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Pentacost
When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples there followed a manifest renewal in their nature; one could say that the substance of their nature underwent a radical change. They became a new thing, or, in the words of the Bible, they became new men (cf 1 Samuel 10:6). The disciples assembled in the upper room turned into a new power as yet unknown to humanity.
It is important to note that this conversion or renewal was not individual but collective. This was not--as some moderns suggest--the result of any abstract power which descended haphazard on the disciples, thus inflaming them to minister or giving them new tongues and courage to act; it was rather the result of a radical transformation that hit the disciples’ nature in its very heart. As for the gifts and changes that appeared in the lives and behavior of the disciples, these were secondary manifestations and results bespeaking the change which happened in human nature represented in the disciples and apostles whom the early Church considered as the “apostolic Church”.
It is important to note that this conversion or renewal was not individual but collective. This was not--as some moderns suggest--the result of any abstract power which descended haphazard on the disciples, thus inflaming them to minister or giving them new tongues and courage to act; it was rather the result of a radical transformation that hit the disciples’ nature in its very heart. As for the gifts and changes that appeared in the lives and behavior of the disciples, these were secondary manifestations and results bespeaking the change which happened in human nature represented in the disciples and apostles whom the early Church considered as the “apostolic Church”.
43 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 26, 2015
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About the author
Matthew the Poor
34 books31 followers(Arabic: متى المسكين)
Father Matta El-Meskeen (Maskeen or Maskine ; translated as Matthew the Poor ), born Youssef Eskander (September 20, 1919 - June 8, 2006), was a Coptic Orthodox monk and spiritual father of 130 monks in the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great at Scetis in Wadi Natrun, Egypt. He is considered by many to be a renowned Orthodox theologian, and was an author of voluminous texts on numerous topics, including biblical exegesis, ecclesiastical rites, and other spiritual and theological matters (181 books, besides hundreds of journal articles).
Father Matta is celebrated by many Copts as a reformer and a prominent figure in recent Coptic history. Following the repose of Pope Kyrillos VI in 1971, Father Matta and two others (Bishops Samuel and Shenouda) were considered as candidates for the Patriarchal throne. Bishop Shenouda was chosen to be the Coptic Pope of Alexandria.
Father Matta and Pope Shenouda share some common history. Both participated in the Sunday school movement and Matta was Shenouda's confessor in the 1950s. Pope Shenouda acknowledges his debt to his teacher, Father Matta El-Meskeen, whom he calls 'my father monk' in the introduction to his book Intelaq Al-Rouh (The Release of the Spirit).(Father Matta was also the spiritual guide of the late Alexandrian priest Father Bishoy Kamel, a contemporary Coptic Orthodox saint.)
It is undocumentedly alleged that Father Matta was suspended twice, first by Pope Yousab II in 1955, and then again by Pope Kyrillos VI for nine years from 1960 to 1969[15] for administrative/"political" (e.g., his book about the 'Church and the State', in which he called for total separation of the two) rather than for any truly theological or core dogmatic issues. However this allegation is not true at all and undocumented. Some say undocumentedly that what is called the 1960s suspension was because of Father Matta's objection to the Coptic Church signing of the Catholic Declaration of the Innocence of the Jews from the Blood of Christ. But also this allegation is not true and undocumented. The saintly Pope Kyrillos VI later insisted that Father Matta absolve and forgive him in the presence of H.E. Metropolitan Mikhail of Assiut.
Father Matta El-Meskeen (Maskeen or Maskine ; translated as Matthew the Poor ), born Youssef Eskander (September 20, 1919 - June 8, 2006), was a Coptic Orthodox monk and spiritual father of 130 monks in the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great at Scetis in Wadi Natrun, Egypt. He is considered by many to be a renowned Orthodox theologian, and was an author of voluminous texts on numerous topics, including biblical exegesis, ecclesiastical rites, and other spiritual and theological matters (181 books, besides hundreds of journal articles).
Father Matta is celebrated by many Copts as a reformer and a prominent figure in recent Coptic history. Following the repose of Pope Kyrillos VI in 1971, Father Matta and two others (Bishops Samuel and Shenouda) were considered as candidates for the Patriarchal throne. Bishop Shenouda was chosen to be the Coptic Pope of Alexandria.
Father Matta and Pope Shenouda share some common history. Both participated in the Sunday school movement and Matta was Shenouda's confessor in the 1950s. Pope Shenouda acknowledges his debt to his teacher, Father Matta El-Meskeen, whom he calls 'my father monk' in the introduction to his book Intelaq Al-Rouh (The Release of the Spirit).(Father Matta was also the spiritual guide of the late Alexandrian priest Father Bishoy Kamel, a contemporary Coptic Orthodox saint.)
