THORNTOV

X,

<;

No.

OG-

No.
l

djlj

DE [/INSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE

MUSEE COPTE

Billet d'entree

Prix 10 IVlilliemes

au Musee

THE

Ancient

Coptic

VOL.

II.

Churches

Uontron

HENRY FROWDE

OXFOKD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE

AMEN CORNER

Coptic Painting.

THE

Ancient Coptic Churches

of Egypt

BY

ALFRED

J.

BUTLER,

M.A. F.S.A.

Fellow of Brasenose College^ Oxford

IN

TWO VOLUMES
VOL.

II.

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1884
[

All

rights reserved

~\

CONTENTS
OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xi

CHAPTER

I.

THE COPTIC ALTAR. PORTABLE ALTAR.

ALTAR.

FITTINGS OF THE

COVERINGS OF THE ALTAR

CHAPTER

II.

EUCHARISTIC VESSELS AND ALTAR FURNITURE.

PATEN.
CASKET.

CREWET.
TEXTUS.

DOME OR
VEILS.

ASTER.

SPOON.

EWER AND

FAN.

CHRISMATORY.
GOSPEL-STAND.

CHALICE.

ARK OR ALTAR
BASIN.

PYX.

ALTAR -CANDLESTICKS.
THURIBLE. BRIDAL CROWN

CHAPTER

37

III.

THE FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF THE SACRED BUILDING.

AMBONS.

LIGHTS.

LECTERNS.

CORONAE.

INSTRUMENTS.

RELIQUARIES.

OSTRICH EGGS.

MURAL

PAINTINGS.

LAMPS AND

BELLS.

PICTURES

MUSICAL
.

64

Contents.

viii

CHAPTER

IV.
PAGE

THE ECCLESIASTICAL VESTMENTS OF THE COPTIC CLERGY.

PREVIOUS AUTHORITIES.
STOLE.

PALL.

DALMATIC.

ARMLETS

AMICE.
.

CHAPTER

.97

V.

PHELONION.

ECCLESIASTICAL VESTMENTS (CONTINUED).

CROWN OR MITRE.

GIRDLE.

CROZIER OR STAFF OF AUTHORITY.

PROCESSIONAL CROSS.

PECTORAL CROSS.

BENEDICTIONAL CROSS.

EPIGONATION.

CHAPTER

SANDALS.

ROSARY

.173

,239

VI.

BOOKS, LANGUAGE, AND LITERATURE

CHAPTER

VII.

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS. BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION.

EUCHARIST.

PENANCE

CHAPTER
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS

262

VIII.

CHAPTER

MATRI-

ORDERS.

(CONTINUED).

ANOINTING OF THE SICK

MONY.

OILS.

FASTING

THE

CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH AND ALTAR.

CONSECRATION OF A BAPTISTERY.
PHANY.

,301

IX.

VARIOUS RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH.

HOLY

FESTIVAL OF EPI-

PALM SUNDAY AND HOLY WEEK.

SEASONS OF
330

Contents,

CHAPTER

ix

X.
PAGE

LEGENDS OF THE SAINTS.

LEGEND OF

ABU-'S-SIFAIN.

ANBA SHANUDAH. MARI M!NA. MAni TADRUS. MARI

GIRGIS. ABU KlR WA YUHANNA. YAKUB AL MU^ATT'A.
THE FIVE AND THEIR MOTHER. ABU NAFR. ANBA
BARSUM AL 'ARIAN. THE VIRGIN'S ASCENSION. SIMAN
AL HABIS AL 'AMUDI. MAR!NA. TAKLA. ABU SlKHtRUN. ST. SOPHIA. ST. HELENA. THE FINDING OF THE
CROSS. GIRGIS OF ALEXANDRIA. ANBA MAHARUAH.
ST.

ANBA ZACHARIAS.
ANBA MARKUS

MICHAEL.

ARCH.

INDEX TO VOL. n

PETER THE PATRI357

405

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL.

Coptic Painting

...
......
...
...
.

'

Coptic Altar

Marble Altar-slab

Altar-top showing marble slab inlet

PAGE

frontispiece

Marble Altar-slab pierced with drain

"

Consecration Crosses

II.

.21

Silk Curtain with massive silver embroidery, before the Haikal

door at Al Mu'allakah

Various pieces of Church Furniture

The Hasirah

or Eucharistic

Mat

Flabellum in repousse silver

Flabellum

Processional

of

Textus Case of

silver-gilt

used

silver-gilt

Church of Alexandria

Crown

Ancient Iron Candelabrum at Abu-'s-Sifain

Glass

Lamp

Bronze

at Sitt

Lamp

Seven-wicked

at

Mariam

of Iron for the Anointing of the Sick

Specimens of Altar Candlesticks

Embroidered Dalmatic

Shamlah (back and

front view)

47

49

.58
-59
.

...

Dair Tadrus

Lamp

Melkite

....

Ivory-inlaid Lectern at the Cathedral in Cairo

Ivory-inlaid Lectern (back view)

31

.41
-45

....

Gospel-stands with Prickets for Candles

Bridal

by the

62

66

.67
.70
.72
-73
.

76

.76
.no
119

List of Illustrations.

xii

PAGE

Patrashil of crimson velvet embroidered with silver

St.

Stephen

from a painting

Seal of the Coptic Patriarch

Fresco at Al Mu'allakah
St.

Michael

The Crown
Priestly

.130
-137
.151
156

..

from a painting at

Armlets at the Church of

Abu Sargah

at

Abu

Abu Sargah
ir

of the Coptic Patriarch

220

Coptic Crozier

Head

of Processional Cross of silver

Wafer or Eucharistic Bread

205
211

Cap

Benedictional Cross and small Amulet Crosses

159

.167

......
.

232

234
278

THE

ANCIENT COPTIC CHURCHES

OF EGYPT.

ERRATA.

Page

1 1

8,

1.

19,

163,

1.

2,

1.

23,

281,
,,

326, note
376,

1.

for and read or

HI read ttl

for

for unfermented, and read not unfermented, but

3,

32,

for

Oo>

read cioj (bis

for Ishac read Ishak

[Butler's 'Ancient Coptic Churches,'' Vol. II.}

G. P. Badger, The Nestorians and

(London, 1852).
VOL. n.

their Rituals, vol.

i.

p.

228

List of Illustrations.

xii

PACK

Patrashil of crimson velvet embroidered with silver

St.

Stephen

from a painting

Abu Sargah

at

Seal of the Coptic Patriarch

Fresco at Al Mu'allakah

.>-,.

'

St.

Michael

from a painting at

Armlets at the Church of

The Crown
Priestly

..

Abu

Abu Sargah

Kir

of the Coptic Patriarch

Cap

Coptic Crozier

.130
.137
-151
.156
.159
.167

......
.

.'

205
211

220

THE

ANCIENT COPTIC CHURCHES

OF EGYPT.
CHAPTER
Of
Altar.

I.

the Coptic Altar.

Portable Altar.

Fittings of the Altar.

Altar.

Coverings of the

the Coptic term for

seems to correspond very closely with
the Greek. For JUL<LnepojU3Ocyi, which is

altar

ETYMOLOGICALLY
the ordinary word, means

'

place of making
the significance of this etymology
lessened by the fact that the remote root in ancient
Egyptian, from which the Coptic cycoocyi is derived,
has rather the meaning of 'placing' or 'leaving*
sacrifice':

nor

is

than of

In point of usage ctjuxxyi consacrifice.

the
sacrifice to the Copts and no
idea
of
veyed
other. Accordingly we find the corresponding Arabic
the liturgies and in common speech is
(madbah) derived from ^><3 which means to
slaughter, so that the idea is clearly that of a sacrificial

word used

in

*>&<*

structure like the Bwiao-Tripiov of the

Greek Church.

The same word madbah is used now by the NesThe Greeks often call the altar the holy
torians
1

G. P. Badger, The Nestorians and

(London, 1852).
VOL.

II.

their Rituals, vol.

i.

p.

228

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

and in Latin the term mensa'

is
sometimes used for 'altare.'
of Pope Nicholas I. mensa effici'

table (dy/a TpdVe^a),

or 'sancta mensa'

Thus

i.

'

a letter
tur :' and Fortunatus 1 says the name is given quod
est mensa Domini, in qua convivabatur cum disciBut the Copts are not apparently conscious
pulis.'
of any such symbolism, nor do they commonly if
in

'

ever speak of the altar as a table although they do

regard it under two other symbolical aspects, as
representing the tomb of Christ and the throne of
God. The manner in which these types are figured
;

and decoration of the

in the ritual

altar will

appear

in the sequel.
Every altar in a Coptic church is invariably detached, and stands clear in the middle of its chapel

or sanctuary.
Though the haikal and the sideare
chapels
usually raised one step above the choir,
the altar is never raised further on other steps, but
stands on the level of the floor
this rule

is

found

yet an exception to
where the

in the desert churches,

elevated on a step or platform above the

The custom of attaching the
floor of the haikal.
altar

is

lesser altars to the wall in western churches

is

doubt-

but originally the high altar

very ancient
that the celebrant might move
stood
so
clear,
always
around it. This is proved by the words of the
less

Sarum

Rite 2

'
,

thurificando altare circueat,'

and again

So too
principale altare circumquaque aspergat.'
3
in the Ecgbert Pontifical we read in circuitu ipsius

'

Gradually, however, the altar was moved

up to the eastern wall, and became attached and fixed
there, which, of course, was the usual though not

altaris.'

De

Ecclesiae

C. 25 and 28.

Officiis, torn.

iii.

p. 21.
s

P. 40.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

invariable arrangement in our churches before the

reformation.
In the seventeenth century, after the

destruction of the ancient altars, in

many

places a

detached communion-table was placed in the chancel

with benches against the wall all round it. This

arrangement was distinctively Puritan in character

it still survives in one or two churches, such as the
interesting little Saxon church of Deerhurst near
Tewkesbury, and the chapel of Langley, Salop.
The Puritans were probably not aware of their reversion to primitive practice and their thoughts, of
course, were very far removed from processions and
:

incense.

The Coptic altar is a four-sided mass of brickwork

or stonework, sometimes hollow, sometimes nearly
solid throughout, and covered with plaster.
It approaches more nearly to a cubical shape than the
altars of the western churches.
It is never built of

wood (though very curiously the high altar

*

at Abu-'scased in wood), nor upheld on pillars. As

a rule the structure of the top does not differ from
Sifain

is

that of the side walls, but contains an oblong rectangular sinking about an inch deep, in which is loosely
fitted

the altar-board

a plain piece of

wood carved

with the device of a cross in a roundel in the centre,

A above and fl below this, and the sacred letters of
Sanutius IH XP YC 9C at the four corners. This

arrangement, by which the chalice and paten stand

at the mass upon a wooden base, while the fabric of
1

in the

have heard a

form of a

speak of a wooden altar at Girgah

In remote places such violations of right

traveller

table.

and custom may occur through indolence, ignorance, or indifference.

But the evidence is not very weighty. Vide Arch. Journ.
vol. xxix. p.

125

n.

B 2

PU

Fig.

1.

The Altar.

CH.I.]

of stonework, presents a complete and

singular reversal of the Latin practice for the Roman
rubric enjoins that, even where wood is the main

the altar

is

material of the altar, a tablet of marble or stone

must be placed for the sacred elements to rest upon
at consecration.

On

the eastward side in every altar, level with

the ground, is a small open doorway showing an

Whether or not

interior recess or cavity.

this door-

way was

originally closed by a moveable stone or

board is uncertain but there is in no case any sign
of the opening ever having been blocked or closed,
:

and no door-stone or the

like exists in

The

any church

but very
cavity is of varying size
often it is nearly co-extensive with the altar, which
in that case consists merely of four walls and a top
to-day.

Where

of masonry.
recess

the masonry

is

more

solid,

the

to denote a

large enough
usage rather
different from that of the corresponding recess in
is still

western altars, e.g. in the sixth-century altar at the

church of Enserune and Joncels in H6rault. These
have openings in the back or eastward face, but high

up under the slab and of small dimensions.

The

nearest approach
the Coptic altar
occurs at Parenzo in the altar of St. Euphrasius
in structure to

ascribed to the sixth century 1

In the Latin Church the altar was generally a solid
structure, and the top, at least in all historic times,
.

was required

to be of stone or marble as

an essential
condition of consecration.
The top too had to be a
slab
all
and forming a shelf,
on
sides
single
projecting
The Greek Church to the present day retains its
1

La Messe,

vol.

i.

pi.

xxvii

and xxxiv.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

more ordinary custom of supporting the

ancient,

top on four

This top

pillars.

is

i.

altar-

Goar

of stone.

Greek altar was invariably a table,

and resting on four columns. But
underneath
open
in the office of dedication as given by the same
author 1 it is expressly provided that the substructure
may be solid, consisting either of a single block of
But from the
stone, or of smaller stones in courses.
earliest times the table-like form seems to have been
Thus Paul the Silentiary, in his
far more common.
description of St. Sophia, says the altar of Constanstates that the

was made of gold and silver and costly woods,

and adorned with pearls and jewels. It was raised
on steps, and stood on golden columns resting upon
foundations of gold. The costly woods were doubtless used for some kind of inlaying or outer embellishment, and cannot be taken to imply any sanction
of an entirely wooden altar, which does not seem to
have been canonical in any part of the Christian
tine

'

'

world after the fourth century.

Up

to that

date

wood was doubtless a common material in Africa.

Thus a wooden table is mentioned by Athanasius
and by Optatus bishop of Milevis

Asseman

states

that the

c.

370

altars of

A.D.

the Syrian

Jacobites and Maronites in the East were sometimes

So too in Gaul the
of wood, sometimes of stone.
Yet stone altars were
earliest altars were wooden.
used as early as the fourth century, and in more
historical times stone was the sole material recognized.

Thus among

the Nestorians

wooden

altars

are plainly prohibited by the canons those of John,

fifty-seventh patriarch, in the tenth century ordain
that the altar must be fixed and made of stone in
:

Euchol. p. 832.

Bibl. Orient,

iii.

238.

The Altar.

.CH. i.]

So too one of
abodes and times of peace 1
the canonical judgments of Abu Isa is to the effect
that, where men are dwelling in a city free from persecution and peril, there the altar may never be
made of wood but if they are in some place where
a stone altar is impossible, then a wooden altar may be
used by force of necessity. But a bishop may always
2
The wooden
destroy an altar, if he think well
3
as used in the
altars mentioned by Mr. Warren
Irish
and
church
of
St.
elsewhere,
early
Bridget
were probably only an accident of the time when
the whole fabric of the church building was merely
of wood: and in the Anglo-Saxon ritual it was
expressly forbidden to consecrate a wooden altar.
Both in the Greek and Latin ordinances it was presettled

scribed that the altar-top should project

sides or pillars of the altar but there

beyond the

only one
instance of such a projection in the altars of the
Copts. With them too the top is rarely formed of
a single slab. Commonly it is a mere plastered sur;

is

with an altar-board 4 as described.

a stone slab is used, it is hollowed to a depth

face, like the sides,

Where

of two inches, leaving a border or fillet all round,

and usually inserted thus in the masonry so that the
fillet is flush with the
These slabs, though
altar-top.
common in the desert, are so rare in Cairo that I
have only seen four in all the churches there, three
1

J.

A. Asseman,

De

Catholicis seu Patriarchis

Nestorianorum Commentarius,

Id. p. ii 8, n. i.

The Arabic term

similar slab

is

p. 112.

for this altar-board

Chaldaeorum

is

Celtic Church, p. 91.

the slab.'
merely
'

,-j-UI,

prescribed as necessary in the constitutions of the

Church of Antioch by the patriarch Kyriakos ; see Renaudot,

Or. torn.

i.

p.

et

Rome, 1775.

165.

Lit.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

i.

being at Al Mu'allakah, and one at Abu-'s-Sifain.

Of the four, two are horseshoe shaped, one circular,
and one is rectangular, pierced with a hole in the
centre.

They occupy

the greater part of the top

altar, with

whole summit of the

surface, but not the

the possible exception of the rectangular slab, which

I
only saw dismounted after the altar had been dismantled.
There are however three other small
rectangular slabs, which ought perhaps to be added
to the number, namely those on the floor of the re-

A.J.B

SCALE OF FEET
Fig.

2. (i)

Marble Altar-slab.

(ii)

Altar-top showing marble slab inlet.

or arcosolia in the crypt of Abu Sargah.

the position of two of the recesses in the north
and south walls instead of the east, it might be doubtcesses

From

ful

whether these slabs were designed

some other purpose

for altars, or for

think the analogy with

Roman arcosolia, and a comparison of these stones
with other stones described above, will tell in favour

of the belief that

altars.

that,

The

all

design

wherever

it

that the purpose

is
is

is

but

the slabs in the crypt denote

at once so rare and so marked

found,

it

identical.

may

fairly

be assumed

In that case the num-

CH.

The Altar,

I.]

ber of Cairene altar-slabs of marble with raised fillet

a very small proportion.
will amount to seven
On the other hand the monastic churches of the
western desert abound in altars with slabs of this
:

description,

which

are, in fact, as

normal there as

they are exceptional in the churches of the two Cairos.

It is not easy to understand this remarkable differ-

ence between the altars of the desert and the capital

nor can one see why the examples in Cairo are fur:

nished by the three main altars at Al

Mu allakah,

by

SCALE OF FEET
Fig. 3.

Marble Altar-slab pierced with

drain.

the altars of the crypt at Abu Sargah, and by a

single altar in a small exterior chapel at Abu-'sOf course where the altar-top is formed of
Sifain.

a marble slab

in

this

manner, the ordinary loose

rectangular plank of wood graven with the sacred

monogram the altar-board as I have called it

does not occur. That the marble slab was designed

with special reference to the ancient ceremony of
washing the altar, cannot I think be doubted for it
:

is

proved by

the presence of the raised moulding,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

io

by the break

in the

[CH.

border generally found on the

western side of the slab to let off the water, and

example by a drain in the centre of the slab.
case

is

marked

At

\.

in

one

The

further strengthened by the hitherto unrebut very striking coincidence of western usage.

the church of Sta. Pudentiana in

Rome

there

a rectangular slab, about 4ft. 6 in. by 4ft. 2 in.,

dating from the fourth century it is surrounded by
a raised moulding and pierced with two drains, one
of which is in the centre 1
Slabs unpierced and
surrounded with unbroken mouldings are of very
frequent occurrence from the earliest times in Europe.
is

The

fifth-century altar of St. Victor at Marseilles,

and the sixth-century slab of the Auriol altar, may

be cited among very early examples 2 The Society
.

of Antiquaries of the

West of France

possesses a very
this
of
found
in
slab
the church of
kind,
interesting
3
Vouneuil-sous-Biard and ascribed to the sixth cen,

tury: a seventh-century example

museum

at Valognes

4
:

is

preserved

the altar of S.

in the

Angelo

at

Perusia, built in the tenth century, of Vaucluse in the

eleventh, and at Toulouse in the twelfth, show how

continuous in the West was the design of altar-slabs

framed with a raised moulding.

Nor

we

altogether without a western parallel

for the curious horseshoe or semicircular slabs of the

Coptic
1

are

altar.

La Messe,

In the

pi. xliv.

museum

On

p. 1 1 2

at

Vienna

is

a marble

M. de Fleury observes

'
:

Les

trous qu'on remarque sur la surface doivent provenir d'un autre

usage qui n'a rien de commun avec son origine, ou servaieni au
The italics are mine I think the Coptic
lavage de Fautel.'
:

examples settle the point.

2
La Messe, vol. i. pi. xlvi,
3

Id. ib. pi. xliv. p. 147.

xlvii.
*

Id. ib. pi. xlv.

CH.

The Altar.

i.

\ i

slab, said to be of Merovingian origin, dating from

it is semicircular in
the sixth or seventh century
form with three sinkings of different levels, the
:

outermost being six-lobed, the other two semicircular but all three have a broken angular line across
;

the chord, singularly resembling the Coptic model 1

Another semicircular altar-slab is to be seen in the
.

museum

I have no doubt that this

from
the desire of imitating the
form
arose
particular
table of the Last Supper, which in Coptic art is
sometimes figured in the same shape. A glance at

of Clermont.

Abu Sargah

2
carving of the eighth century
almost decides the matter.
There our Lord
is sitting with his disciples at a table of almost

the

same form

Coptic horseshoe
slabs, and the table has a border or moulding round
it
moreover the intention is rendered quite unexactly

the

as

the

ambiguous by the canopy above the table and the

altar-curtains which are looped round the pillars.
Western art furnished abundant examples of the

same

idea

in the

thus the semicircular table

catacombs of

St.

is

depicted

Calixtus, the mosaics of

Apollinare at Ravenna, on the columns of the

ciborium at St. Mark's, and in a miniature at
St.

Cambridge

As

in the

western so

Coptic Church, there

seem to have been no fixed dimensions for the altar.
in the

English altars varied from 8 ft. to 14 ft. 6 in. in

The Coptic
length, but were usually 3 ft. 6 in. high.
altar is smaller: that for instance at St. Mark's
chapel in Al Mu'allakah is 3 ft. IT in. long by
3ft. 3 in. broad-: the principal altar at
1

La Messe,

vol.

lii.

i.

pi.

La Messe,

vol.

ii.

p. 164.

See

Abu
vol.

i.

Sargah
p. 191.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

12
is

5 \ in. by 3
altar
is 7 ft.
cipal
ft.

Sifain

is

is

only 2

ft.

i.

at Abu-'s-Sifain the prin-

The

height too
thus the chief altar at Abu

in.

varies considerably

Sargah

3 in.

ft.
i

[CH.

by 4 ft.

3 in.

lo^in. high, and that at Abu-'s-

in.

4
cavity, which has been mentioned as opening
eastward in the altar, has doubtless a symbolical
reference to the martyr-souls seen under the altar
in the apocalyptic vision
In the early ages of the
3

ft.

The

reminiscence of this vision, it was customary to bury the bodies of saints or martyrs
underneath the altar, either in a vault or crypt
beneath the floor of the sanctuary, or else actually

church, in

One

within the fabric of the altar.

of the most

notable instances of this practice was at the ancient

patriarchal church of Alexandria, where rested the
body of St. Mark the Evangelist, before the church

was plundered and the sacred remains carried over

sea by the Venetians in the early middle ages.
And to this day the high altar of St. Mark's at
Venice encloses the body of the Evangelist, and
In more
bears the inscription Sepulcrum Marci.'
tranquil times and places, when a new church was
built, and no famous martyr's body was ready to
'

hallow the sanctuary, the usage still prevailed of

placing within the altar relics of some saint or
anchorite.

There

is

show that the

was meant to be sealed

nothing

to

cavity in the Coptic altar

up, once the relics were deposited.

On

the contrary,

the probability seems that they were merely enclosed

in some kind of coffer, and then laid under the altar,

so as to be easily removable in rase they were

required for healing the sick, carrying in procession,
1

Rev.

vi.

9.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

13

At the present day every

church
its
relics, which are enclosed
Coptic
possesses
in a sort of bolster covered with silk brocade and
kept in a locker beneath the picture of the patron
or other ritual purposes.

At Al

saint.

there

is

Mu'allakah,

a special

wooden

it

will

be remembered,

reliquary containing four

grill in the south aisle-

such cases besides a marble

and some of the desert churches have

But there can
be little doubt that the practice of keeping relics
in lockers or aumbries is of mediaeval
origin, and
that originally their right place was in the cavity
chapel

reliquaries enclosing entire bodies.

under the altar. Two or three examples of Coptic

subterranean altars have been cited in the foregoing
but probably the clearest
chapters of this work
:

instance of a confessionary crypt is at Abu Sargah,

though there is no direct evidence to show that it is

regarded as the tomb of any martyr. Still, inasmuch as tradition marks this under-chapel as the
resting-place of the Holy Family, and therefore consecrated in a special manner by a holy presence, the
building of the high altar of Abu Sargah above it

gives a close enough analogy to the western practice.

Moreover the eastern niche in the crypt bears a very
singular resemblance to the arcosolium in the tomb
of St. Gaudiosus at Naples 1 dating from about
,

460

and to other arcosolia of the fourth and

centuries at Rome, some of which undoubtedly
A.D.,

fifth

nor are the other recesses of the

The whole plan is singularly
crypt very different.
2
like that of the crypt of St. Gervais at Rouen
served as altars

See La Messe,

Sotteranea, vol.
2

La Messe,

iii.

vol.

vol.

i.

pp. 106-7, and P 1

p. 44.
ii.

p. 118.

xx v
*

Ancient Coptic Churches.

14

At

present, as far as

i.

[CH.

can ascertain, the chief

if

not the sole use of the altar-cavity among the Copts

is on Good Friday, when a picture of the cross is
it, to be uncovered on
Easter morning.
In the Latin Church the use of relics for the consecration of an altar, and the association
confusion
one might almost say between the ideas of sacrifice
and sepulture, reach back to the remotest antiquity.
Thus Jerome remarks ,' Romanus Episcopus

buried in rose leaves within

super mortuorum hominum Petri et Pauli secundum

nos ossa veneranda
offert Domino sacrificia et
.

tumulos eorum Christi arbitratur altaria.' The place

where the relics were laid was called technically the
sepulcrum, and in England the sepulchre was always
in front or on the westward side of the altar
the
:

idea being that the congregation in the nave, and

not as in the Coptic arrangement the elders round
'

the apse, should be thus reminded of the souls

In the crypt under the south
under the altar.'
chancel aisle at Grantham Abbey the cavity is 3 ft.
2 in.

long by 2 ft. 4 in. broad. The cavity was always

by a sealed slab engraved with five crosses,

closed

such as

may

Norwich and

be seen

still

St.

David's.

in

the

cathedrals

of

very early instance,

dating probably from the fourth century, occurs in

the church of San Giacomo Scossacavallo at Rome 2
,

where the cavity is in the middle of the altar-top,

which legend says was once upon the altar of preThis same
sentation in the temple of Jerusalem.
altar at S. Giacomo has a second sepulcrum or
confessio below, with an arched
1

Tom. adv. Vigilant, p. 153, quoted by Gibbon.

La Messe, vol. pi. xxiv.
ii.

doorway very

i.

like

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

15

Other examples are furthe Coptic arrangement.

nished by an altar at the church of Esquelmes in
Belgium, All Saints' chapel at Ratisbonne, and the
altar in the north transept of Jervaulx

Abbey, where

the sealed slab was only 6^ in. by 7^ in.

the confessio or crypt below the altar

Though
is

quite

from the sepulcrum, yet the two terms are

Thus in the
sometimes used interchangeably.
1
Ecgbert Pontifical at the consecration of an altar
the bishop is directed to make a cross with chrism
in the middle and at the four corners of the
conis
fessio,' where the slab of the
clearly
sepulcrum
distinct

'

'

'

So too

intended.

same form

Ordo Romanus

in the

prescribed in the words

exactly the

'

ponat crisma in
crucem
tune
The true con ressionary or crypt seems to have been introduced into
England by the Roman missionaries, and is in fact
2
It does not occur in any Saxon
essentially Latin
churches, except such as were built under the influence of Italian models, and is quite unknown in
Ireland.
Eadmer, c. 1000 A.D., describes that at
is

confessionem per angulos quattuor

ponat tabulam super relliquias.'

in

Canterbury as made expressly in imitation of the

crypt under the original basilican church of St. Peter

Rome. In the high altar was buried the body of

Wilfrid of York, and in the Jesus altar the head of
St. Swithin
while in the confessionary were the

at

head of

St.

Furseus and the tomb of

St.

Dunstan.

At Canterbury and elsewhere

there was a flight of

from
the
the presbytery, the
choir
to
steps leading
stone floor of which was thus raised four or five feet

above the choir

1

P. 45-

floor

underneath

Hist.

it

was the subter-

Eng. Ch. Arch.

p. 47, &c.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

ranean chapel with

its

LCH.

i.

The
and shrine
the Ceremoniale Episco-

own

altar

name is clearly given in

2
'locum qui in plerisque ecclesiis sub altari
porum
esse
solet ubi et martyrum corpora requiescunt
majori
qui martyrium seu confessio appellatur! The crypt
:

too was sometimes called confessorium, and Du Cange

quotes from the Laudes Papiae apud Muratorem

'

'

'

Fifteen churches are found having very

large crypts with vaulted roofs upheld on marble
columns these are called confessoria, and in them

as follows

bodies of saints rest within marble

coffers.'

Richard,

Hexham, says of St. Wilfrid's church there,

prior of

80

were many chapels below

throughout the building. Mr.
Scott gives instances of Saxon crypts at Brixworth,
Wing, and Repton and of later crypts at York, Old
St. Paul's, Winchester, Gloucester and elsewhere.
I
may add that a very good instance of a confessionary occurs in the church of St. Clement at
But essential as the presence of relics
Hastings.

about
the

1 1

A.D., that there

several

altars

was considered

in the early

ages of the church, in

later times, despite the miraculous

power of

multi-

plying possessed by martyrs' bones, there seems

to have been a dearth of such remains, and altars

were consecrated without them.

fifteenth century,

now

MS. of the
Museum 3 may

In a

in the British

be found a rubric providing that the practice of

placing relics inside the altar

'

raro

fiat

propter

This ordinance, hitherto

relliquiarum paucitatem.'
to me by Mr. Middleton.
was
out
unnoticed,
pointed
Corresponding to the altar-cavity of the Coptic
1

2
3

See Rock, Church of our Fathers,

Lib.

i.

c. 12.

Lansdowne, 451,

fol.

137

a.

vol.

i.

p.

219.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

17

Church and the sepulcrum of the Latin, there was

always a place beneath the Greek altar (sub altari
locum excavatum *), .called the sea, QdXao-a-a or
Here were thrown away the rinsings
OaXao-o-iSiov.
from the priests' hands and the water used for
washing the sacred vessels and here were laid the
;

ashes of holy things, such as vestments or corporals,

that were burnt by fire by reason of their decay.
These uses give some colour to the derivation of
the term propounded by Ligaridius, who says that
the idea comes from the lustral service of the sea,

because

words of Euripides

in the

OdXaa-cra

iravra

The thalassa no doubt was pierced with a

KXvgei.
drain to carry off the rinsings, and so far corresponded with the western

Moreover, in
early times the piscina in English churches was a
drain at the foot of the altar on the westward side.
This is proved for instance by the words of the
Ecgbert Pontifical, according to which the holy water
that is left over after sprinkling a church at dedication

'

is

poured

piscina.

at the base of the altar.'

also a symbolical reason assignable

There

is

for as the altar

figures the throne in heaven of St. John's vision,

so this thalassa figures the sea by the throne. Besides

the uses above given the thalassa had a further

purpose as a receptacle for vestments on the eve of

a festival, for which they were specially hallowed by

2
In the thalassa too,
being placed under the altar
as in the sepulcrum, relics were sometimes though
.

rarely placed usually they were kept in separate

chests or coffers, as became the later practice in the
Latin and the Coptic churches alike.
Evagrius for
:

Goar, Euchol.
VOL.

it.

p. 15.

Id. p. 518.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

i.

'

example speaks of a finely wrought shrine of silver*

used as a reliquary. Goar, after asserting that the
altar was merely a table on four columns, states that
the relics, which by the Greek canons were absolutely
essential to the dedication of a church, were placed
either inside the slab or else inside the pillars.
But
I have
shown
this
of
to
be
statement
already
part
inasmuch
as
the
rubric
for
dedication
erroneous,
allows the altar to be built up as a solid structure.
When moreover we read of the thalassa being the
place in which the relics sometimes though rarely
were deposited the right conclusion doubtless is,
that where the rarer, i.e. the solid form of altar prevailed, there the thalassa, being walled all round like
;

the Coptic cavity, served to give the relics a shelter

and security which they would not receive under the

open table-altar. The hollow form of the Greek
altar is expressly mentioned in early times.
Thus
Ardon, Abb6 of Aniane, who died
'

Altare

in

82 1

A. D.,

writes

solidum, ab intus autem

habens ostiolum, quo privatis

illud forinsecus est

cavum, retrorsum

diebus inclusae tenentur capsae cum diversis relliquiis

Patrum V And of vestments we read
vespera
vestimenta
sanctum
habitum
suscepturi
praecedente,
'

ad sanctum altare asportantur et in sanctae mensae

gremio seu mari (cV r<S 6a\a<rcri8ta> r^y ay fay rpaTre^y)
3
Conversely, altars supported on columns
reponuntur
An altar
are sometimes found in Latin churches.
on four pillars is depicted in the mosaics of the
.'

baptistery at S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna

similar is the altar of St. Rusticus at Minerve in

Hist.

Thiers, Les Principaux Autels des Eglises, p. 20. Paris, 1688.

lib.

ii.

Id. ib. p. 33.

c. 3.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

19

1
The slab in the Vienna
H6rault, dated 457 A.D.
museum rested on three 'supports as did a slab in
the church of SS. Vincent and Anastasius at Rome.
:

single central pillar is found in the case of an

altar of the seventh century at Cavaillon, and another
at Six-Fours

2
.

There seems to have been nothing in the structure

of Greek churches corresponding to the confessionary.
Neither

of St. Sophia nor in any

know, is any indication of
in connexion with the .many
analogies existing between Greek and Coptic usage,
so far bears out the idea that the arrangement of the
crypt at Abu Sargah is accidental, and is not a
martyr's shrine placed intentionally beneath the high
It will be remembered too that the only other
altar.
in the description

other record, as far as

it
and this fact, taken

example of a subterranean chapel

in

a Cairo church,

the chapel of Barsum al 'Arian at Abu-'s-Sifain, is

not merely not under the high altar but is outside
the main church altogether

while in regard to the

information
is wanting.
Upper Egypt
examples
The church of Anba Bishoi in the Natrun valley
:

in

has a curious cavity showing under the patriarchal

throne in the tribune, which may possibly have been
designed for

relics.

One further point remains. In western

dom the altar was nearly always marked

Christen-

with five

crosses incised on the slab, one in the centre, and

one at each of the four corners. These are called

consecration crosses, and are sculptured in the places

where the bishop at dedication signed the sign of

the cross with chrism, and burnt over each spot a

1

La Messe,

vol.

Id. ib. pi. Ivi

i.

and

C 2

pi. xliii.

Ixxv.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2O

[CH.

i.

heap of incense and two crossed tapers. In

England most of the original altar-slabs were thrown
down at the reformation or in Puritan times, and
used as paving-stones or tombstones. Some few
remain in situ, such as on the high altar at Peterchurch in Hereford; in the parish church at Forthlittle

ampton, Gloucester; the collegiate choir at Arundel;

the chapels of St.

Mary Magdalene and

of Maison

A very good example was the

on
the high altar at Tewkesbury
splendid
Abbey (re-discovered and replaced by Mr. Middleton), but unfortunately the crosses have been
Dieu

at

Ripon.

slab

almost obliterated by a process of repolishing. A

slab used as a tombstone may be seen in the north

West Ham, Pevensey, and

not uncommon elsewhere.

aisle of St. Mary's,

amples are

ex-

The Greek rite does not differ materially from

the English, except that the cross is marked in three
places instead of five on the slab and of the three
crosses one

is

in the centre,

one

The

at each side.

crosses, however, are rather larger for the chrism is

poured out in the form of a cross, as at baptism.
Though the corners of the slab are not marked,
;

yet each of the four pillars upholding it

by the pontiff with three crosses of chrism

is
;

signed

and

it is

probable that on all the places thus anointed the

figure of a cross was afterwards incised in the stone.

On

the whole

altar, therefore,

there would be fifteen

consecration crosses.

The Coptic altar bears no incised crosses other

than those which are cut upon the slab of wood
and where this slab is wanting, the marble top does
not generally show the symbol of consecration,
;

though there

is

a single large cross sculptured on

CH.

The Altar.

I.]

21

two of the three slabs in the crypt at Abu Sargah.

But the Egyptian custom is said to tally with the
Greek, three crosses of chrism being anointed on
the altar at

its

dedication in the

name

of the Father,

The
the Son, and the Holy Ghost respectively
use of chrism for the consecration of the altar is
1

mentioned by Renaudot, who, speaking

of the church of St. Macarius in the Natrun valley,
particularly

says, '^cclesiae consecratio facta est

episcoporum et

1.

On

Fig. 4. Consecration Crosses.

the columns of AI 'Adra, Harat-az-Zuailah.
2. On the columns at Abu Sargah. [2.6
3 and 4. On the slabs in the recesses of the crypt at Abu Sargah.

ipsius patriarchae ministerio, chrismatis tarn

quam ad parietes consignationibus

in the

2
.'

ad altare
This was

time of Benjamin, thirty-eighth patriarch, or

about 620
1

factis

A. D.

Even though Renaudot

See Vansleb, Histoire de 1'Eglise d'Alexandrie,

1677).
2
Historia Patriarcharum Alexandrinorutn, p. 166

p.

is

220

some(Paris,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

22

[CH.

i.

what fond of assuming the existence of Coptic rites

on the analogy of the Latin, there is on this point
every reason for believing his testimony. For, apart
from more direct evidence, since it is unquestionable
that consecration crosses were made on the walls
and columns, just as in the Greek and western rituals;
it is
scarcely possible that the chrism should have
been used to anoint the fabric of the building, and
not used to anoint its most sacred part, the altar.
The rubric for the re-consecration of a defiled altar
1

speaks of five crosses, apparently one on the top and one on each of the sides.
in Gabriel's Pontifical

But where exactly the crosses were made is uncerThere is, as was mentioned, a central cross
carved on the altar-board, which fits into an oblong
depression on all such altars as have not a marble
top.
Probably one cross of chrism at least was
marked by the bishop upon the wooden slab,
though this would be against the western practain.

which disallows* the use of chrism upon wood.

Indeed that the Copts did not scruple to use chrism
on a wooden surface seems proved by another passage in Gabriel's Pontifical, headed in Renaudot
tice,

'

Consecratio tabulae ut altare

fiat.'

Subsequently
benedic huic tabulae ligneae, ut fiat altare
sanctum et mensa sancta pro altari excelso et lapide
the words

exstructo,'

'

seem

to point to the tabula decisively as

a portable altar, although possibly the word may

denote the wooden slab, which is the common
In any case the
appurtenance of the stone altar.
tune accipiet chrisma sanctum et ex
rubric runs
eo signabit tabulam in modum crucis in quattuor
'

Lit.

Or. torn.

'

i.

p. 56.

latera cruce signabit.'

Quinquies

mensam

et ejus

quattuor

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

ipsius

lateribus;'

though

here

23
again

the

points

anointed with the holy oil are not clearly defined.

Nevertheless, even though the slab be used on
occasion as a portable altar, the very fact that it
is detached from the stone structure and easily removeable makes it unlikely that the symbols of
dedication should have been confined to that part.
must imagine then that the chrism was anointed

We

on the top or walls of the altar itself, in places of

which no sculptured record is preserved.
It has been already mentioned that a Coptic
church always possesses three altars in contradistinction to the single altar of the Greek ritual.
The
side altars are, however, used only on the occasion
of the great festivals, namely, Easter, Christmas,
Palm Sunday, and the feast of the Exaltation of
the Cross 1
On these days more than a single
.

celebration is required ; and the result is obtained

without violating the Coptic canons, which forbid
a second celebration on the same altar within the

day.

The

altar,

like

the

communicant, must be

and the same

phrase it
vestments
and vessels
expression
applied
which are used in the ceremonial of the mass.
*

fasting,' as

the Copts

is

to

So many points of resemblance may be noted

between Coptic and Armenian practice, that it is
not surprising to find the Armenian Church upholding the same canon, and consequently requiring
three as the normal number of altars 2
there is,
;

however, this difference, that the side-altars in the

sacred buildings of the Armenians stand before the
1

tr.

Abu Dakn

by
8

omits Easter, but seems wrong.

Sir E. Sadleir

(London, 1693), p. 13.

Fortescue's Armenian Church, p. 177.

See his History,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

24

[CH.

i.

sanctuary or in some other place, and not in a line

with the high altar and behind one continuous
Yet
screen, as usual in the Coptic arrangement.
the Armenian church at Urfa
'

described as having

is

three aisles,' i.e., nave and two aisles, 'and an altar

end of each aisle' 1 the bishop's throne is in

at the

the north-east corner of the choir, and faces east.

Several altars seem to be allowed in the ritual of

the Syrian Jacobites, of the Nestorians, and of the

Maronites. Thus at Urfa a Syrian church of modern

date has a long narrow platform at the east end with

several altars,' and before each a step for the celebrant.
The Nestorian church at Kochanes has
'

three tables or altars in the nave,' two of which are

called the altar of prayers' and altar of the gospel
'

'

'

respectively, besides a small stone altar at the east

end.
It is open to question, however, whether any
but the last-named are really eucharistic altars. At

Aleppo the Maronite church is described as having

and a throne against the east wall facing

five altars 2

west, according to the proper arrangement.

Quite enough then has been here written to

show

the fallacy of Neale's generalization to the effect that

throughout the whole East one church contains but
'

one altar 3
Neale is very positive about the matter,
and adds nor is this peculiar to the church of Conthe rule is also observed in Ethiopia,
stantinople
Egypt, Syria, Malabar, by Nestorians and Jacobites,
in short over the whole East :' though with curious
.'
'

Christians under the Crescent in Asia, by Rev."E..L. Cults;

S. P. C. K. (n. d.), p. 83.

London
3

Id. ib. pp. 84, 217, 48.

evidence on the subject.
3

The

author

is

not very clear in his

History of the Holy Eastern Church, Gen. Introd.

vol.

i.

p. 182.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

25

inconsistency he admits, almost in the next sentence,

that examples of churches with several altars are not

wanting from the earliest times. However the question is one of rule, to be settled by rule.
And, so
one
need
that
the
law of
remark
regarding it,
only
three altars

is

not merely universal in Egypt at the

is not a
single religious build-

present time, but there

ing of the Copts, however ancient its foundation,

which does not bear the clearest structural proofs of

having been designed with a view to precisely the

same ritual arrangement. And though there is no
express evidence for Abyssinia, yet considering the

and actual dependence of the Church of

Ethiopia on that of Alexandria, one can scarcely
question that the same rule holds good there also.
The practice in Armenia is clear in upholding the
same custom and if the practice in the Syrian and
Nestorian Churches is not quite clearly established
historical

as identical with that of the Egyptian, Ethiopian

and Armenian, yet obviously the truth lies rather in
the complete reversal of Neale's canon, and must
rather be expressed by saying that nowhere in the

whole East does a single church contain only a single

with the exception of buildings belonging to
the see of Constantinople.
The Greek Church recognises one altar all other Churches recognise a
altar,

plurality of altars.

PORTABLE ALTARS 1

The
altars,
1

Coptic clergy rarely make use of portable

not from any canonical objection to them, but

Renaudot

altar.

He

is quite wrong in his remarks about the

Coptic
says (Lit. Or. torn. i. p. 164): consuetude a multis seculis
'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

26

[CH.

i.

merely because the necessity for their employment

seldom arises. Both in the capital and in most other
towns of Egypt churches are thickly scattered, and
the Christians have a way of clinging round them.

Being thus always within easy reach of a church,

who

hale can resort to the celebration,

while the sick receive a portion of the korban which

those

is

are

by a priest. The rule

that the korban must always be conse-

carried from the church

of to-day

is

crated within the sacred building although in places

where there happens to be no church, in case of
emergency the priest is allowed to consecrate as he
;

I have found but one notice of

judges necessary.
such an altar in Coptic history. When Zacharias,
king of Nubia, about 850 A.D. sent his son and heir
George to Egypt to settle a question of tribute
money, the royal envoy paid a visit to the patriarch

invaluit ut tabulas solas sive mensas haberenl, quibus insternebatur

episcopalibus consecrata, aut tabula ad ipsius

longitudinem, aut tandem altaria ut apud nostros vocantur
portatilia: laminae scilicet aut segmenta ex marmore quae facile

mappa benedictionibus
altaris

afferri et

removeri possint

Latinorum disciplinae de
Orientalis disciplina.'

which

vitiates

so

Ita

non modo Graecorum sed etiam

sacris altaribus convenire deprehenditur

It is this perpetual

much

of Renaudot's

assumption by analogy
'Graecae

information.

Ecclesiae, cui aliae in Oriente similes sunt' (p. 166) is his maxim
in all cases of doubt.
So he says that for the most part there is
but a single altar in one church, a conclusion reached as follows
:

'Cum autem

insignes olim ecclesiae multae in Aegypto essent,

jam omnino paucae

supersunt, in quibus primaevae antiquitatis

obscura vestigia agnosci possint .... nihil ex antiquis Christianis
aedificiis residuum est unde conjectura de ecclesiarum aut al-

tarium forma capi queat nihilque vero propius quam ut illorum

forma ex Graecarum (sic) lineamentis intelligatur ; eadem enim
;

erat ulrarumque dispositio!

obvious.

The

dangers of such a method are

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

27

Joseph, then in the chair of St. Mark, to

whom

he

Thence he proceeded to do homage

khalif
to the
and on his return to Cairo
at Bagdad
was granted as a very great privilege by the patriarch
carried letters.

a portable altar of wood to carry to his father. Tradition says that such a thing was never known before
and the concession was only justified by the peculiar
;

circumstances of the

Nubians,

who were

restless

in tents, and whose life was all

1
and
It is quite likely that this altar
fighting
foray
was a board from one of the churches indeed the
Copts of to-day allege that the portable altar used
in cases of extreme necessity is nothing else than
the wooden slab, which must therefore be consecrated with chrism.
Moreover the entire disappearance of the altar-board from some of the minor chapels
in Cairo may well point to the fact that the board
was carried outside the building, and used as an altar.
It is curious to remark that the Nestorian canons,

nomads and dwellers

.

while not apparently sanctioning the use of portable

altars, yet in cases of urgent need allow the eucharist
to be consecrated over the hands of a deacon, pro-

vided express permission be first obtained from a

2
The Syrians use consecrated slabs of wood,
bishop
like the Coptic
or where neither an altar nor a con.

secrated slab is at hand, they allow the eucharist to

be celebrated on a leaf of the gospel 3
.

About the practice of the Greek Church there is

no such ambiguity. The consecration of portable
altars or antimensia, as they are called, was a regular
1

Renaudot, Hist. Pat. Alex. p. 282.

A. Asseman, De Cathol. seu Pat. Chald.

J.

p. 1 20.
3

Renaudot,

Lit.

Or. vol.

ii.

p. 46.

et Nestor.

Com,

28

Ancient Coptic Churches.

part of the ritual for the dedication of a

The antimensia were laid on the altar

[CH.

new
;

i.

altar.

and

after

olvdvQr) or scented wine had been poured upon them,

and three crosses had been made upon each with
chrism, relics mixed with ceromastic to prevent the
loss of any of the holy fragments were brought forth,
anointed with chrism, and enclosed in a pocket behind
each tablet. The celebration of the eucharist com-

pleted the form of consecration for the antimensia,

which then were ready for use.

Their employment

was as common

it

in

the Greek as

was rare

in the

Coptic Church.
Many examples might be quoted to prove the
custom of using portable altars in western Christendom. In England the practice prevailed from the
earliest times, every large church possessing one or
more tablets of wood or metal, which the priests
could carry when they wished to minister to sick
people, or to celebrate in remote places where there
was no consecrated building. Perhaps the most
ancient extant specimen of the kind is the portable
altar used by St. Cuthbert, which is now preserved,
though in a mutilated condition, in the cathedral

Durham. It is a small wooden tablet

covered with a leaden casing which seems to be of
later date and bears some indecipherable Greek
library at

characters.

THE

FITTINGS OF THE ALTAR.

Over every high altar in the churches of Egypt,

and sometimes also over the side altars, rises or
rose a lofty canopy or baldacchino resting on four

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

29

canopy, which is always of wood

though sometimes upheld by stone pillars, is generally painted in rich colours within and without,
columns.

The

and adorned with a picture of our Lord in the

centre of the dome and with flying angels and
emblematic figures.
A full description of such a
has
been
canopy
given in the chapter on the church
of Abu-'s-Sifain and need not here be repeated 1
only it may be added that the domed canopy symbolises the highest heaven, where Christ sits throned
in glory surrounded by angels, and the four pillars
on which it is upheld typify either the four quarters
:

of the globe, according to Germanus, or else the four

evangelists, whose symbols are also sometimes

The Coptic baldakyn is

painted within the canopy.
invariably in the form of a cupola, never having a
pointed roof with gables, as in the church of St.
Anastasius at Rome
nor a flat roof, as in two
;

Venice nor a pyramidal

a third example at St. Mark's, also in the
church of Sta. Potenziana near Narni, and that of
2
Yet it is curious that in all
Spirito Santo at Ravenna

examples at

St. Mark's,

roof, as in

cases where a canopy is now standing, the columns

which support it have, if I remember rightly, SaraThis is natural enough at Abu-'scenic capitals.
*which
was
built in Arab times, but more
Sifain,
surprising at
the nave are

Abu

Sargah, where the columns of

Greek or Roman.
In some cases

The description (vol. i. p. 114) may be compared with that of

the ciborium over the altar of St. Gregory built by Gebehard, bishop
1

M. de Fleury, in giving a cut of the ceiling which

shows the figures of the four evangelists, conjecturally inserts their

of Constance.

La Messe, vol. ii. p. 26.

La Messe, vol. ii. pi. ciii, civ, cix,

symbols.
2

xcvii.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

30

[CH.

i.

the columns have disappeared altogether, and the

canopy rests on cross-beams driven into the walls.

No

doubt the true explanation is, that in the ancient

churches the altar with its canopy received a more
rich and sumptuous adornment than any other part
of the church, and therefore specially attracted the
malice of Muslim fanatics engaged in plunder or

seems however very possible that in some cases, where a full

dome roofed the sanctuary and overshadowed the
altar, a separate baldakyn on pillars was dispensed
destruction of the Christian edifices.

It

any rate, after the disuse of

would be quite wrong to
hangings. Certainly
infer that the altar-canopy was a mediaeval innovation among the Copts
for it is one of the earliest

with, in later times at

it

traditions of primitive church decoration.

Between the four columns of the canopy run four

slender rods or beams, which should be painted with
These beams
texts in Coptic as at Abu Sargah.
were meant originally to hang the altar-curtains upon.

For

in ancient

ings

times the altar was veiled with hangand though there is no instance of such curtains

an Egyptian church, yet both the beams

themselves, and the rings with which they are sometimes (as at Abu-'s-Sifain) still fitted, prove that even
in the middle ages the practice of surrounding the
remaining

in

while the
with hangings was not disused
seventh or eighth century panel at Abu Sargah, in
which they are figured, furnishes a good example of
altar

At Abu Sargah two of the

earlier usage.
stand at a distance of 2 ft. 9 in., two at 3 ft. 3^

columns
in., from
the nearest corner of the altar so that there remained
quite room enough for the celebrant to move round
;

the altar inside the curtains.

At

Abu-'s-Sifain the

CH.

The Altar.

I.]

which leaves rather a narrow

No doubt the altar-curtains
space for movement.
were richly embroidered with texts and figures in
shortest distance

is

ft.,

SCALE OF FEET
Fig.

5.

Silk curtain, with massive silver embroidery, before the haikal door at

Al Mu'allakah.

To this
needlework, or in tissue of gold and silver.
the
of
before
door
the
a
curtain
haikal
always hangs
day
embroidered either with a red cross or with figures.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

32

[CH.

i.

In his description of the great church of St. Sophia,

Paul the Silentiary relates that over the high altar on
four columns of silver gilt, which were spanned by
arches, rose a lofty tower' or canopy, the lower part
*

of which was octagonal, while above it tapered off in

a cone. On the top of the cone was set a golden orb

and on the orb stood a cross of gold encrusted with

Between the silver pillars costly hangings
jewels.
were spread and on the curtain before the altar there
was wrought in glorious embroidery of gold the figure
of Christ in the attitude of benediction and holding a
book of the gospels in his left hand. This descrip;

tion

is

sufficient to

prove the early practice of the

also mentions 1 the altar-

Greek Church: but Goar

canopy as symbolical, of heaven, and

in

the same

place speaks of a curtain before the altar embroidered

with a figure of our Lord.
These hangings too are
in
monuments
thus in the
found depicted
early
:

splendid mosaics that adorn the dome of St. George's

church at Salonica (now used as a mosque) may be
seen a fine representation of an altar shrouded in

and covered with a canopy. The work dates

from about 500 A. D. A silver canopy, too, dating
from the early fifth century, stood over the altar at
the neighbouring church of St. Demetrius.
At the
present day such curtains are not used in the
Greek any more than in the Coptic ritual. Their
chief purpose, besides giving an air of mystic sanctity
to the precincts of the altar, was to veil the celebrant

curtains

at the

moment

of consecration.

Accordingly they

were always drawn close during the recitation of the

canon.
Their disuse is probably due to the fact that
the iconostasis formed an effectual screen in itself;
1

Euchologion,

p. 15.

CH.

The Altar.

i.]

33

and if there were no express testimony to the contrary,

it would be natural to conclude that the iconostasis
is a more mediaeval arrangement, the adoption of
which did away with the necessity for altar-curtains.

At

Sophia, however, Paul the Silentiary tells us

there was before the sanctuary a screen with three
St.

were blazoned figures of angels and

prophets, while over the central door was wrought
the cypher of Justinian and Theodora- There was
in fact even at that early date, coexisting with the
Neither the
magnificent curtains, a true iconostasis.
Armenian nor the Nestorian churches have any
doors,

and on

it

screen before the high altar other than a curtain,

which is drawn across the whole chancel, and seems

not merely as a screen but also as the

to serve

Lenten

veil.

the western Church, wherever the basilican

of
type
building prevailed, the altar was overshadowed
by a domed canopy and veiled with curtains, as for

In

instance in the old basilica of St. Peter and that of

St.

Paul without the Walls at Rome.

The baldakyn

at St. Peter's, presented by Gregory the Great, was

so too was that given by Honorius I. to the
church of St. Pancratius. Rock * makes mention of

of silver
curtains

hung

at the north

and south sides of the

keep the wind off the candles but this was

only a remnant of the earlier arrangement, which was
designed above all to screen the celebrant at the
altar to

moment

Indeed the essential part of the

baldacchino was the curtains, as the very name
proves, being derived from Baldacco the Italian for
Bagdad, as damask from Damascus, fustian from
of

office.

Fustat, the ancient

1

VOL.

II.

Arab name of Old

Church of our Fathers,

vol.

i.

Cairo.

p. 230.

Baldac-

Ancient Coptic

34

C/ntrc/ies.

[CH.

i.

means properly a costly tissue woven in

the looms of Bagdad in its anglicised form baldakyn it is not uncommon in our ancient church
records but the name passed by an easy transition
from the hangings to the canopy above the altar.
The baldacchino was a common feature in our early
A very clear and fine
Anglo-Saxon churches.
chino, then,

'

'

representation of an altar-curtain may be seen, for

example, in the South Kensington Museum on an

The
ivory tablet of Anglo-Saxon workmanship.
is
the
Adoration
of
the
the
subject
Magi
figures
:

are grouped under an arch, above which and in the

spandrels the structure of the temple is pourtrayed
:

round the arch runs a rod, on which hang curtains

looped and falling in folds. This tablet has some
curious points of resemblance with the carved panel
all

Abu

arrangement is shown in
an engraving figured in Rock 1 and taken from an
illumination in Godemann's Benedictional.
Moreover the Ecgbert Pontifical orders the curtain to be
drawn across between clergy and people at the conThere was no elevation of the
secration of an altar 2
at

Sargah.

similar

host before the congregation in the Saxon ritual, a

which Mr. G. Gilbert Scott connects, no doubt
rightly, with the use of altar-curtains. One may push
fact

the argument a step farther, and suppose that the

disuse of altar-curtains in the eastern as well as the

western churches was hastened, as the practice of

elevating the host won its way into predominance.

This practice was unknown in the West before the

end of the eleventh century, and was not received in

England
1

Vol.

till

the thirteenth century 3 though

,

*
i.

p. 194.
*

Rock,

vol. iv. p. 155.

it

very

P. 45.

CH.

The Altar.

i.j

35

probably originated in the East much earlier. Yet

was about the end of the eleventh century, namely
in the time of St. Osmund, who was
bishop of Sarum
and Chancellor of England 1078 A.D., that the use of
it

the canopy was discontinued in this country.

In
cases
and
however
two
columns
the
eastward
many

beam joining them were left standing *, and on

this beam was set a crucifix together with a vessel of
the

holy water, a box with singing-breads, wine, and the

like.
The curtains which were hung north and south
of mediaeval altars have been mentioned they were
:

suspended on rods driven into the wall and called

riddles.'
Another trace of the old usage was preserved in the Lenten veil, which shrouded the altar
from the eve of the first Sunday in Lent till Maundy
Thursday during the mass, and was withdrawn only
'

at the reading of the gospel.

In

some churches,

where the chancel-arch was narrow, the Lenten

hung across the

entire width

in cathedrals

it

veil

hung

between the choir and the presbytery. It was made

of white linen, or sometimes of silk, and was marked
with a red cross.

COVERINGS OF THE ALTAR.

The ordinary covering of a Coptic altar (sitr) is

a tightly-fitting case of silk or cotton, sometimes
dyed a dim colour or brocaded with small patterns
of flowers in needlework or silver.
This reaches
to the ground, entirely concealing the fabric of the
altar.
More splendid stuffs are used for great
1

Rock,

vol. iv. p.

208.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

36

and even

festivals,

in

common

use an outer cover-

The only
ing is sometimes put over the first
other form of altar-vestment that I have seen is
1

a sort of frontal, about i8in. square, hanging on

this is of costly material, and
the western side
a cross in the centre and
with
embroidered
richly
But even the most intelfigures in the corners.
seem
to have no information
the
of
Copts
ligent
;

concerning its usage.

In our early English churches there were three
principal coverings:
like the Coptic

the cerecloth, fitting tightly

vestment and removed but once a

on Maundy Thursday,

for the washing of the

then a white linen cloth the size of the slab,
not falling over the sides, but having a super-frontal

year,
altar

and thirdly, a cloth of fine linen covering

the top and hanging over the north and south sides

attached

were embroidered five crosses.

upon
The Greek vestments were also principally
this

three,

or cerecloth, the cTrwSvo-is or

but underoverall, and the dXr^rov or corporal (?)
neath all, at each corner of the altar, was hung a
called the

TT/OO?

o-ap/ca

narrow strip of embroidery worked with the figure

of an evangelist, and hence called cvayyeXio-Tifpiov 2
The term evangelisterium is sometimes wrongly
used for the textus or book of the gospels.
.

There

is

no

distinction of

name between

the coverings, which

are simply called

1U ^U-kc.
^>
2

Thiers, Les Principaux Autels des Eglises. ch. xxi. p. 154.

CHAPTER

and Altar Furniture.

Euchavistic Vessels
Chalice.

Basin.

II.

Veils.
Fan. Ewer and
Spoon. Ark.
Textus.
Chrismatory. Altar-candlesticks.
Thurible. -Bridal Crown.

Dome.

Paten.

Crewel.

Pyx.

Gospel-stand.

the celebration of the eucharist the

use five

I~'Nspoon,

instruments

and

ark.

None

Copts

dome,
of the extant chalices
chalice*, paten,

have seen are very ancient or interesting.

They are usually of silver, though the church
of Al Amir Tadrus had one of plain white
Venetian glass gilded. As a rule the bowl is small
and nearly straight-sided the stem long and ending
downwards in a round knop, below which the base
that

slopes away rather abruptly, but the foot is relieved

with plain mouldings and is always circular. The

shape thus differs from that of the English chalice

two chief particulars the bowl, in being more
conical and less hemispherical, more nearly resembles

in

Elizabethan communion-cup
and the
below the stem instead of dividing it in

that of the

knop

is

the middle, and is less prominent.

Moreover, in
the
base
of
the
chalice
was
England
changed from
circular to hexagonal after the fourteenth century,

Arabic ^iXJI, Coptic ni

noTHpIOIt.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

38

[CH. n.

owing to a rubric which ordered the chalice

laid on its side to drain after the celebration

to be
:

and

the hexagonal base obviated the danger of rolling.

But a chalice with an angular foot is never found

churches of Egypt.

in the

The

Nestorians some-

times use for a chalice a plain bowl of silver.

Glass chalices only came into use when the more
precious vessels had been plundered or destroyed
by the Muslims. Thus it is recorded that about
the year 700 A. D. so great a spoliation of the
churches took place, that glass chalices and wooden
patens were substituted for the lost vessels of silver
and gold
As regards western practice, Durandus
1

Zephyrinus in the early third century

the
use of glass chalices, but pope Urban
enjoined
metal.
About the same time, 226 A.D.,
prescribed
says

that

the Council of

Rheims forbade

the use of glass.

In

England horn and wood were forbidden materials

on account of their absorbent qualities. The canons
of Aelfric mention gold, silver, glass, and tin as permissible and glass chalices were used in the very
:

2
early Irish Church, though afterwards disallowed
In the thirteenth century tin was forbidden by the
.

3
But in
Constitutions of Archbishop Wethershed
eastern and western ritual alike gold or silver
seems to have been the normal metal for the
.

Renaudot relates that about the year 1210

the khallf Malik Al 'Adal, hearing that there were
great treasures buried in a well at Dair Macarius
chalice.

in the Natrun desert, sent and discovered, among

other things, a silver chalice and paten, which were
1

'

Renaudot, Hist. Pat. Alex. p. 193.

Warren's Lit. and Kit. of the Celtic Church,

Archaeological Journal,

vol.

iii.

p.

133.

p. 143.

CH.

Eucharistic Vessels.

ii.]

carried

off,

39

besides a silk embroidered curtain for

the haikal-door valued at 3000 gold pieces.

The
adds
that
when
the
and
Copts pleaded,
story
proved

from the inscriptions and the Book of Benefactions,

that the vessels and the hanging were special offerings made to the church, the khalif generously
restored them, and they were carried in chests on
camels to Old Cairo surrounded by companies of

men

singing and

years

later,

Forty
a
fine
spoiled,
chalice of ancient workmanship was found buried
under one of the altars, i. e. doubtless hidden away
I have
in the sepulcrum.
not seen any cross or
of
the
crucifixion
upon the foot of a
engraving
Coptic chalice, such as was usual in western
mediaeval chalices, though not in those of a more
bearing

lighted

tapers.

when Al Mu'allakah was

The donative inscription

primitive epoch.
rally round the base.

is

gene-

Patens 1 are. as a rule, plain, flat, circular dishes,

with a vertical raised border round.
They have
not any depression in the middle, nor any engraved
figure of the Veronica, like our fourteenth and
nor have they any stem
fifteenth-century patens
or foot like those of the Elizabethan and later
In fact both chalice and paten correspond
periods.
in their simplicity of design, if not altogether in
shape, more closely with the earliest extant specimens of the like vessels in western Christendom.
;

The dome z
consists of

or kubbah as it is called in Arabic,

two half-hoops of silver crossed at right
,

At the celebration of
angles and rivetted together.
mass the dome is set over the consecrated bread
Arabic

..;^il,

Coptic

*f~

!XlCKOC.

Ancient Coptic CJmyches.

4o

[CH. H.

midst of the paten, and the corporal which

covers the dome -is thus held clear above the housel.
The Greek Church makes use of a corresponding
instrument termed the star,' do-rePIO-KOS or darrjp,
in the

'

said to have been introduced by St. Chrysostom.

.The name 'star' is given from the shape of the

instrument perhaps

but when

it is

placed over the

host, the priest recites the words, And there came

a star and stood over where the young child was 1 .'
'

The

spoon

is

Coptic communion

for administering the

is to put the

employed
;

custom

for the

wafer into the wine, and to administer both kinds

The bowl of the spoon is hemispherical,
together.
the handle consists of a straight even strip of metal,
on which is usually graven a dedicatory inscription.
In the Armenian ritual a spoon is used sometimes,

though very rarely

3
.

The Greek custom

as regards the administration is precisely similar to

the Coptic.
spoon (Aa/3ty) is used to take out

of the wine the crumbs of bread, or pearls' as

they are called, which are given to laymen. Eccle'

however, and the czar at his coronation,

receive the two kinds separately.
In England the
mention of sacred spoons is common in church inventories
thus among the ornaments of Richard
II.'s chapel at Windsor in 1384 are mentioned a
golden chalice, paten, and spoon. But these spoons
were used rather for mixing water with the wine,

siastics,

Renaudot in his Liturgiarum Orientalium Collectio (vol. ii. p.

2nd ed., Frankfort, 1847) sa>' s that tne Orientals, including the
As regards the
Syrians and Egyptians, do not use the Aster.

