Amidst the loud voices and tempestuous opinions hurling towards me in these last 48 hours, a hint of tranquil clarity is necessary. I will begin with an elaboration on my jarring personal reflection, followed by a peaceful response to musings in the air surrounding either my person or my intentions. My first post was a …
We laid to rest, today, our beautiful angel, Sophia Cohen, after a battle with cancer in which the LORD Jesus (the true judge of our struggle) crowned her victorious! This little girl, like her Savior, showed, in her weakness, what is greater than strength—she bore her cross in total love and submission to our Creator …
Stumbled upon this gem while looking at some old home videos—Fr. Antonios Ragheb of blessed memory, and Fr. David Bebawy chanting the first two psalms of the Fourth Canticle (Psalms 148, 149, and 150) in my family home while my mother held me in her arms during my “tisht” prayers. Thankful to these fathers and to …
Had the awesome opportunity to share a bit about myself, my family, and my passion for the Coptic Church and its tradition on Ancient Faith Radio today! @ancient_faith_ministries Great to be represented and united within the Orthodox world as a whole! Very grateful to Elissa Bjeletich Davis for having me and being such a delightful …
Ⲓ was sixteen when mom departed to be with the Lord (tomorrow marks eleven years). I would say one of the most trying aspects of losing an immediate family member at such a young age is not being old enough to truly understand their identity — their upbringing, their character, their passion, those things that …
After liturgy today, we met with a Metropolitan from the Greek Orthodox Church, who came and greeted us humbly, in a white shirt and pants. He begged the Coptic students of UCBerkeley to make use of their facilities more and told us “We are one Orthodox Church. We need to clean up our act and …
What an honor it was for my brother and I to converse, serve, chant and pray with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II this past weekend! Congratulations to my dear father Mark on his elevation to the rank of hegumen. Abouna, no one deserves this honor and recognition more than you, and we love you dearly! …
Overjoyed and blessed with the opportunity to spend quality time with our holy father His Holiness Pope Tawadros II. We spoke in detail about research in Coptic hymnology and HH listened intently, in great humility and fatherly love. Over dinner, we talked about the Coptic language and it’s pronunciation, dialects and utilization. After closing down …
Thankful for the opportunity to attend the Coptic Canadian History Project Conference and to present on Coptic Hymnology – Diffusion of Egyptian Regional Variance into the Diaspora! Also thankful for my family that came all the way out to support me and turned the weekend into a blessed and memorable one! Not really thankful for …
Do You Want to Be Made Well? Since my mother’s departure in 2010, my family and I have gone through numerous phases of grief. Although the grief resurfaces from time to time and will never fade away completely, something has recently changed on my end: my willingness to move on. I’d like to start by …