Coptic Orthodox Diocese Of
The Southern United States

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church New Orleans - Louisiana
February 1998
Church News Letter & Activities Calendar

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CONTEMPORANEOUS YOUTH
By "contemporaneous" we mean that we should not deny our essence and tradition, but live our reality and our present conditions, adapting to contemporary changes, and dealing with the new issues that we face in the different areas of our daily life.  Our Coptic Orthodox Church has taught us how to adjust to reality, deal with our age, grasp its sciences and cultures, and have a specific attitude toward its thoughts, principles, conduct, and current trends.  Our Church has never been as hard and inflexible as some think it is, or as some would like it to be.  Tradition, from the point of view of the Church, is a ‘living being’ that grows from generation to generation and from age to age.  Here are some examples which show how our Church lives the age without denying its glorious tradition:
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1 - The School of Alexandria:
As soon as Saint Mark noticed the different scientific teachings, the philosophical ideas, and the different cultures, such as the Greek, Oriental, and Jewish cultures, he founded the Theological School of Alexandria in order to deal with this fact.  Its approach was a reasonable and a spiritual one, as it did not attack these philosophies with fanaticism, but rather, it studied these philosophies and grasped them, and then singled out the Christian attitude toward them, with a big heart and broad mind.  Thus, it was able to attract the philosophers, baptize the pagans, lead the Jews to the Christian Faith, and make the Church of Egypt a lighthouse for the whole Christian world, being a leader of ecumenical councils, a teacher in theology, a pioneer in monasticism, and an everlasting spring for the blood of martyrs.
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2 - Ritual Flexibility
There is no development and no flexibility in faith or in doctrines; for the Faith in Christ, the Trinity, Incarnation, Resurrection, Ascension, and the Redemption through Christ, Who is the hope of all Christians until the Second Coming, and all believers in eternity, is essential faith for our salvation; faith which does not alter or develop, whose source is the Holy Bible and Church Tradition, with all the sayings of the Fathers that it contains.  Doctrines also do not develop, as they are essential for our salvation, and our spiritual life depends on them.  The Church, as the Body of Christ, the Holy Sacraments, Church Tradition, intercession, and prayers for the deceased are doctrines derived from the Word of God and received from the Fathers.  These doctrines make our Christianity an Orthodox Christianity, and our Creed, and upright Creed, that can give glory to God in our lives.  As for the rites, they do not change in essence, but in the way of expressing our faith and doctrines, and the way of teaching the following generations.  Here are some proofs of the flexibility of the Church rites:

    a)  Re-organizing the prayers of the Passover to suit people's circumstances
    b)  Adding the belief of the one nature to the Bassilian Liturgy
    c)  Translating the Liturgy into the languages that people can understand in every place
        in which our Church has reached; that is, Arabic, English, French, Dutch, German,
        Italian, as well as others.
 

Sunday  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Divine Liturgy
"English"
New Orleans 
8:30AM-12:30PM

Aghapi
2 3
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans

8:30 - 11:00 AM
5
Vespers & Bible Study 
Mobile, AL. 7:00PM-9:00PM
Divine Liturgy
Mobile, AL. 
9:00AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
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Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight
New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans 
8:30AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans

Beginning of Jonah’s Fast  
12:00 -3:00 PM
10 
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans
2nd day of Jonah’s Fast
12:00 -3:00 PM
11 
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans
Last day of Jonah’s Fast
12:00 -3:00 PM
12 
Divine Liturgy

New Orleans Jonah’s Feast 
6:00 - 8:00 AM
13 
Vespers & Midnight
Birmingham, AL.
7:00PM
14 
Divine Liturgy
Birmingham, AL.
9:00AM
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Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight
New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
15 
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans
Presentation of Jesus into the Temple
8:30AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
16 
Diocese's Priests Meeting, San Antonio, TX. 
17 
Diocese's Priests Meeting, San Antonio, TX.
18 
Diocese's Priests Meeting, San Antonio, TX.
19 
Diocese's Priests Meeting, San Antonio, TX.
20 
Vespers & Midnight
New Orleans 
7:00PM-9:00PM
21 
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans 
8:30AM-11:30PM
Aghapi
22 
Divine Liturgy
Pre-Lent Sunday
Destine, FL. 
9:00AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
23 
Beginning Of The Great Lent
24  25  26  27 
Vespers & Midnight
Melbourne, FL. 
28 
Divine Liturgy
Melbourne, FL.
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Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight
New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
1 March 
Divine Liturgy
New Orleans 
8:30AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
2 5
Divine Liturgy
Mobile, AL. 
9:00AM-12:30PM
Aghapi
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Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight
New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
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Church News:
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If you have any comments or suggestion, Please send me an E-mail me at 

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Last Modified 2/18/1998