Post by marcellusfaber on Jun 7, 2023 4:40:44 GMT -5
Yesterday, my father went to an Alexandrian rite Divine Liturgy. It was celebrated by a Coptic priest whom I actually knew during my long stint at a so-called 'Indult' Church. I quite often confessed to him and he sometimes celebrates the traditional Roman rite, so his presence at the parish has certainly done good. That said, I know he has the odd strange idea, such as thinking that it is not a bad thing to have women or girls serve at the altar, and he does say the new Mass; a friend of mine once told me that a new Mass he celebrated, at which he was present, was terribly irreverent. This I find strange, as I have seen him celebrate the traditional Roman rite quite correctly, and this was also generally my father's impression at the Divine Liturgy yesterday. I have not investigated his orders, but I believe he was ordained in Egypt in the Coptic rite, so his priesthood should be presumed.
I have scanned the order of service. It can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/1UralJPDu-3b6scT0rBmonXDs09-HZTQ3/view?usp=sharing
Disappointingly, the Divine Liturgy was in Arabic, not Coptic, and the odd small part was in English, though that is the least important part of the rite. I don't know much at all about the Coptic rite, but I could see that the the filioque was present according to the English translation. A layman, who was not vested, read the readings in Arabic whilst outside the sanctuary, and the choir was made up of a priest, another man, and three women. A deacon assisted the priest. Communion was also apparently received standing and, after the Divine Liturgy, something similar to the Asperges was done, in which the priest threw handfuls of holy water around the Church. They had no screen, but attached icons to a couple of lecterns and censed them during the Divine Liturgy. The whole Church was also censed at one point. Does anyone know much about the Coptic rite? I'm hoping that they do not have the problems of the Ukrainians, such as putting schismatic 'saints' in the calendar. Am I correct in thinking that Denzinger compiled all the Eastern rites in one book and translated them into Latin? If so, where could I find this book?
If anyone knows much about the rite used, please do comment on the order of service which I've linked.
I have scanned the order of service. It can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/1UralJPDu-3b6scT0rBmonXDs09-HZTQ3/view?usp=sharing
Disappointingly, the Divine Liturgy was in Arabic, not Coptic, and the odd small part was in English, though that is the least important part of the rite. I don't know much at all about the Coptic rite, but I could see that the the filioque was present according to the English translation. A layman, who was not vested, read the readings in Arabic whilst outside the sanctuary, and the choir was made up of a priest, another man, and three women. A deacon assisted the priest. Communion was also apparently received standing and, after the Divine Liturgy, something similar to the Asperges was done, in which the priest threw handfuls of holy water around the Church. They had no screen, but attached icons to a couple of lecterns and censed them during the Divine Liturgy. The whole Church was also censed at one point. Does anyone know much about the Coptic rite? I'm hoping that they do not have the problems of the Ukrainians, such as putting schismatic 'saints' in the calendar. Am I correct in thinking that Denzinger compiled all the Eastern rites in one book and translated them into Latin? If so, where could I find this book?
If anyone knows much about the rite used, please do comment on the order of service which I've linked.