5Th & 6Th Grades

St. Mark’s Festival 2015

5th & 6th Grades WELCOME TO COOL Name: �� Grade: �� Group: �� Phone : �� القواعد واللوائح ✞ للتعرف على املشتركني فى البرنامج كل طفل سيعطى له Wristband ال بد من ارتدائها كل يوم للسماح له باإلشتراك فى البرنامج. ✞ كل طفل مشترك فى البرنامج مطالب بإحضار كتب النشاط كل يوم يشترك فيه. وكل طفل مسئول عن العناية بالكتاب وحل جميع النشاطات وتسليم الكتاب فى نهاية الصيف. ✞ فى نهاية الصيف كل طفل سيمنح هدية مناسبة حسب عنايته ومسئوليته بالكتاب. وسيتم تقييم األطفال حسب اإلجابات وحسب حالة الكتاب )ليس مقطوع أو مشخبط( .... الخ. ✞ احضار الكتب و Wristband اجبارى كل يوم. والطفل الذى سيلتزم سيمنح جائزة فى نهاية الصيف. ✞ شجعوا أطفالكم على فتح الكتاب املقدس واإلستشهاد به فى حل النشاطات. ✞ ًوأيضا شجعوا أطفالكم على اإللتزام بحل املطلوب يوم بيوم فقط وليس أكثر من املطلوب فى اليوم. ✞ برجاء اخبارنا فى حالة السفر والغياب عن البرنامج، لنعطى الطفل النشاطات املطلوبة منه فى فترة غيابه حتى يستطيع املواصلة واإلستفادة. ✞ برجاء احلضور فى امليعاد لضمان اإلستفادة الكاملة. ✞ برجاء احترام اخلدام اللذين مينحون وقتهم من أجل اجناح هذا البرنامج واإللتزام مبيعاد اإلنصراف وعدم التأخير فى استالم األطفال ًمساءا. ✞ ملساعدتنا إلجناح البرنامج غير مسموح لألطفال أن يتركوا الكنيسة ًنهائيا فى أثناء اليوم واإلحترام الكامل للخدام ولقوانني الكنيسة وأخذها بجدية تامة. ✞ الغرض من هذا البرنامج هو احترام السلوك املسيحى، ولذلك أى طفل ال يتبع السلوك املسيحى لن يسمح له باإلستمرار فى البرنامج لنهايته )Competition Day(. والطفل الذى ال يحترم القوانني وال يحترم أخوته وأخواته فى الرب ويسبب أى إخالل بالبرنامج لن يسمح له باإلستمرار. Rules and Regulations 1. In order to identify participants of the program, each child will be given a wrist band that they will be required to wear every day they are attending the program. 2. It is required that every child in the program bring their Activity Books every day they attend the program. Every- one is responsible for the care of their book and must have it completed at the end of the summer for handing in. 3. At the end of the summer, each child will be rewarded for the care and responsibility of their books. They will be graded on completion of the activities, on the condition of the book (not ripped or scribbled on), etc. 4. Books and wristbands are mandatory—as such, the children that bring in their wrist bands and Activity Books each day they attend will be rewarded at the end of the summer. 5. Encourage your children to open the Bible and look up the references used in the activities. 6. Also try to encourage your children to only do the assignment for that day and not go ahead in the book. 7. If you are traveling out of the state, let us know so that we can give you the assignment for the time you will be away so your children can continue to work on the program while not here.

8. It is best for the benefit of the children if they come on time so they can take advantage of all the activities. 9. Please be respectful of the servants sacrificing their time for the program and be very strict in picking up your children on time at night. 10. Children are not allowed to leave the church grounds and must be obedient and respectful of the rules of the church and her servants. In order for the program to be successful, discipline and respect will be taken very seri- ously. 11. The essence of the Olympics League is Christian respect and behavior, therefore children who do not consistently practice this Christian behavior will not be allowed to continue with the program to the Olympics competition day. If any child cannot follow the rules, does not respect his/her brothers and sisters in Christ, does not obey the rules of the program and the servants responsible for them, or causes disruption in the program, they will not be allowed to continue. After school had fi nished, Mark and Marina started preparing for a valuable summer vacation. Marina went to the library and got a lot of books. She organized them so she could start reading them over summer vaction. She prepared the necessary equipment so she could start practicing her favorite sport. As for Mark, a whole week of vacation passed and no 1- one saw him leave his room. This made his parents wonder why he was not leaving My Faith is his room except for short periods of time. Marina went to see how he was doing and Strong and why he was spending a lot of time in his room. Steady Marina: Are you ok? Mark: Yes I am fi ne, but a little busy. Marina: A whole week has passed from the vacation and you have been inside your room. What is keeping you so busy? Mark: Come and see for yourself! Marina: What is that, and how did you get it? Mark: It is an old, ruined robot that we used to play with when we were younger. I found it in the storeroom a week ago. Since then I have been trying to fi x it. I’ve tried everything. I bought spare parts for it and tried them, but it did not work. I tried to recharge it but I still can’t make it work. Marina: Robot?! Why are you trying to fi x this robot in particular? It looks like it was ruined a long time ago. Mark: This robot is the only one that has a special feature allowing it to do just about anything. But you must train it to do the stuff you want. It has the ability to learn and be trained, and then do what it has been taught in the best way possible.

