The Catalog of Good Deeds

Excavation work in Minya has uncovered an ancient settlement that might be a monks’ complex, the antiquities ministry have said.

Ayman Ashmawi, the head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the ministry, said that the settlement in the area besides the Al-Nassara necropolis in Al-Bahnasa includes a collection of rock-hewn tombs and a residential area, dating from the 5th century AD.

Gamal El-Semestawi, director-general of Antiquities of Middle Egypt, explains that the rock-hewn tombs are composed of a collection of burial chambers that are 50x70 metres in total.

The residential area is 100x130 metres in size and include the remains of houses, among them the remains of a mud-brick house of a monk.

"This fact suggests that the archaeological site beside Al-Nassara necropolis was a monks’ complex," El-Semestawi told Ahram Online.

He added that the antiquities' ministry archaeological mission has also found a collection of monks' cells and a water well.

Excavations started in the area in 2008 when the mission uncovered the remains of a fifth-century church built of mud-brick, as well as a shrine; a prayer hall and a number of chambers with walls covered with plaster and decorated with coloured decorative elements and hymns written in the Coptic language.

Regretfully, said El-Semestawi, these remains were subjected to destruction during the lack of security in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution.

Gamal Mohamed, director of Maghagha antiquities, said that in 2013 the excavation work resumed and the mission discovered the remains of a monk’s chamber, a prayer hall, a kitchen and a grain store with walls decorated with red crosses.

The lower part of a monk's tomb stone was unearthed as well as a collection of metal coins and clay pots. The coins and pots are now under restoration and study.

The town of Al-Bahnasa is located on the West Bank of the Nile, near Beni Mazzar.

During the Hellenistic era Al-Bahnasa was called "Oxirenkhos" and in the Islamic period it was known as Al-Bahnasa referring to the daughter of the town's ruler at that time.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/275588/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Possible-ancient-monks-complex-discovered-in-Minya.aspx

If we look closely, there are more lenten days than non-lenten in the Orthodox Church. Below is an article that explains the importance on fasting and perhaps the reason for so many lenten days in a calendar year:

The Lord says “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16) – so it is obvious that His disciples should fast. St Paul only condemns a certain attitude related to fasting, and indeed these passages are read publicly in the divine services when a fasting season starts.

In the Orthodox tradition, fasting is not a rule to be observed, but a tool to be used. We do not fast for the sake of fasting, but for the sake of being able to set aside the material and focus of the spiritual.

The true goal of fasting is not in abstaining from meat and butter, but in abstaining from anger, envy, laziness, and other sins.

Why do we fast from foods?—Because we are wholesome beings. Christ did not come to save our souls only, but all of us: soul, body, mind, spirit, will—and as many “parts” as one would wish to count. He took our entire human being upon Himself, all of our human nature, and “made a man’s whole body well” (John 7:23). In the God-given order, our spirit is to pull us to God, our soul is to find its inspiration in the direction of the spirit, and our body is to be nourished in doing the will of the Father (John 4:34; cf. Matt. 4:4). Sin perverts this divine order, and our flesh feeds on this world and becomes a slave to food, our soul finds inspiration in the things of the flesh, and our spirit no longer hungers for God but finds its direction in the passions of the soul.The Holy Church gives to us times of fasting in order to help heal and restore our corrupted nature.

An athlete does not win a prize before patiently exercising discipline and “self-control in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25). And if we are to receive an “imperishable wreath” (ibid.), we must do the same and begin by taking control of that in us which is most material, restoring the divinely-ordained order and reaching to that which is the most spiritual. If we cannot control our bellies, how can we hope to control our tongues and thoughts, how can we hope to even begin to fight our passions? We must learn to discipline our bodies, because without this foundation we cannot begin to build the walls of the temple of our soul. And just as the purpose of a foundation is not in itself, but in that which can be built upon it, the purpose of taking control of our flesh is in freeing the soul from being controlled by it.

Source: https://www.orthodoxanswers.org/why-is-there-so-much-fasting-in-the-orthodox-church-is-that-not-condemned-by-saint-paul-as-legalism/

We have begun the joyous and holy Nativity Fast. The fast begins on November 28, or forty days before the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and ends on the feast itself or January 7, according to the secular calendar. Just as the Jews wandered in the wilderness for forty years before entering the Promised Land, the Holy Church leads us for forty days into the wilderness of the Fast before entering into God’s promise revealed on the Nativity. For the Jews, it was in order to shake off the bonds of slavery —physical, mental, and spiritual. An entire generation of people born and raised in Egyptian slavery was to die before those who no longer remembered being slaves and those who were born free were allowed to enter the “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod. 3:8). And so it is with us: we must shake off the bonds of slavery to sins and passions—physical, mental, and spiritual. We must cease being slaves of sin and become friends of Christ by keeping His commandments (John 15:14).

There are several aspects of the fast, all of which are important and connected to each other. The first thing about which many people think are the limitations in the quality and quantity of foods that we eat. The Nativity Fast is not as strict as some other fasts—fish is allowed on all Saturdays and Sundays, except the last weekend before Nativity (January 2-3), and on several Church Feasts: The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (December 4) and its apodosis (December 8), the feasts of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Theotokos (December 10), Sabbas the Sanctified (December 18), the Conception of the Theotokos (December 22), and Saints Herman of Alaska and Martyr Peter the Aleut (December 25).

