SPSA Church Giving (opens in a new tab)

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 587

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 10. The Mystery of the House of God

Is a church built based only on architectural principles?

The answer

R. Schwarz1183 thinks of the construction of a church building as a holy act that should not be founded purely on architectural bases but also on the holy orthodox faith. For this reason, those who are working on these projects should themselves be living members of the Church, who walk in the Spirit. It is befitting for them to be living stones, built on the foundation of the living Christ, in the true apostolic spirit, so that their project may bear the same spirit. Just as the priest is sanctified in his priestly work and the theologian in his studies, those who build God’s house must sanctify themselves and be prepared for this holy project under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Himself.

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

1183 See Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, The Church, the House of God, rev., Nabieh Fanous, Riad Habib, Nermine Morcos, Mary Hanna, and Lilian Hanna (Sporting, Alexandria: St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church, 1994).

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.