The Coptic Church is the mainstay of the Christians of Egypt

The Coptic Church is the national church of the Christians of Egypt. According to legend, it was founded by the evangelist Mark and now belongs to the so-called eastern branch of Orthodox Christianity. The Copts themselves prefer to call themselves followers of the ancient apostolic church.

Who are the Copts?

Copts are considered the direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Their language has much in common with the language of ancient Egypt, and Louis Champollion successfully used it in the initial interpretation of the hieroglyphs. Today, the Coptic language is almost out of use and survived only in church services.

Currently, Copts are called all followers of the Christian doctrine, living on the territory of Egypt and Ethiopia. Very often, a cop can be distinguished from a Muslim by a tattoo in the form of a cross on the wrist. It is not mandatory, but it is present in most Egyptian Christians.

History of the Coptic Church

According to legends, the first Christian community in Egypt was founded by Saint Mark, who first visited Alexandria around AD 47-48. He became her first bishop, and twenty years later died at the hands of the Romans. Some of his relics are still kept in the Coptic temple in Alexandria.

Officially, the Coptic Orthodox Church appeared in 451, after the schism at the Fourth Chalcedonian Ecumenical Council. Then the Alexandrian Patriarch refused to condemn Monophysitism as a heresy and was forced to declare the separation of his church. After that, all the time, while Egypt remained in the Byzantine Empire, the Copts were persecuted as heretics.

After the conquest of the country by the Arabs, and later the Ottoman Empire for many centuries, the Coptic Church suffered severe oppression of Muslims who destroyed the temples and persecuted clergymen and parishioners.

Belief and Rites

The doctrine of the Coptic Church is based on moderate monophysitism. Monophysites recognize only the divine nature of Jesus Christ and deny that he was ever a man. They believed that the human nature inherited by Him from the mother dissolved in his divine essence "like a drop of honey in the ocean." The Orthodox Church maintains that Christ was of a dual nature, that is, he was a real man, while remaining a god. It was these purely theological differences that led in due time to a split between the two eastern churches.

The rites and holidays of the Egyptian church are in many respects similar to the Orthodox. 7 Great Lords and 7 small feasts are celebrated.

Copts deeply revere the Mother of God. In her honor in the church calendar there are 32 holidays, the main of which are the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Introduction to the Temple and the Assumption.

Religious Copts fast for most of the year. They have 4 large posts and a few small ones. In addition, fasting days are always Wednesday and Friday.

The church liturgy preserved in itself a lot from the monastic service of the times of early Christianity. And in connection with the fact that the Coptic language is practically out of use and incomprehensible to more parishioners, it is usually held in two languages - Coptic and Arabic. The services are held 7 times a day.

Coptic temples

The main temple of the Coptic Church today is the huge Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria. In the same city there is an ancient, a miraculously preserved church of Peter and Paul.

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

The decoration of the Coptic churches, as a rule, is not distinguished by excessive pomp. The walls are simply plastered, and frescos are extremely rare. The iconostasis consists of carved wooden panels, only decorated with icons from above. Coptic religious painting also has a number of significant features. Figures of people here are portrayed as flat and disproportionate, and details are very poorly prescribed. In general, it resembles a picture made by the hand of a child.

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

The cross on the dome of the church, as a rule, is oriented immediately in two directions, and therefore it is always visible, from whatever side of the temple the observer is.

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

Structure of the Coptic Church

Today the Coptic Church in Egypt consists of 26 dioceses. It is administered by the Holy Father, the Patriarch of Alexandria. He is elected at the general meeting of the bishops, where there are also laymen, who are invited by 12 people from each diocese. Prior to his election, the patriarch need not have a bishopric, he may even be a simple monk. The final choice of the head of the Church from the candidates submitted to the fate itself, that is, cast lots. The patriarch thus elected can not be dismissed, and only he has the right to ordain new bishops.

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

Another difference between the Coptic Church and the others is the hermit monks who have survived so far, leading a lonely ascetic life far in the desert.

The main spiritual seminary of the Copts is in the very capital of Egypt, near the Cathedral of St. Mark. Since 1954, the Coptic Church has also its Institute of Higher Studies, which studies Egyptian Christian culture.

Church today

Followers of the church live mainly in Egypt. According to data for 1995, their number exceeds 8 million people, about 2 million are Coptic diasporas all over the world.

The church maintains close relations with other monophysite churches - Armenian, Ethiopian, Syrian, Malankar and Eritrean.

Not so long ago the Patriarch of Alexandria visited Russia, which is a true sign of good relations between the two branches of Orthodoxy and attempts to bring them closer. It is initiated by the Coptic Church. In Moscow, the head of Egyptian Christians met with Patriarch Kirill and visited several churches and monasteries of the capital.

For all its history, the Coptic Orthodox Church has never known the easy times. It still remains a small island of Christianity in the middle of the Muslim world. But in spite of everything, it continues to exist and develop, carefully preserving traditions and instilling faith in the hearts of its parishioners.