60,

Egyptians, of course, he
2

Arabic

q.iAl,

is

wrong.

Coptic

*f KOKXl^-pIOIt,

'fjULTCOHpI.
3

Fortescue's

Armenian Church, pp. 177, 180.

*f JULTCTHp,

SACRAMENTAL SPOON WITH

DEDICATORY INSCRIPTION IN
OF

ARABIC.

BASE SILVER.

WOODEN CUP
TO

HOLD

WINE CRUET

CLASS LAMP OF

ARAB FORM
CH OF

ABU SARCAH
TEXT US -STAND

SHUT UP

CHURCH OF AMIR-TADRUS

OLD CAIRO

ABOUT
29X22"

SIZE.

STAND

WOODEN TEXTUS

WITH PRICKETS FOR CANDLES

<

>

WOODEN CHRISMATORY

WITH REVOLVI NC LID

CHURCH OF ANBA SHANUDAH OLD CAIRO

6"

IRON DOOR-KEY AT DAIR TADRUS

Fig.

6.

Various pieces of Church Furniture.

8"

Ancient Coptic Churches.

42

or as strainers to remove

flies

and the

[CH. n.

like

from

the
analogue of the eastern
spoon in the early Latin Church was the tube or
pipe, such as is recorded in an inventory of vessels
given to Exeter church c. 1046. The use of the
chalice

while

tube, which lingered

other

pope

monasteries,

the

on

now

St. Denis, Cluny, and

survives only with the

at

1
.

Besides the above vessels every Coptic altar is

furnished with a wooden ark or tabernacle 2 differ,

ing both in structure and in purpose from those of

With us the tabernacle was
the Latin Church.
used to guard the housel, which was commonly en-

The tabernacle was very

closed in a pyx within it.
in
form
the
of a tower, and wrought of
often made
But in Egypt
precious metals adorned with jewels.
the practice of reserving the host, which once prevailed, has long been discontinued, owing chiefly,
no doubt, to the compactness of the Coptic communities, which made it easy to find a priest at
hand to consecrate in case of sickness. There is,

however, a lurid legend which accounts for the

discontinuance of the practice by relating that the
housel was once found to have been devoured by

The Coptic tabernacle is a

a serpent in the night.
regular instrument in the service of the mass, and
at other times lies idle

upon the

altar.

It consists

of a cubical box, eight or nine inches high the top

side of which is pierced with a circular opening just
;

At the conselarge enough to admit the chalice.

cration the chalice is placed within the tabernacle,
1

Vide Journal of Archaeology, vol. iii. p. 132.

Called in Arabic ^-ISJI
<e-J~ or simply ^--/XJI,
chalice-stand or the stand :' in Coptic
2

'

'

i.

e.

'the

CH.

Eucharistic Vessels.

ii.]

and the rim when

thus enclosed

is

it

43
is

about flush

with the top, so that the paten rests as much on

the tabernacle as on the chalice.
The four walls
of the tabernacle are covered with sacred paintSt. John being the most freMost of the tabernacles now in use

ings,

our Lord and

quent

figures.

are modern and artistically worthless, but one beautiful ancient specimen I discovered at Abu-'s-Sifain,

and of
place

this

full

is

description

given

in

another

*.

There

can,

be no doubt that

think,

nacle or altar-casket of the Copts

is

this taber-

the mysterious

which has puzzled liturgical writers from Renaudot to Cheetham 2

Renaudot quotes a prayer
the
canon
entitled Super arcam
preceding
Ethiopic
sive discum majorem,' and thinks that the ark was
a sort of antimensium.
But the title is at once
'area'

'

explained if we remember the Coptic practice of

placing the chalice inside and the paten on the
box, a practice from which the Ethiopic was doubtless derived.
The very words of the prayer, taken

connexion with the Coptic custom, really set the

in

vexed question at

rest.

They

follow the dedica-

and spoon and are, as renLord our God, who didst

command Moses thy servant and prophet, saying,
Make me precious vessels and put them in the tabernacle on Mount Sinai, now, O Lord God Almighty,
stretch forth thy hand upon this ark, and fill it with
the virtue, power, and grace of thy Holy Ghost, that
in it may be consecrated the Body and Blood of Thine
tion of chalice, paten,

dered by Neale 3

Vol.

i.

pp. 109,
3

'

no.

Eastern Church, Gen. Introd.

Diet. Christ. Ant.

vol.

i.

p. 186.

s. v.

Ancient Coptic Churches,

44

[CH. n.

Neale himself comes

only begotten Son our Lord.'
to the conclusion that this ark is simply used for
'

the reservation of the blessed sacrament;' but the

words of the prayer which I have just cited, (the
italics

are mine,)
leave no doubt whatever that
its dedication is intended not for the

the ark at

reservation but for the consecration of the host

and even

deduction were doubtful, it is rendered absolutely certain by the analogy of Coptic

usage, of which both Renaudot and Neale are quite
if

this

It

ignorant.

may be

true, as

Neale

alleges, that in

the Ethiopian Church the host actually is sometimes reserved in the ark but that is an accident,
and a perversion of the original intention.
;

The Copts have no instrument corresponding to

the holy lance of Greek ritual for the fraction or
division of the wafer.
'

appurtenance of the Coptic liturgical

as they call it,
little mat or 'plate'
worship
numbers of which are used in the celebration of the
korban.
They are circular in form, five or six
special
is

the

inches in diameter, and made of silk, strengthened at

the back with some coarser material.
Each mat

has a cross embroidered or woven upon it and

sometimes, as in the woodcut, smaller crosses are
set between the branches.
The mat here given is
of cloth of gold with designs embroidered in thread
of silver gilt, an ancient example from the church of
Abu Kir wa Yuhanna at Old Cairo. Red, pink and
green are equally common hues, there being no reThe manner in which these
gulation as to colour.
:

<j-JJI or i>j*<& ; in Coptic TTIOOJUL : it seems to correspond

with the 'minus velum' mentioned by Renaudot, Lit. Or. torn. i.
p.

304.

CH.

Eiicharistic Vessels.

II.]

mats are used

at the

mass

will

45

be explained

in

another chapter.
Before the commencement of the mass the sacred
elements are covered with a veil or corporal called
sJUJJi in Arabic, and ni
veil is of white or coloured

npoc^pm

square

the middle

Fig. 7

is

in Coptic.

The

generally about 18 in.

embroidered with a cross
silk,

The Hasirah

or Eucharistic Mat.

and tiny bells are sometimes attached to the centre

and the corners. This lafafah seems to answer to the
1

Renaudot
'

(I.e.)

remarks that

this,

the 'velum majus/

praecipue in Syriacis Ritualibus.'

is

called

no doubt

anaphora
Nauphir
the term used by the Syrians, but the Coptic name is that given
the text.

is

in

Ancient Coptic Churches.

46

[CH. n.

of Greek ritual, while the hasirah or

tabak corresponds in some mea .ure to the Greek
chalice veil.
But the Copts employ only these two
eucharistic veils, and have nothing analogous to the

Greek

The

drjp

or

ve<f>e\rj.

use of the

fan

or flabellum no doubt origin-

ated in the sultry East, where being almost a necessity of daily life, it passed very early into the service
of the Church.

Its employment in Coptic worship

dates from a great antiquity.
In the Liturgy of St. Clement, translated from the

Apostolical Constitutions, a rubric runs thus

deacons on each side of the altar hold a fan
:

'

Two

made

'

of thin vellum, fine linen, or peacocks' feathers, to

drive away flies or gnats, lest they fall into the

'

'

chalice.'

A.D.

624

2
.

Costly fans are mentioned in the year

These doubtless, as was usual later, were

made of
type

is

common
metal, either gold or silver.
that given in the illustration, a disk of silver

with a silver socket, into which is fastened a

short wooden handle.
The disk is surrounded and
divided across by dotted bands, and upon it are
fitted

worked two rude

The whole

figures of the seraphim.

of the design is repousse. At the church of Al Amir

Tadrus there were four of these flabella but their
:

so far forgotten, that they are only used

purpose
as ornaments upon the occasion of the silver textusis

case being set in the choir.

The textus-case then is
placed upright upon a sort of stand, which has at
each corner a short pricket to receive the wooden

Gregory the Great's Liber Sacramentorum,

where several authorities are

Paris, 1642, p. 319,

ed.

H. Menardus,

cited.

Fig.

8.

Flabellum

in

repouss^

silver.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

48

[CH. n.

handle of the flabellum 1

A taper is further stuck
or crushed upon the upper part of the disk and
lighted; so that the fan seems to serve only as an
.

elaborate candlestick.

It

may

well be, however, that

usage betrays a consciousness of some such

mystic symbolism as undoubtedly is attached to the

this

fan in the

Greek

ritual.

At Abu Sargah, where

the

ritual, or at least the worship, has suffered less decay

than at the deserted Tadrus, similar silver fans exist,

and

are,

believe, used at

solemn

festivals, if

not in

the regular celebration of the mass. Upon the altar

Anba Shanudah I found a rude axe-shaped fan of

at

woven
faces

rushes, such as the Arabs wave to cool their

and the fact that this fan is still employed,

either regularly or in the hot season, for the service

of the altar, proves that the right use of the flabellum

not entirely forgotten.

In the office for the ordination of the patriarch of
Alexandria, the rubric speaks of a procession through

is

the church with crosses, gospels, tapers, and fans or

Flabella were waved by
figures of the cherubim.

the deacons in the Syrian Jacobite, and probably

also in the Coptic rite for the ordination of a priest
In the ritual of the Melat the laying on of hands.

Egyptians to-day a metal flabellum is sometimes

used thus at the ancient church of St. George on
the tower at Old Cairo two fans stand upon the
altar.
More often, however, they use a fine linen
cloth or corporal, such as is employed also for the
kite

same purpose

the service of the altar at the Coptic

the desert, and is called al lafafah. Yet,
even where a veil or corporal is used to fan the sacred

monasteries

in

in

elements, the original metal flabellum survives

1

See

illustration,

page 41 supra.

still

as

CH.

II.]

Eucharistic Vessels.

49

processional ornament
among the Melkites, as

be seen from the

will

illus-

tration.

We

constantly read of
fans carried in procession
in the

Coptic ritual, as well

as in the Armenian.
In

both cases there was probably a special form of the

instrument for processions
corresponding to the Melkite flabellum
but this
form has long since disap:

peared among the Copts.

In the Greek Church the
or purtSiov, seems to
have departed altogether
from its original purpose,
and to have a ceremonial
fan,

rather
value.

Gear's

than

practical

The one given in

illustration is made

of wood, and consists of a

small carved image of the

seraphim

mounted on a

short handle,

an

instru-

ment which could be of

little

service

in

away gnats and

is

just after the

hymn of victory,

driving
flies.

It

pax and
and again

just before the diptychs in

the Greek rite, that the
J1.J.B
Fig. 9

Processional Flabellum of silver-gilt

used by the Melkite Church of Alexandria.

VOL.

II.

fan

is

employed; and on

Ancient Coptic Churches.

50

[CH. n.

both occasions the deacon solemnly fans the elements,

signifying a wafting of divine influence upon them.
Moreover, on Good Friday, at the consecration of
the chrism, when the box with the holy oil is carried
in procession, seven deacons move on each side of it,
every one holding a fan above it. In the absence of
a proper flabellum, the Greek rubric sanctions the
use of a napkin or corporal to fan the oflete.

That the same usage existed among the Copts is

from a MS. in the Vatican 1 which describes

clear

the procession for the consecration of the chrism as

consisting of twelve subdeacons carrying lamps,
twelve deacons carrying fans, twelve priests carrying
thuribles, and the bishop with the vessel of oil covered

by a white

pall

which

is

borne by deacons

and round

the bishop a throng of clergy moves, all carrying in

The
their hands 'cherubim,' i.e. fans, and crosses.
word employed in the Coptic rubric seems to be
piTUCTHpiort, a mere transliteration of a form still

found

in the

Greek.

The Maronite and

the

Armenian Churches both

silver or brass
having a
surrounded with a number of little bells.
These bells are no doubt meant to call attention to
the special part of the office which is being performed

employ a metal flabellum

circular disk

and

may

in the

repeat that they are occasionally fastened

same manner on a Coptic

corporal, stole, or

dalmatic.

full

and interesting account of the Armenian

use of the flabellum

is

given

in the

Rev. S. C. Malan's

introduction to his translation of the Divine Liturgy

1

Ordo

consecrationis chrismatis et olei

catechumenorum, ex

cod. Vat. 44, ed. Tukio, quoted by Denzinger, Ritus Orientalium,

torn.

i.

p.

251.

CH.

Eticharistic Vessels.

ii.]

51

We

of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

read there that
the bishop before celebrating goes round the church
preceded and accompanied by clergy having fans and
'

banners, holding in his hand the cross, with which he

blesses at the end of every prayer said aloud up to
the Song of the Cherubim.' Another passage speaks
of the waving of the fans at the trisagion as sym-

and
bolical of the quivering wings of the seraphim
a Russian eyewitness of the ceremony mentions the
noise of silver fans' as being strange to. him, but not
:

'

The noise of course arises from the

disagreeable.
bells
for the flabellum without bells is a familiar
;

instrument in Greek worship.

In Georgia the flabellum was used in early times,
is proved by an ancient fresco at Nekre"si, in
which two angels are shown beside the altar, each
as

holding a long-handled flabellum, the disk of which is

ornamented with a figure of the seraphim, but has no
bells.

The

flabellum found

the western churches 1

instance of

its

way

its
.

at

an early date into

Cardinal Bona quotes an

Two

use in the sixth century.

figures

which seem to be flabella are incised on an eighthcentury altar, which stood in the church of St. Peter
at Ferentillo 2
In an inventory at St. Riquier near
.

'

Abbeville, 831 A. D., occurs a silver fan for chasing

flies from the sacrifice.'
In 1250, at Amiens, is mentioned a 'fan made of silk and gold': in 1253 the

possessed duo flabella,

vulgo nuncupata muscalia, ornata perlis': and 'esmouSainte Chapelle

See paper

at

'

Paris

in Archaeological Journal

vol. v.
2

La Messe,

vol.

i.

pi. Iviii,

and

E 2

p. 171.

by

the late Albert

Way,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

52
'

[CH. H.

are given in an inventory of 1376.

In the
Rouen is an illuminated thirteenth-century

choires

Library at

missal with two illustrations of a deacon

waving a

flabellum over the celebrant at the altar.

to our

own

country, a Salisbury inventory

of 1214 mentions two fans of vellum and some other
In 1298 the chapel of St. Faith
stuff, perhaps silk.

Coming

in the

Crypt of

St. Paul's

had a

'

muscatorium,' or

About the year 1400

York minster a silver-gilt

fly-whip of peacocks' feathers.

one John Newton gave to

handle for a flabellum and even in remote parishes
the use of peacocks' feathers was not uncommon.
:

Thus

in the

churchwardens' accounts at Walkerwick,

an entry of iv d for a bessume
'

in Suffolk, there is

of pekok's fethers.'
From the connection of the Irish Church with the
East, it is not surprising to find evidence for the use
of the fan as early as the sixth century in the sister
island.
The Book of Kells has an illumination

representing angels holding flabella, which closely

resemble those of the Maronites
in the Gospels
:

of Treves

the

symbols

evangelistic

hand and a

curious

figure

holds

of the conjoined
flabellum in one

eucharistic knife or lance in the other.

This figure belongs to the eighth century and in

another Hiberno-Saxon MS. of the eighth century
:

Matthew

St.

bellum 2

is

figured holding in his

hand a

fla-

In the western Church, according to Rock 3 the

flabellum was used after the consecration and before
,

Westwood, Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and

MSS., pi. xx.
Warren's Lit. and Rit. of the Celtic Church, p. 144.

Irish
2
3

Vol.

Hi. pt. 2. p.

194.

CH.

Eucharist ic Vessels.

ii.]

The

the pax.

was rare and

consciousness of

symbolical value

growth and the idea, where

from the Greek idea of wafting

late in

existent, differs

its

53

divine influence, being rather that of driving away

By the sixteenth
light and wandering imaginations.

century the fan seems to have fallen into disuse

entirely for in the Missae Episcopates,' drawn up
for general guidance by order of the Council of Trent,
'

and published at Venice in 1567, no mention is made

At the present day the sole
of any such instrument.
reminiscence in the West of the liturgical flabellum
is furnished by the large fans of peacocks' feathers

sometimes carried in procession before the pope 1 But

in the Greek Church the fan is still delivered to the
deacon at ordination as the symbol of his office.
The ewer and basin for the washing of hands at
the mass are part of the complete furniture of a
Coptic altar, and in ancient times were doubtless
made of precious metals. At the present time however a common pitcher of clay and tin bowl serve
At Abu-'s-Sifain there
the purpose in most cases.
is a bronze basin of Arab work with some medalThe ewer of
lions or bosses upon it of fine enamel.
kind
to
seems
to have
the same
the basin
belonging
.

disappeared within the last five or six years. The

basin generally rests upon a low wooden stand at
the north side of the altar.
At the cathedral in
Cairo there is a ewer of silver, which I have seen

used

in

a curious manner.

After the celebration of

the korban an acolyte pours water from the ewer

over the hands of the priest, who sprinkles first the
haikal, then other priests or. attendants, then mounts
1

Diet. Christ. Antiq.

s. v.

Flabellum.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

54

[CH. n.

a bench outside and scatters drops of water over the

congregation, who crowd round with upturned faces
eager to catch the spray. This is a near approach
In the Latin church the
to the use of holy water.
basin was called aquamanilc, and was delivered as
an emblem of office to the deacon at ordination, just
as the ewer or urceolus

Thus
after

was delivered

to the acolyte.

Osmund's Consuetudinary 1 an acolyte

the entrance of the mass is ordered to bring
in St.

Rock, however, says that

'pelves cum manutergio.'
the deacon at ordination received ewer, basin, and
towel 2 remarking that the vessels were of precious
metal. The Greek vessel corresponding to the aqua,

manile

called xepviftov.
Receptacles for the reserved host in the Coptic
is

churches must have been

of reservation prevailed

common when
;

the practice

but as on the whole the

canons discountenanced reservation, so naturally the

evidence for the use of vessels like the pyx is
Renaudot in relating a legend about
very scanty.
Philotheus, LXIII patriarch of Alexandria, mentions
incidentally an arcus seu ciborium quod altari im'

minebat.'

The same

writer alleges, however, that

although reservation was permitted in case of great
necessity, the host was ordered to remain on the

lamps burning near it, and a priest watching

arrangement would not preclude the
use of a separate vessel. Later, about the year 1000
A.D., a complaint was lodged against certain priests,
that they broke the canon in keeping the oflete a
whole week, lest they should weary themselves with
altar with
3

Still this

C. 93.
3

Lit.

Or. vol.

i.

Vol.

p. 116.

iii.

pt. 2. p.

34

n.

CH.

Eucharistic Vessels,

ii.]

55

Now

the host is never reserved,

believe contains any sort of
be possible that what I have called the

daily consecrations.

and no Coptic church

pyx, unless it
tabernacle or altar-casket

the reserved host, as

may anciently have

among the Abyssinians.

held

At

Abu

Sargah, however, there is a very interesting

painting of St. Stephen, to be figured hereafter, in

which that saint

represented holding in his left

hand upon a corporal a beautifully jewelled vessel in
the form of a circular crown-like casket surmounted
is

by a cross. This may possibly represent a pyx, but

is more probably a box for incense.
The painting
is by no means recent, and I have seen no other
like it, though it may be a copy of some traditional
It was not customary, as far as I can disdesign.
cover, to suspend the reserved host over the altar at
any time, unless Renaudot's remark can be taken to

imply the custom

nor had the Copts anything corwhich hung over

responding to the eucharistic dove,

the altars of western Christendom.

Crewets of gold or

silver

were probably among

the appurtenances of an altar in olden times but

now nothing but the most commonplace vessels of
;

to be found.
But there is one singular
which
of
the
has been already noticed.
Copts,
usage
In several of the churches,
Mari Mina, for example,
in
a
small
not
all,
though
glass crewet filled with

glass

is

unconsecrated wine

may be

seen resting in a cuplike

wooden crewet-holder, which is nailed on to the
haikal-screen outside, and usually towards the north.

There

no such arrangement

Cairo cathedral,
nor does the position of the crewet connect at all
with any point of the present ceremonial.
One can
only surmise that it is the relic of some forgotten
is

in the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

56

At

ritual practice.

Sitt

Mariam Dair

[CH. n.

Abu-'s-Sifain

there are two such crewet-holders on the screen.

The

use of crewets in the West amae, amulae,

ampullae dates from an early period. Two silver
crewets, 7 in. high, belonging to the fifth or sixth
century, are preserved in the Museo Cristiano at the

Vatican.

III., c.

John

ordered crewets
of the martyrs

among

560

A.D., is related to

have

other vessels for the shrines

Rome. They are mentioned in

Ordo Romanus and Gregory the Great speaks
of crewets made of onyx, or perhaps glass resembling
in

the

onyx.

The word ampulla was used

vessel used

by

also to signify the

the Latins for the holy chrism.
No

such specific vessel remains among the Copts of

to-day who, while retaining the use of the chrism,
seem to have forgotten its former sanctity, and its
distinction from the other sacred oils. Yet the chrism
;

here and there, lying about in a small

glass phial stuffed with a rag and thrust into a dusty
Moreover the church of Anba Shanudah
corner.
contains an ancient chrismatory, a curious round

may be found

wooden box with a revolving

lid.

The box

is

solid

throughout, but has three holes scooped out inside,

in each of which is deposited a small phial of oil.
But even the priest does not now know that the
original purpose of the box was to hold the three
distinct kinds of oil used in the church ceremonial
1

In regard to altar-lights the most ancient custom

seems to have been to place a pair of candles close

Evidence of this
against the altar, but not upon it.
remains in the monastic churches of the desert,

still

in

some of which the

1

See

pair of stone candelabra, which

illustration

on

p.

41 supra.

CH.

Eticharistic Vessels.

ii.]

57

stand almost touching the altar

on the north and south side. But the prevailing
custom of the Copts at present is in harmony with
Two candles and no
that of the western churches.
held the

lights, still

more are allowed upon the

altar,

though any number

of lamps or candles may be lighted round about it.

The candlesticks are often, especially in the sidechapels, of wood with iron sockets somewhat resembling the ancient candlesticks in the hall of St. Cross

and various designs in bronze are

common. Silver was once the usual material, and
silver candlesticks are still used at the cathedral.
It is curious to note that while only the two lights
near Winchester

are suffered to stand upon the altar, acolytes with

tapers in their hands move round it at the mass, and
sometimes hold their tapers over the altar. This
practice also
as recorded

century.

Of

had

counterpart in the Latin Church,

1
by Isidore of Seville in the seventh
the various lamps found in the churches
its

of Egypt an account

given elsewhere.
to the altars or churches
The
of the Copts, though upon every altar is found lying
down (not set upright) a small hand-cross for cerecrucifix

is

is

unknown

monial use. This cross, anciently of precious metal

and set with jewels, is now usually of base silver it
has a peculiar design, to be given in a woodcut hereThe only exception that I know to this form
after.
of altar-cross occurs in the south chapel at Anba
Shanudah, which has a tiny cross of wood inlaid with
:

medallions of mother-of-pearl.
Among the altar-furniture of the Coptic churches
may be counted the book of the gospel, whose usual
resting-place

is

upon the
1

Etym.

altar at all times except at

vii.

xii.

29.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

58

[CH. H.

This book consists of a

the reading of the gospel.
MS. enclosed in a wooden case, and covered all over
with plates of metal nailed tightly down.
Thus the
writing

is

sealed against

all

opening.

The

outer case

.13.0
Fig. 10.

Textus case of silver-gilt.

generally of silver, though copper is found, and

embossed with Coptic lettering and designs of cheruSome are of extreme
bim, flowers, and crosses.
is

beauty, such as the fine large one belonging to Abu

Kir given in the engraving; but the average size is

CH.

Eucharistic Vessels.

II.]

59

much smaller, being about 7 in. by 4 in. The metal

cases were of course devised originally for security,
when copies of Holy Writ were scarce, and
must
have been meant to open then as copies
they
multiplied, the older and more precious MSS. were
sealed up entirely, and retained as venerable relics.
Yet as none of the existing cases date farther back
than the fifteenth century, it is doubtful whether
at a time

they

MSS.

contain

still

of any great antiquity or

AJ.B

Gospel-stands with prickets for candles.

Fig. 11.

One

or two which have been opened revealed

nothing but a loose leaf or two of a gospel and some
But the meaning of the
fragments of silk tissue.
value.

cased textus

not forgotten for at the present day,

before the reading of the gospel at the mass, an
acolyte brings the silver book from the altar and
delivers

it

is

upon the lectern

reverently
is

finished,

carried back again to the altar.

symbolical usage of the sealed textus is

the silver-book

The same

who places it
and when the gospel

to the deacon,

is

found at baptisms and other ceremonies

in

which the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

60

[CH. n.

curious gospel-stand is employed. The gospel-stand

is sometimes a mere board, square or octagonal,
sometimes a four-legged table, but fitted always with

a socket to receive the silver book which stands on

end in the centre. All round the gospel-stand iron
prickets are fastened, upon which burn lighted tapers:
and sometimes crosses of metal or wood are set at

Amir Tadrus,

the corners or even, as at Al

The

fans.

silver-cased gospel

is

silver

also frequently used

for the kiss of peace like the Latin pax and it is

carried in all solemn processions, with censers, tapers
;

and crosses

a custom to which allusion

is

made

in

the time of Ephraim, c. 980 A.D., and again at the

institution of Macarius, about 1 100 A.D.

The Armenian practice in this regard may be

among the many coincidences between Arme-

noted

nian and Coptic usage.

Armenians the gospel

is

For in the churches of the

bound in silver and often

has also a silver case in

which it is kept, and it rests upon the altar. The
Nestorians also use a cover of some kind for the
encrusted with jewels

gospel, though
it

it

cannot ascertain

its

exact nature

seems however more nearly akin to the

cumhdach than
Allusion to

it

Irish

to the sealed case of Coptic usage.

may be found in the rubric for the

ordination of a bishop, which directs the archdeacon

to open out the cover of the gospel above the back

and head of the bishop, and

cover

who

in

is

such a

way

to read out of

it

1
.

That the sealed textus

proved by the fact that
1

to lay the gospel on the

book may face him

that the

is
it

exclusively Coptic seems

is not found among the

Denzinger, Ritus Orientalium,

torn.

ii.

p.

271.

CH.

Rucharistic Vessels.

ii.]

6r

Melkite Egyptians belonging to the orthodox church

For example, in the treasury of the
church of St. Nicholas in Cairo, while there is
of Alexandria.

nothing corresponding to the Coptic gospel-cover,

there are many books in the most sumptuous bindgospels and psalters and liturgies, bound in solid
plates of gold and silver, studded with gems, and

ing,

closed

by jewelled

hermetically

clasps.

own Church the

sealed, yet we read of

in

Though

our

up between thick sheets of

solid

gospel was not

a copy bound
'

gold and studded

Another, as quoted from Eddius in

gems
the life of St. Wilfred, was likewise enclosed in plates

with

.'

of chased gold and adorned with jewels.

At Salisin
the
cathedral
had
a
textus
bound in
1222,
bury

while
gold with sixty-two precious stones
cathedral
in
less
than
no
1315,
Canterbury
possessed,
seven similar gold-cased books and many in silver.
Many too were at St. Paul's, St. Peter's in York,
2
But the resemblance of
Lincoln, and other places

solid

the Coptic to the ancient Irish practice seems closer

and more curious. As early as the sixth century in
'

Ireland,

metal cases of embossed bronze or silver

(cumhdachs) for enclosing copies of the gospels or

Fine examples
other MSS.' were in common use 3
.

Book of Armagh, the Psalter of St. Columba,

now in the Royal Irish Academy, the Book of Dimma
Mac Nathi, and the Miosach now at the college of
4
The Stowe missal has
St. Columba, Rathfarnham

are the

a metal case of eleventh-century workmanship

so

Id. ib. p. 297.

Rock, vol. i. p. 272.
3
Warren's Lit. and Rit. of the Celtic Church, p. 21.
4
Westwood's Miniatures, &c., pp. 80, 82, 83, 84.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

62

[CH. n.

that the practice lasted for several centuries.

It may be taken
as another point of correspondence between the Irish Church

and the East, in addition to

those adduced by Mr. Warren.
A silver box for incense is a

common belonging of the altar,

though none now seem left of
any great artistic interest. At
:**.-

^
w

***
4--

v^ v:
{

K. Burbarah there is a small

wooden incense-box with highcarving of great merit.
Thuribles also or censers of

relief

bronze or silver abound

the churches. Silver

common

metal,

is

in all

the

more

and some of the

silver censers are of very beautiful

workmanship, resembling
those used in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries in the

West.

Some indeed are of plain

bronze with a moulded base, and
a donative inscription round the
rim but gold was a common
:

material in ancient times, and

now in most of the churches the
thuribles are of silver, decorated

with open-work or repousse devices, and swung by chains with

or without

little

bells attached.

An example maybe seen figured

in the illustration
in

Lastly
Fig. 12.

Bridal

Crown.

of St. Stephen

a later chapter.

may be mentioned

as

CH.

Eucharistic Vessels.

ii.]

63

a proper appurtenance of the altar the marriagediadem. This is a coronet of silver or gold, adorned
with texts, crosses, or other suitable ornamentation
:

bound upon the brow of bride and bridegroom

alike at the wedding ceremonial in the church.
The
with
here
is
of
example
designs in
silver-gilt
figured
it is

repousse"

a cross in the centre

an Arabic text

signifying Glory to God in the highest' arranged

on either side the whole between two double bands
'

of pellets.
The ground is covered with fine tooling,
and a brief donative inscription is engraved at either
end by the rings.
The use of the crown, wKich at the outset was regarded as a heathen ornament, dates notwithstanding
from so early an epoch, that it was sanctioned and
In
enjoined by the Church in the fourth century.
Greek ritual, as in the Coptic, bride and bridegroom
are both crowned the same custom holds with the
Armenians, who however use a wreath of flowers in
:

lieu
is

In our own country there

much evidence for the crown as part of the
Rock mentions a wreath of jewels
furniture.

of a metal diadem.

not

altar

'

paste' for brides to wear at the altar, and

from
some churchwardens' accounts paid for
quotes
a serclett to marry maidens in iii/.' in the year 1540.
A decree of the council of Exeter in 1287 ordered
that every church should possess a marriage- veil 1
Some Danish marriage-crowns are preserved in
the South Kensington Museum.
called a

'

Church of our Fathers,

vol.

iii.

pt. 2. p.

174.

CHAPTER

III.

The Furnitiire and Ornaments of the

Sacred Building.
Ambons.

Lecterns.

Ostrich Eggs.
Pictures.

Coronae.*
Reliquaries. Lamps and Lights.
Mitsical Instruments. Mural Paintings.

Bells.

OLYGONAL

pulpits closely resembling

western models are neither of modern
date nor of rare occurrence in the Egyptian churches
but the Coptic ambon has
a distinct character of its own.
It differs
from the western pulpit in having a straight-sided
balcony attached to the circular preaching place.
The balcony always runs east and west both balcony and pulpit are usually of white marble, carved
with flowers or enriched with exquisite marqueterie
or mosaic of coloured stones. Sometimes a flight of
steps leads up to the ambon, yet often a moveable
ladder is the only means of mounting. It is doubtful
whether any remaining ambon dates further back
than the tenth century, though presumably those at
V^Al Mu'allakah and Abu-'s-Sifain, of which illustra:

have been given, may claim as great antiquity.

must always be remembered that the Arabs in
Egypt borrowed most of their arts from the Copts
and that the arts, once developed, had a mechanical
persistence, which renders any argument from resemblance of style to parity of date uncertain and
tions
It

Furniture.
perilous.

One cannot

therefore

65
determine

safely

date of Coptic work by comparison with

Arab work of which the date is ascertained.
the

like

But

is an
octagonal wooden pulpit in one of the
churches of the Natrun valley, which must be as old

there

as the eighth century.

In England pulpits' were not used before the thirteenth century, previous to which the sermon was
delivered from the roodloft but in neither our own
:

Church nor the Coptic does the ambon seem to have

been known precisely in the form which was common
in early Greek buildings, and in early Latin basilicas,
which occurred for instance at St. Sophia in Constantinople, and may still be seen at S. Apollinare
Nuovo in Ravenna, S. Clemente in Rome, and at
Torcello near Venice,
namely the form with two
low flights of steps, a double entrance, and two short
This form is
balconies without the circular area.
the usual one in pourtrayals of the ambon in tenth
and eleventh century Italian miniatures. Whereas,

ambon generally stood in the middle

of the nave, the Coptic pulpit, like that of our own
churches, is placed on the north side of the nave
too, the Latin

near the choir.

The

lectern in use

among

the Copts

is

a moveable

wooden desk about

15 in. square and about 4ft. high,

furnished with a sloping book-rest. The lower part is
made as a cupboard to contain the books of service
:

sometimes open, showing only the

The
lectern is adorned with geometricorner-posts.
cal designs, and sometimes inlaid with ivory carvings
of the richest and most intricate workmanship. The
the upper half

finest

example

is

is

that

now

at the cathedral in Cairo,

but once belonging to Al Mu'allakah

VOL.

II.

it

may

date

66

Ancient Coptic CJinvches.

Fig. 1?.

[CH.

in Cairo (front view).

Ivory-inlaid Lectern at the Cathedral

m.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

Fig. 14.

Ivory-inlaid Lectern (back view).

F 2

68

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

m.

perhaps from the tenth or eleventh century, and is a

really beautiful work of art, the ivory enrichments
being wrought with the utmost conceivable delicacy
of finish.
The crosses and tablets chased with
Arabic inscriptions are solid blocks of ivory with
the designs in relief.
The illustrations are from
photographs.

The

always stands

lectern

in

the

choir before the haikal door, which was the position

occupied by the ambon at St. Sophia.
Occasionally

two lecterns are found, but

such cases one belongs

The reader stands facing
in

of right to a side-chapel.
the East with his back to the congregation.
Coverings of silk or some rich material are some-

That

times used for the lectern.

at

Anba Shanudah

covers the sloping desk, and reaches halfway down

the front or western side and the frontal is embroi;

dered with a

An

illuminated psalter is genand under the desk, on

the
lectern
upon
an open shelf or in the cupboard, are often kept
alms-trays of rushwork or of metal, and the musical
cross.

erally left

instruments used
triangles,
metal rod.

in

divine

service,

and small tongueless

i.e.

cymbals,

bells struck with

Close beside the lectern there stands a

tall and highly ornamented bronze candelabrum with
a pricket, clearly recalling the graceful column which
stood beside the

ambon

in

the

Greek and Latin

churches, and served as a candlestick for the paschal

The censer in common use may generally
candle 1
be seen hanging from the circular plate below the
.

pricket of the lectern candlestick.

Although the worship of relics

forbidden by the
Coptic Church, yet the faithful have a firm belief in
1

See the

illustrations

The examples

of this in

is

La Messe,

figured are mainly Italian.

vol.

iii.

pi.

cxciv-cci.

C H.

Furniture.

in.;]

their sovereign

virtue.

69

Hence every church has

generally those of its patron saint. -But

instead of being made a gazing-stock, they are -care
its relics,

1-

shrouded from view and sewn up in bolster-fike

cases which are covered with silk or some rich tissue,
embroidered or shot with gold. What these cases
contain
teeth, bones, hair, or shreds of raimentcan only be conjectured, as they are never opened.
They are kept in lockers or aumbries underneath
fully

the picture of the saint or martyr to whom they

belonged, or rarely, as at Al Mu'allakah, in separate
moveable reliquaries. In the churches of the Harat-

ar-Rum, women may often be seen sitting on the

floor and nursing a case of relics, which is passed
from one to another as they chat unconcernedly
about their worldly matters for they have recourse
;

powers of the relics for the slightest

In the same way I have seen a priest

to the healing

ailments.

laying his hands and making passes on the head of a

boy who was troubled with headaches. If ever the

Coptic churches had relic-cases of metal or costly

work, like the sumptuous enamelled and jewelled
shrines of western mediaeval art, they have long ago
perished,

and

their

memorial with them.

But while

the Copts retain the common early faith in the

efficacy of relics, they do not and never did pay 'to
them the same idolatrous honour that was often

bestowed

in the

church of

Rome and
:

they did not lavish the same skill

making shrines to contain them.

The lamps and

lights of the

so doubtless

and wealth

in

Egyptian churches

are of such variety and beauty as to deserve a full

to be mentioned only with
notice.
First of all

sorrow and regret

come

the ancient lamps of glass

Ancient Coptic Churches.

yo

[CH.

m.

enamelled with splendid designs and bands of Arabic

writing in the most lovely colours. These, the work
of thirteenth-century artists, were once hung before
the haikal in many Coptic churches, but have now
entirely disappeared one or two specimens however
may be seen at the British Museum and at South
:

Kensington.

Each lamp had

it was

three handles by which

suspended, and formed really

only a case for an inner vessel of oil.
The effect of the
shining through and
throwing out all the enamellight

led colours

was superb. The

same form of lamp

glass

two

in plain

lingers in one or
churches, as at Abu
still

Sargah, where it is hidden

away and only used once a

on Good Friday 1 there

another at Sitt Mariam by

year,
is

Abu-'s-Sifain.
in
.

Ancient Iron Candelabrum

15

at Abu-'s-Sifain.

the

desert,

The

churches

monasteries

of the

and

of

many

the

of Cairo,

ancient

mosques
were quite lately adorned with these magnificent
lamps but shortly before the war all that remained
were taken down by order of the then prime minister,
Riaz Pasha, and stowed away in packing cases in
:

the public library.

It is

a relief to hear that

to the number of eighty in the

of Arab art in the mosque of Al Hakim,

have been placed

museum

now they

See the

illustration

on

p.

41 supra.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

71

from whence four have been sent on loan to the South

Kensington Museum. These latter date from the
fourteenth century, and are extremely beautiful.

Three of them belonged originally to the mosque of

Sultan Hassan, and are inscribed with the titles of
that sovereign, who reigned about 1 350 A. D. and the
fourth bears the name of Al Malik az-Zahir Barkuk,
;

about 1390, the

The

sultans.

first

of the Circassian

Mameluke

three former lamps have a text from

the koran, enamelled round the neck, and running

as follows
God is the light of the heavens and the
'

earth

his light

the lamp

is

in

glittering star.'

is

as a niche in which

is

a lamp

a glass the glass is as it were a

Cobalt and a dark red are the pre:

dominant colours in these enamels white and olive

green are also used in slighter touches.
There can be no question that most of the extant
specimens of enamelled lamps are of Arab manufacture, and that there were large glassworks in the
middle ages at or near Damascus, and possibly also
But whether these lamps are really Arab
at Cairo.
or Venetian in origin, whether the art of enamelling
on glass passed from Venice to Cairo and Damascus,
or arose first in the East, is a moot point which I
There are however
shall not attempt to settle.
some waifs and strays of evidence, which seem to
indicate that the flow of the current was eastward
Another form of pensile
rather than westward.
with
a
lamp
globed body, short neck, broad lip, and
built
of
stem
rings successively tapering downward
and ending below in a fluted drop, seems to me of
The body too is decked
distinctly Venetian origin.
with medallions, each enclosing a lion's head in high
relief
a form of ornamentation in glass almost
:

J2

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.MH;

exclusively Venetian. I have only found two of these

lamps in all the churches one, figured in the illustra-

an aumbry at Sitt Mariam by Abu-'s-Sifain,

and one hanging before the altar screen at Al 'Adra,
in the Kasr-ash-Shamm'ah.
They are not unlike
some of the gabathae used in the western churches.
tion, in

Fig. 16

Almost

Glass

Lamp

at Sitt

Mariam.

identical with these in form,

and not

less

Venetian in character, are the graceful silver lamps

of which examples may be seen in the Harat-ar-Rum
and in many other churches. Dair Tadrus is particularly rich in them. They vary from 4 in. to Sin. or

Furniture.

III.]

73

10 in. in height, and the beauty of their shape is enhanced by pierced designs which give them an air of
great lightness and elegance. Many of the specimens
are quite modern and of base silver for though the
;

art of

working

in glass

is

lost,

metal-working

flourishes in Cairo,

still

and these

copies in metal of the old

glass

have

shapes

handed down

been

to the present

day.

Yet another kind of metal

hanging lamp differs from the
last in having a broader and
fuller body and no stem below
moreover instead of
:

being hung by chains, it is

upheld by three short metal
rods which are loosely attached to the three handles

on the body and are joined

by a cross piece above they
are also ornamented with
:

loose

lamp

spherical bosses.
of this description

^Tlf
Bronze

Lamp

is

have seen
very
two or three in Dair Tadrus.
Bell -shaped
and
cups
rare,

Fig. 17.

at

Dair ladrus.

but

rimmed bowls of

plain white

suspended by chains
the Coptic churches, and are
glass

are

common

in

all

hung before paintings, before the altar-screen, or

in the niche of the eastern wall.
ful

In the middle ages there was in use a very beautiform of lamp, of which I have never seen a perfect

Ancient Coptic Churches.

74

It

specimen surviving.
the

common

[CH.

was modelled roughly

m.

after

pattern of classical earthenware lamps,

but differed in having a spheroid body, from which

arose a short broad-lipped funnel, joined to the body
by a handle the spout was long, narrow, and open.
Though made of earthenware, the lamp was covered
with a very rich and lovely glaze or rather enamel,
:

generally of a most exquisite turquoise blue colour,

though sapphire blue and many very beautiful shades

of green are also found.

Fragments of these lamps
are pretty plentiful among the rubbish-mounds of

and I discovered one specimen very little

not long disused, in an outhouse beand
mutilated,

Old Cairo

longing to the Dair-al-Banat by Abu-'s-Sifain.

Of a pharos, or tower for lights, I have seen but few
specimens. One example, a wooden structure, tapering upwards in four polygonal tiers or stages, is at
Abu-'s-Sifain lying overthrown in the dust behind
the wall pictures on the south side of the nave. The
light-tower

was common

mentioned

in

the

in the

West, and

is

often

Liber Pontificalis of Anastasius

among the gifts to churches. Something of the

same kind is the silver tower described by Paul the
There was a
Silentiary as belonging to St. Sophia.
cathedral
at
at
the
Aix-la-Chapelle.
golden phare
Pope Sylvester also had one made of pure gold and
Adrian I. a cross-shaped phare to hold 1370 tapers.
A tenth-century painting showed two Byzantine1

looking light- towers as belonging to Canterbury

cathedral.
Splendid works of the same kind were
also at

Cluny and

St.

Lenoir's Architecture

and Pullan.

Remy.

Monastique,

The term pharos

ii.

is

137. quoted by Texier

Furniture.

CH. in.]

of course

derived from

the

75
lighthouse

great

of

Alexandria, and it lingers, little changed, in the

modern Arabic fanus.'
Coronae or crown-like chandeliers, once existed in
the churches of Cairo in great profusion, and were
The few that
doubtless made of precious metals.
remain are of pierced bronze or copper, and are
'

flung

Two

into dark corners.

away disused

.belong

Mari Mina, one to Abu-'s-Sifain, and one to Dair

Tadrus. Regarding the English use of the corona,
one cannot do better than quote the words of Rock 1
who, after saying that the pyx hung under the altarcanopy in the form of a dove or a covered cup, adds
Round it in most if not in all churches there shone a
to

'

upon a hoop of
by a chain from
Bede speaks of a

ring of ever burning lights fastened

silver or bright metal, hanging also

the inner roof of the canopy/

large bronze hoop studded with lamps surrounding a
and in the eighth century in Ireland
silver cross
;

'

crowns of gold and silver hung over the shrine of

But I think
St. Bridget in her church at Kildare.
that in the churches of the Copts the corona never
hung from the canopy over the altar its place was
'

either before the haikal-screen, or possibly within the

haikal eastward of the altar.

Of

the curious seven-wicked lamp of iron at Abu's-Sifain, the cresset-stone at Anba Shanudah, the

standard candlesticks and gospel-stands in various

churches, the various altar - candlesticks, and the
beautiful dragon-candlestick at M&ri Mina, descriptions will be found in their several places elsewhere.
I

will

only add a rough parallel to the last mentioned

1

Vol.

i.

p.

200.

76

Ancient Coptic Churches.

JLJ.B

Fig. 18.

Seven- wicked

Lamp

of Iron for the Anointing of the Sick.

TT
Fig. 19.

Specimens of Altar-candlesticks.

[CH.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

77

from an Anglo-Saxon ritual

The fire which was
kindled at the church door on each of the three last
1

days of passion week, was caught by a candle set in

a dragon-candlestick, and from it all the other tapers

were

This candlestick however was merely

lighted.
a serpent so mounted on a staff that its mouth formed
the single socket and it further differed from the
many-lighted dragons of Mari Mina in being portable
:

But the symbolism is doubtless the

both cases.
Rock 2 gives a woodcut of a
candle set in a dragon's head from the Salisbury
instead of fixed.

same

in

Processional of 1528 A.D.The ostrich-egg is a curious but

in the religious buildings
and the Muslims alike. It

common ornament

of the Copts, the Greeks,

may be seen in the ancient

church of the Greek convent in Kasr-ash-Shamm'ah,

in most of the mosques of Cairo, mounted in a
metal frame and hung by a single wire from the roof.
In the churches it usually hangs before the altar-

and

but at Abu-'s-Sifain an ostrich-egg hangs also

from the point of the arches of the baldakyn. Here
and there it hangs above a lamp, threaded by the
suspending cord, as in the church of the Nativity at
Bethlehem and sometimes it hangs from a wooden
arm, fastened on to the pillars of the nave, as in the
SomeNestorian church of At-Tahara at Mosul 3
screen

times instead of the egg of the ostrich, artificial eggs

of beautiful Damascus porcelain, coloured with designs in blue or purple,

were employed.

almost entirely disappeared

1

2
*

See Warren's
Vol.

iii.

See the

their Rituals

Lit.

pt. 2. p.

and

in

These have

the churches of the

Rit. of the Celtic

Church,

p. 53.

244.

illustration in Dr.

(London, 1852),

Badger's work,
vol.

ii.

The

facing p. 20.

Nestorians and

Ancient Coptic Churches.

j8

[CH.

m.

two Cairos there is I believe not one left but a few

still remain in the churches of
Upper Egypt, and in
:

the mosques. The tomb-mosque of Kait Bey without

the walls of Cairo contains some fine specimens.

These porcelain eggs are considerably smaller than

an ostrich-egg, but larger than a hen's egg. In the
British Museum there is a porcelain egg from
Abyssinia with cherubim rudely painted under the
It clearly belonged once to a Christian place
glaze.
of worship.

The 'griffin's egg' was

own mediaeval churches.

common ornament

in

our

In an inventory of 1383
than nine are mentioned as belonging
1
to Durham cathedral
and Pennant speaks of two
as still remaining in I/So 2
These griffins' eggs
were hung up with other curiosities such as the
horn of a unicorn before the altar or round St.
A.D.

no

less

'

'

Cuthbert's

They were

shrine.

merely rarities
from
brought by
foreign lands,
and presented as offerings of devotion to the church
and in some chancels special aumbries with locked
gratings were provided for them. Many of the richer
churches had quite large collections of curiosities, and
served as a sort of museum. But in our own country
the ostrich-egg does not seem to have had any symbolical import or to have been regarded as a distinctly
ecclesiastical ornament.
From the fact that marble
eggs are said to have been discovered in some early
martyrs' tombs at Rome, and that in all Christian
soldiers or pilgrims

lands eggs are associated with Easter-time, some

think that the egg was regarded as emblematic of
the resurrection.
1

Raine's

Tour

in

An

Tomb
Wales,

of

entirely different explanation

St.

vol.

Cuthbert, pp. 123-127.

p. 228.

ii.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

the Copts themby the priest of Abu'-s-

of the symbol, one current

selves,
Sifain.

was given

to

me

In contradiction to

that the ostrich

is

79

among

common

belief,

he said

remarkable for the ceaseless care

with which she guards her eggs and the people have
a legend that if the mother-bird once removes her
eyes from the nest, the eggs become spoiled and
;

worthless

that

instant.

So the

vigilance

of the

ostrich has passed into a proverb, and the egg is a

type reminding the believer that his thoughts should

be fixed irremoveably on spiritual things. This

explanation seems rational for the devotion of the
ostrich to its brood is, I believe, in accordance with
the facts of natural history, and the use of the egg
may well have arisen in Africa where the habits of
the bird are better known.
At any rate it is the
best solution of a vexed question.
for the most part long since
Bells, though
abolished, were once in common use in the Coptic
;

Apollinarius, the emissary of Justinian,

the bells on the first day of the week in

churches.
'

'

rang
Alexandria to
king's letter

1
.

call

the people together to hear the

present patriarch told me that

The

when the churches of Alexandria were destroyed,

of the bells were rescued and carried off to the
Natrun monasteries where they still remain. One
in particular he described as having the figures of
the four Evangelists engraved upon it and an inscription round the border.
A church bell hung in a
niche in the western wall is still used at Dair Mikhail

many

towards Tura; but the church stands in open country,

where the ringing of the bell can wound no Muslim
prejudice.

The same remark

1

Al Makrizi, Malan's

applies to the bell at

trans, p. 65.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

80

Mari Mina, but no church

Cairo or Old Cairo.

in

[CH.

bells besides are

It is

m.

used now

more than a thousand

years since their voice was silenced by order of the

conquerors, and the silence remains unbroken. Now

only in the solitudes of the desert that the clang

ever heard of a church-bell ringing from afar.

it is

is

After the formal prohibition of bells in 850 A.D. a

board struck with a mallet was employed for the
same purpose an instrument which continues in

usage to-day, though that too was forbidden

To

in

1352

monks on

the top of TchadAmba, a mountain in Abyssinia, use in place of bells

three curious gongs which preserve the tradition of
A. D.

this

the board.

day the

They

are merely

stones suspended

flat

by leather thongs to the branches of a tree, but

when struck with smaller stones they give out a
l
pleasant metallic sound
In the Greek Church the use of bells was not
.

known

before about 900 A. D., and

been derived from the Venetians 2

is

said to

The

have

mallet and

board however are frequently depicted in the paintings at Mount Athos. The Maronites use two boards
which form a sort of large clapper. Instead of wood
we sometimes find a plate of iron or brass hung by
chains 3 which was called sementron' or 'semantron.'
Gongs of this kind are figured in Curzon's Monasteries 4 and they are mentioned by Leo Allatius, who
'

cites

some ancient Byzantine

employment.
1

The Wild Tribes

of the Soudan, by F. L. James

1883, p. 236.
2
Goar's Euchol. p. 560.
4
On the title-page a monk
tron,
p-

authorities for

The semantron was suspended

Lenoir,

i.

their
in the

London,
p.

155.

shown beating a wooden semanand another wooden gong and also one of iron are given on

300-

is

81

Furniture.

CH. in.]

narthex or atrium

for bell-towers to hold a chime of

were quite unknown in the East before the
middle ages and even the Coptic churches had never
:

bells

more than a

pair of bells, each about eight or ten

inches in diameter. The familiar peal of our English
churches is scarcely older than the buildings from

which it resounds, and it carries to the ear no clear

echo of early Christian times.
Yet even in England the wooden gong was used
instead of bells l on the last three days of passion
week, the still days' as they were called for that
'

reason.

Handbells are still rung, or rather beaten, as part

of the regular musical accompaniment of the chants
in the Coptic service.
Renaudot 2 relates that the
bishops who accompanied George, the son of the
king of Nubia, on his mission to Egypt, used to ring
bells at the elevation of the host, adding that the

was in conformity with the early usage of the

Church. This was about 850 A. D. But the custom,
if ever it was in
vogue among the Copts, has now
died away completely there are no handbells belonging to the altar.
In the records of the early British and Irish
churches handbells are mentioned as early as the
sixth century and there seems some reason for the
opinion that even larger church bells were in use at
the same period in Ireland, and that the round towers
in some cases served as belfries.
The handbell was
of
an
the
of
Irish bishop depart
regular insignia
practice

livered to
1

him

Cf. Udalric,

at his consecration;

lib.

i.

Consuet. Clun.

and Amalarius de Eccl.

2

Off. lib.

iv. c.

Hist. Pat. Alex. p. 282.

VOL.

II.

c.

12,

and a

bell of this

quoted by Ducange,
by Rock.

22, quoted

Ancient Coptic Churches.

82

[CH.

m.

kind attributed to St. Patrick is still preserved at

For a fuller account of the matter, the
Dublin.
reader is referred to Mr. Warren's Celtic Ritual
It does not
however appear that these bells
were used at the elevation of the host nor is there
any evidence to show that the practice of elevation
was introduced into the western churches before the
l

eleventh century, though it had existed for many

centuries previously in the East. In English records
the mention of handbells is late and scanty.
By
the constitutions of ^Egidius de Bridport, bishop of

Sarum 2

in 1265,

they were ordered to be carried

in

the same
procession in the visitation of the sick
usage prevailed also in funeral processions. The use
:

of the handbell, or sacring bell as it was called, at

low mass, and the ringing of the sanctus bell at high
mass, date no doubt from the thirteenth century,
the custom of elevating the host first began to

when

be adopted

in

The

our own country.

is
always tongueless, and
struck with a short rod of iron.

bell

is

Coptic handsounded by being

The wild and somewhat barbaric clash of cymbals,

which accompanies the chanting in every ancient
church of Egypt, is probably a relic of pagan rather
than of Jewish tradition. The very sound seems to
bridge over the gulf of ages, and to carry the imagination back to the days of Bacchic dances and
frenzied rites of Cybele, in much the same manner
as the sound of church bells at home seems to place
one back in the England of five centuries ago. But

beyond this romantic interest the cymbal seems to

have little history eastern in origin and orgiastic in
character, it seems never to have been widely adopted
:

Pp. 92-94.

Rock,

ii.

462, n. 31.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

83

as an instrument in the worship of the West.

Yet
are
mentioned
now
as
and again
used in Latin
cymbals

churches.

gift

by Du Cange

l
,

frequent in the

of cymbals to a church

and

allusion to

cymbals

Ordo Romanus.

is

is

quoted
not un-

Sometimes no

doubt their usage corresponded rather to that of

bells, as they summoned the people to worship or
sounded at funerals yet there is clear though scanty
:

evidence of their employment in the choral service

of the church 2
Staves or crutches shaped like a tau-cross may be
seen in many of the old churches, where there are no
.

seats to relieve the

aged or

ailing

among

the con-

gregation during the long services. Similar crutches

were allowed, according to Rock 3 in the early days
of the western Church- to certain ecclesiastics but it
,

was customary

to lay

them down during the reading

of the gospel. This usage lasted

the twelfth century.

MURAL

till

the middle of

PAINTINGS.

That the churches of Egypt were once rich in

wall-paintings is proved no less by the fine remains
existing than by the testimony of history. According
to Al Makrizi 4 the patriarch Cyril, c. 420 A.D., was
the first to set up figures (i. e. paintings and not
statues or images' as Mr. Malan renders it) in the
churches of Alexandria and in the land of Egypt.'
,

'

'

'

'

2
3

From

the Acta Episc. Cenoman.

Beletus de Div. Off. c. 86.

Vol.

ii.

p. 134, n. 22.

It

Malan's

303.

should be noted however that the

authorities cited are all French.

*

p.

transl. p. 56.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

84
There

[CH.

m.

not the smallest evidence that the Copts at

any period sanctioned the use of statues or sculptured images for the adornment of their religious
is

and there is decided evidence to the conThree centuries later, we read that one
trary.
Usama ben Zald pulled down churches, broke the
crosses, rubbed off the pictures, broke up all the

buildings,

'

images:' but as it is clear that 'pictures' here can

only mean wall-paintings, so I believe that by
images the writer intended what we call pictures
for the Arabic in such cases is usually ambiguous,
the same term applying to both statues and pictures.
ordered all
Again, about 860 A. D. Theophilus
to
be
effaced
from
the
churches, so that
pictures
not a picture remained in any one church 2 '-- words
which again seem clearly to convey the idea of wall'

'

'

Even as late as the eleventh century the

painting.
art had not entirely perished
for Renaudot relates
:

that in the Field of the Abyssinians 3 near Old Cairo

was a church dedicated to Mari Buktor, which in the

Abu

days of

Salah

the

Armenian had a Coptic

inscription, stating that the wall-paintings were done

Not a
in the year of the martyrs 759 or 1043 A. D.

rumour of Mari Buktor now

and we have no means of comparing any
eleventh-century wall-paintings, which were perhaps

stone, not a trace, not a

remains

the last effort of the art before

its final

extinction in

Egypt, with those earlier works which still adorn

many of the churches. For no one of the numerous
1

Al Makrizi, p. 77.
This name has quite vanished

among

and the most

Id. p. 84.

diligent enquiries

the Copts of to-day failed to produce anything but a con-

fession of blank ignorance.

4

The

spelling

JL y\ is

given in

MS. 307.

Bib. Nat. Paris.

CH.

Furniture.

m.]

85

paintings that survive has a date clearly fixed by an

inscription or other evidence
yet several of them
:

cannot be later than the eighth century, and some

original frescoes remain from the days of Constantine.
All these paintings are done upon dry plaster or
marble, and not on fresh plaster and the colours are
mixed with some viscous medium they are, in fact,
;

distemper paintings, and should not in strict accuracy

be called frescoes. But I have already claimed for
convenience sake to use the term fresco in the wider
sense conferred upon it by popular usage.
The parts of a church most commonly beautified

with these paintings are the pillars of the nave, and

I have
the curved wall and the conch of the apse.

no doubt that where we now find the apse-wall

encrusted with marble and set with fine mosaics,
the same space was originally occupied by frescoes, which were replaced when decayed by the
later

style

of decoration.

Thus

at

Abu Sargah

covered with this marble

principal apse
while
dim
the
and
disused western chapel
work,
the

still

is

retains in

its

apse some of

its

original eighth-

Moreover on the eleven

century paintings.
pillars
in the nave which are unaltered, the colour and
outline of the figures once blazoned upon them
are

still

church

dimly discernible.

All the figures in this

and are specially

are five or six feet high,

showing the resemblance of the early

to those of the western Churches.
vestments
Coptic
In style there is little difference to be detected

interesting as

between the various specimens surviving.

Byzantine

drapery, and

more

life

All are

in character, with set faces, conventional

stiff outlines.
But there are signs of
and freedom sometimes to be found in the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

86

[CH.

m.

rare examples of grouped figures, which exist for

instance in the satellite church of Al Mu'allakah and

K. Burbarah.
In Al Mu'allakah
itself there remains only one single incomplete figure
on a pillar. Anba Shanudah has also one figure
on a pillar, and some very rude uncoloured frescoes
in the chapel of Mari Girgis above it.
Traces of a
monochrome design of the Baptism of our Lord may
be seen also on the eastern wall of the chapel of
Sitt Mariam over the mandarah of Abu-'s-Sifain.
Besides the foregoing examples, most of the niches
in the sanctuaries and other chapels contain a fresco
figure of Christ in glory, his right hand raised in the
attitude of benediction.
This figure, found in the
tombs of Urgub in Cappadocia and common all over
the East, may be seen also in some Roman and
Lombard churches, but not elsewhere in the West 1
in the triforium of

The

Latin Church preferred to depict Christ crucified.

Egypt the same practice of decorating the

All over

church walls with figures of saints and angels seems

to have prevailed.
Not merely in the churches
dotted along the banks of the Nile, to the very farthest

boundary of Egypt in the south, may ancient frescoes

still be traced upon the walls
but wherever the
;

monks penetrated the remotest desert, there they

In the
carried with them the art of mural painting.
western desert the monasteries of the Natrun valley

have many examples

remaining, as for instance

the refectory at Dair-as-Suriani, and the nave of the
while in the
church dedicated to Anba Bishoi
still

eastern desert by the

of Mari Antonios has

dim and venerable

1

Red Sea
its

the ancient church

walls nearly covered with

frescoes.

Texier and Pullan,

p. 42.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

87

PICTURES.

The

ordinary paintings on panel or canvas have

been described so very fully elsewhere that a few
Panelgeneral remarks here will be sufficient.
are
older
and generally more interesting
pictures
than those on canvas a material which has only
been used during the last two hundred years and
the painters on canvas were so childishly wanting in
all power of
design and colouring, that their works
be
dismissed
in one sentence as worthless.
may
The paintings on panel are rather difficult to classify,
:

either

by date or

style,

owing

to the persistence of

Bvzantine
methods and traditions.
*
small

number

of pictures clearly

Yet there are a

dated, and these

serve as marks by which a certain order of progress,

or rather decadence, can be noted.
There are no remaining pictures, I believe, older

than the thirteenth century, and only one that can

be assigned beyond question to that period the
beautiful tabernacle or altar-casket at Abu-'s-Sifain.

This forms a class by itself, being distinguished by a

luminous softness of chiaroscuro and a depth of
idealised expression, both very surprising in an
The date, 1280 A. D., is determined
oriental picture.
So much has been
clear
by a
inscription in Coptic.
said already about the picture, that I will only add

work of art is enough by its sole

no
other
evidence (if
picture can be assigned to the
same epoch) to establish the existence in Egypt of a
school of painters far superior to contemporary

that this solitary

Possibly the large painting of the

Life of our Lord in the same church may belong to

artists in Italy.
\M-*

the

same period

or even

if

somewhat

later,

it

is

Ancient Coptic Churches.

88

[CH.

m.

Both pictures, and in

little inferior in execution.
fact all the older pictures in Coptic churches, are
painted on panel prepared in a peculiar manner.

The wood

sometimes (but not generally) overlaid

on the canvas
it splitting
and the gesso is
is spread a thin coating of gesso
then covered with gold. The golden background,
is

with canvas to prevent

therefore,

common

in

these early paintings,

is

not

put in separately, but is merely that part of the

prepared surface which is not covered in with colours.

This point

is

by two

proved by many examples

in
pictures for instance in the writer's possession
which flakes of colour have fallen off revealing a
The gold seems to have
surface of gold below.

been burnished

to a high degree of brilliancy, gleam-

pure metal, as in our best manuscript illuIn some cases the principal outlines of
minations.
the design were engraved on the gold with a steel
ing like

being doubtless transferred in this manner

from paper sketches and sometimes ornamentation
pointel,

especially upon the nimbus

The picture
into the gesso.

of scrollwork or dotwork

of saints

is

stamped
from which the frontispiece

is

taken bears

in

Arabic

the signature of the pilgrim Nasif/ and dates from

the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
It is remarkable
'

for a

most beautiful

effect

which shows upon the cover

of the gospel, on the tunic of St. Mercurius, and in

other places, a lustre of the most brilliant and pellucid ruby-colour, as pure

and as

metallic as the lustre

of the finest Gubbio ware.

This effect is produced
a
fine
clear
by overlaying
pigment on a ground of
burnished gold.
The use of canvas as the material
for receiving the colours, which did not begin till the
eighteenth century, marks the last stage in the decline

Furniture.

CH. in.]

of Coptic painting.

No

89

pictures of the last or present

century have any value, except as preserving in a

sort of mummy-like embalmment the lifeless traditions of the past.

There

is

reason to believe that the art of painting

on panel existed from a very early period in Egypt

and if one remembers how for ages the Copts and
their churches were harried by fire and sword, and
how their Muslim persecutors hated not only the

religion of Christ, but all delineation of

human

figure

more ancient

the wonder

is

not so

divine or

much

that

all

have perished, as that any

from
so remote a period as the
paintings dating
thirteenth century should have survived the devastations of six hundred years.
It is however quite
pictures

work of art as the tabernacle at

never arose in full perfection as a
sudden growth of chance. The power it betokens
was not developed within the limits of a single lifetime, but followed upon long antecedents of trained
certain that such a

Abu-'s-Sifain

and practised imagination.

How early the
of
know but the
we
do
not
painting
panels began
told
Vansleb
at
least
that the Copts
story
by
proves
skill

claimed a tradition of art ascending to

of the apostles.
He relates 1 that in
St. Mark at Alexandria there was two
a picture of St. Michael, said to have

the very time

the church of
centuries ago

been painted
by the hand of St. Luke the Evangelist. The legend
is that the Venetians seized it, and put out to sea
meaning to carry it away but five times they were
:

driven back to harbour by tempests, until at last

Next some Beduins,
they relinquished the picture.

hearing the story of

1

Voyage

its
fait

value, broke into the church,

en Egypte,

p. 183.

90

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

m.

thinking to steal the icon and sell it to the Venetians.

