Commemoration of the Annunciation, Nativity, and Resurrection
This commemoration is celebrated on the 29th day of every Coptic month, except the months of Tobe and Amshir. The festal (joyful) rite is used, characterized by joyful melodies appropriate for feasts and spiritual celebrations. During this rite, there is no strict fasting and no prostrations (metanias).
These commemorations are as follows:
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The Feast of the Annunciation, which falls on 29 Baramhat.
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The Feast of the Nativity, which falls on 29 Kiahk.
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The Feast of the Resurrection, which occurred in the year of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Christ, also on 29 Baramhat.
Notes
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The commemoration on the 29th day of the three Lordly feasts is not celebrated in the months of Tobe and Amshir, because these months fall outside the period of the pregnancy of the Virgin Mary with the Lord Christ (since the Annunciation occurred afterward, on 29 Baramhat). They also symbolize the era of the Law and the Prophets, which preceded the coming of the Lord Christ.
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If the 29th day falls on a Sunday, the readings of 29 Baramhat are read instead of the readings of the fifth Sunday, because those are repeated.
If it falls on any other day, the readings of the day are read, while the festal rite with its hymns and responses is maintained. -
If the Feast of the Annunciation (29 Baramhat) falls during the period from the Friday of the Conclusion of Lent until the Monday of Sham El-Nessim, it is not celebrated, because this period contains unique and important events of the Lord that cannot be repeated.
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If a major or minor Lordly feast falls on a Sunday, the readings of the feast are read instead of the Sunday readings.
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Sorrowful hymns (Hazayni) are not chanted. If there is a memorial for the departed, it is done briefly and not with the sorrowful tune. The same rule applies on Sundays and Lordly feasts.
Evening Praise (Vespers Tasbeha)
The Evening Praise is prayed as usual, with the addition of the special Psali of the feast (Watos or Adam) in the festal melody. The Tarh of the Annunciation is also said before the conclusion of the Theotokia praises.
Offering of Incense at Vespers and Matins
The
Four Bell Responses
specific to the
Annunciation, Nativity,
and Resurrection
are chanted, along with the
doxologies,
the
Psalm response,
and the
Gospel response.
The
conclusion includes
references to the three feasts together.
Midnight Praise
The Midnight Praise is prayed as usual during joyful days. The Commemoration of the Saints follows the rite of Lordly feasts, and the doxologies and psalis are chanted with the festal melody, followed by the Difnar and the conclusion of the Theotokias.
The Liturgy Rite
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Only the Psalms of the Third and Sixth Hours are prayed before the offering of the Lamb.
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The hymns Alleluia Fai Pe Pi and Tai Shori are chanted.
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The Intercessions (Hitenias) are said and include references to the three feasts.
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The service continues as usual, including the Praxis response.
Psalm Response
“Alleluia, Alleluia.
Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, took flesh from the Virgin and was born in
Bethlehem of Judea, and He rose from the dead on the
third day.
Alleluia, Alleluia.”
Gospel Response
“Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Christ took flesh, was
born, and rose from the dead.”
The
Fraction prayer of the
Lordly feasts
is prayed.
During
Communion distribution,
the
festal melody
is used, and the distribution hymns include
all three feasts
together,
with
a verse for each feast
after each verse of the
Distribution Psalm.
The
final conclusion also
includes the three feasts together.
Katameros (Lectionary):
A Greek word meaning “the Gospel of the day.” It is an ecclesiastical term from the Greek language meaning the appointed portion of readings for each day throughout the Church’s liturgical year. These readings are based on Christian doctrine and its foundation in the Lord Jesus Christ—through the proclamation of the Holy Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and their writings, and through the fore shadowing of the Old Testament such as the Psalms and prophecies—while also considering the lives of the saints and the righteous as testimony and application of this teaching.
Rite:
A Greek word meaning order or arrangement. Here it refers to the order of the Church’s prayers - Liturgies, Feasts, Fasts, hymns, the Agpeya (Book of the Hours), and the readings. Rites are generally external practices, but they have internal effectiveness because they help a person worship God with spirit, mind, and body. If the rite is the outward form, the doctrine is the essence.