The Holy Church gives to us times of fasting in order to help heal and restore our corrupted nature. An athlete does not win a prize before patiently exercising discipline and “self-control in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25). And if we are to receive an “imperishable wreath” (ibid.), we must do the same and begin by taking control of that in us which is most material, restoring the divinely-ordained order and reaching to that which is the most spiritual. If we cannot control our bellies, how can we hope to control our tongues and thoughts, how can we hope to even begin to fight our passions? We must learn to discipline our bodies, because without this foundation we cannot begin to build the walls of the temple of our soul. And just as the purpose of a foundation is not in itself, but in that which can be built upon it, the purpose of taking control of our flesh is in freeing the soul from being controlled by it.

This year, the beginning of our Nativity Fast came on the day after Thanksgiving. I know that for some, the main dish was not a turkey or a pumpkin pie, but other people, whom they tore apart and devoured by gossip, judging, evil talk, and back-stabbing. What good is their fast if they continue to feast on humans? What good is their abstinence from meat if their tongue flings about like a butcher’s cleaver?

The King and Prophet David says, “Keep your tongue from evil” (Ps. 34:13), and “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (1, 2). If we want our fast to be more than a weight-loss program, we must follow the regiment prescribed by the Prophet. We should learn to control our tongue and our thoughts by directing both to communion with God. At all times but especially during fasts, we must be “sober and watchful,” because our “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). But in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we have a sure protection from the attacks of the devil.

Run to Christ in prayer, but be watchful that your prayer does not become like “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). Pay close attention to the words of prayers; make them not just someone’s words repeated by you, but truly your own words that come from your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind (cf. Matt. 22:37).

Run to Christ in reading the Gospels, but be watchful that it does not become a chore whose meaning is forgotten the minute that the book is closed. Ask the Most Holy Theotokos to help you keep all the things that you read in the Gospels and to ponder them in your heart (cf. Luke 2:19, 51) as you go about your day, glorifying God for his abundant mercy to us.

Run to Christ in reading the lives of His saints, but make sure that you own life follows in the footsteps of the holy men and women that came before you. We do not study the lives of the saints for their literary value or as some pastime before we go to bed. They are a living example of what it means to be a Christian, and to love God, and to love one another.

Most importantly, run to Christ in the Communion of His Body and Blood, but do so in humility and repentance, lest with the morsel Satan enters into you, as he did into Judas (John 13:27).

May the all-merciful God bless this time of our fasting. May He accept our small human efforts and by His divine grace “which always heals that which is infirm and supplies what is lacking,” receive our prayers and guide our lives toward His commandments. May He “sanctify our souls, make chaste our bodies, correct our thoughts, and purify our intentions” that together with “the assemblies of angels and the choirs or martyrs” we may always glorify the Holy Trinity.

By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

Source: https://frsergei.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/on-the-beginning-of-the-nativity-fast/

During the Nativity Fast the Church encourages us to intensify our spiritual lives in order to ready our souls and bodies for the Feast. We do this through fasting, prayer, alms-giving, confession and increased attention given to "preparing for His coming", to make sure we've done what we can to make a "fit dwelling place for Him" in our hearts and lives.

Bishop Thomas reminds us that during the Fast it is appropriate to:

"increase your prayer life, read more scripture and spiritual books, especially lives of the saints. A little less television, no anger, no gossiping, no laziness and let's try to avoid the Christmas parties. If we prepare in this way, God will bless us and we will find the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord to be far more spiritually rewarding than ever before. May God help us to struggle courageously."

The Purpose of Fasting

The purpose of fasting is to focus on the things that are above, the Kingdom of God. It is a means of putting on virtue in reality, here and now. Through it we are freed from dependence on worldly things. We fast faithfully and in secret, not judging others, and not holding ourselves up as an example.

- Fasting in itself is not a means of pleasing God. Fasting is not a punishment for our sins. Nor is fasting a means of suffering and pain to be undertaken as some kind of atonement. Christ already redeemed us on His Cross. Salvation is a gift from God that is not bought by our hunger or thirst.

- We fast to be delivered from carnal passions so that God’s gift of Salvation may bear fruit in us.

- We fast and turn our eyes toward God in His Holy Church. Fasting and prayer go together.

- Fasting is not irrelevant. Fasting is not obsolete, and it is not something for someone else. Fasting is from God, for us, right here and right now.

- Most of all, we should not devour each other. We ask God to “set a watch and keep the door of our lips.”

Fasting Periods

The Nativity Fast is one of the four Canonical Fasting Seasons in the Church year. This is a joyous fast in anticipation of the Nativity of Christ. That is the reason it is less strict than other fasting periods. The fast is divided into two periods.

November 15th through December 19th the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, fish, wine, and oil) is observed. There is dispensation given for wine and oil on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Similarly, fish, wine, and oil are permitted on Saturdays and Sundays.

December 20th through the 24th traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, fish, wine, and oil) is observed. There is dispensation given for wine and oil only on Saturday and Sunday during this period.

When Not to Fast

Do not fast:

- between December 25 and January 5 (even on Wednesdays and Fridays);

- if you are pregnant or nursing a newborn;

- during serious illness;

- without prayer;

- without alms-giving;

- according to your own will without guidance from your spiritual father.

Source: https://www.holycrossonline.org/nativity-fast

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