But, once in the building, they found their feet holden
by some miraculous power, as often as they tried to

go out with

So they too failed in their

Whatever be the worth of this

their booty.

unholy enterprise.
legend, extant remains of mural painting prove that
in the fourth

such

skill in

century at least Coptic artists possessed

design and colour as might by a natural

process of development, if unchecked and unarrested,

It is true no doubt that
achieve very great results.

Coptic art generally has a certain large leaven of

Byzantine elements, and true that Byzantine art in
Europe preserved a crystalline fixity of style and
merit for centuries together
yet the Coptic paint:

ings that remain, instead of indicating a single type

immutably permanent, show a steady continuous

and although this change is a
order of change
of
disintegration and decay, it proves neverchange
theless that the art contained organic vitality and
vigour. So we may reason backwards, and from the
splendour which we can witness slowly waning
;

through six centuries, we may infer a dawn far

beyond our ken, and watch the light growing larger,
in stages at least as slow as those by which we have
seen it diminish.
Of pictures with fixed dates there are two sets
belonging to the fifteenth century, both at Sitt
Mariam in Dair Abu-'s-Sifain. One of these, on the
south wall of the choir, contains three pictures the
Baptism of our Lord, Abu Nafr, and Anba Shanudah
these are dated 1179 of the Coptic era or 1462 A.D.
Close beside them on the haikal-screen of the south
aisle-chapel is a very interesting set of five paintings
:

with a date corresponding to

1477 A.D.

In com-

Furniture.

CH. in.]

91

parison with the art of the thirteenth century, the

faces in these pictures have lost somewhat in lifelike

expressiveness

and the
there

the

is

become more set,

more conventional

the features have

folds of the drapery

not the same masterly softness of outline,

delicate gradation of light and shadow.

same

Yet the

technical

manipulation of colour is still

admirable only it seems as if -the spiritual qualities
had in a great measure gone out of the painting.
:

Works

of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

are tolerably common

but there
in
the
former, in which
periority
;

is

a marked su-

the stiffness

of

decay is far less conspicuous. Good examples may be

seen in Abu Sargah, Al Mu'allakah, Al Amir Tadrus,

and other churches. From the sixteenth century

onwards the decline in power and originality becomes
more and more decided till the last stage is reached,
after the lifeless daubs of the last century, in the dead
:

cessation of painting at the present time.

To sum up Coptic art seems never to have been
:

tied

and bound by

manner as the
no analogy

who

fifty

same
There is

rigid laws of tradition in the

art of the

Greek Church.

Cairo to the experience of Didron,

years ago saw the monks of Mount Athos
in

reproducing by rule of thumb the designs and colours

fifth century, and who found a school
of painters
painting by instinct, as the swallows
of the fourth or
'

build their nest or bees their honeycomb.'

there to-day in Egypt, as in Russia, artists
paint in
Further,

the
it

is

manner of the

Nor are
who still

thirteenth

century.
not merely in style that the Coptic

painters indicate their independence and individuality.

The variety of subjects is no less striking than the

variety of treatment of the

same

subject.

The

arch-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

92

[CH.

m.

angel Gabriel is painted sometimes with a sword,

sometimes with a cross, sometimes with a trumpet
:

a single flowing robe, sometimes in

full pontificals.
The Annunciation and the Nativity
are seldom rendered twice with the same details and
while, generally speaking, the subjects correspond

sometimes

in

frequency and variety with those early Christian

paintings in the West, yet there are some curious

in

While, for example, in

exceptions and differences.
the catacombs at Rome the commonest subject of
Christ as the

is

all

member a single

good shepherd
instance of the same

on any Coptic wall or

panel.

Not

do not

re-

figure depicted

less

remarkable

many of the most familiar symbols

Birds eating grapes, and
of western Christendom.
is

the absence of

stags, occur in

one or two wood-carvings

there

is

one solitary instance of a dolphin carved in marble

the ship and the fish are found neither in carving
nor painting, although Clement of Alexandria is the
:

to bear witness to

first

On

Christian symbol.

abound
tively

the

use of IXOUC

as

the other hand the churches

of scenes and persons distincmartyrs like the Five and their

in paintings

Coptic,

Mother, saints like Mari Mina, patriarchs like Anba

Shanudah, and hermits or ascetics like Antony, Abu

Barsum al 'Ariin. Some of these, and

left a renown that travelled beyond the
some,
only
borders of Egypt but all received more honour in
their own country, where their heroic deeds and
sufferings are still told in legend, and their forms
Nafr, or

blazoned upon the panels of the sanctuary.

There is yet another remarkable difference be-

are

still

Roma

1879,

vol.

Sotteranea, transl. by Northcote and Brownlow, Lond.

ii.

p. 45.

Furniture.

CH. in.]

93

tween Greek and Coptic painting, and it is a point

which should not be passed in silence for it distinguishes Coptic art not only from Greek but also
from all art of western Christendom. The Copts
seem to be the only Christians who do not delight
to paint the tortures of saints on earth or sinners
;

Our

in hell.

ancient English churches abound in

frescoes of skulls

and bones and hideous

devils.

It

was a common thing to depict the Last Judgment

over the chancel-arch and nothing could be too
;

revolting to embellish the scene.

Lutterworth, for instance, has this

The church
fresco

at
in

still

round the Lady chapel at Wingood

cathedral
chester
malignant imps, enacting dreadful
scenes of torture, may still be traced upon the faded
surface of the walls and over the western door of
Amiens cathedral the Resurrection and Judgment,
condition

sculptured in stone, display the same horrors as the

illuminations of the Utrecht Psalter, the frescoes of

Andrea Orcagna

in the

the mosaics of the

Campo Santo

Duomo

at Pisa,

at Torcello.

and

So too

in

the monasteries of Mount Athos every church has

its Last Judgment painted in the porch, with details
of horror which Curzon has described with keen

humour

Elsewhere the same author remarks,

These Greek monks have a singular love for the
devil and for everything horrible and hideous
2
I never saw a
well-looking Greek saint anywhere
In the Coptic Church these horrors have no
In no part of the world do they
counterpart.
1

'

.'

belong to the early ages of the Church, but are

the outcome of a diseased taste in the middle ages.
1

Monasteries of the Levant, pp. 301-302.

Id. p. 258.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

94

[CH.

m.

Mr. Ruskin indeed thinks that the mosaics at Torbut

may be as old as the seventh century
if so, there is a wide
gulf of time between them
'

cello

and the
at

but the subject,

some

The

like delineations elsewhere.

Mount Athos
centuries.

are in

some

cases quite

frescoes

modern

not the work, carries back for

Texier and Pullan 2 record other

if

examples of the Last Judgment, but none of great

The more refined and tender feeling of
antiquity.
the early Church, while delighting to paint our Lord

glory surrounded by triumphant saints, yet left

the doom of the wicked to the silence of imaginain

This wise reserve, this refusal to pourtray in

colours the torments of hell, or to countenance a
religion of terror, has been and is now the con-

tion.

tinuous characteristic of Coptic art as opposed to

all other Christian art whatsoever.
If then Texier

and

Pullan

are

right

in

these

thinking

horror-

paintings exclusively Byzantine in character, and in

deriving their origin from the soul-weighing and

other legends of the ancient Egyptian mythology

it
is at least very curious that for the first six

centuries of our era

the time

when

the worship of

and Osiris was still practised there should be

no trace and no mention of such paintings, and that
Egypt itself should be the one country distinguished
from all others by the absence of such paintings at
Isis

all

epochs of Christian history.

Rather,

if

the time

and place nearest the supposed connexion prove to

be the only time and place conspicuously wanting
in all sign of it, common sense and common logic
demand some other explanation. It would surely
1

Stones of Venice,

vol.

ii.

Byzantine Architecture,

App.
p. 41.

CH. in.]

Furniture.

95

be just as reasonable to dwell upon the extraordinary resemblance between the mediaeval paintings
of hell throughout Europe and the place of torment
and
depicted in the Buddhist paintings of India
to frame from this resemblance a theory of the conBut there
nexion of Byzantine art with Buddhist.
I
recondite
no
of
is
think,
need,
any
searching.
Similar phases of belief and of artistic utterance
may have quite independent origins and developments.
One has only to remember how as time
went on the primitive idea of Christian life and
thought hardened down to an intolerant dogmatism
in theology, while its spirituality was sapped by
a vulgar craving for artistic realism and it is then
easy to understand how, from the slender material
furnished by Holy Writ, a depraved taste and a
diseased imagination, working in an age of superstition, devised and painted in colours horrors worse
than those of any heathen Tartarus.
Passing now from subject to form, one may note
that the Copts do not share the Byzantine or Greek
1

practice of overlaying their panel pictures with plates

of silver, or setting them in metal frames.
In most
of the Greek churches to-day such pictures may be

seen or rather conjectured for the whole panel is

covered except the faces of the figures, which peer
through holes in the silver, while the drapery and
;

other details of the scene are rudely engraved in

outline upon the surface.
It is uncertain when

custom began, but it seems of some antiquity.

Curzon mentions, among other pictures treated in
this manner, two portraits of the empress Theodora,

this

vol.

See Lord Lindsay's Sketches of the History of Christian Art,

i.

p. xxxiii.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

g6

[CH.

m.

and two other paintings brought from ConstantiThese

nople in the middle of the fifteenth century.
are at the monastery of Vatopede, Mount Athos
!

Of

course the silver casing is designed as a safeguard against the damage which would arise from
the custom of kissing pictures.
From time to

time there seem to have been outbreaks of iconoclastic violence against the pictures in the churches
of Egypt.
Thus as late as 1851 the patriarch
the
tasteless builder of the present hideous
Cyrillus,

much

cathedral in Cairo, considering that too

rever-

ence was shown to pictures, and being determined

to put down the superstition, ordered paintings to
be brought from all quarters, and made a grand
No doubt many of the oldest
bonfire of them.
and best thus perished, though in many other cases
the order was fortunately disregarded.

The Copts have a

pictures

their

in

They pray

certain

houses,

before

them, as offerings

religious
merit.

small

mostly of

them, and
in

number of

burn tapers before

and
of a vow

fulfilment

although the Church forbids prayer to saints, the

practice is not uncommon among the women, who
are of course

more ignorant and

The

the men.

saints

St. Michael, the

Mercurius 2

superstitious than

so worshipped

are

chiefly

Virgin Mary, St. George, and

St.

Monasteries of the Levant, p. 326.

It may be useful to give in Arabic the three different eras by
which the date of Coptic pictures is marked. They are
2

(1)

(2)

the Coptic era of the Martyrs, which

b^-*-H ^-+*i
mences in 284

j->^-

or

Nativity,

(3)

sjs*, the

com-

A. D.

**"-

*,

the era of the Messiah or of the

= A. D.
Mohammedan

era of the Flight.

CHAPTER
The

IV.

Ecclesiastical Vestments of the Coptic

Clergy.

Previous Authorities.

Dalmatic. Amice.
Armlets.

A RIO US
treat of

Girdle.

Stole.

Pall.

writers

who have ventured

Coptic

ecclesiastical

have admitted the

difficulty

to

vestments
of reaching

any conclusions at once lucid and final,

and have for the most part, unconsciously as well
as consciously, exemplified and
intensified the
The
obscurity with which the subject is beclouded.
I
propose to follow now is, first, briefly to
review and compare together all the chief written
evidence upon the matter, and by the light of my

method

own information

to decide, if possible, what really

are the canonical vestments then to take these one
:

by

one, describe them, and

compare them with

cor-

responding vestments in other Churches eastern and

western and, finally, to make mention of one or two
forms of vestments unrecorded by previous writers,
forms for which the evidence is rather pictorial than
:

written.

The
VOL.

first list
II.

to

be given here

is

quoted from the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

98
Arab

historian

Abu Dakn

1
,

[CH. iv.

as rendered in English

by Sir E. Sadleir in 1693. I strongly suspect that

this English translation is second-hand work, being
taken direct from the

Latin version of the same

Oxford

in 1675.
It is not surin
arise
a
that
such
mistakes
process of
prising
translation and retranslation, even if the liturgical

author, published at

terms

in the original authority are technically

accurate

and

clearly distinguished, which is seldom if ever the

further source of error, no less frequent
case.

the ignorance of lexicographers,

seem to have not the smallest understanding of

than vexatious,

who

liturgical

is

language

2
.

But to proceed

Abu Dakn

gives as the priestly vestments the following

woollen ephod' about the head. This
1.
:

'

is

clearly the amice, though Abu Dakn remarks that it

is worn not only by priests but by all who enter the

a statement not easily intelligible unless it

church,
refers also to the turban
but another explanation
;

be suggested presently.

will
2.

Dalmatic.

the feet and

long linen garment reaching to

form of a cross

set with jewels in the

breast, borders, and cuffs of the

the
church
be poor, with silk embroidery
sleeves,
This is one of many testimonies
instead of jewels.

upon the back,

or, if

to the great splendour of the ancient Coptic ritual.

3. Girdle.
4. Maniple carried by the priest only in the left
hand and not allowed to deacons or inferior orders.

This statement
1

is

extremely doubtful.

History of the Jacobites, tr. by Sir E. Sadleir, London, 1693.

It is a matter of great regret that even the best and most recent

Arabic lexicons, such as Lane's and Dr. Badger's, are so remarkably

deficient in this respect.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

Cope.

5.

The

Latin

is 'pallium cum
stated to be used at

rendering

and the vestment

cucullo,'

99

is

solemn times by priest, deacon, or subdeacon for

the mass, when no bishop is celebrating.
The hood
over
the
is
worn by
amice.
The
and
was
goes
cope
the Coptic clergy, and may be rightly so called here.
6. Stole.
About this vestment the Latin version
remarks nulli ferunt nisi pontifices,' which becomes
in the English translation
none wear the stole exan
cept bishops!'
absurdity which needs no refu'

'

tation.

Let us now turn to the

list

given by Vansleb *,

who

lived in Cairo in the years 1672-1673, and was for

the most part a careful observer.
gives seven

He

as the
1.

number of

priestly vestments,

viz.

Aid, called in Arabic tuniah.

Amice. A long band of white linen which

priests and deacons wear twisted round the head.
Arabic 'teleisan ;' Coptic niXoviort.
3. Girdle of silk.
4 and 5. Sleeves or armlets.
2.

6.

Stole.

7.

C^(chappe) which must have a hood (chaperon)

for bishops but not for priests.

clearly

The vestment seems

marked by the hood as that mentioned by

but the two authorities are at hopeless

Abu Dakn,

variance as regards usage for whereas Abu Dakn

assigns the cope with hood to priests and deacons,
to the exclusion of bishops, Vansleb makes the
:

hooded cope as opposed

of bishops as opposed
'

al

to the hoodless distinctive

to priests.

Vansleb gives

burnus' as the Arabic equivalent.

1

Histoire de 1'figlise d'Alexandrie, p. 60.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

ioo

[CH. iv.

Renaudot 1

in his wonderfully learned work on

the Oriental Liturgies cites two authorities for the
Coptic vestments, Gabriel and Abu Saba. Gabriel,

the LXXXVIII patriarch of Alexandria, in his book

ritual, published in
1411 A.D., enumerates the

on

vestments as follows
1. Aid or dalmatic of silk.
2. Epomis or amice of white
:

Stole.

3.

Girdle.

4.

and

silk.

6. Sleeves.

Cope (pallium seu cappa) of white

Similarly Abu Saba gives seven
7.

silk.

1.

2.

3.

Aid

or dalmatic (vestis longa sive tunica).

Epomis or amice, like the ephod of Aaron.
Girdle.

4 and
6.

5.

Sleeves.

Stole or

which

the

priest hangs
from his neck.
Chasuble or cope (?)
Camisia sive alba,'
7.
which for bishops has an orfrey of gold or precious
embroidery round the neck, but not for priests. If
we compare this statement with Vansleb's, it seems
7nrpax^Atoi>,

'

quite possible that the vestment, called of course

camisia sive alba quite erroneously, is rather a cope
than a chasuble and that the hood having disappeared is merely indicated by embroidery, in strict
'

'

analogy with a common western practice.

Renaudot, after remarking that it is extremely
difficult to give a clear account of these several
vestments, owing to the fact that the terms are so
understood even by lexicographers, proceeds to

ill

Lilurgiarum Orientalium Collectio, second edition, Frankfort,

1847,

410., vol.

i.

pp. 161-163.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

101

discuss them in order

a process which it will be
convenient to follow with a rough translation.
1
This is a long robe reaching to the ancles.
bu

'

Sabd
It

Greek x iT(^ vlov

the

is

patriarch Gabriel tunta.

or rather a-riyapiov, and is

calls it djabat, the

worn by all orders down to subdeacon it is tightfitting and of white colour?

There can be no doubt that Renaudot's account
is quite accurate, and the vestment is what we call
:

a dalmatic.
2.

'

This

is

called in

Arabic

Tilsan, the Coptic

T ^.nojuuc, or in

equivalent being GTUJDJUUC, corruptly

some glossaries niXovion. Here it must be understood

of a vestment or ornament worn on the shoulders, and so
nearer a superhumeral than rational. But it seems
capable of being aptly explained as the (paivtoXiov or
chasuble of the Latins'
This last remark of Renaudot's, though apparently
agreeing with Du Cange, is unfortunate. Neale has
adopted the blunder from Renaudot without acknowledgment, thus stamping it with his own authority.
He states flatly that the chasuble is named tilsan by
the Copts 2
Abu Dakn and Vansleb are both quite
clear that the amice is a Coptic vestment, and the
latter identifies the word under discussion by giving
the Arabic and Coptic names, 'teleisan' and mXovioit.
There can be, therefore, no shadow of reason for
confounding amice with chasuble, or for allowing any
.

uncertainty as to the meaning of the 'tilsan':

established beyond question by Renaudot's
1

This writer

is

is

own

Abu Sebah by Renaudot and

seems correct it is taken from

constantly called

others, but the spelling in the text

it

an Arabic MS. which gives L*j>\.

*
Eastern Church, Gen. Introd. vol.

i.

p. 309.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

IO2

[CH. iv.

by the independent authoA point that does demand

some notice is the confusion between amice and
rational, a point which Renaudot passes over withauthorities, as well as
rities

which

have

cited.

out explanation. The truth is that from the earliest

times there was the closest association between ephod
and breastplate, or superhumeral and rational. Thus
1
St. Jerome in his letter on the sacerdotal vestments
'

the ephod or superhumeral is so coupled to

the rational that it may not be loose nor unattached,
but that both may be closely joined and be a mutual

remarks,

help, each to other:' and again he describes the

rational as woven in gold and fine colours, the same
'

as the ephod.' In another place 3 St. Jerome notices

that the corresponding word in the Septuagint is
7ro>/>uy.

Now

there

is

some evidence

that

the

breastplate or rational was used as a regular ChrisMarriott gives an entian vestment in the East.

graving of a leathern breastplate, found in a coffin in

the church of the Passion at Moscow 4 which cannot,
he says, be older than the tenth century, and is a
,

'

wholly exceptional instance of a direct imitation of

"
the Jewish
rational.'"
He quotes however a state5
ment from King that Russian metropolitans wear
,

two jewelled ornaments upon the breast, which are

imagined to be taken from the Urim and Thummim
on Aaron's breastplate. But the strongest evidence

by another eastern Church, the Armenian,

where to this day amice and rational are not only
found, but found attached together, as St. Jerome
is

offered

2
4

Marriott's Vestiarium Christianum, p. 23.

3

Id. p. 17.

Vest. Christ, pi.

Ivii.

and

p. 245.

Id. p. 14.

Greek Church,

p. 39.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

describes the ephod and breastplate.

is defined as a small amice
having a

103

The

varkass

stiff collar,

and

sometimes a breastplate of silver or gold attached

It seems then very probable that at some rather
early period in the Coptic Church both the amice
and rational may have existed and if, like the corresponding Armenian vestments, they were actually
fastened together, it is easy to understand how the two
names enu3JULic and niXovion may have been used
almost interchangeably, and finally, when the rational
disappeared from use entirely, have given rise to an
apparent confusion. Or this confusion may be explained in a different manner. In the western Church,
at any rate, the amice was originally of square or
oblong shape, and was worn with two of its corners
1

overlapping each other across the upper part of the

breast and the strings after being carried round the
;

body were fastened in front. The amice thus worn

actually formed a kind of breastplate or rational
and, if the practice of the Egyptian Church was
;

it is

analogous,

and niXonon

quite natural that the terms enojJULic

should sometimes have been used as

synonyms.
The Girdle needs no explanation: it has the
3.
authority of all antiquity, and a special meaning
among the Christians of the East since the Moham'

medan

conquest,

the khalifs as

and Muslim.

having been prescribed by several of

a secular distinction between Christian

I Hakim and Saldh ad-Din were

the imposition of this mark of

it was regarded by the laity y
such
ignominy for
while ecclesiastics vied with each other in praise of so

very rigorous in
;

Fortescue's

Armenian Church,

p. 133.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

IO4

[CH. iv.

From the fact that the

honourable a vestment.
Christians of Egypt were distinguished by this zone,
"
Christians of tJie Girdle?
they were often called
a name which has given

rise to

many

foolish inter-

pretations'

There

is little

need to

alter or qualify the foregoing

The

girdle was used not merely as a

priestly vestment, but it had its place in the ceremonial both of baptism and of marriage. The title
Christians of the Girdle seems to have been given

remarks.

'

by the Venetians. The secular ordinance enjoining upon the Christians the wearing of a girdle,
to distinguish them from the Muslims, was first issued
not by Al Hakim, but a century and a half before
first

that time

by the khalif Mutawakkil.

The two Sleeves are probably the same as
4 and 5.
the knifiavLKia which the Greeks, as Goar remarks, wear
loose with a silk string to tighten them on the arms.
The f-rripaviKia correspond under anottier form to the
maniples of the Latin rite. But the Coptic sleeves,
'

descriptions, may be of a different

on this point we can give no certain

judging by native
shape,

though
1

information.

The

maniple and epimanikia is, I

certain information,' which
Renaudot desired concerning the form of the Coptic
sleeves, will be found elsewhere in this volume.
6. 'The Stole is hung
from the neck. Abu Sabas
Greek
led
has
him to offer an extraordi-'
ignorance of
identification of

think, a mistake.

The

'

'

nary etymology : he says that Bitarchil means a

thousand rocks'
The glossaries give cKop^iort as
an equivalent to this Arabic word, but that is a term

unknown

in ritual!

The etymology

is

absurd enough, but Renaudot,

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

by misquoting the Arabic, makes

ridiculous.

knew

little

am

it

appear

inclined to think that

Greek

the

word he

105
still

more

Abu Saba

starts with is not

bitarchil but patrashil, or petrashil, which he derives

He adds that the
doubtless from 7rer/>a and \i\ios.
stole is thus symbolical of the 'thousand rocks' which
beset the course of the Church, and demand ceaseless

vigilance on the part of the priests who pilot her

His real ignorance lies in this, that he failed to see
!

a mere corruption of the Greek

It will be noticed that Renaudot
term tirnpayj}\iov.
of
the
form of the stole, of which more
says nothing
anon.
that patrashil

is

^Last comes Al Burnus, or Ka^ao-iov, as the Copts

a term which often answers to the
it,
or
alb
Camisia,
of the Latins, but here denotes rather
7.

tinderstand

a vestment corresponding to the ancient chasuble, coming

on the top of the other vestments and encircling the
whole body.
The upper part has a border of gold or
rich embroidery (called 'f'KOKXi^L in Coptic, kaslet in
like the Greek vestments carefully described by

A rabic]

The Burnus is usually of silk: but Abu 7

Goar.
Birkat relates that many monks and priests of Cairo
wear a plain chasuble of white wool without any
border, such as the Carthusians use at the altar.

The

monks of St. Macarius did not use the chasuble in

service of the altar, but only at public prayers.
'

the

A II these vestments have

like the Greek.

symbolical meanings very

Authorities are confused, owing to

the reckless interchange of Arabic terms

and

the

want

of a

definite nomenclature, Coptic or Greek, corresponding to the Arabic : they will not repay study, as
they are not clear about the ancient form of the vest-

ments,

and the present form, perhaps a

little

changed,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

106
must

be settled by observation,

and

[CH. iv.

not by written

evidence.

'But
very

it is

answer
The Burmis answers to tlte

clear that all the Coptic vestments

closely to the Greek.

or faXoviov as figured by Goar, and to the

The first on the
casula or planeta of the Latins.
list answers to the western alb, and the a-Ti\dpiov : the
<f>aiv6\iov

Christian Arabs have kept tlie latter term which

Echmimensis explains as kamis or camisia. The
Sleeves or firifiaviKta are tightened by silken strings,
it is obvious that they are made in the Greek

whence

The Tilsan or Epomis is the Amice, as

and has a hood attached, according to
remarked,
before
Echmimensis. The Stole is placed about the neck, and

fashion.

the shoulders, as in

descends crosswise over

Goars

Mention is made also by Echmimensis of

a priest's cap (cidaris] ornamented with small crosses.
illustration.

'These vestments were once, and are still,

and costly as the several churches can provide.

a,s

rich

They
are jealously guarded, and may not be removed from
the church or tJte sacristy, as ordained in the most

and confirmed over and over again.

are
consecrated, like every appurtenance of the
They
sacred service, by the bishop's benediction.
If used by
ancient canons

or persons of a different communion, they are

and must be purified by set
Thus in the life of
prayers or else consumed by fire.
heretics

considered as profaned,

Chail, the fifty-sixth patriarch,

cobites got leave from the

sultan

vestments of six Melkite bishops.

we read
to

burn

There

that the

Ja-

the sacerdotal
is

scarcely

any

difference of actual form between a bishop's and a

priesfs vestments for the celebration : they are distin-

guished, as
orfreys,

among the
and crosses'

Greeks, by embroidered

circles,

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

107

The

question of the seventh vestment Renaudot

thus decides in favour of the chasuble almost without
discussion

and he

is

doubtless right.

the Coptic ceremonial, as in the West,

The cope

in

was rather an

for great festivals and solemn processions,

than a regular vestment to be worn in the service
of the altar.
Renaudot points out the confusion
between alb and chasuble caused by the identifica-

ornament

Burnus with the Greek Kafida-iov or Kapfoiov,

a confusion which is the less easy to understand as
But Renaudot
the alb is called in Arabic kamis.
himself seems as inconsistent as the authorities he
tion of the

After stating that the Greek fcrjyMp&M

discusses.

were furnished with silken strings, but that he had

no certain information about the Coptic sleeves, on
the next page he coolly remarks that the Coptic
sleeves have silken strings and therefore are like
the Greek
Again, in the passages quoted above
he mentions several times over without question the
amice (amiculum) as one of the seven vestments
*
yet in another place he sweepingly alleges that the
amice (amictus) is unknown in the eastern Church.
The statement, quoted from Echmimensis, that the
amice had a hood attached, either points to a time
when the original form had so far been altered that
it consisted virtually of two distinct parts, or else is
a mere misapprehension arising from the manner in
which the amice was worn over the head, and which
!

is

by Vansleb.
Between Renaudot and Denzinger, who published

rightly described
'

Ritus Orientalium' in 1863, there is so long a

lapse of time, that one might fairly expect the
his

Vol.

ii.

p. 55.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

io8

[CH. iv.

have added something to our knowledge

But such is not the case. Denzinger
merely reproduces the very words of Renaudot and
the earlier authorities in a slavish manner, mildly
interval to

of the subject.

about the amice,

wrongly doubting his interesting testimony about
the Coptic priest's cap ', but adding otherwise not a
Renaudot's

correcting

mistake

word of

original criticism,

zinger's

work

and leaving, if possible, the

old confusion worse confounded than ever.
Den-

valuable

it

of course, in many ways extremely

contains masses of citation and translais,

from those oriental and other writers, who must

remain the principal sources of our knowledge for
the ancient eastern ritual but on the subject of the
Coptic vestments he has produced a very quagmire
tion

He

of inconsistent evidence.

neither attempts to

the conflicting statements of previous

nor
does he add on any single point the
writers,
testimony of one single fresh observer.
reconcile

Having thus passed

who have

ities

in

review the several author-

written about the sacred vestments

of the Church of Egypt, and having balanced one

authority against another, in order as far as possible
to reconcile their contradictions, we may conclude

much

were at least seven

be
may
fitly rendered by
the English equivalents dalmatic, amice, girdle, two
This list tallies almost
sleeves, stole, and chasuble.
of the vestments
and
name
with
the
number
exactly
this

for certain that there

canonical vestments which

usage at the present moment, although the modern

practice has become somewhat lax, and the full tale
in

'

Cidaris

turque

nihil

de quo tamen varia nobis dubia occurrunt, videRitus

esse nisi pilogion'(l) i.e. the amice.

aliud

Orientalium, ed. H. Denzinger. Wirceburgi, 1863

torn.

i.

p. 130.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

of vestments

is

109

not worn for ordinary celebrations,

Such disbut only on great festival occasions.

between
as
and
exist
past
crepancies
present custom
will be noticed in due order.

THE DALMATIC.
(Coptic ni

noTHpion,

ni cyeirroo, -f jm^pim^ or

-fjUL^im^. \ Arabic 5oo>yO|.)

In most of the eastern Churches the vestments
of the celebrant were required to be of white colour

Thus Ibn al
accordance with primitive custom 2
'Assal quotes a canon of Basil that vestments for
the celebration must be of white and white only/
and the Imperial Canons similarly enjoin that the
priestly vestments must reach down to the ankles
in

'

'

and be white, not coloured.'

In both the passages

the principal reference is doubtless to the dalmatic,
which then as now was the most essential vestment
for the holy office,

name

the

in the

though

West

at

any

rate

'

alb,' connoting the prescribed colour,

seems more ancient than dalmatic.' The generic
name of course is tunic alb being merely tunica
'

and dalmatic tunica dalmatica: and it is this

generic name which has survived in the term by
which the vestment is now denoted among the Copts
alba

tunlah.
1

The

The name

dalmatic

is

here retained

name of the vestments is generally that given to

Philotheus, Kummus of the cathedral in Cairo, and
Where two or
the most learned of the Copts in such matters.
more distinct names are given, all but the last are derived from
Coptic

me by Abuna

MS.
2

authority.

TlOTHpIOIl

is

obviously from the Greek

See Marriott, Vestiarium Christianum, Introd. chap.

Tr

iv.

no

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. iv.

as being perhaps the nearer of the two but it is

important to remember that the Coptic form of the
;

vestment does not accurately correspond to the

Latin form, but rather to the earlier colobion.
dalmatic was a tunic with long full sleeves

The
;

the

and the
colobion had short close-fitting sleeves
colobion is said to have been abolished in favour of
]

the dalmatic by Sylvester, bishop of Rome, in the

It is therefore interesting to
time of Constantine 2
.

Fig. 20.

find that

Embroidered Dalmatit.

Egypt, which never

Roman pontiff,

retains to this

under the sway of a

day in the ministration

fell

of the altar the form of tunic disused by the Latins

It will be seen that the
fifteen centuries ago.
dalmatic figured in the illustration has rather a full
body but short close sleeves. It opens by a slit
along the left shoulder which is fastened by a loop
and button. The seams have no ritual meaning, but
So Marriott, p. Iv: yet the same author, p.
the colobion ' a tunic without sleeves.'
1

Vest. Christ, p.

Ivii.

in.

n. 220, calls

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

\ \

probably denote that the vestment has been pieced,

soiled or decayed, from some other dalmatic
in like condition but less valuable.
The embroidery upon this vestment corresponds
very closely in arrangement with the description
given by Abu Dakn. On the breast is a figure

where

of the Virgin

her

left

arm

Mary holding

the infant Saviour on

below

a rude figure of Mari

this is

Girgis slaying the dragon, and a dedicatory inscripOn each sleeve is the figure of an
tion in Arabic.

angel with

outspread wings

a border

enclosing

some

beautiful crosses runs round the edge of the

sleeves, and a fine cross is also worked upon the

back of the vestment. Various soft colours are

blended together in this needlework, which is

wrought

in fine stitches

with

silk,

harmonising well

with the white or rather cream-yellow ground on

which it is embroidered. The ground is of linen,

and the yellow tinge

The white

is

merely an accident of age.

short-sleeved dalmatic embroidered in

manner set forth above is the principal vestment

worn at the celebration of the korban by the Coptic
clergy of to-day and the distinction between the
dalmatic as worn by the priest and the deacon
the

respectively

is

a distinction

not of form but of

ornamentation. The priestly dalmatic has the figure

of the Virgin on the breast and of an angel on each

embroidered in gold or silver or fine needlewhile instead of Virgin and angels the deacon's
dalmatic has merely small coloured crosses.

sleeve,

work

At

the time

when

the

dalmatic was

ordinary

decked with borders and crosses of costly jewels,

as recorded by Abu Dakn, the ground was often
and silk is
of rich white silk as well as linen
:

Ancient Coptic Churches.

the material most

commonly mentioned

[CH. iv,

ancient

in

I have been unable to find

any evidence,
or
use
for
the
in
olden
times by
written,
pictorial
of
the
with
or
the Copts
dalmatic
clavi, such
stripes,

writings.

as are figured in the early mosaics of the West

instance at the church of S. Vitale at Ravenna

for

and
These

frescoes of the Greek Church.

descended
one from each shoulder before
stripes
and behind they were originally black, but in later
times, in the seventh century, were often purple
and it was perhaps about the same period that the
sleeves began to be adorned with small stripes, which
were soon conventionalised into such a border as
survives now in the Coptic form of the vestment
White then seems to have been the universal
in

early

colour

for

the dalmatic in the

early ages of the

Church both eastern and western. White is the only

colour mentioned in the early Irish canons
arid in
this the British and
Gallican practice probably
agreed with the Celtic. Yet towards the end of
l

the seventh century we find that St. Cuthbert was

buried in a purple dalmatic, although this may have
been in special attribution of kingly honour to that

and does not necessarily imply the recognised

use of purple as an ecclesiastical colour and in the

saint,

eighth century in Ireland albs are represented, as on

the shrine of St. Maedoc 2 with embroidered borders
,

or apparels.
But in mediaeval times the use of
various colours in the vestments of the Latin Church
.

became systematic

special colours being set apart

for special seasons or festivals.

In England it was
after
Norman
the
only
conquest that embroidered
1

Warren's

Lit.

Id. p. 114.

and

Rit.

of the Celtic Church,

p. 124.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

113

and coloured dalmatics came into use

For the
in
I
clear
is
no
there
latter,
think,
authority
Coptic
their
That
the
adorned
Copts
liturgical history.
dalmatics with the most gorgeous jewels and
but I have
embroidery, has been already shown
not seen in actual usage any such vestment made
l

of red, purple, or other coloured material.

Coloured
dalmatics, however, abound in the paintings which

adorn the churches. Thus St. Michael in a picture

at Abu Sargah is robed in a crimson dalmatic tricked
with gold the figures round the apse at Abu-'s-Sifain
wear alb and dalmatic both coloured and the same
is true of the
apostles on the iconostasis, and the
figures on the screen of the south chapel, at Al 'Adra
:

Damshiriah.

Red and green

are the favourite colours.

some of the embroidered dalmatics the work is

spread all over the ground in so lavish a manner as
In

almost to give the idea of a coloured vestment. An

example of a dalmatic, cream-coloured and covered
with small embroidered flowers, may be seen at the
church of St. Stephen in Cairo another is figured
in the woodcut which represents St. Stephen, and is
taken from a painting at Abu Sargah done in the
:

fifteenth or sixteenth century.

Here the vestment

has a white ground, but is almost entirely covered

with beautifully embroidered roses, each with a tiny
branch and foliage attached.
It should be noticed,
moreover, that the dalmatic opens by a slit in the

on the chest, and that the neck and the opening

are adorned with a rich orfrey, while another border
of jewelled work runs round the lower hem
the
cuffs also have their special embroidery.
The sleeves
front

of this dalmatic are, as usual, close-fitting

1

VOL.

II.

Rock,

vol.
I

ii.

p.

100.

but

it

is

Ancient Coptic Churches.

ii4

[CH. iv.

worth remarking that instead of being cut short they

It is very possible that the
cover the entire arm.
for
custom was
deacons to wear the long-sleeved
dalmatic, while priests wore shorter sleeves by reason
of the fact that the epimanikia covered their fore-arm.

This distinction however does not seem to have been

observed in the ancient pillar-painting at Al Mu'allakah, which is not later than the eighth century.

There the archbishop or

wears a
small

fine

circles,

to the wrist

patriarch

dalmatic embroidered

who
all

is

figured

over with

but the sleeves of the dalmatic reach

unless indeed, as is possible from the

drawing, the sleeves do not belong to the dalmatic,

but are detached epimanikia, only made of the same
material as that vestment, and adorned with the like

embroidery.
One other example of the Coptic dalmatic deserves
At the church of Abu-'s-Sifain, on
special mention.
the north side of the nave near the ambon, are two
paintings representing Constantine and Helena reEach of these figures is vested alike,
spectively.

and they have both the alb and the dalmatic. Here
the alb is long and rather loose, while the dalmatic
is

not merely extremely short

but

distance below the waist

for

reaching only a
is

little

further remarkable

having two broad indentations

in the

lower hem,

making thus a sort of zigzag instead of an even line.

These indentations may perhaps remind one of the
western dalmatics. There
can be no doubt of the ecclesiastical character of the
vestments whether their pourtrayal is accurate, is
another question, to which unfortunately no answer
can be given. This much only is certain, that the
side-slits usually figured in

authorities

make no mention

of the two vestments as

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

distinguishable and capable of being

nor does present practice

in

115

any way

worn together

confirm such a

distinction.

The tuniah

of the Copts corresponds, as Renaudot

rightly remarks, to the sticharion (vnydpiov or o-rotXaptoj/) of the Greek Church, and indeed the very word

seems

to

in the

mutilated

be found

in

the

form cTorx>Lplon and

full

in Coptic rubrics *.
described by the Greek patriarch
Germanus, perhaps the first of that name, early. in
The sticharion
the eighth century, as follows 2

cmf^x^pi

The vestment

is

'

being white signifieth the splendour of Godhead,

and the bright purity of

which becometh Chris-

life

The stripes of the sticharion upon the

tian priests.
wristband of the sleeve are significant of the bands
wherewith Christ was bound
the stripes across
.

the robe itself signify the blood which flowed from

Christ's side upon the cross.'
The stripes here
referred to are probably the two shoulder-stripes

common

also

to

the

Roman

dalmatic.

Marriott

good example
stripes in an
eastern vestment from the very ancient fresco at the
rock-cut church of Urgub, as mentioned by Texier
and Pullan another good instance is the fresco at
Nekresi in Georgia, figured by Rohault de Fleury
and examples abound in the East and West alike.
There is, however, a slightly different form of sticharion worn by bishops, in which there are not two
but several vertical stripes 4
For this form, as for
the ordinary striped sticharion, no strict counterpart
exists in Coptic usage, although the Greeks have a
!

quotes

of these

Denzinger, Rit. Or. torn. ii. pp. 40, 49.

8
Id. xxxvii. note.
Marriott, Vest. Christ, p. 85.
*
See the figure of St. Germanus in Marriott, pi. Iviii.
I

u6

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. iv.

kind of sticharion without stripes, long-sleeved, and

sometimes covered with rich embroidery, which
answers to the Coptic dalmatic as worn by
deacons.
Among the treasures of the orthodox
Alexandrian church of St. Nicholas at Cairo is a
splendid ancient sticharion of pale blue silk, almost
smothered with embroidered flowers and medallions
blent in a bold and beautiful design.
The flowers
and the medallions, which enclose figures of saints,

are

all

marked out with

tiny

pearls

strung close

together, which follow the lines of the pattern.

The dalmatic worn by the patriarch at great festivals to-day

woven of gold

is

tissue.

It

agrees with

much

older vestment just described ia being

quite open at the sides almost up to the arm, and in
having little bells attached.

the

Like the Copts and the Greeks, the Syrians also

used the white tunic whether alb or dalmatic as
a priestly vestment.
Their term for it is kuttna,
derived, as Renaudot remarks *, from the Greek
But Renaudot is perhaps wrong in stating
\iTtoviov.
that the Arabic tuntah is a mere corruption of this,
instead of connecting it with the independent Arabic
tun,

^o,

or the Latin tunica.

The

Syrians retained

the orthodox colour, white, though Renaudot speaks

also of dalmatics of other colours represented in

some rude miniatures of a Florentine MS.

Lastly, we find the same vestment, an alb of white
silk, in use at the present day among the Armenian
2
Thus all parts
Christians, who call it the shapich
.

of the Christian world unite in supporting the ancient

tradition that the ministers of the altar should be
1

Lit.

Or. vol.

Fortescue's

ii.

p.

4.

Armenian Church,

p. 133.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

robed

in a

white

117

But beyond the embroideries

tunic.

already noticed, there seems no analogue in the

eastern Churches for the square apparels which
formed a regular part of the adornment of the alb
in

our western

(Coptic

ecf>oTT

We

ritual.

THE

AMICE.

ui

&<LXXm,

n.Xin,
2
:

Arabic cxs^l

have found

Abu Dakn

Xovion

ni

*UM, t/LuLvy

1
,

ni

3
1

.)

speaking of the amice

as a woollen, or more probably linen, ephod worn

about the head by priests and all who enter the
'

'

cannot help thinking that church here

a
mistranslation
for the Arabic
is
haikal,' which,
have
been rendered
literally signifying temple,' may
'

church.'

'

'

'

church

'

by a translator ignorant of

technical

holy of holies,' or sanctuary about

If the amice were worn merely as

limitation to the

the

its

altar.

'

Abu

part of an ordinary laic's church-going dress,

Dakn would

hardly have enumerated

in

it

list

of

distinctively sacerdotal vestments. Vansleb more explicitly describes the amice as a long band of white
linen,

worn twisted round the head by

priests

and

emphasise the latter point, because it

seems to bear out the idea of a mistranslation of

deacons.

Notice that

XoVIOft

and subsequent writers

Levitical priesthood.
2

or Xdytnr

is

the

word used by

St.

Jerome

to denote the 'rational' or breastplate of the

(Marriott, Vest. Christ, p. 17.)

The name ec^OTfT

is

given in Peyron's Lexicon.

This orthography, which, of course, is correct, gives the right

English spelling tailasan, and not tilsan or teleisan,' as Renaudot
and Vansleb have it.
'

'

'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

Il8

Abu Dakn,

[CH. iv.

Deacons, of course,

as suggested above.

do enter the haikal at certain parts of the celebration

so that if we take Abu Dakn's statement to
:

be that the amice

is

worn by

'

priests

and

who

all

then tally almost exactly

enter the haikal,'
with Vansleb.
Lastly, the patriarch Gabriel mentions white silk as the right material for the amice,
and Abu Saba simply records the vestment without
it

adding

to. our

will

knowledge about

it.

By putting together these small pieces of information, we shall arrive at the fact that the amice is
or linen, worn
twisted round
head by priests and deacons.
This definition answers almost word for word with

a long band or scarf of white

silk

the

the amice as worn by the Coptic clergy to-day

the

however, seem mistaken in allowing the

use of the amice to deacons, the truth being that it
is distinctly a sacerdotal vestment.
In Arabic the
authorities,

amice is called either shamlah and balltn indifferently

but although the terms are in common speech quite
synonymous, yet str ctly speaking the two vestments
are distinct distinct in colour and mode of usage,
though similar in point of shape. For the shamlah
is a long band of white linen embroidered with two
large crosses, and worn by priest and arch-priest or
:

kummus

made of grey or other

embroidered with texts and many
crosses, and is worn by patriarch and bishops.
Again, the shamlah is twisted like a turban round
the head, and while one end hangs down the back
of the priest, the other is passed once round his face
under the chin, and then is fastened on the top of his
head but the ballin is put on in quite a different
manner as follows. First, it is doubled and then
coloured

while the balltn

silk,

is

CH. iv.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

119

hung over the bishop's head from the middle, so

hang evenly in front each end is then
across
the breast under the opposite arm, and
passed

that the ends

thence across the back over the opposite shoulder

and straight down under the girdle. It thus forms
a hood

for

the

head as the shamlah does

Fig. 21.

but

Shamlah, back and front view.

whereas the ballin is arranged crosswise both upon

the breast and back, the whole length of the shamlah
is used up in the hood or head-dress,
leaving only
one end free which hangs down the middle of the
back.
Upon this straight piece there shows an
embroidered figure of a cross, and a similar one is
visible over the crown of the head upon the hood.
The shamlah is usually of white linen or white

Ancient Coptic

20

silk,

and the crosses upon

As

it

CJntrches.

[CH. iv.

are often embroidered

gold.
length is about 8 ft. and
breadth i ft. but a specimen in the writer's possession measures no less than i6ft. 8 in. in length and
in

a rule

its

4 in. in width the embroidered crosses, which are

3 ft. 4 in. and 2 ft. 6 in. respectively distant from the
nearest end, are worked in red and yellow silk, and
have the Coptic sacred letters in the angles. There
is no fringe to the vestment, but each end is marked
off by a single red line of needlework.
The tailasdii, where distinct from the shamlah, is
i

ft.

merely a conventionalised form of the same ornament, and consists of a broad strip of linen or silk,
which hangs down the back and ends upwards in a
hood, instead of being twisted round the neck and
over the head, as the shamlah.
It is only upon
such
as
Good
occasions,
special
Friday, that the
patriarch wears the ballin, never during the celebraMetropolitans and bishops howduring the mass, whenever they do not
wear the crown or mitre outside their own dioceses
tion of the mass.

ever wear

it

too,

and

at such times within their dioceses as the

patriarch happens to be present, they wear the

ballin
the use of the mitre being on such, occasions
:

scarcely needs remarking that the

seldom worn with the ballin.

prohibited.

cope

is

It

The amice

ordinary use now is not adorned

with any magnificent orfrey, or apparel embroidered
with jewels and gold, such as was common in the
in

richer churches of the

particular there is
ritual rivalled or

West.

as in every
reason to believe that the Coptic

in

in this

even outrivalled the splendour

of our western services.

however, and

Yet

modern

In ancient Coptic pictures

one searches vainly

alike,

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

121

Such an
Shanudah

for a single clear pourtrayal of the amice.

example as that in the painting of Anba

at the church of that

name

in old

Cairo

is

perhaps

not to the purpose for the head-dress there is rather

a hood.
Yet the vestment may be meant for the
;

tailasan

and the amice

is

found represented as a

hood, though rarely, even in English monuments, as

on the effigy of a priest in the church of Towyn in
1
Merionethshire, and on an effigy in Beverley Minster
The more frequent form of the amice on western
.

tombs and brasses is a rich collar standing about the

neck and for this there is a possible parallel in
For what may be an amice in the
Coptic usage.
:

form of a richly embroidered collar is represented

on the neck of the patriarch in the very interesting
seal of the patriarchate of Alexandria, which will be
And even if evidence
given in a woodcut below.
were wanting, we might be sure that at a time when
as a matter of course the dalmatic was adorned with
a wealth of precious stones, the amice did not fall
short of it in richness, whether its adornment was in
the form of orfreys or of jewelled crosses.
To what antiquity the use of the amice in the
Coptic Church ascends, is a question which I fear
In the West the first mention
cannot be answered.
of it seems to be made early in the ninth century
by Rabanus Maurus. Originally it was a square or
oblong piece of linen fastened across the shoulders
and breast, and, like the Coptic vestment, it had
2
It is
usually a large cross embroidered upon it
.

Bloxam's Ecclesiastical Vestments, p. 47 (eleventh edition).

See Chambers' Divine Worship in England, p. 34, and the

illustration there given

of Canterbury.

of an amice once belonging to

St.

Thomas

Ancient Coptic Churches.

22

[CH. iv.

the twelfth century that we hear of the amice

being worn over the head, and it was then regarded
as an emblem of the helmet of salvation, according

not

till

Durandus. When so worn veiling the head, the

amice was nevertheless lowered on to the chasuble
to

at the

moment

of consecration.

sort of amice,

though sometimes called a fanon, was worn over the

head by the pope when celebrating mass, and the
same ornament was used instead of the mitre on

Holy Thursday, when the pope performed

ceremony of feet-washing.

The
among

the

though not the amice, is mentioned

the ancient ornaments of the Celtic bishops 1
but it is quite possible that the amice too may have
existed at an earlier date than is generally assigned
to it, though from its natural association with the
rational no separate early mention of it is clearly
recorded. Yet no such vestment as the amice seems
rational,

of the Greek Church, although

there the rational survives in a breastplate of gold or

known

in the practice

worn over the chasuble by patriarchs and

2
On the
metropolitans, and called the Trtpio-TriQiov
other hand, the amice or varkass is still worn by the
Armenian clergy, amongst whom it is small with a
stiff collar, as described above, and sometimes has
silver,

a breastplate of precious metal.

The
a
is
also
a
familiar
rational
vestment
amice without

attached to

it

Syrian Jacobite and in the Maronite Churches,

it
is one of the ornaments with which a
bishop is attired at ordination, as may be seen in the
in the

where

rubrics

3
.

Warren's

Lit.

and

Kit. of Celtic

Denzinger,

Kit.

Ch.

Or. torn.

p. 113.
ii.

Id. p. 114.

pp. 93, 157.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

123

Seeing then that not merely the Coptic but also

the Maronite, Syrian, and Armenian Churches still
recognise the amice as a priestly vestment, and that
it

has

even

cases at least a respectable antiquity,

does not ascend to the first few centuries

in all

if it

of our era,

we may

some surprise that ecclesioto Marriott should deny its

feel

from Renaudot

logists

Renaudot has
his own lips
above
out
of
been
refuted
already
Marriott rightly says there is no corresponding
vestment in- the Greek Church,' but quotes with
existence as an eastern vestment.

approval the far more sweeping statement of M.

Les Orientaux plus stricts observaVictor Gay 1
teurs des traditions du costume primitive ne 1'ont
'

Even

Neale, while admitting the

existence of the Armenian amice, remarks that it is

jamais adopteV

'

unknown

any other part of the eastern Church,

and seems to be adopted from the Latin amice 2 ;'
in

thus sealing afresh the error.

It is precisely because the orientals are so conservative in their practice, and because the Copts are
perhaps more conservative than all other orientals,
that the Coptic use of the amice constitutes a. strong
argument for the high antiquity of that vestment. In
default of direct evidence, the date of its adoption in

the church
jecture

but

nated there,

make

Egypt can only be matter of conit far more

likely that it origiwhere the heat of the climate would soon
of
I

think

felt of such a protection for the

less but more natural that the
not
Again,
close association of the amice with the Levitical
ephod or breastplate should have arisen in the

the necessity

neck.

it is

Vest. Christ, p. 2

Eastern Church, Gen.

2 n.

Introcl. vol.

i.

p.

306.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

124

[CH. iv.

East, an association stamped on the very

the Coptic vestment.

name of

On the whole, then, not only is the statement quite

untenable that the amice is unknown in the eastern
Churches, but a balance of probabilities seems to
show rather that it first arose in the East and passed
over to the West, than that it came as a fresh gift
from the ritual of Rome to the ritual of Alexandria.

THE

GIRDLE.

(Coptic ni ^cnrit.pion, ni ofit^pion

Though

Arabic

the penal use of the girdle as a secular

between Christian and Muslim

distinction of dress

Egypt has long since passed away, yet to this

day Christian and Muslim alike wear it for the
sake of convenience, and afford a living illustration of the manner in which it was worn in the
most ancient times, before it was adopted as a

in

sacred vestment of the

Church.
For, as in the
ministration of the Church the girdle is worn over
the alb or dalmatic, so in daily life at Cairo now it is

worn by prosperous merchants or venerable sheikhs

to confine a robe which only differs from the dalmatic
in

being open down the

front.

the two sets of vestments

so well founded in

how
1

it

fact,

is

that one cannot understand

should have received so

'

The analogy between

so striking to view, and

little

recognition from

This word, zinnar,' and the two Coptic terms are obviously
from the Greek

alike derived

CH. iv.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

125

Much labour and ingenuity have

ecclesiologists.
been spent in deriving the various forms of ecclesivestments from styles of classical costume
recorded in literary or sculptured monuments while
oriental costume has been quite neglected, although
astical

Jews, were mostly

orientals, and eastern dress is much the same to-day
as it was two thousand years ago.
well-dressed
the

early

Christians,

like

the

Arab from

the bazaars of Cairo

tion of the origin of Christian

is

a better

illustra-

vestments than

all

the

sculptures of Athens and Rome.

As the burnus or chasuble of the Copts is the
burnus or overall cloak of the Egyptian Arab and
;

the long robe worn

underneath by the Arabs and called kamis so the
sacred girdle is the native mantakah or hazam, i. e.

as the dalmatic or camisia

is

and the amice has its analogue in the

well-known kaffiah. Like most of the priestly vestments, however, the girdle is only worn to-day on
great ceremonial occasions, and not as part of the
belt or sash

The dalordinary ministering dress for the altar.

matic is always worn for the celebration of the
korban, and generally amice and stole are worn also
but the rest of the canonical vestments, though
retained by the Church and used for high festivals,
:

now considered essential for the holy office.

ancient and very beautiful example of a girdle of
crimson velvet with clasps of niello silver exists, and

are not

An

has already been described in the account of the

church of Abu Kir wa Yuhanna at Old Cairo it
:

probably dates from the sixteenth century. That

worn by the present patriarch is of yellow silk, and is
fastened by large pear-shaped clasps of filigree silverwork set with precious stones.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

26

[CH. iv.

The

use of the girdle as a sacred vestment is not

distinguishable from the use of the other vestments
in point of antiquity.
There is no reason whatever
for considering it a later addition, or anything but

the natural companion of the dalmatic.

It is clearly
in
the
at
Al
Mu'allakah
figured
pillar-painting
already

mentioned

which, whether

it

belong to the eighth

century or to an earlier epoch, certainly represents

an ecclesiastical costume of a fixed and developed
In this painting the
not of a rudimentary character.
girdle

is

not a

mere loose

sash,

but a belt with

embroidered edges and with a clasp, thus closely

It
resembling the girdle at Abu Kir wa Yuhanna.
seems then reasonable to infer that at the time when
this fresco was painted, the girdle was already a
thoroughly familiar and thoroughly conventionalised
vestment, and consequently that the use of the girdle
in the Coptic Church is more ancient than in the
Churches of western Christendom.
This idea is further borne out by the fact that
the first clear mention of the girdle as a sacerdotal
ornament is made in the eighth century by St.
Germanus of Constantinople, an eastern and not
a western

writer.

Nearly a

century later it is
found in the western catalogue of vestments given
by Rabanus Maurus and from that time forward
The girdle was often
allusions to it are frequent.
:

made of the most costly

with precious jewels.
and
studded
gold embroidery,
In the Latin Church to-day it is still used by bishops,
but is sometimes a mere cord with dangling tassels.
of great magnificence, being

Goar mentions it as among the vestments of the

Greek patriarch, but not as belonging to other
orders.
In the Armenian Church it is a part of

CH.IV.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

127

the regular ministering dress of priests, and is worn

over the stole. The Armenian name for it is kodi.
The Syrian priesthood also wear a girdle, resembling
the Coptic in form, and fastened by clasps and in
the Maronite Church the priest at ordination is girt
:

with a girdle, which thenceforth becomes one of his

Among the
regular vestments for the celebration.

Nestorians also the girdle still lingers, and is called

1
by the same name as among the Syrians, sunndra
obviously a reminiscence of the Greek favdptov.
,

We

may

say,

therefore, that the

girdle

is

universally-

the eastern Churches as part of the

recognised
costume.
liturgical
in

THE
(Coptic ni uop^pion,

STOLE.

c.xop^ion

Arabic

All the authorities which are cited above for the

Coptic vestments go wrong together in failing to

distinguish the ordinary stole from the patriarchal
pallium or pall, and in failing even to notice the
existence of the latter.
Yet neither its existence,
nor its difference from the stole, nor its antiquity,

can be called

in

question for a moment, as will be

shown

in the sequel.
Here I
the point in order to reserve

have merely raised

it, because it is one
that should be remembered from the outset, although

we

are chiefly concerned at present with the sacred

dress of the priesthood.
1

G. P. Badger,

The

Nestorians and their Rituals,

vol.

i.

p.

225.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

128

[CH. iv.

But, leaving aside the pall, the authorities entirely

fact that the priestly stole has two forms

omit the

quite unlike each other and, worse still, granting

that the Copts do wear a stole, by a strange con;

spiracy of silence they leave the reader to shape it

out of his imagination.
Abu Dakn is made by his
translators to remark that it is worn only by ponti'

i.e. 'bishops.'
Doubtless
be rendered 'celebrants;' but it
fices,'

'pontifices' should
hard to see how

is

redeem the
Vansleb and
original statement from mere error.
Gabriel say nothing at all while Abu Saba notes
that the stole or kinrpa.yj\\iov is worn from the neck
by the priest,' an observation which is true as far
any

credit given for mistranslation can

'

goes, but not a brilliantly clear account of the

whole matter. Renaudot makes no effort to illu-

as

it

mine the darkness.

This

a good sample of the

amount of information to be derived from previous
writers on Coptic subjects, and of the ignorance
is

which prevails even now amongst more recent

eccle-

siologists.

have said that there are two forms of the stole.

Both these forms, as well as the patriarchal pall, are
called by the generic name
patrashil,' an Arabic
for
the
Greek
and both
kTtiTpa.yj]\iov
corruption
I

'

seem

called in Coptic

by the same name

ujpA.piort.

While, however, the pall has also its own distinctive term, the two kinds of stole do not seem to be

and this fact has doubtless

distinguished in name
rise
a
confusion
and perplexity which partly
to
given
Of the
accounts for the silence of the authorities.
;

two forms, one corresponds to the Greek tiriTpa.yj}the other

Ato*/, or irtpiTpayjiXiov as it was also called
and
to the
nearer
to
the
Greek
<0pdpioi>
approaches
;

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

For the sake of

stole of western usage.

in the following

pages

129

chelion, or the kindred

shall use the

'patrashil,'

clearness,

name

to

epitra-

denote the

former shape exclusively, and reserve the familiar

'

'

stole

for the latter.

The epitrachelion proper consists of a single

i.
band or scarf about 9 in. broad and 6 ft. in length
the upper end is divided by an opening through
which the head passes, so^that the vestment hangs
;

down

the middle of the dalmatic in front.

the neck downwards the

From

embroiepitrachelion
dered either with gorgeous crosses, or with the
figures of the twelve apostles in six pairs, one pair
above another; and the dedicatory inscription is
Some idea of
often woven above this adornment.
is

the splendour of this vestment in bygone times may

be formed from the illustration, which represents a
patrashil of crimson velvet woven with silver embroidery, which belongs to the church of Abu Kir

wa Yuhanna.

Even now

the patrashil

is

often of

great magnificence; sometimes it is nearly i8in.

wide.
Blue silk; ornamented with richly coloured
crosses, scrolls

But

figures

or figures,

is

common

material.

worth remarking that the patrashil without

it is

is

called

by a separate name

sudr.

glance will show the origin of the, present form of

the vestment.
It is quite clear that originally the
epitrachelion passed, like the western sacerdotal
stole, once round the back of the neck and hung
in front over both shoulders.
The two pendants
were subsequently brought together, and fastened
close from the collar downwards by loops and
buttons and finally, as this usage was established,
the epitrachelion was made of a single broad piece
;

VOL.

II.

Fig. 22.

Patrashil of Crimson Velvet embroidered with Silver.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

131

with an opening for the head. And the consciousness of this origin is still sometimes betrayed by
the arrangement of the embroidery
for the lines
down the centre of the vestment in the woodcut
:

preserve the idea of two bands joined together,

though in reality there is no seam in the material.

On the other hand the epitrachelion as worn by

Constantine in the painting at Abu-'s-Sifain shows
under the short chasuble no indication of a
vertical

division

is

it

narrow, and has

and divided off by

rather

embroidered
it has
also a fringe which is
After the
not often found on the epitrachelion.
three

crosses

horizontal

lines

foregoing explanation of the origin of the patrashil,

it scarcely needs remarking that the vestment in

form belongs solely to priests and bishops, who

of course wore the unconnected stole over both
this

shoulders, in contradistinction to deacons, who wore

it
Precisely the same
only over the left shoulder.
vestment with the same name, the same shape and

and the same limits of usage, is found in

An example is given by Marthe Greek Church.
origin,

an

illustration 1

but that author does not

nor state
give any
whether the epitrachelion figured is made of a
single straight piece, or is joined by a seam or by
In another plate 2 St.
fastenings down the middle.
riott in

clear

account of the matter,

Sampson and

St. Methodius are represented

as
the
united
Marwearing
epitrachelion
yet
single
riott remarks that the ends of the peritrachelion
are seen pendant,' implying that there are two ends
:

'

capable of separation
1

Vest. Christ, pi.

and

in the

same
2

Ivi.

plate the
Id. pi.

Ivii,

Ancient Coptic ChnrcJies.

132

[CH. iv.

vestment, as worn by St. Germanus, is parted and

stands asunder the whole way down without any
It might seem probable, therefore,
sign of union.
that the Greeks only attach the two edges of the

stole together loosely to

that they have not

form the epitrachelion, and

gone a step further with the

Copts and abolished the central joining.

Yet the learned writer

Dictionary of Christian Antiquities

speaks confidently of the Greek
form as having a hole for the head to pass through
and a seam down the middle ;' so that it would
in the

'

'

'

only differ from the Coptic shape in actually retaining the seam, instead of merely indicating it by an

embroidered ornament.

Moreover, Neale's account

The orthoof the epitrachelion is exactly similar 2

dox Alexandrian church of St. Nicholas at Cairo
.

possesses several ancient and extremely beautiful

specimens of the epitrachelion richly worked with
I
saw one with a blue grbund,
gold embroidery.

two with yellow, one crimson, and one crimson and

All are of silk
all have the figures of
green.
apostles or saints inwrought, except one, which is
covered with a design of crosses and most, though
not all, have a fringe at the bottom.
From these
;

examples it is obvious that the closure in front is

a matter of indifference with the Melkites for in
some cases the closure is so complete that the vestment has merely a seam down the middle even
;

this

seam has quite vanished

in

some modern

speci-

mens, which are made of a single piece of stuff

Diet. Christ. Ant.

Eastern Church

s. v.

illustration there given.

Stole.

Gen. Introd.

vol.

i.

p.

308

see also the

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

covered with a large branching design

other cases the central division

is left

133
;

while in

entirely open.

may add that some of these epitrachelia are

adorned with tiny bells.
The close correspondence in the shape and usage
of the Greek and Coptic form of the vestment warI

rants,

think, the inference that the

had been adopted and

epitrachelion

settled as part of the sacer-

dotal dress before the rupture between the Jacobite

and Melkite factions in the Church. At that time

the vestments of the Constantinopolitan Greeks and

of the Alexandrians would be one and the same
;

but

in the last

degree unlikely either that the

Greeks should have subsequently borrowed the
a supposition refuted
patrashll from the Jacobites,
by the very name, or on the other hand that the
it

is

Jacobites should have been beholden to the despised

and detested Melkites.

This theory
a

of course, give the epitrachelion

antiquity than can be claimed for

will,

much higher

the corresponding vestment, the stole of the western

Churches and being such, it only falls in with and
;

strengthens my general contention, that the forms

of the ecclesiastical vestments were fixed, and definitely consecrated to the service of the Church, at
a much earlier period in the East than in the West,

and possibly

Church of Alexsame time it is not of course denied

that the epitrachelion, however ancient, is only a

andria.

At

earliest of all in the

the

secondary developed form of the original stole or

orarion.

Before quitting this part of the subject,

it

may

be mentioned that the form of the epitrachelion

is

expressly defined in the rubric for the ordination of

Ancient Coptic Chtirches.

134

[CH. iv.

a bishop 1 as given by Renaudot.

It is there laid
down that the vestment must be of silk, and must
be embroidered with the figure of the Saviour and
of the disciples.
Yet there is nothing to show that
this special

form of adornment belonged to bishops

only, or that the epitrachelion decked with crosses

was given

Other communities
specially to priests.
which use this form of ornament, besides the Greeks,
are the Malabar 2 Christians the Armenians 3 among
,

whom

it

niscence of orarion

brocade of

obviously a remidescribed as a costly

called pour-ourar

is

silk

and

is

studded with jewels

and possibly

the Maronites.

The orarion or common stole seems only distinguishable from the epitrachelion by a convention
for in the rubrics orarion is found even for the stole
as worn by the patriarch 4 which is undoubtedly the
The word 0-7-0X77 is of frequent occurrence
patrashll.
2.