Marina: It is truly an amazing robot. If that is the case, it will help us fi x a lot of issues. How can we fi x it and make it work again? Mark: I don’t know. I spent a lot of time researching a way to fi x it on the Internet and in some books, but I can’t fi nd a solution. Mark and Marina went to their dad to ask for a solution. Mark explained all the various methods he used in order to try to fi x his robot and make it work again. Their father suggested that they should take it to the person who made the robot since everything Mark tried failed to make the robot work properly. Mark: I have tried every way possible. Is he going to know another way that we don’t know? We tried all the modern techniques. The father: The person who made it is the only one who knows the way to return it to its original state and make it work again. 2 Mark, Marina and their dad started to search for the robot maker. After a long search on the internet, and after using the information written on the robot they were able to fi gure out who made it. They started collecting everything that belonged to the robot, and they all went to the maker. After many hours had passed, a skillful doctor was able to fi x it and make it work again. Mark: This is amazing! The robot has returned to its original state. I did not expect that. Marina: You’re right Mark. The skillful doctor was able to return the robot to its original state after it was ruined and had stopped working. The father: For sure he did an amazing job. But why are you so surprised? No one can return to his origin unless through his creator. This happened to all of us. Mark and Marina: How? Marina: Can you explain it in a clearer way dad? Dad: Let’s start the story from the beginning...

The father: You are right Marina, Although God could have In the beginning, God created Marina: You are right dad. The prevented Adam from eating from second proof that God loves and also God loves man so much the tree, He created him free and man. Before He created him, that He created him in His image left him his free will. Unfortunately, He prepared everything for his man is the way in which He created him. It was different and likeness. After God created Adam and Eve ate from the comfort and made everything forbidden tree and they used their from the creation of all the man, He gave him freedom of under his authority. This proves choice when He told him to eat freedom, which God gave them, in that God loved man before He other creatures. The human the wrong way. being is the only one whom from all trees except the tree of They listened to the serpent created him. knowledge of good and evil.. instead of listening to God. 4 God blew the breath of life into. 3 2-Due to sin their nature was As we are all children of That’s the reason why God did The judgement of death, which corrupted, (like when a person Adam and Eve, therefore what He said He would, “for in fell on Adam, Eve and all their eats rotten food, which makes we have inherited from them the day that you eat of it you children, meant that they had him sick.) The person would need medicine to cure him or their corrupted nature and the shall surely die.”(Gen. 2:17). been 1-separated from God (like else he will die. This is what judgement of death. It is as if a That is how God condemned a lamp which does not give light is meant by “Adam and Eve’s father has a hereditary disease, to death Adam and Eve and all without electricity). nature was corrupted” and they it will ultimately be passed on to their children after them.. were condemned to death. his children.

Marina: That means that Adam, Eve, and all their children for generations after them were condemned to death and that their nature was corrupted. The Father: That is true Marina. In order to return once more to live with God. it was necessary to:

1 to lift the condemnation of death from us 2 Most importantly, our nature, which was corrupted by sin, had to be renewed in order to receive life. We lost life when we were separated from God, meaning, we need to cure the disease which corrupted human’s nature. Mark: How can all that happen? It was deﬁ nitely possible for God to create a new person to replace Adam and Eve. Marina: Or He could have forgave them for what they had done? Create a new human because not only is God loving and being?! How? He loved the The loves the human being; He is also fair and human beings whom He had Father: holy, and does not accept anything that is incorrect. already created. God did not want to create That is why he could not forgive their sin because the price of sin is death. new ones to replace Adam and Eve, He had to cure them from the corruption of their nature which was caused by sin. 4 Marina: God wouldn’t create new human beings because he loves Adam! But he also wouldn’t forgive Adam because He is holy, and does not accept anything wrong. What do you think the solution is to the problem then, in order for human beings to go back to living with God again? The father: The cure is: 1 The condemnation of death, which the human being 2 Most importantly, our nature which was corrupted by sin deserves due to sin, must be lifted. must be renewed.

This would take place if there 2 was a person 6 who could die Must die in 1 5 Must be in our place in the place of Must be human: 3 4 Must not be conﬁ ned: Must be a creator: stronger than order to save mankind: in because the Must be without any because he needs in order to be able death: in order us and pay our order to endure human being sin: because if he is to be able to save all to renew the nature to conquer debt. However, the sentence of is the one who sinful that means that humanity, in all eras, which was corrupted, death and this peron must death, “For the sinned so the he needs someone from Adam all the way and return it to its ﬁ rst destroy it. have certain wages of sin is Savior cannot be else to save him. through to the last image which existed qualities which death” an angel or any person on earth. before sin. are: other creature. (Romans 6:23).

The only being who had all these qualities was God Himself. That is why He came down as our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, and took ﬂ esh, like ours, by His birth from our mother, the virgin Saint Mary (meaning He became a mortal man). He did all that in order to save us and free all humanity, from Adam all the way through the last person on earth.

There is a lot of proof, which confi rm that Christ our Lord is the incarnated God (the One who appeared in the fl esh). 5 Marina: What is the proof? The father: There are many. The fi rst proof: First: The fulfi lment of all the prophecies of the Old Prophecy Future events that God showed to his saintly prophets, way before they took Testament in the personifi cation of Christ our Lord. means: place.

Fulﬁ llment of Event Prophecy the prophecy

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive Mathew1:18 and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

Verse to memorize The Birth of Jesus Christ from the virgin Saint Mary

“They pierced My hands and Luke 23:33 My feet;” (Psalms 22:16)

Verse to memorize The passion and cruciﬁ xion of our Lord Jesus Christ

“For You will not leave my soul in Mathew 28:6 Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalms 16:10)

Verse to memorize Our Lord Jesus Christ rising from the dead

“You have ascended on high, You Luke 24: 50-51 have led captivity captive;” (Psalms 68:18) Verse to memorize The ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ There are other prophecies, which were written about our Lord Jesus Christ and were fulﬁ lled by Him; from His birth, to His life, to His death, to His resurrection and His ascension. 6 The next proof shows that Christ our Lord is the incarnated. Secondly: More than once, God said that He is the everlasting, judge, eternal. These qualities exist only in God Himself, and are explained in the following verses. Open your bible to the following references, and circle for each reference the quality that is described. Write the verse:

(John Mathew (Mathew 8:56-58) 28:20) 16:27)

this verse proves that Christ our Lord is this verse proves that Christ our Lord is this verse proves that Christ our Lord is God because (Eternal, judge, everlasting) God because (Eternal, judge, everlasting) God because (Eternal, judge, everlasting)

There are a lot of other things which Christ said about Himself that help to prove that He is God, who appeared in the ﬂ esh. The third proof conﬁ rms Christ’s divinity: He had a lot of witnesses: 1- The witnessing of the disciples and apostles.

