View source for Alexandrian liturgical rites

{{short description|Liturgical rites used by Coptic and Orthodox Tewahedo Church}}
[[File:Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius in Mississauga (32807384017).jpg|thumb|300px|right|A [[procession]] celebrating the Resurrection of Christ during a Coptic Pascal liturgy (Easter).]]
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The '''Alexandrian rites''' are a collection of [[ritual family|ritual families]] and [[Use (liturgy)|uses]] of [[Christian liturgy]] employed by three [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches (the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], the [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]], and the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]), and by three [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] (the [[Coptic Catholic Church]], the [[Eritrean Catholic Church]], and the [[Ethiopian Catholic Church]]). 

The Alexandrian rite's [[Divine Liturgy]] contains elements from the liturgies of Saints [[Mark the Evangelist]] (who is traditionally regarded as the first bishop of [[Alexandria]]), [[Basil of Caesarea|Basil the Great]], [[Cyril of Alexandria]], and [[Gregory of Nazianzus]].  The Alexandrian rites are sub-grouped into two rites: the [[Coptic Rite]] and the [[Geʽez|Ge'ez]] Rite.

== Sub-groups ==

=== Coptic ===
{{main|Coptic Rite}}
The Coptic Rite is native to [[Egypt]] and traditionally uses the [[Coptic language]] with a few phrases in Greek. It is used in the Coptic Orthodox Church and the [[Coptic Catholic Church]]. [[Arabic]] and a number of other modern languages (including English) are also used.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eastern and Oriental Catholic Directory: Alexandrian Rite|url=http://byzcath.org/index.php/find-a-parish-mainmenu-111?sid=543:coptic_catholic_church|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014133001/http://byzcath.org/index.php/find-a-parish-mainmenu-111?sid=543:coptic_catholic_church|archive-date=2017-10-14|access-date=2017-01-31}}</ref> 

=== Ge'ez ===
The Ge'ez Rite is native to [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]] and uses the [[Geʽez|Ge'ez language]]. It is used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches, and the [[Ethiopian Catholic Church|Ethiopian]] and  [[Eritrean Catholic Church|Eritrean Catholic]] Churches.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-27 |title=New Ge‘ez Missal to serve unity among Ethiopian, Eritrean Catholics - Vatican News |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-05/ethiopia-eritrea-catholic-missal-geez-language-gugerotti.html |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=www.vaticannews.va |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Trigilio |first=John |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catholic_Mass_For_Dummies/2ra1VbfD9r0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+Alexandrian+rites+are+the+Coptic+Rite+and+the+Ge'ez+Rite&pg=PA183&printsec=frontcover |title=Catholic Mass For Dummies |last2=Brighenti |first2=Kenneth |last3=Cafone |first3=James |date=2011-02-09 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-03667-9 |pages=183 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kościelniak |first=Krzysztof |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Between_Constantinople_the_Papacy_and_th/RXBgEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+Alexandrian+rites+are+the+Coptic+Rite+and+the+Ge'ez+Rite&pg=PA25&printsec=frontcover |title=Between Constantinople, the Papacy, and the Caliphate: The Melkite Church in the Islamicate World, 634-969 |date=2022-03-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-56800-4 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref>

==Divine Liturgy==
The main [[Eucharist]]ic liturgy used by the Coptic Churches is known as the [[Liturgy of Saint Basil]].{{r|OHCW}} The term ''Liturgies of Saint Basil'' in a Coptic context means not only the sole [[Anaphora (liturgy)|anaphora]] with or without the related prayers, but also the general order of the Divine Liturgy in this rite.{{r|CO}} The term ''Liturgy of Saint Basil'' may refer also to the whole Eucharistic Liturgy which in the Coptic Churches has the following structure:{{r|LSB}}{{r|Malaty}} 

The [[Liturgy of St Cyril]] in the [[Coptic language]] is the Liturgy of Saint Mark that has been translated from [[Koine Greek]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Cody |first=Aelred |date=1991 |entry=Anaphora of Saint Cyril |encyclopedia=The Coptic encyclopedia |volume=1 |publisher=Macmillan |entry-url=https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/126/rec/2}}</ref>

