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Has anyone here ever been to Divine Liturgy in a Coptic Orthodox Church?

I ask because there is a Coptic Orthodox parish in my town whose liturgy I would like to observe some Sunday morning. My curiosity is peaked because the schedule reads as follows:


Saturday: Vespers @ 7:00-7:30pm; Evening Praise @ 8:45-10:00pm
Sunday: Divine Liturgy @8:30am-12:00noon


8:30am until noon? Can that be right?

What liturgy do they use that is three and a half hours long?

I have visited the church on one occasion already; I attended their Saturday Evening Praise service, and that was pretty fascinating. All worshipers removed their shoes before entering the chapel and the men and women sat separately, on opposite sides of the center aisle. The women played finger cymbals and triangles during the service.

If their evening prayer service in the small chapel was so intriguing, I can only imagine what their Eucharistic liturgy in the main church must be like.

Maybe the have orthros before...

I went once during the week. I missed the beginning so I don't know how long it was. They filled (FILLED!) the room with so much incense smoke that despite me standing at the back, my wife could still smell it on me five hours later.

Yes, indeed, the Coptic Liturgy can be that long.

Many years,

Neil

I'm informed by a Coptic priest that whilst 830-noon is certainly feasible, the priests in the stricter parishes will get there about 5am to prepare.

The Liturgy is "that long" because it is comparatively "unreformed" compared to the Byzantine or Latin. The current Byzantine would used to have been much longer, but has been shortened over time for pastoral reasons. Also, Cotpic singing is very slow. How many syllables are there to Amen? 200 in fasting seasons?

My word. To think that we Roman Catholics get antsy if Sunday Mass goes beyond 45 minutes.


It's interesting that you say so because during the Evening Praise service I attended at this church, the chant was very rapid, so much so that this Roman Catholic accustomed to lethargically-recited public prayers had trouble keeping up (the text of the service was projected onto a screen set up in front of the iconastasis). Not that I particpated in the chanting, mind you, being completely unfamiliar with it, but even so, the prayers were chanted at a velocity that seemed almost indecent to Western ears.

It was fascinating, however, particularly when the finger cymbals and triangles came into play (which wasn't constant, but only at certain points during the service). Does anybody know anything about the significance of these instruments played by the female worshipers in the pews? I wonder if the same thing occurs during the Sunday Divine Liturgy.

I look forward to returning to this church; they were very warm and welcoming at my first visit and I enjoyed being with them.

The Coptic Orthodox parish in Altoona, PA, carries the text of the Divine Liturgy on its website if you'd care to read through it.

www.stminacopticorthodoxchurchofaltoona.com/ [stminacopticorthodoxchurchofaltoona.com]

RI,

What Church are you planning on visiting? If it's the one in North Tonawanda, I might be able to connect you with a member there; Adele is in charge of their Campus Ministry outreach at UB, he is a wonderful man.

Ed

Erie Byz:

What a small world. Yes, St. Mary and St. Moses the Black in NT, and yes, Adele is a wonderful man; I had the pleasure of meeting him at my first visit there. It was he, in fact, who found this bewildered Roman Catholic looking for the entrance to the church, and guided me to the lower level chapel where the Evening Prayer service was held. Before the service he offered me a tour of the main church, however, and I was fascinated.

At any rate, Adele could not have been friendlier or more welcoming. I look forward to returning. I nearly went to their Vespers service this evening, in fact, but remembered that I had some last minute Father's Day shopping to attend to. One of these Sundays I'd like to experience their Divine Liturgy. Perhaps next week.

I have been to the Coptic Liturgy a couple of times. Two words describe it: Long and Coptic. The language was Coptic and it lasted for about 4 hours. Most people come in towards the end and only stay for an hour.

Long and Coptic! LOL. Okay, well, that's succinct enough. I'm intrigued. Is it considered "kosher" for worshippers to arrive so late? I'm intrigued by the phenomenon of late arrivals at liturgy.

In the Roman Catholic Church it's common enough to see individuals arriving late here and there. I was at an Antiochian Orthodox Church last Sunday, however, and the number of people who arrived late surprised me. When the service began, the church was only about 1/3rd full. But people trickled in as the liturgy went on...lots of people...up to the priest's homily. Then, once the priest finished his homily, a crowd of about 25 people walked in. By the time of Communion, the church was full!

For all interested, St. Mary and St. Moses Coptic Church is hosting an Egyptian Fesitval Sept 8-9. Here is a link [buffalonews.com] to the Buffalo News article about it.

In regards to the length of liturgies, a ROCOR parish I regularly attended began all Sunday services at 9 am (Orthros) and Liturgy ended usually about 12:15 pm - longer if it was a feast day of unusual significance for the parish or a Great Feast.

I don't think most other Orthodox have regular Sunday services of this length, but I have only been to ROCOR and OCA parishes for Liturgy.

I attended a Coptic Orthodox liturgy in Jersey City forty years ago. I arrived at 10:20. Service was already under way. It ended at 2:00 p.m. When the young hieromonk greeted me at the end, I apologized for my lateness and asked when it began. He explained that since it was a great feast day (Holy Cross) they had begun a six. "Six o'clock in the morning", I gasped. "No," he smiled, "six o'clock last night." Now that's what I call an All-night Vigil! God bless and defend our Coptic brethren. He is already prospering the works of their hands!

That's great, thanks! I seldom read local news so I missed that, but now it's on my calendar. I've been wanting to visit St. Mary & St. Moses again, and this festival (which I never even knew they hosted) will be a perfect opportunity for that.