Philip (one of the disciples) found Nathaniel and said to Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathaniel said to Him, “How do You also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when Joseph.” And Nathaniel said to him, “Can anything good you were under the ﬁ g tree, I saw you.” Nathaniel answered and said to Him, come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, “Come and see.” “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

7 Jesus’ disciples were not the only witnesses who saw that Jesus Christ is God the incarnated, there were other people who witnessed it. For example:

Martha, Lazarus’ Open your sister, at the bible to Open your bible to time of the John 11:27 John the John 1:34 miracle of to ﬁ nd the Baptist. raising her answer. to ﬁ nd the brother from answer. the dead

The fourth proof is that Jesus Christ performed deeds that only God could do, such as:

The miracle of healing the man born blind (John The miracle of the rising of Christ our Lord 9:1-12) The miracle of healing the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12) (Mathew 28:1-20)

proves that Jesus Christ is God the Creator as proves that not only did Jesus have power to heal the which proves that Christ our Lord is stronger than He created eyes for the man who was born blind sick, but also to forgive sins, as He forgave the paralytic death as He is the only one who conquered death when he spat on the ground and made clay with his sins. He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, and was victorious over it and was risen from the His saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately dead after 3 days by the strength of His divinity, man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence while the tomb was still shut, and by that He gave in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). of them all, so that all were amazed and gloriﬁ ed God. us hope and opened for us the door of paradise So he went and washed, and came back seeing. That is why this miracle proves that Christ our Lord is once more in order for us to live with him forever... Since only God can create, this miracle proves God is the healer and the forgiver of sins. Finally what I want to clarify is that the divinity of that Jesus Christ is God the Creator. Christ our Lord is proven by a lot of evidence and testimonials and we have only mentioned a few. 8 Mark and Marina were happy with all the stories that their father told them and also because the robot was getting ﬁ xed. Mark started trying to make the robot work and gave it some commands but he was really surprised when the robot did not respond to the commands he had given him. Mark asked Doctor Maher why it wasn’t working. Doctor Maher: Before using the robot you have to program it. You must follow the instructions in the manual that came with the robot. 2 Mark: How can I get a manual like yours? My Book Doctor Maher: I think I have another copy that I can give you but remember, you is Dear and must follow the steps in order to be able to program the robot correctly. Precious Mark thanked the Doctor for the manual and took it with the robot to his house and started working on programming the robot as was instructed in the manual but while working on the robot he heard his dad say: The Father: “What are all these noises coming out of Mark’s room?” Marina: I don’t know dad. Mark has been working for hours to program the robot. The father: Let’s go see what is going on in Mark’s room. The father and Marina went to Mark’s room to see what had happened. The father: Mark what is going on? Did something happen to the robot?! Mark: I don’t know, dad. While I was programming the robot, there were some weird noises and the robot started making some strange movements, and then it stopped altogether. The father: Maybe something went wrong in its programming. Did you follow all the instructions listed in the manual properly? Mark: At the beginning I was following all the instructions found in the manual, step by step. Then, after a while, I understood the idea of the programming and, I felt that I can program it on my own without referring back to the manual. So I left the manual and started working on my own, and that’s when the weird noises began. The father: I think that is the problem. You should’ve followed the manual in order to program it correctly. Mark: I am very skillful in programming, and I thought that I could program it on my own. The father: Any manual that comes with a robot has rules for all the robot’s parts and if any of the rules change, the outcome will be different from what it should be. The manual is the basis on which the robot functions. In order to explain what I am trying to say, I will give you a few examples... The bible in our lives is also the basis on which each one of us acts. Without us being attached to it and its commandments and teachings, we will make a lot of mistakes in our lives. It is the only source on which the doctrine of our church stands and it is considered to be the most important source of its teachings. Mark: You are right dad. I consider my bible as the doctrine of my life. It’s God’s message to me and to everyone who reads it, and I behave according to its commandments and teachings.

9 The father: Imagine Mark, if you did not like reading the bible, what would have happened?! Mark: I think I would’ve made a lot of mistakes but my bible teaches me how to behave in my life according to God’s commandments and teachings. The bible is very valuable to me and to every Christian person, as it is the basis of our Christianity and it is the book of truth.

“Any book, which is inspired from God, is good for teaching, reproach, discipline and learning virtues (2nd Timothy 3:16).

The father: Mark, that is why you must hang on to and follow the instructions of the robot’s manual in order to get the right outcome. Mark: You are right dad. Now I understand what you mean. Marina: Dad, I have a question. During your conversation I heard you saying that our Holy Bible is the main source on which our church rites are built. It is considered the most important source of its teachings. Can you clarify that? The father: Of course Marina. Do you remember the verse which Our Lord Jesus said to his disciples in the book of Mathew?. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mathew 28:19-20).

