Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

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A TIME TO VISIT NEW PLACES 187Of Mountain Tops and Hermits’ CavesJUNE 19, FRIDAYI have now been privileged to spend a day and a night on themountain of St. Anthony. The path to the cave is rather a rigorousone to ascend: rocky and slippery, actually a little dangerous hereand there. All the more enthusiastically did I find myself climbingto the mountain top. Staying in the cave was an extraordinary joy.The silence was indescribable, and the view from the top of themountain was also unimaginable. Even the Red Sea could be seenfar, far on the eastern horizon. I even thought that I could see almostas far as Cairo from the mountain top.Perched atop this mountain, so far from the world below, yetvisually so close to much of it—perhaps it was because he couldlive here that Anthony would sometimes be compelled by graceto go down the mountain. He would travel to those places that hecould see in the distance to proclaim the message of God’sprophetic will and God’s judgment and God’s plan to believerswho had grown negligent of his truth or his law. To be both insolitary prayer and yet visually cognizant of the needs of theworld is the foundation of a dynamic apostolate. The Gospel recallsthat Jesus observed his apostles in danger as they were crossingthe sea while he was on the mountain in prayer. This must beemblematic!It occurs to me that I am collecting in my memories a numberof caves in which I have been privileged to pray. All the way back inthe Wadi Natroun, I was sometimes able to pray in the cave nearSt. Bishoi Monastery. I remember how the abbot directed me to tiethe wire that hung from the ceiling of that cave around my hair ormy beard so that I would remain standing and not sit down or driftoff into sleep during the time of my retreat. I also remember thecave of Pope Kyrillos near the Monastery of el Baramous. Now Ihave come to the cave of St. Anthony in the desert, the very cave inwhich I am given to believe that the original impulse for themonastic life—and, therefore, my own monastic life—was born. Ina certain sense, the religion of Israel was born in a cave when Godgave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Even our own Christianfaith was born in a cave, the cave of Bethlehem.
188 JUNE“Fountains and Springs, Bless the Lord”JUNE 20, SATURDAYWe traveled today to the relatively smaller Monastery of St.Paul, only a few miles from the Monastery of St. Anthony. It has aconstantly running spring, although it is not so plentiful a watersource as the spring at St. Anthony’s. The monks in both of thesemonasteries claim that angels directed their founders to thesesprings and that they flow in whatever abundance is necessary toprovide for the needs of those who live here—less water when lessis necessary, and more water when more is necessary, according toGod’s generosity. How sweet, how profound to believe that theworld is regarded as generous according to the measure of God’sown generosity! The monks assume that they were brought tothese sites of watery abundance because it was God’s good and graciouswill that they be directed here.I could, I suppose, be more clinical—not to say “cynical”—about the manner by which the monks arrived in these places.There were, after all, centuries of nomads in the area before theyarrived; there were Bedouins who would have known wheresprings existed. As noted earlier, the monks themselves have beenhere for centuries, and could have easily determined the best locationsin which to build their monasteries. It didn’t necessarily requiredivine guidance. I can see this as a process of selection overtime, rather than miraculous intervention.It reminds me so much of the kinds of problems I must copewith when people are always asking me about creation versus evolution.Creationist people like to think it was a miraculous interventionof God by which the species “man” came to be, whereas evolutionistslike to see creation as a process of selection, slowlyunfolding over time. Like many, I do not see that there is necessarilyany conflict between God’s will unfolding slowly versus God’swill unfolding quickly. Slowness in the unfolding of God’s will doesnot deprive the process of the miraculous, nor does swiftness in theunfolding of his will guarantee it. God is God. The world is his, andthe processes by which his will is accomplished are regarded as eitherblessed or not, miraculous or not, depending upon whether ornot one has eyes to see and ears to hear, depending upon whether ornot one has received the grace to understand. Angels led the monks
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Copyright © 2002 by Mark Gruber, O
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JOURNEY BACK TO EDENMy Life and Tim
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In gratitude to Abuna Elia,the sain
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CONTENTSPreface ...................
