

Part one

Where are you?... Where is your brother? “ if then I am the Father, where is my honor?” (MAL. 1:6).

God directed many ques-tions to multiple personali-ties throughout time all across the Bible. Let us assume that these ques-tions were directed to each one of us now. What would our answer be?

“Why do you not fear to talk about my servant?” God asked this question of Mary, Aaron’s sister, and of Aaron, the brother of Moses, as stated in the Book of Numbers Chapter 21. Moses married a Gen-tile (Coshian) woman. Both Mary and Aaron re-sented that. Instead of dis-cussing this with Moses, they gossiped about what Moses did. Moses did not know about this, but of course God heard them and was not happy with what they did. What did God do? He appeared to them and directed this

question to them” Why do you not fear to speak about my servant Moses?”. He then rebuked them and in order to teach Mary (and all of us) not to fall in that mistake again, Mary was hit with leprosy for a whole week. This is a dangerous lesson which God wants to teach all of us.

First: Taming our tongues:

1. God knows every word even before we say

it

“For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord , you know it alto-gether” (Ps. 139:4). We can not hide or keep any secret from God . He is omnipresent. “if I ascend into heaven you are there , If I make my bed in hell, Behold you are there” “all their iniquities are in the sight of God” (Ps.139:8, Wisdom of Sirach 17:7).

2. God will judge us, not only according to our deeds, but also according to our speech. So for eve-

ry idle word we speak, we will give an account there-of on the Day of Judg-ment. “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” (Mt 12:36-37).

“To execute judgment on all, to convict all the un-godly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sin-ners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:15)

3. Speech is the way to happiness or misery. It is written: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction” (Proverbs 18:21 & 13:3).

4. Speech may make peace or result in irrita-bility and anger. By our words, we could either

serve as peace-makers or cause disputes among our brothers” A soft answer turns away wrath; but a harsh word stirs up an-ger” (Proverbs 15:1).

5. Speech may be a way to heal the wounds of others or deepen them. Often times, we say some harsh words without pay-ing too much attention , but unfortunately these words leave deep wounds in the hearts of listeners. “There is one who speak like the piercing of a sword , but the tongue of the wise promotes health” (Proverbs 12:18).

6. Speech is one of the main causes of strife. When we gossip, we un-fortunately participate in the work of the devil whose utmost desire is to cause divisions among “A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends; He who covers a transgression seek love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends” (Proverbs 26:28 & 17:9).

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7. Our words could be the source of blessings and life for others

“ The mouth of the right-eous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little” “The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom” (Proverbs 10:11, 20, 21).

Second: The style of speech:

1.Stay away from talking too much. Every word should be in the correct time and place. “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” “A man has joy by the an-swer of his mouth, and a word spoken is due sea-son, how good it is!” “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold” (Proverbs 10:19, 15:23 & 25:11).

2. Stay away from all kinds of lies whatever the reasons are. We are members of one another. The Holy Scripture teach us” Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one

of you speak truth with his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25). Also, “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his de-light” (Proverbs 12:22).

3. Let our words be edi-fying: The Lord teaches saying “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29)

Finally: what is your attitude toward others?

1. Do you talk about the deeds of your brother, or do you talk with him and to him? We should ask ourselves whether we typi-cally talk with and to our brothers and sisters, or do we talk about them in their absence? In the latter case, one has to be careful, lest he/ she be participat-ing in the work of the dev-il. You might recall what the devil did when he came to complain to God about Job? (Job1:8-11). If you recognize a mistake or a problem in the life of your brother, do you talk to him privately to help him out, or do you speak about his mistake in front of others? The Lord, warns us saying: “You sit

and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order be-fore your eyes” (Ps.50:20). Why do not we follow what the instructions of our Lord when he had said in Matthew 18:15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother”.

2. Do you speak in favor or against your brother? What is our attitude when the name of a brother is mentioned in a conversa-tion? Do we remember the good deeds he did or the mistakes and gaffes in his life? Do we try to raise the value of our brother in front of others, or try to minimize it be-cause of a dispute between

us or because of envy or jealousy? Let us learn from the Lord, who when he spoke about Moses, he did not speak except about his honesty and virtuous life. St . Moses the Black said, “ Like a house with-out a door or lock that an-yone can enter into, is the

man who does not control his tongues”

In controlling our tongues, we should not rush to speak, we should not hurt the feelings of others by our words, we should not push our brothers to anger or in-

sult, and we should not speak idle and useless words. St. Isaac the Syri-an says, “If your tongue is out of control, surely you will never get rid of the darkness”. Let us make the following prayer of David the Prophet and King ours, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).

