Egyptian martyrs (under the Romans) and fathers of the desert; then the diptychs of the dead. The fraction and intinction follow. The consecrated bread is broken into five portions, which are arranged on the paten in the form of a cross. Of these the central portion, a large square, is called the Isbodikon,[1] and is reserved for the communion of the celebrant and clergy. Intinction is made by the celebrant dipping his finger in the consecrated wine and marking a cross with it on the holy bread. The Lord's Prayer is chanted by all, the celebrant alone saying its introduction and embolism. A further memory of the living and dead follows; then he elevates the Isbodikon, holding it aloft as he comes to the door of the haikal, and says: "Holy things for the holy." The people cry: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." After this he puts the Isbodikon into the chalice. Here he says the prayer "I confess" already quoted (p. 263). In its latter part (not quoted above) there is a Monophysite clause.[2] He receives Communion, gives it to the clergy and people. The laity receive both kinds together (intincted) with a spoon. Men come into the haikal; the celebrant goes down to the women at the haikal doors. The clergy consume what is left of the Blessed Sacrament, and one or two prayers of thanksgiving are said. None of the three Coptic liturgies give a formula of dismissal, such as is usually said by the deacon. If a bishop be present, he washes his hands in water which he then sprinkles over the people.[3] Lastly, the unconsecrated loaves are distributed as blessed bread.[4] The liturgy lasts from an hour and a half to two hours. The people do not kneel;[5] they stand to pray and, as a special sign of reverence, prostrate themselves.
Coptic Church music has systems of its own which have hardly
1 A Coptic corruption of (
Greek characters).
4 The (Greek characters) or(Greek characters), common to all Eastern rites, as once in the West and still in France. Descriptions of the liturgy, not in every detail agreeing with this, may be read in Butler: op. cit. ii. 275-297; Beth: op. cit. 408-413. All Eastern rites, especially those of the smaller and more backward Churches, are liable to a certain amount of variation. Neither the books nor local practice are quite uniform.