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PREFACEWhile in Egypt, I did not in
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PREFACExiElia, to whom this journal
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ABOUT THE COPTS AND THEIR DESERT MO
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2 INTRODUCTIONI will be traveling i
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4 INTRODUCTIONmy novitiate and had
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6 SEPTEMBERlarge high-rises. Appare
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8 SEPTEMBERprior to their trip so t
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10 SEPTEMBERyour hands—as much or
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12 SEPTEMBERA Beggar among BeggarsT
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14 SEPTEMBERlabored without rest or
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FATHER JOHN WATSONHis Holiness Pope
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18 SEPTEMBERHe drew a cross on top
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20 SEPTEMBERBlessed Lord,You brough
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22 SEPTEMBERtude, and silence, appr
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OCTOBERA TIME OF NEW BEGINNINGSThe
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26 OCTOBERcontradictions they fear
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28 OCTOBERdramatic effect of my hea
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30 OCTOBERWill my heart remain here
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NOVEMBERA TIME TO VISIT ABRAHAMGues
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34 NOVEMBERThe guest master, it tur
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Abuna Elia
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38 NOVEMBERBut in their case, he as
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40 NOVEMBERafter the death of Sarah
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42 NOVEMBERto take his son. All the
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44 NOVEMBERhe sojourned in Egypt in
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46 NOVEMBERthe monastic ideal to a
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48 NOVEMBERArabic LessonsNOVEMBER 2
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50 NOVEMBEROf course, it is not tru
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52 NOVEMBERthe Ark of Noah looked l
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54 NOVEMBERits life-giving water fr
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56 NOVEMBERCross more brightly: fal
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DECEMBERA TIME OF SIGNS: CAELUM ET
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60 DECEMBERfirst sold ourselves to
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62 DECEMBERis by fasting, most of a
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64 DECEMBERficient. If they can obt
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66 DECEMBERThe great apparitions of
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68 DECEMBERKing of the Jews, by the
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70 DECEMBEREveryone seeks the assis
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72 DECEMBERDECEMBER 15, MONDAYAlmos
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74 DECEMBERfor her. She is delighte
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76 DECEMBERtween Alexandria and Cai
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78 DECEMBERboth are real in the bod
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80 DECEMBERof faith which preserves
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82 DECEMBERI feel particularly sorr
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84 DECEMBERThe children—six, seve
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JANUARYA TIME OF CELEBRATIONJANUARY
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88 JANUARYEveryone, it seems, is mi
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90 JANUARYA Holiday VisitOn the eve
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92 JANUARYAlmost the whole orientat
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94 JANUARYI blessed water in their
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96 JANUARYI find myself in the unus
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98 JANUARYferent path, and every da
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100 JANUARYyour ageless love are cr
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102 JANUARYless because they’re a
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FATHER JOHN WATSONA Coptic Orthodox
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106 JANUARYheard a voice—perhaps
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108 JANUARYI reflected afterwards a
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110 JANUARYsolitude and in terms of
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112 FEBRUARYjust visiting the deser
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114 FEBRUARYJust then some of the p
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116 FEBRUARYThe children of the Pha
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118 FEBRUARYAbuna Elia said that th
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120 FEBRUARYGod. For all Christians
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122 FEBRUARYFEBRUARY 18, WEDNESDAYD
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124 FEBRUARYsources. I had some of
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126 FEBRUARYshall be a sign and a w
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128 FEBRUARYFEBRUARY 28, SATURDAYTh
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130 MARCHmerich, the German mystic
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132 MARCHThe wildflower meadows her
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134 MARCHbishop who resides near he
Page 151 and 152: 136 MARCHOf Building Bonds and Brea
Page 153 and 154: 138 MARCHSprings in the DesertMARCH
Page 155 and 156: 140 MARCHwomen in the West experien
Page 157 and 158: 142 MARCHlunch somewhere, or they h
Page 159 and 160: 144 MARCHbe willing to move from my
Page 161 and 162: 146 MARCHA Fly on the WallMARCH 31,
Page 163 and 164: APRILA TIME OF CONSECRATIONOf Sands
Page 165 and 166: Grass mats cover the floor of a mon
Page 167 and 168: 152 APRILmony. Even recently, some
Page 169 and 170: 154 APRILwho are distributed everyw
Page 171 and 172: 156 APRILIn the papal compound I me
Page 173 and 174: 158 APRILin their own home parish.
Page 175 and 176: 160 APRILAfter greeting me he told
Page 177 and 178: 162 APRILI keep reminding myself th
Page 179 and 180: 164 APRILA Rare Spring HolidayAPRIL
Page 181 and 182: 166 APRILthat the very same innocen
Page 183 and 184: MAYA TIME TO PRESS ONWARDOases and
Page 185 and 186: 170 MAYthe commotion associated wit
Page 187 and 188: 172 MAYeven saw monks trying to get
Page 189 and 190: 174 MAYNevertheless, I ask you to a
Page 191 and 192: 176 MAYof grace that people can enf
Page 193 and 194: 178 MAYI’m staying at the house o
Page 195 and 196: 180 JUNEThe Cave of a SaintJUNE 5,
Page 197 and 198: 182 JUNEThe abbot of the monastery
Page 199 and 200: The gate of St. Anthony Monastery.
Page 201: 186 JUNEno place to lay his head”
Page 205 and 206: 190 JUNEmonks here, I decided to dr
Page 207 and 208: 192 JUNEof his family—and broke e
Page 209 and 210: JULYA TIME FOR FAREWELLSThe Crucibl
Page 211 and 212: 196 JULYare known in Egypt, and the
Page 213 and 214: 198 JULYthat, the heat is now reall
Page 215 and 216: 200 JULYbering the slap I received
Page 217 and 218: 202 JULYyou for our founder who cam
Page 219 and 220: 204 JULYJULY 23, THURSDAYI returned
Page 221 and 222: 206 JULYprize that Eve forfeited wh
Page 223: AFTERWORDFifteen years have passed
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