Coptic Church - a stronghold of the Christians in Egypt

The Coptic Church – the national Christian Church of Egypt. According to legend, it was founded by the Evangelist mark, and now refers to the so-called Eastern branch of Orthodox Christianity. The Copts themselves prefer to call themselves followers of the ancient Apostolic Church. the

Who are the Copts?

The Copts are considered direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Their language has many similarities with the language of Ancient Egypt, and Louis Champollion successfully used it in the initial deciphering of hieroglyphics. Today the Coptic language is almost extinct and preserved only in the Church services.

Currently, the Copts called for all followers of the Christian doctrine, living in Egypt and Ethiopia. Very often, the COPT can be distinguished from the Muslim has a tattoo of a cross on wrist. It is not mandatory, but is present in the majority of Egyptian Christians.

History of the Coptic Church

According to legend, the first Christian community in Egypt founded by Saint mark, who first visited Alexandria around 47-48 ad, He became its first Bishop, and after twenty years died at the hands of the Romans. Part of his relics is still preserved in the Coptic Church in Alexandria.

Officially, the Coptic Orthodox Church came in 451, after the Church split at the IV Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Then the Patriarch of Alexandria refused to condemn Monophysitism as heresy and had this to say about the separation of his Church. After that, all the time, while Egypt remained part of the Byzantine Empire, the Copts were persecuted as heretics.

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After the conquest of the country by the Arabs and later the Ottoman Empire for many centuries, the Coptic Church suffered terrible oppression of the Muslims who destroyed temples and were subjected to persecution of clergy and laity.

The Doctrine and ceremonies

At the heart of the creed of the Coptic Church lies a moderate Monophysitism. The Monophysites admit only the divine nature of Jesus Christ and deny that he ever was human. They believed that human nature is inherited from the mother, it was dissolved in his divine nature "as a drop of honey in the ocean”. The Orthodox Church claims that Christ had a dual nature, i.e. was a real man, while remaining God. These purely theological controversy and led in time to the split between the two churches of the East.

The Ceremonies and festivals of the Egyptian Church in many ways similar to Orthodox. Solemnly celebrated the Lord's 7 large and 7 small holidays.

The Copts is deeply venerated the mother of God. In her honor in the Church calendar there are 32 holiday, the main of which are the Nativity of the blessed virgin in the temple and the Dormition.

Religious Copts fast for most of the year. They have 4 large and several small post. In addition, fast days are always Wednesday and Friday.

The Church's Liturgy has retained many of the monastic services of the times of early Christianity. And due to the fact that the Coptic language is almost out of use and unintelligible to the greater number of parishioners, it is usually in two languages – Coptic and Arabic. Services are held 7 times per day.

Coptic churches

The Main Church of the Coptic Church today is the enormous Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria. In the same city is ancient, miraculously preserved temple of Peter and Paul.

In addition, the Coptic churches there and in other cities of Egypt. Special attention deserves the majestic Coptic Church in Egypt which is one of the main attractions of the city. The architecture of the temple combines the features of Christian and Muslim art, and a large iconostasis is decorated with three rows of ancient icons brought from the Catholic cathedrals of Europe. To avoid clashes with the Muslim religious fanatics, the Church is surrounded by a fairly high wall. However, it is open to tourists, and its workers are very friendly to representatives of all Christian denominations.

The Decoration of Coptic churches, as a rule, is not excessive showy. The walls are just plaster, and the frescoes are extremely rare. The iconostasis is made of carved wooden panels, only the top is decorated with icons. Coptic religious paintings, too, has a number of significant features. Figures here are shown flat and disproportionate, and the details are written very poorly. In General, it resembles the pattern formed by the hand of the child.

Inside the temple there are rows of benches - unlike the Orthodox churches, where the congregation always listen to the service standing.

The cross on the dome of the Church is generally oriented in two directions, and therefore always visible, whichever side of the temple was the observer.

At the entrance to the temple, it is customary to remove your shoes. Men pray separately from women.

Structure of the Coptic Church

Today, the Coptic Church in Egypt consists of 26 dioceses. Manages his Holiness the Pope, Patriarch of Alexandria. He was elected at the General meeting of bishops, where also present and laity are invited for 12people from each diocese. Before his election, the Patriarch does not have to have the Episcopal dignity, he might even be a simple monk. The final selection of the head of the Church of the candidates provide the very fate, that is, cast lots. Elected this way the Patriarch can not be offset, and only he has the right to ordain new bishops.

The Coptic Church has its own schools, and recently began to revive the institution of monasticism. Today in Egypt there are 12 male and 6 female Coptic monasteries. Most of them are located in the oasis of Wadi al-Natroun, a hundred kilometers from Cairo. There are very tiny abode, where live only 3-4 monk.

Another difference of the Coptic Church from others are still surviving hermits, leading a lonely ascetic life in the deep desert.

The Main Seminary of the Copts is the capital of Egypt, near St. Mark's Cathedral. Since 1954, the Coptic Church also has its own Institute of higher studies, devoted to the study of Egyptian Christian culture.

The Church today

Followers of the Church live mostly in Egypt. According to 1995 data, their number exceeds 8 million people, about 2 million account for the Coptic Diaspora in the world.

The Church maintains close relations with other churches Monophysite persuasion – Armenian, Ethiopian, Syrian, Malankara and Eritrean.

Not long ago, the Patriarch of Alexandria visited Russia, which is a true sign of good relations between the two branches of Orthodoxy and the attempts of rapprochement. Its initiator is a Coptic Church. In Moscow, the head of the Egyptian Christians has met with Patriarch Kirill and visited several temples and monasteries of the capital.

The Coptic Orthodox Church throughout its history never knew easy times. It still remains a small island of Christianity in the midst of the Muslim world. But despite that, it continues to exist and develop, carefully preserving traditions and instilling faith in the hearts of his parishioners.