===Offertory===
[[Offertory]] (or [[Prothesis (liturgy)|Prothesis]]) is the part of the liturgy in which the [[Sacramental bread]] ({{lang|ar|قربان}} ''qurbān'') and [[Sacramental wine|wine]] ({{lang|ar|أبركه}} ''abarkah'') are chosen and placed on the altar. All these rites are [[Middle Ages|medieval]] developments.{{r|Spinks}}

It begins with the dressing of the priest with [[vestment]]s and the preparation of the altar, along with prayers of worthiness for the celebrant. At this point is chanted the appropriate hour of the [[Canonical hours]], followed by the washing of the hands with its prayer of worthiness, and by the proclamation of the [[Nicene Creed]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Then takes place the elaborate rite of the choosing of the Lamb: while the congregation sing 41 times the [[Kyrie eleison]], the priest checks the wine and chooses among the bread one loaf which will be consecrated (the ''Lamb''). The Lamb is cleaned with a napkin and blessed with the priest's thumb wet of wine. Afterwards the priest takes the Lamb in procession around the altar and the deacon follows with the wine and a candle.{{r|OHCW}} At the altar, the priest, with appropriate prayers, blesses the Lamb and the wine, places the Lamb on the [[Paten]] and pours wine and a few drops of water in the [[chalice]] (the chalice is stowed into a wooden box named ''ark'' on the altar).{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The last part of the offertory resembles an [[Anaphora (liturgy)|anaphora]]: after a dialogue, the priest blesses the congregation and proclaims a prayer of thanksgiving, giving thanks to God for his support to humanity, and asking him for a worthy participation to the liturgy. Then comes the prayer of covering, said inaudibly by the priest, which has the form of an [[epiclesis]], asking God to show his face on the gifts, and to change them in order that the bread and wine may became the [[Body of Christ|Body]] and [[Blood of Christ]]. This text might come from an ancient anaphora or simply be a later [[High Middle Ages]] creation.{{r|Spinks}} The paten and the ark with inside the chalice are here covered with a veil.

===Liturgy of the Catechumens===
{{unreferenced section|date= February 2023}}
In the [[Mass of the Catechumens|Liturgy of the Catechumens]] the readings from the [[New Testament]] are proclaimed. This portion of the Divine Liturgy was in the ancient times the beginning of the [[liturgy]], and the only part which could be attended by the [[catechumen]]s. This part is roughly equivalent to the ''Liturgy of the Word'' in the Western [[Protestantism|Protestant]] rites

It begins with a [[Penitential Rite]] in which first the priest prays inaudibly Christ for the forgiveness of sins (''The Absolution to the Son'') and then all the participants kneel in front of the altar and the celebrant, or the bishop if present, recites a prayer of [[absolution]] (''The Absolution to the Ministers'').

The reading from the [[Pauline epistles]] is preceded by the offering of [[incense]] at the four sides of the altar, at the [[iconostasis]], at the book of the [[Gospel]] and at the faithful in the [[nave]]; in the meantime the faithful sing a hymn to [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and a hymn of intercession. The Pauline epistle is followed by a reading from the [[Catholic epistles]], and by one from the [[Acts of the Apostles]]. Another offering of incense is conducted (the ''Praxis Incense''), similar to the Pauline incense except that only the first row of the faithful is incensed. A reading from the Coptic [[Synaxarium]] can follow.

After these readings, the [[Trisagion]] is sung three times, each time with a different reference to the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]], [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]], thus addressing the Trisagion to Christ only. After the Trisagion follows a [[litany]], the recital of a [[Psalm]] and the singing of the [[Alleluia]], and finally the proclamation of the [[Gospel]] from the doors of the sanctuary. The [[sermon]] may follow.

===Liturgy of the Faithful===
The Liturgy of the Faithful is the core of the Divine Liturgy, where are placed the proper [[Eucharistic]] rites.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

It begins with the prayer of the Veil,{{r|Spinks}} in which the priest offers the liturgical sacrifice to God. The Long [[Litanies]] follows, where all pray for the peace, for the ecclesiastic hierarchy and for the congregation. The [[Nicean Creed]] is proclaimed, the priest washes his hands three times and sprinkles water on the congregation reciting the Prayer of Reconciliation which is a prayer of worthiness for all who attend the liturgy. Next is the [[Kiss of peace]] during which the faithful sing the ''Aspasmos Adam'' hymn, according to the season of the liturgical calendar.

