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Saint Mary & Saint Mina
Coptic Orthodox Church Syracuse, NY
K ey to L i f e Maga z ine M a r c h 2 0 1 5 , V o l . N o . 1
St. Mary & St. Mina Church
411 Oswego Street
Syracuse, NY 13204
Phone:(315) 476– 7303
http://www.stmarystminacopticchurch.org
Email: [email protected]
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
1– Tell O’ History
Page 3
2- Journey back to paradise
Page 4
3-The Pope’s Tears
Page 5
4-- Fathers’ sayings
Page 6
5– Questions in need of an answer
Page 7 & 8
6- Nehemiah
Page 9
7- Bible study Questions
Page 10& 11
8- Crossword puzzle
Page 12
9- Easter double Puzzle
Page 13
10– Coloring sheet
Page 14
11– Church life
Page 15
Contents
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
During a celestial and mag-nificent scene and in rare wondrous steadfastness, the Coptic Church presented to the whole world, during the 21st century, a wonderful viv-id image of the first centuries of Christianity, when it gave to heaven in a joyful proces-sion the souls of the 21 mar-tyrs that are among the right-eous sons of Egypt.
Those heroes acquired the crown of martyrdom on the hands of a radical group that lost the way and whom the Enemy of the Good blinded their eyes, their hearts and their consciences so that they would not discern between truth and falsehood. As for those honorable martyred, they were firm in their faith and never renounced Christ for a period of forty days. They were led in silence and firmness, following the ex-ample of their Master whom the Scriptures describe as, “..a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7).
They were not afraid of they who would kill the body and who afterwards could not do more (Luke 12:4). On the
contrary they were convers-ing with the Lord Who bought them with His pre-cious Blood, and the last words they uttered were the name of the Salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Since there is no name under heav-en given to people with which we are saved” (Acts 4:12).
From where have you ac-quired the strength, bravery and firm faith O martyrs? Indeed your struggle has ex-ceeded a multitude of ascetics and desert dwellers, and you received the greatest of crowns because you gave your precious life and your pure blood shed acceptably to our Savior. We pray for those criminals that the Lord would open their eyes like he did with St. Paul the apostle and Arianus the governor, the greatest persecutors of Chris-tianity.
Tell O history
“Lo! How have you en-dured...tyranny and unbe-lief?” (An excerpt from the poem How severe was injus-tice towards you by Pope Shenouda III)
They wonder about the re-sistance of our martyred he-roes in Libya and their firm-ness in their faith despite all the intimidation and terror for a period no less than 40 days.
They then try to interpret this with their point of view using ways that do not agree with
what we have seen and watched with our own eyes. That is because they do not have the knowledge and spir-itual experience with the Lord Jesus, who sustains all His martyrs in their struggle.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit in us that makes us be-lieve in and testify to the Lord. “No one can say that 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). It is the work of Grace that elevates man above the mate-rial and the earthly, soaring high with his senses over high prospects towards the spiritual and the celestial in a state of spiritual ecstasy.
It is the divine love that trans-cends all other love, which would only be known to those who tasted it, whose hearts are filled with heaven-ly joy and peace, “which transcends all understand-ing” (Philippians 4:7). This wondrous spiritual strength and this rare courage is noth-ing new to our Coptic Church, the church of heroes and martyrs. The Feast of Neirouz is the “Feast of Mar-tyrs”, which is the start of our Coptic calendar.
The Holy Bible recounts con-cerning Saint Steven that, his persecutors saw his face like that of an angel (Acts 6:15) after he delivered a strong message to the Sanhedrin and the chief priest. “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious
and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts: 54, 55).
Recount O’ history concern-ing the martyrs of Esna who gave their heads to their kill-ers to receive the crown of martyrdom. Recount O’ his-tory concerning the 49 elders of Sheeheet, the chaste St. Dimyana and the forty vir-gins, the righteous Marina, and the forty martyrs of Se-bastia. I lack the time to tell about St. Mark, St. George, St. Mina, St. Philopater Mer-curius, the child St. Abanoob, St. Moses the Strong and many others that, “… faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mis-treated— and the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 36- 38).
