I wonder if there is also value in recording yourself reading the passage slowly (say 13 verses from St Mark's Gospel), and then reading each verse slowly with a pause, perhaps repeating this several times, and then concluding with a reading of the whole passage read slowly again. I might try this myself and put in on my phone to listen to.
[quote author=Father Peter link=topic=10193.msg124758#msg124758 date=1292517087] Thank you kalsam, it is always interesting to hear about the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition.
Aidan, most materials produced by the Coptic Orthodox Church in English seem to use the NKJV, so it is pretty much a defacto standard. The books of the Katamarous that I have in my own congregation are all NKJV. My bishop prefers the KJV, but I think that the NKJV is a reasonably good compromise between the rhythm and cadence of the KJV and ease of comprehension and memorisation.
One of my fellow BOC congregations has just bought lots of the HTM Psalter, so I imagine that this will be our preferred use of Psalms and will appear in our prayer books over time. I agree with you that a great variety of translations in liturgical use is not helpful, I am always concerned that a weak version be adopted as authoritative. Throughout Orthodoxy it sometimes seems that English translations are never shown to a proficient native English speaker before being printed.
Father Peter
I'm not sure what to which version Abouna is referring to here.
Can I go off topic slightly and mention HH's books. They all seem to be badly translated, so badly that I could not recommend them to anyone.Would it be a good idea to write to HH and point this out since the excellent content is spoiled by the joke translation?
Yes, I have to agree that the enjoyment of some of the writings of His Holiness is spoiled by bad translations in some cases. This is a shame since there are many fluent, native English speakers who would always have been glad to participate in the translation process.
I did once sit down and try to edit one of the books by His Holiness but the translation was so poor, though this is not to criticise the great effort made by the translator, that I often could not work out what was being said. This is a great pity. The works of His Holiness could be very useful if better presented in English, and perhaps even printed in the West according to Western professional criteria. Those of us in the Church will want to read whatever His Holiness writes, however it is presented. But those outside the Church, who might benefit greatly, do expect Western standards to be adopted when producing a book.
i would suggest offering your services to HG bishop angaelos of stevenage. he is a native english speaker, but i'm sure he could do with some help. say you know father peter and he will then know more about you. i would love to do stuff like that but have no time because of my crazy job. as i can verify, u do indeed speak very good english ;)
I don't know whether they are translated badly into French and German. Perhaps someone can answer this question.
HH Pope Shenouda's book are written for the average Joe's and Jane's like me, for the common man. His books are meant to be easy without theological jargon.Bearing that in mind, the German translation are done well.Most of the books were translated by the same people ( Ghaly Tawadros(from arabic to german) and Marianne Hermann (a German native who is well acquainted with Coptic liturature and tradition,- from German to German{refines}).Two or three books were translated by Copts with good command of the language, but their translations , -for German is not an easy language,-were later edited by native German translations experts. Few books were also edited by German nuns. Finally,HG Bishop Damian, whose command of the German language { came to Germany to do his residence in Radiology ;had to learn German language from scratch,but graduated top 1% from class}, is impeccable is an additional asset in ensuring that the final translations (appropriate terms, meanings, definitions) are as Orthodox as they could get before going to print.
Thus, as far as I know, there are no complaints on the German front.
I don't know whether they are translated badly into French and German. Perhaps someone can answer this question.
HH Pope Shenouda's book are written for the average Joe's and Jane's like me, for the common man. His books are meant to be easy without theological jargon.Bearing that in mind, the German translation are done well.Most of the books were translated by the same people ( Ghaly Tawadros(from arabic to german) and Marianne Hermann (a German native who is well acquainted with Coptic liturature and tradition,- from German to German{refines}).Two or three books were translated by Copts with good command of the language, but their translations , -for German is not an easy language,-were later edited by native German translations experts. Few books were also edited by German nuns. Finally,HG Bishop Damian, whose command of the German language { came to Germany to do his residence in Radiology ;had to learn German language from scratch,but graduated top 1% from class}, is impeccable is an additional asset in ensuring that the final translations (appropriate terms, meanings, definitions) are as Orthodox as they could get before going to print.
