Sunday School Corner

"AND WHOEVER DOES NOT BEAR HIS CROSS AND COME AFTER ME CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE" (Luke 14:27).
"BUT GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD BOAST EXCEPT IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED TO ME, AND I TO THE WORLD" (Gal. 6:14).

The Church celebrates the feast of the Cross on the 17th, 18th & 19th of Tute,
That is 3 days (starting on the 27thor 28th of September), the day of the apparition of the Cross to the Emperor Constantine, and on the 10th of
Baramhat (19th of March), the day when the Empress Helen found the wooden Holy Cross.
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It is necessary to take great pains, and anyone who does not do so, cannot come to his God. For He Himself was crucified for our sake. + Abba Elias +
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The best mathematical equation I have ever seen is:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4given
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A young man was at the end of his rope, seeing no way out, dropped to his knees in prayer. Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy of a cross to bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish." The man was filled with relief said, "Thank you, Lord," and he did as he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many crosses, some so large the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in." When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.
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A church
I have in my hands two boxes,
Which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box,
And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored,
But though the gold became heavier each day,
The black was as light as before.
With curiosity, I opened the black,
I wanted to find out why,
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole,
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.
I showed the hole to God, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My child, they're all here with me.."
I asked God, why He gave me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole?
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."
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Procession of the Holy Cross
The priest and deacons carrying the cross go around the altar then stand in front of the entrance to read from the psalms and the Gospel. There are many other stations where they stop in front of different icons and other landmarks in the church (the lakkan basin, and the baptistery) to read different verses of the psalms and Gospels. They also sing special hymns.

Why do we do that?
The church glorifies the Holy Cross, which is alive in each one of us leading us to eternal life. When we stop in front of any of the saints’ icons we praise the cross in their lives, and we also take into account that it is through the cross that they went to heaven and are glorified; they lead and we follow. Bearing in mind also, that the cross reconciled the heavenly and the earthly. As for the Archangels’ icons, although they did not suffer materialistically, they most certainly share our rejoice and victory of the cross in overcoming all the darkness and death.

Holy Cross, how I love you
(a meditation) (synopsis from St. George’s Sporting)
How happy and joyful would Queen Helena have been when she finally found the Holy Cross of our Lord and Savior under the rubble… would our lives have mountains of dust piled up into our hearts due to our anxieties, and busy life style that it hid our precious cross … and probably closed the spring of blessings …
Let the queen Helena in us, search diligently under these hills of the dust of laziness, negligence, sloppiness, … and how rejoiced we would be when we discover the cross, such glory and thrill beyond comprehension.
We get our strength from the sign of the cross We get our life from the cross
We get our pride from the cross We get our love from The Lord who stretched and opened His loving arms to bring us to Him.
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What happened to our beloved HOLY CROSS? Has history recorded the HOLY CROSS as a lost and forgotten treasure? On the seventeenth day of the blessed month of Tute, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Feast Day of the Appearance of the Honorable Cross. St Helena, a devout Christian queen and mother of Emperor Constantine, is credited with the discovery of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine that a once spiritless piece of lumber sent a Queen in search of its blessing? This only endears to our hearts even more, the significance of the HOLY CROSS. The story of her search and discovery of the Honorable Cross is one of enduring perseverance. When she came to Jerusalem, she inquired of the Jews in that town as to the whereabouts of the HOLY CROSS. They would not disclose to her the information she requested but instead told of an aged Jew named Judas who might assist her. At her persistence, he told her of a pile of dirt and rubbish that the HOLY CROSS could be found beneath. How did this pile of dirt and rubbish come to cover our sacred HOLY CROSS? The Jewish leaders in those days following the crucifixion, when they saw all the signs and wonders made manifest from the HOLY CROSS, wished to do away with the HOLY CROSS. They commanded all of Judea and Jerusalem to cast the sweepings and dirt from their houses over the HOLY CROSS in which our Messiah carried to Golgotha after He was condemned to death. Tradition tells us the dirt continued to be placed upon the HOLY CROSS for more than two hundred years. How frightened the Jewish leaders must have been of that wooden HOLY CROSS!
Queen Helena ordered the immediate removal of the Lord Jesus Christ's HOLY CROSS from the trash heap. She then built a church for it and consecrated the church. The actual appearance of the Cross was on the tenth of Baramhat but because this date is always during fasting, the early church fathers substituted the seventeenth of Tute, for the Feast of the Cross, which is the date of the church consecrated in honor of the appearance of the HOLY CROSS. What profound meaning has come from a simple piece of wood! Our Master was not only willing to carry His HOLY CROSS but He loved us so much that He was willing to die on His HOLY CROSS for us. The HOLY CROSS, utilized to hold the nails necessary to crucify our Lord Jesus, deserves much reverence. In dying Lord Jesus Christ gives us the example of living. The Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their CROSS and follow Me" (Mt 16:24). Self-denial is for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we grasp the earthly, we will lose sight of the eternal. With the faith of the thief, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Live like the Lord Jesus Christ. Reverently, with the transformed HOLY CROSS before us, love the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The corner shares in the joy Of the Risk Family (Maged, Laila, Sarah & Thomas) for their knew addition Jacob May Our Great Lord protect and keep him in His Glorious Name always, amen.
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