Coptic Orthodox Church
Ritual Teaching
"The Seven Sacraments"
In this page you will find a brief guide and information with regard to the Seven Sacraments or "The Holy Mysteries" which the Coptic Church practises until now. It is the Deacons job and duty to know well the meaning and symbolism of each sacrament in order that he may be able to teach the people and instruct the catechumens on entering the church. Our Lord Jesus Christ established for us all of these sacraments and all are visible throughout the gospels and the New Testament. Finally it has become apparent that in today's society there are too many "Why's" and not enough answers, hopefully some of your queries shall be answered below. If not please do not hesitate on asking!
Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist
Sacrament
of Unction of the Sick
Sacrament of Holy Orders
Christ himself established this sacrament through His baptism by John on the river Jordan. Christ also confirms this sacrament as seen with the words he spoke to Nicodemus "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom go God" (John 3:3-5). we find also Jesus said to His Apostles "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Traditionally the Apostles stated that baptisms must take place in "living water" be that river or lake, however they authorise baptism in fonts through total immersion or through pouring water three times on the elects' head should neither of the above be available. However before a baptism should occur the baptiser should join the elect in fasting for one or two days in order to purify themselves to receive God's grace and His Holy Spirit.
This sacrament likewise was also biblically instituted through the words of Jesus "He who believes in Me, as the scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive"(John 7:37-39). Traditionally the Holy Spirit was to come down upon a believer through the laying down of hands being the hands of the apostles, however when the number of converts became too large a number for each to be anointed personally the Apostles made the Chrism or Myron oil out of the spices and fragrance which the women used to anoint the body of Christ after his death. Accordingly the Apostles authorised that the Chrism oil may be used as a sign of the Holy Spirit entering a believer thus through the Chrism the body was made a worthy dwelling place or temple for the Holy Spirit.
the institution of this sacrament came about when Christ directly said to His Apostles "Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be lost in heaven" (Matthew 18:18). Also after the resurrection of Christ he said to His Apostles "As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And after He had said this he breathed on them, and said to the receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21-22).
This was established for us by Christ in the upper room of Zion on the Eve of his crucifixion when "He took bread. blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them and said "take, eat; for this is my body". Then he took the cup, and when He had given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And He said to them," This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many" (Mark 14:22-24). In order for the Eucharist to take place the Priest must have at least one serving deacon with him to aid the service. Thus accordingly neither the priest nor the deacon can be hard hearted for any reason whatsoever but peace must fill their hearts as they stand before God the Almighty. In accordance with the Apostles' law only baptised believers can partake of the Eucharist which is why catechumens used to leave the liturgy after the sermon and before the actual beginning of the anaphora otherwise known as "the liturgy of the faithful".Our Holy Apostolic fathers also said that one must fast nine hours in order to receive the Eucharist or before twelve o'clock of the day in which one planned to receive communion. To receive communion at a Eucharist it is Apostolic law that the believer should first meet certain criteria that being (I) he should be at peace with everybody, (II) He must have confessed all his transgressions beforehand and (III) he must have fasted accordingly.
Sacrament of Unction of the Sick
It was the command of Christ to His apostles to heal the sick from all their illnesses for example cleansing the lepers who were considered outcasts of society. We see in Matthew 10:8 Jesus said "Whatever city you enter...heal the sick who are there". James also instructed us to call the elders of the church for the sick that they may pray for them to be healed. However not always do the prayers of the elders or priests save the sick and this can be for various reasons (I) Due to lack of faith of the sick person as seen in Matthew 13:58, (II) likewise could be that the sick person is unworthy of healing, however this is a possible reason but only to be judged by God. (III) As seen regularly sickness can lead to death and what better healing is there for a Christian than the hope of rising again through the resurrection of Christ? lastly (IV) sometimes there are no healing's whatsoever and this is due to divine wisdom again not for us to judge simply because we can never understand God's divine wisdom. A clear example of this is St.Paul, God gave him everything except healing of his illness stating "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Cor. 12:9). According to our Orthodox faith for this sacrament to take place the sick person must first confess all their sins as a clear conscience brings one closer to God and through this they are made worthy to receive Him again. Also it is our church practise that only the believer may receive this sacrament, that being a baptised member.
This sacrament was established for us when Our Lord attended the wedding at Cana of Galilee.We are told He blessed the bride and bridegroom and it was there that he first proclaimed His glory through performing His first miracle, changing the water into wine. From St.Paul's letter to the Ephesians we can understand that the unity of a man and his wife is a sign of the unity between Christ and the Church. There is great symbolism in a wedding which unfortunately is not common knowledge any longer but a few are stated here. Firstly the Bridegroom waits for the bride at the door of the church as a sign that Adam waited for Eve, also that as they enter the church as one so shall they be from that time onwards. The bridesmaids holding candles are not unfortunately just decoration but symbolise the five wise virgins who had enough oil for their lamps and went into the wedding (Matthew25:1). The procession towards the altar is a symbol that the couple are coming closer together in order to receive Christ as one as the wedding is now transformed into an eternal relationship. Traditionally the priest has the wedding rings tied together by a red ribbon to signify that it is Christ's' blood that is the unity between the couple. While on this point some ask why the bride or bridegroom only put the ring on half way and the priest pushes the rest? the answer is that as the wedding started with the couple it is finalised with God after they have called upon Him. The robes placed on the bridegroom symbolise that he is the priest of his household and is responsible to ensure that members read the bible, pray everyday, confess at least twice a month partake of the Eucharist weekly and practise love, trust, respect and honesty in their lives.
Still To Come: Sacrament of Holy Orders
Last Updated: 19/4/01
