Today, Saturday, the city of Alexandria witnessed the ordination of 5 new shirts, 4 of them for the churches of Alexandria and the fifth shirt from the Church of the Martyr Saint George in Vancouver, Canada, by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, coinciding with the Coptic Orthodox Church’s celebration of the 12th anniversary of His Holiness’ enthronement in the chair of Saint Mark the Apostle.
Today, His Holiness the Pope prayed the Divine Mass in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, and His Eminences Bishop Pavelli, General Bishop of the churches of the Montazah sector, Bishop Ilarion, General Bishop of the churches of the western sector of Alexandria, Bishop Hermina, general bishop of the churches of eastern Alexandria, Father Abram Emil, General Agent of the Patriarchate in Alexandria, the Council of Alexandria Priests, and a large number of people participated in it. A member of the church in Alexandria.
His Holiness delivered a sermon for the Mass, and detailed his Gospel from (John 16:20-33), and meditated on one of its verses, which is: “When a woman is in childbirth, she grieves because her hour has come, but once she has given birth to the child she will no longer Remember the hardship for joy, because a man has been born into the world (verse 21).
He linked it to the service of the priest, pointing out that it goes through three stages that are similar to the period of pregnancy, labor, and childbirth. These three stages are:
The first stage: The stage of longing, fatigue, and striving. “The woman in childbirth grieves because her time has come”:
In it, the priest works hard and devotes himself to prepare his children for eternal life. He searches for the lost and visits the souls while he looks forward and longs for their repentance and return to God.
The second stage: The stage of repentance and return to God. “But when she has given birth to the child”:
It is the moment of returning to God, as the prodigal son did, and it is the moment that the priest waits for his children, waiting for it without despair, but with complete hope.
The third stage: The stage of joy: “You no longer remember hardship because of joy”:
Here the priest rejoices because he has born a new son for the Kingdom of Heaven, and this process is a repeated and continuous process in the priest’s service.
Following the reconciliation prayer, His Holiness the Pope performed the ritual prayers for the ordination of the five new hegumens.
Pope Tewodros
