SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

Coptic and five more Arabic ones included and they were placed in the Vespers section of the edition. Both V36 and Ms P had that Theotokia between the 3rd and 4th Ode and neither of them had a separate Vespers section or even alluded to the existence of one. 6. All Turuhat were in agreement among the two manuscripts with the printed edition with the exception of one on the Commemoration which was not found in V36. Both manuscripts consistently had these texts in single columns with the first two verses in Coptic and then the entire text in Arabic. The printed edition mostly included complete texts of both in parallel. This pattern is included in other hymns surviving in later liturgical manuscripts. It indicates a practice of singing the Coptic verses and then reading the Arabic without a tune. 7. The arrangement for Sunday in Ms P is substantially the same as that found in the printed edition. The case is different with respect to V36 which does not include any of the Arabic hymns and it has typically three extra Coptic tafsir on the first seven sections of the Theotokia. 8. Both Ms P and V36 include a full set of morning prayers 8 at the end, agreeing with the edition of the Annual rather than the Kiahk Psalmodia. This is indicative of the practice of having the Morning prayers directly following those of Midnight in one continuous office.

9. At the conclusion of Ms P there is an expanded section of Doxologies for Evening and Morning Raising of Incense services, as noted in the rubric. In the printed edition only specific Kiahk doxologies are included. These are placed after the Commemoration, matching the order of their recitation in the current practice. It is then very plausible to assume that the doxologies were not part of the original canon of the Midnight Psalmodia! 10. The doxologies of V36 add the doxologies of Lent, Resurrection and Ascension, leading one to believe that this arrangement may have been used at least during Lent. Further collation is needed before a more firm conclusion is put forth. 11. The Doxology of the Apostles in both manuscripts is pisorp qen only. The printed edition of the Annual Psalmodia includes a second one which is not found in any known manuscript 7 . 12. The placement of the Doxology of St. Mark near the conclusion of Ms P is in agreement with Mr. Sorial article on the Annual Psalmodia. 13. V36 contains more doxologies which are not listed in the collation because of space restrictions 14. Ms P has very interesting variant readings in the Coptic text. Such readings may provide Coptic linguists with good data for studying the dialect of that region.

_______________ End Notes:

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter * I am very grateful for Mr. Ehab Maximous, an Associate Member of the Society, for bringing this manuscript to my attention and to the family of his fiancée, the manuscript owner, who allowed me to study it. The manuscript is preserved now in the Orange County area of Southern California 1 Labib, E. pijwm nte ]'almwdia eyu n te ]rompi mvr/] etauyasc n je nenio] n ]ekkl/cia n rem n ,/mi . Cairo 1908. Contains the Coptic and Arabic text of the Coptic Annual Psalmodia. 2 Labib, E. pijwm nte ]'almwdia eyu nte piabot ,oiak m vr/] etauyasc nje nenio] n ]ekkl/cia n remn,/mi . Cairo 1911. Contains the Coptic and Arabic text of the Coptic Kiahk Psalmodia. 3 V36 is a paper manuscript dated 1709 AD, 396 folios, 21.5 x 15.7 cm, 19 lines. For a fuller description consult Hebbelynck, A. and A. van Lantschoot, Codices Coptici Vaticani Barberiniani Borgiani Rossiani . Tomus I. Vatican, 1937, pp. 142-170.

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