SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

* The above list shows that the Pauline, Psalm and Gospel readings are the common readings to all liturgies and offices in the Coptic Church. The Pauline reading is substituted for by a lection from the Katholikon only in the 1 st Unction prayer, because such reading is the more appropriate for the occasion. 1 Except for readings during Lent days, Lazarus Saturday, and Pascha Week 2 Except for the 1 st hour of Maunday Thursday, the Eve of Friday (Thursday evening), and the morning hours of Good Friday 3 Except for the 6 th and 9 th hours of Good Friday 4 The ninth hour has two prophecy readings 5 Only the Bright Saturday's Raising of Incense contains a Pauline reading 6 This includes such services as the Baptism's Absolution of the woman for male & female children, Baptism's Loosening of the Girdle, Al-Tisht Prayer (bathing the infants on the 7 th day of birth), Bethrothal, Matrimony, 2 nd Matrimony, Unction 2 nd through 7 th prayers, Abu Turbo (Prayer for one who is bitten by a dog); and Funerals for Older Men, Older Women, Male Children, Female Children, Women at Birth, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Monks, and Nuns.

longer Sad (Ar. Haziani) tune. It is used for the readings during the Pascha, except for the service of Bright Saturday (the late night vigil following Good Friday). The third is actually a combination of both of the above mentioned tunes. It is used only during the Bright Saturday services. The fourth tune is called the long (Ar. al-tawil) or merry (Ar. Faraihi) tune. As the name indicates, it is longer in its duration and used only during the liturgy of the Feast of Resurrection. In all these tunes the Introduction is relatively long and does not include the name of the epistle being read. The Conclusion is brief. The Katholikon survived in only one tune, which is the annual tune. This one (i.e. tune) is short in duration and simpler in tune. The Introduction is brief and merely indicate the name of the epistle author. The Conclusion is relatively long though. The Epraksis survived in two distinctive tunes. The first is the annual tune, used during the ecclesiastical services. The second is a special longer tune that is used once during the Coptic liturgical year, the Morning Prayer of the Maunday Thursday Service. The Introduction is longer in length and longer in tune than the Katholikon with the Conclusion comparable in length. The Psalm reading on the other hand has at least nine distinct tunes that are still in use in the Coptic Church plus two that are combinations of two of the above mentioned tunes. Each has its Psalm selections divided into four stanzas with an

The Anatomy of the Coptic Readings: Each reading or lection is divided into three parts: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. The Introduction is composed of one or several specific phrases that are chanted at the beginning of each reading. The Body is the biblical reading itself. The conclusion is another one or several phrases chanted at the end of the Biblical Reading. The composition of the Introduction and the Conclusion for any type of reading may change in words and/or tune, according to the liturgical season. The description provided below is primarily based on the personal knowledge of the author. A more comprehensive survey of the manuscript sources with regards to these readings is reserved for future articles on this subject. For the Prophecy readings, their use, as seen in the listing above, is restricted to three seasons: Lent days, Pascha Week, and the Laqan services. This would assume the presence of three different tunes for such readings. However, only the tune for Pascha Week readings is known and sporadically used. The readings are characterized by a short Introduction and Conclusion chanted in a simple yet distinct tune. For the Pauline , there are four main tunes. The first is the annual or regular (Ar. Sanawi) tune. This is used throughout the year except for the Holy Week (Pascha) or possibly Feast of the Resurrection. The second distinctive tune is the

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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