This verse clariﬁ es the message in which God commanded his disciples (Who represent the church) to start preaching to the whole world with the teachings and commandments, which are found in the Holy Bible. Therefore the church always refers to the bible in all its rites, doctrines and services. I will explain with some examples: Our Our priest priest lifts The candles The deacon prays litanies the gospel, one are lit during the asks us to stand before the reading of the altar’s tools, gospel reading and up while the gospel of the bible and then which contains the four the bishop takes off is being read because burns incense in gospels and kisses it his crown and cape it is the word of front of the bible. with respect before while the reading God. reading the is done. bible.

10 We will also ﬁ nd that there is no doctrinal prayer, which does not include lots of readings from the holy bible. For example: a. The prayers of the Agpeya, which consist of the psalms of the Old Testament plus a chapter from one of the Gospels (you ﬁ nd this in each of the seven prayers). Application: open your personal Agpeya and get familiarized with the number of psalms in each prayer. The morning The prayer of The prayer of The prayer of The eleventh The twelfth The midnight prayer the third hour the sixth hour the ninth hour hour prayer hour prayer hour prayer

Includes Includes Includes Includes Includes Includes Includes 19 ______Psalms Psalms Psalms Psalms Psalms Psalms Psalms b. The prayers of praising: most of the midnight praises or the Tasbeha of Asheya and morning prayers have been taken from the Holy bible. We will fi nd in the midnight praises the fi rst, second, third and fourth Hose. The fi rst Hose The Second Hose The Third Hose The Fourth Hose

Praising the prophet Moses Psalm 135) in which we The praises of the three Consists of 3 psalms after crossing the red sea thank God as he is youth in the furnace (148,149 and 150). (Genesis 15). righteous and of ﬁ re found in merciful (Daniel 3) forever. 11 c. The prayers of the Liturgy: You will ﬁ nd 9 chapters from the Holy Bible and we pray Psalm 150 at the end of liturgy during Holy Communion. The 9 chapters are: 1 We read 2- 3- 4- a psalm and a We read a chapter We read from We read a chapter chapter from the from the 14 epistles the 7 epistles written from the Acts of the bible during the of our teacher St. by other disciples, Apostles and it is evening vespers, the Paul the apostle, which are called the called The Praxis. morning praises which is called the Catholic epistle. and the mass. Pauline.

D. Some of the church’s events: The church chooses readings that match some events. In Jonah’s fast and during Lent we read the prophecies from the Old Testament. In Passion Week we read many readings from both testaments organized in an amazing way to correlate with the glorious events of passion week day by day and hour by hour. (Other examples are the readings of the Sundays and Kiahk and the Pascha...etc). E. Selected prayers: Much of the Holy Bible readings are read during those prayers. Some examples from those prayers are: The prayers The prayers of The prayers of The prayers of read during the Holy Unction of the the anointing of the the consecrations. sacraments of the Sick. churches. church.

e. The consecration of one of the ranks of the deacons: The church brought forth a special rank of deacons for reading the Holy Bible which is the rank of “Al Aghnostos” which means “the reader”. 12 The Orthodox doctrine is a biblical doctrine: All Orthodox doctrines are based on the words of the Holy Bible and its spirit (nothing deviates from that). There are no doctrines that are based on someone’s thoughts because all human beings make mistakes but the Holy Bible never does. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21).

Application: Open your bible and write the verse for every doctrine from the doctrines of our orthodox church.

The doctrine of The doctrine The doctrine of The doctrine of the The doctrine of the incarnation of salvation the Son’s divinity. Trinity: (1 John 5:7) honoring the virgin (John 1:14) (Colossians 1:14) (1Timothy 2:16) Saint Mary: (Luke 1:48)

Marina: You were right dad when you said that our Holy Bible is the main source on which our church rites are built and it is considered to be the most important source of its teachings. From what you said I’m now sure that our orthodox church is a biblical church abiding by our Holy Bible. After the discussion was over between Mark, Marina and their father about the importance of the Holy Bible in the church, Mark knew that he must follow the instructions of the manual in order to be able to program the robot. He started programming it all over again exactly as the book stated.

13 Application: Because our church is a biblical church, each prayer contains many readings from the Holy Bible. Application: Match each picture with the right reference:

{(Psalm The sacrament 23:1-21) of Baptism

(John 2: of the sick

The anointing 1-21) }

(Mathew 26: 26- 28)}

(Psalm 19: 5-6, The sacrament of matrimony 128: 3-4)

(Mathew 19: 2-6) Holy Communion The sacrament of (The epistle of St. James 5: 10- 20)}

14 After Mark followed the instructions of the Robot’s programming manual, he succeeded in making the robot receive his orders and process them. He started to give orders to the Robot. Mark became exceedingly excited to see the Robot following his instructions. He then took it to 3 his sister Marina to show her how far he’s come with this Robot. TO BE Mark: Marina…. Marina, look the Robot now works perfectly. FAITHFUL TO MY Marina: You’re truly a genius, Mark. GOD Mark: Look! I’m going to give him some orders and he’ll do as he is told. You want to see? Marina: Of course. Go ahead.

Mark began to give the Robot orders, like bringing something from the room. He quickly went into the room and fetched the right object. However, during the execution of some orders his movement started to slow down until it stopped working. Mark then became worried and went, along with Marina, to examine it and ﬁ nd the cause of the break down. Mark: Very strange! I’m sure I followed all the steps of its programming. Why then has it stopped! Marina: Certainly there’s some kind of fault. Do you think it needs recharging? Mark: Maybe it does. I have spent a long time programming and trying it. But, the manual didn’t specify the required charging time. Marina: Just hold on a moment! I’m going to bring something from my room. I’ll be back soon. (Marina went to her room and came back in a hurry carrying some papers.) Mark: I don’t get it. Can you explain what these sheets have got to do with the recharging of the Robot? Marina: Do you remember when I took part in the Creative Engineering Competition; one of the activities organized by St Mark Festival last year? Mark: Yes of course but what has this competition got to do with this problem now? Marina: In the very same competition, Mr. Michael explained to us some information about robots, how to operate them and also the correct periods of charging them. So, we may search these documents for the right time periods of charging robots. Marina began to search for the robot’s model number in the papers. While she was searching, she found a certain paper that stopped her. Mark: Why did you stop? Have you found something?