Ask the Lord on our behalf, O martyrs and struggling he-roes, so that we may continue our struggle until our last breath.
His Grace Bishop David interprets the condition of our martyrs in Libya at the mo-
ment of their martyrdom responding to the false interpretations of psychologists
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
The Great Lent – A journey back to paradise
Inspired by the words of
Christ when He spoke about
fasting and warned us
against appearing with “a
sad countenance” (Matthew
6: 16) when we fast, the fa-
thers of the church always
saw in fasting a golden op-
portunity to “rejoice”. Nat-
urally, there is a difference
between what is meant by
“joy” and what is meant
“happiness”. The joy that
the church saw in Lent, and
the joy that Christ promised
to His disciples (John
16:12) is one that no one
can take away from us, is
permanent, and is not de-
pendent upon what is
“happening” . Instead, the
source of that joy is Christ
Himself, who dwells in our
hearts and who is really the
only source of true joy.
Having said that then, it be-
comes clear that in order for
us to regain the joy that we
lost because of sin, the only
way for us is to turn back to
God. This “turning back to
God” is the essence of re-
pentance (in fact the Greek
word for repentance
“metanoia” means a change
in mind or making a U-
turn), which always accom-
panies fasting. If we quick-
ly remind ourselves of the
Gospels which our Coptic
Orthodox Church, through
the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, has selected for the
Sundays of the Great Lent,
we would immediately see a
very strong emphasis on
repentance as the door to
true and everlasting joy.
We see this for example in
the Gospel of the third Sun-
day which tells us the story
of the prodigal son who re-
turns back to his father’s
bosom and whom his father
accepts joyfully and arrang-
es a great celebration to re-
joice in the fact that his son
was dead and now is alive
(Luke 15:24). We see it in
the story of the Samaritan
woman whose thirst could
not be quenched by the wa-
ters that this material world
provides but only through
the living water that Christ
provides (John 4:13). We
also see it in the Gospels of
the fifth and sixth Sundays
which talk about the para-
lytic man and the man born-
blind, who both resemble
the condition of humanity
without the power and light
of Christ and whom Christ
heals by His Healing and
Life-giving Hands.
When we live away from
Christ and His church, we
are exactly like the prodi-
gal son living in exile, liv-
ing away from our true
home. We should view
lent and repentance as our
return from exile, as our
journey back to paradise, a
journey back to the bosom
of our loving Father, who
always stands waiting in
patience for the return of
His prodigal son or daugh-
ter. We should view Lent as
the opportunity for our for
our souls to be healed like
the paralytic man by the true
Physician of our souls and
bodies, and for our eyes,
whose light has been
dimmed because of sin, to
be opened like the man born
blind. Experiencing this
return from exile during lent
is the only way for us to tru-
ly rejoice in the Glorious
resurrection of our Lord,
God, and Savior Jesus
Christ who has alone con-
quered sin and death, and
who joyfully grants His
children this great victory of
His.
With our best wishes to you all for a blessed Lent and a Glorious Feast of the Resur-rection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, the King of Glory !
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
FORTY FOURTH DEPARTURE COMMEMORATION OF
HIS HOLINESS POPE KYRILLOS THE SIXTH
Pope Kyrillos the 6th is a
great Coptic saint from the
twentieth century. He is well
known through his contin-
ued shepherding to us, the
struggling church on earth,
by positively reacting to our
supplications, quickly inter-
ceding on our behalf. You
can feel him looking down
on us from his Father’s
house up in heaven interact-
ing with our emotions.
The greatness of the man
appeared on the day of his
ordination to the papacy of
the Coptic Church. During
his ordination ceremony, the
man wept profusely and
tears streamed continuously
down his cheeks. These
tears quickly proved to be
those of fully understanding
the responsibilities of his
new post. He felt the need
for God’s help. This proved
to be Solomon wisdom. For
God helped him and guided
him throughout his leader-
ship of the church.
You shall marvel about
those tears if you knew his
holiness saw a vision of his
ascendancy to the papacy
years before it took place.
