Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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The life stories of most of the saints depict them as having a strong inclination towards God early in their childhood. For example, Pope KyrillosVI, St. Demiana, to name just two. Is that inclination a special gift from God; or is it the influence of home environment?

Each time I see a small child smile or laugh; it is as if an angel has blessed me. As a child listens to stories of the Love of the Heavenly Father, sings hymns from his heart, and softly prays "Our Father", we have a small saint in our midst.
The definition of a saint as someone we honor, is "a holy person." With God as the source of true holiness, all Christians are called to be saints (Romans 16:2; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2). From the earliest times, the Coptic Church has designated certain outstanding men and women who have departed this life and reached deification as worthy of veneration and canonization.

In his Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul expresses the love the believers have for the Lord Christ as surmounting any other love; and for that love, they are ready to give up their lives which they consider as nothing in comparison to loving God. He continues, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:35-37). Thus true victory resides in enduring the pain of tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and the sword. This victory is achievable through the help of our Savior who loved us first.

Certainly, the Holy Spirit guided all who in their childhood, had confessed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. During the first few centuries of Christianity, martyrdom was a way of life for those who confessed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The martyrs provided the children in those days with a living example on how to be a faithful member of the Church.

Children witnessed abuse, torture, and martyrdom by the Romans, Byzantines, and the fanatic Moslems. Their dedication as children can be attributed to nothing less than the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, the power of the Holy Gospel, and the examples of martyrs before them. Although we might not be called upon to suffer until death, the saints' examples should be followed with the same firmness and commitment today as they were in the early centuries.

Children are not born with the knowledge of God's Holy Word. They must be taught God's will and God's ways. "And that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess" (Deuteronomy 31:13).

We must remember that the image of God our children have is often created through the image of Him they see in us. "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis: 1:27).

May we mirror God to our children; and may our children reflect God who is in us.
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