Jan 15th
Souvenir of St. John Kochi
John, nicknamed Kokhi, was born in the city of Constantinople. His father, Eutropius, was one of the great generals of the army, and his mother, Theodora, was one of the most honorable women. He was brought up in luxury, but he was inclined to love virtue and to frequent church visits. His father bought him a Bible encrusted with gold and precious jewels, and John Samir took it as his only. Leave the house and become a monk, then become a hermit. As for his parents, they were very sad about his separation and they searched for him for a long time, but they did not find him. The spirit inspired him to leave his hermitage, so he returned and built a hut at the door of his parents' palace, and he was an example of renunciation and humility. He lived three years in his hut, famous for his constant reading of the Bible. May God rest in the year 470. His prayers are with us.
Jan 15th
The Lady of the Plants
Since ancient times, our fathers have designated this day as a special feast for our Lady, the Virgin Mary, to seek her blessing on the heads of crops and the fruits of trees, to protect her from plagues and to remove pests from her. In accordance with what they have ordained, we resort today to our compassionate mother, Her Holiness, imploring her to beg her beloved son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to bless our crops, fertilize them, and protect them from all harm.
Trustworthy.
Jan 17th
Saint Anthony the Great
Anthony was born in the Christian year 251, in the city of Koman in Upper Egypt, near Upper Egypt, to pious Christian parents from the country’s nobles and wealthy people. Coptic ancestry and lineage.
Anthony did not learn to read or write. But God endowed him with natural intelligence; In a kind that he used to memorize by heart everything that was recited to him from the texts of the sacred books, the lives of the holy fathers, and the hermits' news.
And while he was one day in the church to attend the Divine Liturgy and participate in it, he heard Jesus saying in the Gospel to that rich young man: “If you want to be perfect, then go sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. He contemplates it carefully as if it was addressed to him in particular. So the grace of God moved his heart and he justified his soul by leaving the world and following the example of the poor Christ and those who preceded him to the wilderness.
During this disturbing and fateful period of his life, God passed away to his parents.
So he finally decided to leave the fleeting world at the age of eighteen years. He left behind a single sister and a great fortune. So he gave his sister her share of the parental inheritance and dispersed all that was left to him among the poor and the homes of charity, as Jesus said in the Gospel, and he went to poverty, having nothing of the wreckage of the world, relying on divine providence alone. And he went into the wilderness. He was aware of the presence of hermits there, so he began to think of a spiritual father who was an expert in matters of the soul and a guide who was knowledgeable about training souls.
Jan 28th
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
Avram was born in the city of Nisibis, Mesopotamia, to Christian parents. Since his youth, he was fond of reading the Bible, and from it he borrowed a poetic and impetuous spirit that appeared in all his prose and poetry.
She was a student of St. Jacob, Bishop of Nusaybin, and when he wanted to ordain him as a priest, he apologized for his humility, and contented himself with remaining an evangelical deacon. Then he was appointed as a professor at the famous school of Nusaybin, so he devoted himself to teaching and writing until that school reached the height of prosperity, and its students were among the famous Syriac scholars.
He remained in his homeland, Nusaybin, until he moved his school from it in the year 369 to Edessa, where he continued his efforts in teaching and writing.
And when they wanted to make him a bishop, he was horrified by this news, and he pretended to be insane, so they left him alone, and he still remembers what happened to him in his youth, the day he chased a poor man’s cow, and it fell into a hole and died, so he used to weep over this sin of regret, until a strange thought passed through his mind. He addressed himself, saying: "The cow, Avram, the cow!..."
He was in his melancholic mood, quick to anger and anger. But he became like a lamb by practicing meekness and humility, which he excelled at.
He was distinguished for his love for the neighbor, especially for his compassion for the poor and the needy. Moreover, this saint, who is called the harp of the Holy Spirit, has become unique among the scholars of the Church, with the loftiness of his emotions and the delicacy of his poetry.
Our Syriac Church continues to sing his wonderful chants and interfere in their religious duties.
As for his will to his disciples, when his death approached, it was an incitement to humility and love, and not to say praise in him after his death and not to honor his body, but to bury him in the cemetery of strangers, shrouded with his worn-out monastic repentance. And to collect the dirhams that are being spent in the burial party and distribute them to the poor.
And after he bid farewell to them, he rested in the Lord in the year 373.
Jan 31
Feast of Saint Don John Bosco
He was born in 1815, and in his nearly seventy-three years of life, he witnessed revolutionary movements, wars, and the migration of rural residents to cities. The poor were exposed to exploitation and unemployment increased, especially among young people. From here he felt the Lord's call to him. Gathering young people and taking care of introducing them to the Lord, their knowledge and culture, arming them with professional and technical capabilities. He supported them and set an example for them with work and service. His Holiness the immortal Pope Pius XI declared him a saint on Easter in the year 1934.
Saint John Bosco was named Prince of Education when he was declared a saint in appreciation of his constructive efforts in this field, and admiration for his educational style based on (reason, religion, and affection).
The technical and vocational schools and vocational schools adequately run by the Salesian assistant brothers testify to this. He always said that education is the work of the heart and that God must enter the hearts of the youth, not only through the door of the church, but through the door of the school and the factory as well. died in Turin on January 31, 1888