====Anaphora====

The [[Liturgy of Saint Basil#Coptic Anaphora|Anaphora]] is conducted.

{{anchor|Coptic Anaphora}}The Coptic [[anaphora (liturgy)|anaphora]] of Saint Basil, even if related and using the same [[Antiochene Rite|Antiochene]] (or ''"West Syrian"'') structure,{{r|Mazza}} represents a different group from the [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine]], West Syrian and [[Armenian rite|Armenian]] grouping of anaphoras of Saint Basil. The Coptic version does not derive directly from the latter and has its own peculiarities: its text is more brief, with less [[bible|Scriptural]] and allusive enhancements, and it lacks well defined [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] references,{{r|EEEEP}}{{rp|113}} which are typical of other versions and reflect the theology of the [[First Council of Constantinople]] of 381.

The structure of the [[Coptic language#Dialects|Bohairic Coptic]] version used today in the Coptic Churches can be summarized as follow:
*Anaphora:
**the [[Sursum Corda|Opening Dialogue]]
**the [[Preface (liturgy)|Preface]], praising [[God the Father|Father]] as Lord and everlasting king, as creator of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them (quoting {{bibleverse||Psalm|146:6|HE}}), and as Father of [[Christ]] by whom all things were made.
**the ''Pre-Sanctus'', praising the Father on his throne of glory and worshiped by the [[Angel]]ic [[Christian angelic hierarchy|hosts]], so introducing –
**the [[Sanctus]], conducted without the ''Benedictus'',
**the ''Post-Sanctus'', recalling the whole history of [[Salvation (Christianity)|Salvation]], from the [[Original Sin]] to the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]], [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]] of Christ up to the [[Last Judgment]],
**the [[Institution narrative]],
**the [[Anamnesis (Christianity)|Anamnesis]], referring to the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]], [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]] and [[Second Coming]] of Christ,
**the [[Oblation]], offering to the Father the [[Eucharist]]ic gifts,
**the [[Epiclesis]], asking the [[Holy Spirit]] to come and to sanctify and manifest the gifts as the Most Holy. The Holy Spirit is then asked to make the bread the [[Body of Christ|Body]] and the chalice the [[Blood of Christ]],
**the [[Intercession]]s, praying for the participants to become one single body, for the Church, for the [[Pope of Alexandria]] and for all the ecclesiastic hierarchy, for the town and the harvest, for the [[Flooding of the Nile|floodings]], for the living, for who have offered the Eucharistic gifts, for the saints - naming [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]], [[John the Baptist]], [[Saint Stephen]], [[Saint Mark]] and [[Saint Basil]]. Then the [[Diptych#Ecclesiastical|diptychs]] are read, followed by the prayers for the dead,
**a prayer for the fruit of the [[Eucharist|Communion]] and the final [[doxology]].

The 7th-century [[Coptic language#Dialects|Sahidic Coptic]] version found in 1960{{r|Doresse}} shows an earlier and more sober form of the Bohairic text: the manuscript, incomplete in its first part, begins with the ''Post Sanctus'', and is followed by a terse ''Institution narrative'', by a pithy ''Anamnesis'' which simply lists the themes and ends with the ''oblation''. The next ''Epiclesis'' consists only of the prayer to the [[Holy Spirit]] to come and manifest the gifts, without any explicit request to change the gifts in the Body and Blood of Christ. The intercessions are shorter and only Mary is named among the saints.{{r|EEEEP}}{{rp|112}}

====After the Anaphora====

After the anaphora takes place the consignation,{{r|Spinks}} i.e. the moistening of the Lamb with some drops of the consecrated Wine, which is show to the worship of the faithful. The [[Fraction (religion)|Fraction]] of the consecrated Lamb ensues, during which the priest says a prayer which varies according to the [[Coptic calendar]]. All of the congregation stands and prays with open hands the [[Lord's Prayer]].

To be prepared for partaking of the Eucharist, the faithful bow while the celebrant says in low voice the prayer of submission, then the priest and the participants offer each other a wish of peace and the priest inaudibly prays the [[God the Father|Father]] for the forgiveness of sins (''The Absolution to the Father'').