Graeco- Coptic

in

pontificals,

but never

in the

sense

of 'stole;' it always means 'dress' or 'vestments,'

a sense which did not give place to the technical
'stole'

the

until

Christendom

ninth

century even

western

in

where it is first clearly identified with

the orarion by Rabanus Maurus about 820 A.D. Into
the hopeless controversy concerning the etymology
of the word orarion I do not propose to enter I shall,
;

however,
1
2

for the present decline to believe that either

Denzinger, Rit. Or. torn. ii. p. 28.

Howard, Christians of St. Thomas,

Fortescue,

Armenian Church,

p. 133.

p. 133.

Denzinger, Rit. Or. torn. ii. p. 49. Marriott is therefore wrong

in saying that the orarion is only used of the deacon's stole, not of
the corresponding vestment as worn by priests.
See Vest. Christ.
p. 84, note 144.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

the vestment or

of a

adoption

its

name was

135

originally Latin.

Roman vestment by

the

The

eastern

Churches would be a process against all analogy

and the name orarion is found in the East just two
hundred years before it is mentioned in the West.
The canons of the Council of Laodicea, about
363 A. D., forbade the orarion to orders below the
diaconate whereas in western history it is not till
the second Council of Braga in Spain that the
orarion is mentioned, and deacons are commanded
to wear it plainly showing on the left shoulder, and
not under the dalmatic.
This council was held in
;

the year 563 A.D.

The orarion is, of course, older in point of usage
than the epitrachelion but there seems some reason
;

even after the priestly manner of wearthe

orarion
over both shoulders had given rise
ing
to think that,

to the epitrachelion as a distinct vestment, the orarion

continued to be used by the Coptic priesthood

still

The latter was

side with the epitrachelion.
required to be an ornament of some splendour;
side

by

and

in

the poorer churches

it

would of course be

much more easy

of linen,

to provide a plain band or scarf

embroidered with crosses, to be worn

over both shoulders.

It is

then very possible that

the co-existence of the two

methods of wearing

the stole permissible to priests may have caused

the names to be used almost interchangeably.

For as the patrashtl was styled orarion in the

rubric quoted above, so undoubtedly the orarion
as worn by priests is called patrashll at the present
day.

The

prohibition of the Council of Laodicea seems

never to have affected the Church of Alexandria;

Ancient Coptic Churches.

136
for in the

Tukian

Pontifical there

[CH. iv.

a rubric direct-

is

ing the investiture of the subdcacon with the orarion

2
Similarly the subdeacon among the

at ordination.

3
Syrians, and even the reader among the Maronites,
at ordination receives the orarion.
In most of these

worn over the

shoulder only,
in the manner prescribed for deacons
but in the

cases the stole

is

left

Maronite Church the practice

There 'the reader

is

somewhat

different.

at ordination has a folded orarion

extended arms, the subdeacon has

about
his neck
placed
presumably with the ends
4
while the deacon has it taken
hanging behind
from the neck and put upon the left shoulder. There
can be no doubt that originally the orarion was worn
by deacons hanging free before and behind so that
laid across his
it

the Coptic practice agreed with that of the Greek

and Latin Churches. In the West this arrangement

was found inconvenient, and one end of the stole

was fastened at the right hip for greater security.
The same difficulty gave rise to various ways of
wearing the orarion in Egypt, some no doubt formal
and legal, others fanciful or haphazard, setting all
customs and canons at defiance, like the lax and
slovenly usage of the present century. In the figure
of St. Stephen already referred to, the intention of
the stole hanging over the left shoulder in front is

conspicuous but instead of hanging loose behind,

the stole passes close under the left arm, downwards
;

across the breast to the right hip, round the back,

and from the left hip upwards to the right shoulder,
From the care
over which the end hangs behind.
1

Denzinger, Rit. Or.

torn.

ii.

p. 6.
3

Id. ib. p. 82.

4

Id. ib. pp.

229 and 233: but the rubric

is

Id. ib. p. 118.

obscure.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.j

137

bestowed on this picture, the splendour of the vestments, and the universal recognition of St. Stephen as
a typical deacon, it is probable that this way of wearIt will, of
ing the orarion was habitual and lawful.
course, be noticed that the stole

is

really crossed

upon the breast, and that this fashion of wearing

the vestment requires it to be of much greater
length than the Latin stole.
Very possibly it represents a special arrangement of the stole previous to

Fig. 23.

St.

Stephen

from a painting at

Abu

Sargah.

1
communicating, such as Goar tells us was usual in
the Greek Church for a Greek deacon, when about
;

it formed a
and back, and a sort of girdle
This custom of changing the

to receive, so altered the orarion that

cross on both breast

round the
orarion

waist.

also account for the fashion

may perhaps

of the

Coptic

stole

fashion

which

will

as

be

Euchologion,

p.

146

worn by subdeacons
described

presently.

see also illustrations, p. 147.

Yet

Ancient Coptic Churches.

138

sometimes the deacon's stole

[CH. \\.

represented as worn
in the ordinary way, merely placed upon the left
shoulder
St. Stephen himself, for instance, is deis

picted so wearing it in a painting on the choir walls

of the church of Abu-'s-Sifain.
Yet a third fashion
is shown in a third picture of the same saint at the
church called after him adjoining the cathedral in
Cairo.
Here one end is seen hanging behind the
right shoulder, over which the stole passes hence it
;

down

the right side to the hip

there it loops, and passes diagonally across the chest,
under the left arm, and out over the left shoulder.
falls in front
straight

The end which

thus hangs from the left shoulder in

hand as a maniple. Curious
as these three fashions seem, the last is distinctly
front

is

carried in the left

recognised at the present day as the right way of

somewhat
wearing the orarion for archdeacons.

similar practice obtains in the orthodox Alexandrian

Church of Egypt, where the deacon carries in his left

hand one end of the stole, which hangs over the left
shoulder before and behind while the archdeacon
wears it crossing the breast from the left shoulder
to the right side.
The choristers and subdeacons
of the Coptic Church at the present day wear the
;

orarion in a peculiar manner. The centre part of the

stole is placed on the waist in front forming a sort

of girdle the ends are then drawn behind, crossed

over the back, and brought one over each shoulder
to the front, where they fall straight down and pass
under the portion which girds the waist 1
The
;

orarion thus worn forms a sort of

in front

and

appears that the name i&Jt, which applies properly to the

sometimes used to denote the deacon's stole as thus worn.
girdle,
1

It

is

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

139

resemblance and
half in contrast, the stole as worn, not by deacons
but by priests, in our own Church before the
at the back,

and

recalls, half in

reformation.

The priestly stole in the West passed from the

back of the neck over both shoulders, was crossed
upon the breast, and confined at the waist by the
Owing to the fact that in most monuments
girdle.
the chasuble hides this particular arrangement, so
that nothing more is seen of the stole but the ends

depending, clear illustrations are somewhat uncommon. There is, however, a good brass in Horsham
1
Church, Sussex in which the crossed stole is visible
,

window painting representmay

of
the
Henry VI. with Margaret of
ing
marriage
Anjou, now in the east window of the Bodleian
it

be seen also

in

Library at Oxford. Viollet-le-Duc gives a good

illustration of the crossed stole from a twelfth cen2
and the
tury MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale
same arrangement is figured in Rock's Church of
;

our Fathers 3
the subject

is

Perhaps the
that issued

first

by

clear ordinance

on

the third Council of

Braga, enjoining that every priest at the altar

should wear the stole of even length over each
shoulder, and

should pass

it

crosswise

over the

breast.

The Coptic practice then of wearing the orarion

as both girdle and stole is not very different from
western custom, though obviously it demands
But I may repeat that
a scarf of greater length.
neither priests, nor even deacons, among the Copts
this

2
3

Figured in Waller's Monumental Brasses.

Mobilier, vol.
Vol. ii. p. 89.

iii.

p.

375.

See also

vol.

i.

p. 421.

140

Ancient Coptic Churches.

now wear

the stole in this manner, but only subwhile the priests in ordi-

deacons and inferior orders

[CH.IV.

nary celebrations at the present day are distinguished

by the arrangement of the amice described above,
without either epitrachelion or orarion.
The stoles
of the subdeacons are narrow in shape, and usually

made

of silk or other rich materials

they are of

hues,
purple, yellow, red, and green,
usually having three or four colours side by side
in longitudinal bands
and they are adorned not
only with crosses but also with flowers finely em-

various

broidered.

In ancient times the deacon's orarion

too, like the epitrachelion, was made of silk or cloth

of gold, and set with jewels, just as in the West

the original white linen gave place to more showy

for by the ninth century

and costly materials

of various colours, and decked with gold,

were familiar in the churches of Spain, Gaul, and
stoles

Italy

Many
are

still

magnificent examples of mediaeval stoles

extant, some of the best being in the South

Kensington Museum. One of Sicilian work, dating

from the thirteenth century, is described as being of
'

gold tissue profusely decorated with birds, beasts,

while
and Roman letters and floriated ornaments
'

another of Italian make, fifteenth century, is of

deep purple silk brocaded in gold and crimson with
flowers V
Old inventories too abound with such
'

descriptions.

The Syrians use the stole, which they call uroro,

a corrupted form of orarion, which adds its evidence
1

Marriott, Vest. Christ, pp. 215-6.

Chambers' Divine Worship

in

England,

p. 51.

Rcclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

141

favour of the eastern origin of the word.

Apfor
the
is
both
same
ornament
used
parently
priests
and deacons, though the rubrics given by Morinus
are not very lucid.
In ordaining a deacon the
orarium
et circumfert circum caput,'
bishop accipit
in

'

and then subsequently lays the

shoulder

stole

upon the

In the case of a priest the bishop

*.

left

'

accipit

orarium quod super ipsum positum est et traducit

2
illud super humerum eius dexterum a parte anterior}
It is clear that the deacon wears the stole upon the
left and the priest upon the right shoulder
and the
second rubric seems to imply that the priest wears
it
upon both shoulders. The action of the bishop
.'

doubtless as follows

the candidate for the priesthood being vested as deacon, with the orarion hanging loose over the left shoulder before and behind,
the bishop takes the end which hangs at the back,
is

and brings

When

both ends

So

it

round

the ac-tion

(traducit)

is

in front,

over the right shoulder.

complete, the stole would show

one hanging over each shoulder.

far the process tallies

with that described in

all

But upon the question

English pontificals.
whether the bishop crosses the stole upon the breast
of the priest after bringing it round the neck, the
It seems fairer to conclude
Syrian rubric is silent.
that the stole was not crossed
and this conclusion
seems borne out by Asseman, who describes it as
hanging from the neck before the breast on either
the

'

side

The Syrian stoles in the

MS. cited by Renaudot

Florentine

miniatures of the
4

are either divided

by bands of embroidery, or else adorned with small

1

Denzinger, Rit. Or.

3

torn.

2
ii.

p. 70.

Bibl. Orient, torn. Hi. pt.

4

Lit.

Or. torn.

ii.

p.

ii.

54

p.

seq.

819.

Id. ib. p. 73.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

142

but the bishop's stole

[CH. iv.

always of
about
the
Renaudot says nothing
epitrachelion, for the use of which by the Syrians
there seems to be no evidence
and Neale is therefore wrong in identifying the uroro with the epitrachelion on Renaudot's authority
coloured crosses

is

the latter kind.

The

deacon's stole in the Armenian Church

is

the orthodox manner, and is called ossorah

have
possibly another corruption of orarion.

worn

in

We

already noticed the survival of the term in pourourar, the Armenian designation of the epitrachelion
but there is no law or limit to the forms which
:

a classical word

may take in passing into an oriental

The Armenian stole is generally plain,

language.
unlike the Greek, which is embroidered with the
trisagion or the word AT IOC thrice repeated.
The Nestorian clergy, both priests and deacons,
recognise precisely the same usage of the orarion as

There is however this difference as

the Syrians.
regards subdeacons, that in the Syrian Church the
subdeacon wears the orarion hanging from the left
shoulder as well as round the neck

whereas

in the

Nestorian ordination service for a deacon, the distwo orders is made by the removal
of the stole from around the neck of the subdeacon,
tinction of the

and the placing of it upon the left shoulder. But

it is far from clear in what manner in either case
the subdeacon wore the orarion about the neck,'
whether it was twisted round and round, as seems
most probable, or whether it hung behind 2
The
'

Eastern Church

Gen. Introd.

vol.

i.

p.

308.

The

rubric for the Syrian ordination of subdeacon, as given by

circumdat orarium collo ejus
Renaudot, is as follows
Episcopus
'

demittitque super

humerum

ejus sinistrum.'

In the corresponding

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

Nestorian
the Syrian

143

name for the stole, hurrdra *, agrees with

name in its descent from the Greek term

wpdpiov.

THE

PALL.

(Coptic ni twjuLoc^opiort, ni n,&.XXut

Arabic

Renaudot in his account of the Coptic vestments

ignores, as was remarked above, the very existence
of any ornament corresponding to the archiepiscopal
pall of western usage, or the Greek omophorion.
Yet not only is the pall represented in the earliest
Christian frescoes of Egypt and in many pictures,
but Renaudot himself gives rubrics which mention
it

in

the office for the ordination of the patriarch of

Nevertheless it is extremely difficult,

not impossible, to understand the various rubrics
which relate to the investiture of the patriarch, or
Alexandria.

if

to reconcile the apparent repetitions and inconsisMuch of

tencies in a single version of the office.
this confusion is doubtless due to mistranslation,
which might be removed by careful study of the
originals but these unfortunately are inaccessible.
Abu '1 Birkat mentions only three vestmentsdalmatic, omophorion, and chasuble (couclo sive
;

by the younger Asseman, the rubric runs

while in
accipit eoque collum ejus circumdat
the case of deacons it is turn tollit orarium de collo eorum,' i. e.
which they wore as subdeacons, 'et ponit illud super humerum

Nestorian
thus

'

rite,

as given

'

Orarium

'

sinistrum.'
1

G. P. Badger, Nestorians and

their Rituals, vol.

i.

p. 225.

Ancient Coptic Clmrches.

144
casula)

the

list

is

correct as far as

deficient.

obviously
1

According

to

it

the

[CH. iv.

goes but

Tukian

when

the patriarch elect first approaches

the altar at the beginning of the ordination service,
Pontifical

he is vested in dalmatic and amice only, or as they

seem to be termed in the original CTi^^piort
and Xermoit.
There follows a long ceremony,
until the prayer of invocation is reached, which
contains these words,
Clothe him with the alb
'

'

(podere, noTHpiort) of thine own holy glory lay

the mitre upon his head, and anoint him with the oil
'

After the

of gladness/

proclamation, the senior

bishop arrays the patriarch elect in dalmatic, stole,
and chasuble (c"roix^-P IOIt twpA-piort, 4>eXomon).
.

Then came

the decree of the synod and several

prayers after which princeps episcopus induit

more
eum omophorio (cujmocbopion) symboli 2 (cnrJUL&oXon)
'

Ap. Denzinger, Rit. Or. torn. ii. p. 40 seq.

'
I can only conjecture that symbolo should be read, and
Sic.
The rubric will then
that it refers to what follows, viz., linteum.
Vests
run omophorio et symbolo, etc., and the meaning as follows
2

'

'

him with the

and with the sign of the apostolic gift which is

pall
the amice hanging from the head ; and with the epicheri upon his
The words of Greek origin in these rubrics are given
shoulder.'
as

and though Denzinger prints them in Greek

have thought it better to give the original Coptic.

they octur;

characters, I

What the epicheri may be, is quite uncertain. Denzinger quotes

an opinion that it seems to be a sort of veil hanging over the hand,
i. e.
presumably a maniple, an opinion obviously based on the
supposed etymology of the word, but supported by no external
evidence whatever. There is nothing corresponding to the maniple
in Coptic ritual, nor even to the Greek eyxftpioi/: moreover the
rubric in both cases expressly states that the epicheri is worn over
which is not a likely place for the maniple. Nor is
the maniple likely to be distinctive of the patriarch.
In the 'Systatical
I can offer no suggestion except the following.
the shoulder,

Rcclesiastical Vestments.

OH. iv.]

doni (^cupe<L) apostolici (<LTiocT'oXi]<ort)

linteum (Xerrrion) a capite eius dependens,

humerum

(eni^xepi) super
marvellous as

this rubric,

'

the next

Et cum indutus

archisacerdotali

ems.'

it

145
quod

et epicheri

The language

seems,

is

est

of

surpassed by
omni habitu

est (cj>opeilt)

morphotacio
(cbeXomon) et pha(jULOp$oTLiaori)
cialio (4>.Ki.Xion) quod a capite eius dependet,
omophorio (uujULocbopion) i.e. morphorin
4>opm) habitus (CTOXH) et epicheri
super humerum eius,' &c. The absurdities of the
(^.p^xiep^TiKort)

et phelonio

various foregoing rubrics scarcely need pointing

First, the patriarch is robed in dalmatic and

out.

mitre is mentioned in the prayer of

but
the rubrics contain no hint of such
invocation,
an ornament next, the patriarch is invested with

amice

the

Letter' or decree of the synod, read by the deacon from the

or pulpit, setting forth, amongst other matters, the duties of

ambon

the patriarch, it is expressly mentioned that he is to perform the

office of feet-washing on Maundy Thursday.
For this office a

towel would be used, doubtless of fine embroidery ; and I think it

very possible that epicheri may mean a towel (cf. Lat. mantile, Germ.

Such a towel, gorgeously woven with silver or gold,

handtucK).
well
have
been laid upon the patriarch's shoulder at his ordimay
nation, in token of this special duty of feet-washing, to which
clear the

removes
ture.

Church attached great importance.

all difficulties,

The

but cannot claim to

epicheri then

it is

Such an explanation
be more than a conjec-

would not be a regular vestment, correand worn by all orders nor would

to the Latin maniple,

sponding
even be part of the patriarch's pontifical apparel but merely a
special symbol worn but once on the occasion of his ordination.
:

it

The

natural place for such a towel would be the shoulder.

be noticed that Denzinger's translation, as far as it has

It will

any
omophorion the same as the linteum but
the rubric so running refutes itself, for the pall would in no wise be
described as hanging down from the head.' Vide Rit. Or. torn. ii.
sense at

all,

makes

the

'

PP- 56, 57-

VOL.

II.

146

Ancient Coptic Churches.

dalmatic,

stole

and chasuble

thirdly,

[CH. iv.

with

pall,

amice, and the mysterious epicheri.

Then, after
twice putting on the dalmatic, twice the amice,
besides stole, chasuble, and pall, he comes out
arrayed in the dress of an archpriest, to wit, chas-

morphotacion,'
phacialion,' and
Truly a wonderful metamorphosis
'

uble,

cheri

must be a strange kind of a

it

'

'

epi-

pall,
'

patriarch presents,

when

at

last

and
the
which
figure
he is apparelled
:

in full pontificals.

Renaudot's account of the matter

by no means free from perplexity.

mencement of the
dalmatic and

Xerrriort

by

Denzinger
the amice

service the

simpler, but

At the com-

patriarch wears
translates

Renaudot here

amice.
mantile,

renders

new

is

it,

instead

and

is

of

by linteum as

rightly thinking of

whereas Denzinger in another place 2

applies the term linteum to the archiepiscopal pall
Est autem omophorium linteum sive species
;

'

quaedam

stolae similis pallio.'

The truth is that
as
are
pall
inextricably confused in

amice and

language as

As

in usage.

regards the second process in the investiture,

the Tukian
Pontifical
agrees with

Renaudot

that the patriarch

is

robed

in

dalmatic, stole, and

chasuble.

The

third

process is far more intelligible in

Then the chief bishop
It is as follows
'

Renaudot.
places on him over his head the omophorion which
is the mark of his rank, and it shall hang in such a
way as to fall over the breast.' And instead of all
the barbarous jargon that ensues in the Tukian
:

Tom.

2
ii.

p. 40.

Tom.

i.

p. 130.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.j

Pontifical,

Renaudot has the words,

'

147

Then he

shall

be arrayed in full archiepiscopal vestments, namely

There is nothing
mitre, omophorion, and orarion.'
here about morphotadon, phacialion, or epicheri : but
cutting away what might seem to be mere repetition,
we get as the vestments of the patriarch dalmatic,

There is
amice, stole, chasuble, pall, and mitre.
however reason to think that during the ceremony
of ordination some of the vestments are actually
removed and

Which of

replaced.

the vestments are

so removed, cannot be determined and it is natural

that the fresh enumeration should look like a clumsy
:

But

in the

corresponding service in the

Maronite Church, after the new patriarch has been
robed in alb, inferior orarion, sleeves, amice and
chasuble, there elapses a considerable time spent in
prayer and various rites and then, according to the
repetition.

the bishops bring him before the altar and

rubric,
take offfrom him the chasiible and amice of the priest'

hood:' subsequently he is vested in mitre, chasuble,

and orarion, the last being either the epitrachelion
as opposed to the inferior orarion above, or else the
omophorion and the chasuble here mentioned seems
:

a richer vestment than that which was put on and

removed in the first instance.

From

this

analogy

we may,

I think,

conclude that

there were five distinct stages in the investiture of

the Coptic patriarch.
First, he wears only dalmatic

and amice next, the priestly stole and chasuble are

added thirdly, amice and chasuble being removed,
a more splendid chasuble and probably a finer amice
:

It is

quite clear that Denzinger's archisacerdolali

The

is

a mere

original
^.p^iep^.TIKOIt, which elsewhere
the same author repeatedly renders, and rightly, by archiepiscopalis.

mistake.

is

L 2

Ancient Coptic Churches.

148
are put on

[CH. iv.

then over the chasuble the patriarchal

and finally the mitre is placed upon
pall is lowered
It is, however, very singular that neither
the head.
girdle nor sleeves are mentioned in the ordination
:

and I do not feel at all confident that the

have given of the process of investiture
is accurate, inasmuch as both girdle and sleeves are
undoubtedly part of the patriarchal costume for

service

account

celebration at the present day

l
.

Without attempting to settle decisively the meaning of morphofaa'on, phacialion and the like, which cannot be done without
reference to the text, I may call attention to the criticism of Den-

who, with the text before him, is not merely helpless in

himself and to his readers, but literally abounds in error.
Speaking of the Coptic patriarchal vestments, he says (torn. i. p. 130)
zinger,

'

they are

a-n-^apiov

(Arabs: tunica

[sic]), wpdpiov, (piXwiov

hoc

est

quae sunt presbyterorum vestes praeterea vero ex ordinationis textu Renaudotiano <ano$6piov quod est super caput et
pendet ita ut descendat super pectus ejus, ex textu autem Tukiano
:

</>mi>oXtoi',

fu>p<j)oTaKioi>, <f)(\ouot>,

hoc

est

penula sive casula,

capite ejus dependet, scilicet de

(tnixfpi)

quae

super

humerum

ejus.

homophorio

(paxtaXiov

quod

(sic), et

Epicherion
Phakialion absque dubio erit mitra,

memoratur ut insignium patriarchae peculiarium

Est autem Omophorium (sic) linteum sive species

in orationibus

pars quaedam.

quaedam

stolae similis pallio, crucibus insignita, collo et

humeris

circumvoluta.'

Now

'

Renaudot's text does not say that the omophorion est

super caput,' which would be a description equally false and
ridiculous of the manner in which the pall is worn
but the words
:

are

'

episcopus imponet

ei

homophorium (quod

est insigne digni-

super caput ejus,' meaning of course that the pall

over the head, not that it rests upon the head.

tatis)

is

lowered

Denzinger makes no remark about the morphotacion, and

indeed there seems nothing to give a clue to its meaning: but
over the phacialion he blunders strangely.
The rubric, it is true,
describes this vestment as hanging from the head
and Denzinger,
having just placed the omophorion on the head instead of round
:

Rcclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

149

But whatever else remains secret in the mysterious

rubrics I have cited, this much at least is clear. that
they offer abundant evidence for the existence of the
now explains
hangs down from

the shoulders,

saying that
his

it

words accurately,

it

the position of the phacialion by

the omophorion
Had I not cited
!

would seem incredible that

manner

his next step is

mitre in the most confident

to identify the phacialion with the

So then the initre hangs down from the

(absque dubio).
it is fastened to the
The learned
omophorion or pall

head, where

German has
a

more

still

But
very singular notions of ecclesiastical costume.
Two pages later
extraordinary statement remains.

132) Denzinger enumerates among the Nestorian vestments,

Maaphra quod et dicitur Phakila et Kaphila, quod est pallium in
modum pluvialis nostri quo totum corpus ambitur, estque Grae(p.

'

corum $aoXioi/.' Now it is quite certain that QaKioXiov and $aKidXioi/ must be the same
and here we are told that the phaciathing
lion is no longer a mitre but a cope
But what authority is there
for the existence of a Greek vestment called <aicidXioi>
resembling
the Latin cope ?
I know of none.
The patriarch Germanus in
his account of the Greek vestments uses the word <f)aKi6\iov or
:

$aa>Xiof to mean a bandage, remarking that the peritrachelion is

typical of the bandage wherewith Christ was bound when led away
from the High Priest but there is not the smallest authority in
:

this

believe, in any other, for speaking of the

passage, nor,
as a Greek vestment at all, much less for identifying it
I

(fraicioXiov

with a cope.
The cope can hardly be said to exist in the Church
of Constantinople for the patriarch's pavftvas, which comes nearest
:

to

part of his secular and not of his ecclesiastical apparel.

Cange in his Glossarium ad Scrip/ores Mediae et Infimae

is

it,

Du

Graecilatis gives the several forms <aKeo>Xioi/, QaiceoXiov, <f>aici6\iov,

and (f>aKu>\is and defines the word as ' fascia qua caput involve:

bant olim Saraceni atque adeo Graeci ipsi Byzantini ut hodie

Turci/ i. e. a sort of turban. The primary meaning seems to be
a long band or bandage, such as still is wound round the head to

make
stole

show

a turban.
;

over the shoulder,

Hung

and accordingly there

that the term phacialion

to orarion

is

'

might resemble a

may have been used

by one or two loose

from Coresius Chiensis,

it

some questionable evidence to

writers.

Goar

^aKewXij tiara est et

as equivalent

cites

a definition

militum pileus,

pro*.

Ancient Coptic

150

omophorion as an

C/iuyc/ies.

[en. iv.

vestment of the Coptic

a question whether metropolitans
patriarch.
and bishops, as well as the patriarch, wear the
omophorion. Analogy would seem to answer the
and Marriott * says
question in the affirmative
essential

It is

inquam

prie

zona

capitis KaAurrrpa,

Turcicae persimilis, qua caput velut

too that one of the

Timotheus was surbecause he wore a white head-dress. It seems

vel cingulo circumcingitur.'

It is stated

several early patriarchs of Alexandria called

named

craAa$a/a'oXo?

then probable, on the whole, that the phacialion, though not resembling in any way the Latin mitre, was some kind of eastern head-

more like a turban, with a lappet hanging over the back of

the neck, by virtue of which it is described as ' hanging down from
the head' in the difficult rubric of the Tukian Pontifical.
Very
dress,

it is neither more nor less than what Vansleb calls the

which he describes as a long band of white linen, a foot
wide and four ells in length, which is worn above the turban, wound
round the neck, and with ends falling over the shoulders (vide Histoire de 1'Eglise d'Alexandrie, Paris, 1677, p. 9 seq.).
The bellin he

possibly
bellin,

assigns to the patriarch only : but in the rubric for the ordination
of a bishop in the Tukian Pontifical, one of the priestly vestments

which Denzinger translates by pallium, an

is called Tl.Xin,
I have
ambiguous word, possibly denoting the omophorion.
no doubt that the bellin and the FULXllt are identical, and that
they are simply the amice, as worn in the peculiar manner described
I have there mentioned that the name
in the text above (p. 118).
form of the word) survives to-day as
of the turban-like amice worn by the Coptic priesthood
at the altar, and of another vestment worn by bishops.
Taking
this fact along with Vansleb's description of the tailasan or

battin (which is the correct

the

name

Xoviort

as

'a long

band of white

linen

wound

turban-wise

can scarcely be doubtful, that the terms

XoTIOtt are used for the same thing, though
originally denoting two distinct vestments.
As regards the other word morphotacion, I can find no hint of its
meaning or even of its existence in either Byzantine or Coptic

around the head,'

ballin, n<O\IIt and

lexicons.

JULOp,
1

It

may

to bind,

it

perhaps be connected with the

and

signify a girdle.

Vest. Christ, p. Ixxiv.

Coptic

root

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

decidedly that

an

'

earlier time,

from the

down

to

fifth

century,
the present,

151
if

it

not from

has been

worn by

patriarchs and metropolitans, and by almost

There is, however, as
bishops in the East.'

all

am

aware, no warrant for extending this

generalisation now over the Church of Alexandria.
far as

For the omophorion, unless the

ballin

be so

re-

garded, is not clearly mentioned in any of the known

Coptic pontificals as used

in the investiture of either

bishop or metropolitan
singular

were

pall

the

if

omission,
really the orna-

ment which distinguished

Fig

prelates from inferior

Nor is there any
orders.

all

*- Seal of the Coptic

Patriarch

pictorial evidence to
with
omophorion
any other rank than
On the other hand, in the seal of the
patriarchal.
Alexandrian patriarchate, while the pontiff is shown

associate the

wearing a pall, there is no sign whatever of such

a vestment on any one of the twelve figures which
surround him. The evidence then of this design
tells rather in favour of the pall being considered
distinctive of the patriarch, as in the
it is distinctive of an archbishop.

Yet

it

is

not at

all

Roman Church

inconsistent with the fore-

going remarks to suppose that in ancient times and

originally the omophorion may have been worn by
bishops in the Coptic as in the Greek Church.
St. Isidore of Pelusium, himself an Egyptian, who
lived

in

the

'

omophorion

early
of the

fifth

century,
'

bishops

in

speaks of the
language which

Ancient Coptic Churches.

152

[CH. \\.

seems unmistakeable though the earliest mention

of the vestment is in connexion with a patriarch
:

some twenty years

andria.

previously,

The words

Theophilus of Alex-

Germanus in speaking of
vestments seem to denote

of St.

the Greek ecclesiastical

a different form of omophorion, though called by the

one name, for patriarch and bishop and this may
have been the case also in the Church of Egypt.
:

Yet there is scarcely justification enough in the

Greek text for the arrangement of paragraphs in
Marriott's translation by which it is made to appear
;

distinguished from the archiepiscopal omophorion by having crosses embroidered

upon it, though the distinction is neither clearly
that the episcopal

is

formulated by that writer, nor borne out by any

other evidence literary or monumental.
Coming now to the form of the Coptic omophorion,
we are met by a very curious coincidence for it
resembles far more closely the later shape of the
Roman pallium than the common form of the Greek
;

omophorion. There can be no question that originally this vestment consisted of a single long woollen
band or scarf, which hung in a loop over the breast
in front and over the shoulders behind, and showed
one end hanging in front over the left shoulder, and
one end hanging behind. This form remains with
scarcely any change to-day in the Church of Constantinople, although the pendant

down

now

falls in

front

the centre of the body, instead of falling from

the left shoulder, and the loop is drawn up higher

round the neck instead of hanging so loosely as to
allow the right hand to rest upon
1

it,

as

was the case

See Marriott, Vest. Christ, pp. 84-86.

CH. iv.j

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

153

in ancient times.
Such variation from the primitive
form as has taken place may be readily seen by
comparing plates xli and Iviii in Marriott's Vestiarium Christianum
and it will be noticed at
once that the modern Greek form bears only a
distant resemblance to the modern Roman pall, and
this resemblance is merely accidental.
Any susin
of
Roman
influence
picion
determining the form
of the Egyptian omophorion is at once refuted by
the fact that the vestment as illustrated on the
patriarchal seal to-day is almost precisely the same
:

as that figured in the earliest known representation

of the omophorion, and that representation is oriental,

not Roman.

For the mosaics of the mosque of

St.

Sophia at Constantinople, dating from 537 A. D. and

therefore sixty years anterior to the well-known Roman
figure of St. Gregory, still preserve the forms of St.

and four other bishops who lived in the fourth

century, and these are all arrayed in white sticharion,
white phelonion, and white Y-shaped omophorion
It is this Y-shaped vestment which the omophorion
Basil

of the Coptic patriarch almost exactly resembles.

These sixth-century mosaics prove of course already

a fixed conventional formation of the omophorion,

and consequently a considerable previous antiquity.

Subsequent monuments, however, show that the

form fluctuated from time to time, the original
It
flowing scarf being never definitely abandoned.
is curious therefore to find the conventional form
engraved on the seal of the Coptic patriarch identical
with the conventional form depicted on the walls of
St.

Sophia.
1

Marriott, Vest. Christ,

pi.

Ixxv.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

154

[CH. iv.

In the West also the records of early art prove

that the pall was originally a scarf worn precisely as
in the East.

discovered at

fresco of the eighth century recently

Rome

Ciprianus both vested

shows
in

St.

pall,

Cornelius and St.

which

is

the

same as

the Greek omophorion figured in the ninth-century

Greek miniature belonging to a MS. in the Biblio-

theque Nationale, and representing the second

General Council of Constantinople.
I
this miniature, which is given by M. Rohault de Fleury, and
in the similar one of the tenth or eleventh century
given by Marriott, and representing the seventh
General Council, all the bishops assembled wear
the omophorion over the breast, and with one end
hanging from the left shoulder. There is however
a decided difference in the arrangement of the vestment in the two pictures.
In the earlier, the
the
much lower and
over
breast
omophorion droops
looser than in the later delineation, where it is
i

drawn up more

closely round the neck, more like

the present fashion.
Further, it is curious to remark
that in the ninth-century MS. the omophorion has
apparently only two crosses, one on each side of the

there being no sign of the third cross, which

is
figured on the straight piece hanging from the
shoulder in Marriott's illustration and generally in

loop

all

Greek

miniatures.

But

this

Greek way of wear-

ing the pallium soon gave way in Rome to what has

been hitherto regarded as a distinctively Roman
fashion.

may

How

easily

the

transition

was

effected

be gathered from a glance at the well-known

Marriott, Vest. Christ,

ranea.

pi.

xxx, from

De

Rossi's

Roma

Sotter-

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

155

Gregory the Great dating from about

There the pall is already worn across the
shoulders and the ends, after passing through the
loop before and behind, hang down the centre of
As the consciousness of the original was
the body.
lost, the pendent pieces were merely tacked on to
the circular band which was put over the shoulders,
so as to form the T-shaped or Y-shaped pall common
in miniatures of the West from the ninth century
downwards 2
It is true that for some time the
Greek is found side by side with the Latin shape
1

figure of
600 A.D.

of the

pall.

Thus

in

ninth-century

mosaic

Lateranum the vestment of St.

an omophorion and even as late as

at the Triclinium

Peter

is

still

the twelfth century a very decided omophorion is

figured as worn by St. Ambrose in a mosaic of the

church called after him at Milan

Possibly however
the Byzantine character of the whole composition,
indicating the work of a Byzantine artist, may
.

detract from the value of this mosaic as evidence

for

contemporary

Roman

custom.

The

frequent destruction or defacement of the

Coptic churches after the Arab conquest has unfortunately swept away nearly all the pictorial

monuments which recorded

ecclesiastical

costume.

It

is,

the earliest forms of

however, remarkable

most ancient representation of the omophorion which I have found shows already a fixed
and conventionalised form of the vestment, nearly

that the

Marriott, Vest. Christ, pi. xxv.

See for example, Marriott,

pi.

xxxix

Westwood, Miniatures,

50.

pi.
3

Rohault de Fleury, La Messe,

vol.

i.

pi. xvii.

Ancient Coptic Churclies.

156

[CH. iv.

The
resembling the Latin pallium of later usage.
nameless pillar-painting on which this omophorion
figured has escaped by some accident the destruction which has overtaken the like paintings on the
is

Al Mu'allakah. There is
no doubt that the nimbus, the mitre, and the pall
denote some patriarch, whose name has been effaced
or forgotten.
The pall is T-shaped and consists of
an unbroken band placed low across the shoulders,
with another band hanging from
the centre and concealing the clasp
other nave-columns at

of the girdle.
Curiously enough
there is no sign of any cross upon

each side of it has a

narrow embroidered border, and
the space between is filled with a
this pall

design of interlacing circles or

ovals but the large crosses, charac:

of the Greek omophoand the Latin pallium from the

earliest times to the most recent,
It has been
are entirely absent.
mentioned that the same interteristic alike

rion

Fresco at Al
Mu'allakah.

Fig. 25.

lacing design adorns the mumbar

mosque built in the fourteenth

of a

century

at

Cairo

inclined

to

refer

notwithstanding which I
the fresco to the eighth

am
or

In any case it is the earliest piece

ninth century.
of monumental evidence for the use of the omoIn panel pictures of a later date the vestment is sometimes though not very often pourtrayed.
Occasionally the Coptic pall may be seen arranged in
phorion.

a manner nowise differing from the early Greek way

of wearing the omophorion, i.e. with an angular loop

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

157

or fold upon the breast, and one end hanging from

the left shoulder upon it are three large crosses.
This form of the vestment is illustrated, for instance,
:

In the
oft-mentioned picture of St. Nicholas *.
north part of the choir at Abu-'s-Sifain, in the picture
in the

representing the Death of the Blessed Virgin, all

the apostles thronging round the bier wear the
2
The
omophorion precisely in the Greek fashion
.

adjoining church of Al 'Adra or Sitt Mariam contains

a picture of St. Mercurius in which a bishop is represented wearing a Greek omophorion over the
chasuble. But on the iconostasis of the same church
the twelve apostles are all arrayed in alb, dalmatic,
chasuble, and Y-shaped omophorion, and carry crosses
and gospels. As I have already noticed, the omophorion on the patriarchal seal is also Y- shaped and

Roman than Greek in character it hangs

about the neck and reveals in front three
nearly equal oblong divisions in each of which is a

rather

close

Probably a similar arrangement

cross.

concealed

is

rather than displayed in the very curious paintings

round the apse wall at Abu-'s-Sifain, where each of
the figures is vested in a cope which falls over

and hides the loop of the omophorion and yet

it is impossible
to confuse omophorion and epi;

trachelion, because both vestments are represented,

the latter showing over the alb and under the

shorter

dalmatic.

appears,

it

is

not

Puzzling as

uncommon

this

arrangement

in

Coptic pictures;
though sometimes again, where alb and dalmatic
are both given, the epitrachelion is worn over the

See frontispiece.

Vol.

i.

p. 108,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

158

[CH. iv.

as in the fifteenth-century paintings at Sitt

latter,

Mariam.

The

Y-shaped pall was developed out of the early Greek form, seems proved
by the testimony of mediaeval Coptic monuments,
but the
and the process is easy to understand
same monuments prove no less clearly that the
then, that the

fact,

ancient

with

form

the

later

continued

vogue side by side

But this is not the
omophorion.
in

for besides these

whole account of the matter
two forms, both more or less familiar even in
;

the West, the Coptic paintings give evidence of

For somea peculiar and characteristic usage.
times the Coptic pall appears much longer than
in the ordinary arrangement, and shows besides
the ordinary Y-shaped vestment a band of the
same material and colour, marked with similar

crosses, passing across the waist

to the left
at the left side the
:

wrist or

is

held in the hand.

manner may be seen

picture

of St.

church of

Mark

from the right side

end falls over the
Illustrations of this

the seventeenth-century
attired as patriarch at the
in

Stephen by the cathedral in Cairo,

and in the figure of our Lord in the midst of the
row of paintings on the choir screen at Abu-'s-Sifain.
It seems from this arrangement that one end of the
omophorion is imagined as passing from the left
St.

shoulder behind, across the back, to the right side,

and thence in front of the wearer across the waist,
whereas of course in the usual arrangement the end

hung behind over the left shoulder. Yet another

method of wearing the omophorion is one depicted,
for instance, in the painting of the archangel Michael
at the church of Abu Sargah.
There also the scarf

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

of great length, and

'59

be easier to follow its

disposition by beginning with that end which hangs
over the left wrist. From the left, as in the figure of St.
is

it

will

passes across to
the right side, thence behind
the back, under the left arm,
across the breast to the right

Stephen,

it

shoulder, round the nape of

the neck, over the left shoulder.
From the left shoulder
it

passes

half

where

breast,

across
it

the

is

pinned
under the other cross-piece,
and thence the end or portion

remaining hangs down

the middle of the dalmatic

in front.

way

Thus

it

recalls in

Fig. 26.

St. Michael : from

at Abu Sargah.

painting

the Y-shaped vestment, but presents also a

curious variation.

These
phorion

peculiar arrangements of the Coptic

are not very easy to account for.

omoBut

perhaps the most noticeable thing about them is the

length of scarf required and I cannot help thinking
that they represent the transition from the ancient
;

omophorion to the modern ballin as worn by bishops.

For the pictorial evidence of this peculiarly Coptic
pall is comparatively late, dating no further back
than the sixteenth century at the earliest while the
episcopal ballin is so recent as never to have been
received into the domain of art, and its likeness will
be sought in vain in any Coptic picture. This con;

jecture is perhaps made surer by the fact that neither

the lengthened omophorion nor the episcopal ballin
rests on the sanction of any rubric or other formal

Ancient Coptic Churches.

160

[CH. iv.

But if it be true that the modern ballin

authority.
is the representative of the ancient omophorion, and

was developed from it, doubtless the process of development was chiefly a process of confusion confusion between the shamlah or priestly amice, the
orarion, the epitrachelion, and the omophorion, vestments whose points of difference were easily disregarded in the long darkness which has settled on
It must be owned with reluctthe Coptic Church.
ance that

much

of this confusion

is

likely to persist,

and cannot be quite dispelled by any reasoning

founded upon such evidence as remains. It should
be remarked, however, that the Melkite or orthodox
Church of Alexandria retains to the present day the
ancient usage of the omophorion, and knows nothing
of the ballin 1

Concerning the antiquity of the patriarchal pall

is little to add to the information already
In the East we have seen the
brought together.
vestment first mentioned in connexion with a patrithere

ot. A AI It

is not a
Coptic word by etymology, and is doubtfrom the Latin pallium through the Greek form TraXX/ov,
which occurs now and then in early Byzantine writers. Stephanus in
his Thesaurus (s. v. tmxapiov) says that Gregory of Nazianzen in his
will left toEvagrius the deacon Kapavov tv, (Tt\apu>v tv,ira\\ia 8vo: cf. also
Epiph. II. 1 88 B. The form naXXiv (or ? n-oXXtv) actually occurs in
In Byzantine Greek, however, the word merely means
Porphyrius.

less derived

a cloak or mantle, and was never used to denote the omophorion.

It is therefore by a mere accident that the na\\iov among the Copts,
like the pallium

ecclesiastical

meaning

some

the Latins,

By

was specialized

a precisely

the early Byzantine Ka^daiov (or

sort of

which, as

among

ornament.

we

means

an

analogous change of
which meant

jcd/maoi/),

undergarment, became in Coptic

shall see presently,

to denote

ritual

KJUl<LCIOIt,

sleeve or armlet.

So wide

the departure of the Coptic from the Byzantine sense in each

case, though the sound is scarcely altered.
is

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

161

arch of Alexandria, about 385 A.D.

In the West,
omitting the doubtful instance of the bestowal of the

upon the bishop of Ostia by the bishop Marcus

(c. 330 A.D.), we have no mention of it
until about 500 A.D., when Symmachus granted it to
Theodore, archbishop of Laureacus in Pannonia.
pall

Rome

of

century later Gregory the Great, in writing to

Vigilius, bishop of Aries, terms it a matter of
ancient custom for a bishop to petition the see of
Rome for the pallium and for the vicarial authority

which

carried.

it

While, however, there

is

not

di-

whether
enough
the use of the pall first arose in Rome or in Alexandria, yet the first undoubted mention of that
ornament is from the pen of an Egyptian writer. We
know' that in the sixth century, at least, it was custo solve the question

rect testimony

tomary
St.

Mark

new

patriarch to take the pall of

from the neck of his deceased predecessor

for

before burial, as part of a solemn rite.

Moreover
the omophorion in both the Greek and the Egyptian
Churches has existed and continued in use down to
the present moment, without any record of Latin
interference.

All this

tells

strongly against the claims of

Rome

to regard the pall as an exclusively Roman privilege

to be granted as a mark of honour and received as

a token of allegiance. There seems some reason

from a decree of the Council of Macon in 581 A.D.,
that no archbishop should celebrate without a pall
to think that this pretension was not fully acknowledged by the Gallican Church in the sixth century;
but it is needless to trace its growth, and needless to
repeat that neither Copt nor Greek in any way confesses the supremacy of the Roman pontiff.
VOL.

II.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

62

[CH. iv.

All over the Christian world the pall is rightly

of wool and not of linen, to remind the wearer

made

that he

is

Both

the spiritual shepherd of his flock.

the material and the symbolism are mentioned by

St. Isidore
and to this day the benediction of the
;

white lambs destined to furnish the wool takes place

yearly on the day of St. Agnes, at the church called
after

her

in the

Via Nomentana

Rome.

at

After

the ceremony the lambs are kept in a convent till

the time for shearing is come.
The palls made of
their

wool are placed to

tomb on the eve of the

rest all night

upon

apostle's festival,

St. Peter's

and on the
1

day following are consecrated upon the altar

An omophorion resembling the Greek in form, but
wider, is worn by prelates among the Armenians
among the Maronites also and the Syrians it is
.

recognised as part of the patriarchal investiture.

It is, of course, only by reference to the original

manner of wearing the omophorion,

that our

own

ancient rubrical directions for fastening the pallium on

the chasuble can be rightly understo'od. For we read

was fastened with a pin before and behind

and on the left shoulder 2 / e. at the lowest point
of the curve or loop both on the breast and on the
back, and at the point where the ends crossed each
If we attempt to apply
other on the left shoulder.

that

'

it

i.

this direction to the T-shaped or Y-shaped pall, it

becomes meaningless it is an intelligible and necessary arrangement as applied to the omophorion or
the pall as worn in the primitive fashion.
:

p.

Cate"chisme de Perseverance par TAbbe*

234 (4th edition, Brussels, 1842).

Bloxam's Ecclesiastical Vestments, nth

I.

Gaume,

edition, p. 5.

vol. vii.

Ecclesiastical yestments.

CH. iv.]

163

THE ARMLETS.
KJUL.cioK

(Coptic ni

Arabic

In speaking of the next ornament of the Coptic

priesthood, the sleeves or armlets, it is well at the
outset to guard against any identification or confusion of them with the maniple.
The latter is so
familiar a vestment in the

usage of the western

Church, that one may well feel surprise if nothing
exactly corresponding to it can be discovered in
Greek or Coptic ritual. Even allowing that the
Greek ty\tipiov both in name and purpose offers a
kind of parallel, there is no such ornament as this
napkin mentioned in the pontificals among the
Coptic vestments. The nearest approach that I
can find to any such appurtenance in Coptic ceremonial apart from the veil or sudarium belonging
is a
to the pastoral staff, of which more hereafter

some kind mentioned

a rubric as presented with the cross to a bishop at ordination.

The rubric runs dabitque illi crucem et mantile in
Renaudot's translation but while the word mantile
kerchief of

in

'

'

'

'

is
is

obscure, the original text is inaccessible, and this

the one solitary allusion to the existence of such

a kerchief, whatever its nature, in either the Coptic

or the Syrian or the Nestorian pontificals. The
cross delivered

is,

of course, the small hand-cross

used for benediction and not a crozier, so that the

mantile in this case cannot possibly correspond to
the veil or pannicellus.
It has already been mentioned that in both the Jacobite and the Melkite
'

'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

164

ICH. iv.

branches of the Church of Alexandria one end of

the stole is carried in a way strongly suggestive of
the western maniple.
This custom would perhaps
in itself rather tell against the existence of the maniple as a distinct vestment, though betraying a con-

and possibly explaining

sciousness of

it,

Yet

fair to recall

it

is

only

its

origin.

here the fact that

Abu

Dakn (if his English translator can be trusted) does

mention a maniple among the Coptic sacred vestments as carried in the left hand \>y priests, and not
allowed to deacons or inferior orders.
This statement, however, stands alone, entirely unsupported
by external evidence it is against all analogy, and
it is discredited by Abu Dakn's
inaccuracy in other
:

On

the other hand, although the rubrics

are silent on the question whether a napkin was
matters.

ever used by the Copts, there

slight in amount but decisive
the

appurtenance of worship.
painting of St. Stephen at Abu
of

existence

Thus

in

is pictorial evidence,
in character, proving

the

this

Sargah the sacred vessel carried in the saint's left

hand, whether it be a pyx or merely a coffer for
incense, rests upon a napkin which saves it from
It was doubtless
actual contact with the fingers.
from precisely such a napkin in the West, designed
,

for the

more reverent handling of the

eucharistic

vessels, that the

maniple arose. While, however,

it became an essential, among
the Copts it remained an accident of the altar serHence in the one case the original intention
vice.
in the

Latin Church

of the maniple was forgotten, and it was exalted into

an ornamental vestment in the other case it re:

See

illustration, p.

137 supra.

Ecclesiastical l/estments.

CH. iv. j

tained

its

original

165

and more lowly purpose, being so

little honoured or
regarded that the very fact of its
existence has required to be demonstrated. Granting,
however, the existence of this napkin, we must still
consider it as absolutely distinct from the sacerdotal

sleeves both in origin and in purpose.

The Coptic armlets correspond so

obviously

respects with the Greek empaviKia, that

I
shall not hesitate to use that term for them,
wherever convenient. Marriott has an illustration *
in

all

of the epimanikia worn by the Russian bishop Nikita

in the twelfth century; but unfortunately no scale is

given with the drawing, and the author says nothing

to determine whether the ornaments are merely short
cuffs/ as he terms them, or are real sleeves covering
the forearm.
Yet Goar 2 describes the epimanikia
'

enough as reaching -from the wrist to the

elbow. Whatever may be the case in the Greek
Church, the Coptic sleeves undoubtedly cover the
whole forearm, being broadest at the elbow and
tapering away towards the hand.
They differ from
the Russian epimanikia just mentioned in being for
the most part entirely closed and having the seam
concealed whereas those figured by Marriott look as
if they were intended to
open, and were fastened on
explicitly

to the

arm by

strings or buttons.

Goar

distinctly
priests use silken strings to
tighten the epimanikia on their arms, and his statement seems to bear out the inference suggested by

alleges that the

Greek

Marriott's illustration, that the cuff

when unfastened

would open out flat. I have already joined issue

with Renaudot for first disclaiming all knowledge on
1

Vest. Christ, pi.

Ivi.

Euehologion, p.

in.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

66

[CH. iv.

and subsequently assuming the very

point in question, namely the correspondence in'
shape between the Greek and Coptic epimanikia.
Neale 1 describes the Syrian sleeves as differing entirely from the Greek epimanikia without further
explanation but he adds that the latter hang down
in two peaked flaps on each side the arm, and are
fastened under the wrist with a silken cord run along
the border, by which they are drawn in and adjusted
to the arm.'
This account is not so lucid as could
be desired, but seems to show that the epimanikion
is
merely a napkin or cloth fastened round the arm,
and not a sleeve or cuff in the true sense of the
word. Neale, however, remarks that in some mosaics
on the walls at Nicaea, the vestment is represented
under quite a different form and approximates to
the

subject,

'

'

the sleeve of a well-made

there

Here again
surplice.'
in the language.

surely some confusion

is

One cannot imagine the epimanikia

in any way the loose flowing sleeve
however well-made ': surely the
'

of an alb or dalmatic

is

as resembling
of a surplice,

tight-fitting sleeve

But whatever be

meant.

the right reading, we are still left in the dark as regards the length of the sleeve, whether it covers the

whole arm or merely the forearm. It is therefore

difficult to speak positively about the Greek form of
epimanikion but as far as I can discover the Greek
and Coptic forms are rather different. The Coptic
sleeves are longer than the Greek they are generally
;

sewn up and closed altogether, pains being taken to

hide the joining and they are not fastened on, or
:

tightened,
1

by

silken strings.

Eastern Church: Gen. Introd.,

pair at the church

vol.

i.

p.

307.

CH. iv.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

167

Abu

Kir wa Yuhanna are made of crimson velvet,

richly embroidered with stars and crosses wrought in
Round either end runs a
massive thread of silver.
double border enclosing designs, and while one
sleeve is ornamented with a representation of the
of

Mary and her Son,

the other has a figure of

an angel with outspread wings. Nothing can exceed
the fineness of the needlework and the delicacy of

Virgin

the colours in which these figures are embroidered.

The extreme richness of the work denotes that this

Fig. 27.

Armlets at the Church of Abu Kir.

pair of sleeves belonged to a bishop, doubtless the

bishop of Babylon indeed I believe that the mere
:

presence of figures, as opposed to crosses, is distinctive of the sleeves as an episcopal ornament.

The Greek epimanikia, as belonging to the two
orders bishops and priests, are apparently not disLike the dalmatic
tinguished in the same manner.

and other vestments of the Church of Alexandria,

the Coptic armlets were in bygone times not merely
made of the richest materials, and decked with the
most costly embroideries, but they were also em-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

68

[CH. iv.

bellished with jewels of much splendour.

None of
these, I fear, are now remaining but in the painting
of St. Nicholas, to which I have referred, the cuffs
;

of the sleeves are shown as of gold or cloth of gold,

studded with gems of great value.

The

epimanikia now worn by the Melkite or

orthodox Alexandrian clergy in Egypt are decidedly
cuffs, not sleeves, and are made indifferently either
close or

open

in

the latter case they are fastened

with strings.

The
ical

Coptic sleeves, though still part of the canondress of priests, bishop, and patriarch, at the

present day are seldom used except in the ceremony

of investiture at ordination, and consequently can
be seen with difficulty. The specimens figured in

Abu

Kir wa
Yuhanna in Old Cairo, and date probably from the
Modern examples likewise are
sixteenth century.
often of crimson velvet, covered with gold or silver
embroidery, in which designs of flowers and the sixwinged seraphim are the most usual ornaments.

the illustration are

still

at the church of

Although generally they are entirely closed like

gauntlets, yet some examples are open and fastened
by loops and buttons, not by strings.
No satisfactory explanation has been given of the

The patriarch
origin or purpose of the epimanikia.
them
as
symbolical of the divine
Symeon describes

words Thy right hand, O Lord,

is glorified in strength/ and
Thy hands made me
he adds also that they figure
and fashioned me
the consecration by our Lord of his mysteries, and
But such
the binding of his hands at the Passion.
'

strength, citing the

'

'

an assignment of mystical meanings, characteristic

of a mediaeval writer, is no help whatever towards

CM. iv.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

169

solving the purely antiquarian question of the origin

of a sacerdotal vestment.
It is faintly possible that
as the maniple in the Latin Church was conventionalised into a mere strip of brocade with a loop at one

end to go over the wrist, so in the Coptic Church

a corresponding napkin, laid in like manner on the
arm, may have been conventionalised into a sleeve,
and another added for the sake of symmetry. But
which sounds decidedly improbable, is
more unlikely by the fact that both in
the Greek and in the Armenian Church the napkin
is
always described as hanging not over the left
wrist but at the girdle.
The tyyttpiov is so menthis account,

rendered

still

tioned by the patriach Germanus as worn upon the

girdle by deacons, and lasted in this form until the
eleventh century, when it became the lozenge-shaped
piece of stiff material called now epigonation, from
1

its position as worn near the knee, but still

hung by
a cord from the girdle.
It is questionable whether
the use of the epigonation is entirely confined to

bishops, as stated

2
3
by Neale and Marriott though
,

principally an episcopal ornament,

while the lyyeipiov was worn by priests.
But the
inherent difference between the sleeves and the

no doubt

it

is

more convincingly illustrated

in the Armenian practice
for the Armenian clergy
still wear a napkin, for
wiping the hands, attached to
the zone, while at the same time sleeves also, called
maniple or napkin

is

pasbans, form part of the ecclesiastical apparel.

Marriott, Vest. Christ., p. 87.

Eastern Church: Gen. Introd.,vol.

nation is figured.
3

It

Vest. Christ., p. 171 n.

i.

p.

311, where the epigo-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

70

[CH. iv.

true that the pasbans have now degenerated into

mere slips of brocade ! worn one upon each wrist
is

but the coexistence of maniple and sleeves

same

in the

strongly against the supposition

that the sleeves are a mere development from the
ritual

tells

napkin, although Fortescue does not hesitate to call

the pasbans maniples, just after enumerating the
It
maniple as a separate vestment of the Church.
must be acknowledged, however, that there is scarcely
a jot of positive historical evidence bearing upon

the question, or tending even to guide conjecture.

The use of sleeves seems almost universal in the
eastern Churches for besides the Coptic, Greek,
and Armenian custom already mentioned, armlets
are found also among the Syrians and the Nestorians.
The Syrian term for them is zendo* or
2
who remarks that
zenda, according to Renaudot
:

'

they correspond to the epimanikia or manicae, de

quarum forma inter orientales Christianos nihil certi

He adds that in a miniature

affirmare possumus.'
of the Florentine MS. a priest is represented as
wearing a kind of epimanikia, which enclose the
arms above the elbow and these, he says, have
:

nothing

in

common

Hence

with the Greek form.

it

would appear that he imagines the Greek epimanikia

as short sleeves or cuffs

but there

is

nothing to
Equally

cancel his direct confession of ignorance.

ignorant but less ingenuous is Denzinger

3
,

who

in

treating of the Nestorian vestments merely mentions

brachialia as an ornament worn by both priests
'

'

and bishops.
1

2
3

Fortescue,

Armenian Church,

Lit. Or., torn.

Rit. Or., torn.

ii.
i.

p. 55.

p. 132.

p. 133.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. iv.]

Coming now

71

Christendom, Rock
hazards a conjecture that sleeves or armlets were
to

western

Church of
be a mere

part of the sacerdotal dress in the early

This however he admits to

Britain.

inference from the analogy of early Gallican custom,

and as a pure guess has no serious weight. In

Gaul however metal bracelets, or cuffs of silk or

other handsome texture V were undoubtedly worn
'

among

the

ecclesiastical

vestments

in

the

sixth

century
according to the explicit evidence cited
Warren
manualia vero, id est manicas,
Mr.
by
,

'

sacerdotibus induere

regum

vel

mos

sacerdotum

This testimony

is

est instar armillarum

brachia

quas

constringebantur.'

extremely interesting as

pre-

now

forgotten ornament
once adopted by the early Church of Gaul. Whether
these armlets were subsequently disused from mere
indifference, or were actively discountenanced by
Roman missionaries, cannot now be determined.
But no one, I imagine, will venture to maintain that
the eastern armlet was derived from Gallic example
in the far West.
Unless, therefore, we take refuge

serving the

record of a

the theory of a quite independent origin for this

peculiar priestly ornament in the eastern Churches
in

in the Church of Gaul, we are driven to the

conclusion that the epimanikia were brought from
the East perhaps by some colony of Egyptian

and

monks, such as we know came over to Gaul and

and were

to Ireland in the earliest Christian times

If this
deliberately adopted by the Gallic clergy.
idea of eastern influence be correct, it is not merely
1

2
3

Church of our Fathers, vol. i. p. 438.

Warren, Lit. and Rit. of the Celtic Church,
Id. ib.

note

3.

p. 117.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

172

when taken in connexion with other tokens

same influence in the early British and Irish

curious

of the

Churches but it furnishes also an argument for the

extreme antiquity of the Coptic sleeves as a sacred
vestment.
Moreover if the sleeves had passed from
Egypt to Gaul, and there become an habitual ornament by the sixth century not only must they have
been in use in the Church of Alexandria for some
;

considerable time previously, but the proof of the

original distinctness of the sleeves and the maniple
or napkin, for which I have contended above,
rendered quite conclusive.

is

According to the testimony of Goar the use of

sacred armlets still lingered on as late as the seventeenth century in some of the French churches, and
was particularly maintained by the Dominican order
of Preaching Friars, of which he himself was a

Such being the case, it is singular that so

remarkable and ancient an appurtenance of church
worship should be so entirely ignored by French
and other liturgical writers.
brother.

CHAPTER

V.

Ecclesiastical Vestments (continued],

Crown ar Mitre.

Phelonion.
Cross.

Sandals.

Crozierer Staffof Authority. Pectoral

Benedictional Cross. Epigonation. Rosary.

THE PHELONION
(Coptic ni cfceAomon,

OR SUPERVESTMENT.
KOTKXiort, ni

jui$opiort

Arabic

iHILE

it is

necessary at the outset to use

'

a vague term like

supervestment to
denote the outer garment of the Coptic
'

concerning which there is

the most bewildering conflict of authorities, I shall
endeavour to show that this conflict of evidence,
pointing now to a chasuble, now to a cope, does not
arise from any mere misunderstanding of terms, but
priesthood,

indicates a real confusion of usage.

From a brief review of the writers cited

above for

the Coptic ministerial dress we may gather the following statements about the supervestment. Abu

Dakn,

if

rightly rendered, describes

it

as

'

pallium
even
but
by
priest
deacon or subdeacon at the korban, when no bishop
is celebrating.
Vansleb, writing towards the end of

cum

cucullo,'

worn not only by

the seventeenth century from personal observation,

has no hesitation in calling the outer robe a cope,

and adds that the vestment as worn by

plain,

but that the episcopal cope

is

priests is

hooded.

He

174

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. v.

further identifies the vestment

by giving the Arabic

na.me,a/6urnus. The Ritual of the patriarch Gabriel,
dating from the beginning of the fifteenth century,
speaks of a pallium seu cappa e serico candido,'
'

according to Renaudot's translation but the same

writer is responsible for rendering Abu Saba's term
for the Coptic supervestment by the Latin camisia
;

'

sive alba.'

Renaudot himself alleges that

meant a vestment corresponding to

Finally,

by al burnus

is

the Latin chasuble, called apparently KAJU.A.CIOK T

With characteristic inin the Coptic pontificals.
difference he quite ignores the fact that, by his own
testimony, the same vestment is called a cope in

Gabriel's Ritual.

So much

for the direct literary evidence,

which

Now the weightiest

not very cogent.
obviously
It is
authority here quoted is that of Gabriel.
is

extremely disappointing that one must remain in

ignorance of the actual word used by the patriarch,
and rendered cope by Renaudot. I have scarcely
any doubt that in this instance the word should be
translated not
cope but chasuble.' The mere
fact that the material is white silk tells rather in
favour of the chasuble for all the ordinary priestly
vestments were originally of white colour according to
the canons, whereas the cope, being a festal robe
worn in processions and great ceremonies, might be
of any colour. Again, Abu Sabd, who wrote about
a century earlier, calls the supervestment by a
'

'

'

'

'

'

This of course seems inconsistent with the present use of

to denote the armlet, as stated above
though
obviously it would a priori be the more natural application of the
term.
But the Copts are responsible for the inconsistency.

KJUl.CIort

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

name which unquestionably

is

175

wrongly rendered

'

by Renaudot yet the confusion may be pardoned if KJUL<Lcion is really the Coptic term for
chasuble, as the word bears so close a resemblance
'

alb

to (^.A*i> (kamis), the popular Arabic term for the

alb or dalmatic.
In any case I think it impossible

Abu Saba's evidence as establishing

the
use of the cope as a regular part of
decisively
It must be remembered that
the ministering dress.
to construe

both

Gabriel

authority,

if

and

Abu Sabd

only their

speak with some

language were clearer,

Gabriel being the primate of the Coptic Church,

Abu Sabd a native writer deliberately com-

and

It may
posing a treatise on ecclesiastical matters.
be taken for granted, therefore, that their testimony
will agree exactly with that of the other Coptic

where it is intelligible, and is to be

Unforexplained by them where it is doubtful.
here
we
are
met
by ambiguities,
tunately
again
as the words
pallium album,'
cappa alba are
found used of the last vestment put on by the
bishop at his ordination, in the Tukian Pontifical *.
Yet both names apparently denote one and the
same vestment, and that is apparently the chasuble.
That the chasuble is meant, seems proved by the
rubric at the end of this same office for the consecration of a bishop, which runs 2
Quando danda
est ultima benedictio ad dimittendum populum,
pontificals,

'

'

'

'

novum episcopum cappa nigra

candidam
et
invitabit eum ad benedicendum
praeter
populum seorsim. Denique procedunt ad cellam
Now if by cappa' a cope is meant
patriarchalem.'
patriarcha induct

'

Denzinger, Rit. Or., torn.

2
ii.

pp. 29, 31.

