50- Reply to the objection concerning fasting in secret

 

St-Takla.org Image: A Coptic Orthodox monk sitting in his cell, reading and praying صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: راهب قبطي أرثوذكسي يقرأ في قلايته ويصلي

There are two kinds of worship: individual and communal.

(a) In prayer for example, there is individual prayer; you pray in your room, to your Father who sees in secret. This does not cancel the existence of communal prayer for all the groups of believers to pray in one spirit, in one soul and in one voice. Examples of such prayers are numerous in the New Testament. One of these examples is the prayer of the believers after the release of Peter and John from prison: "So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said..." (Acts 4: 24).

Of course the Lord's commandment regarding praying in secret (Matt.6: 6) does not apply to such prayer.

(b) Likewise in charity, there is a charitable deed done in secret as an individual act in which you do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matt.6: 3). But this does not cancel the general charity collected from everyone, as when