St Athanasius Letter
1. This was an Alexandrian deacon who made a request to St Athanasius regarding the lessons within the psalms
a. Marcellinus
1. St Athanasius points out that the melody of the psalms teaches us ___ among those in church as well as of the mind, body and spirit.
a. Unity
1. In Jewish tradition, psalms were prayed to commemorate certain days and times, which relates to what in the Coptic church?
a. The Agbeya
This is known as the greatest commandment
a. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Mt. 22:37-39).
1. This is the most fundamental work of our spiritual discipline and is as fundamental as food and water
a. PRAYER
1. St Athanasius’ response/letter to Marcellinus was similar to St Paul’s epistles in this way
a. Responding to questions of one/a few through a letter that benefitted everyone
1. The psalms contain the themes of all the books of the Bible but the difference is that they are set to this
Music
1. St Basil explains that the Psalms were given so that man could overcome ____ and fight the desire to ____
a. Temptation, sin
1. This verb, which is “yada” in Hebrew, is what we strive for with God
a. “To know”
1. What does sacramental living mean?
Experiencing God throughout our life
1. St Athanasius and St Basil both began their letters with this quote
a. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“A hymn of praise is not suitable on the lips of a ____” which means that we must sing the Psalms from a good soul.
a. Sinner
1. St Basil mentions that the Psalms bring ___ to the soul
a. Healing
1. This is known as a promise that is established in a relationship
a. Covenant
1. This is the first thing we must do before we pray
a. Shut the door
1. Match the books to the Themes:
a. the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
b. The books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth
c. of Kings and Chronicles
1. The creation and the deeds of the patriarchs and Exodus out of Egypt,
2. the possession of the promised land, the judges, and King David’s ancestral line
3. stories of the rulers, and Ezra speaking of the release from captivity, return of the people, and construction of the temple.
1-A
2 B
3 C
1. The saints and holy men of God spent their lives praying the Psalms and their lives were ______, and if we pray them the same will happen to us
a. Transformed
1. Name two examples in the Bible about the word of God being sweet like honey, but also bitter.
a. St John in revelation, and Ezekiel Word of God like honey, inside was bitterness, wailing and sorrow (Ez. 2:8-9, 3:1-3, 10).
1. These are 3 things we must have/do to build a relationship with God
a. Persistence, Prayers, Time (PPT)
1. How is coming face to face with God in prayer considered a “Critical moment” in which we could be judged?
a. If we come to prayer as a formality or for our own glory, we will be condemned
1. St Athanasius reveals this as the “unique marvel of the psalms”
.
a. it contains the emotions of each soul
1. We pray the psalms with confidence that God will hear us, because we know this
a. That God heard those who wrote the psalms, so He will hear us as well.
1. These are some of the blessings we get from praying the Psalms
a. Unites people because we all pray the same psalms, and it protects us from demons
1. We need to build our spiritual _____ in order to build our relationship with God, which is the facilitation of a person’s spiritual live through the application of spiritual practices
a. Discipline
1. We use this in the Orthodox church as a teacher and guide to challenge us in prayer and our walk of spiritual discipline
a. The Agbeya