Christ is risen! As promised, by God’s grace, I’d like to begin a series of posts regarding what are now known to the Copts as “inaudible prayers”. The concept of secret or inaudible prayer has been treated rather extensively in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as well as the Western tradition, but has yet to be …
Christ is risen! Today, I have to admit to you all that I grieve the state of the Coptic Church with respect to the lack of understanding that afflicts our people, even our chanters and clergy, of our liturgical rites. Each and ever year, the Holy Fifty Days, which should be a time of utmost …
As we continue working on the Coptic English Psalmody, I wanted to share with you all one of the doxologies for the Anastasis (Resurrection, Holy Fifty, Eastertide as a whole) that I found in psalmody manuscripts. Ⲫⲏⲉⲧⲁϥϣⲁⲛϣ is commonly known as the second doxology of the Resurrection, but some of you may be interested to …
When Copts contemplate the rituals of Holy Week, oftentimes, the first thing that comes to mind is the burial rite during the 12th hour of the Good Friday service—if not for anything else, then just because of the hymn chanted during the ritual: Golgotha. While most will tell you that the hymn originated from the …
As we continue to strive through Lent, I’d like to share a few hymns from the Liturgy of St Mark (commonly attributed to St Cyril) because it is proper practice in the Coptic Rite to pray this anaphora during periods of fasting. The hymns of this anaphora are perhaps the most rare of all of …
Had the awesome opportunity to share a bit about myself, my family, and my passion for the Coptic Church and its tradition on Ancient Faith Radio today! @ancient_faith_ministries Great to be represented and united within the Orthodox world as a whole! Very grateful to Elissa Bjeletich Davis for having me and being such a delightful …
Blessed Advent! This year, I’ve received a ton of questions about the melody for the ⲁⲇⲁⲙ ⲑⲉⲟⲧⲟⲕⲓⲁ during the month of Kiahk. I’ve created a playlist of the sources that have preserved this tune for us. As you listen through the playlist, you’ll hear the voices of HH Pope Kyrillos VI, Cantor Asaad Moussa (the …
In the last month or so, two of my dearest friends lost family members leading me to look into the Coptic Rite of the funeral. Today, I’d like to share two important points that I discovered. The first is that the ⲃⲁⲧⲟⲥ psalis/doxologies of Lent, ⲡⲓⲙⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ and ⲛⲉⲕⲛⲁⲓ ⲡⲁϭⲟⲓⲥ are an essential part of the …
̀While most Coptic faithful know ⲟⲩⲛⲟϥ ⲙ̀ⲙⲟ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ (افرحي يا مريم) as a hymn chanted on Sunday when we find ourselves running early, very few are aware of its origin and purpose, and even fewer read the text properly. Here’s another tidbit from the Coptic-English Psalmody Project! In Bohairic practice, ⲟⲩⲛⲟϥ ⲙⲙⲟ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ is a …