Id. ib. p. 32.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

76

[CH. v.

both cases, we have to imagine the new bishop

but the mere task of
weighted with two copes
in
a
two
becoming manner upon
copes
arranging
the same person would not be easy, apart from the
intolerable burden of wearing them in a climate like
in

But

that of Egypt.
with which the

lium album

if

the last liturgical vestment

is invested
the
pal-

new bishop

'

'

'

be really a chasuble,
cappa alba
then it is easy to understand how, after the completion of the ceremony of ordination, the bishop
is finally arrayed in a dark-coloured cope (nigra) for
or

'

a prothe procession to the patriarch's residence

cession which we know from other sources was one

But even if we must put

of great magnificence.
aside this doubtful evidence, there is happily no
question whatever that the chasuble is definitely
mentioned

in

the rubrics and elsewhere.

For

in

Light in the Darkness Abu '1

Birkat, a Coptic priest of the fourteenth century,
mentions the chasuble as part of the patriarchal

his

work

called

'

'

vestments 1 under the term couclo sive casula' This

word may be another form of the KorXX<L which
'

'

'

occurs in the pontificals, and seems to mean either

a hood, or more probably a hooded chasuble such as
existed in early times in the western Churches 2
But
more decisive still, in the Tukian Pontifical in the
.

of a patriarch 3 the chasuble

is mentioned along with stole and dalmatic, and is
here called cJ>iXomon, which is obviously the same
word as the familiar faXoviov or chasuble of the Greek

office for the ordination

Church.

Indeed
1
2

in the curious rubric

Renaudot,

Lit. Or., torn.

i.

p.

396.

Marriott, Vest. Christ., p. 227.

Denzinger, Kit. Or., torn,

ii,

p. 49.

a few pages

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

77

same

service \ the Coptic term corresponds exactly with the Greek 4>eXonion.
find, then, that, in the only cases where our authori-.
later

in the

We

the original Coptic, the vestment

takeably determined as the chasuble.
ties cite

This conclusion

is

unmis-

borne out by pictorial evidence.

Thus the figure of Constantine in the painting at
Abu-'s-Sifain shows a chasuble with a short rounded
is

front barely reaching to the waist

while the con-

siderably earlier picture of St. Nicholas in my possession represents the outer robe as a very full
2
The arms raised one in the
flowing garment
.

attitude of benediction, the other holding the book

of the gospel show the folds of the chasuble very
clearly, though unfortunately, as the figure is only
half-length, one cannot see whether the lower edge
in front was rounded or pointed.
About the opening
for

the neck there

which

is

runs a richly jewelled orfrey,

border wrought in gold or

doubtless the

'

other fine embroidery,' mentioned by Renaudot as

belonging to the chasuble, and called ^KOKXi^. in
It will be remembered
Coptic, kaslet in Arabic.

however

according to Abu
priests at Cairo in

that,

monks and

'1

Birkat,

the

both

fourteenth

century, whether from poverty or simplicity, wore

a woollen chasuble without any orfrey, instead of
the proper silk vestment
and the monks of St.
:

Macarius

the desert disused the chasuble en-

in

the service of the altar, retaining

for their times of public prayer.
tirely in

At

this day, within the kasr or

convent, there
1
2

VOL.

II.

may

still

it

only

keep of this very

be seen upon the walls of

Denzinger, Rit. Or., torn. ii. p. 57.

See the frontispiece to this volume.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

78

the

little

church dedicated to

St.

[CH. v.

Antonius some very

ancient frescoes representing three nimbed and vested

figures, one of which wears a yellow chasuble, another
a white chasuble striped with red, the third a cope

fastened

by a

fine

In the church of St.

morse.

in the tower of Dair Anba Bishoi the

the iconostasis are all robed in copes.
on
apostles
to
Cairo, one finds the cope depicted in
Returning
two pictures of Anba Shanudah in the church called
after him, on the figures round the apse-wall at
while true
Abu-'s-Sifain, and in many other places
chasubles may be seen in the paintings of the twelve
apostles on the central iconostasis, and in the fifteenth-century paintings on the south iconostasis, at
Al 'Adra Damshiriah. In the same church on the

Michael

north wall of the choir there

is a picture of St.
Mercurius, which shows a bishop wearing chasuble
and Greek-like omophorion
and in the village
:

church at Tris

in the Delta there is a picture

Macarius
clad in a green chasuble.
showing
On the whole, however, the chasuble is of much
rarer occurrence than the cope in such paintings as
have survived from Muslim iconoclasts.

St.

In

of the Coptic pictures a chasuble, exactly

resembling that worn by priests or saints, is represented as the outer garment of the Virgin Mary or
other holy women, the only difference being that in

many

a hood

attached to the chasuble, and is so

arranged in the painting as to make a graceful headdress.
Very often however the Virgin wears a
this case

is

beautifully embroidered cope, fastened with a golden

morse, and having a rich orfrey on the hood which

covers the head.
This ecclesiastical style of female
costume,

it

may be remarked,

is

characteristic of

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

179

Coptic painting, and differs altogether from the

nameless flowing draperies in which the Italian
painters for the most part array their madonnas.
But wherever the chasuble is depicted, it seems
to differ widely from the Latin chasuble, and to

approach much more nearly to the Greek model.

No doubt originally it was a complete covering
or overall, such as is seen in the figure of St.
the

in

Sampson

given by Goar and

But between eastern and

illustration

Marriott.

adopted by
western usage a distinction arose, when the vestment came to be cut away over the arms for the
sake of greater lightness and freedom of movement.

For while

in

the

West

the chasuble

became

in

course of time almost equally reduced both before

and behind the reduction in the East was less
;

marked, and amounted only to a slight curtailment

in front and over the arms, with scarcely any alteration at the back. Viewed from behind, therefore, it
presented the form of a full flowing robe reaching
nearly to the ground, while in front it resembled
The
rather the corresponding Latin vestment.
change of course was gradual in both cases. We
find

the large

flowing chasuble

in

the fresco of

Clemente at the altar, and in the well-known

miniature of St. Dunstan \ both dating from the
eleventh century: while in a twelfth-century mosaic
at St. Nicholas in Urbe at Rome, Silvester and
S.

Anastasius are represented in long full chasubles

exactly like that worn by St. Nicholas in the Coptic

But the changes underfigured above.

by the Latin chasuble only tended to differen-

picture

gone

Marriott, Vest. Christ., pi.

xliii

and

xliv.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

i8o
tiate

it

[CH. v.

more completely from any other vestment

whereas the Coptic chasuble, changing only in the

front, approximated more and more closely to the
form of the cope. And this, I think, is the secret
of the confusion between the two vestments.

For

impossible to reject the evidence of

Vansleb concerning the existence of the cope as a
is

it

vestment in his own time in Cairo, even

Dakn's testimony has a doubtful ring. We

ministerial
if

Abu

cope is clearly depicted as worn by

a patriarch in one of the earliest monuments surviving the pillar-painting at Al Mu'allakah. Morefind too that the

over at the present day the cope unquestionably is

I have mentioned a beautiful
worn.
cope as existing
at the church of Al 'Adra, Dair Abu-'s-Sifain
and
:

there are

some splendid specimens of coloured copes

enriched with silver-embroidered hoods and fine

needlework at the church of St. Stephen by the
cathedral in Cairo.
Moreover the vestment now

denoted by the term al burnus among the Copts is

I have never
decidedly a cope, and not a chasuble.
seen a chasuble in any of the Coptic churches,
though I have heard of a dalmatic split up the sides
and made into a sort of vestment probably intended
to resemble a chasuble, as if the tradition of its use
were still alive. This was in a remote church in

Upper Egypt.
It

is

now

discussion

solve

can

it.

possible to state the problem under

more

succinctly and more clearly, if not to

Setting aside all ambiguous testimony, we

now

bring face to face two apparently contradictory conclusions each supported by unmistakeable
evidence. On the one hand, we find the ancient rubrics

and independent observers

alike

bearing witness

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

181

to the chasuble as the supervestment of the Coptic

priesthood on the other hand, we find contemporary
:

usage and observers as

far back at least as the seventeenth century agreeing that the supervestment is a
And pictorial evidence
cope, and not a chasuble.

may be adduced to favour either conclusion.

What seems the true solution of this problem
has already been briefly indicated.

It is

impossible

to doubt either that both chasuble and cope have

been recognised as canonical vestments, or that the

and I
chasuble has now practically disappeared
have no doubt that the explanation of the whole
matter is to be found in the gradual transformation
:

suffered

by the chasuble.

From

the

first it

retained

original flowing form at the back and sides but

the process of lightening in front went on, until the
its

part of the chasuble across the breast was so far

diminished, that both for appearance and for con-

was

entirely severed

by a vertical
and the vestment was absoThis explanation
lutely assimilated to the cope.
moreover it is
seems to remove all difficulties
For an
supported by the strongest analogies.
exactly similar process of transformation may be
traced in the history of the Greek chasuble or
phenolion, although the process has been arrested
venience' sake
division

down

it

the front

just before the last modification seen in the Coptic

vestment, and
still

portion of the material

stretches across the breast instead of being
slight

But the change has gone so far, that it

divided.
would be easy on a careless view to mistake the
For the front has been
phenolion for a cope
T

See G. Gilbert Scott, Essay on the History of English Church

Architecture,

pi. xxii, figs.

12 and 13, and text,

p.

116, note n.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

82

[CH. v.

almost entirely cut away, while the back part

As

quite unaltered.
it

is

custom

the

chiefly

which has given

On

is

West, so in the East,

of elevating the host

in the

rise to the mutilated

form of the

cannot refrain from

point
quoting the admirable remarks of Mr. G. Gilbert
Scott, who says, In the early ages during the canon
the priest was concealed from view by the altarveils.
The adoration of the people did not therefore
take place at the moment of the sacrifice, as is now
chasuble.

this

'

the custom of the western church, but at a later

point in the service, when, the veils being withdrawn,

the celebrant advanced, and while presenting the

eucharist to the worship of the people, gave with
it the solemn
This, the primitive manner
blessing.
of the eucharistic adoration, has never been aban-

doned by the

easterns, and as it does not require

the celebrant to raise his arms above the level of

the breast, the mutilation which the oriental phenolion has undergone is confined to the front of the

Apart from the mistake, almost universal

on oriental ecclesiology, of generalising
Greek into eastern custom, no better or briefer
account of the change in the form of the chasuble
could be given.
This account however will not

vestment.'
in writers
'

'

'

'

apply in letter, but only in spirit, to the Coptic

chasuble as affected by Coptic ceremonial.
For
the
elevation
of
the
host
takes
now
although
place
as in ancient times not at the moment of office, but

end of the

at the

service, just before the thanks-

giving yet in the Egyptian rite the sacred elements

are raised now not merely to the level of the priest's
;

breast, but over his head.

Such an action would

have been awkward or impossible, so long as the

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

183

arms of the celebrant were cumbered with the heavy

draperies of the ancient chasuble and it is obvious
that such a change in the ritual would necessitate a
change in the vestment. If, therefore, the Greeks
:

the

retain

ancient

manner of elevating the host

breast-high and if notwithstanding the phenolion

has been so curtailed in front as almost to resemble
a cope it is not surprising that the Copts, in raising
the point of elevation, have so changed their chasuble,
;

resembles a cope, not almost but altogether.

How easily this transformation may have taken
place, can be judged from a glance at even an
ancient Coptic chasuble, such as that worn by St.
Nicholas in the picture already mentioned. For the
that

it

not circular merely as was

the case in the Latin vestment, but is extended by a

opening for the head

slit

down

is

the middle of the breast for eight or ten

and the only orfrey with which the chasuble

is adorned runs round the neck and down both sides
Once imagine the vestment curtailed
of this slit.
in front, and the slit or division carried a little downwards to reach the hem, and the result is a robe
in no wise distinguishable from a cope, unless posBut
sibly the hood may have been a later addition.
for the hooded chasuble is
even this is doubtful
certainly not unknown and may have been common
and on the other hand, the hood is not invariably
found on the Coptic cope, but is a distinguishingmark of the episcopal and patriarchal as opposed to
The cope worn
the priestly form of the vestment.
at solemn festivals by the present patriarch is of
crimson velvet decked with heavy gold embroidery:
the hood of like material has a gold tassel hanging
from the point, and is fitted inside with a sort of cap,
inches

Ancient Coptic Churches.

184

[CH. v.

which may be worn instead of the mitre.

here be mentioned that there is no parallel

It

in

may
any

Coptic chasuble, for the elaborate orfrey which

branched over the western chasuble, and is made
familiar to

English eyes

in

many

ancient brasses

and monuments.
any shadow of doubt

resting on the
history of the Coptic supervestment, as here given, it
will, I think, be dispelled by a consideration of the
If there

is

still

exactly similar transformation which has befallen the

Armenian phenolion. For the phenolion, though it

existed in the early Church of the Armenians, as in
every eastern Church, has now entirely vanished from
their ceremonial, and, as in the Coptic rite, has been
When one remembers that
replaced by the cope.

one of the questions put to an Armenian bishop at

ordination is, Dost thou anathematise Eutyches and
all his following ?' one may feel surprised at the
number of close analogies that exist between Armenian and Coptic practice,
analogies which will be
when
to
we
come
treat of rites and ceremultiplied,
monies. The native term for the cope is sciursciar
'

1
according to Denzinger shoochar according to For2
tescue while Neale alleges that they have retained
the name phenolion*, after changing the vestment.
,

Neale

cites

no authority

very interesting
that the Greek

if

true

for his statement,

but of course

name may

linger

on

it

which

is

is

possible

in the rubrics

or in ecclesiastical treatises, though lost to the verHe adds that the chasuble had been abannacular.

doned, at least as long ago as the time of the

1

Rit. Or., torn.

3

*
i.

p. 133.

Eastern Church

Gen.

Armenian Church,

Introd., vol.

i.

p.

309.

p. 134.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

185

who comments

severely on the
fact in his work upon the errors of the Armenians.
This would be in the twelfth century but Neale

Katholikos

Isaac,

have mistaken the sense of the passage

which censures the priesthood for not
the
phenolion, but says nothing about any
using
change in the form of the vestment.
The true nature of the eucharistic supervestment
seems no less difficult to determine in the case of

seems

to

referred

to,

Neale, indeed, is bold

branches of the
the
other
enough
eastern Church have retained the usual form of the

the other eastern Churches.

to state that

'

'

but once more he seems in error. To

phenolion
take the Syrian practice first. There can be no doubt
that originally the chasuble existed among the Syrians,
and was called by a name derived from the Greek
In ancient rubrics and the like, the
phelonion.
1

Syrian word employed is phelono or phaino. Thus

Severus Alexandrinus, in his work on the Ritual
of the Syrians, notes that the priest in apparelling
himself for the altar puts on dalmatic, stole, sleeves
(the left before the right), and then the phaino or
chasuble though Boderianus absurdly renders the
;

word by 'amictus'

in his Latin

translation

2
.

The

Syrian lexicographer, too, Isa-bar-Hali, gives the three

forms faino, filono, and phaino explains the term to
;

mean

the eucharistic vestment worn by priests, as

opposed to the kutino or dalmatic worn by deacons

and renders

burnus' as the Arabic equivalent

by
found in Copto- Arabic writings 3 In the illuminated
'al

it

L.

c.

Severus Alexandrinus, De Ritibus apud Syros,

Fabricius Boderianus Antwerp, 1572.
:

Renaudot,

Lit. Or., torn.

ii.

p. 55.

etc.

ed.

Guido

Ancient Coptic Churches.

86

[CH. v.

Syrian pontifical at Florence, cited by Renaudot, the

phaino is represented as a full flowing vestment,
resembling the early Roman chasuble it is gen:

erally of uniform colour

and green in one

which the phaino

purple

but there

is

in

three examples,

also a miniature in

depicted as covered with emflowers.

Moreover in a still more

broidery of
ancient Syriac

Eusebius

is

is

MS. dated 580

represented

A.D.,

the figure of
draped in a

in a miniature as

perfectly formed ecclesiastical chasuble of the early

type, and the hole for the neck is already marked by
a square orfrey 1
So far the evidence in favour
of the unchanged phenolion or chasuble seems explicit
enough. But as we come down to more recent times,
.

we find equally explicit evidence to the contrary.

Thus Asseman writing in the early eighteenth cenremarks that the phaino, while corresponding in
to the Latin penula and the Greek phenolion,
yet is open down the front, resembling the western
cope and not the chasuble and this information
may be based on a Syrian pontifical in the autograph
The Syrian rubrics
of the patriarch Michael 2
word
use
the
phaino, and sometimes
frequently
of
course do not explain the
define it as white but
form of the vestment. It is only fair, however, to
remember that Asseman seems clearly to be writing
from his own observation and even if such be not
tury,

name

Bibliothecae Mediceae Catalogus, Cod. I, tab. iii

Florence,
1742. Marriott has adopted the illustration (Vest. Christ., pi. xxvii)
:

but not very

faithfully.

i.
The
p. 131, and torn. ii. p. 73 n.
very difficult to follow as it speaks of a pallio
seu casula,' used instead of the dalmatic, and distinguishes this

Denzinger, Rit. Or., torn.

'

note, however,

from

is

'

phaino, h. e. penula,
pluvialis Latinorum.'

quae

est

phenolium .... ad

instar

CH. v.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments,

187

the case, there is much to confirm and nothing to

discredit his evidence.

Whether among the Maronites the cope has been

substituted for the chasuble, is a question on which
I can find
very little information. This much only
certain, that the

is

same name

for the

vestment

Asseman
phaino obtained in their pontificals.
indeed alleges that this phaino is like the maaphra or phakila of the Nestorians, in other words
is a cope and not a chasuble
but it is extremely
if
even
the
character
of the vestment
that,
probable
had been thus entirely changed by the seventeenth
century, the original or at least the modified Roman
form of the chasuble has been restored by subse1

quent Roman influence.

Regarding the Nestorian practice at the present
2
day, it is impossible to speak precisely.
Denzinger
indeed declares twice over that the phelonion, as
worn by the Nestorians, resembles the western cope
but the whole paragraph which he devotes to the
Nestorian vestments is a matchless puzzle, of which
he retains the key 3
Or perhaps the key is to be
:

Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn.

Rit. Or., torn.

i.

Hi. pt. 2. p.

68 1

Rome, 1728.

p. 132.

In the passage just cited he says that the priest wears dalmatic,
shoulders, a 'pallium' (whatever that means)
called gulta, and over the orarion a phelonion or cope (ptuvi'ati)
orarion over both

instead of a chasuble.

wear

in

common

The ornaments which

are, (i) the

'

bishops and priests

maaphra, called also phakila and

'

which is a pallium like the western cope, enveloping the

whole body and corresponding to the Greek <f)aKi6\iov (sic) (2)
kaphila,

biruna, a cap or head-dress like the amice

(3) sciuscefo, or veil

(velum).
I have elsewhere pointed out the absurdity of
comparing with the
imaginary Greek vestment (f>aKi6\iov our cope or any other western

Ancient Coptic Churches.

88

whom

found with Asseman,

he has quoted without

Asseman however

understanding.

[CH. v.

uses decisive lan-

guage, identifying with the cope a patriarchal vestAsseman

vestment.

is

really responsible

Denzinger ought not blindly

Now

there

said at the

to

for

this

blunder:

have adopted so obvious a

but

fallacy.

a prayer in the ordination service for bishops to be

investiture with the maaphra, where Denzin-

is

moment of

'

Induat te Dominus/>0//z'0 (seu casula)

ger renders the original thus
A rubric also in the ordination service
lucis,' &c. (torn. ii. p. 247).
:

for a patriarch

is

as follows

'
:

Tune

afferunt

Kaphilam

et princeps

We

'

metropolitarum illam super caput ejus demittit (ib. p. 255).

have therefore first the word maaphra rendered as chasuble

and

secondly the kaphila (which is identical with the maaphra) described

as being lowered over the head
a description which obviously
Yet
will not apply to a cope, and suggests irresistibly a chasuble.

another rubric
lows,

may be

the chasuble

that fol(ib. p. 272), with the prayer of investiture

taken to establish the identity of the maaphra with
for there the vestment is described symbolically as.

The
the garment of celestial glory,' and the prayer continues
Lord arm thee with the mystical armour of the spirit, adorn thee
'

'

with the works of righteousness, and enrich thee with the gift of
that without spot or blemish thou mayest feed the sheep
chastity
entrusted unto thee in the fear of God and in all holiness, now and
:

This passage cannot fail to recall the corresponding words

and symbolism used in western pontificals at the point of investiture
with the chasuble.
There is then ample ground for believing that
at the time these rubrics were written, which is probably not later
than the ninth century, the phenolion was still the recognised super-

alway.'

vestment

at the

Nestorian celebration of the mass.

now

to Denzinger's statement

concerning the 'pallium'

reference
to Dr. Badger's
by
mistake in the text above, which Denzinger has seized with his
usual avidity for blunders. The truth is that the so-called 'pallium'
Reverting

or gul/a,

we may,

I think, explain

it

nothing but the dalmatic ; and because Dr. Badger, being igno'
rant of the right term, uses a wrong one, surplice,' in English,
this
out
of
manufactures
an
Denzinger
entirely new vestment for
is

be made quite clear by a comparison

the Nestorians.

This

of torn.

'Presbyter orarium habet collo impositum

i.

p. 132,

supra tunicam albam,

will

et

pallium quod dicitur gulta, et super

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

189
'

ment

called maapkra, which he remarks

apud
GraeNestorianos
seu
pro phenolic
phelonio
Syros

corum et penula, casula, planeta Latinorum sumitur,

quae tamen ante pectus aperta sit et pluvialis formam
The question seems so far settled for
repraesentet
that period and there is a distinguished orientalist
of our own times, Dr. Badger, whose evidence ought
1

.'

to be worth quoting.

In describing the Nestorian

vestments which he saw at Ashitha 2 he mentions

two which he calls surplice,' and chasuble,' respecbut he defines the surplice as a sort of
tively
shirt with short sleeves, by which it is clear that he
means a dalmatic and the chasuble he explains as
,

'

'

'

'

'

'

orarium induitur
p.

(sc.

presbyter) phelonio sive pluvial!/ with torn. ii.

pallium or dalmatic which

266, where he remarks upon the

'

'

the bishop lays on the left shoulder of the priest at the very begin'
ning of the ordination service, Anglice est Surplice. Posuimus

vocem ab Assemano usurpatam.

Est gulta, quae super orarium

in the first of these passages the position of the

Now

induitur.'

gulta as worn is left to the imagination, but it seems to come over

the orarion in the second passage we are told plainly that it does
:

come over

the orarion.

is this,

biguously
over the orarion.

that

it is

What

But what the

first

passage states unam-

the supervestment which comes directly

then becomes of the guild or surplice?

must disappear, and merge back into the tunica alba

or dalmatic, from which it has been conjured up by a process of
mere misunderstanding. Were this conclusion doubtful, it would
Obviously

it

be rendered certain by the rubric on the next page as follows

tune episcopus pallium sumat de humeris eorum et eo induat eos,
et sumat stolam de humero eorum sinistro et circum colla appendat.'
:

'

This proves

finally that the priest at ordination

was invested with

the 'pallium' or gulta first, and that the orarion was then placed
over the 'pallium ;' in other words, that the 'pallium and dalmatic
or sticharion are identical.
'

Bibl. Or.,

The

1852.

1.

c.

Nestorians and their Rituals,

vol.

i.

pp. 225-6

London,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

190

[CH. v.

'a plain square cloth with a cross inscribed (? embroidered) in the centre, which is thrown over the

head and shoulders, and the two parallel corners (sic)

thumb and forefinger of each hand.'
a
Were this chasuble, there could not be a cross in
the centre, for there the hole for the head must come
moreover a chasuble could not rightly be described
as thrown over the head and shoulders, but as so
placed or lowered and there could be no reason for
holding a chasuble by the corners,' whatever that
term could denote. It is much to be regretted that
so learned a scholar should be so ignorant of liturgical terms as to confuse a dalmatic with a surplice, and
held between the

'

'

'

to call a

'

'

plain square cloth

a chasuble

but the

same ignorance is displayed in his magnificent work,

the English-Arabic lexicon, and his authority as a
ritualist is nothing.
Dr. Badger adds that the vest-

ment which he terms a surplice is called peena in

a name which suggests the phaino or pkaina,
Syriac,
but

may

of course be a mistake in borrowing on the

and that the chasuble is

part of the Nestorians,

called estla or shoshippa.

'

'

The latter word might be

as we have seen, is the Ar-

akin to shouchar, which,

menian term for a cope.

But on the whole, Dr.

cannot
be taken as of serious
Badger's testimony
value indeed, if it stood alone it would be so perBut there is a
plexing as to be worse than useless.
later writer
than Dr. Badger, who very decidedly
affirms the long disuse of the chasuble by the Nestorian clergy.
He adds that the Nestorian deacons
:

wear the alb or dalmatic, called soudra, 'with red and

purple crosses sewn on the breast,' girdle, and a
1

See Christians under the Crescent in Asia, pp. 219, 220.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

short stole over the right shoulder

191

while priests
shoulders
over
both
falling
at
celebration
moreover,
the priest has also a chadra (i. e. tent), a large square
of white linen with coloured crosses at the upper
This chadra is thrown over the shoulders
angles.

wear dalmatic, girdle, stole

and crossed on the breast

'

and held

in front

by one hand

at certain places in
raised so as to cover the head, at
others stretched out so as to form a screen between

the service

it

is

and people.' The chadra is obviously identiwith Dr. Badger's shoshippa or chasuble but is
neither cope nor chasuble, but a nameless vestment peculiar to the Nestorians.
But Mr. Cutts

priest
cal

states positively that the Nestorian clergy wear the

for although he
cope instead of the chasuble
:

the vestment 'pallium,' he describes it

strangely
clearly as resembling the cope, which the canons of
calls

1603 require the celebrant to wear in our English

cathedrals.
Thus the evidence of Asseman seems
established.

Yet one branch of the

oriental

Church

faithful to the tradition of the chasuble,

still

remains

the ancient

orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt. There the

cope is still worn too, but only as a processional
Thus on great festivals the patriarch,
vestment.
the
church in solemn procession, wears a
entering
of
cope
richly coloured and embroidered silk, but
The
lays it aside when he is vested for the mass.
chasuble worn by the patriarch differs in form from
that of the priest for the latter is a true chasuble,
rather of the Russian form, very much curtailed in
but the
front, and barely reaching to the girdle
;

patriarchal phenolion or phelonion, as they by preference call it, reaches nearly to the ground both

Ancient Coptic Churches.

92

[CH. v.

before and behind, and so far recalls the ancient

shape of the vestment. Yet it has been so far

changed and conventionalised, that at the sides and

under the arms it has formal openings, which are
loosely fastened together with silken strings or ribbons.
The front is not pointed, as in the English
chasuble, but rather shield-shaped, the lower edge

being horizontal and the corners turned in curves

and the vestment when laid out flat would be in
the form of a cross, in which the upper and lower
limb are much larger than the two side branches,
:

and

the angles are rounded off.

This cruciform
is
of
a
the
result
obviously
long process of
mutilation and the difference between the patriarchal
all

chasuble

and priestly shape probably arises from the mere

need of lightness in the former, owing to the greater
weight of vestments which the patriarch has to carry.

The
still

treasury of the church of St. Nicholas in Cairo

possesses some chasubles of the fifteenth or six-

teenth century, which are nearer in form to the old

models, and which for sumptuous splendour of material and colour, for boldness of design and for
delicate fineness of work, must rank
beautiful known embroideries.

among

the most

Seeing, however, that the phenolion has fallen into

less final disuse in the Nestorian, the Ma-

more or

ronite, the

Syrian, and the Coptic Church, though

originally deemed

by the canons

by all, and still recognised

there seems not a single stay left to
essential

support Neale's assertion, that the usual form of the

phelonion has been retained by the other branches of
the eastern Church, excepting only the Russians, who

have mutilated it, and the Armenians, who have abandoned it. On the contrary, the disuse of the chasuble

Ecclesiastical Vestments;

CH. v.]

193

one of the most marked and most universal departures from primitive custom among all the liturgical
changes in the East. We have seen that it had a
long canonical existence, an existence indeed never
and its origin is lost in the
formally terminated,
is

mists that veil the

dawn of

Christian ceremonial.

Like most vestments, however, it seems to have

arisen from some form of ancient oriental costume,
a statement which is scarcely weakened by the admission that some vestments may seem more directly
copied from classical models for classical costume
:

was eminently

oriental.

chasuble appears as

In Greek the

for the

0eA6i/iov, 0ei/6Atop, fyaiXoviov, (f>at\<o-

viov, <fxx.iv6\Lov, (paivwXiov, (f)aii/6Xr]s,

some sort of heavy

name

&c.

The word meant

made

to envelop the whole

of course, impossible to discuss seriously

overall

body. It is,
the question raised by Cardinal Bona and others,
whether the (j>ai\6vri$ left by St. Paul at Troas was
a eucharistic chasuble.

The

idea

is

a mere ana-

both the ritual and the apparel of the

eucharist were slow developments, as usage after

chronism

for

usage, fostered by reverence, was received and consecrated by the Church.

Thus the phenolion is not

found recorded before the fourth century, and even

then the evidence is not literary but pictorial. The
mosaics in the church of St. George at Thessalonica 1
said to have been built by Constantine,
,

represent several figures clothed in sticharion and

phelonion, which vestments seem decidedly of an
character, although there is little or
nothing to distinguish the dress of bishop, presbyter,
Yet the fact that each one of
physician, or slave.

ecclesiastical

See Marriott, Vest.

VOL.

II.

Christ., pi. xviii-xxi,

and notes pp. 236-7.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

194

the figures

[CH. v.

represented as standing before the

altar in an attitude of intercession, renders it prois

the martyrs after their death were fitly

regarded as ministers in God's service, and so were
alike represented as vested in sacerdotal costume,

bable that

all

and performing a sacerdotal duty.

'

Sacerdos vocari
sive presbyter,' says Ra-

potest sive episcopus sit

banus 1 so too Pope Celestine, St. Gregory, and
other early writers speak of 'sacerdotes' where they
;

mean bishops so that in the fourth century, when

these mosaic pictures were made, the sacerdotal
character of the saints depicted may have been
;

considered the one thing essential to represent, as

opposed to the accidental distinction of higher and
Marriott, indeed, alleges unwaverthat
these mosaics do not represent a dress
ingly
of holy ministry 2 ,' and most recent writers agree in

lower orders.

'

There is, however, one point which

have overlooked. On examining the
background of the pictures, it becomes
clear that the altars there figured are arranged and
furnished in a manner which already betokens a fixed
system of decoration, and a considerable elaboration
this

opinion.
they seem to
details in the

of

The

ritual.

steps in front of the altar

the four

columns at the four corners, and the altar-canopy

above the curtains running on rods between the
columns
the apses, the hanging lamps, and the
all
these denote a well-established cerescreens,
monial, and are indeed the very characteristics of
altar decoration which lasted in the eastern churches
for full a thousand years later, and may now be seen,
little changed, in connexion with the Coptic altars
;

Marriott, Vest. Christ., p. 46, note 71.

Id. ib. p. Ixxv.

CH..V.]

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

195

of Egypt.
If then the ritual was so far developed,
when these mosaics were designed, is it not reasonable to conclude that the dress of the priesthood
was specialised, and distinguished from the dress

also

of

common

life ?

even that the

artist

seems to me
was inaccurate

It

easier to believe
in certain details

of the drapery, than that the priests who ministered

at such altars as he has reproduced wore no vest-

ments clearly distinctive of their office.

I have
already mentioned the white phenolia depicted in the sixth-century mosaics of St. Sophia
at Constantinople, and the phenolion in the Syriac
But it is not till
miniature, dating about 580 A.D.
nearly a century and a half later that we find the
vestment distinctly mentioned as such in any writing.

Then the patriarch Germanus speaks of the phenolion

as emblematic of the scarlet or purple robe in which
our Lord was arrayed before the crucifixion. From
this time onward notices of the supervestment are
numerous. Thus Goar 1 mentions that Nicephorus,
patriarch of Constantinople about 800 A.D., sent to
the Roman pontiff a chestnut-coloured phenolion, as

no doubt
which could be used in the Latin service, and not
mere curiosities. This is one more proof of the fact,
which becomes clearer and clearer as we penetrate
deeper into the past, that Roman and Greek vestments were originally the same, or rather that the
vestments, like the ritual and the language of divine
worship at Rome, were adopted from eastern originals.
As regards the colour of the Greek ministering dress,
Goar remarks that red or purple vestments are used
well as a seamless white sticharion,

Euchol.

p. 113.

gifts

196

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. v.

through the season of Lent, but that white is the

normal colour for the rest of the year; and he
cites Symeon of Thessalonica to this effect.
Purple
vestments, however, seem to have been regarded in
general as befitting mournful rites, and to have been
worn during the office for the burial of the dead.

Besides the ordinary chasuble now in vogue among

the Greeks there is a particular kind of phelonion,
called the TroXvo-ravptov, worn by bishops
it is dis;

tinguished by being thickly

broidered crosses.

sown with small em-

As

regards the origin and use of the western

chasuble, the materials for its history are so well

known, and have been so thoroughly winnowed by

various writers 1 that it is needless here to speak
at length.
Suffice it to remark that up to the ninth
century planeta was the term used to designate the
ministerial supervestment that from this point the
term casula appears, and ere long the two names
are used interchangeably and that, finally, the later
term, from which our 'chasuble' is derived, so far
,

The
prevailed as to extinguish the older planeta.
transition from the secular to the ecclesiastical garment seems slow and hard to mark but it is not
;

surprising to find the most ancient testimony for the

use of the planeta, as the distinctive vestment of
priests and bishops at the altar, in a remote country
like Spain, where probably the common dress differed

widely from those classical models which

in Italy

both

See Marriott, Vest. Christ, App. C, and p. Ix seq. G. Gilbert

Essay on the Hist, of Eng. Ch. Archit, p. 113 seq. Chambers, Divine Worship in England, p. 60 seq.
Bock, Geschichte
Scott,

der Liturgischen Gewander,

i.
p. 317, &c.

vol.

i.

427.

Rock, Church of our Fathers,

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

197

ruled the fashion of daily life and determined the

form of clerical costume. If, for example, the priestly

Rome

during the second century, which

doubtless differed only slightly from lay attire,
were introduced into less civilised places like Spain
attire in

or Gaul at that epoch, it would at once be marked

off as distinctively sacerdotal by contrast with a
different type of dress in

Spaniards or the Gauls.

common

use

among

the

Thus an impetus would be

development of an exclusively ecclesicostume, and a certain fixity would be obtained

earlier among remoter communities than at the very
fountain-head, whence they drew their inspiration.
It is in the Acts of the Council of Toledo (633
A.D.)

given to the
astical

is first recorded as the

priestly supervestment, though even there it is only mentioned incidentally as the familiar ornament of the presbyter,

that the planeta

with nothing to suggest that

in use for generations. There
the chasuble was

worn

it

may

not have been

is artistic

evidence that

in Ireland as early as the

for to that date

belongs the reliare represented

figures draped in full flowing chasubles with emIn Scotland priests in chasubles
broidered orfreys 1
are found upon some very ancient sculptured stones
and in the Book of Deer, dating from the ninth
eighth century
quary of St. Maedoc,
;

on which

century, chasubles are

2

worn by the evangelists there

France
rich in sculptured evidence
depicted
for the chasuble of the same epoch
for almost
is

the

every plaque
ivory covers of the Sacramentary of Drogon has one or more examples of
in

Warren, Lit. and Rit. of the Celtic Church,

Westwood, Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon and

p. 1

1 2.

Irish

MS.,

pi.

li.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

igS

[CH. v.

the vestment, and the Sacramentary at Tours, also

belonging to the ninth century, bears further testimony to its prevailing use. England is rather
destitute of early ecclesiastical art-remains

chasuble

but the

found mentioned, apparently as long

is

established, in the eighth -century Pontifical of EcgIt is curious to find, in confirmation of the
bert.

Coptic usage as described by Vansleb, that up to

the tenth century, at least, the episcopal chasuble

was distinguished from the sacerdotal by

its

hood

a tradition dating from very early times, as is proved

by the fact that St. Isidore of Seville speaks of the
casula as 'a garment provided with a cowl/ or hood
and by the very name for the chasuble in Coptic,
KoifKXlott, which is clearly derived from the Byzan1

tine

Greek

which occurs in the writings

a word
Evagrius, and Palladius

KovKovXXiov,

of Pachomius,

ultimately traceable

to

the

Latin

cucullus.

The

elaborately embroidered maniple which was found

in

the

still

tomb of

upon

it

the

Cuthbert, at Durham, bears

figure of St. Sextus, an early

St.

Rome, arrayed in a chasuble, which

bishop
has
suffered some curtailment as compared
already
of

with the ancient form, although the figure belongs

to the tenth century.
This is said to be the

Others
earliest English example of the chasuble.
are contained in the Benedictional of St. Ethelwold
the miniatures of which display several
2
and in the somewhat later
fully vested figures
of
the
pontifical
Anglo-Saxon Church, now in the
(c.

970

A. D.),

Rouen

Library,

there

is

a bishop depicted wearing

Marriott, Vest. Christ.,

Bloxam, Ecclesiastical Vestments, pp. 14-16.

pi. Ixvi.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

199

a chasuble which, like that of St. Sextus, is considerably shorter in front than behind. Another bishop in
and
the same pontifical is represented in a cope
this is the earliest instance known to Bloxam of
;

But surely an example some five

may be found in the mosaics
of S. Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna, where
the figure of Melchisedech, who is breaking bread
at an altar, on which lie wafer and chalice, is robed
that vestment.

hundred years

earlier

by its golden border

and fastened over the breast by a morse, in the
A similar vestment
fashion usual to this very day.
is seen in a mosaic at the church of S. Vitale, Ra1
venna, worn in this case also by Melchisedech but
in a violet cope, clearly defined

lines

not so distinctly shown, owing to the sideward position and the uplifted arms of the celebrant.

But although the shortened chasuble appears thus

early in our own country, it had not in Anglo-Saxon
times arrived at that pointed form, with which our
mediaeval monuments have made us familiar. This
further alteration arose not from general reasons of
convenience, but from the specific requirement of
more freedom of action in elevating the host, so that
it
might be seen by the people over the head of the
celebrant, who stood with his back towards them.
In Italy the priest faced the people at the moment
of elevation, so that there the same cause did not
operate.

Yet even the Roman chasuble has

suffered

great diminution, as

is proved for instance by the

well-known eleventh-century fresco of St. Clement at

St. Mark's, in Venice.

On

the other hand, there

is

an overwhelming mass of evidence to show that the

ancient ample vestment continued in use in Rome
1

See

La Messe,

vol.

i.

pi.

iii.

and

pi.

ii.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2OO
down

[CH. v.

and even at the present day the Roman rubrics require the full flowing
chasuble. There are also in our own churches many
to the year

1600

A. D.

sepulchral effigies and brasses, which bear witness to

the fact that the ancient chasuble lasted side by side

with the mutilated form of the vestment, almost up

to the period of the reformation.

These chasubles in our own and in all Christian

countries were not always of white pale and golden
yellow, crimson and purple, were not uncommon
:

The

were employed,
and
cloth
of
silk, velvet,
gold and these
were embroidered with beautiful orfreys, sometimes
having costly jewels inwoven, or even covered entirely with flowers and other designs in the finest
No pains or cost were thought too
needlework.
the apparel used at the service of
to
adorn
great
our altars, and our churches were unrivalled in the
splendour and number of their vestments, as many
colours.

richest materials, too,

such as

records

still

remaining

testify.

THE CROWN OR
(Coptic -f JULHTp^.

2
,

MITRE.

ni KX^JUI, ni

Arabic

Both branches of the ancient Church of Alexandria

Egypt recognise the mitre as part of the episcopal

in
1

8
3

G. Gilbert Scott, Hist. Eng. Ch. Archit,

Denzinger,

ii.

p.

117

n.

48.

Peyron's Coptic Lexicon has also 6*pHTTe, diadem or (rKfjirrpov.

etymology of the word, we have another instance

If (TKfinrpov is the

of an entire change of meaning in present usage of the Coptic as

compared with its original.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

insignia

and

in

201

worn by the, patriThere is no reason for

both the mitre

is

arch as well as by bishops.

doubting the tradition which derives the use of the

mitre by the patriarch of Alexandria from the presi1

dency of Cyril at the Council of Ephesus in the
,

that be too precise a statement

year 431
to please historic minds, it may at least be maintained that the legend points to a very early use of
A. D.

or, if

the mitre in Egypt.

Moreover, if we remember the
deadly feud which, twenty years later, rent asunder
the two branches of the Church and kept them in per-

manent antagonism and if we think how likely it is,

on the one hand, that both lines of patriarchs should
cling to all their ancient privileges, and how unlikely,
on the other hand, that either line should borrow an
;

innovation from

its

unorthodox

rival

then the fact

that both the Jacobite and the Melkite Churches do

acknowledge and retain the mitre may be taken as

strengthening the legend, and almost establishing

the existence of some sort of distinctive head-dress
for the patriarch of Alexandria, at least as early as the
first

century, before the separation.

an antecedent probability that the use

half of the

There

is

fifth

of the mitre arose early in the East, where the

covering for the head has always been a matter
of great dignity and importance, and where the
tarbfish or fez still remains as the direct

modern

descendant of the ancient Phrygian cap, which the

earliest mitres both in the East and the West
seem to have imitated. It is true that the evidence
upon the question is not very copious; but enough
may be mustered to repulse all Roman claims to the
mitre as an exclusively Roman vestment.
Goar
1

Goar, Euchol.,

p.

314.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2O2

[CH. v.

himself cites Allatius as authority for a pontifical

Ka\vTTTpa, and further quotes from Coresius of Chios
a story of a dispute between Theophilus, a patriarch

of Alexandria in the tenth century, and the Greek

emperor, who, to settle matters in a friendly way,
conferred a royal crown upon the patriarch, and was
himself received

among

arch's sacred college.

members of

the

We

the patri-

are told, too, that up to

the patriarch of Jerusalem wore on solemn

occasions the mitre of St. James.

869

A. D.

Turning now to the various rubrics, we find the

mitre clearly mentioned as one of the insignia put
on by the patriarch of Alexandria at his consecration.
This is in the Tukian Pontifical. It is worth
remark that none of the ancient Coptic versions of
the order for the consecration of bishops contain
very explicit evidence for the use of the crown or

The

mitre.

may however be

fact

accounted for

by the utter confusion on the subject of the

head-dress, which marks the rubrics in their present
form or by the supposition that the privilege of
either

wearing the mitre was extended to bishops at a late

epoch or possibly by the custom now holding, by
which bishops are forbidden to wear the mitre in
;

presence of the patriarch. Yet in the ritual of the

Syrian Jacobites the imposition of the mitre on the
head of the new bishop is the most solemn act in his
investiture

by the

The mitre is twice men-

patriarch.

tioned in the order as given by Morinus 1 and twice

also in the text of Renaudot 2
Renaudot asserts too
,

Denzinger, Rit. Or.,

torn.

ii.

pp. 74, 75.

'

from Renaudot the words imponit illi cidarim

seu mi/ram, alligalque illi epomidem,' but adds in a note ornamentum
Denzinger

cites

'

de quo

agilur

(sc.

mitre?) est

Maznaphlho, amictus phrygio opere

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.j

203
mensame

that in several Syriac manuscripts the mitre is

tioned under the name togo (obviously the
'

'

'

as one of the episcopal ornatherefore probably mistaken in

denying the mitre to Syrian bishops and there seems
no question that it was worn by their patriarch.

as the Arabic

ments.

tag

Asseman

')

is

extremely unfortunate that nearly all the

ancient
really
Coptic paintings have perished, and
that bronze or stone monuments
carved shrines or
It

is

effigies of great ecclesiastics

in Coptic history.
Yet from

are simply

unknown

such scanty

relics as

the hand of time has spared some little evidence

may be gathered for the early use of the mitre.

Thus one of the

now

the panels

saints
in

Abu Sargah seems

whose

figures are carved

upon

the iconostasis at the church of

to

wear some kind of head-dress

'

'

ornatus? thus asserting that by mitra of the text

amice with an embroidered orfrey. This mistake

meant an

is
is

sufficiently

refuted by the remainder of the sentence quoted from the rubric

'
Epomis is obviously the amice, and
alligatque illi epomidem.'

is

cidaris seu milra!

The synonym too
quite distinct from the
proves that the mitra answers to our mitre. As regards the patri'

archal mitre, there

no

is

conflict

among

our authorities.

I think,

Mr. Cutts must be mistaken in stating that the

therefore,
'
Jacobite Syrian patriarch does not wear a mitre but a veil on his
that

head, which

is

thrown

off at the

reading of the Gospel.'

(Chris-

under the Crescent in Asia, p. 84.) He describes this veil as

'set with plates and bosses of silver/
Doubtless it corresponds

tians

with the Coptic ballin, and is the common vestment of the patriarch,
whereas the mitre is only used on great festivals. It is a mistake
into

which a

traveller

might fall very easily from seeing the patriarch

and from failing to find any example of
In the same way, the Coptic patriarch seldom

celebrate without a mitre,

such an ornament.

wears the crown to celebrate, and in all the scores of visits that
I have paid to various churches I have only seen one example of

any

mitre.

Yet beyond

all

shadow of doubt

the mitre

only by the Coptic patriarch, but also by the bishops.

is

worn, not

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2O4

[CH. v.

resembling a low diadem. They date from the

eighth century, and may be denoted as patriarchs
by the cross upon the long spear-like staff which
they carry.
Probably of the same date, or a little
is
the
ancient
later,
pillar-painting at Al Mu'allakah *,
now much defaced, but still showing very clearly
the patriarchal

and a nimbed head wearing a

The diadem consists of a band of

pall,

jewelled diadem.
silver or gold divided into tiny compartments, each
enclosing a precious stone something like the dia-

dem on

the head of Justinian in the mosaic picture at

Ravenna, and the intention is so obvious

S. Vitale,

that, if this

monument stood

quite alone,

it

would

alone suffice to prove the use of the crown as a

distinctly recognised vestment at a time when the
metal mitre at least was quite unknown in Europe.

Between
from the

and pictures on panel, dating

or sixteenth century, there is a
But thenceforward
gulf void of artistic evidence.
and
patriarchs,
patriarchal figures of St. Mark and of
this

fresco

fifteenth

our Lord, become common and they generally wear a

golden crown beset with jewels. The shape however
of the crown had by this time changed and instead
of the low diadem,
a narrow band or fillet of metal
the
brow, we find a solid covering for
encircling
:

the head
times.

more resembling the royal crown of modern

There is no instance in Coptic painting of

the two-peaked mitre, familiar to us in Roman usage

and in our own brass effigies and heraldic designs.

But though the mitre of western shape

is

quite

unknown to Coptic bishops, the exact form of their

own head-dress is not fixed after any rigorous model.
1

See

illustrations, vol.

i.

p.

191, and vol.

ii.

p. 156.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. V.]

The Copts

in fact

do

205

not, strictly speaking, use the

'

word mitre at all with them the mitre is a tag or

and the crown may be made after many
'

crown

preserves the essential idea of

a kingly head-dress, the symbol of sovereign power.
patterns, so long as

Fig.' 28.

Nor

it

The Crown

of the Coptic Patriarch.

there any recognised or necessary difference

in the form of the crown as worn by bishops and
is

The only distinction is

as worn by the patriarch.
a
one of usage, which forbids bishop either to wear
his crown or to hold his staff outside his own
during the presence within it of the
patriarch, by whom his authority is overshadowed.

diocese,

or

Ancient Coptic Churches.

206

[CH. v.

It must therefore be clearly understood that the

form of the patriarchal crown given in the illustration
has been determined by the artist's fancy, and has
no symbolic or ritual significance whatever. The
crown, which is of solid silver gilt and is covered with
various enrichments, was sent as a gift from king

John of Abyssinia, by whose order

it

was made,

to

the present patriarch Cyril. Much of the work upon

it is extremely fine, and the whole produces an effect

though somewhat barbaric, magnificence.

The body of the crown is cylindrical the top is
domed and above the dome, which ends in a beautiful boss of filigree work, rises a little open tower
supporting a cross set with five large diamonds.
The cylindrical part is divided into two sections by
three horizontal fillets or bands of raised work each
band is thickly studded with paste jewels of various
of real,

colours separated by finely wrought metal bosses a

profusion of short tiny chains with pendants hang
:

from the lower rim of every band, while on the upper

rim stands a delicate open parapet of very minute
workmanship. Vertically, the walls of the crown are
divided by raised bands into eight sections, which are

work
and chased with rude engravings of the Virgin and
alternately filled with a spiral design of filigree

Child or other sacred figures.

The front of the
crown is distinguished by a small curved projection
upon the lowest fillet. The dome is ornamented by
a number of lines radiating from the centre, and the
spaces between them are filled with a chased design
of very graceful scrollwork.
glance at the illustration will show the triple character of this pontifical

crown

but that character is due merely to a local

the affectation of this form of crown by
accident,
:

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

207

the kings of Abyssinia 1

and must not suggest
any comparison with the triple crown of the Roman
,

pontiff.

The

practice of the Melkite Church of Alexandria

agrees with that of the Coptic Church in granting the
mitre or crown to bishops, as well as to the patriarch
;

having a specific form of mitre for the

patriarch, different from the episcopal crown, and
called by a distinguishing name.
For the patriarchal

but dissents

in

called tiara, the episcopal mitra

and the
distinction of shape is this, that the tiara is lofty and

mitre

is

resembling the western mitre without any

or horns at the top while the mitra is a real
It is
crown, low, and rather globular than conical.
conical,
cleft

impossible to say when this distinction arose, or for

what reason. The only tiara which I have seen in

Cairo is quite modern it is made of crimson velvet,

with a zone of silver or gold about an inch broad
encircling the head, and from this zone four metal
bands rise and meet at the top of the cone, upon
:

which there stands a jewelled

cross.

Each of the

four vertical divisions of the tiara encloses a porcelain

medallion, painted with sacred figures, and set round
with precious stones. The mitra has all the characit is
generally made of
of
rich
velvet, covered
rarely
very
with elaborate gold embroidery, and studded thick

a royal crown

teristics of

more

silver gilt,

with jewels.

The

mitra,

though of metal,

is

never of

a solid plate of silver or

openwork
gold, casque-like in this regard, and not a circlet with
:

the

The
same

Museum.

the ground

is

gold crown of king Theodore, captured at Magdala, has

It may be seen at the South Kensington
peculiarity.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2o8

[CH. v.

bands of metal coming down from the top to meet it.

There is at the church of St. Nicholas in Cairo
a large collection of these crowns, some of which are
ancient and exceedingly beautiful.

The

oldest there

a most magnificent specimen of silver-work and

The head-piece is of solid silver round
jewellery.
is

enclosing an exquisite
design of small flowers repousse\ Immediately above
this is another zone of the richest blue enamel, in
which is wrought some sacred writing in Greek
characters.
Above this comes a third narrow band
of delicate work, raised, and standing out from the
ground and all the points and angles of the design
the

bottom runs a

circlet

The globe
enclosed are set with lustrous jewels.
or main body of the crown is marked off into four
equal compartments by vertical bands descending
from a circlet near the top. These bands are of

work, soldered on to the ground, like the

narrow circlets just mentioned. In the
centre of each compartment, and slightly raised, is an
oval medallion of superb enamel, in which the Virgin,

open

silver

third of the

our Lord, and other sacred figures are wrought in

soft yet resplendent colours, red, green, and blue and
round every medallion runs a border of costly gems.
The circlet round the top of the crown, too, which
;

receives the four vertical bands, is richly jewelled on

the edges, while the interior consists of blue enamel
enclosing a text from Holy Writ in Greek letters.

But the topmost point is covered with a large boss,

which tapers upwards in three low stages, all set
with precious stones, and on the summit stands a
small cross.
From the style of the enamelling and
of the workmanship generally, I think that this most
sumptuous and splendid mitre may be assigned to

Rcclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

209

the eleventh or twelfth century: but no description

and no picture can convey any idea of its beauty.
In the same treasury I saw several other crowns, all

of rich metal work or jewelled embroidery, and some

In every case the crown is surof them ancient.

mounted by a

cross,

which

is

a characteristic feature

of the bishop's head-dress, both Greek and Coptic.

It is, then, very clear that in both branches of the

Church of Egypt the use of the mitre is not merely

known, but ascends at least to a very considerable
antiquity.

It is clear, too, that

Neale's account of the

when

all he tells us is that

very inadequate,
the patriarch of Alexandria employs a cap resembling
a crown, and never removes it during the liturgy 1 .'
The Melkite patriarch of Alexandria wears no sort

matter

is

'

of cap, but only the tiara and the Coptic patriarch

wears a crown on all solemn occasions, and the only
:

kind of cap which ever covers his head is a sort of

tarbush concealed within the hood of the. cope.
There is, however, a cap recognised as a liturgical

vestment at the present day, and dating from a very

remote epoch. It is first mentioned by a Coptic
writer of the twelfth century, a bishop of Akhmlm 2
who gives it in a list of sacerdotal vestments
,

'

and describes it as adorned with small crosses/

Renaudot merely cites this very interesting passage
without criticism 3 having no further evidence upon
the subject. For a like reason, doubtless, Denzinger
,

Eastern Church: Gen. Introd., vol. i. p. 313.

This author is repeatedly cited by Renaudot, as

Denzinger gives

his full

name

as

'

'

Echmimensis.'
Ferge Allah Echmimi,' which

should doubtless be Farag Allah Akhmimi.

3

'Mentio fit praeterea cidaris quarrt

Lit. Or., torn. i. p. 163.
sacerdos imponit capiti et quae cruciculis ornata est,'
VOL,

II.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2io

[CH. v.

prefers to reject the Coptic bishop's testimony, and

to explain away the priest's cap as a mere mis-

Such a
understanding of the epomis, or amice
confusion is extremely improbable, for the same
authority mentions the amice in his list as a separate
1

vestment of the priesthood.

When

thorities beside are absolutely

dumb on

all

known

au-

the subject,

and when not a grain of evidence could be found in

any quarter, it was only natural for Denzinger to be
nevertheless
suspicious of so isolated a statement
The
the bishop was right, and the critic is wrong.
has
this
is
modern
but
it
of
remarkable,
proof
quite
:

seven centuries of silence but I think

it
strong enough to pass with an electric flash of
conviction. For a cap exactly answering the description of the Coptic writer seven hundred years ago is
now used in the service of the Church, not as a rule
by priests, whose heads are generally covered by the
shamlah or amice, but by deacons. For instance, in
the church of Abu-'s-Sifain among the vestments is
to leap across

a cap of crimson velvet, shaped like the ordinary

tarbush, but having the upper and lower rim encircled
by a band of silver lace, and the sides divided
into four

within
silver

the

vertical

compartments by
compartment

each
with

smaller

starlike

branches, and another

fastened on the top.

is

is

bands of lace
cross

crosses
cross

very

of

of

solid

between
silver

all

lace

similar cap

of

crimson velvet with four divisions may be seen

at St. Stephen's church by the cathedral
but
:

Mentio fit etiam teste Renaudotio

apud Echmimensem cidaris cruciculis ornatae, quam sacerdos
capiti imponit, de quo (sic) tamen varia nobis dubia occurrunt,
Kit. Or., torn.

'

i.

p. 130.

videturque nihil aliud esse nisi pilogion.'

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

211

example only two of the divisions are filled

with crosses, the other two containing each a figure
But in every case the
of the six-winged seraphim.
is
that
the cap is adorned
predominant impression
in this

'

with small crosses,' precisely as described

the

in

I have no doubt at all

that the
twelfth century.
vestment was originally a priest's cap exclusivelysuch as existed in our English ritual of old, though
traces of it are not common in our monuments
and as the use of the shamlah prevailed more and
1

AJB
Fig. 29.

Priestly Cap.

more, was relegated to deacons, just as the priestly

mode of wearing the stole seems to have descended
even to sub-deacons. Indeed it is very probable that
the priestly cap itself

is

a descendant from the earlier

episcopal crown and the mere fact that priests were

able to wear in the twelfth century the cap adorned
:

'

with small crosses

splendour

'

obviously a head-dress of some

constitutes in itself a powerful

argument

for the antiquity of the Coptic mitre.

1

There

a brass in

Hackney church, dated 1521 A.D. (figured

Brasses), in which a priest is shown wearing a low rather closefitting cap with a point on the top.
in Waller's

is

Monumental

P 2

Ancient Coptic Churches.

212

[CH. v.

worth while dwelling a moment on the curious

of the priestly cidaris as an illusgap
tration of what may be called the accidents of eviHad Farag Allah's
dence upon questions of ritual.
statement stood absolutely alone, as Denzinger
thought, the temptation to reject it, as he does, is
almost irresistible it seems so much safer to argue
that, if such a vestment had existed, it must have
been noticed by other writers. If, on the other hand,
It is

in the history

the mere existence of the cap as a present appurtenance of worship were the sole fact known about it,
while pictures and books of the past were silent
then the critic would conclude with a great show of
;

reason that the cap was a mere modern invention of

no authority.

Thus

in either alternative,

faultless the logic, the conclusion

and

however

would be wrong

only the accidental coincidence of the two

facts, divided by seven centuries, that establishes
the truth, which either singly would seem to deny.
it is

remains to touch lightly on the use of the

crown or mitre in other Churches of the East and in
I have
the West.
already spoken of the Syrians as
recognising the mitre, on the testimony of Renaudot and Morinus and although Denzinger alleges
Jacques de Vitry and Asseman against Renaudot,
he is, as usual, uncertain and even contradictory, and
his reasoning is quite unable to shake the solid
Or even
authority of the great French ritualist '.
It

Briefly Denzinger writes as follows (Rit. Or., torn. i. pp. 131-2):

Renaudot mentions among the bishop's ornaments the Thogo, corona
sive mitra?
According to Asseman mitras non deferunt Syri Jaco'

'

'

bilae

which
'

Renaudot speaks of mitram sive cidarim'

Doubtful too is Morinus' rendering of the Syriac

except the Catholics.

is doubtful.
'

Maznaphtho or amice by

cidaris.

Jacques de Vitry expressly

states

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.j

213

there be not sufficient evidence to prove conclusively the use of the mitre by Syrian bishops, there
if

is no
question that the tiara is worn by the patriarch,
both Jacobite and Maronite and this fact creates a
strong presumption that the privilege of wearing a
crown was granted to bishops also, a presumption
which is rendered almost certain by the identity of
the Syriac togo, as given by Renaudot, with the
Arabic tag, the name for the episcopal crown in
;

the two languages.

The mitre is a customary ornament of the bishop
among the Maronites, and is placed on his head at
ordination, according to ancient rubrics.
Regarding

Nestorian practice there is some ambiguity

arising from the difficulty of interpreting the terms
used in the pontificals.
Denzinger says plainly,
the

Mitras non gerunt nisi Chaldaei Romanae ecclesiae

1
Yet, from the close conjunction of the
biruna with the pastoral staff in the rubrics, it is
'

uniti

'.

hard to doubt that the biruna means some sort

of head-dress resembling a mitre, rather than an

Thus we

amice as alleged by Denzinger.

read,

thai Syrian bishops, except the Maronites, do not use mitre or ring.
Then follows immediately the list of the Syrian patriarch's pon-

word for word Apud Syros MaroJacoUtas patriarcha insignitur Masnaphta (sic) seu amictu
simili Birunae Nestorianorum, Phaina seu Phainolio, orario seu
tifical

vestments, which I give

nitas et

epitrachelio pontificio

ad

instar omophorii seu pallii Graecorum, tiara

seu mitra, et baculo pastorali : and in the same page the Biruna is
denned as cidaris phrygio opere ornata instar amictus, and the

Maznaphtho as amictus phrygio opere ornatus. It is clear at least

that Denzinger has no argument to bring against Renaudot's statement: and that when he charges Morinus with
confounding

cidaris

and amictus, he reserves the

his private privilege.

1

Rit. Or., torn.

i.

p.

132.

right of the

same confusion

as

Ancient Coptic Churches.

214
'episcopi

birunam

ordinati

et tradit

[CH. v.

birunis et baculis':

virgam

in

manum

'

induit

eius dexteram':

ornati birunis et baculis': 'episcopi suo ornatu et

*
birunis induti et baculos tenentes':
patres vero
ornantur maaphris. birunis, baculis': prince ps me'

'

tropolitarum

eum

induit

biruna, et tradit

illi

.'
These passages cannot, of course, prove
the usage of what we call a mitre, but they do prove
the usage of some closely corresponding ornament.

baculum

Among

the

Armenians the mitre

is

have

said to

the eleventh century.

Howadopted
ever that may be, at the present time their bishops
wear both mitre and ring ~, and are singular in the

been

first

latter

usage

in

among

all

But

the oriental Churches.

the infulae or strings, which once depended from the

mitre, have now become detached, and, curiously
enough, are represented by strips of brocade fastened

on to the shoulders of the cope 3

None of the
other Churches of the East ever had anything
corresponding to the western mitre-strings, their
head-dress being rather a crown than a mitre and
.

the singularity of the Armenians in using this mitre

of western form, together with the episcopal ring,
seems to give point to the legend which makes this
first instance a gift from Rome.
The
Armenians however agree with the Copts in the use

mitre in the

of the

priest's cap,

Both bishops and

from the Cherubic
1

Denzinger, Kit. Or,

Id., torn.

i.

which they term

priests

Hymn
torn.

ii.

'

sagavard.'

remove their head-dress

to the end of the service.

pp. 238, 244, 245, 249, 250, 255.

p. 133.

'

The reason of this

Fortescue, Armenian Church, p. 134.
change may be conjectured from a perusal of Neale's remarks,
Gen. Introd.,vol.
p. 313.
!

i.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

215

As

regards the Greek Church proper, Neale states

a kind
is unknown, but bishops wear
of bonnet,' which he illustrates by a woodcut, but
does not further describe, nor even name. Except for
'

that the mitre

the absence of the cross on the top, it bears considerable likeness to the crown of the orthodox Alexan-

presumably it is of some soft material

and not of metal. This seems borne out by Rock
who calls the Greek head-dress a round hat or cap,
and states that it is known by the name tiara'
drians, but

'

Turning our eyes now

to the West,

we

shall find

analogy with Coptic practice in the

The
and in the remotest countries.
Celtic bishops wore crowns instead of mitres V
What a change of world is wrought by the change
In the sixthof two letters, from Coptic to Celtic
the

closest

'

earliest times

century life of St. Sampson that saint is represented

as having seen in a dream three eminent bishops
'

adorned with golden crowns/ Mr. Warren mentions

the figure of 'an Irish bishop thus crowned on a
sculptured bas-relief of great antiquity, part of a
ruined chapel in the valley of Glendalough,' and
is of opinion that the crown was used in the AngloSaxon Church up to the tenth century. Thus in the
Benedictional of St. Ethelwold an ecclesiastic is
depicted wearing a golden and jewelled diadem.
Rock 3 too says that the early bishops wore crowns
of gold set with jewels but adds that a kerchief
or head-linen was also borne by the Anglo-Saxon
;

Church of our Fathers,

vol.

ii.

p. 62.

p.

See Mr. Warren's Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church,

119, and the interesting notes on that and the following page,

from which
3

have freely quoted.

Church of our Fathers,

vol.

ii.

p.

91

Ancient Coptic Churches.

216
prelates

hung

Cottonian

shown

is

it

was

tied with a

The

behind.

MS.

fillet,

the ends of which

Dunstan

figure of St.

[CH. v.

in

the

the eleventh century,

painted
a
round
wearing
cap with two latchets
in

hanging behind. In an eleventh-century fresco at

S. Clemente in Rome the papal mitre is represented
as a high conical cap a
There is a twelfth-century
enamel in the Louvre in which Melchisedech, standing at the altar and administering the cup and wafer
to Abraham, wears dalmatic, alb, chasuble, and a
crown upon his head but the crown here is doubt.

less

rather a

symbol of kingly than of

priestly

dignity.
sculptured figure over the portal of
St. Denys of the same epoch shows a low but
decided mitre 3 having already indications of the
and in a
horns, which started about that time
at
Mark
in
a premosaic
St.
Venice
contemporary
,

cisely similar mitre

is

depicted.

From

the twelfth

century onward the mitre is of frequent occurrence

in pictures, brasses 4 and monuments of all kinds,
and the gradual evolution of the form now most
familiar is very distinctly traceable.
Ever since the
mitre has been formally recognised as an ecclesiastical vestment in the West, the custom has been for
the bishop to wear it at the mass, removing it only
at the moment of office.
Its usage nevertheless was
,

2
4

Westwood,

Facsimiles, pi. 50.

La Messe, vol. i. pi.

