It is acknowledged that the hymns of the Coptic Orthodox Church date back to the early period of the Ancient Egyptians. Today, Coptic music is considered to be one of the oldest musical genres alive. Coptic music is not transcribed, but rather passed down orally from generation to generation. In addition to its complexity, the… Continue reading The Modern History Of Coptic Hymns!
Golgotha is an ancient coptic hymn that dates back to pharonic times. The melody is said to have been the same melody used when pharohs were being buried. At the foot of the cross when Joseph and Nicodemus went to get the body of Christ for burial, they saw and heard angels singing, HOLY GOD… Continue reading Golgotha
How should we praise in the Church? Besides the great awe of this inheritance, yet how much we distort it whenever the worship is changed to just a ritual and this appears a lot in: The competition of voices in the church, so that some people try to reply and sing the hymn before the… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Final
Psalias Connected with the four Canticles and the seven Theotokias are seven Epsalias. The word “epsalia” means a hymn. The hymn in our Coptic Church is distinguishable in that the reply in each verse ends with the name of Jesus. An example of this: The Epsalia for Monday: “My Lord Jesus” The Epsalia for Tuesday:… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 5
The Mystery of the Incarnation: The Theotokias Indeed, the personality of the Virgin, the Mother of God, has above the greatest importance concerning the mystery of the incarnation. We cannot taste or touch it and feel or live it and take its blessings except after comprehending the divine connection between the divine and human natures… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 4
The Third Canticle: (The Praise of the Three Saintly Youths) It is the praise of the three saintly youths. (It is a writing in the Holy Bible and the Protestants omitted it in the Beirut edition). It can be summed up that the king commanded the elimination of the three youths in the fiery furnace.… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 3
The Divisions of the Midnight Praises The First Canticle (hos): It is the praise of Moses the Prophet after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15). “Let us praise the Lord for with glory he is glorified…” The Red Sea was a symbol of baptism which is considered a complete barrier between Pharaoh and his soldiers… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 2
Over the Next week i will dedicate my blog to a series of articles by Fr Bishoy Kamel – who will take us on a spiritual Journey through the Praises Of Kiahk. The praise of Kiahk (also called “7 and 4”) on the Eve of Sunday is the praise of every eve of Sunday all… Continue reading Praises Of Kiahk – Part 1
Epideacon is a Greek word consisting of two parts: “epi” i.e. under or helper, and “deacon” i.e. deacon, so the meaning is deacon’s helper. Conditions for ordaining: 1. He is not to be less than 20 years old in normal conditions, except if he is brilliant and outstanding in the church’s service, he is as… Continue reading I Want To Be A Deacon! Epideacon – Subdeacon
The Epsaltos Deacon – His name is derived from the Coptic word “Psalmos” i.e. Psalm or hymn. His job is clear from his name, learning hymns and tunes, and singing them in church. This rank was mentioned in some laws of the first church: The Epsaltos are also blessed by the Bishop Children may be… Continue reading The Rank of Epsaltos – Singer!
Starting from today we will begina six part series on Deaconship in the Coptic Orthodox Church. Bishop Mettaous will lead us through this series as he explores what it means to be a deacon and the 5 main ranks in the Coptic Church. I hope you thoroughly Enjoy this series as Deaconship is part of… Continue reading I Want To Be A Deacon – Part 1
The Hymn of Tonseena is next in our series on Coptic Hymnology of Easter LYRICS We, the believers, praise and worship the Word, One in eternity with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation, for He agreed and accepted to go up on the cross, and to suffer death in… Continue reading Hymns of Resurrection Part 4
The Hymn Tolitho is next in our series of the Coptic hymnology of Easter! Lyrics: While the stone was sealed by the Jews and Your holy body was guarded by the soldiers You arose on the third day O Savior, granting life to the world. For that reason the heavenly hosts cry out to You,… Continue reading Hymns of Resurrection Part 3
Next in our Series on the Coptic Hymnolgy of Easter is the Hymn Ekhristos Anesti which has two distinct tunes as you will hear below in the video from St Marks Cathedral in Egypt from this years Easter Mass. The hymn is sung after the re-enactment of our Lord Jesus Christ opening the gates of… Continue reading Hymns of the Resurrection Part 2
A curious custom of the Coptic Church is the liturgy is prayed and sung in Coptic, the original language of ancient Egypt. The Church keeps alive the language of the pharaohs, which was written in hieroglyphics, hieratic and demotic and now a modified version of the Greek alphabet, Egyptian written in Greek and demotic (the Copt)… Continue reading Hymns of Resurrection Part 1
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