Thus, as far as I know, there are no complaints on the German front.
Hazkial,I am curious to know how they translate the bible verses from Baba Shenouda's writing into German? Do they use Martin Luther bible from the middle century for parallel verses?
Whilst we are waiting for a reply re the German translation of HH Pope Shenouda's books make I refer to another thread namely the one about HH's book The Nature of Christ and the cancelled link to the web site with an article attacking it. Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
I was memorizing the Gospel of St. John, then quickly realized that using the CD where it was sang, was not so good of an idea. I could not recall a verse unless I sang it.
lol welcome to my life. I have to put everything into song when it comes to memorization. I only passed History and Biology because of the numerous songs I came up with.
I am going to sing the Gospel of St. Mark.. there's no other way I can do it.
Hazkial,I am curious to know how they translate the bible verses from Baba Shenouda's writing into German? Do they use Martin Luther bible from the middle century for parallel verses?
Oh not the Lutheran Bible.There is another superb Bible that had been published by the collaboration of both the Catholic and the Protestant Churchs. It is called 'Die Einheitsübersetzung" Bible, which basically may mean "unified translation" .Infact, the Protestant church decided to work only on the common translations of the New testament and the Pslams. For the Old testament,the Catholic church ignored the old Vulgate version and decided to use the Hebrew and the Greek bibles for translation ( including the so called deuterocanonical books) .As far as I can tell, the Protestants do not use this book very much for their liturgy. They view it as purely Catholic and have even pulled out from the agreement to publish a new revised version of the unified translation Bible. One finds the Lutheran versions in their churchs.The Psalms and the Prayes in the German Agpeya are directly from the unified translation Bible. And I must say, it sounds even more Orthodox than some popular English bible translations such as the New King James version..
[quote author=aidan link=topic=10193.msg125141#msg125141 date=1293019293] Whilst we are waiting for a reply re the German translation of HH Pope Shenouda's books make I refer to another thread namely the one about HH's book The Nature of Christ and the cancelled link to the web site with an article attacking it. Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
I have memorised verses 1-31 of the first chapter of the Gospel of St Mark.
It seems to be going OK. So if I can manage it then I am sure that you younger folk could do so much more easily.
My Dad tells me that when he was a young man his Bible Class teacher set each of them a chapter of St John to learn. And of course any actor who performs a one man show has to learn a couple of hours worth of material off by heart. It is all doable, if we have the willingness to commit to the task.
I started memorising St Mark Chapter 1 on December 16th. So I have had 12 days so far. So I am presently ahead of my goal of 2 verses a day.
I must say that it is beginning to produce a completely different relationship with the Gospel. It is slowly starting to become a text that I am thinking about many times each day. It is starting to become a text that I am noticing more and more about as I repeat it carefully and attentively.
I do earnestly and enthusiastically encourage others of you to participate in this same journey. To be a young person who has committed the whole of the Gospel of St Mark to memory, or rather to heart, would be a wonderful blessing and a constant source of grace.
I have a couple more verses (actually, 4 to be exact) and I, too, will be done with Chapter 1.
I think 2 verses a day would be pretty easy, but I haven't practiced it yet. I've been trying to keep up with you since I started really late. I crammed 18 verses the first day and 9 verses (total) the second and third day. I can recite them with a few hesitations and mess ups. I need to practice a few more times and learn the remaining verses and I'll be done with the first chapter.
Can you hold off on the second chapter until I catch up? lol Sorry I don't like being behind schedule.
Oh no! I knew this would turn into a Sunday School lesson.. lol
Well, I wouldn't compare (memorization of) the psalms to the Gospel. I personally enjoy the psalms more because I can recite them when I am distressed or in need of God's mercy. They comfort and guide me. However, I think the Gospel will be very useful in terms of gaining exact knowledge on the life of Jesus. I've heard/read the parables and stories numerous times, but I can only paraphrase them from my head (sometimes even add invalid "extra's" to the stories or take away crucial pieces of info). So, knowing the stories word for word, accurately, by heart, will help me as a person when referencing or teaching the Gospel. I don't see how it would affect my spiritual life though. You said you started to form a different relationship with the Gospel. Can you explain?
