# About the Blog Abba Ho Pater

> Abba, Father is the cry of every worshiping heart, and it is the cry of Christ Himself in the midst of suffering! It is our cry, we who rejoice and exult in the gift of adoption.

*2016-11-29T14:37:00Z*

![Logo of the blog "Abba Ho Pater" ("أَبَا الآبُ - Αββα ὁ πατήρ") over the icon of the Resurrection: Christ with outstretched hands raising Adam and Eve from their tombs, a broken cross beneath His feet; caption "THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST", IC XC](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/about.png?w=815&h=815)

Abba, Father is the cry of every worshiping heart, and it is the cry of Christ Himself in the midst of suffering! It is our cry, we who rejoice and exult in the gift, that is, the gift of adoption, and it is the cry of the Church hemmed in by suffering and by the world. "Abba Ho Pater" is a Christian blog whose aim is to spread the Orthodox patristic teaching, which springs from the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry "Abba, Father."

In the most intense hour of Christ's suffering, He uttered this cry: "And He said, "**Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.**""[^1] Perhaps it is also the cry of the One, Only, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, who cries out at all times from the distress of the world and the distress of evil to God her Father, and says "Our Father in heaven." We repeat it very many times in our prayers, and this repetition is not a mere senseless repetition of a prayer; it is a repetition of the cry of Christ Himself in Gethsemane, a cry with which we call upon the heart of the loving Father, united with the Lamb "that is, Christ," while the Dove "that is, the Holy Spirit" carries us to Him, so that He may look upon the Church which His right hand has planted.

The Lord Jesus took what is ours "that is, our body" and gave us what is His "that is, His Holy Spirit,"[^2] and not only this, but He made us deified, as St. Athanasius the Apostolic himself says: "**For the Word of God became man so that He might deify us**"[^3] since by His Incarnation He restored us to the icon of His glory,[^4] and so He became "**our brother**"[^5] but not merely a brother, rather the firstborn brother among those who have fallen asleep, risen from the dead, so He became the firstborn of those who have fallen asleep and the firstborn of all creation. And as our brother He gave us the gift, which is the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry "**Abba, Father**," as St. Paul the Apostle says: "**For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."**"[^6] Yes, it is the cry of Christ and our cry, for we cry through Him and with Him and to Him,[^7] for He is ".. **the image of the invisible God**, the firstborn over all creation,"[^8] and "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the **firstborn among many brethren**,"[^9] and our understanding of the Lord Jesus as the firstborn among brethren, as the beginning of a new covenant and the fulfiller of the Law, is reflected in our understanding of our Orthodox Christian doctrine and faith.

From here came the idea of this blog, seeking to show the Christ of lived reality, far from the Christ of the book, who fills the churches with preaching but whom we have not found in our daily lives. This blog is an invitation to speak of the Christ of the afflicted and the wounded, the Christ of the outcast and the needy and those who have no one. Yes, for as St. Cyril the Great says: "When the matters of His self-emptying seem hard for you to accept, marvel rather at the greatness of the Son's love for us, because what you consider unbecoming to Him, He did by His own will for your sake. **He wept humanly in order to wipe away your tears, and He was troubled according to the divine economy, allowing His body to experience what is proper to it, in order to fill us with courage, and He was described as weak in His humanity in order to end your weakness, and He offered many petitions and supplications to the Father in order to make the Father's ear attentive to your prayers**."[^10] I pray from the depths of my heart that He make these words a good spiritual path for edification, for the growth of the Church, the body of Christ, to whom be glory forever with His good Father and the Holy Spirit, now and to the ages. Amen.

[^1]: (Mark 14:36)
[^2]: The Holy Psalmody - from the Theotokia of Friday
[^3]: St. Athanasius the Apostolic - On the Incarnation - 54:3
[^4]: In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament the word "εἰκών," that is, icon, is used in Genesis 1:27, "in the image of God He created him"
[^5]: St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "He Himself led the way of this birth, bringing down the Holy Spirit upon the waters at His baptism, so that He might become in all things the firstborn of those who are born spiritually, giving the name of 'brethren' to those who share with Him in the birth and are conformed to Him by their baptism with water" - Adv. Eunomius 2: 8
[^6]: (Romans 8:15)
[^7]: The Holy Euchologion - the Liturgy of St. Gregory - the response "Have mercy upon us"
[^8]: (Colossians 1:15)
[^9]: (Romans 8:29)
[^10]: Defense of the Twelve Anathemas Against Theodoret - by St. Cyril the Great

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Source: https://abba.fadymondy.com/en/blog/about