His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II celebrated the Holy Qurobo on Maundy Thursday at St. Georges Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma – Damascus.His Eminence Mor Timotheos Matta Al-Khoury, Patriarchal Vicar at the Patriarchal Archdiocese of Damascus was present.
In his sermon, His Holiness spoke about the Passover lamb which was a symbol for the salvation of the Jewish people from the slavery of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. “The lamb” His Holiness said “depicts the symbol of Christ Who completed the Passover lamb at the upper room and showed His disciples that He is the Lamb of God Who came to be killed thus taking away the sin of the world.”
His Holiness reminded the faithful that “whenever we gather in the church to celebrate the Holy Qurobo, where bread and wine are presented, we believe, that they become the Body and Blood of Christ in a miraculous way which we cannot humanly understand.” His Holiness added: “This way, Christ becomes our Passover, our Bread, our Life, for He said: ‘I am the Bread of Life.'”
His Holiness then emphasized that “Christ gave us His Flesh, not something similar to His Flesh; How can some assume that they only participate in the commemoration of the Flesh of Christ? This indeed is an incomplete faith! Communion is essential for our life, for through it, we become one with Christ, through Whom we live, exist and move.”
At the end of his sermon, His Holiness beseeched the Lamb of God to “give us strong faith, that does not fail, in His Person, confessing that He is God who was incarnate, died and rose again for us.”
Recent Comments