15 Marina: There is a statement that stopped me which says a robot may stop working if it runs out of electric power, disconnected from the power source or its battery needs recharging. At the end of the paper it states that to understand these details, it can be explained through the following example: Mark: What is this example? Marina: It is a lesson on Prayer. Mark: What has prayer got to do with the problem of the robot’s power failure? Marina: I don’t get what they mean. Mark: Well! Let’s read it to understand the connection between them. Mark and Marina started to read. Marina: Prayer is a connection between us and God, in which we feel His presence with us and our presence before Him. It is a PRAYER dialogue with whom we love. It is not just mere words we utter without understanding but in it we raise our hearts and minds to God and speak with Him trusting that He listens to every word we say. And just like any device that breaks down when its disconnected from its power source, when we stop praying, we will be similar to that device when it is disconnected from the power source.

Mark: just like what happened here with the robot. Speaking about prayer is very interesting. Can we continue with our research to know more about prayer and its importance? Marina: Let’s do that. Mark and Marina went to see their dad. Mark: Dad, we read some information about prayer and we would like to know more from you. Can you tell us more? Dad: Of course! Prayer is the best time that we spend with God. There are different kinds of prayers such as the individual on the spot prayers and prayers set to be memorized The Lord’s The Agpeya In the Old Psalms Also when the disciples The church has Prayers: Testament, psalms asked the Lord saying,” Prayer were regarded as a very organized for us seven Lord, teach us how to pray.” He hourly prayers called the Agpeya important part of the memorized answered them saying, prayers that the congregation recited. Prayers to pray them throughout the These psalms were not only used during day. These are not to substitute the ”When you pray say,” individual and personal prayers. The the Old Testament times but in the New Our father who art in heaven….” Testament as well when it says, Agpeya prayers teach us how to talk (Luke 11:1-4) to God, as His Holiness the late Pope Shenouda said, MEMORY “Whenever you come conﬁ rming the principle of memorized VERSE together, each of you has a psalm” prayers as He taught them a prayer to “The Agpeya prayers are like the school (1st Corinthians 14:26) memorize and use it whenever they that will teach you how to pray.” prayed.

Mark: What does the word “Agpeya” mean? And what are these Agpeya prayers? Dad: It is a word taken from the Coptic word “ajp” which means “hour,” referring to the hours during which we pray them.

The Agpeya is the book that contains the hourly prayers which are the ﬁ rst, the third, the sixth, the ninth, the sunset, the before sleeping and the midnight prayers.

Marina: Why did they choose the speciﬁ c hours for prayer? 16 Dad: These prayers were chronically set to represent part of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth. I will explain my words from the following table.

PRAYER TIME THE COMMEMORATION THE AIM OF THIS PRAYER

Instituted to commemorate the hour To give thanks to God for waking us up from our sleep, at which our Lord Jesus Christ rose 1st Hour asking Him to shine His light upon us, enlighten our days with from the dead who is the true light. deeds and give us the power of His resurrection.

Instituted to commemorate the hour at which the Lord Christ was put on trial, His Ascension

3rd hour into the heavens and also the descending of To ask the Holy Spirit to settle upon us and purify us. the Holy Spirit on the disciples.

Instituted to commemorate the hour our Lord Jesus Christ To thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His redemption and pray that He gives us a holy life. 6th hour was cruciﬁ ed.

Instituted to commemorate the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, opening the Paradise and the acceptance To ask the Lord to bless us with a share in His Paradise. 9th hour of the right hand thief in it.

Instituted to commemorate the hour in which the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was brought down off the cross To thank God for making us pass the day in peace and

11th hour 11th and wrapped. thankfully reach the evening.

Instituted to commemorate the hour our Lord Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb and also the end of the To ask the Lord to forgive us our sins and also preserve us throughout the night. 12th hour world and judgement day.

Instituted to commemorate the second coming of our Lord Jesus To ask the Lord to give us oil to be always prepared like the Midnight Christ and His prayer in Gethsemane three consecutive times. wise virgins. 171 Mark: But what are the beneﬁ ts of praying the Agpeya?

1- An opportunity to 2- Praying 3- Praying be with God for an repeatedly: without ceasing: extended period of time.

Dad: The Agpeya prayer will allow us to be with An example of it is repeating the prayer of Kyrie The Agpeya prayers ﬁ ll our days with quality God for much longer time. Eleison forty one times every hourly prayer. time with God.

Our personal prayers are often mere supplications. We forget many other matters in our prayers but the Agpeya prayers include all the kinds of prayers we ought to say such as:-

A-The B-The element C-The element element of of Confessing of Praising and D- The element our sins and Gloriﬁ cation of of supplication:- Thanksgiving:- Repentance:- God :-

We ﬁ nd the prayer of thanksgiving in the introduction of every hourly prayer As when we pray Psalm 50 saying This is evident when we pray to the have mercy upon me O God in the angels saying “Let’s praise Him in which we thank God for everything, with the angels “ and in many of the I ask for myself and the others. for all things and in every condition. multitude of your mercies. Psalms.