Upon the departure to heav-
en of Pope Youannis the
nineteenth (113th pope), Fa-
ther Mina the Solitary (Pope
Kyrillos monastic name be-
fore his papacy) would con-
duct daily masses in com-
memoration of the departed
pope. Father Mina had a
special affection to Pope
Youannis since he was the
one who recommended him
to the monastery of Paramos
while a Metropolitan. Pope
Youannis also followed Fa-
ther Mina spiritual growth,
occasionally visiting him in
his cave of worship in a
mountain in the wilderness
and later in the windmill he
inhabited on mount Mo-
Kattam near Cairo. On the
fortieth day of commemora-
tion Fr. Mina slept after the
early mass. While sleeping
he saw in a vision as Pope
Youannis was ascending the
mountain to visit with him
as he used to do while alive.
Fr. Mina descended the
mountain to meet with the
aged pope halfway. While
greeting his holiness, Pope
Youannis presented his staff
to Fr. Mina complaining to
him with sadness the staff
has been broken. Fr. Mina
requested of the pope to
hand it to him so he fixes it,
to which the pope consented.
When Fr. Mina fixed it, he
wanted to hand it back to the
departed pope, but the de-
parted pope refrained from
accepting it and said: KEEP
IT ABOUNA. THE
CHURCH SHALL
FLOURISH AT YOUR
HANDS. The departed pope
disappeared and father Mena
awoke and recognized it as a
vision.
You shall marvel further to
know Father Mena refrained
from presenting his name as
candidate to the papacy (in
spite of the vision) three
times over fifteen years. He
refrained from the 1944
elections that brought Pope
Makarios (114th pope) to
the papacy, then the 1946
elections that brought Pope
Youssab(115th pope) to the
papacy then the 1959 elec-
tions. Metropolitan Athana-
sius of Beni Sweif presented
Father Mina’s name as can-
didate to the papacy in 1959
and only told him of it after
the closure of the candidacy
widow of opportunity, so
Father Mina does not abort
the effort.
Still, Fr. Mina, now Pope
Kyrillos the 6th, cried upon
his ordination. He practical-
ly demonstrated the church
teaching; WE ARE NOTH-
ING BY OURSELVES,
BUT, EVERYTHING
THHROUGH CHRIST
THE LORDWHO
STRENGTHEN US.
Those tears made him one of
the most innovative popes of
Egypt. May he intercede on
our behalf always. Amen.
THE POPE’S TEARS
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Success is not in the number of the people served , but in those individuals whom you
were able to change their lives and bring closer to God .
The spiritual man, in fasting , prayers, and asceticism, allows the Lord Jesus Christ
to find a home inside him. The Lord then enlightens himby the light and beam of
the Holy Spirit , conquers the devil, and overcomes the lusts of the flesh.
Do not stop doing good deeds because of people’s words, and do not do any deed
for the people’s praise.
Departure of Pope Kyrillos VI
March 9
Departure of Fr. Faltaous
March 17
When you fall in sin, do not think too much of the sin, but rather ask Jesus than He
would save you from drowning as He saved Peter Departure of
Fr. Bishoy Kamel March 21
Departure of Pope Shenouda III
March 17
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
QUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWERQUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWERQUESTIONS IN NEED OF AN ANSWER
Part one
Where are you?... Where is your brother? “ if then I am the Father, where is my honor?” (MAL. 1:6).
God directed many ques-tions to multiple personali-ties throughout time all across the Bible. Let us assume that these ques-tions were directed to each one of us now. What would our answer be?
“Why do you not fear to talk about my servant?” God asked this question of Mary, Aaron’s sister, and of Aaron, the brother of Moses, as stated in the Book of Numbers Chapter 21. Moses married a Gen-tile (Coshian) woman. Both Mary and Aaron re-sented that. Instead of dis-cussing this with Moses, they gossiped about what Moses did. Moses did not know about this, but of course God heard them and was not happy with what they did. What did God do? He appeared to them and directed this
question to them” Why do you not fear to speak about my servant Moses?”. He then rebuked them and in order to teach Mary (and all of us) not to fall in that mistake again, Mary was hit with leprosy for a whole week. This is a dangerous lesson which God wants to teach all of us.
