Preface

When I heard the theme of The Greatest Acquaintance Party from His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, may God preserve his life, I felt that it was a theme of paramount importance that will prepare us for eternal life. I, therefore, decided, with the grace of Christ, to deliver a number of sermons as St. Mark's Church in Cleveland on that subject matter.

The theme underlining this subject was imagining God would send an angel  to every person coming to the kingdom of heaven to introduce him/her to all present.

I started visualizing the personalities in heaven and what the angel will  state about each one of them. In order not to falsify facts in my   imagination, I decided to mention the names of saints, both men and  women, in the Holy Bible as well as those whose name is in the Divine  Liturgy and Doxology since the Church acknowledges them as saints and   they will, therefore, be present in heaven.

After I delivered a number of sermons, some members of the congregation asked me to compile them in a book for the benefit of others. I obtained the approval of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III to present his idea as a theme  for this book and to include his sermon as the introduction.

I consider this book to be the first of the subject matter related to the Greatest Acquaintance Party, hoping, with the grace of God, to publish other parts in that regard.

I plan to write the second book of the Greatest Acquaintance Party about   the angels, the archangels, and the heavenly hosts whom we shall see in   the kingdom of heaven.

I would like to thank my Beloved father, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III,    His Grace Bishop Moussa, and all those who helped in the translation, typesetting, editing, and preparation of this volume.

May every word in this book be inspired by the Holy Spirit to benefit the readers. May this book be a source of blessing to the children of the Coptic Church in Egypt and all over the world so that we can all prepare ourselves  for the great acquaintance with God and His saints in the resurrection, which will be the greatest acquaintance party.

May the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Mark and all the saints and the prayers of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III be with us, in commemoration of the Feast of St. Mark on May 8, 1994.