There are many other blessings that we receive when we pray the Agpeya. You will personally get the taste of them when you pray the Agpeya. Marina: This lesson about prayer has shown me the importance of prayer and its meaning as a connection with the Lord. Mark: Let’s go look for the charging requirement of the robot to allow it to move again. Mark and Marina managed to fi nd the times required to charge the robot, and recharged it. 18 , After Mark recharged the robot and knew the exact time needed to recharge it, he began to think about how to get the maximum benefi t from it. Marina: Now that you have learmed everything about how to train and program the robot, what are the actions you will take to perform? 4- Mark: I haven’t decided yet. All the different house chores have specifi c robots to do them. Let Us Be Marina: You should fi nd him something new to do. Successful Mark: I’ve got an idea. I think it’s new. Marina: What is it? Mark: Every house task is performed by a special robot, but how do they work? Marina: Mom programs every robot in the morning to do whatever task she wants them to do. Mark: How about we make this robot program all the other robots with all the work needed from them? The Robot: I think this is a great idea, Mark. Marina: What! What just happened? Mark: Ha ha ha … I have trained him to talk and respond to questions but I didn’t tell you to surprise you. Marina: This is fantastic. Mark: Thank you. Mark: And now what do you think about my idea? Marina: I think it’s a very good idea but how will you train the robot to do this kind of work? The Robot: Mark, I’d like to remind you that you haven’t given me a name up until now. Marina: That’s right. What name are you going to give him? Mark: Ummm! I think I will call him Alpha. The Robot: Alpha is a beautiful name. Thanks, Mark. Marina: It’s really a new and nice name. Now what are you going to do about programming it? Mark: I think we should search for a leadership program inside the programming book. The Robot brought Mark the programming manual but then Mark couldn’t fi nd a leadership program to use. Mark: The manual does not have a special leadership program. Marina: Can you create a new program? Mark: Well! There’s a section here in the end of this manual on how to create a new program. Marina: OK. Read it and fi nd out how you can develop a new program and I will help you make it. Mark: What’s written here is that, fi rst, you have to enter the required characteristics to prepare a good leader or manager. Alpha, the Robot: You can surf the net and fi nd these characteristics of a successful leader or a manager. Marina: I’m doing that right now. These are the fi rst search results, ”personalities that are known for their quality leadership and management.” Mark: Ok. Read us one of these personalities and I’ll write down the leadership qualities. Alpha, the Robot: I will be recording it so we can review it any time. Marina: One of the personalities I admire where his leadership qualities are quite evident is……

19 Joshua the Successful Leader (Joshua 1-8 ,24)

Joshua, the son When of Nun, was Moses chose from the tribe of one man from Ephraim. His name each tribe in Israel was originally Hosia to spy on the land of but Moses the prophet Canaan (the promised- changed his name to land), Joshua was the Joshua, which means God representative of his tribe, saves. Joshua was born in Ephraim. His faith was evident the land of Egypt and went out of in the report he gave about the it into the wilderness with Moses. He was land of Canaan and as a result and out Moses’ servant and disciple. Moses appointed him of all the people who came out of Egypt, he the leader of the army of Israel during their ﬁ rst battle against alongside with Caleb the son of Jephunneh from the the Amalakites after their exodus from Egypt. That was the ﬁ rst time his tribe of Judah, deserved to enter the promised-land. name was mentioned.

And It was as God God’s commanded promise to Moses before Joshua that his death, he called whatever land their Joshua, his servant, feet would walk on and handed over to him would be their own. The the work he had to complete. Lord had comforted him Directly after Moses’ death, when He said, Joshua began to get ready to lead “No man shall be able to stand his people. Just like any other successful before you all the days of your life; leader, Joshua had a clear goal to achieve. as I was with Moses, so I will be Mark: What was the goal Joshua had before him? with you. (Joshua 1:5) Marina: His goal was to take his own people into the promised land Joshua managed to achieve his goal after facing a series of (the land of Canaan) and divide the land among them. In doing all of this, he and diffi culties; the crossing of the Jordan was the fi rst among them when he all his people were keen to fulfi ll God’s commandments. actually managed to lead his people and cross the Jordan River. 20 After crossing the It did Jordan, and happen Joshua and his and they were people entered the victorious. The promised-land, they walls of Jericho the had to go through the strong hold city fell strong hold city of Jericho. without war or fi ghting God wanted to encourage or swords. God had Joshua and calm his soul. commanded Joshua and all So, He appeared to him as the his people not to take any of Archangel, the chief of God’s heavenly the accursed things of Jericho for forces, and assured him that he shall win, themselves.The next step after the fall telling him what he needed to do: of Jericho was to enter a small town known • Ask his people to march around the walls of Jericho as Ai. Three thousand Army men went to Ai and were once a day for six consecutive days carrying the Ark of Covenant of defeated there although it was much smaller than Jericho. God (as a symbol of the presence of God among them). Mark: But how did they lose to Ai which is a small city? That is really • On the seventh day, they shall march around the walls of Jericho seven times and strange? when seven priests blow the trumpets, the congregation shall shout to the Lord in one voice. Then, the walls will be destroyed and collapse without the use of any military equipment.

