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The Spiritual Means, book by H. H. Pope Shenouda III

 

Introduction

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:14).

He leads them through certain means which if they follow, they will take part in the work of the Holy Spirit and be in the communion of the Holy Spirit (2Cor 13:14).

St-Takla.org Image: The Spiritual Means - book cover, by Pope Shenouda III صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: غلاف كتاب الوسائط الروحية - البابا شنوده الثالث

St-Takla.org Image: The Spiritual Means - book cover, by Pope Shenouda III

صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: غلاف كتاب الوسائط الروحية - البابا شنوده الثالث

We call these means ‘The Spiritual Means’ or the means of grace, that is, the means through which the grace of God works or with which it works...

In this book, I shall speak to you about eleven of these spiritual means. They are:

Prayer, The Holy Bible, Reading the lives of the saints, Contemplation, Spiritual Practices, Giving account of oneself, Confession, Holy Communion, Fasting, Alms Giving and Service...

These means are essential for every person.

No matter how high the spiritual level of a person may be, he could never survive without these means. They are his continual spiritual food. If he kept away from them or neglected practicing them, the heat of his spirit will become lukewarm and he will expose himself to many dangerous combats...

The material of this book is the fruit of lectures that were given in the sixties, either in Cairo, Alexandria or Damanhour. Parts of these lectures were published in “El-Keraza” magazine and “Watany” newspaper. We have collected all these lectures in order to publish this book..

There is no doubt that a separate book could be written on each chapter, but we wanted to present all these topics to you in a concentrated way.

Try to apply and practise these discussed topics in your life. May God be with you, guiding your steps towards Him.

 

November 1992

Pope Shenouda III

 

 

1

Prayer: What is it? And how should it be?

2

Conditions of the acceptable prayer

3

Exercises in prayer

 
4

The Importance of the Holy Bible

5

The Importance of the Holy Bible in the Church

6

Your relationship with the Holy Bible

7

The Effect of the Holy Bible

8

The Work of the Holy Bible in You

9

Your Use off the Bible | Memorizing it

10

The Bible in your house

 
11

Reading the lives of the saints

 
12

Contemplation

13

Contemplation on the Holy Bible

14

Contemplating on Nature

15

Contemplating on Events

16

Contemplating on Prayer

17

Contemplating on death and judgment

18

Contemplating on God’s attributes

19

Other Subjects For Contemplation | Contemplating on the lives of the saints

 
20

Benefits of spiritual training

21

Remarks Concerning Spiritual Training

 
22

The importance of giving account of oneself

23

How to give account of yourself

24

When does giving an account of oneself take place

 
25

Confession and its Elements

26

Feelings of the Confessor

27

Confession and the Blood of Christ

28

Advices for Confessors

 
29

The Importance of Holy Communion and its Benefits

30

Preparation for Holy Communion

 
31

The benefits and the importance of fasting

32

The acceptable spiritual fasting

33

Mixing fasting with virtues

 
34

Blessing the act of giving

35

How do you give?

36

God’s sharing in your possessions

37

The tithes

38

The firstlings

39

The vows

40

The oblations

 
41

The importance of the service and its generality

42

Types of service

43

The spiritual benefits of the service

44

Unseen service

45

Conditions of the successful service


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