It is undocumentedly alleged that Father Matta was suspended twice, first by Pope Yousab II in 1955, and then again by Pope Kyrillos VI for nine years from 1960 to 1969[15] for administrative/"political" (e.g., his book about the 'Church and the State', in which he called for total separation of the two) rather than for any truly theological or core dogmatic issues. However this allegation is not true at all and undocumented. Some say undocumentedly that what is called the 1960s suspension was because of Father Matta's objection to the Coptic Church signing of the Catholic Declaration of the Innocence of the Jews from the Blood of Christ. But also this allegation is not true and undocumented. The saintly Pope Kyrillos VI later insisted that Father Matta absolve and forgive him in the presence of H.E. Metropolitan Mikhail of Assiut.
Early life
Father Matta El Meskeen was born in Benha, elKaliobia, Egypt, in 1919. (One source says he was born in Damanhour, Egypt.) In 1944, he graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Cairo. In 1948, after leading a successful life and establishing a wealthy lifestyle for himself--Eskander at the time was the owner of two pharmacies, two villas, and two cars--he renounced his material possessions, and entered the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor in Qualmun (roughly near Maghagha, Upper Egypt). In 1951, he was ordained a priest against his will.
Monastic life
After living for a few years in the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, Matta decided to move out into Wadi El Rayan in the late 1950s. There, he lived as a recluse in the spirit of the ancient Desert Fathers for twelve years. By 1960, seven other monks joined him. The community expanded to twelve by 1964. These twelve monks were sent by Pope Kyrillos VI to Wadi El Natroun in 1969 to develop the monastery of St. Macarius the Great. At that time only six elderly, frail fathers lived near the road between Cairo and Alexandria. Matta and his twelve companions cared for them while reconstructing the monastery. The administrative, agricultural, institutional, and printing/publishing developments at the renewed Monastery of St. Macarius the Great were staggering. But the spiritual revolution was much greater. By 1981 Matta had over eighty monks in the monastery.
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May 15, 2021It started with me misspelling “Pentecost” in the Amazon search function, the same misspelling that appears in the book’s title above (and only there.) “Wow,” I thought, “so few books on Pentacost and one of them is by Matthew the Poor for $2.99 on Kindle. Lucky me!” I was
familiar with Matthew the Poor from his excellent book Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003). While himself a Coptic Christian, his works have been widely received in canonical Orthodox circles.
Acts 2:2-3 states, “And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” This is the moment when the Holy Spirit descended into the world to stay, which Fr. Matta sees as the fulfillment of the Incarnation:
"Hence, the end of the divine incarnation reached its zenith on Pentecost day when all became in Christ “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1: 23); for in the divine body—in which “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2: 9)—we have attained fullness ever since Pentecost day. Christ united with the Church and so the Church acquired all that belongs to Christ. In the upper room there came about and was consummated all that began in Bethlehem so that the Church might be born in the upper room. (Kindle Locations 227-231)
Fr. Matta teaches on Pentecost in the Old Testament, provides wonderful passages on baptism and chrismation especially timely for those newly illumined around Pascha, and gives a spiritual examination of wind and fire in Scripture as manifestations of God’s presence:
"The fire of Pentecost was the fire of God; it illuminated the thought of the Church with truth, and set the heart of the new man aflame with divine love, zeal and sacrifice. On Pentecost, the human nature of the Church partook of the fiery nature of God, and out of this nature the new man was
born. On Pentecost the Church received the fire of God whereby she was impregnated and sanctified, and she now imparts its effect to all those born of her. We are no longer in need of flaming tongues like those of Pentecost; for we are not a mother but sons; we are not a bearing nature, but a born one; it is the Church which is the bearing mother. (Kindle Locations 106-111)
familiar with Matthew the Poor from his excellent book Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003). While himself a Coptic Christian, his works have been widely received in canonical Orthodox circles.
Acts 2:2-3 states, “And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” This is the moment when the Holy Spirit descended into the world to stay, which Fr. Matta sees as the fulfillment of the Incarnation:
"Hence, the end of the divine incarnation reached its zenith on Pentecost day when all became in Christ “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1: 23); for in the divine body—in which “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2: 9)—we have attained fullness ever since Pentecost day. Christ united with the Church and so the Church acquired all that belongs to Christ. In the upper room there came about and was consummated all that began in Bethlehem so that the Church might be born in the upper room. (Kindle Locations 227-231)
Fr. Matta teaches on Pentecost in the Old Testament, provides wonderful passages on baptism and chrismation especially timely for those newly illumined around Pascha, and gives a spiritual examination of wind and fire in Scripture as manifestations of God’s presence:
"The fire of Pentecost was the fire of God; it illuminated the thought of the Church with truth, and set the heart of the new man aflame with divine love, zeal and sacrifice. On Pentecost, the human nature of the Church partook of the fiery nature of God, and out of this nature the new man was
born. On Pentecost the Church received the fire of God whereby she was impregnated and sanctified, and she now imparts its effect to all those born of her. We are no longer in need of flaming tongues like those of Pentecost; for we are not a mother but sons; we are not a bearing nature, but a born one; it is the Church which is the bearing mother. (Kindle Locations 106-111)
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