The [[Elevation (liturgy)|Elevation]] is similar to that in the [[Byzantine Rite]], with the celebrant who raises the portion of the Lamb engraved with a cross (the ''ispadikon'') crying: "''The holy things for the holy ones''". The priest makes a second consignation and puts gently the ispakidon in the chalice (the commixture),{{r|Fraction}}  then he recites aloud a Confession of faith. The partaking of the Eucharist follows, first the Body of Christ given to the celebrants, to the deacons and to the faithful who approach the sanctuary without shoes and then the Blood of Christ in the same order. [[Psalm 150]] is sung in the meantime. The distribution of the Eucharist ends with a blessing with the [[Paten]].

The dismissal rites include The Prayer of Laying the Hands and the final blessing.

==References==

{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="CO">{{cite encyclopedia | last=Cody | first=Aelred | encyclopedia= The Coptic encyclopedia | publisher = Macmillan | url=http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cce/id/125/rec/1 |title=Anaphora of Saint Basil|volume=1 |at=121b-123b |year=1991 | isbn=002897025X }}</ref>
<ref name="EEEEP">{{cite book |editor-last = Bradshaw |editor-first=Paul F. | last=Stuckwish| first=D. Richard |chapter=The Basilian anaphoras |title = Essays on early Eastern eucharistic prayers | publisher = Liturgical Press | location = Collegeville, Minn | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0814661536 }}</ref>
<ref name="Mazza">{{cite book | last = Mazza | first = Enrico | title = The origins of the Eucharistic prayer | publisher = Liturgical Press | location = Collegeville, Minn | year = 1995 | isbn = 9780814661192 |page=612 }}</ref>
<ref name="Doresse">J.Doresse and E. Lanne, ''Un témoin archaique de la liturgie copte de S.Basile'', Louvain, 1960</ref>
<ref name="OHCW">{{cite book|editor-last1=Wainwright|editor-first1=Geoffrey|editor-link1=Geoffrey Wainwright|editor-last2=Westerfield Tucker|editor-first2=Karen B.|last=Chaillot|first=Christine|title = [[The Oxford History of Christian Worship]]|chapter=The Ancient Oriental Churches|publisher = Oxford University Press|location = New York|year = 2006|isbn = 9780195138863 |pages=137–9}}</ref>
<ref name="LSB">{{cite web | title=St. Basil Liturgy Reference Book | access-date=27 May 2012 | editor-first=Abraam | editor-last=Sleman | publisher=CopticChurch.net | url=http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/liturgy/liturgy_of_st_basil.pdf | archive-date=5 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305010008/http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/liturgy/liturgy_of_st_basil.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Spinks">{{cite book |editor-last=Parry  |editor-first=Ken | last=Spinks| first=Bryan |chapter=Oriental Orthodox Liturgical Traditions |title =The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | location = Malden, Mass |year=2010 |isbn=9781444333619 |pages=361–2}}</ref>
<ref name="Malaty">{{cite book | last = Malaty | first = Tadrous Y. | title = Christ in the Eucharist | publisher = OrthodoxEbooks | year = 1973 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TYay9WwmoeUC | page = 119 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
<ref name="Fraction">{{cite web|title=The Fraction in The Coptic Orthodox Liturgy |access-date=9 June 2012 |publisher=britishorthodox.org |url=http://britishorthodox.org/miscellaneous/the-fraction-in-the-coptic-orthodox-liturgy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309125525/http://britishorthodox.org/miscellaneous/the-fraction-in-the-coptic-orthodox-liturgy/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | author = Rev. [[George William Horner]] | url = https://archive.org/details/serviceforconsec00hornuoft/page/n15 | title = The service for the consecration of a church and altar according to the Coptic rite; edited with translations from a Coptic and Arabic manuscript of A.D. 1307 | language = en | publisher = [[Harrison and Sons]] | location = London | year = 1902 | pages = 630 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20181122230232/https://archive.org/stream/serviceforconsec00hornuoft/serviceforconsec00hornuoft_djvu.txt | archive-date = November 22, 2018 | url-status = live | access-date = November 22, 2018 | df = mdy-all }} (printers in ordinary to [[Queen Victoria|Her Majesty]]; here printers for the [[Bishop of Salisbury#List of bishops|Bishop of Salisbury]])

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020504021545/http://catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0234.html Eastern Rites: A family tree]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01303b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]

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