+ The peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. From the depth of my heart, I would like to congratulate you on the Holy Resurrection Feast. May our Lord fill your lives with all spiritual blessings, joy and peace.

+ I wish to thank you my brethren for all your kind contributions that reached during the time of Easter. Truly your support helped us greatly in the service of the "Brethren of the Lord."

+ We continue now our discussion on how God rewards those who have merciful hearts toward the needy and poor by delivering them in their times of trouble (Ps. 41:1). We mentioned the examples of David the prophet & king, St. Paul the Apostle and St. Abraam, Bishop of Fayum & Giza. Now we mention St. Sarabamoun "Abou Tarha" (the veiled), Bishop of Monofia.

St. Sarabamoun "Abou Tarha" (the veiled), Bishop of Monofia:

+ This saintly bishop was famous for leading a life of asceticism, as well as kindness to poor and helpless people. We read in his biography the following story. One of the servants of the Patriarchate, called Hanna "the carpenter", was walking late one night in an alley in Cairo. He noticed a man with a veil, dressed in old humble cloth, and carrying a sack. He thought he was a thief, so he followed him. After walking slowly, the man knocked on a house and spoke briefly to an old woman who had opened the door for him. The man then gave her a small bag and continued on his way. But Hanna chased after him screaming, "stop thief!" When he caught him, Hanna uncovered his face, and to his shock discovered it was St. Sarabamoun. In his embarrassment, Hanna knelt before Bishop Sarabamoun and asked for his forgiveness and absolution. St. Sarabamoun had discovered that this old woman was in need for flour, but was embarrassed to ask. So at night he rose in secret, covered his face and carried a bag of flour and gave it to her without anyone's knowledge. I believe my dear brethren that while St. Sarabamoun was carrying the sack, the voice of the Lord: "I was hungry and you gave Me to eat" was joyfully reciting in his heart and whole being.

+ There is a story that reveals how God delivered this great saint in his time of trouble because he had compassion on the poor and helpless. On his way to visit a village, while carrying some things to give to the poor and helpless, St. Sarabamoun was stopped by an evil man. The man demanded that he give him what he carried, so the saint did. The evil man proceeded to attack St. Sarabamoun and was about to strike him with a rod, intending to kill him. In a calm and spiritual manner, St. Sarabamoun said to him: "Since you lifted your hand, so keep it lifted." The evil man was frozen in his place and his hand was kept lifted, yet the saint continued on his way. The man was unable to move and his hand remained lifted until the next day, after everyone had seen him in that position and they requested from the saint to loosen him.

+ Praise be to our Holy God, Who delivers His saints "from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence" (Ps. 91:3), and does not allow "the scepter of wickedness...[to] rest on the land allotted to the righteous" (Ps. 125:3). Blessed be His Holy Name, Who "deliver[s] in time of trouble...he who considers the poor" (Ps. 41:1).

+ In future newsletters, we give more examples of people who had merciful hearts and how the Lord delivered them in their times of tribulations. May our Lord compensate you with the incorruptible instead of the corruptible, the heavenly instead of the earthly and the eternal instead of the temporal.

Bishop Youannes
General Bishop and Secretary of H.H. Pope Shenouda III