And how am I ahead of you? I haven't finished Chapter 1 yet
[quote author=aidan link=topic=10193.msg125218#msg125218 date=1293099057] [quote author=aidan link=topic=10193.msg125141#msg125141 date=1293019293] Whilst we are waiting for a reply re the German translation of HH Pope Shenouda's books make I refer to another thread namely the one about HH's book The Nature of Christ and the cancelled link to the web site with an article attacking it. Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
So can YOU answer the question please?
Aidan,if the translation you are speaking of is from arabic into english, my arabic may not be good (there are others who are better and i hope they can comment on it) enough to say anything on that. But if the translation is from English into German,and you would like me to check the German part, that would be no problem at all..
I think that the words of the Gospel have a deep and powerful spiritual effect on us. Much more than giving you knowledge about Christ, as you meditate on this words by treasuring them in your heart you will discover that Christ is born in you, even as he was born in the Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary. Treasure these words and you will become rich, not so much in an intellectual sense but in a mystical and spiritual sense.
The Gospel will become alive in you. You will come to live the Gospel and live the life of Christ who is the Gospel. Each verse will become pregnant with meaning and you will gain insight that is beyond the intellectual.
May this be your experience.
I was on v31 so if you have 4 verses to go you are on 41, so I am trying to catch you up now.
I don't think you said whether it was the AV or the NKJV you were learning. Please tell.
Also, as a family man do you ever watch tv programmes that the family, but maybe not you ,wish to watch but you do watch so as not to remove yourself too much? Also it seems that learning the Gospel would remove you quite a bit from the family circle.
I have decided to use the NKJV, and so that is what I am sticking to.
It is not easy to remove myself from the family circle in my small house! But there seems always enough opportunity for attention if I look for it and use it wisely.
Do not tell my wife, but when I accompany her shopping she often likes to look in clothes shops, since I have three girls, and I do not need to give my whole attention to standing near the door waiting for her to finish. We walk the dog several times a day, and it is not always necessary to be always in conversation. I take my children to school and have time in the car. I have just had a long bath.
Once we have a passage half-remembered then we just need a little space and a little quiet to work on memorisation.
Today I have watched (while complaining about the ridiculous story) several films from a popular modern series of movies. My three girls were all watching together and it was good to sit with them rather than apart from them. Presently they are watching Upstairs Downstairs, but I am not that interested in it. So I shall find somewhere quiet and see if I can get a couple more verses in my head and then work on getting them into my heart.
I am convinced that if we set ourselves to a work such as this then God will always provide time and space. Once I have this whole chapter remembered then it is always with me. I can always open the Gospel Book of my heart and give attention, in a way that would not be possible if it were even a small Gospel book in my pocket.
And as I said to TITL, I believe that the remembrance of the words of the Gospel are life to us, more than we can ever imagine, and are so far surpassing a simple intellectual knowledge of names and places.
Stand in the fear of God, let us listen to the Holy Gospel.
To be able to live in such a state always, by having the words of the Gospel written on the fleshly pages of our heart must be an object worth every effort.
Today I have completed the memorisation of Chapter 1 of the Gospel of St Mark.
I shall need to spend a few days making sure it is all safely gathered in to the storehouse of my heart.
The first individually described miracle in the Gospel is the healing of a leper. As I have repeated these verses many times I am struck that the leper approaches the Lord, imploring him, kneeling down before him, and asking him to make him clean. And then the Lord had compassion on him and stretched out his hand and touched him, and said, be cleansed.
What has struck me is that the Lord did not cleanse him and then touch him, but touched him even while he was contaminated and unclean.
What a wonder this is. Even while we are stained with sin the Lord has pity on us and touches us, not fearing that He Himself will become unclean by the touch.
And, TITL, I have also noticed the very frequent use of the word immediately. And this has made me think that in the purpose of the Lord His will is fulfilled and His saving actions take place, at JUST THE RIGHT TIME. And so they happen immediately, and without hesitation. As we have also learned in this chapter, 'the Time is fulfilled'. When God acts it is just the right time.