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Nehemiah was an ordinary man, who was assigned to a seemingly impossible mis-sion. As we know, he was in a high ranking position, be-ing the king's butler, which is equivalent to the chief of staff in our current time. He was successful and honest. History did not record much about his background and his early life. God is thus teaching us not to think that someone is not capable of serving God, because we mistakenly assume that his or relationship with God is not strong. God can work in and with all of us, if we sub-mit our lives to him like Ne-hemiah.

Nehemiah’s seemingly im-possible mission was to build the walls of Jerusalem. He willingly left his secure job, left every thing, to serve God in a mission that was full of difficulties. God supported him as he walked with Him. The enemies of Israel, reluctantly and fear-fully, admitted that God was with these builders. Strange-ly enough Nehemiah was concerned about a challenge

that existed miles away. Usually one cares about the problems that are close by, not the ones that are far from him or her, but Nehe-miah cared about the prob-lems of his country of origin.

Nehemiah was born in exile. He represented those people who live in another country, far from their home country, but their hearts and minds are always concerned about problems of their home land. Nehemiah represented the second generation after captivity. This shows us how much he loved God. He cared about his original city, the city of God (i.e., Jerusalem); he cared about his relatives and friends who were living there. If we look at the condition of the people who lived in Jerusa-lem at that time, we will dis-cover that they lived far from God; they forgot all about the Lord’s Sabbath and the offerings. They even married gentile women. Ne-hemiah, on the contrary, was a man who prayed to God prayers with tears. He

feverishly cried to God to lift up His wrath from His people. He was different from his fellow brothers liv-ing in Jerusalem. In fact, he was a light to his fellow brethren. His behavior mo-tivated the leaders, the Le-vites, the priests and the congregation to sign and seal a covenant, promising that they would keep the commandments of the Lord.

No one had asked Nehemi-ah to leave his high ranking position. It was only his love to God and his holy zeal that led him to choose the difficult path and to em-bark on an unknown trip. Nehemiah was full of wis-dom. We can learn from him that if we care about accomplishing any task, we have to work quietly and silently. Yes he knows that God with him, but this does not mean that he have to reveal his plans to the Mo-abites, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites that wished to occupy the Jewish territories.

Nehemiah resembles our Lord Jesus Christ in several aspects. Nehemiah left the royal palace for the sake of helping his brothers and sis-ters. In the same way, our Lord Jesus Christ descended from His heavenly king-dom, was incarnated, suf-fered and was crucified to

save us. The heart of Nehe-miah was with his people, while he was in the royal palace. In the same way, Jesus Christ always has un-limited love for all while He is in His heavenly kingdom. Both Jesus and Nehemiah had zeal for the temple of God; they both cleansed it. Nehemiah stayed three days before starting building, re-sembling our Lord Jesus Christ who stayed in the tomb for three days. Finally, both Nehemiah and our Lord Jesus Christ overcame and conquered the devil. May our Lord grant us to learn from Nehemiah’s life.

Characters from the Bible: Nehemiah

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1. According to the order of creation, which was created before the other; planet

Earth or the Sun?

2. Give the verse number in the second chapter that talks about:

a) First mention of anesthesia in history

b) First extraction of a human member in history

c) Building up the first human female after the first surgical operation in history.

3. Give the verse number in the third chapter in which God promised Eve of a human Savior.

4. What did the dove bring back to Noah in her second journey from the ark?

5. What did Noah build up upon vacating the ark?

6. In which chapter did God allow humanity to eat meat?

7. Coptic Egyptians are descendants of which of Noah’s sons?

8 .Considering Adam is the first human generation, to which generation belongs Abram the Patriarch?

9.To which ancestor is Abram the Patriarch related when he is called “Hebrew”?

10. How many times did Abram build an altar in chapters 1 to 25?

11.How many times the words “EGYPT” or “Egyptian” is mentioned in chapters 1 to 25?

12. The Lord God told Abram the Patriarch: To your descendant I give this land; from the river of Egypt to the

great river of the Euphrates. Is the river of Egypt the Nile River?