First: Taming our tongues:
1. God knows every word even before we say
it
“For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord , you know it alto-gether” (Ps. 139:4). We can not hide or keep any secret from God . He is omnipresent. “if I ascend into heaven you are there , If I make my bed in hell, Behold you are there” “all their iniquities are in the sight of God” (Ps.139:8, Wisdom of Sirach 17:7).
2. God will judge us, not only according to our deeds, but also according to our speech. So for eve-
ry idle word we speak, we will give an account there-of on the Day of Judg-ment. “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” (Mt 12:36-37).
“To execute judgment on all, to convict all the un-godly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sin-ners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:15)
3. Speech is the way to happiness or misery. It is written: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction” (Proverbs 18:21 & 13:3).
4. Speech may make peace or result in irrita-bility and anger. By our words, we could either
serve as peace-makers or cause disputes among our brothers” A soft answer turns away wrath; but a harsh word stirs up an-ger” (Proverbs 15:1).
5. Speech may be a way to heal the wounds of others or deepen them. Often times, we say some harsh words without pay-ing too much attention , but unfortunately these words leave deep wounds in the hearts of listeners. “There is one who speak like the piercing of a sword , but the tongue of the wise promotes health” (Proverbs 12:18).
6. Speech is one of the main causes of strife. When we gossip, we un-fortunately participate in the work of the devil whose utmost desire is to cause divisions among “A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends; He who covers a transgression seek love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends” (Proverbs 26:28 & 17:9).
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
7. Our words could be the source of blessings and life for others
“ The mouth of the right-eous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little” “The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom” (Proverbs 10:11, 20, 21).
Second: The style of speech:
1.Stay away from talking too much. Every word should be in the correct time and place. “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” “A man has joy by the an-swer of his mouth, and a word spoken is due sea-son, how good it is!” “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold” (Proverbs 10:19, 15:23 & 25:11).
2. Stay away from all kinds of lies whatever the reasons are. We are members of one another. The Holy Scripture teach us” Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one
of you speak truth with his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25). Also, “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his de-light” (Proverbs 12:22).
3. Let our words be edi-fying: The Lord teaches saying “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29)
Finally: what is your attitude toward others?
1. Do you talk about the deeds of your brother, or do you talk with him and to him? We should ask ourselves whether we typi-cally talk with and to our brothers and sisters, or do we talk about them in their absence? In the latter case, one has to be careful, lest he/ she be participat-ing in the work of the dev-il. You might recall what the devil did when he came to complain to God about Job? (Job1:8-11). If you recognize a mistake or a problem in the life of your brother, do you talk to him privately to help him out, or do you speak about his mistake in front of others? The Lord, warns us saying: “You sit
and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order be-fore your eyes” (Ps.50:20). Why do not we follow what the instructions of our Lord when he had said in Matthew 18:15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother”.
2. Do you speak in favor or against your brother? What is our attitude when the name of a brother is mentioned in a conversa-tion? Do we remember the good deeds he did or the mistakes and gaffes in his life? Do we try to raise the value of our brother in front of others, or try to minimize it be-cause of a dispute between
us or because of envy or jealousy? Let us learn from the Lord, who when he spoke about Moses, he did not speak except about his honesty and virtuous life. St . Moses the Black said, “ Like a house with-out a door or lock that an-yone can enter into, is the
man who does not control his tongues”
In controlling our tongues, we should not rush to speak, we should not hurt the feelings of others by our words, we should not push our brothers to anger or in-
sult, and we should not speak idle and useless words. St. Isaac the Syri-an says, “If your tongue is out of control, surely you will never get rid of the darkness”. Let us make the following prayer of David the Prophet and King ours, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
Nehemiah was an ordinary man, who was assigned to a seemingly impossible mis-sion. As we know, he was in a high ranking position, be-ing the king's butler, which is equivalent to the chief of staff in our current time. He was successful and honest. History did not record much about his background and his early life. God is thus teaching us not to think that someone is not capable of serving God, because we mistakenly assume that his or relationship with God is not strong. God can work in and with all of us, if we sub-mit our lives to him like Ne-hemiah.