I have repeated Chapter 1 again. So I think I have memorised it. Of course I will need to keep repeating it. I read somewhere that the Rabbis taught that a passage must be repeated 400 times!
But my brain is old and I am now on to Chapter 2. Therefore it is not beyond any of you who are younger than I am.
Comments
I wonder if there is also value in recording yourself reading the passage slowly (say 13 verses from St Mark's Gospel), and then reading each verse slowly with a pause, perhaps repeating this several times, and then concluding with a reading of the whole passage read slowly again. I might try this myself and put in on my phone to listen to.
Father Peter
Thank you kalsam, it is always interesting to hear about the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition.
Aidan, most materials produced by the Coptic Orthodox Church in English seem to use the NKJV, so it is pretty much a defacto standard. The books of the Katamarous that I have in my own congregation are all NKJV. My bishop prefers the KJV, but I think that the NKJV is a reasonably good compromise between the rhythm and cadence of the KJV and ease of comprehension and memorisation.
One of my fellow BOC congregations has just bought lots of the HTM Psalter, so I imagine that this will be our preferred use of Psalms and will appear in our prayer books over time. I agree with you that a great variety of translations in liturgical use is not helpful, I am always concerned that a weak version be adopted as authoritative. Throughout Orthodoxy it sometimes seems that English translations are never shown to a proficient native English speaker before being printed.
Father Peter
I'm not sure what to which version Abouna is referring to here.
Can I go off topic slightly and mention HH's books. They all seem to be badly translated, so badly that I could not recommend them to anyone.Would it be a good idea to write to HH and point this out since the excellent content is spoiled by the joke translation?
Yes, I have to agree that the enjoyment of some of the writings of His Holiness is spoiled by bad translations in some cases. This is a shame since there are many fluent, native English speakers who would always have been glad to participate in the translation process.
I did once sit down and try to edit one of the books by His Holiness but the translation was so poor, though this is not to criticise the great effort made by the translator, that I often could not work out what was being said. This is a great pity. The works of His Holiness could be very useful if better presented in English, and perhaps even printed in the West according to Western professional criteria. Those of us in the Church will want to read whatever His Holiness writes, however it is presented. But those outside the Church, who might benefit greatly, do expect Western standards to be adopted when producing a book.
Father Peter
I don't know whether they are translated badly into French and German. Perhaps someone can answer this question.
More to the point; what can I do?
i would love to do stuff like that but have no time because of my crazy job.
as i can verify, u do indeed speak very good english ;)
I don't know whether they are translated badly into French and German. Perhaps someone can answer this question.
HH Pope Shenouda's book are written for the average Joe's and Jane's like me, for the common man. His books are meant to be easy without theological jargon.Bearing that in mind, the German translation are done well.Most of the books were translated by the same people ( Ghaly Tawadros(from arabic to german) and Marianne Hermann (a German native who is well acquainted with Coptic liturature and tradition,- from German to German{refines}).Two or three books were translated by Copts with good command of the language, but their translations , -for German is not an easy language,-were later edited by native German translations experts. Few books were also edited by German nuns. Finally,HG Bishop Damian, whose command of the German language { came to Germany to do his residence in Radiology ;had to learn German language from scratch,but graduated top 1% from class}, is impeccable is an additional asset in ensuring that the final translations (appropriate terms, meanings, definitions) are as Orthodox as they could get before going to print.
Thus, as far as I know, there are no complaints on the German front.
It seems to help that it is a narrative, and so it is possible to learn each section by heart.
I do encourage folk again to consider also beginning this journey of memorising the Gospel of St Mark, our own Apostle to Egypt.
Father Peter
I am sure it will get harder to recall it, but 18 verses is only as much as a reasonable size hymn or song.
Father Peter
[quote author=aidan link=topic=10193.msg124844#msg124844 date=1292622084]
I don't know whether they are translated badly into French and German. Perhaps someone can answer this question.