Marina: Then You’re Joshua right Mark. quickly rose It was a totally to question his unexpected defeat. people and Achan, Here we find another the son of Carmi, characteristic of the confessed to stealing successful leader in a beautiful Babylonian Joshua and that is the ability garment, two hundred to solve problems. shekels of silver, and a wedge He was not satisfied to just feel of gold that he hid in the ground in sad about the loss, but called upon the the midst of his tent. Joshua found out leaders of his people to come to him. They that was true. humbled themselves before the Lord and prayed Joshua had dealt with Achan and his household to know the reasons behind their defeat. The Lord God told very firmly because of the evil they brought upon the people Joshua that one of his people had sinned and stole from the accursed of Israel showing that he was a successful leader who faced every things of Jericho after their victory on the contrary to what He had commanded problem that came his way in a very wise manner. He never ignored or avoided them. God did not tell Joshua the name of the person who did it. a problem. 21 Mark: I understand To make from what you his plan work, said that in order Joshua divided to solve any problem his men into three he faces, a successful groups. One group leader should: was led by him to attack • Pray to ask God for His help Ai and pretended to fl ee • Investigate all the sides of before them to draw them the problem and all the available from the city. Another group of solutions • Make a decision fi rmly, wisely and twenty thousand men would go to without hesitation. attack the city of Ai from behind when the Marina: True, these were the steps Joshua army of Ai come out to chase Joshua and his followed. As a successful leader, he was very clever in men. The third and last group, which is made up of fi ve dealing with the problems he faced. Afterwards, God relented from His thousand men, would be protecting Joshua and his men against anger and said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid, arise and go up to Ai and you shall any unexpected attack from any other city’s army that would think of supporting do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king”. God showed him the plan by which the army of Ai. Joshua started to execute his plan, which allowed him to defeat the city they will win. of Ai and invade it.

After the victory, Joshua Mark: built an altar to Joshua the Lord and the was truly a people of Israel offered very successful thanksgiving sacrifi ces. Joshua also continued to leader, Marina. I have lead his people and divide personally learned the land amongst the tribes. from him about the main Consequently, he was advancing characteristics of an effective and came closer to the land of leader which are:- Canaan as he was achieving his goal • To have a clear goal to achieve to enter and possess the land of Canaan. • To be able to solve problems He continued to do all of this very wisely until • To be able to communicate with different the end of his days. He was always in regular contact classes of his people. with all the ranks of his people and never hid from them. At He was in fact a great leader. the end of his days, he called all the people and their elders unto him to give them advice and bid them farewell in a fi nal address. He commanded them The Robot (Alpha): I have recorded all these characteristics you to obey the Lord’s commandments, not to mix with atheists and remember the work of God have said so far. Mark: That’s very good! This way, we have obtained the and His love to them and their fathers. He told them that he had fulfi lled all his promises to them. required characteristics to prepare an effective manager and leader. Now, I’m going to After his fi nal address, Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of God passed away at the age of one hundred start working on the necessary program. Mark began to design the program needed for the and ten years. Robot so that it may start its new mission. 22 Mark actually succeeded in designing the special program of leadership and then entered it in the robot Alpha. He then managed to make use of Alpha, the robot and made him perform all the household chores very well in addition to controlling the work of other robots in the house. 5- Let’s After many days and while Mark was entering some changes in Alpha, the robot, Marina, who was in her room, called him. Make Our Country Marina: Mark! Come and see. There’s some news you may be interested in. Better Mark: Ok Marina, I’m coming right away. Marina: There’s an announcement about robots from the same brand as your robot, Alpha. They are saying that it will be withdrawn from the market and reproduced in another form to be used for different purposes. Mark: How can they do this? This is a rare kind, which is very useful. Marina: I think that they have never tried to fi x the faulty items of this type and thus see no use in it. Mark: This is extremely bad news but I’m not giving up on Alpha at all. Marina: You now have to take good care of it because according to what they decided, you will not be able to fi nd any spare parts for it. Mark: Do you know that fi xing these rare kinds of robots benefi ts our country so much in comparison to re-producing them under a different name? Marina: Certainly. When you managed to make it work again and trained it to do new jobs, we all benefi tted from that. Mark: I hope I can fi nd a way to stop this reproduction process and be able to tell them about all that we achieved. Marina: I hope you can, too. Mark: Tell me what you were looking for on the Internet. Marina: I was collecting some information for my own yearly project. You know that I love to take part in the research competition within St Mark Festival. Mark: Would you like me to help you with any of these searches for the required information? Marina: Really?! Thank you very much, Mark. I really needed your help but I didn’t ask because I know that you’re very busy with the robot. Mark: I think I can give you a hand now as I have just completed its fi nal adjustments. What is the topic of your research? Marina: It is about people that loved their country very much. I chose a personality from our Coptic Church, known to be someone who expressed their love of their country in extremely memorable situations, and which show their attachment and adoration of their country. Mark: Who is this person, Marina? Marina: Pope Petrous El-Gawly. Mark: Perfect choice! Let’s begin to search for the reference books we’ll need. Marina: Let me show you the information I gathered fi rst. 23 POPE PETROUS (PETER) EL-GAWLY (THE 109TH POPE OF THE SEE OF ST MARK) (THE SYNAXARIUM OF 28 BARAMHAT)

He was born in a village by the name (El-Gawly) in the city of Manfalout of the Parish of Assyout. Mark: Is that why they called him El-Gawly? Marina: Yes, Mark. On the day of his birth, he was named Mankorious and because of his great love of God, he was ordained a monk in the monastery of St Anthony and was given the name of Mankorious. He was extremely loved among his brethren the monks and was also an ascetic monk. They ordained him a priest, and then a hegumen. Also, Pope Mark the 108th ordained him a general Bishop and gave him the name Theophilos.

For his ascetism and holiness and after the departure of Pope Mark, all the bishops and the elders of the church met and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, unanimously agreed that Bishop Theophilos is the most suitable person to be the next Pope. He was then ordained to become Pope Petrous (Peter) the 7th, the 109th Pope of Alexandria.

He was such a meek, humble and wise father. Everyone loved him. Although he was also loved and entrusted by all the government personnel, the devil, the enemy of every good thing, made some wicked men, who were jealous of Pope Petrous conspire against him. They reported him to Ibrahim Basha, the governor of El-sham and son of Mohammad Ali the king of Egypt during that time. Mark: They conspired against him! What did they do? Marina: They told Ibrahim Basha that Christians claim that light appears over the tomb of our Lord Jesus and this cannot be true. He believed them.

