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O Begetter of Light

The Coptic fraction prayer, “O God, begetter of light” (Ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲡⲓⲣⲉϥⲙⲓⲥⲓ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲡⲓⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ) is one of the oldest fraction prayers we know of as it is present in the earliest extant Bohairic euchologia. Unfortunately, it is rarely heard nowadays. According to many of the early euchologia, this text is attributed to the Patriarch St Severus of Antioch. However, a few days ago, an insightful post (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1639608126319548/permalink/2935792673367747/) shed some light on possible origins of this text that predate St. Severus.

A similar text is found in the liturgy recorded in the “Testament of our Lord” (Testamentum Domini). This text has a quite a complicated history(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testamentum_Domini) but can be dated back as early as the 4th century, possibly even further as the legacy of the work holds that it in itself is the teachings of Christ himself to the Apostles prior to his Ascension. The Testament of Our Lord is made up of two books which are often included in the Clementine Octateuch (which ranges from the 1st to the 5th century). Given that the most prominently used text is from Syria, it is quite possible that these words were used in the Antiochene liturgy and were brought over into Egypt by way of St Severus, hence the attribution made in the euchologia, though this is conjecture and needs to be studied much more in depth 🙂

The first time I heard this fraction was on the Feast of St. Mena in 2011 when praying with Fr. David Bebawy. This recording is from that day! https://soundcloud.com/dg920/o-god-begetter-of-light-2011

The manuscript images are from Bodl.Hunt.360 (13th century)

The text of the Testamentum Domini can be found here: https://archive.org/details/cu31924029296170

Please do listen to the track! It is awesome!

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