HH Pope Shenouda's book are written for the average Joe's and Jane's like me, for the common man. His books are meant to be easy without theological jargon.Bearing that in mind, the German translation are done well.Most of the books were translated by the same people ( Ghaly Tawadros(from arabic to german) and Marianne Hermann (a German native who is well acquainted with Coptic liturature and tradition,- from German to German{refines}).Two or three books were translated by Copts with good command of the language, but their translations , -for German is not an easy language,-were later edited by native German translations experts. Few books were also edited by German nuns. Finally,HG Bishop Damian, whose command of the German language { came to Germany to do his residence in Radiology ;had to learn German language from scratch,but graduated top 1% from class}, is impeccable is an additional asset in ensuring that the final translations (appropriate terms, meanings, definitions) are as Orthodox as they could get before going to print.
Thus, as far as I know, there are no complaints on the German front.
Hazkial,I am curious to know how they translate the bible verses from Baba Shenouda's writing into German? Do they use Martin Luther bible from the middle century for parallel verses?
Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
I am going to sing the Gospel of St. Mark.. there's no other way I can do it.
Hazkial,I am curious to know how they translate the bible verses from Baba Shenouda's writing into German? Do they use Martin Luther bible from the middle century for parallel verses?
Oh not the Lutheran Bible.There is another superb Bible that had been published by the collaboration of both the Catholic and the Protestant Churchs. It is called 'Die Einheitsübersetzung" Bible, which basically may mean "unified translation" .Infact, the Protestant church decided to work only on the common translations of the New testament and the Pslams. For the Old testament,the Catholic church ignored the old Vulgate version and decided to use the Hebrew and the Greek bibles for translation ( including the so called deuterocanonical books) .As far as I can tell, the Protestants do not use this book very much for their liturgy. They view it as purely Catholic and have even pulled out from the agreement to publish a new revised version of the unified translation Bible. One finds the Lutheran versions in their churchs.The Psalms and the Prayes in the German Agpeya are directly from the unified translation Bible. And I must say, it sounds even more Orthodox than some popular English bible translations such as the New King James version..
Whilst we are waiting for a reply re the German translation of HH Pope Shenouda's books make I refer to another thread namely the one about HH's book The Nature of Christ and the cancelled link to the web site with an article attacking it.
Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
So can YOU answer the question please?
I can't read arabic though so I wan't be able to do it, but hopefully someone will.
I have memorised verses 1-31 of the first chapter of the Gospel of St Mark.
It seems to be going OK. So if I can manage it then I am sure that you younger folk could do so much more easily.
My Dad tells me that when he was a young man his Bible Class teacher set each of them a chapter of St John to learn. And of course any actor who performs a one man show has to learn a couple of hours worth of material off by heart. It is all doable, if we have the willingness to commit to the task.
I started memorising St Mark Chapter 1 on December 16th. So I have had 12 days so far. So I am presently ahead of my goal of 2 verses a day.
I must say that it is beginning to produce a completely different relationship with the Gospel. It is slowly starting to become a text that I am thinking about many times each day. It is starting to become a text that I am noticing more and more about as I repeat it carefully and attentively.
I do earnestly and enthusiastically encourage others of you to participate in this same journey. To be a young person who has committed the whole of the Gospel of St Mark to memory, or rather to heart, would be a wonderful blessing and a constant source of grace.
Father Peter
I think 2 verses a day would be pretty easy, but I haven't practiced it yet. I've been trying to keep up with you since I started really late. I crammed 18 verses the first day and 9 verses (total) the second and third day. I can recite them with a few hesitations and mess ups. I need to practice a few more times and learn the remaining verses and I'll be done with the first chapter.
Can you hold off on the second chapter until I catch up? lol Sorry I don't like being behind schedule.
I need to press on and catch up with you!!!!
How have you found the experience of learning the first chapter? From a spiritual point of view I mean?
Father Peter
Well, I wouldn't compare (memorization of) the psalms to the Gospel. I personally enjoy the psalms more because I can recite them when I am distressed or in need of God's mercy. They comfort and guide me. However, I think the Gospel will be very useful in terms of gaining exact knowledge on the life of Jesus. I've heard/read the parables and stories numerous times, but I can only paraphrase them from my head (sometimes even add invalid "extra's" to the stories or take away crucial pieces of info). So, knowing the stories word for word, accurately, by heart, will help me as a person when referencing or teaching the Gospel. I don't see how it would affect my spiritual life though. You said you started to form a different relationship with the Gospel. Can you explain?