The earliest known

xii.

brass

is

later

we

Id. ib.,-pl.

xiii,

xiv.

that of

Archbishop Ysowilpe, in
the church of St. Andrew, at Verden, near Bremen, who died 1231.
He wears a low flat mitre, yet with two decided peaks. Next in
date comes the brass of Bishop Otto, of Hildesheim (1271), in
which the mitre is slightly higher, but the peaks still are wide

About a century
and nearly meeting, as at
apart.

present.

find the peaks sloping inwards

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

not confined by the church walls, but

out of doors on festival occasions.

THE

it

217
was worn

CROZIER OR STAFF OF AUTHORITY.

1
(Coptic ni cy&urr

Arabic jlXx) I.)

The

Coptic patriarch and all his bishops carry the

pastoral staff; but the same rule which controls the
wearing of the mitre by bishops, limits also the usage
of the staff.
For it is only in his own diocese, and

when

that

diocese

is

not overshadowed by the

within it, that a

visible presence of the patriarch

carry the staff, which the Copts call

In the West
emphatically 'the staff of authority.'
the symbolism of the staff has always been a matter

bishop

may

some controversy among the Copts both the

term by which the staff is known, and the limitation
placed upon its usage, agree in determining the
emblem as that of jurisdiction. There seems no
idea of pastoral care associated with the staff and
of

rod carried by the Coptic bishop denotes

a royal sceptre, just as his head-dress denotes a
kingly crown.
Accordingly the episcopal staff never under any
circumstances has the crook-like form familiar in all
in fact the

Its shape will be understood

western monuments.
at once from the statement that it resembles the
Greek and not the Latin type of crozier 2 i. e. that
the upper end terminates as a tau-cross with two
,

This again

is

a foreign word, but curiously enough nearer

Hebrew than Greek:

2

The

it

corresponds to B3K>.
is sometimes, but wrongly, limited to

use of this word

the archiepiscopal cross as

opposed

to the episcopal staff in the

'Ancient Coptic Churches.

218

[CH. v.

short symmetrical branches, instead of rounding off

to a crook or spiral volute.
But in the Coptic

two branches are nearly always in the

form of serpents' necks with heads retorted, and in
the centre between the two heads is a small round
boss surmounted by a cross.
By a curious coincidence with western usage a flag or veil the Latin
is fastened on to the staff near the
pannicellus
top
crozier these

at the natural

made

place for grasping

The

it.

veil is

silk, and often of a green colour.

Enough has been now said to indicate the points of
difference between the Greek and Egyptian crozier,
and the peculiarities of the latter. First, if Neale
l
is to be trusted
the Greek pastoral staff in walkis
to
used
lean
ing
upon, and is not much higher
than the hand.' Curzon 2 though not very clear
upon the point, seems also to speak of a short patriarchal staff.
Both authors give cuts showing the

of

'

'pateressa' or 'patritza,' as they variously call it,

but unfortunately without any scale of measurement. Neale's woodcut, however, is obviously taken
from Goar's 3 figure of the patriarch Bekkos in walk-

ing costume, and there the staff can only be about

3 ft. 6 inches in height. Goar's words, too, in another
4
place point to the same conclusion
pastorali autem
'

virgae Pontifex innititur progrediens eius summa

pars juxta manum transverse ligno sive eboreis ser:

pentibus in sese capitibus mutuo retortis, ayxvpnv

5
est ornata.'
that the
Again, he remarks
West.

I shall

not scruple to employ the term in

For etymology, see Smith's

Eastern Church Gen.
1

Diet. Christ. Antiq.

Introd., vol.

i.

p.

its

broader sense.
Pastoral Staff.

s. v.

314.

Monasteries of the Levant, p. 299.

Euchol., p. 115.

Ib.. p.

"'

314.

Ib., p.

313.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.j

219

'pateressa' (appropriately so called 'a paterna soldikanikion,' i.e. emblem of jurisdiclicitudine'), or

'

by bishops and abbots it is, moreover,

shorter than the Latin crozier, and not so richly
adorned with precious metal or gems, and consetion, is carried

All this is different

quently is used in walking.
from the Coptic staff, which is usually about 5 ft. 6 in.
long, and is not used except as an ornament of

The

patriarch, when he drives

beneath his oriental dignity,
for to walk
abroad,
has with him a servant who carries a tall, plain,

church ceremonial.

is

silver-headed staff or mace, but does not take his

crozier.
Another difference is this, that while the

Coptic form agrees with the Greek in the characterdesign of the serpents' heads, the little cross

istic

between the heads seems an Egyptian

third point of contrast

find

no mention

in

is

the

veil,

peculiarity.

of which

can

accounts of the Greek pateressa.

however, interesting to find that in the other

branch of the Church of Egypt, the orthodox Greek
or Melkite, the form of the episcopal staff exactly
corresponds with that of the Coptic bishop's for it
has the cross and the veil, and is from 5 ft. to 6 ft.
It

is,

Examples of the Jacobite crozier are so

have never seen a single ancient specibut
men
the Melkites, by better fortune or more
careful reverence, have preserved from past times

in height.
rare that

several beautiful staves, which are now in the treaIn

sury of the church of St. Nicholas at Cairo.

every case these staves have the lower end pointed,

while the rod is divided into five portions by four
knops or bosses at about equal intervals. These
knops, and the serpents' heads, are generally enI saw one staff of ancient
riched with jewels.
ivory

Ancient Coptic Churches.

22O

[CH. v.

with silver bosses finely jewelled another of ivory

stained green with jewelled silver bosses two or
;

three of ebony with silver bosses

and

silver serpents and another

of solid ivory most superbly carved,
the bosses also of ivory, the cross
;

above standing on a

crown

little

of delicate pierced work.

As a
rule the stem between the bosses
is

hexagonal, not round.

Though

have called these ex-

it
is not likely
amples
that any of them go back more

ancient,

than three or four centuries, for

they are distinctly mediaeval in
character and correspond closely
with croziers pourtrayed in mediaeval Coptic paintings

1
.

There

is,

for instance, in the church of St.

Stephen by the cathedral in Cairo,

a painting of St. Mark, robed as
patriarch of Alexandria, and holding in his left hand a crozier of
this kind.
But although no very
antique example of the crozier
now remains, I have no doubt
that the design dates from the

Fig. 30.

Coptic Crozier.

It
early days of Christianity.
2
has already
that
J been sup-crested

Occasionally, however, the Coptic staff is depicted merely with

a double volute, i. e. without the snakes, as at Mari Mina. On the
patriarchal seal the staff has a single snake-headed volute
design is unknown elsewhere.
*

Diet. Christ. Antiq. s.v. Pastoral Staff.

but this

221

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

the western pastoral staff should be referred for its

prototype not to the shepherd's crook, or the royal
sceptre, but rather to the lituus or augur's wand

of classical times.
crozier

may
or

o-KfjTTTpov

Similarly,

think the eastern

be referred to the herald's wand, the

pd(38o$

the Latin Mercury,

of

caduceus

Hermes, the

of

and referred with a certainty

greater in proportion as the resemblance is closer

and more striking. For in early as well as late
classical works of art the rod of Hermes is repre-

sented as entwined with two serpents whose uplifted

This coincidence of design
heads face each other 1
.

See Adam's

220, pi.
Dr. Smith

is

wrong

of the snakes to

of

art the

Roman

Antiquities (loth edit., London, 1839),

Classical Dictionary, pi. opposite p. 336.
in his statement about limiting the occurrence

and Smith's

ii;

p.

late

works of

art.

His words

'

are,

In

white ribbons which surrounded the herald's

late

works
were

staff

changed into two serpents' (p. 313). Now in the very earliest
works of art the wand appears with a head in the form of the figure $,
which may or may not be intended for the pair of snakes, but canThis form, for example, is
not possibly be meant for ribbons.
it occurs also on a
on
coins
of
sixth
the
century B.C.
frequent
:

vase in the so-called Chalcidian style about 550 B.C.

Perhaps the
earliest certain instance of the serpent-wand is on the Francois
vase,

which cannot be

iv. liv.)

here

it

is

later

carried

than 500

by

Iris,

(see Monumenti
Hermes carries a

B. c.

while

Inediti,
staff

of

same design, but not apparently finished off with serpents'

There is now in the British Museum a KijpvKfiov of bronze,
heads.
about 2 ft. long, on which the snakes are distinctly figured from
the lettering of the Greek inscription upon it, it must be as early
For the foregoing information I am indebted to Mr.
as 450 B.C.
Cecil Smith, of the British Museum.
It is quite clear, then, that the snake-headed wand was familiar
long before even the foundation of Alexandria and I have no
the

adoption in the mystic cults of the Great City

accounts for its presence at this day in the ritual of the Coptic

doubt that
Christians.

its

Ancient Coptic Churches.

222
is

obviously

much stronger than

in

[CH. v.

the case of the

lituus, where the comparison depends merely on

the vague fact that the lituus was curved.
Morein
the
the
is
one
case
weakened
over,
comparison
by the fact that the augur was obliged to carry his
wand in the right hand it is strengthened in the
;

other case by the fact that

Hermes

picted carrying his

the

staff in

was the exact symbolism

of

left

the

always deWhat
hand.

is

two

serpents

wand among the Greeks

but this much is clear, that the

attached to the herald's

not very certain

is

wand was

by heralds and ambassadors in

office, and as an emblem of peace

carried

virtue of their

See Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 218, and

the cut there given from Millin's Peintures des Vases Antiques,
1

KrjpvKnov is about 4 ft. long on the scale given by the

This length contrasted with the shortness of the lituus is
another point in which my comparison has the advantage of the

where the

figure.

other.
Hyginus says the- serpents were regarded as an emblem of
peace, because Mercury once found two serpents fighting and
Macrobius derives the symbolism
separated them with his staff.

from Egypt (Saturn. I. xix.)

In Mercuric solem coli etiam ex
caduceo claret, quod Aegyptii in specie draconum mart's ei
Jeminae
figuraverunl : alluding apparently to the winged disk of the sun
'

'

with the Uraeus serpent on either side.

Schol.

On Thuc.

o<ptis Trfpiircrr\(yfi(vovs
(latdafft

Roman

<pfi>fiv

ol

<OTI

53 n^ntaaat

In a note Preller cites

v\ov opQbv (^ov fKarfpudev 8vo

KOI avTiirpoframovs Trpos d\\fj\ni's Kfipfvovs; onfp

KTjpvKts

pfT

avruiv.

This wand was not used by

Thus

Pliny remarks, 'Hie complexus anguium et

efferalorum concordia causa videtur esse quare exlerae gentes caduceum
in pads arguments circumdata fffigie anguium fecerini.
Neque enim
heralds.

cristatos esse

in caduceo

mos

es/.'

(Nat. Hist. xxix. 12

fin.)

Of

Greek KrjpvKnov may, after all, have

derived its form from Egypt, and be a relic of some early ophidian
worship or the tau-cross, which seems to have been used from a

course

it

is

possible that the

very high antiquity in Egypt,

may have become

associated with

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

223

Its official character alone may have caused it to

be adopted by the Church of Alexandria as their
and as an emblem of
bishops' staff of authority
'

;'

at least not

is

it

peace,
of the gospel message.

unsuitable to the heralds

Another interpretation associates the eastern

crozier with the idea of the brazen serpent raised

by Moses. This seems to me both less

Yet it is only fair
probable and less appropriate.
to remember that in the West at least the symbol
of the brazen serpent had an ancient place of honour
aloft

in church ceremonial
it is found, for instance, in
an Anglo-Saxon ritual, and was retained, even in
For on
England, up to the sixteenth century
Good
and
Easter
Eve,
Maundy Thursday,
Friday,
;

after the singing of nones, a procession went to the

church door carrying a staff which ended upwards

a serpent in the serpent's mouth was set a taper,

which was solemnly kindled, and from this all other
candles were lighted
A similar ceremony seems
a
in the Mozarabic liturgy,
rubric
clearly implied by
and the serpent-rod was used at Rouen as late as the
It is worth enquiring whether
eighteenth century.
the curious serpent candlestick at Mari Mina, of
which I have given an illustration elsewhere 2 may
in

the serpent in the symbolism of some sect of early Egyptian

The tau-cross in its Egyptian form was undoubtedly
mystics.

adopted as

religious

symbol by the primitive Christians of

Egypt.

and Rit. of the Celtic Church, p. 53. The expression in the

hasiam cum imagine serpentisj seems to suggest a reference to
I have quoted largely from this page of Mr.
the brazen serpent.
1

note

Lit.
'

Warren's work.
2

Vol.

i.

p. 59.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

224

[CH. v.

not originally have been intended for the same

ceremonial usage on Easter Eve; but there is no
decisive evidence on the point forthcoming.
No

doubt the express comparison made by our Lord

of his own uplifting on the cross to the uplifting of
the brazen serpent sufficed to coin the emblem, and

Thus St.
with a very clear impression.
Ambrose distinctly says, The brazen serpent is a
figure of the cross, and a fitting symbol of the body

to coin

it

'

of Christ;' and even Tertullian admits its approBut, granting both the existence and
priateness.
the fitness of the

not see
office.

is its

It

emblem

in itself,

what one does

suitability as applied to the episcopal

like arrogance

would seem something very

for a bishop to appropriate

so obviously sacred a

symbol.
Yet a third interpretation remains in the case of
the Coptic crozier as faintly possible but extremely
It is just conceivable that the idea
improbable.

might be that of the triumph of the cross over the

dragon, the victory of Christ over the power of the
Evil One.
This, however, would imply that the
second serpent was merely added for the sake of
symmetry, and it would imply also an entire difference of symbolism in the Coptic and Greek crozier,
there being no cross upon the latter, and any such
difference

is

in

the last degree unlikely.

On

the

whole, then, it seems fairest to suppose that the

eastern episcopal staff has come down in unbroken
succession from the herald's wand of pagan Hellas.

There
its

thus not the slightest necessity for tracing

development back to the ordinary crutch or walkis

ing stick.

account for

Such a supposition would quite fail to

the serpents, and is decidedly weakened

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.j

225

by the

fact that the crutch in the form of a tau-cross

remains side by side with the crozier to this day
a familiar appurtenance of worship in every Coptic
church.
Nor is its use confined, as was originally

the case in England, to

astics,' as Rock declares

aged and sickly

'

ecclesi-

but the length of the

Coptic services, and the general absence of seats,

make it welcome even to the young and hale.
Had it once been consecrated to the bishop's office,
it would
scarcely have continued in the hand of

every layman.
It is curious that

the rubrics in the

known Coptic

pontificals are silent on the subject of the crozier.

The reason of this no doubt is that when the ordinais accomplished, and the
bishop or patriarch is
seated on his throne, he is required to hold, not the
and similarly this
staff, but the book of the gospel

tion

book

is

a more

common ornament

than the staff

in

Coptic paintings. But that the staff really formed part

of the bishop's investiture, we learn from Vansleb
who relates that after the ordination service the
;

bishop proceeds to the patriarch's abode, and is there

presented with a small bronze cross and with a staff
'

in the

that

form of the

when

The same

letter T.'

the patriarch

author

tells

us

arrayed at his invesa large iron cross

titure,
which serves among the Copts in place of the
It may be true that such a cross
pastoral staff.'
is

he takes from the

fully

'

altar

figures in the ordination ceremony, but it is not true

that the patriarchal staff differs from the episcopal in

the
1

manner alleged.

St.

Church of Our Fathers,

Michael
vol.

that the use of the crutch lasted

tury

ii.

till

ir.

sometimes painted

Rock says
p. 184, note 22.
the middle of the twelfth cen-

but notice that his authorities are

VOL.

is

all

French.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

226

[CH. v.

carrying the Jerusalem patriarchal cross with three

transoms and in the eighth-century carved panels
:

Abu Sargah

each of the three horsemen, probably

St. George, St. Mercurius, and St. Demetrius, carries
a long staff ending upwards in a cross, and almost
at

exactly resembling that borne by St. Gregory, as

but the staff here is
figured in the Hierolexicon
1

probably only a spear with a fanciful embellishment.

Evidence such as this is not sufficient to refute the
express testimony of present custom, and of the most
ancient paintings, in favour of the serpentine design
of the patriarchal staff.
Moreover, Vansleb's words,
if true, would prove too much, denying the familiar

form of crozier altogether.

As

regards the other eastern Churches, the invesis a matter of some cere-

titure with the pastoral staff

it is delivered
the Syrian Jacobites
with
the words,
the
service,
bishop during

mony among
to the
'

The Lord

hath sent thee a rod of strength out of

Sion.' When the patriarch is being ordained, every
bishop present grasps the staff with his right hand,
and all hold it together then the senior bishop
:

raises the patriarch's hand above all the others, and

rests it on the top of the staff, and the rite is thus
2

accomplished

Among

is

allowed to

'

peri-

4
bishops and patriarch
words and the ceremonies used at the delivery

odeutae 3

The

the Maronites the staff

of the

,'

as

well

as

to

the case of the two latter orders, are

The
as those used among the Syrians.

staff, in

the same

See Smith's Diet. Christ. Antiq.,

Denzinger, Rit. Or., torn.

Id. ib., p. 176,

ii.

p.

1566.

pp. 75-77.

Id. ib., pp. 203, 208, 223,

Ecclesiastical Vestments,

CH. v.]

227

is mentioned
along with ring and pall in the
eleventh century
For the Nestorian staff I have already cited suffi-

crozier

cient evidence.

The Armenian Church

grants the

words
which make it symbolical of the power of rescuing
sinners from the snares of the Evil One, and turning
them to repentance again with words which emand thirdly, with
phasise the duty of preaching
words which recall the pastor's office of comforting
the mournful and afflicted.
In the same service it is
staff to

vartapeds at their ordination, first with

called the

'

priestly

staff,'

good shepherd, and the

with a direct allusion to the

2
At a furroyal sceptre .'

'

ther stage of the vartaped's ordination it is made

suggestive of preparing the way of the Lord again
of climbing the hill of Sion and lastly, of strength
:

and courage. There is therefore a very ornate

symbolism and ritual connected with the delivery of
the staff to the vartaped at the various stages of his
In the case of a bishop, the crozier is once
ordination.
delivered with the words, Receive this bishop's staff,
that you may chastise and punish the froward, and
'

govern and feed those that obey in the law and teach-

God

ing of

always

3
.'

The

rubrics, of course, say nothing about the form

of these eastern croziers but fortunately there is some
independent evidence. The Jacobite Syrian Church
:

seems
staff

employ both the crook and the tau-cross

thus at the church belonging to that community
to

Urfa there

is 'a double-headed bishop's staff, the

volutes being of serpents, and like our Anglo-Saxon

at

Gerhard, De Eccl. Maronitarum, Jena, 1668 (not paged).

3
Id. ib., p. 337.
Denzinger, Rit. Or., torn. ii. p. 324.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

228

style of design

'

(sic),

[CH.

\.

and also 'a single-headed

crook of more modern type.' The same authority

mentions a long ivory crutch, looking like a patri2
archal staff,' in the Nestorian church at Kochanes
This, presumably, is a tau-cross without serpents, but
is not by any means determined as the normal form
of crozier by evidence so ambiguous.
Among the
'

Armenians the crooked pastoral staff of Roman

is used by patriarch and bishops, while the
ancient serpentine crozier is still retained by the
form

lower order of vartapeds 3

In the West the first mention of the pastoral staff
is in the acts of the Fourth
Council of Toledo,
A.D.
but
is
with the ring in
it
there
mentioned
633
an incidental manner, which must rather than may
.

And there
point to already long established usage.
no doubt that in the Celtic and British Churches

is

the staff goes back to the very beginning of ceremonial worship. The Latinised Saxon or Celtic

name

for the staff was cambutta, or

sometimes cambo:
it is found for
example in the Gregorian Sacramennow
in
the
tary,
library of the college at Autun, and
in the Ecgbert Pontifical.
Tradition tells of a golden
staff adorned with gems as borne by St. Patrick
and two of his followers, St. Dagaeus and St. Asic,
as well as St. Columba, are said to have been very
skilful makers of the staff in precious metals 4
The
staff covered with plates of
and
enriched
with
gold
:

Christians under the Crescent in Asia, p. 84.

Id. ib., p. 218.

Armenian Church, p. 134. Yet Denzinger

baculum
Episcopi
pastoralem adhibent similem Graecorum,'
Fortescue,

P- 1334

Warren,

Lit.

and

Kit.

of the Celtic Church, pp. 115-116.

says,
vol.

i.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

glorious designs in pearls, which St.

229

Columba

re-

ceived from St. Kentigern, was still found at Ripon in

the fifteenth century. The shape of the Anglo-Saxon

and Irish crozier was peculiar.

to have been quite short, rather

The

crook.

marked than

Originally it seems
like a sceptre than a

volute at the top was

less

strongly

and more familiar type in

fact the form may be roughly compared to that of a
note of interrogation 1 Professor Westwood, however,
mentions a very curious and unique example, now in
in the later

museum

of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society

form of a tau-cross, having a boat-shaped
head with the ends recurved and terminating in a
This surely is a very striking coindragon's head.'
cidence with eastern usage, and adds another link to
the evidence connecting the early Irish and oriental
Churches. Even in later examples of the staff, Irish,
the

it is

'

in the

English, and continental, the dragon or serpent in

some form or other is a very common ornament of
the whorl.
Thus the top of a staff found in the
cathedral ends in a dragon's head,
seizing the leg of a man, and is itself seized
another dragon. An extremely fine crozier sold

ruins of

which

by

Aghadoc

is

was of

bronze enamelled, and had in the whorl a figure of St. Michael

and the Devil, the knop being of open work with
in the Castellani collection

gilt

lacertine monsters.
It is easy to trace the development of the staff
from the simple crook, which is illustrated, for
instance, in an illuminated eleventh-century MS. in

the library of Troyes 3 in a fresco of the same period

in the church of S. Clemente at Rome, in the mosaics
,

See Westwood's Minfatures,

See Academy, March 15, 1884.

p. 152, pi. 53.

z

La Messe,

vol.

i.

pi. 10.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

230

[CH. v.

of St. Mark's at Venice, or in our own country in the

twelfth-century effigy of Bishop Joceline in Salisbury

The

next stage was to fill the whorl with

a vine-leaf or some simple foliated ornament, such as
appears in the crozier on another stone monument in
Salisbury cathedral, that of Bishop Egidius in the
cathedral.

and grotesques
and it is possible
that the frequent use of the serpent was due to con-

thirteenth century

were worked

in

Finally, figures

with elaborate

skill

siderations of artistic fitness rather than of religious

imagery. The veil or pannicellus on the stem of the

seem

be figured in very early

monuments, though the mere fact of its use on the
Coptic episcopal staff is some argument for its anThe veil is represented on a brass of Archtiquity.
in York minster, dated 1315 A.D., on
Grenfeld
bishop
that of Abbot Eastney at Westminster, 1498, and
that of Bishop Goodrich at Ely cathedral, I554 2
Oxford has two good examples of the veiled crozier
on painted glass one in the east window of the Bodcrozier does not

to

leian Library, the other in the north aisle of Christ

window containing an
figure of the last Abbot of Osney.
generally of Greek or nearly Greek form,

Church cathedral, where

interesting

A
is

is

cross,
characteristic of an archbishop as

opposed to a

in the West.
An early instance is furnished
the fresco at S. Clemente referred to above,

bishop

by
where both the crook-headed and the cross-headed
forms of the crozier may be seen together and for
;

one may mention the late

brass
of Robert Waldeby, archfourteenth-century
bishop of York, in Westminster Abbey. Except for
an English

illustration

See Bloxam's Ecclesiastical Vestments, pp. 22, 28.

Waller,

Monumental

Brasses.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.j

231

the doubtful evidence of Vansleb, there is no analogy in Coptic usage for the cruciform staff of the

archbishop or patriarch.

MINOR ECCLESIASTICAL ORNAMENTS.

Of the

other ornaments worn by the Coptic clergy

not necessary to speak at any length.

it is

Priests,

bishops, and patriarch alike, in both branches of the

Church of Alexandria, wear the pectoral cross even
in their ordinary attire, but concealed according to
ancient custom in the folds of their raiment.
These

crosses are usually of silver

actually seen any enclosing

and though I have not

have no doubt

relics, I

that originally in Egypt, as in all other parts of the

Christian world, they were often used as reliquaries.
In fact there are three or four reliquary crosses,

may have been worn on the breast, though

somewhat large for the purpose, among the treasures
which

at the

orthodox Alexandrian church of

St.

Nicholas

They are beautiful specimens of Byzantine

goldsmith's work, and richly covered with jewels.
in Cairo.

The Greek name

for the pectoral cross

is tyKoXiriov.

Nikephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, mentions

an elaborate golden enkolpion in the ninth century
;

and the patriarch Symeon, more than

later,

records

the

St.

Gregory

Canterbury
is

as

among

West we read

In

use

it

J
,

and

in

the

bishop's insignia.
of a silver cross worn by
St.

England by

Elphege of

while in bishop Lacy's Pontifical

enjoined as obligatory.

was among the

1

five centuries

relics at

Rock, Church of Our Fathers,

Aidan's cross

St.

Durham

its

in the fourteenth

vol.

ii.

p.

176.

^indent Coptic Churches.

232
l

century

No

doubt

in

many

cases,

[CH. v.

and

more

the very early days of Christianity,

especially
the pectoral cross was worn largely by laymen as
well as by clergy, and served both as a token of
in

Fig. 31.

Benedict ional Cross and small Amulet Crosses.

and among the more superstitious as a

The cut shows five small Coptic
amulet crosses, three at least of which are of extreme
the

faith,

talisman or amulet.

Warren,

Lit.

and

Kit. of the Celtic

Church,

p.

5.

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

233

antiquity. Three are of bronze, one of stone, and one

of horn or bone. The designs are of a rude archaic

and the bronze specimens are patinated.

The most ancient example perhaps is a small cross

simplicity,

of solid bronze with four nearly equal branches,

The second
rounded, but slightly tapering inwards.
bronze cross is rather of Latin form, but made from
a tiny oblong plate with the angles cut out so as
to leave four broad short branches.
Two other

examples have diagonal lines cut on the surface and

deepened at the angles. All the crosses have small
projections pierced to form a ring for suspension.
They may date from the second or third century
of our era.
Processional crosses are found in all the churches
the designs are very varied, and often beautiful.
Sandals cannot be reckoned among the Coptic
;

ecclesiastical

ornaments.

It is

a rule that

all

who

enter the haikal put off their shoes at the door, and
this applies even to the celebrant.
Renaudot * questions the statement of Severus, bishop of Ashmunain,

by one independent manuscript,

worn by the Syrian clergy. The
Nestorian celebrant however does not approach the

supported as

is

it

that sandals were

altar

barefoot,

but retains his shoes 2

while the

Armenian priests 3 wear special sandals or slippers.

The Armenians also use the ring, which they may
have borrowed from the West, as it does not seem
to

be recognised

in the other oriental

Churches.

It

is not
surprising that the episcopal gloves, which do
not appear in the West till the twelfth century,
should be unknown among eastern ecclesiastical
1

Lit. Or., vol.

"

ii.

p. 54.

Christians under the Crescent, p. 220.

Fortescue, Armenian Church, p. 134.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

234

But the

vestments.

ornament not found

in

[CH. v.

Coptic clergy possess one

western Christendom which

%K,I

Fig. 32.

may

fitly

be

Head

of Processional Cross of Silver.

mentioned here, the hand-cross.

and priests 'alike employ it to

Patriarch, bishops,

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

235

give the benediction it is also used in the baptismal

ceremony, and in other solemn acts of worship.
;

The

patriarch when seated on his throne in the

church, and not actually celebrating, holds in his
right hand a golden cross, and in his left the crozier
:

and

be noticed that the small cross figured on

the seal of the patriarch has two keys attached as
symbols of his supreme office. The ordinary benesometimes of base metal
dictional cross is of silver
or bronze.
It is generally engraved with a dedicatory inscription, and is nearly always of the form
given in the woodcut above. The Melkite patriarch
also uses a cross of gold, or of silver-gilt enamelled,
it

will

to give the benediction.

Lastly,

gonation,
vestment.

some mention must be made of the

if

only to deny

its

epi-

existence as a Coptic

frequently found depicted in late

Coptic paintings.
Any one entering the cathedral
at Cairo, and finding that all the ecclesiastical figures
It is

on the panels of the iconostasis wear the epigonation,

might reasonably number it among Coptic vestments
and if further he found the same ornament not merely
:

in

new

pictures, like those at the cathedral,

but

in

others a hundred years old, and not merely in Cairo

but in a remote and unfrequented Delta village like
Tris,

and even

at the

monastery of

St.

Macarius

in

the desert, his conclusion would seem certain.

Yet
I venture to
say that it would be quite erroneous.

In the desert, in the Delta, and in Cairo

I have
and
and
never
closely questioned priests
laymen,
found a single Copt who knew even the name of the

epigonation in any language,

When

pointed

it

out,

it

much

less its

meaning.

was always noticed with a

sort of surprised curiosity

no one could give the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

236

smallest reason for

denying that

it

its

was

presence, but

an

all

ecclesiastical

[CH. v.

agreed in
vestment.

Similarly the rubrics are entirely silent on the subnor is there one particle of literary evidence
ject
;

show

to

epigonation.
late

were

the

that

The

Copts ever acknowledged the

pictures, as I have said, are very

painted, in fact, at a period when the Cop s

entirely dependent for their sacred pictures on

the Greeks.

glance at the cathedral iconostasis

like the whole building, is the
it,

show
work of Greek and not of Coptic artists. The
Copts of to-day and the Copts of a hundred years
ago alike have been too inartistic to paint their own
pictures, and too ignorant or too careless to check
the painters whom they hired.
The Greek artists
have naturally followed Greek tradition, and have
that

will

flooded the Coptic churches with pictures pourlrayThus it is that all

ing peculiarly Greek vestments.
recent pictures in the sacred buildings of the Copts
are absolutely worthless as evidence for ritual.

Moreover,

it

is

specially easy to

understand

how

this particular vestment was familiar to the Greeks

in Egypt
for they had not to go to Constantinople
:

to discover
in

their

it,

but saw

it

and

still

own Melkite Egyptian

see

it continually
The
churches.

epigonation, of course, in its present stiff lozengelike form, dates only from mediaeval times
and
:

would therefore be an unheard-of thing, if the

Jacobites adopted it from the Melkites so long after
the Churches had been sundered.
We have already
seen that both communities retained such vestments
as were in use at the time of the separation, but did
not borrow from each other subsequently.
But it
was natural that the Melkites should fall rather
it

Ecclesiastical Vestments.

CH. v.]

237

under the influence of Constantinople, while the

Copts never bowed their stubborn independence.

Thus

the Melkites readily received the epigonation,

and the Copts firmly rejected it until by the negligence of these latter times it has seemed, and seemed
For, though all the
falsely, to creep in unawares.
in
pictures
Egypt were to bear witness in its favour,
the custom of the Coptic Church and her canons
alike disown it altogether.
;

Some very beautiful epigonatia belonging to the

Melkite Church may be seen at the treasury of
St. Nicholas in Cairo
and as they are finer than
anything of the kind yet described in English, I
;

may be pardoned
The best

them \

for giving some details about

are from two to three hundred

One has a
years old and all are lozenge-shaped.
is delicately
of
crimson
and
velvet,
ground
wrought
;

over

in

edges

gold embroidery.

border runs round the

within the lozenge a circle

is

ting off the four corners or spandrels,

with

the

described cut-

which are

The

four

filled

circle

evangelistic symbols.
or rather circular zone, about two inches broad,
decked with fourteen medallions, of which the

itself
is

lowermost a
Within
prophet, and the others each an apostle.
this zone the Resurrection is depicted forming the
main design. Every medallion and every outline is
Another example
marked out with tiny pearls.
bears date 1673 A.D., and, like the last, has a circle

topmost contains

the

Trinity,

described within the lozenge.

1

the

The

spandrels are

Neale gives a diagram of an epigonation, Gen. Introd., p. 311.

None of
figured by Goar, Euchol., pp. 114 and 115.

It is also

these engravings convey any idea of splendour.

are very meagre.

The

descriptions

Ancient Coptic Churches.

238
filled

with scroll-work

fine large pearls

the circle

is

within the circle

is

set round with

a most splendid

design of the Magi bringing gifts to the Holy Child.

The whole is embroidered in gold with extreme fine-

Angels above

the air descending head

foremost are represented with really wonderful foreAll the drawing is true and graceful,
shortening.
and all the figures wrought as delicately as with a
ness.

in

The drapery is natural and flowing: the

admirable
the general effect that of a soft yet
pose
sumptuous picture. Altogether, it is one of the most
beautiful pieces of needlework in any country.
brush.

Laymen, as well as monks and ecclesiastics, carry

a rosary, which properly consists of forty-one beads,
or sometimes of eighty-one.
But the Copts are not
so careful about the number as their Muslim fellowFor the Muslim rosary consists very
of
strictly
ninety-nine beads, divided by marks into
three sets of thirty-three
each set as it is told is
accompanied with the words Praise be to God or
countrymen.

'

'

some

like prayer

whereas the Coptic formulary

is

'

Kyrie Eleeson,' repeated as in the service forty-one

The priest's rosary should be distinguished by
having a little cross attached but laymen sometimes
usurp the symbol. In the West the rosary does not
seem to date earlier than mediaeval times but in
the East and in Egypt it goes back to the furthest
Palladius mentions a hermit who carried
antiquity.
and
cast one away for every prayer: and
pebbles
St. Antony is sometimes depicted as wearing a
times.

There
rosary at his girdle in Coptic paintings.
is even some reason to
that
the
suppose
rosary
was worn in the East before the Christian era.

CHAPTER
Books, Language,

VI.

and Literature of

the Copts.
BOOKS.

the priceless literary treasures which

b e n g e d to tne churches of Egypt some
Ml)
vJJJ few have been rescued, many have been
destroyed, and some few possibly remain
to reward research. Every monastery, and probably
every church, once had its own library of MSS.
and to this day there is no such thing as a printed
book used in sacred service. Curzon's discovery
of most precious MSS. at the monasteries of the
Natrun desert, as recorded in his thrilling narrative,
1
is too well known to need repetition here
The
same writer mentions books of less value in the
rock-cut church of the Convent of the Pulley in
Upper Egypt
including one book with a rude
illumination, which Curzon may be pardoned for
2
He
deriding, as it is the only one he ever saw
mentions also books found at Madtnat Habu 3
and at the White Monastery near Suhag 4
At the
latter the priest spoke of above one hundred parchments destroyed in 1812, when the place was
l

Monasteries of the Levant, pp. 97-110.

Id, p. 116.

Id,

p. 123.

Id., p.

132.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

240

[CH.

M.

by the Mamelukes.

pillaged

lonely mountains

So, too, among the

the far eastern desert by the

in

Red

1
Sea, the monasteries of Antonios and Bolos
once contained libraries, so rich in ancient treasures

that their loss

is little

less deplorable

than the more

distant destruction of the great library at Alexandria by 'Amr.

For it is only four hundred years
since
the
slaves
employed by the degenerate
ago
monks at these two monasteries rose one night

and after
against their masters and slew them
of
dull
life
so
far
out
of
the
a
world,
awhile, tiring
abandoned the place altogether. For eighty years
;

the buildings remained deserted, or visited only by

wandering Beduins, who plundered all that was worth
plundering in the churches, burnt all that was worth

and the books, by a

burning

fatal ignorance,

were

and destroyed all that

But in course of time
other monks slowly drew back to the ruins, repaired
the churches, and rebuilt the walls.
Since then the
monasteries have passed three tranquil centuries, in
which the daily sound of chaunt and cymbal has
never ceased, and the inmates' life has never varied,
placed in the latter category
was capable of destruction.

except when some phenomenal traveller has sought

a night's shelter, or some tribe of wild horsemen have

dashed
are

still

in vain against the fortress walls.

There
some books in the tower or keep of Dair

Antonios

and though apparently they do not date

further back than the reoccupation, yet they deserve

a more careful scrutiny than they have received.

For the monks

1

in

returning

Arch. Journ., vol. xxix.

here.

p. 129.

may very

well have

Vansleb too mentions books

Language and Literature.

CH. vr.]

241

brought old books with them. Dair Bolos, which

lies two days' journey awayt from Dair Antonios, is
also said not to contain a single ancient MS., since
all perished at the time of the slaves' insurrection or
the abandonment

and the prevalence of this report

from the tedious and dangerThere are, however, reasons for

has deterred travellers

ous pilgrimage.
doubting the accuracy of this rumour.
Very few of the remaining MSS. are on vellum,
or go back beyond the sixteenth century. The paper
employed is cotton paper or carta bombycina, as it
is technically called, a beautiful vellum-like material

of great antiquity.
sixth-century MS. on this
in
museum
exists
the
of the Collegio Romano
paper

Rome

and Curzon speaks of a Coptic MS. in

on the same material dated 1018. The
fact, therefore, of being written on paper instead
of vellum is by no means decisive against the age
at

his possession

of a manuscript, although doubtless the majority of

ancient writings are on vellum.
The MSS. are all written with a reed pen, such
as the Arabs use to-day, and such probably as has

use in Egypt ever since writing began. The

characters are bold uncials, there being no cursive

been

in

and red ink are both employed

is by no means confined to the
rubrics.
Most of the missals and lectionaries have
ornamental
capitals and an illuminated cross
large
at the beginning
and some have a considerable
amount of other ornament. Both Professor Westwood 2 and Messrs. Silvestre and Champollion 3 have
given facsimiles of Coptic illumination, and their

Black
in Coptic.
for
red
the
freely,

Curzon, Monasteries of the Levant, p. 123.

3
Universal Palaeography.
Palaeographia Sacra Pictoria.
R
VOL. II.

242

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. vi.

remarks are well worth reading. It may be admitted at once that for, the most part these illuminations are, though well designed, rather rude in
execution, and will not bear comparison with the
finest miniatures of the West.
Still they deserve
more notice than they have received, being often
extremely curious and original. The following
account of a MS. perhaps of the fourteenth century brought by the writer from Egypt, and now
in the Bodleian Library, may serve to give some
idea of Coptic miniature painting in general, though
unfortunately the book is not in good condition, and

the illuminations have in

many

places been blurred

and spoiled by the English binder, who pasted tissue

paper over them to strengthen the pages. It differs
from earlier MSS. in containing not a single human
figure, a result which one would be inclined to attribute rather to unconscious Muslim influence than to
want of skill in this branch of art, were it not for the
continuous practice of painting pictures and icons for
the churches.

Birds, however, are depicted in the

most extraordinary varieties of grotesque attitudes.

Sometimes it is a creature with large red head and

mummy-like body, reaching down the

It has tiny legs or none at
all the body is divided by vertical bands and covered
with black and yellow scrollwork in its mouth it
carries something which may be a fruit or a jewel.
stiff,

wingless,

whole side of the page.

;

Sometimes, again, it has a long thin serpentine form

winding about the margin of the page, and making
in several convolutions pouches which contain unwhile other strange little birds
fledged nestlings
are pecking at various parts of their remarkable
The little ones in the pouches are often
mother.
;

Language and Literature.

CM. vi.]

243

so roughly indicated as to look like nothing but

the relics of a spider's den a mere heap of random
Some of these birds are plainly
legs and wings.

plucking at their

own

breast,

doubt that they are meant

sent the familiar Christian

and there can be little

and repre-

for pelicans,

emblem but it is by a very

;

singular confusion that the serpent and the bird

the antitheses of the symbol are here blent together.

Smaller birds with retorted drooping heads, which

common, may be meant for doves, but look more
like ducks; other birds are seen tumbling about,
In
standing on their heads, and very rarely flying.
the fine genealogy of our Lord in this volume there
is a sort of broad pillar down the left side of the
page, and every name is written between a bird's
head on the one side and a golden rose on the other.
are

Gilt is sparingly used in these illuminations, the chief

colours being red, pale yellow, olive green, and black
azure blue and cobalt are rarer.
;

No
there

other animals are drawn in this volume, and

scarcely a sign of flower-painting beyond

is

a doubtful sort of tulip design in black, and one or

two clusters of blossoms, or grapes, or some other
fruit at which birds are pecking.
While, however, the birds unenclosed in borders
are scattered at

random up and down the pages,

far

the greater part of Coptic ornamentation is purely

These conventional
conventional and systematic.

divided into two classes the geowhich

consist of narrow ribbons interlacing
metrical,
in endless variety, and the foliated, which comprise
designs

may be

many forms

of the acanthus.

Interlacing

work

is

employed chiefly for elaborate borders at the beginning of a prayer or lection, and for large crosses at
R

Ancient Coptic Churches.

244
the end.

The borders are

usually

[CH. vi.

made up of concen-

1
squares or oblongs in order round the page or
of ribbons in long parallels with plaited knots at
3
intervals-', or of small crosses in twisted bands

tric

The large crosses which generally fill a page are

not more often of the Greek than of the Latin
There is one example of a cross in a
form 4
.

quatrefoil

The best specimen of the acanthus pattern

is

at the

At the right
beginning of our Lord's genealogy
side medallions filled with acanthus are enclosed by
bands of interlaced ribbons. The ribbon-work on
the left side is in gold the medallions on the right
have a blue ground with gold designs. The oblong
space across the top is surrounded with a blue and
6

gold band of acanthus work; the ground within

being part red and part blue, worked over with like
This illumination is really of high
foliage in gold.
merit, approaching to the fineness and splendour of
the best work in the early mediaeval copies of the

koran in the public library at Cairo. The acanthus

has always been a favourite subject with eastern
It is found in luxuriant proartists of all kinds.
fusion in the stucco-work, carved woodwork, and
marble of the ancient mosques in the splendid early
ivories of the Coptic churches; and in the trays,
lamps, and inkstands which the Cairo workers in
brass may be seen every day chasing in the Khan
;

al Khalili.

Nor

is it

at all

uncommon

in the minia-

Thus it occurs in an
ture painting of the West.
early form in the Latin Gospels at Trinity College,
1

Bodleian MS.,

Id., p. 42.

p. 29.

E.g.

id., p.

145.

Id., p.
6

Id., p. 41.

107.

Id., p. 164.

Language and

CH. vi.]

Literature.

245

1
Cambridge, dated the end of the tenth century
and it is frequent in a more conventionalised form
in the eleventh century, for example in the Arundel
;

Psalter 2

would be very

interesting, if it were possible,

to trace in the ornamentation of their books one
It

more

link of

connexion between the Churches of

One is met at once, however,

a
serious
by
stumbling-block in the fact that the
acanthus, which, as I have shown, is very frequent
in Egyptian design, is never found in Irish ornamentation 3
Again, for the slender spiral lines in
complex coils, for the squares filled with crossEgypt and

Ireland.

and for the red dotted

of
which
are
three
main characteristics
the
outlines,
of Irish work, there is no counterpart in Coptic
Nor can the uncouth bird designs
illumination.
described above be considered a fair analogue for

lines in Chinese-like patterns,

the great variety in Irish

MSS.

of lacertine animals
'

and birds with bodies hideously attenuated * and

necks, legs, tails, and tongues drawn out into long
There remains, then, by this
interlacing ribbons.
method of exhaustion, only one prominent characteristic common to the two schools, namely a love of
borders designed in very ingenious and intricate
plaitwork
though even here it should be noticed
that the Irish are more fond of rounded angles than
'

the Copts.
1

The

western MS., with ornamentation

Westwood) Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon and

Irish

Ornaments,

pi. 42.
2

Id., pi. 493

Westwood, Palaeographia Sacra

of Kells, p.
4

Id.ib.

2.

Pictoria, chapter

on Book

Ancient Coptic Churches.

246

nearest the Coptic style,

St.

is

[CH. vi.

perhaps the Psalter of

at Cambridge, belonging to the ninth cen-

John

but on the whole, the resemblance between

Egyptian and western art is too slight to bear the
weight of any serious theory.
The matter, however, is somewhat changed, if we
1

tury

pass from the inside to the outside of these serviceThe likeness between the metal cases in
books.

which the Coptic gospels are enclosed and the Irish

cumhdachs has been already brought out moreover the Irish practice of enclosing missals and other
books for carrying about in leathern cases, called
;

is exactly paralleled by the Abyssinian, if

polaires
not the Coptic, custom, as described and illustrated by
,

Curzon in the narrative of his visit to the monasteries

of the Natrun lakes 3 As a rule, however, at the present time Coptic MSS. are merely bound in brown
.

or red calfskin, with arabesque devices stamped upon

the covers and on the flap which protects the front

Sometimes,

edges.

in

the absence of a

flap,

the

book is kept closed by leather strings fastened in

the place of clasps and serving the same purpose.
These service-books belong only to the churches
;

the people have them for private devotion in

their own houses, they never bring prayer-books or
missals to public worship, where they follow the
or, if

words as they fall from the priest's lips with reverence and intelligence, and keep their eyes fixed upon
the sanctuary.

*:

2
8

Westwood, Facsimiles, pi. 30.

Warren, Lit. and Rit. of Celtic Church,
Monasteries of the Levant, pp. 105-6.

p. 22.

Language and

CH. vi.]

THE

Literature.

247

COPTIC LANGUAGE.

The Copts

can boast of no great poets, historians,

Their only literaphilosophers, or men of science.
ture

is

religious

and the

fact that they

have neither

witchery of speech nor treasures of knowledge to

offer has caused their language to be treated with a
strangely undeserved indifference.
language with a higher antiquity, a
structure, or a

more curious

For there is no
more abnormal

history.

The

records

of five thousand years ago chiselled on the monuments of Egypt still remain sculptured, though
the very words
standing in. everlasting silence
uttered by the great men of Hellas are still heard
;

sounding, though no longer written in the ancient

manner of writing yet these two, the lost utterance
of the old Egyptian speech and the lost character of
:

the old Greek writing, are united and preserved in

the Coptic of to-day.
The romance of language

could go no further than to join the speech of

Pharaoh and the writing of Homer in the service-

book of an Egyptian

Christian.

Now, however,

the study of Coptic is likely to be rescued from the

neglect which it has long suffered by the kindred

study of hieroglyphics, as philologers are shamed

and forced out of their indolence by the zeal of
historians

and antiquarians.

subject of this nature requires, of course, a

large treatise to itself a treatise for which the
materials are as yet hardly ripe, and which would

besides be

The

somewhat out of place

present notice therefore will

volumes.
be as brief as the
in these

Ancient Coptic Churches.

248

[CH. vi.

hand and the scope of the

demand.
purpose
The Coptic language to-day is no doubt virtually
the same tongue that was spoken by the builders of
and it still retains many words
the pyramids
The vocabulary
scarcely changed from that epoch.
however is neither purely Aryan nor purely Semitic,
In the same way the grambut a mixture of both.
state of the materials at

writer's

matical structure of Coptic

to the African languages.

is

half Semitic, half akin

was probably in very

became fixed in
was not until the
that
became
century
Christianity
definitely the
It

early Christian times that Coptic

the form that survives, although it
sixth

established religion.
Up to that date the worship
of Osiris had lingered on, particularly in remote
country places, where the gospel was unheard or
awoke but faint echoes. Then however the bishops
began to wield secular power, and amongst other
signs of government they took the important office
of distributing corn to the people out of the hands
of the city prefects x
It was at this period, accord.

ing to Messrs. Silvestre and Champollion, that Coptic

writing began but it is difficult to understand for
:

what reasons they assign the beginning of letters to

In the third and fourth centuries
so late a period.
the monasteries of the desert were thronged with
monks, many of whom could talk no language but
Antony, who knew
on monastic life by
hearing the gospel read in Coptic and Palladius
2
speaks of regular service and celebrations which he
their native Coptic.

no Greek, was

first

Thus

St.

set thinking

Universal Palaeography, by Silvestre and Champollion, transby Sir F. Madden, p. 122.

lated
2

Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum,

lib. viii.

p. 712.

GH. vi.]

Language and Literature.

249

witnessed, and which must imply set forms written in

know moreover that the Psalms
the vernacular.

We

were translated
by Pachomius

into Coptic about the year

300 A.D.
and although this is perhaps the
earliest date assignable with certainty, it is extremely
difficult to conceive that the need for setting down
liturgical forms in writing did not assert itself irreIt is of course
sistibly some time before that.
ancient
that
the
most
forms
of prayer in
possible
the Coptic vulgar tongue may have been written
not in Greek but in demotic characters but, interesting as the fact would be, there is not sufficient
:

evidence to establish
think that in

it,

though there

is

reason to

some way or other demotic

writing
the Copts for full a
thousand years into the Christian era. There seems
no decided point of contact between Coptic and

was preserved

in use

among

hieroglyphic writing.
Long before the Persian conthe
of
quest
hieroglyphics was limited to
knowledge
the priests even as early as the fourteenth century
:

the scribes who visited Bani Hassan could not

understand the inscriptions, and those of the twentyfirst dynasty blundered hopelessly in their copies of
the Book of the Dead. So that it is matter of
surprise rather than otherwise to find that hieroglyphics were not entirely disused in the time of Clement
of Alexandria, and were even partially understood a
B.C.,

But their pagan character doubtless

century later.
excluded them from recognition by the Christians.
There is a contemporary story that at the time of
Chosroes' invasion of Egypt, about 600 A. D., a saint
who took refuge in a tomb was able to read the
ancient inscriptions on the walls but the probability
is that the writing was demotic not hieroglyphic.
:

Ancient Coptic Churches.

250

The White Monastery

[CH. vr.

Upper Egypt, which was

Helena
with massive exby
empress
in the style of ancient Egyptian architecture,
in

the

built

terior

hieroglyphic stones, with inscriptions

mostly upside-down, and therefore probably unintelVansleb mentions an inscripligible to the builders.
contains

tion

many

on the altar-stone of a

little

chapel dedicated to

convent of St. Matthew near

Asnah
characters which were not hieroglyphics,
and in a language that we know nothing about 1 .'
There can, I think, be little doubt that the inscription
was demotic though there is nothing to fix the date
Michael

St.

in the

'

and,

ing to

if so,

the fact

is

extremely interesting as tend-

show the existence of a demotic Christian

ritual.

and interaction of Coptic

with Greek and with Arabic more evidence is obtainable
evidence which goes to prove that Greek
did not exercise nearly so powerful an influence
as Arabic over the indigenous Egyptian.
Origen
for instance remarks that if a Greek wanted to
teach the Egyptians, he would have to learn their
2
The
language, or his labour would be vain
vast
Severus
collected
of
numbers
books
emperor
on magic and shut them up in Alexander's tomb
and Diocletian, enraged at a revolt and fearing lest
Concerning the

collision

the people should grow rich again, gathered together

1

The

convent

evangelist

is

dedicated to Matthew the Poor, not to the

The former is a Coptic saint,
implies.

as Vansleb

commemorated on

the 3rd December.

and the following paragraphs is borrowed
mainly from the learned work of tienne Quatremere, Recherches
Critiques et Historiques sur la Langue et la LitteYature de 1'figypte.
2

The

material of this

Paris, 1808.

Language and

CH. vi.]

Literature.

25 1

with great care all books on alchemy written by the

These
old Egyptians* and burned them in public.
in
the
were
demotic
character.
presumably
writings
In early Christian times Greek was spoken by a few
Thus, while St. Paul

of the well educated natives.

the hermit spoke

Greek 1

St.

Antony knew only

Egyptian, and letters of his in that language, written

to the monasteries, were extant in the time of Abu
'1 Birkat.
read too of St. Athanasius' letters

We

being translated into the vernacular.

life

of St.

man

Ephrem

visited

Egypt

it

is

In the Syriac

when the holy

famous Anba Bishoi,

related that

to see the

two worthies were unable to converse, each

knowing only his mother tongue but each therethe

The
upon received a miraculous gift of speech.
author of an Arabic note upon a Coptic MS. states
that before the Arab conquest the lessons were
read in Greek, but explained in Coptic.
Abu 1
Muhassan relates that one 'Abdullah, son of 'Abd
al Malik, governor of Egypt, ordered the registers
of the divans or public offices to be kept in Arabic
instead of Coptic in the year A.H. 96 but to this
day the system of book-keeping in Egypt is a tradi:

mystery in the hands of the Copts. Severus,

bishop of Ashmunain, who compiled a history of the
patriarchs of Alexandria from Coptic and Greek
tional

MSS.

in the

monastery of

preface that he

made

St. Macarius, says in his

the translation into Arabic,

because Arabic was everywhere spoken, and most

of the people were ignorant of Greek and Coptic
alike.
This seems to have been in the ninth

Yet in the ninth century Coptic was by

no means unknown for Joseph, the LII patriarch,
century.

Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum,

p. 18.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

252

[CH. vi.

at his trial about

850 A. D., addressed the assembly in

and
was
understood
even by Muslims who
Coptic,
were present.
By the eleventh century doubtless Coptic had

become less generally

gered on for centuries
tions

of

the

intelligible

though

The

afterwards.

Gabriel

lin-

it

constitu-

1140 A.D.,
patriarch
ordered bishops to explain the creed and the
Lord's prayer in the vulgar tongue, i.e. in Arabic.
The Vatican MSS. are covered with marginal notes
in

Coptic

c.

n.,

and Al Makrizi, writing

in

the early

fifteenth century, constantly implies that Coptic is

a living language. In speaking, for example, of the

monasteries near Siut, he avers that the

monks

there use the Sahidic dialect, and that the women

and children of Upper Egypt talk scarcely anything

So

Darankah he remarks that the

inhabitants are Christians all, great and little, speak
Coptic and interpret it in Arabic.' Another Arab

but Sahidic.

'

of

author,

Abu

of Egypt

by which

Salah, in his history of the monasteries

tells

Asnah still existing,

Muslim weddings, and

of a custom at

Christians assist at

head the procession of the bridegroom through the

streets, reciting Sahidic texts and maxims.
Vansleb,
in
as
he
conversed,
1672,
visiting Egypt
alleges, with
the last man who spoke Coptic as his mother tongue.
Such briefly are the facts, which bear witness to a
slow process of extinction.
evidence,

it

is

Yet

in

face of such

curious to find what wild mistakes

made by grave
Church
Thus Denzinger
matters.
upon
declares that uno aut altero seculo post Arabum

about the Coptic language are

authorities

'

tyrannidem vernaculus
1

linguae

Aegyptiacae usus

Renaudot, Hist. Pat. Alex.,

p.

467.

Language and

CH. vi.]

Literature.

253

'

a swiftness of decay, or rather

destruction, unparalleled in the history of language.
interiit

prorsus

Neale

no less in the opposite direction in gravely

a
recording diocese in the south of Egypt 'where the
Copts are better educated than in any other portion
of the patriarchate, and the Coptic language is
generally spoken, whereas not above two persons
understand it in Cairo V
Coptic is, of course, still
The mass and most of the
the language of ritual.
errs

the gospel is first

prayers are recited in Coptic
read in Coptic and then rendered in the vernacular
Arabic some parts of the service are in Greek
:

while the rubrics where they are found, as well as

some of the prayers and the psalms, are in Arabic.
Generally, however, one may say that the text of the

among

now used

Coptic and the earlier

them have no other language. But as the

service-books

is

language decayed from common use, we find

rubrics, marginal notes and headings, and finally
It is worth remarkparallel translations in Arabic.
that
there
seems
be
no
to
example of a Coptic
ing
and Cufic MS. which would seem to show that the
need of a vernacular translation was not felt until
ritual

after the Cufic had given way to the present cursive

form of Arabic writing. Indeed the only instance

of Cufic employed in any sacred building of the

Copts, as far as I am aware, is the inscription on
Yet
the ancient cedar screen at Al Mu'allakah.
curiously enough some traces of Cufic survive in
the Church
encyclical or other ceremonial letters of
from the
in
a
letter
even at the present day. Thus
patriarch of Alexandria to the archbishop of Canter1

Rit. Or., torn.

Eastern Church: Gen. Introd.,

i.

p.

i.

vol.

i.

p. 118.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

254

[CH. vi.

bury, written forty years ago, while the title and

address are in ordinary Arabic of a very ornamental

formal greeting is in Cufic, and there are

some words of Cufic at the end.

style, the

Coptic MSS., then, fall naturally into three classes

each with its own historical significance.
First,

come bilingual MSS.

and the vernacular
Greek
literary
These are
Coptic stand side by side together.
generally written on papyrus, and go back to the
sixth century or possibly earlier.
Sometimes moreanterior to the
in

Arab

conquest,

which the

over the two languages are found together inscribed

on tiles or stone and apparently there was a time
when such inscriptions were common.
:

Next, the Greek text was omitted, and the Coptic

This change began with the settlestood alone.
ment of the Arabs in Egypt, when the Jacobite
faction

among the

natives sided with their conquerors

against the Melkites, and strove with equal vigour

for the destruction of Melkite churches and the

suppression of the Melkite language. Still it is not

till
the tenth century that Graeco-Coptic MSS.
disappear entirely. At that period Greek cursive
general, but the Copts never adopted
form of cursive probably because Coptic was

writing

any

became

already assuming a hieratic character, and was therefore not to be degraded to the uses of common life
;

while the Arabic was passing from the beautiful but

stately Cufic to its present fluent and graceful form,

and thus became adapted to the needs of business

or friendly intercourse.
The third class of

MSS.

is

that

in

which

Arabic has been formally acknowledged as the

vulgar tongue, and is received into the text side

Language and

CH. vi.]

Literature.

255

dead or dying Coptic. These MSS.

date from the thirteenth century, or even earlier, and

by

side with the

continue up to the present time,

although the lanof
the
mass
has
been
guage
unspoken for two
hundred years and even among the priests who have
to read it, there are but few who read with under;

standing.

To

this day,

however, there remain sundry phrases

and fragments of Greek,

embedded in the
KYpie eXeHCon

like fossils

Thus the
Coptic
language.
a familiar word in the mouth of the present worshippers at various parts of the service most of the
proclamations uttered by the deacon to the people
are still in Greek, ^.cn^ecee A-XXiiXoifc en
ritual

is

$iXHJUL/ri

<LYICU,

eic

<Lit^.ToX

other sentences in the canon, as o K*rpioc

n<LrtTUm TJULUm, K<LI JULGTA. TOT

COT, 2^0<L IT<LTpI K<LI TIIO K<LI A.VI

and particular words, as n<i,p<L2acoc,

n.peenoc, KOCJULOC,

^.it^cT^-cic, o
eucharistic bread

The

n.rrroKp<LTCUp.
stamped with the trisagion
JC
T P OC ^-Vioc <Le<Lrt.&. Troc

in

although the Coptic word for

God

Egyptian

Greek

still

<LYIOC

^.vioc

is

eeoc,

of ancient

is

origin.

A word

concerning the dialects of the Egyptian

1
(i) The
language will not be out of place here
Memphitic or Coptic proper was the language of
,

Lower Egypt, and derives

its

name from Memphis,

the ancient capital, which stood a little south of the

modern Cairo. Nearly the whole Bible exists in this
dialect,
1

and the Pentateuch, Book of Job, the Psalms,

See Dr. Tattam's Compendious

Language, and edit., 1863.

Grammar

of the Egyptian

Ancient Coptic Churches.

256

the Prophets, and the

published.

New

Testament have

The Sahidic is
the name given

(2)

[CH. vr.
all

been

so called from the

Arabic j^AjuJ! 1
to Upper Egypt, or
the district of which Thebes was capital, whence the
dialect is also termed Thebaic. It is curious to remark
that the Sahidic, though more remote from the
centre of Greek life, yet adopted more Greek words
than the nearer Coptic and both in Coptic and
Sahidic writing Greek words are very often found
where the native language had a perfectly good equiIn Sahidic it is much more usual than in
valent.
to
Coptic
express the vowels by lines above the conIn the Sahidic dialect almost an entire
sonants.
version of the scriptures, including a complete New
;

though it is only in MS. and,

dormant
state of Coptic scholarship in
owing
has
been done towards collation
England, nothing
since the close of the last century.
(3) The Bashmtiric dialect, so called from Bashmur a province
Testament,

exists,

to the

the

in

Delta, has

analogies with Coptic

distinct

and with Sahidic, but is of a ruder character,

as was natural from the wild nomadic habits of
the people by whom it was spoken.
Only a few
exist
in
this
and
dialect,
fragments
they have been
published.

The

study of the language in modern times dates

from Kircher's

'

Prodromus Coptus/ which was pubEighty years later Blumberg issued

a Coptic grammar; and in 1778 a Coptic bishop of
Arsinoe, named Tukl, published an Arabic and Latin
treatise called Rudimenta Linguae Copticae.'
But

lished in 1636.

'

Strictly

Arabic

it

is no h
most convenient.

should rather be Saidic, as there

but the conventional form

is

the

in the

Language and

CH. vi.]

the

first scientific

that written
1

It

would

ill

Literature.

by Tattam, and published

writer

was

of the three dialects

grammar

become a

257

on

this subject,

in

I83O

and most of

all

an

Oxonian, to pass over in silence the great and memorable services

rendered by Oxford to the study of Coptic. The zeal of the learned

was

first

awakened

in the matter

by the

rich collection of oriental

MSS.

presented by the traveller Huntington to the Bodleian Library

in the seventeenth century. Dr. Marshall, rector of Lincoln College,
who is described as a master of eastern languages, and who pub-

Abu Dakn at Oxford in 1675, worked at

with
such
success
that he was on the point of bringing
Coptic
out an edition of the New Testament in that language, with

lished a translation of

But when only a single sheet was

through the press, the rector's task was ended by an untimely
death. Thereupon Dr. Fell, bishop of Oxford, who had already

Latin translation and notes.

paid for a fount of Coptic type for the work, summoned from
Cambridge a learned scholar named Thomas Edward who, after
;

sundry discouragements, at last brought out, not the New Testa*

ment, but a Coptic lexicon. About the same time Witsen, the
burgomaster of Amsterdam, sent a fount of Coptic type as a gift
to the University Press at Oxford: and in the year 1716, D. Wilkins, a German by birth despite his Anglicised name, published a

Coptic and Latin

New

Testament

at the

expense of the University.

Jablonski worked for some time at Oxford copying MSS. and

after his death the well-known Dr. RadclifTe purchased many of
:

his treasures

from

his son.

Dr. Cumberland, bishop of Peterborough, began the study of

and George
Coptic with rare enthusiasm at the age of eighty
:

Whiston copied and translated into Latin the Pentateuch ; two

Englishmen, though not Oxonians, whose names may be recorded.
In 1765 M. Woide, having obtained from Scholtz at Berlin
extracts from a lexicon, grammar, and essays on the Coptic language, showed them to Dr. Durell, then vice-chancellor of Oxford
:

and Drs. Durell and Wheeler together finally secured the publicaWoide
tion of all three works at the charges of the University.
was next entrusted with the publication of the Sahidic version, and
It was,
far advanced the work, but never lived to see it finished.
however, promptly taken up by Professor Ford, the professor of
Arabic at Oxford, who revised and corrected the whole with the
VOL.

II.'

Ancient Coptic Chtirches.

258

[CH. vr.

Coptic literature has been already described as

There is, however, I believe,
essentially religious.
no example of a complete Coptic Bible, nor are all
the books of the Old Testament found quite entire,
even in a detached condition. But besides the versions of scripture before mentioned, there exist also
several apocryphal gospels and gnostic works of

various descriptions while lives and acts of the saints,

1
But
sermons, homilies, and martyrologies abound
while all the churches in or near Cairo have their
;

own

collections of books, the only library properly so

and housed

called,

in

a separate apartment,

is

that

belonging to the patriarch. It has, I believe, recently

been examined and catalogued by a French savant,
who does not seem however to have discovered any
2
The books in the churches
pearl of great price
.

are

all

service-books of one sort or another.

A good

may be formed from the followMSS. found in a church at Asnah, near

idea of their nature

ing

list

of

Luxor
i. Canons of the
Coptic Church,
:

help of the original documents

Oxford Press in 1799.
in

and the

text

i2th century.
was issued from the

Since that date very little has been done for the study of Coptic
England, and not much in Oxford but the University Press
:

published in 1835 Tattam's Coptic Lexicon, in 1836 his Minor

Yet few know what
Prophets, and his Major Prophets in 1852.

Oxford scholars have done for the language in the past so lost
are the achievements of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
in the oblivion of the nineteenth.
:

For a list of such works, see Catalogus Codd. Copt. MSS. in

Museo Borgiano 410. Romae, 1810.
2
The patriarch of the orthodox Church of Alexandria has also a
it
library of Greek MSS. at the church of St. Nicholas, in Cairo
:

contains one

ninth-century MS., several

nothing remarkable.

of the thirteenth, but

CH. vi.]
2.

Language and

Book of the

gospels,

Literature.

259

i3th century.

I4th century.
Lectionary,
The above are on vellum the rest on paper.
4. Consecration of monks,
1358.
3.

