When you hear the phrase, “The holies [are] for the holies,” what comes to your mind? For me, my memory takes me straight to the ending of the Coptic Eucharistic liturgy, just prior to the confession. But, would it interest you to know, that this theme, this motion, is present all throughout the liturgy? Today, …
Over the years, I’ve received and asked the following question probably closer to a hundred times: “What does ‘As it was and shall be’ mean? What was and will be?” What’s more interesting is the plethora of varied responses that I’ve heard. Here are just a few: 1. As the departed lived and died, so …
In a historic event and for the first time, Coptic chant was prayerfully performed today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City during the press preview of the fantastic Africa & Byzantium exhibit. What an immense honor!? We are extremely thankful to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for inviting us to …
In all honesty, the last post about ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ got my writing motor running again, so I had to crank this one out too—another piece detailing some beautiful liturgical practices we have and simultaneously shedding some light on how our current apps (Coptic Reader) and liturgical failures are hindering us from seeing the intricacies and …
After a lengthy hiatus, and more or less pending another more permanent one, I write today another post about one of our most well-known and dear chants: ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⳾ ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ is comprised of 8 primary stanzas and, in its earliest forms, 1 intercessory stanza for David the Psalmist (ONLY). The text is labeled …
Just over a month ago, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the holy city of Rome (and a few other awesome places in Italia!). Dare I say the most memorable event throughout my trip was visiting the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome, known as Outside the Walls. In it, are the chains of St …
An interesting tidbit today from working on the Psalmody! In one of the interpretations of the Sunday ⲑⲉⲟⲧⲟⲕⲓⲁ, the author references Isaiah 1:18: ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲁⲙⲱⲓⲛⲓ ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛⲥⲁϩⲱⲛ ⲡⲉϫⲉ ⲡ⳪ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲉϣⲱⲡ ⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉⲧⲉⲛⲛⲟⲃⲓ ⲟⲓ ⲙ̀ⲫⲣⲏϯ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲫⲟⲓⲛⲓⲕⲟⲩⲙ ⲉⲓⲉⲑⲣⲟⲩⲟⲩⲃⲁϣ ⲙ̀ⲫⲣⲏϯ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲭⲓⲱⲛ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲉϣⲱⲡ ⲉⲩⲟⲓ ⲙ̀ⲫⲣⲏϯ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲕⲟⲕⲕⲟⲥ ϯⲛⲁⲑⲣⲟⲩⲟⲩⲃⲁϣ ⲙ̀ⲫⲣⲏϯ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲥⲟⲣⲧ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲱⲃϣ And come, let us reason together, saith the …
The Coptic hymn ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲉⲥⲧⲓⲛ is quite a controversial one! In terms of its text, there is a significant amount of ambiguity—first, it is written with both five and/or six lines in one stanza (the first stichon repeating twice in some texts and tunes). Second, it is also written in such a way that there …
We laid to rest, today, our beautiful angel, Sophia Cohen, after a battle with cancer in which the LORD Jesus (the true judge of our struggle) crowned her victorious! This little girl, like her Savior, showed, in her weakness, what is greater than strength—she bore her cross in total love and submission to our Creator …
Stumbled upon this gem while looking at some old home videos—Fr. Antonios Ragheb of blessed memory, and Fr. David Bebawy chanting the first two psalms of the Fourth Canticle (Psalms 148, 149, and 150) in my family home while my mother held me in her arms during my “tisht” prayers. Thankful to these fathers and to …