وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



The remembrance of the East has a great effect on the heart; it has a spiritual effect on the soul. I admire Daniel the Prophet when he defied pagan worship: He went into the upper room, opened the window which faced Jerusalem, and knelt down to pray. It is true that God is everywhere, but facing Jerusalem in the East has a profound meaning and a strong effect on the heart. The remembrance of certain places awakens sacred emotions in the heart..

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






Our worship is not worship with the intellect only. The senses also act; they are affected and they affect the feelings of the soul. An example to illustrate this: When we pray we look up although God is everywhere. But looking upwards evokes in our hearts spiritual feelings which give more depth to our prayer. The same applies to facing the East.

The Lord Himself, on more than one occasion, looked up, although the Father is in Him and He is in the Father. But looking upwards has a certain significance.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






When we face the East, we are in fact facing the altar which lies eastward because the Sacrifice has Its spiritual place in our hearts and Christ our Passover was a Sacrifice in the East.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






In the Baptismal Service, in a symbolic way, the baptised and his godparent face westward to renounce Satan and then eastward to recite the Creed. Thus the baptised feels in Baptism that he is transferred from west to east, that is, from darkness to light.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






We ask: Why do our brethren the Protestants fight against facing toward the East although it carries spiritual meanings, sacred contemplation and memories textproved from the Holy Bible and involves no dogmatic error to stir the sacred zeal?

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






The Sanctuary and the Altar


There is neither a sanctuary nor an altar in Protestant churches. The reason for this is more serious: There is no Sacrifice. We shall discuss the subject of the Sacrifice when we come to the Sacraments of Eucharist and Priesthood. Now we will confine our discussion to the altar.
(1) In the Old Testament there are numerous passages about the altar. But our brethren the Protestants think that the altar was merely a symbol of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross, and has now terminated. Therefore, in our discussion with them, we have to present text-proofs from the New Testament.
(2) St. Paul the Apostle says: “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (Heb.13: 10). The tabernacle is the Tent of Meeting or the old Sanctuary. St. John Chrysostom comments on this, saying: “St. Paul the Apostle turned from the symbolic meaning to the actual meaning... We now have the authority to partake of the Holy Blood which was the authority of the priest only.”
(3) There is a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet about an altar in the midst of the land of Egypt. The prophet says: “In
that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering” (Is. 19: 19,21).

Of course, the altar referred to here is the altar of the New Testament in the Christian Era, because the Jews could not offer sacrifices in a Gentile land, nor would the Egyptians have allowed them to do so. Thus the appeal directed to Pharaoh at the time of Moses and Aaron was: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me" (Ex.8: 20)

. Yet Pharaoh refused to let “the people go to sacrifice to the Lord” (Ex.8: 29). After the Plague of Flies, when Pharaoh gave his first promise, he said: “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness” (v.28). It is understood from these verses that the Jews could not offer a sacrifice in Egypt.
So when did the Egyptians know the Lord? When did they begin to have an altar and offer sacrifices to the Lord? Undoubtedly, it was in the Christian Era. This is an explicit proof of the existence of altars in Christianity to offer sacrifices on.
(4) God willed that the word ‘altar’ be fixed in the minds and hearts of people, therefore He mentions it more than once in the Book of Revelation which was written at the end of the first century, after the martyrdom of the Apostles and the disciples of Christ. St. John the Evangelist says: “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense” (Rev.8: 3). He also says: “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Rev.6: 9).
(5) The altar will continue to exist as long as the words of the Divine Inspiration: “the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1Cor.11: 27) remain before us. As long as there is Blood, then there should be an altar, and by necessity, a sanctuary to contain it.
We shall discuss this subject in detail, God willing, when we discuss the subject of the Holy Sacrifice and the clergyman who offers It.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






In the Old Testament there are numerous passages about the altar. But our brethren the Protestants think that the altar was merely a symbol of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross, and has now terminated. Therefore, in our discussion with them, we have to present text-proofs from the New Testament.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






St. Paul the Apostle says: “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (Heb.13: 10). The tabernacle is the Tent of Meeting or the old Sanctuary. St. John Chrysostom comments on this, saying: “St. Paul the Apostle turned from the symbolic meaning to the actual meaning... We now have the authority to partake of the Holy Blood which was the authority of the priest only.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






There is a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet about an altar in the midst of the land of Egypt. The prophet says: “In
that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering” (Is. 19: 19,21).

Of course, the altar referred to here is the altar of the New Testament in the Christian Era, because the Jews could not offer sacrifices in a Gentile land, nor would the Egyptians have allowed them to do so. Thus the appeal directed to Pharaoh at the time of Moses and Aaron was: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me" (Ex.8: 20)

. Yet Pharaoh refused to let “the people go to sacrifice to the Lord” (Ex.8: 29). After the Plague of Flies, when Pharaoh gave his first promise, he said: “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness” (v.28). It is understood from these verses that the Jews could not offer a sacrifice in Egypt.
So when did the Egyptians know the Lord? When did they begin to have an altar and offer sacrifices to the Lord? Undoubtedly, it was in the Christian Era. This is an explicit proof of the existence of altars in Christianity to offer sacrifices on.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






The altar will continue to exist as long as the words of the Divine Inspiration: “the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1Cor.11: 27) remain before us. As long as there is Blood, then there should be an altar, and by necessity, a sanctuary to contain it.