The Holy Week Litanies (Coptic Rite)

The Holy Week Litanies (Coptic Rite)

http://youtu.be/W2_9QixNksY

Let us beseech God to have mercy and compassion upon us, to hear us and support us, and to accept the prayers and supplications of His saints on our behalf at all times, and forgive us our sins.

Congregation: Lord Have Mercy

Forensic vs Ontological Atonement

Continuing the theme mentioned in http://orthodoxyisorthodoxy.blogspot.com/2013/04/appeasement-wrath-anger-substitution.html here is another post by Fr Stephen Freeman discussing atonement...

Double-Minded

by Fr Stephen Freeman

http://glory2godforallthings.com/2013/04/26/double-minded/

A Shared Ethos

"I first read St Ephrem, St Severus, and VC Samuel at a Byzantine seminary. In addition, I never understood why we put the cross in the baptismal font during Denaha until I saw what the Byzantines do in their tradition. (and no, I’m not going to share, to find out everyone will have to do the ghastly act of researching another Orthodox experience)

Our exposure to other Orthodox traditions is not a threat, it’s a blessing and helps us understand ourselves better. In seminary I got to learn about Russian, Antiochene, Greek, Ethiopian, and even Armenian traditions. It was an amazing experience. We will not lose our Malankara ethos (whatever you define that as) by opening ourselves to experience the way the Holy Spirit has worked through a people and a culture different than ours. If anything, the Byzantines have learned from us too. Several Byzantine students studied Syriac with us at the Armenian seminary.

Something I’ve noticed is that when a priest or bishop from India studies from a Catholic or Protestant school, it is to their credit. When someone from America studies at an Orthodox institution, it is our handicap. Why?"

+ Fr. Mat Alexander, http://www.orthodoxherald.com/2011/01/22/byzantine-orthodox-ethos-a-threat-to-our-liturgical-theology-fr-mat-alexander/

Father Mat's article raises a wonderful point: that we Orthodox are not made up of Orthodox "denominations" and that in seeing Christ and ourselves in each other we have much to learn and grow together.

Respecting Our "Losers"

"Due to our civilization's loss of an explicit dependence on liturgy, we express it [the creative "inefficiency"] heartlessly and inaccurately: Let the free market weed out the losers, we cry. But the losers have, in a sense, "died for our salvation;" one could no more have a dynamic economy without losers than a sacrificial cult without sacrificial victims. And there is no way of distinguishing ahead of time the losers from the winners. Therefore both are integral to our economic life and deserve our respect."

+ Timothy Patitsas

Look upon a person

"The next time you look upon a person — any person at all, stranger or not — test yourself to see whether you truly believe that man is created in the image of God. Look at your brother, or look at your sister, and say, “That is what God is like.” If you find yourself unable to even whisper those words, then you do not yet believe that all men were created in the image of God, nor do you believe the words of the scriptures.

But if you can truly say, “That is what God is like,” and you can see the truth behind such a statement, then you have begun to view your brother as God views him (and you). You have begun to appreciate your sister as God appreciates her. You have begun to value God’s Image truly, even if you simultaneously recognize that his image has been covered over with dust and cobwebs that need to be gently and lovingly removed."

+ FrDn Joseph Gleason, http://onbehalfofall.org/2013/02/27/from-john-calvin-to-stephen-king/

Appeasement, Wrath, Anger, Substitution and the Cross in Orthodoxy

In a recent recording of a lenten retreat, Fr Jonathan Tobias mentions the common misconceptions one hears about the mystery of salvation and the understanding of the Cross.

If you're a Sunday school teacher, the following links might help identify these misconceptions which may arise when reading popular reductionist mainstream, 'Evangelical' or mega-Church literature.

Sometimes these misconceptions can creep into Orthodox parishes so it's also refreshing to hear Priests identify, compare and address these misconceptions. Hope you find the following resources interesting and of benefit:

Fr Jonathan Tobias on misconceptions concerning the Cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sCK-nu9wek
or
http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/2013/04/the-cross-peace-over-violence.html

Also related:
Some Profound Heresies On Atonement by Fr John Peck http://frjohnpeck.com/some-profound-heresies-on-atonement/

and this wonderful post by Fr Stephen Freeman:

Therapeutic Substitutionary Atonement http://glory2godforallthings.com/2013/04/19/therapeutic-substitutionary-atonement/


These two articles and Fr Jonathan's paper are also included after the break...

Our "Charity"

"If my sense of value depends on gripping at surplus goods and resources, to then use them to "prove" my superior generosity to others, perhaps something is wrong with my perceptions. My sense of personal value is very fragile indeed if it depends solely on what I have to give to others rather than (also) what they can teach me in our mutual interdependence as created beings within cosmic space."

+ Susan R. Holman, God Knows There's A Need.

Presenting the Church to our Children

"Making the Liturgy more "relatable" is the opposite direction one should take in presenting the Church to your child. Holiness speaks to a separation from the things of this world that distract us from God. Using cultural distractions to encourage participation in the services of the Church muddles this reality. If what we should be seeking after is packaged in a secular pop-culture medium a false equality and connection is made in the minds of our children that life in the Church is just another way to pass the time. Making the Way into a video game, a music video, or any other trivial entertainment serves to undermine and not reinforce your child's faith. The hard lesson that evangelical efforts to grow the Church through making it more "relevant" have been learned over and over at the expense of tradition and with little to show for it beyond empty coffers, infrequent attendance, and a "spiritual but not religious" ethos.

Origin of the New Testament

The Gospel was born in the Church. Both the congregation of Israel and the church existed before there was Scripture. It was from within that community that the awareness of God emerged--and with it, an awareness of God's love, a vision of His ineffable beauty, and a vision, as well, of our own status and fate, formation and calling. The community of the People of God is the kind of community that knows for sure that they have something vital to witness about--namely about the One who is their new life, the object of their love and joy. A genuinely godly people--a genuinely New Testament people--must be the kind of community that could write the Bible themselves, giving it birth and preaching it from personal experience. If we're not that kind of fellowship, we don't really belong either to the Gospel or the people of God.

Some of the Rubrics of the Divine Liturgy in the Coptic Rite

A brief popular overview of the Rubrics of the Coptic Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

http://stdemiana.org.au/orthodox/coptic_orthodoxy_massexplained.html

COPTIC ORTHODOXY
The Holy Mass Explained

Types of Masses
The Coptic Orthodox Church has three(3) traditional masses :

1. Basilian Mass : By St. Basil the great

The Mass is focused on the FATHER who loved us and reconciled us with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He sent for our atonement. (John 3:16-Galat. 4:4)

2. Gregorian Mass : By St. Gregory the Theologian

St. Gregory, the Bishop of Constantinople in 379 A.D wrote this Mass to the SON who became Incarnate for our redemption and surrendered Himself up to death in atonement of our sins to bring us nearer to the Father. (Heb. 9:12- 1 Peter 3:18)

3. Cyril Mass : By St. Mark the Apostle & St. Cyril

St. Mark the Apostle was the actual writer of this Mass, but was attributed to St. Cyril the 24th Pope of Alexandria because it was orally handed over to him and then wrote it in its present form. Rarely used because of its duration. Served once a year - on the last Friday in Lent.

These masses were originally written in Greek and then translated into Coptic.