SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

our ancient monastic system that was brought into Australia

view of the Church on the subject which is substantially based on the account given by Eusebius of Caesaria in his Ecclesiastical History. Synaxarium of the Coptic Church - TCC vol. AR1&2, Project Update , by Ashraf Hanna "Synaxarion" is the Coptic and Greek term for the Latin "synaxarium", and is the formal compilation of the lives of the martyrs, saints, and religious heroes of the Coptic Church. These biographies, which are sometimes reduced to a mere citation of each martyr or saint, are read in the course of the liturgy, after reading selections from the Book of the Acts during the liturgy service on the day of the passion of each saint. This book, which has become a liturgical manual, is very important for the history of the Coptic Church, and is a result of various endeavors. The development of the Coptic Martyrology was a reflection of the historical atmosphere in which the Christian Church lived during the first four centuries and up until recent times. The successive persecutions of the Christians produced an ever increasing number of martyrs, whose steadfastness and perseverance was considered an inspiration, and whose death for the Faith called for an annual commemoration by the Church, this was usually presented in the form of an encomium or homily for the edification of the congregation. Those encomiums were read in either Sahidic or Bohairic, or in Arabic (in the Middle Ages) where in most cases, they were translated into Arabic from Greek and Coptic originals. The current Arabic text includes a number of extraneous entries besides these biographies, in which certain notable events are commemorated on given dates, such as the Crucifixion, the feasts and fasts of the church, the apparition of an Archangel or the Virgin Mary, the Coptic New Year, the dedication of a church, and so on.

The use Psalm 50 in the Coptic Liturgical Services , by Joseph Fahim Psalm 50 is a popular psalm in the prayers and liturgical services of the Coptic Church. It is a reflection of the Church reverence to the use of psalms since the beginning. This paper represents an investigation of the usage of this psalm in the various services. The purpose was to reconcile some of the discrepancies between current practice and manuscripts of the Horologion (or Agbeyia) in particular. Such usage can be summarized in six different types. Primarily all these types placed it following the Prayer of Thanksgiving, a typical prayer in Coptic liturgical services. However, it showed that it was placed after all other introductory prayers found in the Agbeyia, which has come into use in these services. Specifically those of the morning and the Midnight prayers. This placed it in the Agbeyia in the logical of place of directly preceding the psalms of the hour regardless of what introductory prayers are there. This agreed with the extant Coptic manuscripts of both the Agbeyia as well as the Psalmodia. St. Mark in Egypt - Historical Investigation , by Mary Farid Saint Mark as the founder of the Coptic Church is a central issue in the ecclesiastical history of the Orthodox Church of Egypt. The fact that his head, which was severed when he was martyred, is authentically preserved in Egypt is undisputed. However, his role in introducing the Christian Faith and establishing the Church in Alexandria has come under attack in recent times by some scholars. This paper will attempt to survey all the direct and indirect evidence that are available to establish that St. Mark did actually come and preach in Alexandria in the middle of the first century AD. Also it will present the traditional

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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