Pope Tawadros II Leads “Good Friday” Service at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya

Pic – Gerges Mounir Hanna

Gerges Mounir Hanna- OCP News Service – 23/4/22

Cairo-Egypt: Pope Tawadros II led the “Good Friday” Service at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya on 22/04/22. The prayers began in the early hours of the morning and ended with the approach of sunset. It included six prayers, which are the daily prayers, from the first to twelve hours of “Good Friday”, which is one of the most important ecclesiastical occasions in the Coptic Orthodox Church. The process of entering the cathedral witnessed the application of precise precautionary measures by the cathedral’s scouting team.

His Holiness delivered the homily in which he pointed out that Good Friday is a special day in the history of the year because we celebrate the memory of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray with tears to remember the darkness of sin and what it does in man and pray the repetitive praise “You have the power, glory, blessing and honor,” as if we were saying, O Christ our God, in the midst of suffering, you can change the sinful soul into a repentant one.

His Holiness explained the events of this day in the life of Christ and the journey of suffering in the life of mankind in three aspects:
1- The birth of pain. Sin was born because of breaking God’s commandment, and with it came pain, “Cursed is the earth because of you. With toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” you will bear children” (Genesis 3:15, 16).
2. The bearing of pain, by offering the sacrifice the principle of redemption appeared, and the blood of the sacrifice is the price of human sin, and the cross became:
A sign of peace between man and God.
A quick way to reach God.
Declaring faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, Redeemer, and Savior.
Evidence of human innocence from the death sentence.
3. The sharing of pain. In the events of Holy Week, we encounter three types of human souls:
– Suffering souls, for example, the Lord Christ Himself, Our Lady the Virgin, and John the disciple whom the Lord loved.
– Petrified souls, such as Judas the traitor, the thief of the north, the heart of the raging crowd.
Souls that have changed, for example, the right-handed thief, the pourer of perfume, the centurion.

A number of the bishops in general, along with some priests, the choir of deacons, and a large number of worshipers participated in the service.

Source:
OCP News Service