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Mar 18, 2010

Thine is the Power


Thine is the Power, the Glory,the Blessing and the Honour, forever Amen, Emmanuel our God and King.

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III.

Category: spirit_frontpage
Posted by: stphilopater_admin

THE PASCHA HYMN
Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour, forever Amen...

We sing this hymn for the Lord Christ all through the Passion Week, following all His movements. We sing it instead of the Canonical Hours, the five day prayers and the five night prayers. We repeat the hymn twelve times in each prayer instead of the
twelve psalms that are included in each prayer of the Canonical Hours.

The Lord Christ left Jerusalem to Bethany, were we follow Him saying, "Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour"... The Chief priests were annoyed when the Lord
cleared the temple, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?" But we say, "Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour... Emmanuel our God and King"...

They planned to kill Him while we defend Him saying, "Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour... forever Amen"...

The Lord, in humility, bent to wash the disciples' feet, and we praise Him saying "Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honor"... The Lord was praying at Gethsemane in such agony that His sweat was like drops of blood and we proclaim, "Thine is the Power and the Glory"...

We follow Him hour by hour; when arrested, put under trial in the presence of His enemies, crowned with thorns, flogged, falling under the Cross, nailed, till He commanded His Spirit into the hands of the Father and when He took the robber on His right with Him into Paradise, and we sing to Him all the time the hymn, "Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Blessing and the Honour...forever Amen.

The first thing we praise the Lord Jesus Christ for, during the Passion Week, is His Power. Yes, Lord, Thine is the power as... St. Paul said, "Christ the Power of God. " (1 Cor. 1:24). It is true, Lord, that some might think You were weak on the Cross, but we know who You are. The first thing we know about Your Power is that You are the Creator. "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made"(John. 1:3). You have the power too as a Judge who will come in glory to judge both the living and the dead.

Indeed, this crucified Lord who seemed to the people then weak, had they considered what He had done throughout all the days He spent among them, they would have known how
powerful He had been in everything.

He was Powerful in His Miracles and His Holiness:

0 Lord, You alone of all the powerful, defeated the sin, the world and the devil, while all the others were too weak to resist sinFor she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men" (Prov. 7:26) As it is said in the Holy Bible, "They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one" (Ps. 14:3). But You God, You are the Only One who challenged the whole world, saying, "Which of you convicts Me of sin". (John. 8:46).

You are the only One who overcame the Devil and said, "for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John. 14:30). In the Revelation, they sang for You, "For You alone are Holy,". (Rev. 15:4). You alone are powerful in Your Holiness, "Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens" (Heb. 7:26).

Lord, Your miracles proved Your wonderful Power, as You... " had done among them the works which no one else did" (John. 15:24).

Your Power over Nature was shown: when You rebuked the wind and the waves and when You walked on the water. David sang for You saying, "You rule the raging of the sea: when its waves rise, You still them" (Ps. 89:9). Thine is the Power, Lord...

You showed Your Power over sickness and death: as you healed all diseases and weaknesses of the people, especially the incurable ones. You opened the eyes of the blind, cleansed those with leprosy, healed the woman suffering from haemorrhages, the 38 years paralytic, the paralysed who was lowered down through the roof and the man with the withered hand.

Lord, You raised the dead, even that who had been in the tomb for four days and there was stench...

You showed Your Power as a Creator: when You fed thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fish. You even created a new substance when you turned the water into wine and when you made eyes for the man who was born blind.

Your Power over the devils was shown by casting away evil spirits, who left many saying, " You are the Son of God." You rebuked the demons and did not let them speak.
Your miracles are countless, Lord, as John the Beloved said, "And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John. 21:25). Beside all these aspects of the Lord's Power, the puzzling one is shown in His suffering and crucifixion where He gives us a new concept of the meaning of Power.
Taken from the book Thine is the Power and the Glory
By H.H. Pope Shenouda III.
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