Because Ibrahim Basha had huge conﬁ dence in Pope Petrous, he summoned him (Pope Petrous was then in Jerusalem) to speak with him. He explained everything to him and asked him to pray so that the light may appear on his hands and promised to be there with him. Mark: That was really a difﬁ cult situation. What did Pope Petrous do then? Marina: Pope Petrous spent three days in prayers and fasting trusting in God’s promise to us; “ And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)

At that time, the church was full of those who came to pray when Ibrahim Basha gave his orders that all visitors must leave. While the Pope stood up praying and on the exact time the light came out ﬁ lling the whole church. Ibrahim Basha was astonished and since then he had great respect towards the Pope.

Mark: This situation shows how holy Pope Petrous is. Marina: That’s right, Mark. Pope Petrous had many good qualities and what I like about him the most is his patriotism. He had many national problems, one of which I know very well. Mark: What is it, Marina? Marina: During his papacy, the level of the Nile River water decreased which of course affected the cultivation and all the national crops. Literally, it was a famine. This made all Egyptians (Jews, Copts and Muslims) pray. It was the king of Egypt, Mohamed Ali at the time, who requested all clergy to pray for the increase of the water of the Nile. Pope Petrous gathered all his bishops and deacons and prayed a liturgy by the Nile River.

After Pope Petrous had ﬁ nished praying the mass and washed the alter vessels, he threw the water he washed them with in the Nile River. As soon as he did that, the water level of the river remarkably increased and covered their feet. Pope Petrous thanked the Lord for His work. Consequently, Mohamed Ali rewarded the Copts for what they did. Mark: This incident is proof that Pope Petrous was a holy Pope who, together with his people, had great love of their country. Marina: Pope Petrous is a wonderful character from whom I learned a lot. Mark, how about we try to search for more situations that show Pope Petrous’ love of his country.

Mark: We can search the Internet. Alpha, the robot: I can help. Mark: Let’s do that. Mark, Marina and Alpha, the robot, began their search. 25 Alpha, the robot: Mark, Marina, I found a situation that shows the patriotism of Pope Petrous. Marina & Mark: Really! Come on and read it for us. Alpha, the robot: When Russia was the greatest Christian Empire, they wanted to interfere with the Egyptian government. They sent a Russian prince to offer Pope Petrous the protection of the Russian Empire to the Christian Coptic minority in Egypt. When the delegated prince arrived at the Patriarchate, He found a very simple man carrying the Holy Bible in his hands and reading it. He then asked him in surprise, “Are you the pope?”. When the pope answered him saying yes he was, he admired him and was totally taken by the pope’s humility and meekness. When the prince handed the pope the Russian emperor’ s letter offering to protect the Coptic people of Egypt and be under the direct control of the Russian government, the patriotic Pope realized that they only wanted to interfere with the affairs of Egyptian government. Pope Petrous then asked the messenger prince,” Does your emperor live forever?” The prince answered saying,” No, He is a human being who will surely die like all the rest of mankind.” The pope replied saying,” you live under the care of a king who dies but we live under the care of a king who never dies and is the almighty God.”

The Russian delegate could not stop himself from bowing down under the feet of pope Petrous kissing them. He then left after getting to know the greatness of this simple man. He said,” I was not greatly surprised at the greatness of the Pyramids or the height of the Obelisks. All the wonders of this country didn’t shake me as much as the Coptic pope did. When the news of the outcome of this meeting reached Mohamed Ali, he was greatly pleased and visited the pope and congratulated him on his true patriotic behavior. The pope said to him,” You should not thank a citizen who has fulﬁ lled his duty towards his country.” Mohamed Ali then said to the pope,” Today you have honored your position and the position of your country. You shall have the same honor as Mohamed Ali in Egypt.”

Mark: We can search the Internet. Alpha, the robot: I can help. Mark: Let’s do that. Mark, Marina and Alpha, the robot, began their search. 26 Mark: This is really a wonderful example of Pope Petrous’ love for his country. Marina: By this example, I have completed the last part of my research. I only need to write down the time of his departure. Pope Petrous Elgawly departed in peace on the 28th of Baramhat 1568 AM (1852 AD). Mark: There was a piece of information that I came across which reveals that his tomb was not known until recently when Bishop Rafael, the bishop of central Cairo and secretary of the Holy Synod was renovating the great St Mark Church in Azbakia, and found four saints’ bodies. Among them was Pope Petrous Elgawly.

Marina: Wow! This is a new piece of information that I will add to my research. Thank you, Mark. I have truly beneﬁ ted from your assistance. You’re such a wonderful brother. Mark: I have to thank you, Marina. I’m the person who learned a lot from this lesson. After knowing the positive role THE YOUNG Pope Petrous ElGawly played for his country and society, I have taken an INVENTOR important decision. Marina: What is that decision? Mark; I have decided to contact Dr Maher and show him the Robot and what I know so far. I will seek his help to conduct this experiment to show everyone. Marina: Accordingly, everyone will beneﬁ t from this robot and will use it. Mark: I have to speak with him now. Marina: I’m coming with you. Let’s go. 27 Memorization Psalm 124 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore. The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. Do good, O lord, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel. Alleluia Gospel of the 11th Hour Gospel According to Saint Luke (4:38-41) Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So He bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ. Glory be to God forever, Amen. This book has been translated by: The Sydney Diocese, Saint Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, East Brunswick, NJ and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church, Howell, NJ. Under the guidance of His Grace Bishop Moussa & the blessing of His Grace Bishop Daniel. For more information please visit www.saint-mary.net/cool