We Believe in the Glorious Resurrection
                                                                                           His Grace Bishop Moussa
A Unique Resurrection:
The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead in a unique way that no one else ever experienced and which will never happen to anyone else.

The Lord Jesus Christ Arose:
a. With a glorious body of light which does not sicken, grow old, or die. We also will rise with a similar body that does not fall ill, sin, age, or die because it is a spiritual heavenly glorious body of light.


• Spiritual, that is of a spiritual anointing.
• Of light, that is, like ethereal light, just like the body that Christ arose with from the dead.
• Heavenly, that is, able to ascend to heaven and live there.
• Glorious, that is, it will wear crowns of glory and will not be like our current bodies that sicken, age, sin, and die. It will be an eternal body that will live forever with the Lord Jesus in heaven.

b. He arose in His inner strength and not like Lazarus who arose in the strength of Christ, or like the son of the widow who was raised by Elijah the prophet in the power of God, or the son of the Shunamite woman who was raised by Elisha the prophet, also in the power of God.

The humanity and the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ were united in the tomb; His human spirit which transferred the souls of the faithful from Hades to Paradise was united with His divinity.

He arose in the power of His divinity that was united to His humanity and not in a strange outer power.

c. He arose not to die and He will never die. This is known from the New Testament and mentioned in the Old Testament. Since the Lord Jesus arose, He has remained alive and will continue to live forever in His life-giving divinity united with His glorious humanity in heaven. All religions believe that Christ died and rose and that He is alive until the Day of Judgment when He will come in His glory to judge the living and the dead and to reward each according to his works.

The Appearances of the Lord Jesus:
When the Lord Jesus arose, He appeared many times to His disciples in different places. He gave them the opportunity to touch Him and eat with Him in order to confirm that the body of light He had arisen with was the same body that He had been crucified with.

The Holy Bible records eleven appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ as examples because the Lord used to appear to His disciples daily, “to whom he also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1: 3)

These appearances are:
1. He appeared to Mary Magdalene alone.
2. He appeared to St. Peter alone.
3. He appeared to James alone.
4. He appeared to Mary Magdalene and others.
5. He appeared to the two disciples at Emmaus.
6. He appeared to the disciples except for Thomas in the upper room.
7. He appeared to them again with Thomas.
8. He appeared to seven of them at the Sea of Tiberias.
9. He appeared to the disciples in Galilee.
10. He appeared to them on the Mount of Olives on the occasion of the Ascension.
11. He appeared to 500 brothers, many of whom lived for 25 years after the ascension of the Lord and witnessed to His glorious resurrection.

Thus, the Lord confirmed
1. The truth of the resurrection, that there is a resurrection after death.
2. The body of the resurrection, and that we will be raised with a heavenly glorious spiritual body of light.
3. The glories of the resurrection, when we will live with God forever in the heavenly Jerusalem.
 
Coptic Lessons  

Church language in use in the Coptic Christian church.

Audio Coptic Alphabet (Listen Online)

Written pronunciation of the Coptic Letters
Prayers

  • A prayer from the desert
    ------------------------
    Lord Jesus Christ, whose will all things
    obey: pardon what I have done and grant
    that I, a sinner, may sin no more. Lord,
    I believe that though I do not deserve
    it, you can cleanse me from all my sins.
    Lord, I know that man looks upon the
    face, but you see the heart. Send your
    spirit into my inmost being, to take
    possession of my soul and body. Without
    you I cannot be saved; with you to
    protect me, I long for your salvation.
    And now I ask you for your salvation.
    And now I ask you for wisdom, deign of
    your great goodness to help and defend
    me. Guide my heart, almighty God, that I
    may remember your presence day and night.
                  ++ Amen ++

The Canadian Youth in Egypt with His Grace Bishop Moussa
Sayings of the Desert Fathers

There was in the Cells an old man called Apollo. If someone came to find him about doing a piece of work, he would set out joyfully, saying, 'I am going to work with Christ today, for the salvation of my soul, for that is the reward he gives

Abba Doulas, the disciple of Abba Bessarion said, 'One day when we were walking beside the sea I was thirstty and I said to Abba Bessarion, "Father, I
am very thirsty." He said a prayer and said to me, "Drink some of the sea water." The water proved sweet when I drank some. I even poured some into a leather bottle for fear of being thirsty later on. Seeing this, the old man asked me why I was taking some. I said to him, "Forgive me, it is for fear of being thirsty later on." Then the old man said, "God is here, God is everywhere." '
 
 
Q&A for youth

What happens when the emotional/psychological aspect of one's personality dominates all other aspects of the personality?

It is important to nourish and have a balance between all aspects of the  personality, by having a spiritual father who can advise you concerning practicing some spiritual exercises, such as Bible readings, and attending spiritual meetings, and so on. It is also important to maintain a spiritual routine, and abide in a spiritual atmosphere.

what is the Church's viewpoint concerning IVF (in-vitro-fertilisation)?

The church believes that if the sperm is from the husband, and the ovum is from the wife, and surrogacy does not occur (that is, the wife's mother or sister, for example, being the surrogate mother), then IVF is accepted from a religious perceptive. The need for IVF occurs when ther is a hindrance in the female fallopian tubes that does not allow the sperm to fertilise the ovum; it is a mechanical barrier.

Therefore, through IVF, the fertilisation of the ovum by a sperm takes place in a test tube or Petrie dish. The resulting embryo is then implanted in the uterus of the mother.