Alexandria is a city almost synonymous with learning. The Library of Alexandria was the foremost repository of the written word in the ancient world. It was most likely established by Ptolemy II, ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt between 308 and 246 …
Right before St. Stephen is stoned to death, the Book of Acts tells us that “he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this against them.’” (Acts 7:60). This prayer, moments before his martyrdom, should …
O blessed Saint Ephrem, intercede with Christ on behalf of those who celebrate your feast-day, you who have drunk the flowing waters of grace from the heavenly spiritual streams, just as the ranks of the Apostles in the upper room …
This week, on the saints’ days of Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, the Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates several bishops of the universal church: Pope Stephen I of Rome, Bishop of Rome from May 12, 254-257 AD; Akepsimas the Bishop, who was …
For many people, the sermon is their favorite part of the Badarak, the Divine Liturgy. Delivered in the vernacular—the language spoken by the average person—it is often the only portion of the service in English (or modern Armenian, or whichever …
Christian Doctors of the Church—the ultimate vartabeds—are a rare breed of scholar, theologian, and champion of the faith in Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church, which is the most systematic about this designation, reserves the title for those who made a …
Our title this week mimics that of an essay by the cultural critic Walter Benjamin. In that essay, Benjamin suggests that translating a text from one language into another is not simply reproduction, but is productive: the translator, making not …
Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, inaugurates the historical events leading up to Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. Together with the “Remembrance of the Raising of Lazarus” the day before, it also inaugurates the dense liturgical time …
All the books of the New Testament ascertain that there will be the Second Coming of Christ, who will come, this time not as a gentle and lowly Savior, but as a dreadful, righteous judge. He will come in the …
On February 15, 2015, the terrorist group ISIS released a video showing the beheading of 21 of our Coptic Orthodox Christian brothers. When the names of the martyrs were published it was revealed that 20 were Egyptian Copts but the …