And how am I ahead of you? I haven't finished Chapter 1 yet
[quote author=aidan link=topic=10193.msg125141#msg125141 date=1293019293]
Whilst we are waiting for a reply re the German translation of HH Pope Shenouda's books make I refer to another thread namely the one about HH's book The Nature of Christ and the cancelled link to the web site with an article attacking it.
Unusually for that website the article agrees with much of what he says but the attacks seem to be launched on the basis of the translation. It seems possible that any disputant is actually using a faulty translation.
Can anyone fluent in Arabic and English who has read The Nature of Christ either confirm or deny this possibility (ie that the translation is faulty)
So can YOU answer the question please?
Aidan,if the translation you are speaking of is from arabic into english, my arabic may not be good (there are others who are better and i hope they can comment on it) enough to say anything on that. But if the translation is from English into German,and you would like me to check the German part, that would be no problem at all..
The Gospel will become alive in you. You will come to live the Gospel and live the life of Christ who is the Gospel. Each verse will become pregnant with meaning and you will gain insight that is beyond the intellectual.
May this be your experience.
I was on v31 so if you have 4 verses to go you are on 41, so I am trying to catch you up now.
God bless you
Father Peter
This sounds like a great enterprise.
I don't think you said whether it was the AV or the NKJV you were learning. Please tell.
Also, as a family man do you ever watch tv programmes that the family, but maybe not you ,wish to watch but you do watch so as not to remove yourself too much? Also it seems that learning the Gospel would remove you quite a bit from the family circle.
I have decided to use the NKJV, and so that is what I am sticking to.
It is not easy to remove myself from the family circle in my small house! But there seems always enough opportunity for attention if I look for it and use it wisely.
Do not tell my wife, but when I accompany her shopping she often likes to look in clothes shops, since I have three girls, and I do not need to give my whole attention to standing near the door waiting for her to finish. We walk the dog several times a day, and it is not always necessary to be always in conversation. I take my children to school and have time in the car. I have just had a long bath.
Once we have a passage half-remembered then we just need a little space and a little quiet to work on memorisation.
Today I have watched (while complaining about the ridiculous story) several films from a popular modern series of movies. My three girls were all watching together and it was good to sit with them rather than apart from them. Presently they are watching Upstairs Downstairs, but I am not that interested in it. So I shall find somewhere quiet and see if I can get a couple more verses in my head and then work on getting them into my heart.
I am convinced that if we set ourselves to a work such as this then God will always provide time and space. Once I have this whole chapter remembered then it is always with me. I can always open the Gospel Book of my heart and give attention, in a way that would not be possible if it were even a small Gospel book in my pocket.
And as I said to TITL, I believe that the remembrance of the words of the Gospel are life to us, more than we can ever imagine, and are so far surpassing a simple intellectual knowledge of names and places.
Stand in the fear of God, let us listen to the Holy Gospel.
To be able to live in such a state always, by having the words of the Gospel written on the fleshly pages of our heart must be an object worth every effort.
Father Peter
I shall need to spend a few days making sure it is all safely gathered in to the storehouse of my heart.
The first individually described miracle in the Gospel is the healing of a leper. As I have repeated these verses many times I am struck that the leper approaches the Lord, imploring him, kneeling down before him, and asking him to make him clean. And then the Lord had compassion on him and stretched out his hand and touched him, and said, be cleansed.
What has struck me is that the Lord did not cleanse him and then touch him, but touched him even while he was contaminated and unclean.
What a wonder this is. Even while we are stained with sin the Lord has pity on us and touches us, not fearing that He Himself will become unclean by the touch.
And, TITL, I have also noticed the very frequent use of the word immediately. And this has made me think that in the purpose of the Lord His will is fulfilled and His saving actions take place, at JUST THE RIGHT TIME. And so they happen immediately, and without hesitation. As we have also learned in this chapter, 'the Time is fulfilled'. When God acts it is just the right time.
Father Peter
But my brain is old and I am now on to Chapter 2. Therefore it is not beyond any of you who are younger than I am.
Father Peter