Books published by St. Shenouda Monastery

In the wilderness, when Moses the prophet observed the thorn bush unharmed by the flames of fire, he said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn" (Ex 3:3) and God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." (Ex 3: 5) As you draw near this awesome sight of The Crucified Jesus, stand in reverence and sever all your worldly attachments. Prepare for the outpouring of grace that will come upon you from the Cross. Gaze toward the Cross as toward the spring of your salvation, the source of your deliverance, the root of your happiness in this present life and the assurance of attainment of eternal glory in the coming age. The Crucified Jesus is a 20th century classic that has finally been made available in the English language. It is a group of contemplations on the events that took place during Holy Week, with a special chapter of contemplations on the words of Jesus on the Cross.

Spiritual Canon is an extensive and broad subject. It is not limited to the Canonical prayers or the Lord's prayer or even genufl ecting, (Matania), neither is it the reading of the Bible and spiritual books, nor adhering to the Sacraments of Confession and Eucharist. It is more intense than that. We should not be concerned only with the external appearance of the Spiritual Canon: counting how many times we prayed or how well recited. More importantly is the spirit by which we carry our spiritual practices. May our Lord enlighten us and bestow on us His grace to practice these Rules. May the Holy Spirit pave the path and help us in our spiritual walk all the days of our lives.

Although the Bible tells what people need to do to reach perfection and earn eternal life, it does not tell how. Fr. Iskander borrowed methods and techniques from the Holy Fathers and provided wise instructions on how to practically apply them to the struggles faced by young Orthodox people living in the 21st century. 116 pp.

This is a group of spiritual short stories. Some of them are true, others are true in part, the rest are fiction. Each story contains a certain idea to deliver a spiritual lesson. In these short stories we tried to convey some of the fathers' philosophy in asceticism, dying to the world and how they rejected the pleasures of life, to be filled from Christ and ultimately unite with Him This is an opportunity for the reader who could not visit the monasteries to learn about the monastic life, the struggle of the fathers and the wars of the devil.

This volume attempts to identify the signs of the monastic calling by sharing the many spiritual experiences of a monk who tasted the sweetness of this life in the wilderness of Scetis. 170 pp.

Fr Abd el-Mesih el-Habashi is one of the twentieth century's great ascetics who lived in the Egyptian desert. His life is a witness to the continuity of the desert spirituality of the 4th century. He was man who was not concerned about anything or for anyone. His only concern was for the One. His eyes were directed towards eternity. He was content with enough food sufficient to keep him alive and enough clothing to cover his nakedness. He chose God as his way as well as his means. He unintentionally attracted us to him through sharing and exchanging the many tales that thousands of people have experienced in mixed feelings of wonder, joy, and deep contemplation. The multitude of people who saw him and dealt with him have all attested to that lion who has the heart of a child. He had a clear vision and a way of life. He did not act haphazardly but his behavior was a result of deep spiritual understanding. Fr Abd el-Mesih's character combines the weakness of the human nature and the strength of the spiritual personality. He was not of a special breed of people, like anyone he was agitated, tasted pain, and suffered trials. He left all these experiences for us as an example in persevering in trials. He lived an austere ascetic life and experienced many hardships. The devil waged many wars against him but he escaped them all. All the information in this book are documented in either voice recordings or written accounts of Metropolitans, Bishops, Priests, Monks, or Lay people, who gratefully shared their stories and photos that they had for this great father.

This is an apocryphal story dealing with the flight of the holy family into Egypt and the life which they led in that country. The story is cast in the mould of a vision and entitled The Vision of Theophilus. This does not imply that every historical detail in the story was invented by the author, whose only task seems indeed to take the material for his narrative from local tradition and to put it in the form in which we find it before us. He made use also of some apocryphal books and of some works on ecclesiastical history with which the Egyptian scholars of his time were familiar.