Nehemiah’s seemingly im-possible mission was to build the walls of Jerusalem. He willingly left his secure job, left every thing, to serve God in a mission that was full of difficulties. God supported him as he walked with Him. The enemies of Israel, reluctantly and fear-fully, admitted that God was with these builders. Strange-ly enough Nehemiah was concerned about a challenge
that existed miles away. Usually one cares about the problems that are close by, not the ones that are far from him or her, but Nehe-miah cared about the prob-lems of his country of origin.
Nehemiah was born in exile. He represented those people who live in another country, far from their home country, but their hearts and minds are always concerned about problems of their home land. Nehemiah represented the second generation after captivity. This shows us how much he loved God. He cared about his original city, the city of God (i.e., Jerusalem); he cared about his relatives and friends who were living there. If we look at the condition of the people who lived in Jerusa-lem at that time, we will dis-cover that they lived far from God; they forgot all about the Lord’s Sabbath and the offerings. They even married gentile women. Ne-hemiah, on the contrary, was a man who prayed to God prayers with tears. He
feverishly cried to God to lift up His wrath from His people. He was different from his fellow brothers liv-ing in Jerusalem. In fact, he was a light to his fellow brethren. His behavior mo-tivated the leaders, the Le-vites, the priests and the congregation to sign and seal a covenant, promising that they would keep the commandments of the Lord.
No one had asked Nehemi-ah to leave his high ranking position. It was only his love to God and his holy zeal that led him to choose the difficult path and to em-bark on an unknown trip. Nehemiah was full of wis-dom. We can learn from him that if we care about accomplishing any task, we have to work quietly and silently. Yes he knows that God with him, but this does not mean that he have to reveal his plans to the Mo-abites, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites that wished to occupy the Jewish territories.
Nehemiah resembles our Lord Jesus Christ in several aspects. Nehemiah left the royal palace for the sake of helping his brothers and sis-ters. In the same way, our Lord Jesus Christ descended from His heavenly king-dom, was incarnated, suf-fered and was crucified to
save us. The heart of Nehe-miah was with his people, while he was in the royal palace. In the same way, Jesus Christ always has un-limited love for all while He is in His heavenly kingdom. Both Jesus and Nehemiah had zeal for the temple of God; they both cleansed it. Nehemiah stayed three days before starting building, re-sembling our Lord Jesus Christ who stayed in the tomb for three days. Finally, both Nehemiah and our Lord Jesus Christ overcame and conquered the devil. May our Lord grant us to learn from Nehemiah’s life.
Characters from the Bible: Nehemiah
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
1. According to the order of creation, which was created before the other; planet
Earth or the Sun?
2. Give the verse number in the second chapter that talks about:
a) First mention of anesthesia in history
b) First extraction of a human member in history
c) Building up the first human female after the first surgical operation in history.
3. Give the verse number in the third chapter in which God promised Eve of a human Savior.
4. What did the dove bring back to Noah in her second journey from the ark?
5. What did Noah build up upon vacating the ark?
6. In which chapter did God allow humanity to eat meat?
7. Coptic Egyptians are descendants of which of Noah’s sons?
8 .Considering Adam is the first human generation, to which generation belongs Abram the Patriarch?
9.To which ancestor is Abram the Patriarch related when he is called “Hebrew”?
10. How many times did Abram build an altar in chapters 1 to 25?
11.How many times the words “EGYPT” or “Egyptian” is mentioned in chapters 1 to 25?
12. The Lord God told Abram the Patriarch: To your descendant I give this land; from the river of Egypt to the
great river of the Euphrates. Is the river of Egypt the Nile River?
13. What is the meaning of the name “Ismail”?
Bible Study
GENESIS : Chapters 1 to 25
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
14. Who gave Ismail his name :
a) The lord God b) An Angel c) A man
15. what is the meaning of the name “El Roi” that Hagar gave to whom talked to her in the
wilderness while escaping Sarai her mistress?