5.

Consecration of the various orders in the church

to wit, psalmodos, anagnostes, subdeacon,

deacon,

archdeacon, priest, hegumenos, chorepiscopos, and

bishop, metropolitan, and patriarch
three have the same service 1
i6th century.

lastly,

which

6.
7.

Psalter for the canonical hours,

i6th century.
Euchologion or benedictional, i6th century.

8.

Minor prophets,

9.

Funeral service,

10.
11.
1 6th

12.

i6th century.
i6th century.

Mystagogia or confessio, i6th century.

Consecration of chrism and oil of the lamp,
century.

Order of baptism and consecration of

vessels,

altar-

7th century.

i8th century.
Consecration of altars and fonts,
14. Many copies of gospels, epistles, the three
2
liturgies, and the various consecration services
Every church has specially attached to its service
a book called in Coptic s^naxar,' i.e. <rwagdpiov, or
13.

'

lives of the saints, from which a portion is often read

at matins, in accordance with a very ancient custom
sanctioned, for instance, at the third Council of

This book corresponds

our English churches,
of
passional
from which the lessons at matins were sometimes
Carthage

in

397

A.D.

closely to the

This is not the case in Renaudot's MS. The Syrian Jacobites

and the Maronites have the same service for bishop and metro1

politan, but

that

for patriarch

is

so generally in the

different:

Church of Alexandria.
2

See Academy, Dec. 28, 1882, article by

S 2

J.

H. Middleton.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

260

[CH.VI.

taken, or to the martyrology, which was read at the

The synaxar is confined within
end of prime-song 1
.

the sacred walls, and there

no copy of

is

it

in

any

of course, been
private person's possession.
rendered into Arabic for .use at service and the
legends printed at the end of this work, which are
It has,

from the Arabic version,

serve to give an idea of

the miraculous traditions to which the faithful still
will

listen with

unquestioning reverence.
liturgy or book of the mass is called in Arabic
khulagi,' which is a corrupted form of euchologion.'
The lectionary for the year, or kotmarus,' is a term
of less certain origin.
One may mention also the

The

'

'

'

or psalms for the canonical hours and for

festivals, there being a distinct arrangement for
regulars and seculars, and also a separate psalmody

agblah

for the feast of our

Two

Lord and of the Virgin.

'

other books, namely, kitab al paskah,' or the office

of Holy Week, and the disnari,' or hymns of saints
'

and martyrs, are said to have been compiled by

2
The
Gabriel, LXX patriarch, about the year H35
synaxar is ascribed to one Anba Butros, bishop of
.

Mallg.
In addition to the foregoing books every church
possesses a careful inventory of all its sacred vessels and other belongings, which are verified once a

year by the wakll or overseer. In this too all gifts to

the church are entered, sometimes, though not always,
with the donor's name added. It is called the Offering

Book, and resembles in some ways the book of benewhich belonged to some of our great English

factors

Rock, vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 212.

See Vansleb, Histoire de l'glise d'Alexandrie,

p. 62.

Language and Literature.

CH. vi.]

261

churches in olden times, though it is not kept in the

same place of honour, nor bound in the same costly

For

materials.

we

at

Durham

cathedral, for instance,

read that the book of benefactors

'

did lye on the

Altar, an excellent

fine Booke, very richly

High
covered with gold and silver, conteininge the names
of all the benefactors towards St. Cuthbert's Church
from the foundation thereof
and again, there is
another famous Booke yett extant conteininge the
'

'

reliques, jewels, ornaments, and vestments, that

1
given to the Church by all these founders .'
It is greatly to

tories will

were

be hoped that these Coptic inven-

some day be examined by an Arabic

scholar with sufficient tact, patience, and skill to get

at them and to decipher them.
None knows better

than the writer what

it

will cost in time,

money, before they are rendered

as

is

certain,

own church

they correspond
inventories

and

temper, and

accessible.

in
if,

some ways
as

But

if,

to our

seems highly

probable, some few at least among them can boast a

considerable antiquity, they ought to yield results of
the greatest interest to ecclesiology, and to repay in

the richest

and

manner the

largest expenditure of time

trouble.
1

Durham

Rites, ed. Surtees Society, pp. 14, 15.

CHAPTER

VII.

The Seven Sacraments.

Baptism and Confirmation.

Eucharist.

the

since

Christianity

Penance.

Copts seem

the

dawn
to

of

have

acknowledged seven canonical sacraments, namely baptism, confirmation,

eucharist, penance, orders, matrimony, .and unction
of the

Of

sick.

the

particular

nature

of these

by the Church of Alexandria, much has already been written, but rather in
times past than in our generation, and rather by
Somecontinental 1 than by English authorities.
mysteries, as interpreted

thing therefore yet remains which

may

fitly find

inasmuch as no mere description

of sacred buildings can be complete without some
account of the ceremonial for which they were
place in this

work

For architecture is, of course, ancillary

Yet the present writer cannot pretend
to do more than touch lightly on liturgical matters, recording the testimony of others, and adding

designed.
to ritual.

under his own observation.

allowed no less by present
Baptism
custom than by the ancient canons which, founded

facts

which have
2

fallen

of infants

is

The Assemani,
Baptism

is

Vansleb, Renaudot, Denzinger, &c.

called

ju^U

confirmation, c*^*^Jl.

The Seven Sacraments.

on the Mosaic law of
of forty days

purification,

necessary

for

male

263

make

the age

children,

and

eighty days for females, before they can receive

the rite.
For these are the periods in which the
of
and it is
days
purification are accomplished
'

'

l
necessary for the mother to be present in the church
Where however there is peril of death, or other
extreme necessity, the child may be baptised at once
.

The Jewish practice of circumon the eighth day is general, but neither compulsory nor counted a religious ceremony yet circumcision after baptism is very strongly prohibited. The
same canon of age for infant baptism prevailed in the
but
Ethiopian, Syrian, and Nestorian Churches
the Armenians and modern Nestorians fix the ceremony for the eighth day after birth, and we read of
the same custom holding even in Cairo. But although
without regard to age.
cision

Coptic history records many violations of primitive

practice at various epochs, the canons are never

changed or abrogated. Thus about 750 A.D.

the patriarch Khail i. reenforced the regulation
Christodulus three
enjoining the baptism of infants.
really

centuries later forbade the two sexes to be baptised

and ordered that, according to
in the same water
;

ancient

infants

custom,

should receive the com-

fasting at their baptism. So Macarius n. and

Gabriel n., both in the twelfth century, denounced
circumcision after baptism.
Indeed it is only from

munion

Pococke

is

wrong

girl: see Description

in giving the

age as twenty-four days for a

i.
Barhebraeus
p. 246.

of the East, vol.

(Chronicon Ecclesiasticon, ed. Abbeloos et Lamy, Louvain, 1872)

says thirty days for a boy, and so apparently a Vatican MS., quoted
by Asseman, though agreeing about the age of eighty days for a
girl

but there

is

no

real

doubt on the subject.

264

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH. vn.

these stringent enactments, as a rule, that we discover from time to time the prevailing laxity of
practice.

Certain seasons of the year are appointed and

others forbidden for the exercise of the rite, but
exception is always
whole of Lent, Holy

made in cases of danger. The

Week, and Eastertide are con-

unsuitable times for baptism.

Macarius,
of
in
the
bishop
Memphis
eighth century, relates
that at Alexandria during the early ages of the
church, baptism was conferred only once a year on
Good Friday l but the statement is mixed with legend

sidered

and seems apocryphal. The canons of Christodulus

prohibit baptism on Easter eve and during the season

From the remotest antiquity to the

the
season most commended for baptism
present day
2
is the feast of
an unEpiphany but Abu Dakn
of Pentecost.

trustworthy authority, but possibly right in this

instance,
gives Easter day and Pentecost as the
times at which baptism was conferred in the seventeenth centurv.
/

We

have already seen that scarcely a single

church in the whole of Egypt possesses a baptistery
external to the sacred building and that while in
:

of the fabrics the Epiphany tank is at the

western end near the principal doorway, yet now in
most cases the baptistery proper and the font are
found in various positions, which would necessitate
the entrance of the infant into the church before the

many

accomplishment of the ceremony. There is however

one monument remaining, which illustrates with
singular clearness the ancient custom of administering
1

Vansleb, Histoire de l'glise d'Alexandrie,

p. 83.

P. 16.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viz.]

265

the rite without the church, yet in a building specially consecrated for the purpose.
glance at the
the
of
church
of
the White
plan
fourth-century
1
Monastery will show the earliest known arrange-

ment

accordance with the most primitive

There the candidate was received first into
a small vestibule, then led into the baptistery and
when the rite was ended, he passed into the opposite
chapel, still without the church, and received the
eucharist which completed his initiation, and gave
him the right henceforth to enter the place of worship.
The next step was to remove the baptistery and the
in strict

ritual.

chapel just within the western wall of the church, so

that they occupied the narthex, but were still probably walled off from nave and aisles, or at least from
the latter.
Such an arrangement seems to have
existed originally at Abu Sargah, as the western apse
its frescoes still
remaining testifies. Finally, as

with

the rigidity of early custom slackened, the partition

between the baptistery and the church was removed
the need for a neophyte chapel disappeared and the
position of the font became a matter of accident and
2
indifference
But in all cases the Copts disallow
the baptism of infants in private houses.
It is a
:

matter of necessity that

all

should come to the con-

secrated building.
The font is often called the
'Jordan'; but the ancient Coptic name 'fKoXTJULis, of course, of Greek origin.
Bernard of Luxemburg, Jacques de Vitry, and

See

vol.

i.

p. 352.

Denzinger is wrong in saying that the Coptic baptistery ought

to be versus orientem ex parte sinistra ecclesiae.' Rit. Or., torn. i.
'

p. 25.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

266

[CH. vn.

others have spread a ridiculous story that the Copts

1
baptise their children with fire by branding a cross

The story is a pure

after baptism.
the Ethiopian
but
have
arisen
from
fiction,
may
custom of gashing and tattooing the face. All over
the world baptism is performed by natural water
on the forehead

but the Copts,

common

with the catholic custom,

require that the water be specially consecrated. And
this consecration takes place each time that the cerein

has to be performed with fresh water whereas

Church the benediction of water is a
more solemn service, held but once or twice in the
year, and the water so consecrated is reserved to be
used as occasion arises. Abu Dakn agrees with all

mony

in the Latin

the authorities

in

the

that after baptism

stating

by a drain and though Tukt

asserts that at one time the priests in Cairo reserved
a small quantity for use in case of emergency 2 the
water must be

let off

canons rather show that no ceremonies were required

where the life of a child would be in danger from
Of the same tenour is a well-known legend,
delay.
which tells of a certain woman who, in crossing the
sea to Alexandria with two young children, was
caught in a furious storm so being in great peril,
and fearing lest her children should perish unbaptised,
she drew blood 3 from her breast and sprinkled them,
repeating the formula. Subsequently, when she took
:

Rit. Or., vol.

monies

my

i.

In treating of the Coptic

rites

and cere-

Denzinger are so great that I once for

to save the trouble of perpetual reference.

obligations to

acknowledge them
2

p. 14.

Neale affirms

all

this absolutely of present practice (Gen. Introd.,

of course erroneously.
3
Denzinger says sea-water was used but the legend as given
at the end of this volume speaks of blood.

vol.

ii.

p.

977)

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

267

her children to the bishop in Alexandria to be regularly baptised, the water in the font became frozen
or petrified, to prevent the repetition of a ceremony
thus declared lawful.
Lastly, any remaining doubt

concerning the reservation of the hallowed water is

removed by the words at the end of the service,

which pray that the water may be changed again to

its former nature, and return to earth deconsecrated
and the rubric orders the priest to pour in a little
fresh water to let off the water of baptism and to
take care that none use it thereafter.
Immersion is the only form of baptism recognised
by the Christians of Alexandria, who thus differ from
For in the Greek rite, though immerthe Greeks.
;

sion

is

used, aspersion

regarded as of equal,

is

There

not

is

if

some ques-

superior, importance.
tion regarding the manner of the Coptic immersion,

whether each of the three immersions or only the

for about the trine immersion there is
last is total
no controversy. Originally it is probable, from the
;

silence of the canons, that the child

was plunged

wholly under water thrice

more centuries the custom has been for the priest to
dip the body first up to the middle, the second time
up to the neck, and the third time over the head.
;

but for the last three or

Vansleb declares that in order to make the form of

a cross the priest takes the child's right wrist and
left foot in one hand, and left wrist and right foot in
the other l which may have been 'true, but sounds
;

a species of torture. Among the Nestorians

the candidate stands in water up to the neck, and
but the
the priest thrice dips the head under

like

Histoire,

p.8i.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

268

[CH. vn.

Armenians and other eastern communities mingle

aspersion with the rite of immersion.
All, howseem
to
and
the
ever,
agree,
Coptic canons on this
that in case of a weak or
point are very explicit,
sickly child immersion shall not be judged necessary, but the sacrament may be duly administered
trine aspersion.

by

The same
seems

to

doctrine

be the

is

laid

down

what

clearly in

account of Christian

earliest extant

'

baptism, the Teaching of the Apostles/ which may

There it is combelong to the second century
1

manded to
name of the

'

baptise in living or fresh water in the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

If living water fails, use other water

Ghost.
and
use warm water, if cold would be hurtful. If neither
;

warm

nor cold be obtainable, then pour water thrice

upon the head in the name of the Father, and of the
Before baptism let
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
both him who baptises and him who is to be baptised

and all others who may you shall command

him who is to be baptised a day or two before.'
While the essentials are the same, considerable
advance is made on the foregoing ritual, or at least

fast,

in explanation of

it,

in the earliest authentic

account

of the sacrament as administered in the Church of

Alexandria. This account is found in the Apostolical
Constitutions, which date probably from the fourth
2
fifth century
Here it is enjoined that the candi-

or

dates for baptism are to fast on the preparation of

1

See

AtSa'xq

roav

'ATTooroAaw

by bishop Bryennios, Constanti-

nople, 1883, pp. 27-29.

2

See Tattam's Apostolical Constitutions, London, 1848, p. 52

and English version: and Bunsen's Christianity

seq. for Coptic

and Mankind, London,

185*4, vol. vi. p. 465, for

Greek

version.

The

CH. vir.]

'Seven Sacraments.

269

and on that day are to assemble before

the bishop and kneel down.
Then, laying on his
the
is
to
exorcise
from them every
hands,
bishop
evil spirit
to breathe upon them
and to seal them
the
the
and
the
nose.
forehead,
ears,
upon
They
in
the
and
exhortation.
keep
vigil
reading
Early next morning, at cockcrow, comes the benediction of the water, which must be drawn or flowing
into the font
or, if water be scarce, they may use
the sabbath

any water

The meaning

available.

passage doubtless

is

of this obscure

that the water should,

if

pos-

sible, be drawn from the sacred well, such as we

have seen is found in Abu Sargah and most of the

Egyptian churches. Sponsors are required for those

too young to answer for themselves, and the sponsors
are to be parents or kinsmen. The bishop is to give
thanks over the oil, which he is to place in a vessel
or crewet, and to call it the 'oil of thanksgiving'
and a
the name 'myron' not being used here;
second oil he is to exorcise, and call it the 'oil of
exorcism.'

deacon, holding the oil of thanksgiving, is to

stand on the right hand of the priest and another
;

deacon with the

oil

of exorcism on his

follows the renunciation

after

left.

Then

which the candidates

oil of exorcism, and to

Each
in the water.
and
to
stand
unclothed
pass
now repeats the confession of faith, during which
he is dipped three times; he is then taken up out
of the water, and anointed with the oil of thanks-

are to be anointed with the

giving or holy chrism is clothed, and enters the

There the bishop lays his hand upon them,
church.
and with a prayer anoints each one upon the head,
and seals his forehead, saluting or kissing him and
;

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2jo
'

say peace with their mouths.'

of confirmation is ended.

are to

all

rite

The

[OH. vn.

Thus

the

seal,' here and elsewhere, seems to mean

the sign of the cross by saying peace' the formula
of the pax is no doubt intended.
'

'

Immediately after baptism and confirmation follows the holy communion.

The bishop is enjoined
to give thanks over the bread and over the cup
and to bless also milk and honey. When the bread
;

has been divided, the bishop gives each a portion,

saying, This is the bread of heaven, the body of
'

Christ Jesus;' and with the cup he says, 'This is

the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Likewise the
milk and honey are given to every one.

So much

Let
for the Apostolical Constitutions.
us turn now to another version of the ceremony,
written two or three centuries later

1
by Severus
The ceremony
,

patriarch of Alexandria in 646 A. D.

begins with a mixing of the waters,' a phrase which
is not further explained here, but means that the
'

moves the water with his hand. Next

comes a burning of frankincense, with a prayer against
the princes of the power of the air ;' after which the
priest blows thrice with his breath on the water.
He then makes the sign of the cross, without oil,
thrice on the forehead of every child, and exorcises
him, making several more crosses upon the face.
priest stirs or
'

The

children turn to the west to

ciation,

and back

makes three

to the east again

xii.

oil,

See

Maxima

p. 728.

the renun-

and the

priest

crosses on each one's forehead with

obviously the
the catechumens.

olive

make

Bibliotheca

oil

of exorcism, or

oil

Veterum Patrum, Lyons, 1677,

of

torn,

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

Incense

is

now

kindled,

271

and then come the prayers

for the benediction of the water.

The

priest insuf-

upon the surface in the form of a cross, and

with several invocations makes four crosses on the
flates

water with his finger, signing each cross from east

to west and from north to south.
Then from a
phial or crewet he pours chrism, or oil of thanksNext he
giving, upon the water in three crosses.

pours olive

over the head of each

oil

him in the font,

and with his left
N.

'

lays his right hand

thrice lifts the child

baptised in the

child, places

upon the head,

from the water,

name

of the Father,
of the Son, Amen and in the
name of the Holy Ghost, Amen.' The wording of
the ritual here signifies that the child is dipped three
saying,

Amen

is

in the

name

times under water, and nothing is said about any

difference in the manner of the three immersions.
After the formula the child is taken out of the

and anointed three times on the forehead and

font,

on

all his

own

members with holy chrism

is

dressed in

and brought to the altar, where

he receives the eucharist. The whole ceremony is
brought to a conclusion by the priest crowning the
newly baptised children with garlands.
his

clothes

Here confirmation is rather implied than stated,

and nothing is said about the giving of milk and
honey. Bishop Macarius, whom I have cited above,
and who lived a century later, mentions the custom
In olden times,
he says baptism being administered only on Good
Friday at Alexandria, the patriarch and several
as belonging to the early Church.
1

bishops met in the church of the Evangelists, unNext

covered the font, and read the exhortation.
1

Vansleb, Histoire,

p. 85.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

272

[CH.VH.

in the same
building, where the
consecrated
both
the
chrism and the oil of
patriarch
exorcism or galilaeon, i.e., t\aioi> ayaAAtao-eooy, as they

day they assembled

what the Latins term the oleum catechumenorum.'

This accomplished, they proceeded to the
baptistery, where the patriarch baptised three male
and when the bishops had baptised the
children
rest, the patriarch anointed them all with both
kinds of oil.
Mass was now celebrated and after
the newly baptised children had received the bread
and wine, they received also milk and honey mixed
in the same chalice
At the present day the ceremonies do not differ
At
appreciably from those recorded by Severus.
the commencement of the service a prayer of purification is said over the mother of the child, and she
is anointed with oil on the forehead
and though
this rite is not recorded in any ancient documents
'

call

before Vansleb,
it has arisen in

it is

in the last

degree unlikely that

modern or even mediaeval

times.

Silence in questions of ritual is always a dangerous

argument it is so very difficult for a writer, and
:

specially for an early writer, not to omit some detail,

as Severus quite wrongly omits all mention of milk
and honey. The exorcism, benediction of the water,
and anointing with oil, are still customary: but the
first oil

priest.
1

used

The

is

pure olive

child

oil,

which

Neale strangely denies that there

milk and honey in Coptic

states that

it

existed in the

in that of Ethiopia.

is

blessed by the

unclothed, raises his

is

ritual

is

(Gen. Introd.,

(vol.

iii.

in

any trace of the giving of

vol.

Church of Carthage, and

Rock

hands

pt. 2. p.

ii.

p.

971): but

is still

retained

102) says that milk

and honey were given in our own Church after the eucharist on
Maundy Thursday, and anciently to the newly baptised on Holy
Saturday.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

273

make the renunciation, turning

to the west, and recites the creed turning to the
east l
All his limbs are again anointed with the
the form of a cross to

oil or the
The burning of incense,
galilaeon.
the insufflation, the three crosses of chrism on the
water, the trine immersion, the laying-on of hands or
all have
confirmation, the anointing with chrism,
their place in the service of to-day.
The chrism is

second

anointed

on

forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, ears,

hands, feet, knees, back, shoulder, arms and heart
then the priest breathes crosswise on the face of the
:

who

dressed in a white robe, crowned with a

crown, and girt with a crossing girdle about his waist.
He receives the holy communion or, if too young to
child,

is

it, the priest dips a finger in the chalice, and

moistens the infant's tongue and after the eucharist

take

he receives milk and honey mingled.

During all this ceremony, which with many prayers
and chaunts and lessons from the scriptures occupies
a long time, the sealed copy of the gospel is resting
on the gospel-stand 2 in the baptistery tapers are
:

set about

it,

and are kindled during the greater part

After the celebration of the mass,

the clergy arrayed in their most gorgeous vestments
move in procession thrice round the church. The
child is carried by the bishop or priest, before whom
walks an acolyte bearing the cross of benediction 3
of the service.

upon which are fastened three lighted tapers the

other clergy follow, and acolytes bearing candles and
beating bells and cymbals.
:

Vansleb (Histoire, p. 204) states that the priest writes the

name on a piece of paper and throws it into the water.
3
See illustration, vol. ii. p. 60.
Ib. p. 232.

child's
2

VOL.

II.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

274

[CH. vn.

On the eighth day after baptism, and not before *,

the girdle is loosened with a good deal of ceremonial
for the act is regarded as the completion of the rite
:

The ceremony is held in the baptistery

of baptism.
of the church, and not at private houses as Vansleb
vessel of pure water is placed on the
alleges.

gospel-stand, with a cross lying upon the rim and

Incense is burned, and
tapers kindled around.

prayers and portions of scripture recited.

is signed thrice in the form of a cross

various

The water
by the

who

priest,

then removes the girdle, and

washes the child and his

clothes.

Though the use of lights at the baptismal service

thus recognised by the Church of Egypt, the priest

is

does not hand a lighted taper to the candidate, as

was customary in western ritual.
It will be observed that the practice of the Coptic
differs from that of the western Church in the union
of confirmation with baptism, although they are
regarded essentially as two sacraments, not as one
in the use of the holy chrism for confirmation
and
;

in allowing confirmation

by the

priest as well as

by

the bishop.
In all these particulars the Copts have
reta ned the early teaching of the catholic Church,

which the westerns have abandoned

1

2
.

Abu Dakn makes the rite take place on the third day and in
same passage he affirms that salt is mingled with the chrism by
:

the
the

Copts,

adopted

Some Syrians in Cairo

time of Christodulus, but not
Malabar Christians mingled oil and salt with

a monstrous

the Copts

The

their eucharistic

Portuguese

bread, as recorded in Govea's account

mission

Brussels in 1609.
2
The words of
bered.

statement.

this heretical practice in the

He

St. Basil
'

says

see

the

of the

French translation published,

at

regarding baptism should be remem-

Consecramus autem aquam baptismatis

et

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

THE EUCHARIST

275

l
.

To

discuss fully the ceremonies appertaining to

the Coptic celebration of the mass would require a
voluminous treatise in itself. But such discussion

being beyond the scope of this work, and in some

sense beside its purpose, it must suffice here to
indicate the

most prominent or peculiar points of

Coptic usage, avoiding altogether all questions concerning authenticity of texts and order of prayers in
the various liturgies,
questions which are too well

known

world to require restating, and too

little studied
by the writer to make his remarks
other than incompetent.
No minister beneath the rank of priest is allowed
to celebrate the korban
but a simple priest cannot
to the

communicate a bishop or any higher dignitary 2

When the patriarch celebrates, he administers the

oleum

unctionis, praeterea

scriptis ?

Nonne

ipsum qui baptismum

a tacita

accipit,

traditione

secretaque

ex quibus

Ipsam porro
lam ter im-

unctionem quis sermo scripto proditus docuit ?

mergi hominem unde est traditum? .... Nonne ex privata et
arcana hac traditione?'
See Divi Basilii Magni Opera, p. 3243.
So St. Augustine remarks 'Unless this sign be used,
Paris, 1566.
olei

whether on the forehead of

are regenerated, or

on

the chrism

nothing is rightly accomplished.'

1
Arabic ^b^lll or the offering,
sacrifice,

or

iu^-e^

j^si

The

s-sr^.jJl
first

answers to our
2

'

the

^-IJ'llI

the mass, ius.-^.DI the

bloodless

of these names,

*f~npOCcJ>Op..
with the word used by our Lord,
it

on the water whereby they

whereby they are anointed,

believers, or

korban,'

is

Coptic,
identical

as given in the English version

oflete.'

Vansleb, Histoire, pp. 202-3.

sacrifice

'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

276

oflete first to himself

and then

[CH. \-n.

to the other clergy

according to their orders but if, when a priest is

celebrating, the patriarch wishes to communicate,
he goes to the altar after the fraction, repeats the
:

prayer of absolution and the confession, and communicates to himself and to any others whom he
Every bishop has the same right in his
pleases.

own

A kummus

diocese.

in

communicating takes

the spoon himself, but receives the wafer from the

a priest repriest, who places it in the spoon
:

ceiving from a priest does not touch with his hand

any part of the sacred elements, nor any vessel.
The celebrant must wear dalmatic and amice on
ordinary days, and all the seven vestments on high
festivals.

At the present day those who receive are allowed

within the haikal but originally entrance seems to
;

have been denied to all below the rank of deacon.

The deacon stands not beside the priest but fronting
him, e. on the eastern side of the altar, and facing
This custom is said to have originated
the people.
in the times of feud between the Jacobite and Melkite factions, when it was no uncommon thing for a
i.

mob to rush into a Coptic church, slay the

at
the altar, and scatter the sacred elements.
priest
If ordered by the priest, the deacon may give the cup
Melkite

to communicants, as appears from the Apostolical

Constitutions and from later authorities.

We

have already seen that

infants are admitted

communion immediately

after baptism and

and at any ordinary celebration today one may see children in arms receiving.
Previous fasting is indispensable to a right communion, and this canon applies even to children

to the

confirmation

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

277

a rule beyond question and without exception.

time of fasting dates from vespers of the day
before the celebration.
Bodily cleanliness is a
further necessity both on the part of the people
and the priest the latter is specially required to
wash his feet before entering the church. Communion is not to be administered to persons unit

is

The

known, i.e. to any strangers whom the priest has

not examined concerning their profession of faith,
The
for fear lest an infidel receive it unawares.
Pontifical of

Gabriel specially cautions the

priest

be careful about women, as they come veiled to

Confession also is rigidly enforced, and
mass.
to

penance

inflicted

of the penance

is

in

case of sin

and the severity

doubtless the reason

why

so few

to-day partake of the holy mysteries.

All receive the korban standing and not kneeling
indeed kneeling is altogether against the Coptic
:

custom, except on the day of Pentecost, their attitude

communicant is
of humility being prostration.

not allowed during the rest of the day to eat or

drink with a Jew or Muslim nor may he remove
;

from his mouth anything which has once entered

there
nor may he smoke tobacco.
Anciently,
;

according to Vansleb,

it

was

also customary to eat

lupines directly after the celebration, as a measure

of defence against certain Sabaeans, who frequented

the Coptic churches, but to whom any fruit grown

on an angular stalk was an abomination.

The bread used

wheaten

for the

flour specially

korban

is

of the finest

purchased out of the church

must be baked in the oven attached for

moneys.
that purpose to most if not all of the sacred buildand the baking must be done by the doorings
It

Ancient Coptic Churches.

2j8

[CH. vn.

keeper or sacristan \ who during the process must

chaunt fixed portions of the psalms in a solemn
manner 2 The bread must be leavened it must be
baked on the morning on which it is required for the
mass, and must be made up into round cakes or
wafers, each about three inches in diameter and an
inch in greatest thickness and it must be stamped
.

on the upper surface with a device of crosses, round

which runs a sacred legend in a band. Denzinger 3

gives a cut in which the legend

.noc

fr

Called,

>J

is

A.VIOC

^xprpioc ^ C4L&eurr (it should, of course,

therefore,

*-JQl.

Women

specially forbidden

are

to

prepare the wafer.

8

Possibly for a similar reason the oflete

was sometimes

called

'

'

singing-bread
3

Kit.

same

Or.,

cut.

in
torn.

England.
i.

p.

81.

The

Diet.

Christ.

Antiq.

has

the

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

be Kvpioc)
tion, which

Neale

279

reproduces the same

illustra-

whom

all
taken from Sollerius,
statements concerning the form of the Coptic oflete

to

is

seem ultimately traceable. Vansleb 2 however gives

and
the same inscription omitting the c^JieooT
;

the versions of the legend so

possible
recorded were actually found but undoubtedly the
that

is

it

used differs, and is >%? <LVIOC

o eeoc,
oc
.e.rt.Toc
^-Vioc
>fc A.VIOC
*
ic.X"*P
as rendered in the accompanying woodcut, which is
from a photograph of a wafer made at the cathedral.
Nor have I seen any variation from this form at any
of the churches.
The diagrams given by Neale
inscription at present

and Denzinger are further inaccurate

for within
the band of writing, which should not be quite on
the edge of the wafer, there are twelve equal crosses
each marked off in a square of its own, the whole
arrangement forming one large cross. Neale indeed
:

speaks of twelve crosses but his figure gives eight

in little detached squares, and eight more in a larger
central square.
Denzinger's design is the same
but he gives another rather different cut, which professes to represent the back of the wafer.
This, I
is
for
the
wafer
is
never
a
mistake
think,
stamped
:

upon the back.

The inmost

square of the wafer, consisting of four

smaller squares, is called in Coptic icBiO^lKOit,

ic&<L2aKort, or ciioT^iKoit, a name rightly explained
by Renaudot as a corruption of the Greek SwrroTiKov,
sc. cr&fia, i.e.

'

the

body of the

reserved for intinction

is

how
2

in

Patriarchate of Alexandria, vol.

the mistake of

Histoire, p. 100.

f r

arose.

Lord.'

The

isbodikon

the chalice.
ii.

p. 214.

It is

obvious here

Ancient Coptic Churches.

280

Greek custom

[CH. vn.

not far removed from the Coptic,

For the Greeks use a small
round cake stamped with a square, called the a/m>y,
is

as regards the wafer.

divided into four smaller squares which

The dfivfo stands
contain the letters Tc "XC Nl KA.

which

is

out above the wafer, and is cut off in the prothesis at

consecration it is broken into four portions, of which
FC is put into the chalice, X~C is given among the
:

and the rest among the laity.

The Armenians also stamp the housel, but merely

clergy,

The wafer is unleavened,

an oven attached to the church on

with a figure of our Lord.

and

is

baked

in

All the four parts

the morning before celebration.
into which the consecrated wafer is broken are put
into the chalice.

the Nestorians the wafer is made of fine

from wheat gleaned by young maidens, which
is
ground in a handmill and mingled with leaven.
The leaven is prepared by the clergy, and the bread
made, within the precincts of the sacred building.
The Nestorian wafer also is stamped with a device
it resembles the Coptic bread in size, but is much

Among

flour

thinner.

own country the wafer was sometimes

Rock cites Eldefonso for the statement
stamped.
that the inscription should be ^FT TTTc or US, the
only variation being XPC AH: but other variaIn our

tions are certainly found

1

Vol.

M. de Fleury has

i.

p. 149,

2
.

wooden mould

for

note 24.
sent

me

a drawing of some breads from a

Two of these
ninth-century missal in the Bibliotheque Nationale.
are covered with various inscriptions, one containing
DS

REX

IBS XFS VERITAS LUX PAX GLORIA VIA,

and the cyphers

of the four evangelists disposed round a large central cross.

The Seven Sacraments.

TH. vii.j

281

preserved in the museum at Dublin

but sometimes the mould was of iron, and was called
a singing-iron for a reason analogous to that sug-

such breads

is

Thus

1429 at York there were bequeathed 'tria instrumenta ferri, vocata syngyngirons,
alia instrumenta ferri pro pane ad eucharistiam orij
That the practice of stamping the housel
dinando 1
is very early seems
proved by the continuous testiof
artistic
monuments.
The wafers figured in
mony
the sixth-century mosaics at Ravenna, in S. Vitale
and S. Apollinare in Classe, are designed with a
central cross
on the golden altar of Milan, dating
from the ninth century, St. Ambrose is figured
standing behind an altar, on which are four crossed
wafers
a like wafer is shown in the eleventhmissal
of St. Denys 2 and wherever the
century
wafer is painted in Coptic pictures, it is represented
with a single cross in the same manner. This fact
in no way militates against the antiquity of the
gested above.

in

.'

present Coptic design, being attributable merely

to the smallness of the scale on which the wafer

has to be rendered 3
The eucharistic wine is unfermented, and is made
from the juice of dried grapes or raisins, which are
left to soak for a considerable time in water, and
then crushed in a wine-press.
A press of the kind
.

Raine, York Fabric Rolls, Glossary, p. 353.

La Messe, vol.

i.

pis.

viii, xiii.

In the Coptic MS. of the fourth century, to which allusion has

been already made, the prayer of consecration varies from all other
known MSS. in having between the words didst give thanks and
'

'

'didst break' the expression ^.KCcbp^Ti^e, i.e. 'didst seal':

and though the term is commonly used in Coptic to denote the
the cross, yet in this connexion it seems to
suggest that the wafer in use at that period was stamped.

making of the sign of

Ancient Coptic Churches.

282

[CH.

v.

but
at Abu-'s-Sifain has already been described
the wine is usually made at Cairo in the satellite
:

church called by the same

There

Zuailah.

it is

apiece,

deep aumbry.
strength and in
year round.

in the Harat-az-

distributed to the churches in

large wicker-covered

gallons

name

The wine

is

or four

three

holding

jars,

some of which

saw stored

made

of

in

sufficient

sufficient quantity to last the -whole

prohibited rather than

but the use of it doubtless

Raisin-wine

is

enjoined by the canons

arose partly under pressure in times of persecution,
and partly from the cultivation of the vine becoming
:

In case of necessity even dateobsolete in Egypt.

But whatever wine is used must
is allowed.

wine

be pure, untrampled by the foot, and free from all

*
acid flavour.
Offerings of wine for the mass were
common in ancient times and there is a special
canon forbidding the priest to receive it in the vessel
:

brought by the layman. Most of the churches now

have a small crewet or phial of unconsecrated wine
kept on a little bracket attached to the haikal-screen.
Wine of the same kind and made in the same manner
was found in use by the Christians at Malabar about
the year 1600: but that sect mingled oil and salt
with

their

eucharistic

bread,

a practice

strongly

denounced by all Coptic authorities.

Three liturgies seem to have been used from very
the
early times by the Church of Alexandria,
liturgy of St. Basil, of St.

and of
1

St. Cyril

When

the last

new cask was broached,

often given to the church.

the wine

is

is

Gregory of Nazianzen,
also called by the name

often called

the

In the Coptic

"f'A.nA.pH,

first

of the wine was

liturgies, for this reason,

or the

first-fruits.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

of St. Mark.

On

St. Basil is recited

283

ordinary occasions the liturgy of

that of St. Gregory is reserved

midnight masses of
Epiphany, Easter, and Christmas and that of St.
Cyril is used during the seasons of the Great and
The hour
the Little Fast, i.e. Lent and Advent 1
for ordinary mass on Sunday is always tierce: no
second celebration is allowed on the same altar
during the day, and no vestment or vessel which
has served once at the mass may be used again till
for three

solemn

festivals, the

the day following.

At the commencement of the

service

who

all

enter the church salute towards the altar, and kiss

the hem of the veil which hangs before the door of

the sanctuary, or else prostrate themselves before

This custom of course does not
threshold.

the

apply to women, who worship apart in the galleries

It is usual now for the
or other place appointed.
choir to chaunt the
altar

is

'

Hymns

of

Moses

'

while the

being prepared by the deacons.

Besides

the ordinary covering, which is generally coloured,

the altar must have a second vestment, which

shrouds the whole

fabric.

All the vessels, such as

the chalice, paten, dome, ark, and spoon, must be in

readiness upon the altar, upon which also are two
candlesticks with tapers.
Before the prayer of preparation the priest must
examine all these vessels, and see that the altar-

board is firm in its place beneath the coverlets and

he must set the ark or coffer upon it, and the chalice
;

After the prayers of preparation

and thanksgiving he goes to the door of the haikal

within the coffer.

Lord Bute

states that this liturgy is only

on the Friday before

used once a year,

Palm Sunday (Coptic Morning

Service, p.

viz.
ii).

Ancient Coptic Churches.

284

[CH. vn.

the hand of the deacon.

Three wafers are brought upon a tray: the priest
touches them to see if they are freshly made, wipes
then he
them, and waves his hand over them
selects one of the three, which is carried to the altar
This
together with the crewet or phial of wine.
ceremony seems to correspond with the greater
but it is not
entrance of the Greek liturgy
now attended with the same pomp in the Coptic

to take the oflete from

as in either the Constantinopolitan or the Melkite

Egyptian ritual. Tapers are next kindled, and held
by the deacons beside the altar one also holds the
:

Thus a procrewet, and another a vessel of water.

altar
with tapers and thuricession moves round the
bles, the priest carrying the

wafer

in a small silken

corporal, or, as is more usual, upon one of the tiny

mats described above. Having made the circuit of

the altar the priest stands in his own place before

the altar, facing eastward, and turning his back to
the congregation.
little cold water is now mixed

with the wine in the chalice, not warm water as in

the Greek celebration.
During the prayer of obla-

which follows, the priest signs both the elements

tion,

with the sign of the cross and when the prayer is

ended, he places upon the chalice the little mat or
tabak, which serves as its cover, and which answers
:

Similarly he places
the
round veil marked
over
wafer
a
small
immediately
with three crosses above it he sets the dome or
to the lesser veil of the rubrics.

and then, placing the paten upon the ark, so

rests also on the chalice l he covers the whole
elements with the larger veil, which is of silk, and

star

that

it

The

ark

the chalice

is

is

just high

enough

flush with the top

to hold the chalice

of the ark.

the rim of

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

285

has a large cross embroidered upon it. This accomplished, the priest kneels and kisses the altar.

At

prayer of absolution to the Son, the

celebrant and his attendants kneel outside the
the

haikal in a circle before the door, bowing from

time to time. Then taking the censer, he stands
holding it before the altar during the prayer of
incense he waves it over the elements and walks
round the altar swinging the thurible, while the
:

He
choir sing the three anthems of the incense.
then descends, and stands before the door facing
eastward, and scatters the fumes about the doorway
:

which he turns about and swings the censer

towards the people in every part of the church,
while chaunt and song continue and as the priest
after

moves censing them, the people

rise

and bend

their

heads.

The epistle is now read in Coptic from the lectern,

which stands a few feet from the haikal door in the
choir, and the reader faces eastward, having his back
During the reading clouds of incense
and when it is finished,
and the choir have sung a brief chaunt, the same
to the people.

are

arising in the haikal

still

is read in Arabic
but the reader now stands
on the steps before the haikal and faces the congregation. A lection from the Acts is read in the same
manner or sometimes in lieu a chapter is recited
from the history of the Church, or the life of a saint.

lesson

And when
and bows

the reading is ended, the reader kneels

his head to the ground before the door of

the sanctuary. The first gospel is read by the priest,

who stands before the people holding the book in his
left

hand, and in his right a lighted taper.

this point processions round the altar con-

From

Ancient Coptic Churches.

286

[CH. vn.

tinue with burning of incense up to the trisagion,

is chaunted by the choir.
Then comes the

which

prayer of the holy gospel, said by the priest facing

eastward and after it the deacon, coming out at the
;

door of the haikal, shouts aloud,

'

Stand ye people

for the
holy gospel.'
Hereupon the celebrant
censes the sealed silver book of the gospel, and de-

who, after kissing it and

the
lectern,
upon
sings the gospel in Coptic,
laying
As
he
eastward.
sings, the celebrant stands
facing
facing westward before him, and censes the textus
continually a deacon on each side of him holds a
livers

it

to another priest,

it

and a candle
standard candlestick, which

burning upon the tall

always set up for this
An Arabic version of

is

lighted taper,

is

1
purpose beside the lectern
the same passage is then given from the doorway,
the deacons still holding their tapers by the reader,
.

who now

and the celebrant still

waves the thurible.
Deacons and acolytes, who
wear
the
as do all the people during
tarbush,
generally
the service, remove it at the reading of the gospel.
When the gospel is thus finished, the priest and
all the
and in olden
clergy kiss the silver book
times the gospel was wrapped in a silken veil, being
carried in procession about the church, and even
faces the people

2
given to kiss to the people
1

The

lights are ex-

on p. 66 supra.
that
this custom may account for the practice of
possible
enclosing the textus in a complete shell of metal. This procession
2

See

illustration

It is

and return to the haikal correspond to the lesser entrance of the

Greek ritual. In the West the custom of lighting a candle at the
reading of the gospel was general as well as 'per tolas orientis

Rock mentions that in

(Hieron. adv. Vigilant, iii. 13.)
country after the lection the subdeacon took the book for
the bishop to kiss, then to priests and people
and that the tapers
ecclesias.'

our

own

The Seven Sacraments.

OH. vii.]

287

tinguished and the gospel borne back to the sanctuary. All the ministers stand round the door while

the prayer after the gospel is recited inaudibly.

Notices of services and other matters are here given

and

there be no homily, at this point occurs the

dismissal of the catechumens.
if

The
priest

now sing an anthem, after which the

down and kisses the threshold of the

choir
falls

sanctuary, while reciting in a low voice the prayer

of the veil or the curtain.
Then, ascending to the
the
kisses
while
the choir stand withaltar,
it,
priest
out the door, singing in antiphons.
Next, after the

prayer for the catholic Church of Christ, and for

the congregation, the creed is repeated by all together;

whereupon the priest washes his hands thrice, and

turning round wrings them dry before the people.
Then, after bowing to the other clergy and making
the sign of the cross over the congregation, he utters
the words Peace be unto all,' and recites the prayer
'

were then extinguished (vol. iii. pt. 2. p. 32). The Ordo Romanus
says that the deacon received the gospel from the subdeacon, and
held it to be kissed by clergy and laity.
Pope Honorius III in
the thirteenth century forbade the gospel to be kissed by any layexcept an anointed prince, quite forgetting the meaning of

man

the ceremony.

In Russian and Greek churches the kiss

is

allowed

In Egypt, however, the

generally to laymen, as with the Copts.
book seems originally to have been kissed while open by priests, and

been closed for the people. This kissing the gospel is, of
course, quite distinct from the pax or kiss of peace, which seems
to have been first used in England in the thirteenth century.
The
pax is mentioned as an instrument first in the constitutions of archto have

It was abandoned gradually after the reforbishop Gray, of York.

mation, owing chiefly to disputes about precedence. Yet the gospel
was sometimes kissed in England instead of the pax, and the cross

in

Germany.

pp. 221, 296.)

(See

Lay

Folks'

Mass Book,

ed.

Canon Simmons,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

288

[CH.VH.

Meanwhile he removes the

of the kiss of peace.
veil
or corporal from the oflete, and the
greater
paten from the chalice and on the top of the chalice
;

one may see now the lesser veil

priest holds high over his head a
l

resting, while the

like veil or tabak

of green colour with a golden cross for all the people

At the words Greet one another with a
to see.
'

holy kiss/ the priest turns westward, and bows slowly

to all the people and the people salute each other,
each turning to his neighbour and touching his hand.
;

The

triumphal

hymn

follows,

and the people shout

agus, agus, agus,' retaining to this day the ancient

the lesser veil, or red tabak, is removed
words.
'

Now

and the priest taking it in his right

holds
the
also
hand,
green tabak in his left, and raises
And in like manner he takes many more
his arms.
from the chalice

little mats, which are upon the altar, and holds them
with outspread arms 2 during the commemoration of
It may be that the mats are so
the Redemption.
consecrated for subsequent usage at the communion.
,

At

the institution, the celebrant first holds his

hands over the smoke of the thurible, which is pre-

sented by the deacon then signs the oflete thrice,

and breaks it into three portions, which, however,
;

The lesser veil, shown in this manner, is usually a small

round red mat, embroidered with a cross in gold.
2
I cannot find any explanation of this custom in the rubrics,
In Lord Bute's Coptic
but merely record what I have witnessed.
directs
the
the
rubric
80,
Service,'
priest to remove the
p.
Morning
'

to sign himself, the deacon, and the people with it

and so replace it. The work cited is not however quite an accurate
guide to the Monophysite ritual but there is a very general agreement, because the converts to the Church of Rome among the
Copts are prohibited from becoming Latins, and bidden to retain
chalice-veil

their national liturgy.

The Seven Sacraments,

CH. vn.]

289

remain contiguous. The chalice is signed in the

same manner, and moved in the form of a cross
before the priest.
During this ceremony a lighted
is
held
on either side of the celedeacons
taper
by

and all the deacons, acolytes, and choristers

remove their tarbushes. Just before the invocation
all the
congregation bend low their heads, murmuring words of adoration, and rise and bend again.
After a sentence or two from the priest all the
brant,

'

Kyrie eleeson.'
people cry
that the offertory is made.

It

is

Two

at

this

point

acolytes

move

about the church, each bearing an alms-dish, and

a taper which is specially lighted for the purpose,
doubtless in emblematic remembrance of the familiar
text. Chaunts continue to be sung by the choir during
the prayer of intercession, and the commemoration
of the living, and the diptychs of the dead 1 and
during the same period the celebrant from time to
time holds aloft in either hand one of the little mats,
which lie in great numbers upon the altar. The
cover of the elements is also changed and for the
saffron-coloured veil which rested before over them,
another of deep crimson with a white border is
;

customary among the Copts once every year, in the season

on a piece of paper the names of living and dead

It is

of Lent, to write
relatives,

whom

they wish

known laymen go round

commemorated

at

the

mass.

have

the churches of Cairo in one day,

leaving at each a paper in which is wrapped a fee varying accordThe usual form of coming to the means of the supplicant.

memoration

'

is,

all

Remember, O Lord, thy

kingdom of heaven

servants,

whose names

the living, M. or N. :
the dead, M. or N.'
Special prayers for special cases are sometimes added: thus for a son dismissed from his employment a
are here written, in the

father will ask intercession in the words, 'Loosen,

perplexities of Yusuf.'

VOL.

II.

Lord, the

Ancient Coptic Churches.

290

[CH. vn.

and the people are signed with the sign of

Now comes the preface to the fraction
the cross.
and when the priest says The holy body,' he takes
substituted,

'

the housel, and, placing it in his left hand, lays his

And at the
finger on the spot where it is broken.

words 'The precious blood' he removes his finger

from the bread, and dipping it lightly in the wine,
makes the sign of the cross upon it. With the same
finger he now signs the isbodikon and another part of
the housel, so that three crosses in all are made upon
After the pax commences the
the sacred element.

prayer of the fraction, during which the priest breaks

the housel into five portions, which he arranges on
the paten in the form of a cross, leaving the isbodikon
unbroken in the centre and the smaller portions are
;

again broken up into little pieces, which are called

pearls,' as in the Greek ceremonial.
'

Next all the people say the Lord's

course, kneeling, but standing

both

hands and

not, of

and stretching out

looking upwards, according to

the sancta sanctis the priest

At

ancient custom.

prayer,

'

'

elevates the isbodikon over his head, lowers it into

the chalice, and with it makes the sign of the cross

upon the wine.

Taking

it

out he signs the remainder

and so accomplishes three

crosses of the bread upon the wine, and of the wine
upon the bread whereupon the isbodikon is placed
of the housel with

it,

in the chalice.

When

the confession of faith has

been recited, the veil is placed upon the housel, and

the priest kisses the altar, reciting a sentence of

On

which
follows, the star or dome is seen resting on the
paten, and under it a small green veil embroidered
with crosses, which covers the wafer.
Suddenly the
adoration.

the

removal

of

the

veil

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

291

priest takes the paten in his hand, and raising it

over his head, turns towards the people, and stands
in the

while
in the

doorway of the sanctuary thus holding it aloft,

the people shout Blessed is he that cometh
'

all

name of

the Lord.'

During the consecration

a deacon stands on either side of the priest holding a

burning taper.
The celebrant himself communicates, and administers to the other clergy, and to the laity in
order.
Each one as he receives holds in his hand
one of the little mats and when he has partaken,
he wipes his lips with the mat carefully, lest any
;

upon the ground. The communion is

administered by means of intinction with the spoon,
particle fall

but the isbodikon

is

ministers of the altar.

specially reserved for the

If a bishop be present, he

communicates himself, dipping the spoon into the

chalice.
Even little children receive, and are
admitted into the haikal. Women however are not
so admitted l
but the priest comes down from the
;

sanctuary and administers to them in their own

place, whether in the gallery or at the west end of
the church.
Communicants now are very few, and
for the most part children.
They walk round and
round the altar, and continue receiving until all the
wafer is consumed. Then the priest drinks to the
dregs what remains in the chalice wipes the inside
:

In the Celtic

rite,

women were

not allowed to receive unless

they were veiled, an eastern custom ordered to be observed in the

Apostolical Constitutions, and still remaining with the Copts. Mr.

Warren mentions

also

an

Irish

church in North Munster, where

women were

forbidden to enter,
as was the custom at Anba
Shanudah and another church, where they were not allowed to
approach the altar. See Lit. and Rit. of Celtic Church, pp. 136:

138-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

292

[CH. vn.

with his finger and licks his finger washes out the
In like
chalice with water, and drinks the rinsings.
:

manner the paten is washed, and the rinsings are

drunk by the deacon. I have seen a deacon after
the celebration place the spoon repeatedly upon his
a custom which carries
lips and eyes and forehead,

one back, very curiously, through

hundred

fifteen

years to the time of Cyril of Jerusalem, who, in the

middle of the fourth century, wrote in his directions
'

communicants as follows
Further, touching
with thy hands the moisture remaining on thy lips,
sanctify both thine eyes and thy forehead and the
What other Church preother organs of sense 1
serves in so startling a manner the minutiae of

for

.'

primitive tradition ?
Finally, when the vessels

are

washed and the

blessing given, water is sprinkled by the bishop, if

he be present, over the altar and in the air about the

sanctuary and over the ministers. Then the bishop

comes out from the haikal preceded by a deacon,
who carries a silver basin and ewer the deacon
:

pours water over

bishop scatters it
who throng round
or unconsecrated
the congregation
the

same

size

the hand of the bishop

in all directions

holding up
wafers, are
disperses.

My

Eulogiae,

and
These wafers are of

and form as that used

and neither smaller nor mingled with

1

over the people,

their faces.

now

and the

distributed,

for consecration,
salt,

as Vansleb z

note of this custom was written in the very words more

knew of the passage from Cyril. (Catech.

than three years before I

My stag.
2

22.)

The statement, however, is open to question.

term employed in the Greek rite for this wafer is dvridcapov
in Latin panis benedictus.' In our own Church the blessed bread
Histoire, p. 100.

The

'

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

293

with doubtful truth alleges to have been customary

two centuries ago. The Copts do not use salt in

any part of

So

their ritual whatever.

have not mentioned the use of the fan

or flabellum partly because it is not mentioned in
the rubrics, and partly for another reason.
For in the
elaborate ceremonial of the mass to-day, inasmuch
far

as generally little more than the celebrant is visible

through the narrow opening of the haikal-door, and
the celebrant's

movements are rendered obscure by

and sometimes also by clouds

his eastward position,

of incense, it is very difficult to follow intelligently

the action of the ritual, and to ascertain what happens

moment

Moreover, as the fan

a
merely
corporal or veil, and the
number and usage of the veils are somewhat perplexing, it is the more troublesome to decide at what
I
point a veil is waved in place of the flabellum.
believe however that the elements are fanned just
before and just after consecration 2 but repeat that
conclusive observation of all the details in the
eucharistic service is next to impossible.
Reservation of the consecrated housel is not
practised in the Church of Egypt, which therein
differs from the Church of Constantinople.
For the
at

any

now

in

particular

use

is

Greeks enclose the reserved host

and

kiss of peace

vol.

iii.

in

a casket of silver

were forbidden to notorious sinners.

See Rock,

part 2. p. 185.

Rubrics tallying more or less with parts of the foregoing

may be found in Hammond's Liturgies,

description of the mass,

pp. 195-233; and Renaudot, Lit. Or. torn.

much valuable information is collected.
2

The canons

Histoire, p.

of

St.

288

i.

pp. 153-302, where

of Athanasius partly imply this: see Vansleb,

It agrees too with the rubrics in the liturgy

fin.

Chrysostom.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

294

[CH. vn.

or wood, which is wrapped in a silken veil, and hung

up against the eastern wall of the sanctuary, with a

lamp burning before it. Among the Copts it was

ordered that if a crumb of the wafer were found after
the priest had drunk the rinsings, it should be given
to a deacon, or even to a layman who had not drunk
water but if not even a layman were forthcoming,
the particle was to be wrapped in a veil, and placed
between two burning tapers with the eastern lamp in
The priest was then to
the niche also burning.
watch beside the host till the mass on the following
day, to receive the crumb fasting, and to undergo a
:

In the eleventh
severe penance for his negligence.
century the monks of Dair Abu Makdr in the
western desert were in the habit of reserving the
host

from

Palm

Sunday

to

Maundy Thursday.

When

the patriarch Christodulus l discovered this

practice he forbade it, as against the rule of the
The
Church, under pain of excommunication.

monks, however, persisted, and insolently asked

whether he were better than his predecessors, who
had allowed the custom whereupon Christodulus
withdrew into the library in the tower of the
monastery, and composed there a treatise, which was
read publicly by a bishop, and proved so convincing
Henceforth the custom
as to silence opposition.
was abandoned. Renaudot, in relating this anecdote,
remarks that the reservation here spoken of does
:

not

mean

the reservation for the

communion of the

sick, which was always customary, the isbodikon

being reserved after its immersion in the chalice
It cannot however be questioned
at consecration.

that this distinction

1

is

quite erroneous

Renaudot, Hist. Pat. Alex.,

p.

429.

neither the

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

295

isbodikon nor any other part of the housel was or is

reserved for the communion of sick persons 1 nor for
,

mingling

in the chalice at

a subsequent celebration,

as was customary in both Greek and Roman ritual.

The legend of the devouring of the eucharist by a

serpent and the consequent discontinuance of reservation has already been mentioned.

Consecration must always take place in a sacred

building, except in cases of extreme necessity in

As regards
regions where there are no churches.
the communion of sick persons, no doubt there have
been times in Coptic history when the korban was
kept over the day of celebration for their advantage
or rather for the advantage of the priests, who were
thus saved the trouble of consecration at unforeseen
;

Nevertheless, where

moments.
vailed,

it

was

distinctly

this

an abuse

practice prefor the canons

order that, in case of need, when the sick

is
unable to come to the church, the conseperson
cration must notwithstanding be accomplished within
strictly

the sacred walls and there alone

then the priest is

to go in procession, bearing the korban and accompanied by deacons and acolytes, who carry thuribles
;

And

although now the ceremony is

shorn of all its pomp, still both rule and custom are
that the priest takes a portion of the consecrated

and

tapers.

wafer, which has been signed with the wine, to the

house of the sick person. There if, as sometimes

happens, he finds that the invalid from causes either

physical or moral is unfitted to receive the eucharist,

he does not carry

it

back to the church, but consumes

So Vansleb, Histoire, p. 130. So also Pococke, vol. i. p. 248,

none of the Copts, not even those who have joined the
Church of Rome, reserve the host. I can vouch for present custom.
1

states that

Ancient Coptic Churches.

296
it

In order that he

forthwith himself.

for this contingency,

The

fasting.

housel

confession, and

ness

is

he

in

[CH. vn.

may be

ready

obliged to go to the house

only given to the sick after

is

is

no case where sense or conscious-

failing.

Great reverence and care are required of those

who handle the sacred elements. In the Pontifical of
Gabriel a young and unpractised deacon is forbidden
to hold the cup or to administer with the spoon,
for fear lest he might spill a drop of the wine, or let
fall

an atom of the wafer.

If the

slips into

spoon

the chalice, the deacon must so leave it, and use

another.
Similar cautions abound in the canons

Negligence on the part of a

priest who lets fall an atom of the housel is punished
by forty days' inhibition from the service of the altar
and from communion, fasting to be enforced during
that period, and fifty prostrations to be made nightly.

from the

earliest times.

The doctrine of the real presence, of the change of

the bread and wine into the very body and blood of
our Lord, is held by the Copts in its most physical
literalness.

When

Gabriel, the LXX patriarch, went

monasteries to be proclaimed there,

Natrun
he had a dispute with the monks regarding the

to the

confession of faith preceding the eucharist.

It ran
I believe and confess that this is the
thus
body
'

of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which he

received from the mother of God, the holy Virgin
Mary, and made one with his Godhead' Some of
the monks refused the last clause, on the ground
that it was a later addition
but finally agreed to
:

when

'

further qualified by the words without sundering, mingling, or confounding.' This is

the form which remains in use at present and it is

receive

it

CH. viz.]

The Seven Sacraments.

297

The holy body, the precious,

preceded by the words
and
of
true
blood
pure
Jesus Christ, the Son of our
God. The body and blood of Emmanuel, our God,
'

this is in unity of substance.'

The

invocation too

prays that the Holy Spirit may come and make

this bread the body of Christ and this wine his blood.'
'

And

the reality of the belief is shown by a legend of

the eleventh century.
It is related that a certain
anchorite named Peter had his forefinger bound up

and when he came to die, two priests

him
with
attending
great importunity prevailed upon
him to show the finger. When he took off the wrapping, his finger was seen to be red, as if coloured
with fresh blood.
Peter then told them that once
when saying mass in church (apparently at the Red
Monastery), when he came to the consecration of
the chalice and touched the surface of the wine with
for fifteen years

'

he said within himself, Will this indeed

become the blood of Christ?' Thereupon the wine
rose in the chalice so as to cover his finger, and
stained it with a stain of blood, which remained
indelible.
From that day forward he never con-

his finger,

secrated again.
Masses for the repose of the souls of the dead in
the Romish sense are entirely unknown in the Church

of Egypt, for the simple reason that the Copts have

no belief whatever in purgatory. Apparently they

hold that the soul after death continues in an intermediate state, awaiting judgment, during a period
of forty days and during this period, or indeed after
it, prayer for the dead and mention at the mass is
:

But there is no expiation of sin

not discouraged.
after death by suffering, and no traffic in the terrors
of eternity.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

298

PENANCE OR CONFESSION

The sacrament

[CH.

'.

of confession was held in the early

is held unwaveringly as a

Church of Egypt, and

But, needless
point of doctrine at the present day.
to say, doctrine and practice have conflicted at
In the middle of
various points of Coptic history.

the

century John, the LXXII

twelfth

patriarch,

is

even said to have abolished the sacrament altogether

and about 1174 Markus ibn Al Kunbiri made a
great stir throughout Egypt by preaching that there
could be no forgiveness of sin without confession.
More than two centuries earlier Sanutius, the LV
:

spoke very clearly upon the point for in

of absolution to a certain deacon he
sending
wrote, the bonds of this deacon are loosed by my
word, nor is there cause why any of the faithful
should hinder him from the eucharist': and subsequently he gave his opinion, that whosoever receives
the holy communion without confession of sin only
:

patriarch,

letters

'

makes

his sin the greater.

Confession can only be

made

to a priest

and

in

only the kummus or archpriest who

can give absolution. After hearing the confession
the kummus enjoins such penance as he deems fit

these days

it

is

and

this

must be accomplished before absolution

is

general confession of sin is not regarded

granted.
as sufficient nor could the priest mete out the due
;

measure of penance
sions.

for sin veiled in general expres-

Silent confession over the

1

Arabic

smoke of burning

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vii.]

incense

said to

is

mission of guilt,

have been substituted

when John

299
for

open ad-

abolished the sacrament

and the same custom spread to the Ethiopians. But

that departure from canon law was only temporary,
though the neglect of right confession lasted for a
The form of absolution seems to be
long period.
the same that

is

tion to the Son,

contained in the prayer of absolu-

and

is

deprecatory.
penitent stands before the priest with bended
knees and bowed head. Both say the Lord's prayer

The

together; and after some other prayers the priest

gives the absolution and his blessing.
During the
orisons the penitent makes three prostrations before
the altar, and one before his father confessor, whose

he kisses beseeching his prayers. Penance foland must be strictly carried out, the penitent
rendering account of all his thoughts and actions to

feet

lows,

the priest.
that

When

the penitent has accomplished all

priest says over him a second

was enjoined, the

prayer of absolution, ere he can be admitted to parIn the Church of

take of the holy mysteries.

Abyssinia it is said to be customary to touch the

penitent with a spray of olive and the same practice, once common in western Christendom, still
prevails in some of the larger churches at Rome.
:

When

an apostate or notorious

evil-liver

is

re-

ceived again into the communion of the Church, the

priest pronounces the benediction in the name of the
Trinity over a vessel full of water, and pours in chrism
thrice in the form of a cross. Lections are then read

from the scriptures the priest pronounces the prayer

of absolution over the penitent, blesses the water
again, and makes over it the sign of the cross. The
penitent is now unclothed, and sprinkled thrice by
:

Ancient Coptic Churches.

300

CH. vn.

the priest with the words I wash thee, in the name

of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.' When the penitent has resumed his clothes,
'

the priest recites other prayers and the form of absoThou art
lution, dismissing him with the words
'

go thy way, and sin no more

Confession and absolution are specially necessary
at the point of death.
healed

.'

See Vansleb, Histoire,

some needless

repetition.

p. 190.

The account seems

to contain

CHAPTER

VIII.

The Seven Sacraments

Orders.

Anointing of the Sick.

Matrimony.

ORDERS

^COGNITION

(continued).

l
.

given at present to the

following orders in the hierarchy of the
Coptic Church
patriarch, metropolitan,
is

bishop,

chief priest or

kummus,

priest,

2
The subarchdeacon, deacon, reader
deacon also is a distinct order, and his position is
but his
clearly defined as inferior to the deacon
.

not distinguished by a special name in

common parlance. To these orders that of monk 3
and the rubrics mention also singer,
is to be added

rank

is

and doorkeeper or sacristan, as officials of the

church, though these do not receive ordination at
4
the hands of the bishop
.

Arabic

Arabic
-iJI

3
4

dy^i-Jl

<_po,,

or

Arabic t^LJl.
In a fourth-century

priest,

tsJ^kJI,

^lall, i_ia-ill,

u-U-iJl, and

MS.

the orders given are patriarch, bishop,

monk ; which occur in the com-

deacon, subdeacon, reader,

memoration

at the

mass

see

Fragmentum Evangelii

by A. Georgius, pp. 308-9 (Rome, 1789,

list is mentioned by Joseph, deacon of

4to.).

S.

Johannis

Precisely the

Abu Makar,

same

early in the

eleventh century
see Quatremere, Recherches Critiques et Historiques sur la Langue et la Litte"rature de 1'Egypte, p. 248.
:

Ancient Coptic Churches.

302

vm.

[CH.

The Patriarch.

The

and title of the patriarch is The

most holy Pope and Patriarch of the Great City of
Alexandria and of all the Land of Egypt, of
full

'

style

Holy City, of Nubia, Abyssinia,

and
all the
Pentapolis,
Preaching of St. Mark.'
Renaudot gives the title differently, adding et
Fostati Babylonis,' which obviously can only date
from Mohammedan times.
The name pope or
baba or papa has given rise to much controversy,
but may probably be derived from the Coptic ni
<Ln<L or ni
.&&..
Renaudot of course assumes
that the title came from Rome to Alexandria l
Jerusalem the

'

'

'

'

but Al Makrlzi says that the bishop being called

al ab, or father, the patriarch was called by pre-

eminence
the

title

use

at

'

'

and that
was borrowed by Rome, having been in
father of fathers

Alexandria

since

or al baba

the time of

the

first

and the account given by Eutychius

patriarch
is
The Copts however
substantially the same.
three
ecumenical
other
patriarchs,
acknowledge
those of Rome, of Ephesus, whose seat is now
changed to Constantinople, and of Antioch. The
pope of Rome would preside in an ecumenical
:

the patriarch of Alexandria bears the title

of J udge of the World,' and has authority to determine the date of Easter the patriarch of Antioch
council

'

'

is

Judge between the

Patriarchs,'

and would have

the privilege of consecrating the holy chrism, if all

the patriarchs happened to meet together for the
1

Lit. Or., vol.

i.

p.