13. What is the meaning of the name “Ismail”?

Bible Study

GENESIS : Chapters 1 to 25

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14. Who gave Ismail his name :

a) The lord God b) An Angel c) A man

15. what is the meaning of the name “El Roi” that Hagar gave to whom talked to her in the

wilderness while escaping Sarai her mistress?

16. What are the meanings of the names:

a) Abraham b) Sarah c) Isaac

17. What is the physical sign of the covenant between Abram and God?

18.What is the meaning of the expression: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”?

19. Which sin did the men of Sodom intend to commit when they told Lot: “Bring them out to us that we may

know them carnally”?

20. What is the spiritual expression for Abram the Patriarch’s action of prayer for the sake of Sodom’s inhabit-

ants and King Abimelech?

21. What is the meaning of “Beersheba”?

22. In which city of the Promised Land does the biblical location called “Land of Moriah” is located?

23. In which city of the Promised Land is located the: cave of Machpelah”?

24. Who chose a bride for Isaac?

a) He “Isaac” saw her and sought engagement to her

b) Abraham’s slave c)The Lord God

25. Which of the women the Bible described as “barren”?

A) Sarah B) Rebecca C) Hagar D) Kato rah

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T h e Re s ur rec t io n o f ou r Lo r d J es u s Chr i s t , f ro m

t h e B oo ks o f Ma t t hew a n d Ma rk

Across: 1– Where they laid Jesus after He died (Mathew 27:60) 4- The place where Jesus Died (Matthew 27:33) 5- Jesus & 2 thieves were___ together (Matthew 27:38)

8– Mother of Jesus

9– The Angel said: “He is ___ He is not here (Mark 16:6)

10– They made Jesus wear a Scarlet___ (Matthew 27:28)

12– Jesus was betrayed for ___ pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3)

14– Jesus was ___ of any crime (Matthew 27:4)

15- The 12 companions of Jesus

Down: 2– Jesus Shed His ____for our sins 3– Judas Iscariot ____ Jesus (Matthew 27:4) 5– Roman commander of a hundred men (Matthew 27:54) 6– Jesus said “My God, My God, Why have you ____ Me” (Matthew 27:46)

7– A title of Jesus, it means anointed one (Matthew 27:17)

11– They laid the ____ of Jesus in a tomb (Matthew27:59)

12– Jesus wore a “Crown” of ____”

13– Our Lord and Savior

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

13



SELGIOIRU

2

SEJSU

CIINTSHASR

1 10

NOXFIRCICIU

8

RUCHCH

LMIFYA

3

TXHODROO

5

SGGE

4

NANCEIT

6

TIADIRTON

7 9

B

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Easter Double Puzzle

14



15



The church congratulates Milad And Aida Guindy on the

birth of their daughter Emily Mary. My our lord bless her

life and may he plants her in His Holy Church so as to

bring forth good fruit thirty, sixty, and hundred fold.

The church welcomes Dr. Mark and Heidi Marzook, and

their two lovely daughters Susanna and Lydia to our Syra-

cuse church and family. May our Lord bless them all and

prosper their ways always.

The Church congratulates Mark and Diana Shaheed on

their recent wedding . May God bless their home and fill it

with all spiritual and earthly blessings.

The Church offers her condolences to Youssef Bolos and

Christine Bishay for the departure of Christine’s dad Dr.

Gamal Ibrahim Guindy, to the heavenly abodes. May our

Lord repose his blessed soul and fill the hearts of his fami-

ly and friends with consolation of heaven.

The church asks you all to continue to pray for Madleen

Nashed that our Lord may grant her a speedy recovery.

Church Life

16



Our Church has been blessed by the services

of many priests. In 1992, the mother Coptic

Church in Egypt delegated Fr. Mina

Wehaba from Rochester to serve our church.

We were then blessed by Fr. Mina Rewiss’s

service starting in 1995, followed by Fr.

Shenouda Maher who served us for almost

14 years twice a month. In 2007, Fr. Deme-

trious Mansour started serving once every

month, and in 2008, Fr. Mark Iskander

joined in the service. In 2014, Dr. Adel Sad-

ek received the sacrament of priesthood and

was ordained Fr. Kyrillos by His Grace

Bishop David to serve St. Mary & St. Mina

Church in Syracuse. May the lord bless his

service and keep him many years.

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