وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



These words are similar to the Lord's words about Himself in His discourse with the Samaritan woman about living water, when He said that He is the Giver of living water. He said: "But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John.4: 10-14).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Therefore, water is a symbol of life and sometimes of the Holy Spirit Himself. How beautiful are the Divine Inspiration's words in the First Psalm about the virtuous man: "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season" (Ps.1: 3). The fruit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



The connections between water, life and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Bible commence from Genesis (Gen.1: 2) and continue until the end of the Book of Revelation: "I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts" (Rev.21:6), "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev.22: 1) and "...let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev.22: 17).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



In the crossing of the Red Sea, the water symbolised life and death together; death of the servile man and life of the free man who came up out of the water.
On Maundy Thursday, the water symbolised purification. That is why, after washing the feet of His Apostles, the Lord said: "...and you are clean" (John.13: 10). The Psalmist says:
"I will wash my hands in innocence" (Ps.26: 6). This cleansing is the washing of the new birth with the word; the cleansing which we receive in the bath of the new birth and the cleansing obtained in baptism referred to by the Apostle's words: "...and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb.10: 22).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Water and Blood



On the Cross, when one of the soldiers pierced the Lord Jesus’ side with a spear, "immediately blood and water came out" (John.19: 34). What is the Divine wisdom thereof?
From His side blood came out to give us the meaning of redemption. But how do we receive this redemption?
We receive it through water in baptism,

. Therefore, the emergence of both water and Blood from the side of Christ showed us the means of redemption. We receive the Blood of Christ which purifies us from every sin through water. How beautiful it is when, in the Eucharist, we blend the Blood with water!
St. John the Beloved, who witnessed the incident of the coming out of the blood and water, clarified this subject when he said: "And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood,. and these three agree as one" (1John.5: 8). This verse explains the redemption, we receive.
Redemption was given to us by Blood (the Blood of Christ) and we receive the merit of this Blood through the birth of water and the Spirit. Therefore the three elements: Blood, water and the Spirit, gather in baptism.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III


On the Cross, when one of the soldiers pierced the Lord Jesus’ side with a spear, "immediately blood and water came out" (John.19: 34). What is the Divine wisdom thereof?
From His side blood came out to give us the meaning of redemption. But how do we receive this redemption?
We receive it through water in baptism,

.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



. Therefore, the emergence of both water and Blood from the side of Christ showed us the means of redemption. We receive the Blood of Christ which purifies us from every sin through water. How beautiful it is when, in the Eucharist, we blend the Blood with water!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



. St. John the Beloved, who witnessed the incident of the coming out of the blood and water, clarified this subject when he said: "And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood,. and these three agree as one" (1John.5: 8). This verse explains the redemption, we receive.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



. Redemption was given to us by Blood (the Blood of Christ) and we receive the merit of this Blood through the birth of water and the Spirit. Therefore the three elements: Blood, water and the Spirit, gather in baptism.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Does water have all these efficacious?

(a) This question reminds me of the rage of Naaman the Syrian when Elisha asked him to wash in the Jordan to be cleansed. He could not believe that the matter was as simple as just washing in water, especially as he had better rivers in Damascus than those in Israel (2Kin.5: 10-12). But when he obeyed and washed, he was cleansed by his belief.
The prophet ordered Naaman to wash in the River Jordan in which John the Baptist was to baptise later (Matt.3: 6). Shall we be like Naaman and think it too much for water to have these efficacious? God gives grace in the way He wishes. The grace in this case was not in the water of the River Jordan itself but in the power to cleanse which God endowed upon that water. The same is said about baptism, as we will explain later.
(b) When the Lord healed the man born blind, He put mud on his eyes and said to him: "'Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing" (John.9: 6,7). With his mere belief, the blind man could have seen, but God wished to enlighten him (baptism is spiritual enlightenment) through water. Let God's will be done the way He wishes; we do not design plans to be carried out by God, blessed be His name.
(c) In addition, we say in reply to this question that the water of baptism is not just ordinary water and the baptised is not only born of water but of water and the Spirit,

. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the water of baptism, giving it a special nature so that whoever is submerged in it is born of water and the Spirit. Thus the baptised receives the merit of the redeeming Blood of Christ. When he is submerged into this water, he is buried with Christ and shares in the fellowship of His death in order to merit the fellowship of sharing in His resurrection. That is why, in sanctifying the water of baptism, we pour into it the Holy Chrism, the ointment of the Holy Spirit. Thus the water is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Whoever is born of this water is born of water and the Spirit.
In sanctifying the water of baptism, the clergyman prays the litanies of sanctifying the water and of invocations the Holy Spirit. He also reads certain passages from the Holy Bible. Thus the water of baptism which cleanses us is sanctified by the word.