16. What are the meanings of the names:
a) Abraham b) Sarah c) Isaac
17. What is the physical sign of the covenant between Abram and God?
18.What is the meaning of the expression: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”?
19. Which sin did the men of Sodom intend to commit when they told Lot: “Bring them out to us that we may
know them carnally”?
20. What is the spiritual expression for Abram the Patriarch’s action of prayer for the sake of Sodom’s inhabit-
ants and King Abimelech?
21. What is the meaning of “Beersheba”?
22. In which city of the Promised Land does the biblical location called “Land of Moriah” is located?
23. In which city of the Promised Land is located the: cave of Machpelah”?
24. Who chose a bride for Isaac?
a) He “Isaac” saw her and sought engagement to her
b) Abraham’s slave c)The Lord God
25. Which of the women the Bible described as “barren”?
A) Sarah B) Rebecca C) Hagar D) Kato rah
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
T h e Re s ur rec t io n o f ou r Lo r d J es u s Chr i s t , f ro m
t h e B oo ks o f Ma t t hew a n d Ma rk
Across: 1– Where they laid Jesus after He died (Mathew 27:60) 4- The place where Jesus Died (Matthew 27:33) 5- Jesus & 2 thieves were___ together (Matthew 27:38)
8– Mother of Jesus
9– The Angel said: “He is ___ He is not here (Mark 16:6)
10– They made Jesus wear a Scarlet___ (Matthew 27:28)
12– Jesus was betrayed for ___ pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3)
14– Jesus was ___ of any crime (Matthew 27:4)
15- The 12 companions of Jesus
Down: 2– Jesus Shed His ____for our sins 3– Judas Iscariot ____ Jesus (Matthew 27:4) 5– Roman commander of a hundred men (Matthew 27:54) 6– Jesus said “My God, My God, Why have you ____ Me” (Matthew 27:46)
7– A title of Jesus, it means anointed one (Matthew 27:17)
11– They laid the ____ of Jesus in a tomb (Matthew27:59)
12– Jesus wore a “Crown” of ____”
13– Our Lord and Savior
1
2
3
4
5 6 7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
SELGIOIRU
2
SEJSU
CIINTSHASR
1 10
NOXFIRCICIU
8
RUCHCH
LMIFYA
3
TXHODROO
5
SGGE
4
NANCEIT
6
TIADIRTON
7 9
B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Easter Double Puzzle
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
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Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
The church congratulates Milad And Aida Guindy on the
birth of their daughter Emily Mary. My our lord bless her
life and may he plants her in His Holy Church so as to
bring forth good fruit thirty, sixty, and hundred fold.
The church welcomes Dr. Mark and Heidi Marzook, and
their two lovely daughters Susanna and Lydia to our Syra-
cuse church and family. May our Lord bless them all and
prosper their ways always.
The Church congratulates Mark and Diana Shaheed on
their recent wedding . May God bless their home and fill it
with all spiritual and earthly blessings.
The Church offers her condolences to Youssef Bolos and
Christine Bishay for the departure of Christine’s dad Dr.
Gamal Ibrahim Guindy, to the heavenly abodes. May our
Lord repose his blessed soul and fill the hearts of his fami-
ly and friends with consolation of heaven.
The church asks you all to continue to pray for Madleen
Nashed that our Lord may grant her a speedy recovery.
Church Life
16
http://stmarystminacopticchurch.org
Ankh (Key to Life) March 2015 Vol. No. 1
Our Church has been blessed by the services
of many priests. In 1992, the mother Coptic
Church in Egypt delegated Fr. Mina
Wehaba from Rochester to serve our church.
We were then blessed by Fr. Mina Rewiss’s
service starting in 1995, followed by Fr.
Shenouda Maher who served us for almost
14 years twice a month. In 2007, Fr. Deme-
trious Mansour started serving once every
month, and in 2008, Fr. Mark Iskander
joined in the service. In 2014, Dr. Adel Sad-
ek received the sacrament of priesthood and
was ordained Fr. Kyrillos by His Grace
Bishop David to serve St. Mary & St. Mina
Church in Syracuse. May the lord bless his
service and keep him many years.