The Festal (Joyful) Rite

The festal rite is characterized by joyful melodies appropriate for feasts and spiritual celebrations.

In this rite the following are chanted:

• Alleluia Fai Pe Pi

• The hymn Tai Shori

• The special Praxis response for the feast

• The Psalm response and the Gospel response

• The Adam or Watos Aspasmos

• A praise hymn during the distribution (Communion)

There is no strict fasting and no prostrations (metanias). Only the Psalms of the Third and Sixth Hours are prayed before the offering of the Lamb

Times When the Festal Rite Is Used

• From the Feast of Nayrouz (1 Tout) to the Feast of the Cross (16 Tout).

• From the eve of the Nativity Feast (28 or 29 Kiahk) to the Feast of the Circumcision (6 Tobe).

• From 11 Tobe to 13 Tobe (the period between the Feast of Epiphany and the Wedding at Cana of Galilee).

• From the night of the Resurrection Feast until the Feast of Pentecost.

• On the 29th day of every Coptic month, except the months of Tobe and Amshir.

• On the Lordly Feasts.

Liturgical Notes

• If the Feast of Nayrouz falls on a Sunday, the readings of the feast are read. That month will have five Sundays. On the second Sunday of Tout, the readings of the first Sunday are read, and so on, so the fifth Sunday readings are omitted because they would be repeated.

• If the Feast of the Entry of the Lord Christ into the Temple (8 Amshir) falls during the Fast of Nineveh or the Great Lent, the readings of the feast are still read, and the Liturgy is celebrated early in the morning with the festal rite.

• During the Liturgy of the Feast of the Entry of Christ into the Temple (8 Amshir), after the Gospel reading, the Gospel book is wrapped in a white veil and carried by the priest (as Simeon the Elder carried the Lord Jesus). The priest then processes three times around the sanctuary, accompanied by the priests and deacons with incense and candles, while chanting the hymn “Ti Galilea.”

• If the Feast of the Entry of the Lord Christ into Egypt (24 Bashans) falls during the Holy Fifty Days, the special hymns of this feast are added to the Resurrection rite (Psali, Four Bell Responses, Doxology, Psalm Response, and Gospel Response), while the readings of the Fifty Days remain unchanged.

• If a Lordly Feast falls on a Sunday or during the Fast of Nineveh or the Great Lent, the readings of the feast are read.

• The feasts of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the angels, the apostles, the martyrs, and the saints do not change the readings of the Lordly feasts.

The Lordly Feasts (Feasts related to the Lord Jesus Christ)

Major Lordly Feasts

1. The Annunciation – 29 Baramhat

2. The Nativity (Christmas) – 29 Kiahk

3. Epiphany (Theophany) – 11 Tobe

4. Palm Sunday

5. The Resurrection Feast (Easter)

6. The Ascension

7. Pentecost

Minor Lordly Feasts

1. The Glorious Feast of the Circumcision – 6 Tobe

2. The Wedding at Cana of Galilee – 13 Tobe

3. The Entry of the Lord Christ into the Temple – 8 Amshir

4. Holy Thursday (Covenant Thursday)

5. Thomas Sunday (New Sunday)

6. The Entry of the Lord Christ into Egypt – 24 Bashans

7. The Glorious Feast of the Transfiguration – 13 Misra

The sorrowful hymns (Hazayni) are not chanted in the festal rite. If there is a memorial for the departed, it is done briefly and without the sorrowful tune. The same applies to Sundays, which are always celebrated in a joyful manner.

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:

1 - عيد البشارة : ( 29 برمهات )
2 - عيد الميلاد : ( 29 كيهك )
3 - عيد ظالغطاس : ( 11 طوبة )
4 - أحد الشعانين
5 - عيد القيامة
6 - عيد الصعود
7 - عيد العنصرة
 

الأعياده السيدية الصغرى :

1- عيد الختان المجيد "6 طوبة".
2- عيد عرس قانا الجليل "13 طوبة".
3- عيد دخول السيد المسيح إلى الهيكل "8 أمشير".
4- خميس العهد.
5- أحد توما "الأحد الجديد".
6- عيد دخول السيد المسيح أرض مصر "24 بشنس".
7- عيد التجلي المجيد "13 مسرى".