349.

See Malan's History of the Copts, pp. 27

n.

and 28

n.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

303

Maundy Thursday service. Besides the foregoing,

the Copts recognise three honorary patriarchs, those
In an asof Jerusalem, Bagdad, and Abyssinia.
sembly of patriarchs he of Jerusalem would carry
the cross
Bagdad preserves the faith, and is judge
in any difference between the religions of the East 1
:

Formerly, of course, the seat of the patriarchate

was at Alexandria but after the Mohammedan
:

sovereigns had fixed their capital at Cairo, the

chair was transferred thither for reasons of practical
convenience.
Al Mu'allakah is, strictly speaking, the
cathedral church of the two Cairos

and the residence of the patriarch was established there first

But as Abu Sargah and even
after the removal.
Abu-'s-Sifain seem to have contended at various
:

times for the cathedral supremacy, so also the

residence of the patriarch seems to have varied.
last century it was fixed in the Harat-arbut after the French invasion the then
patriarch built the present cathedral in the Azbikiah
quarter of Cairo, and the adjoining dwelling which

In the

Rum

serves as the

still

palace/

Concerning the election of the patriarch in the

earliest days of the Church, the twelve presbyters
ordained by St. Mark, and the thorny statement of
2
Eutychius, there has been enough of controversy
Suffice it here to remark that all historical evidence
establishes the election by means of a council com.

prising the chief

among the laity.

among the clergy and the chief

The patriarch was chosen by a

synod of bishops, and their choice was

1

vol.

Vansleb, Histoire, pp. 9-10.

See Renaudot, Lit. Or., torn.
i.

p.

9 seq.

i.

p.

360

seq.

ratified

by

Neale, Alexandria,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

304
the people
didate,

vm.

or the people might put forward a can-

and the bishops confirm the

:

Before

election.

the election always took place at

then, when the seat of the patriarchate

the year 700 A.

Alexandria

[CH.

D.

was removed

to Cairo, the election was generally

held at Cairo until about 1000: next came a period
during which the honour was taken in turn by the
rival cities

and

finally

made good an absolute

Yet even when Cairo was

Cairo

claim to preeminence.
recognised as the place of election, the ceremony of
enthronement was always held at Alexandria, and
was followed by a formal proclamation at Dair

Macarius in the desert. Indeed on rare occasions

the patriarch was elected at that monastery.
Immediately after the death of the pontiff, letters
notifying his decease are sent from Alexandria to
bishops, monasteries, and chief laymen, summonThe first care
ing an assembly to meet together.

all

of the council

is

to appoint the senior bishop as

president, to obtain leave from the temporal sovereign

for the election, and to prepare themselves by solemn

prayers and fasts and vigils. When the assembly

was held at Alexandria, the chief priest of the church

Mark had the right of nomination and though

Cairo the right of proposal is said to have rested
with the Cairenes, some more or less phantasmal
of St.

in

prerogative seems always to have accompanied the

Often the nominee
representatives of Alexandria.

was received with acclamation by all parties, more

particularly if he had been designated by the will or
word of the late patriarch. But in case of disagreement decision was sometimes very difficult until,
;

as the story goes, the Mohammedan vizier in the

eleventh century recommended the Copts to follow

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

the Nestorian custom

the

Nestorians

first

of

in

1
.

305

From

electing a

the year 884 A. D.

new patriarch chose

one hundred candidates, who were reduced

all

through a process of elimination by voting to fifty,

The three names were
twenty-five, ten, and three.
written on separate slips of paper, and placed together
with the name of Christ on the altar and after cele:

bration an innocent child drew one from

name

among them.

was drawn, all three candidates

were rejected as unworthy and the whole process
was repeated, until the matter was settled. This
If the

of Christ

method,

first

adopted

in

Egypt

for the election of

Sanutius, the LXV patriarch, was afterwards used

similar method
occasionally in doubtful cases.

for the election of a bishop, when

LXIX refused to nominate to the vacant see

was even used

Macarius
In the Coptic practice, however, the names
of Masr.
were placed under the altar, not upon it. When the
candidate was thus chosen, whether by acclamation
or

lot,

name

the senior bishop solemnly proclaimed his

and the assembly shouted aioy,

in the church,

agios.

It was required of a patriarch that he should be

of free birth, the son of a 'crowned' mother, i.e. by
a first husband for a widow is not crowned if she
:

He

must moreover be sound in body,

not
less
than fifty years of age, and
unmarried,
never stained by bloodshed he must be a learned

remarries.

person, of blameless life and pure doctrine, a dweller

The last limitation
in the desert, and no bishop.
rigour, that from
to the days of Cyril LXXV in

was enforced with such unvarying

the time of St.
1

to

Mark

This story is perhaps open to question, as John XLVIII

have been chosen in the same manner.

is

said

Ancient Coptic Churches.

306

[CH.

vm.

1235 A.D. no single instance occurs of a pontiff

But the requirement of
raised from the episcopate.
monastic life is not justified by the most ancient
In 609 A.D.
canons or traditions of the Church.
Andronicus was elected, being a deacon of Alexandria
and amongst others who were not monks
may be mentioned Agathon about 663 A. D., and his
:

successors

Ephraim

John

and Isaac

John

XLVITI in 775

LXII in 977; Zacharias in 1002; Gabriel in

1131, deacon of Abu-'s-Sifain and Markus in 1163.

however the requirement is essential, though
;

Now

obviously prejudicial to the welfare of the people.

For how can a mere recluse, who has lived far
apart from the thought and movements of his time,
who has had no practice in dealing with men, and is
often as ignorant of letters as of life,
how can such
of
a man hope to know and rule the spirit
the Church,

or with helpless hand to guide the vessel in these

times of storm and peril ?
If the new pontiff was present at the assembly, he
was placed in the midst and his election confirmed
but if, as more often happened, he was in the desert,
a deputation of bishops and laymen was sent to bring
him from the monastery, whence, according to a
This
curious custom, he was brought in chains.
:

custom is said to date from the latter part of the

second century. For the story is that when Julian
xi was dying, he had a vision of a man bringing
grapes to him and in the morning there came an
ignorant rustic, saying that he had found a very fine
bunch of early grapes in his vineyard 1 and had
brought them as an offering to the patriarch. When
:

The legend

of the vine in

is

interesting as bearing witness to the cultivation

at that epoch.

Egypt

CH. viii.]

The Seven Sacraments.

307

Julian saw him, he exclaimed, This is the man whom

the angel of the Lord hath shewn unto me.'
So
'

the countryman was seized, and protesting violently

his unfitness for the office, he was placed in fetters,

and so ordained. In the ninth century we read

that Joseph LII on his election refused to quit the
monastery, and was dragged away in chains. Sanutius LV, being chosen against his will, was taken in
chains to Alexandria for his enthronement and the
same thing is recorded of Ephraim LXII. Indeed it
;

is

stated that the practice of fleeing into the wilder-

ness and being brought back in irons formed a

regular part of the ceremony of installation. Vansleb
l
he remarks that the
puts the matter differently
office was so disliked, that when the day of election
:

near, any one who thought himself likely to be

chosen forthwith went into hiding and the council
got janissaries from the Muslim ruler to hunt down
the fugitives, and to bring them in fetters to Cairo
No doubt there were times when the burdens and

drew

were enough to alarm the

strongest spirits
though at other times, in the
eleventh century for instance, the primacy was the
object of a violent competition, in which no method
was too unscrupulous. No doubt too the fear of
election sprang in many cases from a real sense of
unworthiness, or from that counterfeit form of the
same virtue which is characteristic of the Egyptians,
dangers of the

office

the dread of responsibility.

After the decision had been made, and the new
patriarch elected, an inquisition was often held into
his

life

and character,

he fulfilled
Sometimes also he

to ascertain that

the requirements of the canons.

1

Histoire, pp. 12, 13.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

308

[CH.

vm.

to sign a solemn bond and covenant

perform certain acts on his accession.

was compelled
to

engaging
Thus Michael LXVIII promised, among other things,
to pay the annual tribute to Alexandria to eschew
and to anathematise the practice of simony; and to
restore the churches of Al Mu'allakah and Al Adra
Harat-ar Rum to their bishops for these churches
had been usurped by Christodulus. But no sooner
was Michael seated on the throne than he tore up
;

the deed, laughing in the face of Sanutius, bishop of

Masr, who demanded his church, flatly denying his

covenant, and threatening to excommunicate any

witness who dared come forward against him and,
finally, he excommunicated Sanutius for celebrating
:

at Abu Sargah and Al Mu'allakah.

chosen candidate had attained no higher
order than monkhood, he passed through all the
other necessary orders on successive days before
the day of consecration, which must be a Sunday.
He was made deacon on the Thursday, priest on
Friday, and kummus or chief priest on Saturday:
but he was never made subdeacon, and never consecrated bishop. If, on the other hand, before election
he were deacon or priest, but had never become a
monk, it was essential for him to be ordained monk

on the same day

If the

before receiving the higher orders. For this purpose

he was invested with the whole angelic raiment,
the robe, the hood, the leathern girdle, and the
hermit's cloak.
As perpetual celibacy and a life of
special holiness were required of the patriarch, so
doubtless the requirement of monk's orders, signifying death to the world, was in accordance with the
most primitive tradition. But it is one thing to dress
the

new

pontiff in the angelic habit as a symbolical

CH. viii.]

The Seven Sacraments.

act of ritual,

and quite another thing

monkhood an

309

make anterior
The latter is a

to

essential of election.

vulgar act of realism, and a perversion of ancient

custom.

On

the day of consecration the patriarch elect is

brought in chains to the church, properly to the
church of St. Mark in Alexandria, having passed
the preceding night in vigil by the tomb of the evan-

when the body of St.

and the church destroyed, the
patriarch seems to have kept the vigil by the side of
his predecessor, from whose neck he took the patriBut

gelist.

in

Mark had been

later times,

stolen

The ordinary matins service is sung,

followed by a solemn mass, in which the
senior bishop pontificates.
After the reading of the
archal

and

pall.

is

and when the passage

a
finished,
procession is formed to
First come deacons bearing uplifted
the altar.
then a priest
crosses, burning tapers, and flabella
another
priest
swinging a thurible, and behind him
lessons the chains are loosed

from the Acts

is

bearing the silver or golden gospel next the archdeacon

the senior bishop followed by the other
the patriarch elect,
prelates walking two and two
vested in dalmatic and amice, and moving with
:

bowed head between two

priests

and

lastly all the

Thus they advance with

other priests in due order.
music and chaunts to the haikal, where all salute the
After the

gospel the senior bishop sits

the bishops sit on the bench
of the tribune beside him, facing westward but the
patriarch stands below between the altar and the

altar.

first

on the throne, and

all

throne, and faces eastward, a priest holding him

and all the priests and deacons sit
either side
:

the lower steps below the prelates.

Then

on
on

the senior

Ancient Coptic Churches.

3io

[CH.

vm.

bishop gives the decree or instrument of election to

a deacon, who takes it to the ambon, and reads it
aloud. All the bishops subscribe their consent after
which three priests and three deacons of Alexandria,
and either the abbot of Dair Macarius, or the ruler
of Alexandria or Babylon, i.e. Cairo, sign the document.
:

Now

come down and stand by the

hymns and prayers with incense
bishop lays his right hand in silence on

the bishops
After various

altar.

the senior

the head of the patriarch, while the archdeacon

makes a proclamation again he lays on his hands,
:

and

the

invocation, while all the bishops

stretch forth both hands, and lift their eyes above.
recites

Then

the bishop signs the patriarch with a cross 1

upon his head, proclaims him 'archbishop in the
holy Church of God of the great city of Alexandria,'

and vests him with the

patrashil

and chasuble.

All

return to their places in the tribune, while the sysinstrument of ordination is read by

tatical letter or

a deacon from the ambon.

low, until

Very long prayers folthe bishop proclaims the patriarch, when

the people shout ato?, <&-toy.

Then the gospel
times
placed four
successively on the patriarch's
head the chief bishop and all the bishops lay on

all
is

hands and when the patriarch has received

the pall and cope, crown and staff, he is led up to
the throne, and thrice made to sit upon it.
The
next
name
and
in
Greek
his
title,
bishop
proclaims
their

while
1

all

the bishops doff their crowns.

The language

The patriarch

of the rubric here rather suggests the use of

but
is
not
clear
chrism,
upon the point indeed there is no plain
evidence for the practice of anointing at ordination in the Church
of Egypt.
:

CH. viii.]

The Seven Sacraments.

31

on the throne, holding the book of the gospel,

and bishops, clergy, and laymen all salute him. Then

sits

the patriarch proceeds to celebrate the korban.

He
reads the gospel himself, and at the words I am the
'

good shepherd' all the people cry again a^oy, atoy

at the end of the service he gives the peace, and
retires in procession to the sacristy, where his liturgical vestments are put off, and he is apparelled in
a dark cope. So returning to the throne he gives
the benediction, and passes from the church to the
:

'

patriarchal palace, or cell,' as it is called in signi1

ficant contrast
He rides on his own mule in a
.

great procession, all the clergy going before him,

and the lay folk following after. At the head of
the procession three crosses are carried, and the

In olden times
picture of St. Mark and his banner.
at Alexandria the procession made a station in the

midst of the city, where prayers were recited and

thence with renewed chaunting they moved on to
the patriarch's dwelling. There all the clergy and
;

notables of the people came to pay homage and

a three days' festival was celebrated, first in the
church of the Gospel, next in that of St. Michael,
and finally in that of St. Mark. At the last service,
;

when mass was ended,

it

was customary

for

the

patriarch, sitting on the throne, to hold the head of

St. Mark instead of the gospel, and to place a new
veil or

covering upon it.

That venerable relic has long since disappeared.

1
The ceremonies of installation are given rather differently by
Vansleb (Histoire, pp. 162-9), wno mentions a large cross of iron
as laid on the altar under the paten, and taken by the patriarch
But
instead of the crozier, when he assumes his pontifical robes.

interesting as the fact

would

be, I

can find no other evidence

for

it.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

312

The

story

[CH.

vm.

that early in the seventh century an

into the church and carried off the

is

Arab crew broke

coffer in

which

it

was preserved, thinking it held some

But the vessel was unable to leave

great treasure.
the port and 'Amr, sending to know the reason,
discovered that they had taken the head. When it
;

was brought again

to land, the ship glided out of

Then 'Amr wrote to Benjamin the patriarch,

who had fled to Upper Egypt, recounting what had
harbour.

happened, recalled him, and gave him 10,000 dinars

to build a church in honour of the event and that
church is called Al Mu'allakah l
At the present day the patriarch lives in a simple
manner, having the income of an average country
living in England.
lay council has been created
to assist him in the management of the church
revenues indeed there is some likelihood of all the
;

and monastic, being placed

in commission. Great reverence is shown to the office
of the patriarch, however unworthy the person of him
ecclesiastical

endowments,

who

occupies the chair. It is still customary to 'worship' before him, i.e. to fall prostrate on the ground,
laying the forehead in the dust, and then to kiss the
pontiff's hand.

Metropolitan and Bishop.

There are four metropolitans, or archbishops,

under the jurisdiction of the Coptic patriarch,
1

So Vansleb, Histoire, p. 169: but there

take in the name.

great

Renaudot's

part

of the

treatise

De

materials

used

is

obviously

above

Patriarcha Alexandrino.

is

some mis-

taken

from

CH. viii.]

The Seven Sacraments,

313

those of Alexandria, Manufiah or Memphis, Jeru1

All these receive their
salem, and Abyssinia
.

consecration at the hands of the patriarch but the

ritual differs in no way from that used at the con;

bishop, except that the service in

the case of a metropolitan ends with a special invo-

secration of a

cation on his behalf.

bishop may be recommended or elected by

a council of clergy and laity, but his ordination must

be at the hands of the patriarch. It is considered

better, perhaps, that he should never have been married
but the only requirement essential is that he
should not have been married a second time. When
;

a candidate

presented to the patriarch, the latter

makes enquiry of six or seven witnesses, who answer
for the piety and learning of the bishop designate.
is

Sometimes a deacon is chosen, and the intervening

orders of priest and archpriest are conferred on consecutive days moreover, as in the case of the patriarch, if the bishop designate is a secular, he must
;

monkmust
be
on
Vespers
kept
Saturday preceding
the Sunday of ordination, and the night passed in
vigil, during which the new bishop repeats the whole
of the psalms and the gospel of St. John. The neighbouring bishops, clergy, and laity are summoned to
receive the angelic raiment and the order of

hood.

attend the ordination ceremony.

When the office of matins is over, the patriarch
and bishops enter the church in solemn procession,

and moving
1

city.

mass

Vansleb mentions only three, Damietta, Jerusalem, and EthiNo doubt the see of Damietta was once metropolitan but

opia.
it is

to the choir, wait there while the

not so at present owing to the diminished importance of that

The cathedral too was seized by the Muslims about 1670.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

commences then
;

all

[CH.

vm.

enter the haikal, and take their

seats upon the tribune.

Meanwhile the candidate
stands at the south side of the choir with a burning

taper before him and on the altar lie the episcopal

vestments, including a silk epitrachelion, embroidered
with the figures of the twelve apostles.
After the
;

from the Acts, the patriarch comes down

from his throne and stands in the doorway of the
sanctuary with the bishops around him and when
he has given them the cross to kiss, he sends
lection

to the bishop designate, who

before
Then a prothem.
prostration
formed, the three bishops holding the

number

three of their

makes a
cession

is

and passes round the church

stole of the candidate,

and

the

into

election

is

who hands

choir

formally
it

The instrument of
again.
delivered to the patriarch,

over to a deacon to read from the

ambon.
Turning now eastward to the altar, the pontiff
takes from it the dark-coloured ballin, and places
this on the new bishop instead of the shamlah 1
,

with the sign of the cross.

having
In like manner the epitrachelion is given, and the
thrice signed

it

wearer signed thrice on the forehead. Another proand at the

cession now moves down the church
western end the new bishop sits or kneels upon the
;

ground during the singing of a hymn. Then, singing

and the
still, they pass to the door of the haikal
kisses
the
and
falls
down
before
the
altar,
bishop
;

This seems to be the meaning of the rubric in Renaudot but

quite impossible to be certain about it. It will be remembered
:

it is

that the

'

black hood

white crosses

upon

it.

'

in the painting of

Anba Shanudah has

three

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. vin.]

cross at the

hand of the

forehead thrice crosswise.

and the

patriarch,

The

who

kyrie

is

315
signs his

sung here,

bells are rung.

After prayers and the pax, the senior deacon

cries, Lift up your hands, O bishops ;' whereupon
the prelates all raise their hands, and lay them on
the shoulders of their new brother, while the patriarch lays hands upon his head.
In the subsequent
the
turns
eastward
but faces westprayers
patriarch
'

ward again
of the

new

to sign the cross thrice on the forehead

bishop, and to vest him in full episcopal

apparel. When the bishop is fully arrayed, the patriarch delivers to him the small cross wherewith to give

the benediction and after a prayer lifts his hand

over the bishop, crying a'ioy, to which all assembled
answer &io$.
The next part of the ceremony takes place in the
choir, all the clergy standing there, while the admonition is read to the new bishop who, after hearing
Thence he
it, kisses the threshold of the sanctuary.
is taken back to the haikal, where he kisses the altar
and so he is led up the steps of the tribune, and takes
his seat on the right hand of the patriarch, holding
:

the book of the gospel. Mass forthwith commences,

and proceeds in the accustomed manner, except that

some

used at the kiss of peace.

The patriarch communicates himself, confesses the
new bishop, and administers, giving the wafer and
special versicles are

Then
the cup separately into the bishop's hand.
the corporal is placed over the sacred elements the
;

the doorway, and the patriarch,

bishop
turning westward, places the book of the gospel on
Then the deacon prohis head, saying the pax.
retires

to

claims the reading of the gospel from the ambon,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

316

[CH.

vm.

and the patriarch reads a passage from St. John 1

After the words Jesus stood in the midst and said
"
unto them, Peace be unto you," the patriarch holds
out the gospel over the head of the bishop again,
at the words As my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you/ he does the same thing, crying out
Then he resumes, and at the words Receive
ioy.
the
Holy Ghost/ he breathes in the form of a
ye
.

'

'

'

'

cross

upon the

face of the bishop, crying again <toy,

is taken
up by the clergy and the people,
the choir singing and the bells ringing and lastly,
at the words They are retained/ all the people shout,

and the cry

'

hundred years.' The patriarch and bishop return

to the altar, remove the veil, and administer the
communion to the rest of the clergy and laymen
At the end
while the choir sing the benediction.
'

of the service,

when

the benediction

is

to

be given

for the dismissal of the congregation, the patriarch

robes the bishop in a dark-coloured processional

cope, and invites him to give a separate benison.
All

then

to

proceed

and a three days'

the

patriarch's

festival is kept.

Here,

dwelling,
too, the

patriarch often presents the new bishop with a small

hand-cross and with a crozier ; but that is not a
It
necessary part of the ceremony of ordination.
is, however, necessary for the bishop to fast during
the week which follows his consecration 2 and during
,

that time to study diligently the duties of his office

and meanwhile the pontiff sends letters commendatory
;

to his diocese.

The
1

installation of the

bishop at his

own church

C. xx.

Vansleb, Histoire,

weeks as the period of

p.

172.

fasting in

Yet the same writer gives three

another passage.

See

p. 33.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

317

must take place on a week-day, and three other

bishops at least must be present to accompany him.
When he arrives at the village or dair nearest his
own town, the people come to meet him in procesThen
sion, and prostrate themselves before him.
the clergy read a chapter from St. Matthew 1 and
conduct him with chaunts and music through the
town to the church. The senior bishop says set
prayers before the door, recites Psalm cxvii. and part
,

of another chapter of St. Matthew 2

and forty kyries

follow,

and they

other prayers
Just within

enter.

the door the senior bishop reads the prayer of absothen come more lessons,
lution over the new prelate
;

and the procession moves

fall

down

to the haikal,

before the altar, and the

the lowest seat on the tribune.

where

all

new bishop takes

After matins, the

bishops put on their liturgical vestments and begin

the mass, the new bishop reading some of the prayers
and censing the altar. They invoke upon him the
gifts

of the

Holy

Spirit,

and lead him

in procession

round the church. On returning to the haikal they

lay their hands on his shoulders, and then take him
up to the throne, where the senior bishop makes
him sit, thrice replacing him as he tries to rise, and
the choir all cry d'toy.
Thus sitting on the throne
the bishop holds the book of the gospel in his hand,
the prelates and priests kiss him in order, while the
deacons chaunt to music. He descends and reads
the gospel, during which the chief bishop places the
silver book upon his head three times
then returnthe
altar
he
to
the
celebration.
The
accomplishes
ing
;

installation, like the consecration, is followed

C. xxi. 1-7.

C.

xvi.

by three

13-19.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

318
days of

festival,

but the bishop's fasting

is

[CH.

vm.

now turned

to feasting.

The number

of episcopal sees under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Alexandria is at present four-

teen

but

in ancient

times was far greater.

Vansleb

1673 transcribed a catalogue of the sees from an

old MS. shown to him by the then bishop of Siut ;
in

one hundred given, and that

of the total which can be
found recorded in church documents.
In his own
time Vansleb mentions fifteen as still existing
in this there are nearly
number falls far short

i.

Nakadah,

2.

Girgah,

3.

Abu

Tig,

4. Siut, 5.

Man-

Koskam, 7. Malafah and Miniah, 8. Bahnasah, 9. Atfiah, 10. Tahta and Ashmunain, 1 1. Faium,
12. Bilbais, 13. Mansurah, 14. Damietta, 15. Manuf,
Bahairah, and the port of Alexandria, which are
united.
At present there remain the following:
i. Gizah,
2. Faium and Bahnasah, 3. Miniah and
Ashmunain, 4. Sanabu and Koskam, 5. Manfalut,
6. Siut, 7. Girgah and Akhmim, 8. Abu Tig, 9. Kainah, Kuss, and Nakadah, 10. Asnah, 1 1. Al Khartum,
12-14. three dioceses in Abyssinia under the metro-

falut, 6.

politan.

Kummus.
There are two senses

in

which the term

kummus

its Coptic equivalent

/*vojuienoc, which
a slightly corrupted form of the Greek 1770^61/09.
The secular kummus, or archpriest, has a position
is

used, or

is

somewhat corresponding
he

to that of

an English rector

the chief priest in charge of a church, to which

there may be other priests as well as deacons attached.
is

The name
dral.

In

applies even to the superior of the catheother meaning it signifies the head or

its

CH.

The Seven Sacraments.

vm.]

319

abbot of a monastery. It is very difficult to decide

whether any particular church was originally secular
or religious and therefore it is not surprising to find
that the superior in both cases is called by the same
name though in all probability the term hegumenos
was once distinctly monastic.
When a priest is to be ordained kummus, he is
brought to the church, and set in the choir arrayed
:

in his sacerdotal

Two

vestments.

archpriests lead

him between them in procession round the church,

and bring him to the door of the sanctuary, where
the bishop is standing. All bow before the altar,
and the bishop says the prayer of incense then
;

hand upon the priest's

Moreover, the bishop signs his head thrice

after other prayers lays his

head.

with the sign of the cross the priest kisses the

altar
and the korban is celebrated. After commu;

nion a form of exhortation

new kummus

is

read,

admonishing the

of his spiritual duties.

Priest.

For the ordination of a

priest the canonical

age

Testimony is required from

thirty-three years.
the clergy that he be of good character and underis

standing, lawfully married, and a deacon in holy

If not already a deacon, he must be made
orders.

reader and deacon on successive days previous to

the day of ordination. When the day has come,
he must be vested as deacon, wearing a dalmatic,
and the orarion over his left shoulder, and be

brought to the choir, the bishop being within the

haikal accompanied by a priest.
The candidate is
led in procession round the church then bows low
;

Ancient Coptic Churches.

320

[CH.

vm.

altar, while the bishop, facing eastward,

with
the prayer of morning incense.
At
proceeds
the prescribed moment the bishop turns to the west,

before the

and lays his hand on the candidate's head, repeating an orison.

Resuming the eastward position he
continues praying
then turns westward again to
;

The
sign the candidate's forehead with a cross.
proclamation of the candidate as priest follows,
whereupon the bishop makes three more crosses
on his forehead, and vests him in sacerdotal apparel.
After the thanksgiving a priest delivers the exhortation there is also a special admonition concerning
the duty of confessing the people and of exercising
great discretion in dealing with penitents. The new
priest kisses the book containing the exhortation,
and the threshold of the haikal, and the hand of
;

the bishop. Then he receives the communion, and

the bishop's hands are thrice laid upon his head,

and

all

the people shout agios with the

name

of the

Vansleb the
priest
According
bishop also breathes upon his face, saying, Receive
thou the Holy Ghost;' but the rubrics do not seem
to mention insufflation.

and

his

to

cure.

'

Ordination
fast lasting

is

followed by a fast of forty days, the

till three o'clock in the fol-

from sunset

lowing afternoon.

Deacon.

is

For the ordination of the deacon the ceremonial

almost the same as that appointed for ordination

except that the deacon wears no stole

when he is presented to the bishop, and that the
process of investiture with the insignia of the order
of the priest

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

32 1

consists in the placing of the orarion upon the left

shoulder. Vansleb records that the eucharistic spoon
is

likewise delivered to the deacon as a symbol of

and held all through the mass and that

his office,

at the

end of the service the bishop breathes upon

The a^oy is called thrice by the clergy.

an archdeacon is ordained, there is a special
additional form of prayer, and a particular arrangement of the orarion, as described in the account given
above of the ecclesiastical vestments but otherwise
the service and ritual do not differ from those of the
his face.

When

inferior order.

The subdeacon stands at the door of the haikal

without dalmatic or other ornament. The bishop
does not ordain him by imposition of hands
but
:

morning incense places one hand

on each temple, so that the thumbs meet on the
The sign of
forehead, and so recites an orison.
the cross is also made on the subdeacon's forehead
once, and subsequently thrice, as in the case of the
and the orarion is placed over his
higher orders
left shoulder.
He kisses the altar, and receives the
eucharist but the bishop at no time lays hand upon
after the prayer of

his head.

As the deacon holds the spoon, so the subdeacon

holds a lighted candle in his hand all through the
celebration of the korban.
Reader.

The

candidate for the office

of reader in the

Church stands before the haikal without

with head uncovered and

bowed

low.

He

is

.dalmatic,

brought,

as usual, in procession, and presented to the bishop,

who stands in the doorway. The bishop asks, Do
'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

322

[CH.

vm.

ye bear witness that this person is in very truth

worthy of the order?' and the answer is, 'Of a
Then the bishop,
truth, our father, he is worthy.'
with a pair of scissors, cuts a large cross through
the hair of the candidate, and a smaller cross in
After a prayer
the angles between the branches.
westward, and another towards the altar, the bishop,
again facing to the west, holds the temples of the
candidate during another orison then he delivers
the book of the gospel, and administers the eucharist
but the ordination is accomplished without the
imposition of hands.
There is no other form of tonsure than that just
mentioned recognised by the Coptic canons or practised by any order.
Something of the same kind is
done at the ordination of the subdeacon in Abys;

Alvarez; and the subdeacon is

keys of the church, a veil is
placed upon his head, and a cruse of water is de-

sinia 1 , according to
made to touch the

livered as his symbol of office.

No
the

reader, nor subdeacon, nor singer

sanctuary, though they receive the

may

enter

eucharist

before the laymen.

The

singer

is

signed with the sign of the cross,

and receives a benediction from the bishop, of course

without imposition of hands.

Monk.
Three years of

noviciate are required before the

Then the abbot,
is conferred.
standing at the door of the haikal, bids the novice
lie prostrate on the
ground, and reads over him

order of

monkhood

Denzinger,

Rit. Or., torn.

ii.

p.

6 note.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

323

token of his death to the

The crosswise tonsure is made upon the
world.
monk's head, and the abbot vests him with tunic,
hood, and girdle, accompanying each investiture
with the appointed orisons.
Then, unless the monk
demand the asklm or angelic habit, the abbot prothe

burial

service

in

nounces absolution and gives his benediction.

For

the angelic habit a separate service is appointed,

and the monk receives a kind of cloak resembling

the cross is laid upon his head, and a

is read explaining the ardu'ous
exhortation
"special
duties involved in the assumption of this garb of

a cope

asceticism.

MATRIMONY

1
.

Marriage is not allowed to be celebrated during

the season of Lent but the most common time now
is
The sacrament
just before the fast commences.
of matrimony in the Coptic Church is surrounded
;

much solemnity, and retains some traces of

ancient and even pre-Christian custom which have
with

disappeared from western ritual.

It is the duty of the priest to ascertain that both
parties to the marriage are acting of free will and
not of compulsion. On the appointed day the bridegroom and the bride are separately escorted in procession with music through the streets to the church.
the bridegroom reaches the door, the deacons

When

bearing tapers and bells and the priests meet him

Blessed is he that cometh in the
there, singing
'

Arabic

s-

Y 2

Ancient Coptic Churches.

324
name

of the Lord.'

bridegroom
door,

and

Other chaunts

follow,

then conducted to the choir.

is

and the

Similarly
at the

and led

to her place in the division or gallery

women.
if

vm.

welcomed with the Ave, Maria'

'

the bride
for

is

[CH.

All the clergy are dressed in white

the patriarch perform the office of benediction,
:

the clergy escort him to the church in procession.

The raiment destined for the bridal, a golden cross,
a golden ring, a girdle, and incense, are placed on a
tray in the choir

and sometimes also a new silken

cope, which it
customary for the bridegroom to
the
to
present
patriarch, who puts on the gift for the
service.
The service comes just after matins.
is

The penitential psalms are first recited, and incense

burned then the patriarch or celebrant is solemnly
censed by the other clergy.
Kyries, alleluias, and
psalms are next sung and followed by the epistle
then the choir is censed, and the gospel read in
Coptic and Arabic with the customary ceremonies.
Several orisons from the liturgy are now said ending
with the prayer of absolution to the Son after which
the tray of vestments is unveiled, and the patriarch
blesses each one singly.
In these the bridegroom
is

arrayed, being clothed first in a white silken tunic

reaching to the feet, then with the girdle about his
is

and with a white covering on his head moreover the patriarch places the ring on the ring-finger
of the bridegroom's right hand, and pronounces over

waist,

him

his benediction.

The

celebrant

leading the
waiting, and
also a crown
forth her

now moves down from

the choir

to the place where the woman is

bids him give to her the ring, to which

man
is

hand

fastened.

And when

the

woman

puts

to take them, she thereby signifies

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

325

her willingness to become his wife, and the celebrant inclines their heads together.
Thence the
man and woman go to the doorway of the choir, and
the bride stands at the bridegroom's right hand.

Thus standing they

are covered by the priest with

a single veil of white silk or fine linen, symbolical of
pure and holy union. Appropriate prayers are re-

and hymns are sung, accompanied by the

burning of incense, and divided by a lection from the
cited,

When

they are finished, the priest or

patriarch begins the benediction of the bride and
bridegroom and whenever -he mentions their names,
he signs them with the sign of the cross 1
Liturand after the pax
gical prayers continue with music
the priest blesses a vessel of oil, and anoints both
bride and bridegroom on the forehead and on the
gospel.

he blesses also the crowns, and after an

them on their heads, and cries in a
loud voice, With glory and honour the Father has
crowned them, the Son blesses them, the Holy
Ghost crowns them, comes down upon them, and
and other forms of blessing follow,
perfects them
varying with, the customs of the several churches.
Then the man and woman stand with their arms
crossed before them, and the golden cross is laid
upon their heads, while the priest pronounces over
them the absolution. This is followed by an exhortation, at the end of which the priest delivers the
bride to the bridegroom, joining their hands, and gives
another benediction.
During some versicles which
wrist

orison places
'

'

In the previous benediction of the bridegroom, according to

Vansleb, the priest stands behind him facing eastward, and touches
the back of his head with the silver or golden cross. See, however,
Denzinger,

Rit. Or., torn.

ii.

p.

364

seq.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

326

follow, a procession

church with

lights

is

[CH.

vm.

formed, and moves round the

burning and music playing.

When

they have returned, the canon of the mass

Man and wife partake of the holy eucharist,
begins.
and are then escorted in procession to the doors of
the church, and so through the streets homewards.
On the eighth day after marriage a solemn service
Certain
held for the removal of the crown.
prayers and lections are recited in due order and
is

when they

finished, the priest takes off the

crown from the head of the bride and bridegroom,

are

and dismisses them with his benediction.

It will be seen, then, that the Coptic marriage
service corresponds in its main features, particularly
in the coronation and removal of the crown, with
the same service in the Greek, as given by Goar
l

corresponds also with the Latin rite, as recorded

in the ninth century by pope Nicholas, who brings out
It

the offerings to the church,

four points as essential
the benediction, the veiling, and the crowning 2
.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK.

In the Arabic names for this sacrament, which
signify oil of the lamp or oil of the sick V there is
'

'

'

Euchol., pp. 396, 400.

For other ceremonies connected with the Coptic marriage, see
Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 290 seq. Lane's account of
2

is fairly accurate on the whole,

though warped by that
morbid prejudice which disfigures most English writings about
them. See, for example, the thoroughly unjust article on the
Copts in the new Encyclopaedia Britannica.

the Copts

JjJuiiJ

oo,

or

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

nothing to denote that

327

to be administered solely
Church to those who are

it is

as the last rite of the

So far therefore the Coptic differs from

departing.
the Romish practice.
In the Pontifical of Gabriel the rites of the sacrament of unction are described as
with seven branches

follows.

lamp

with purest olive oil

of Palestine, and placed on a stand before a picture
of the blessed Virgin near it also are set a cross
and the silver book of the gospel. Seven priests,
is filled

or any other convenient number, assemble in the

church.
The service commences with a thanks-

by burning of incense, a portion of

and
Then the
some
epistle,
appropriate orisons.
chief priest lights one of the wicks, making the sign
giving, followed

an

of the cross over the

while his brethren sing

Other prayers follow
and at a time
psalms.
appointed the second priest likewise makes the
sign of the cross over the oil, and kindles the second
oil,

and so on with intervals of prayer and chaunt

whole seven wicks are kindled in order.
When all the prayers and lessons belonging to the

wick

until the

lighting of the
if

lamp are thus accomplished, the sick

in such a condition that he is able to

he be

person,
take part in the service, advances to the door of the
There the chief priest
haikal, facing to the east.
holds the silver gospel and the cross high above his

head, and then lays his hands upon the sick man's
temples but while the chief priest alone recites the
:

orisons, all the priests severally give their benediction, recite the Lord's prayer, and open the gospel,
reading the passage on which they chance to open.
1

See the

illustration of

such a lamp on

p.

76 supra:

Ancient Coptic

328

Chiirches.

[CH.

vm.

Moreover the creed and other prayers are uttered

is
again uplifted over the sick man and a
procession is formed and passes round the church,
bearing the seven-wicked lamp and lighted tapers,
:

the cross

while they sing, praying to God that the sick man

may be healed through the intercession of saints
and martyrs. At the end of the procession the sick

man

returns to the choir, and standing at the door

In
of the haikal, as before, is anointed with the oil.

case the sick person

to endure the long and

of the service in the church, a
is

too

ill

fatiguing ceremony
substitute is put in his place, but the service is not
performed outside the consecrated building, and is

intended as an intercession for the recovery of the

sick, and not as the Church's final benediction of a
soul passing to eternity.

The Armenian

rite for

the anointing of the sick

closely resembles the Coptic in its use of a sevenwicked lamp but differs in allowing the service to
be held at the bedside, in cases where the sick
person is unable to go to the-church.
:

This practice of anointing the sick with oil from a

church lamp is extremely ancient. St. Chrysostom
clearly speaks of persons who had been anointed in
faith with oil from such a lamp, and had been cured
Oil of the lamp is also mentioned
of divers diseases.
as used for unction of the sick in the life of Nilus
the younger 1 and monks and others are said to
have been healed of evil spirits in this manner, the
The
anointing being given at the hands of a priest.
:

same custom and the same expression are also found

in Greek ritual, which contains a prayer for the
1

Vita,

Antiq. q.

viii.

v.

58,

59:

Boll.

Sept.

26,

quoted in Diet. Christ.

The Seven Sacraments.

CH. viii.]

329

l
Seven
anointing of the sick with oil of the lamp
ritual
in
as
the
also
are
Coptic
priests
required,
and the oil is kept burning in a seven-wicked lamp
.

before the principal icon of our Lord in the church

but wine is used in this lamp in lieu of water 2
.

Euchol., p. 842.

Id., p.

436.

CHAPTER

IX.

Various Rites and Ceremonies of the

Church.
Oils.
Consecration of a Church and Altar. Consecration
of a Baptistery. Festival of Epiphany. Palm Sunday and Holy
Week. Seasons of Fasting.

The Holy

THE HOLY

OILS.

ORMAL usage and canon law

in the

West

alike recognise three distinct kinds of oil

as employed in the service of the Church,

called chrism, oil of the catechumens, oil

There are many vestiges in Coptic

rubrics showing that three kinds of oil have been
used from time immemorial in the ritual of Egypt
and there still exists at the church of Anba Shanudah
in Old Cairo a chrismatory containing three crewets,
one for each of the several sorts. But the corof the

sick.

is rather in practice than in theory

doubtful whether the Church of Alexandria

respondence
for

it is

ever formally recognised more than two kinds of oil,

each having a specific and separate ritual name and
In the early fourth-century fragment of a
purpose.
Coptic MS., published by Georgius, two kinds are
mentioned, and called ^.VJon JULTpon and ^.viort
eX<s,ioit
and so perpetually we find chrism and
;

Various Ceremonies.
olive oil distinguished.

Greek

in

ayaAAiao-eoo?

The

latter

331

was

also called

whence, by a curious

eXaioj/,

1
corruption, the term galilaeon was formed in Coptic,
and constantly stands in the rubrics and prayers

for the secondary

ever

oil.

There

no

is

difficulty

what-

understanding the use of three oils in

and
the recognition of two in theory by the
practice
Egyptians for while the galilaeon answers generally
in

'

of the Latins, and

the oil of the lamp answers to the oleum infirmorum,' yet the material of these two oils, namely
the galilaeon and the oil of the lamp, is precisely the
to the

'

oleum catechumenorum

'

same

in

both cases, pure olive

oil

of Palestine.

They are therefore virtually one and the same

and stand together in contrast to the myron 2
chrism, which

The most

is

oil,

or

an elaborate compound.

essential ingredient in the composition

of the holy chrism is balsam grown in the garden

by the Virgin's well at Matariah, the ancient HelioIt

polis.

was

Holy Family
it is

here, according to the legend, that the

rested on their flight into Egypt: and

related that they hid in the hollow of a tree,

across which a spider wove his web, and so deceived

the pursuers.
mediaeval Arab writer thus cites

'

a mention of the balsam of Matariah

in vicinia
Fostatae sunt ab austro vicus Menf et a septentrione
urbs nominata Ainschemes
dicunturque ambae
:

In
Pharaonis, cui Deus maledicat.
Ainschemes provenit balsami arbor, quod nullibi
terrarum nisi hie nascitur V As a matter of fact the

horti

fuisse

An

The term

See Descriptio ^Egypti, translated from the Arabic by

intermediate form
is

is

also found,

in use at present in the

Michaelis, Gottingen, 1776, p. 127.

A.V^.XXieX^.Iort.
Arabic form

^j^-Jil.
J.

D.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

332

balsam-tree

found also

is

last tree in

Egypt

is

in

[CH. ix.

Arabia, and though the

have perished in the

said to

great inundation of 1615, it may very well have

been restored. Tradition, however, insists that the
balsam grew only in the garden at Matariah, and

required to be watered from the well in which the

There is a story that in
infant Christ was washed.
the twelfth century a certain Jew, who had become
vizier to the sultan 'Aziz,

son of Saladin,

flatly

denied

had another
prove
well dug close to the Virgin's fountain.
For a year
the balsam trees were watered only from the new
well and the result was that they yielded not one
Next year the vizier caused them
drop of balsam.
to be watered in equal quantities from both wells
and they produced then half the usual amount of
this truth

and, to

his contention,

balm.

The

third

when

year,

the

water of the

alone was used, the yield of balm

Virgin's
1
recovered, and attained its full measure
Several boilings are required for the myron, and
well

a process precisely ordered.

The amount of
is
used
defined
every drug
by rigid prescription, and
and
measure. At the first
portioned by weight

each

is

boiling the various herbs and spices, which include

lilies and cassia, are put in a pot, and covered with

and so

Next
steep for a day.
of
has
which
never
oil,
pure
morning eight pounds
been contained in any vessel of leather, is poured
fresh water,

upon the

spices,

moderate

fire,

left to

and made

decayed church pictures

1

to boil all

2
.

day over a

wood

or

While the mixture

is

the fuel for which

is

olive

See also Evangelia Apocrypha, ed.Tischendorff, 2nd edit. p. 193.

(Evang. Infant. Arab. c. xxiv.)
2
This custom recorded by Vansleb (Histoire, p. 91), still con-

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

333

From
boiling the whole of the Psalms are recited.
time to time the spices are stirred with a wand of
and as the water fails, it is replenished. In
olive
;

the evening the pot is taken off the fire, and the oil
left to cool all night till the following morning, when
it is strained through linen.

Then

red roses of Persia, white sandal-wood, and

other aromatics are placed in a cauldron of fresh
water and left for six hours when the oil of yester;

placed with them, and the whole is boiled for

day
four hours over a slow fire, and strained again.
is

For the

third boiling other spices are chosen,

boiled
with the oil resulting from the day
steeped,
Next day white
preceding, and strained as before.
storax, saffron, aloe-wood,

and more red roses are

used with other things, and boiled as before until all

when the remaining
evaporated
mixture is clarified by straining. This on the fifth

the water has

is added to a decoction of yellow amber and

storax or balsam, and boiled over a slow fire made
of oak charcoal, until the amber and the storax are

day

dissolved.
linen

Then

the chrism

is

passed through a

into a clean vessel,

strainer

daily for seven days,

cration *.

when

it

is

and

is

stirred

ready for conse-

According to ancient custom the hallowing of the

myron should always,

church

of

Originally
tinues

it

if

possible, take place at the

Macarius in the western desert.

was done in the church of St. Mark

St.
it

accounts for the disappearance of

all really

early paint-

ings from the churches.

1

The manner of making chrism

as described

by a Coptic

prelate,

answer to a demand from the Maphrian of Mosul, is given

MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. (XIV. No. 100.)

in

in

Ancient Coptic Churches.

334

at Alexandria,
is

[CH.IX.

and when the change took place

it

impossible to say, but probably not later than the

seventh century. There seems too some ambiguity

concerning the day proper for the consecration,
whether it should be Maundy Thursday, as in the
western rite, or Good Friday.
But the Coptic legend

day was changed

Good

Friday, and
the
390, by
patriarch
Theophilus, in obedience to the command of an
The same angel taught
angel seen in a vision.
is

that the

the place to Dair Macarius,

to

c.

Theophilus the right spices to use for the chrism,

and the right manner of its preparation. Theophanius LX is said to have restored the custom of
consecrating on Good Friday, which had been
abolished by his predecessor c. 950 A.D.
During
the thirty years which followed, the practice varied

between Thursday and Friday, until Ephraim LXII

by an ordinance settled Thursday as the right day
for ever.
Thursday, of course, is the day recognised
by the Church all over the world for the consecration
of the chrism and if the Copts ever changed it, they
were doubtless conscious of error. Hence the supposed sanction of the change by an angel's voice, as
;

in the legend.

As

regards the change of place,

it

may very well have followed close upon the Arab

conquest for the ceremony required great pomp
and great preparation, and it is no wonder that the
;

scene was changed from the alarms and persecutions

of the city to the unbroken quiet of the desert

monastery.

When

the day has come, the patriarch and a great

number of bishops and clergy and

the church of St. Macarius.
await consecration, the

assemble at
two oils which

laity

The

myron and the

galilaeon, are

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

335

l
Service
placed in separate vessels on the high altar
with
a
incense,
begins
thanksgiving accompanied by
.

and a prayer

is

by the

recited

Then

patriarch.

follow several lessons, during which the pontiff is

seated on his throne, and when they are ended a

procession is formed, which passes round the church.

At the head a processional cross is carried then
:

come twelve subdeacons

each bearing a lighted

twelve
with
deacons
silver flabella
twelve
lamp
the patripriests with censers of burning incense
arch walking under a white silken canopy, upheld
by four deacons, and carrying the vessel of holy oil
covered by a white veil and on either side of the
patriarch and behind him are other ecclesiastics
:

bearing flabella and crosses. As they move, all

Behold the ointment of the Lord 2
and
sing,
'

'

when they return to the haikal, the patriarch places

the myron again upon the altar 3 and proceeds with
,

the long but beautiful consecration service.

After
the benediction of the oils the korban is immediately
celebrated
1

and when

it is

According to Vansleb the

the creed of the apostles,

writer mentions two altars
'

'

over, the

myron and the

mystagogia/ which he defines as

The same
placed between them.
of wood specially made, one on each

is
'

:
but the term is obviously inaccurate, mere
pedestals being required if anything, and no mention being made
even of these in the rubrics. The statement doubtless arises from

side of the high altar

a misapprehension I think it possible that altar-boards may have

been used as stands for the vessels but placed upon the high altar.
:

See Histoire,
3

p.

The Copts

231 seq.
say that the chrism represents the

balm used

at the

entombment.
3

According to Vansleb the myron is placed on one of the wooden

but see the rubric in
pedestals, and the galilaeon on the other
:

Denzinger, Rit. Or.,

mentioned.

torn.

i.

p. 251,

where nothing of the kind

is

Ancient Coptic Churches.

336

[CH. ix.

galilaeon are both placed in the cavity under the

high altar, where they remain until Tuesday in

Easter week. On that day after mass the patriarch
distributes to the bishops sufficient quantities to last'
them for the coming year. It should be noticed
that in the prayers of benediction, where the uses of
the chrism are specified, the anointing of regenera-

mentioned, and the anointing of bishops and

but in the
priests, and the consecration of altars
benediction of the galilaeon it is stated that priests
tion

is

'

and martyrs' have been anointed with

it.

From

the tenour of the prayers in the latter case, it is

clear that the galilaeon is regarded as possessing a

mystic virtue against idolatry and witchcraft, a

power of defence against the assaults of the devil,

and a power of healing for soul and body. It is

therefore needful in some way to all the faithful
:

and accordingly we find that to this day all folk,

whether cleric or lay, are anointed once a year in
the season of Lent with the galilaeon.
But present practice has departed somewhat from
the primitive tradition.

For while the galilaeon

seems almost to have disappeared through a confusion with the oil of the sick, which is hallowed
from time to time as required the consecration of
chrism has become an extremely rare occurrence.
Not that its worth has been in any way depreciated
on the contrary it is regarded still as no less necessary than sovereignly precious but for the last two
or three hundred years at least it seems to have
been made in larger quantities, and consequently at
For the ceremony, which should
longer intervals.
be annual, now takes place once in every thirty
or forty years.
According to Pococke a definite
;

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

337

interval of thirty years is prescribed

but this is not
the case.
of
list
dates, for instance, at which the
;

consecration was held in the thirteenth century shows

The myron

from

six to fifteen years l

only at confirmation, and at

irregular intervals varying

now used
new

is

the dedication of a
vessel,

church, altar, picture or

to
the
according
testimony of the present

patriarch.

There is a
Greek usage

between Coptic and

myron for the same

close resemblance

as regards the

both languages. The preparation is

Greeks use oil, wine, balsam,
myrrh, storax, cassia, cinnamon, marjory, and in all
Moreover the consecrasome thirty-six aromatics 2
tion is attended with much the same ceremonial.
The oil is carried in procession in an alabaster box,
which is covered with a veil before it move deacons
with lighted tapers, and on each side of it are seven
deacons carrying fans, which they hold above the

term

is

used

as elaborate

in

for the

But the pontiff instead of carrying the holy

it from the chief priest or
bishop at the
door of the sanctuary, and places it on the altar.

vessel.
oil

receives

In the

West

and balsam.

the chrism

The

was made merely of

three

oils

were

oil

consecrated

together, the chrism being borne in a vessel of gold,

sanctum and oleum infirmorum

were held in silver vessels
and the procession
through the church resembled that of the oriental
ritual.
Chrism was used for the latter unction at
baptism and for confirmation for the consecration
of a church, altar, and bells for the consecration of
while the oleum

The MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale

1305, 132, i330> J 340, and 1346 A.D.
1

Goar, Euchol.,
VOL. II.

p.

637.

gives the years 1299,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

338

[CH. ix.

bishops, priests, and kings and it was placed on the

hands of the deacon, and on crucifixes at their bene;

But in the Latin rite the chrism and balsam

were set on the altar separately during the service
diction.

the bishop mingled a portion of the oil with the

balsam on the paten, and then replaced it in the
golden vessel. Curiously enough exactly the same
method of mingling the chrism is found in the
Jacobite Syrian ritual, which otherwise tallies rather

with the Coptic, particularly in the details of the

great procession, and in the prominence given to

The Syrians recognise only two

the second the oil of anointing
it is

the use of flabella.

oils,

and

'

call

used for the

'

first

unction at baptism, and for the

healing of the sick.

THE CONSECRATION

OF A

CHURCH AND ALTAR.

The

Coptic order for the consecration of a church

having never been published, it is impossible to give
anything like a complete description of the ceremonies
In giving therefore such points of usage
customary.
as can be ascertained, others no less essential will
have to be passed in silence owing to want of information.

The

service commences with vespers on the evenbefore

a Sunday, and lasts through most of the
ing
night, the act of consecration being reserved for

A great number of clergy and

with
the patriarch in the building
assemble
bishops
but it does not appear whether there is any ceremony
at the western door, such as was usual in our own
Seven earthen vessels of water are ranged
country.
Sunday morning.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

339

in front of the haikal, and the neck of every vessel is

wreathed with leaves of a plant called 'silk'
Seven
also
are
before
the
and
seven
haikal,
lamps
burning
censers of incense between the vessels of water and
the screen.
A large portion of the psalter is then
and
followed
sung,
by a long series of lessons and
1

every lesson a

after

hymn

chaunted.

is

Next the

patriarch censes the building, while the clergy sing

another hymn. Prayer after prayer continues, varied
only with kyries from the people and portions from

the four gospels.

When the moment comes for
the benediction of the water, all kneel down until the
orison is finished.

all

Then

the clergy form a long procession

headed by the patriarch the vessels of water are
borne along in this procession, and the clergy, who
all

rising,

most splendid vestments, carry tapers,

thuribles, flabella, and a magnificent book of the
gospel.
They go first into the haikal, where the
patriarch or bishop sprinkles the walls and top of
the altar with water, which he takes from the earthen
vessel in a gourd
then he sprinkles in like manner
all

wear

their

the walls of the haikal, particularly the eastern niche,

and also the pillars and dome of the altar-canopy.

From

the haikal the procession passes round the

and the pontiff sprinkles in the same

whole church

way the walls, angles, columns, and, where possible,

the roof, saying at each place, The holy consecration
'

of the house of God.'

procession a second is made, in

which the places sprinkled are signed with the silk

After the

first

Apparently white beet.

See Vansleb, Histoire, p. 215. It is

is not rather used as the instru-

questionable whether the plant

ment of aspersion.

Z 2

Ancient Coptic Churches.

340

[CH. ix.

Finally, there comes

a third procession, in which a vessel of holy chrism

leaves in the form of a cross.

is

borne before the

pontiff,

who

signs the

myron

with the sign of the cross upon the altar, walls,

columns, and all the places that were touched with
the leaves, and sprinkled with the hallowed water.

The

consecration of the church

is

now

accomplished,

and the marks of consecration are sometimes recorded

incision of crosses.

Thus

the pillars at
Abu Sargah have dedication crosses cut into the
marble others are seen in Al Muallakah, Al Adra

by the

all

and the crosses

Harat-az-Zuailah, and elsewhere
often cut on the architrave joining the columns of the
:

nave may have the same origin. It seems, however,

an invariable rule that no record was preserved of
chrismal crosses signed upon plastered surfaces.
In the foregoing account no mention is made of a

and I
procession round the outside of the church
have no doubt that such a procession never formed
:

part of the ceremonial, for the simple reason that

there is scarcely a single church in Egypt which is
so far detached on the outside as to render an ex-

In our old English ritual the

round
the church outside, as well
procession passed
as inside, and the bishop made twelve crosses with
chrism upon the walls externally, and twelve inOn the outside, the places where the
ternally.
chrism was signed were often marked by an incised
and inside, where the chrism
cross in a roundel
was placed upon a plastered surface, the spot was
terior circuit possible.

marked by a

Museum

In the British

similar design painted.

a French miniature

representing a
bishop on a ladder making a cross upon the wall of

there

is

Add. MSS. 18,143.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

a church.
as the. total

number

341

The Ordo Romanus

prescribes twelve
but twenty-four was the more usual

and the full number was marked upon any

added
to an earlier building.
Nine of the
chapel
inside crosses remain in Henry VII/s chapel at
Westminster outside crosses are tolerably common.
In England the size and shape varies
thus large
and fanciful devices may be seen outside Salisbury
cathedral, and on the church of Ottery St. Mary the
crosses are held by angels.
The Coptic form is
1
a Greek
generally that given in the woodcut
cross having the upper and lower limbs slightly
elongated and having all the branches hollowed
;

The nearest approach to this

found
at Chichester cathedral.
England
In the Anglo-Saxon ritual as recorded in the
Ecgbert Pontifical, the bishop, pausing at the western
door on his arrival, strikes it with his staff and is then
admitted. A hymn was sung outside, and a litany
within the nave then the bishop wrote the alphabet

with sloping sides.

form

in

is

floor, and passing to the altar exorcised and

blessed salt and water, blessed also some ashes, and
mixing salt and ashes, made a cross with the mixture
on the water.
Wine also was mingled with the
water
and the bishop, dipping his finger in the
water, first signed the cross on all the corners of the
altar, and then walked seven times round the altar

on the

sprinkling water upon it with a branch of hyssop.

In the same way he walked all round the church,
and he
inside and outside, sprinkling the walls
;

sprinkled also one large cross the length and breadth

of the building.
Then the hallowed water was

poured away, and the altar dried with a cloth

1

P. 2

supra,

figs, i

and

2.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

342

[CH. ix.

incense was offered, and a cross with oil was made

and the
in the centre and at each corner of the slab
;

same

places were subsequently anointed with

Crosses of chrism were made also on the
chrism.
walls.
Special prayers and rites for the consecration
of the altar and all the sacred vessels followed
the
relics were enclosed in the altar or in the slab
little
and
a
two
small
crossed
tapers
bishop placed
heap of incense and kindled them together over the
and the
five spots marked by the crosses of chrism
service was brought to an end by the celebration of
mass l
Ceremonies not very different in kind, though
five

different in order, are prescribed in the Greek office

but there is no menfor the dedication of a church
;

tion of writing the alphabet on the floor. Moreover,

when the bishop after knocking has been admitted

he proceeds at once to set up the

on the pillars which form the usual subThen the slab is washed with lustral
structure.
warm water, which is poured on crosswise, and in
the same way with wine after which three crosses of
chrism are poured on the slab, and from these the
whole slab is anointed. Three crosses are likewise
marked with chrism, on each pillar.
The antimensia are consecrated at the same time and when
to the church,

altar-slab

they are removed, the altar

is

vested in

its

three

normal coverings. Not till this is accomplished

does the bishop go round the church, marking all
1

The Roman

ritual for the dedication of a

church continues, for

part, unchanged to the present day.

illustrations, may be seen in the Pontificale

Romanum dementis

the

viii

most

full

account, with

ac Urbani vni jussu editum, inde vero a Benedicto xiv recog-

nitum.

Mechlin, 1873.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

The

the walls and columns.

relics

343
are deposited

after a separate entrance in grand procession to the

church.
They are placed in a hole in the foundation

of the altar between the two easternmost pillars or,

if the altar
happen to have a solid substructure, they
are placed in a cavity in the middle of the eastern
:

face of the altar.

and the hole

cement which

is
is

Chrism

is

poured upon the

relics,

fastened up with lead or with the

used for the slab, and which consists

of mastich, wax, and marble dust.

This done, the

mass proceeded.
The Greeks also,

like the Copts, use chrism to

anoint the eucharistic vessels and church pictures at

their dedication.

The

consecration of the altar follows that of the

Coptic ritual, which therefore so far

agrees rather with western than with Greek custom.
For in Egypt when the pontiff has consecrated the

church

in the

church, he returns, and standing before the altar

censes it, while psalms and orisons are chaunted.

Then he makes upon

it

three crosses of chrism,

We anoint with myron this altar, which is

in the name of the Fahonour of St. ther >%*, and of the Son <%*, and of the Holy Ghost <%*.'
After many more prayers he prostrates himself
before the altar, and all the clergy do the same
then the altar is vested with its covering, and the
cross and the book of the gospel are laid upon it,
A procession
while the clergy and the people sing.
is formed and passes with sounds of music three
and mass is celebrated.
times round the altar
Afterwards the patriarch breaks the gourd and the
water-vessels, and the fragments are taken away and
'

saying,

built in

cherished by the people.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

344

THE CONSECRATION

[CH. ix.

OF A BAPTISTERY.

Such

rubrics relating to the position of the bapas

survive prescribe that it should be at the
tistery
south-east corner of the church.
These rubrics,

however, which are of mediaeval date, not only

show a departure from the original custom, which
placed the baptistery at the south-west corner in the
narthex but are in themselves of no great authority.
For I have already shown that, once the baptistery
;

was removed within the body of the church, no

inflexible rule for its position was known or followed.
It

is,

however, essential that the picture of our

Lord's baptism should be placed against the wall, or

in a niche near the font.

The

consecration must take place on Sunday, if

possible, and at the preceding vespers the font must

Eastward of the font three lamps,

with pure oil of Palestine, must be kindled at
Three water-pots filled with
the rising of the sun.
fresh water must be provided also an instrument of
be well washed.
filled

aspersion made of palm twined with leaves of silk ;

some basil a new sponge and candles burning on
The service commences in the church,
candelabra.
;

where, after various psalms and lessons with prayers,

the pontiff censes the altar saying the prayer of

Then

the pontiff sits upon his throne,

after which a
while the catholic epistles are read
incense.

procession with incense passes round the church

into the new baptistery, where the bishop signs the
font and each of the three water-vessels with the
sign of the cross,

and blesses the water.

At

the

Various Ceremonies.

CH. rx.]

345

prayer of absolution to the Son the bishop puts

his crown or ballin ; and when it is ended, casts
the hallowed water into the font, and breaks the

on

Then he

takes the aspersory of palm, and

the
water
dipping
sprinkles the whole font in
crosses, saying, Alleluia,' to which the clergy answer,
vessels.

in

it

'

In the same way he sprinkles all the

'Alleluia.'
walls of the baptistery and then, while psalms and
other chaunts are sung, he washes the inner part of
;

Next the water is let off

from the font, which is sponged out and dried.
This done, the bishop, receiving a vessel of chrism
covered with a veil, opens it, and signs with the
holy oil five crosses on the interior of the font, one
at each side and one in the middle.
At the east he
the font with the basil.

exclaims, I consecrate ^ this font for the baptism

of the Holy Spirit': at the west, 'I consecrate
'

>

this font in the

name

of the

Holy

Trinity, of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost': at

the north, I consecrate +k this font after the manner
'

'

at the
of the fonts of our holy fathers the apostles
font
I
^
this
after
the
manner
consecrate
south,
:

'

of the font of St. John the Baptist': and lastly,

signs the cross upon the middle, he says,
Blessed +k be the Lord God, now and for ever 1

when he
'

.'

when the bishop has

makes two circles
he
also
made
crosses,
with the chrism, one round the lower and one round
the upper part of the interior. The service ends
According

to

one

rubric,

the five

with the benediction.

1

Denzinger, Rit. Or. torn.

ii.

pp. 236-248.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

346

THE

FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY

Volumes would be required

detail of all the religious

[CH.

i.\.

'.

to give an account in

customs of a people so

much given

as the Copts to ceremonial.

Here it
must suffice to sketch lightly some of their more

solemn observances.

Of

the festivals of our Lord, one of the most

characteristic in its mode of celebration is that of
all

the Epiphany, which the Copts call the Theophany,

or more familiarly the Festival of the Tank.
This

happens about the i6th January

midnight

office is recited in the

at

night.

The

narthex beside the

greater tank, which has been filled with water.

After the office the patriarch or bishop retires to
the sacristy, and is vested in full pontifical apparel.

He

returns in procession with the other clergy, and

is carried before him
by a deacon.

a cross of iron

Special psalms and special hymns are then sung,

and beside the tank is placed a candelabrum with
three tapers which are lighted 2
Then comes the
benediction of the water, various prayers and lessons
being recited over it moreover the pontiff censes it
and stirs it crosswise with his pastoral staff, as do
also all other bishops present in due order.
This
benediction lasts about two hours
but when it is
over, the patriarch blesses also all the clergy and the
congregation, sprinkling them with the holy water.
Originally the custom was for the people to rush
tumultuously into the water, each striving to be one
.

or
2

An

illustration is

seen by Vansleb at

this

given above, p. 70, of the very candlestick

ceremony. See his Voyage, p. 342.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

347

whom

the patriarch dipped thrice, and

were thus supposed to receive a special blessing.

of the three

who

Those who
selves

dipped themhad finished, they retired

failed of that distinction

and when the men

to the choir, while the

women came and

disported

according to Vansleb, quite

themselves,
drapeless.
It is not surprising that such a custom led to scenes
of unseemliness, which caused its abolition.
After the aspersion follows the ordinary office of
matins, and a festival celebration of the korban.

The

gospels and epistles which are read during the

service relate to the baptism of our Lord in the

Jordan as, of course, for every

epistles and gospels are appointed.
river

The

festival special

Epiphany custom goes

The
remotest Christian antiquity.
are
said
have
Christians
near
the
to
Jordan
early
commemorated the festival by bathing in the river
and the place where our Lord is supposed to have
origin of this curious

back to the

St. Chrybeen baptized was specially frequented l

sostom remarks on the practice of consecrating
water at night on the feast of Epiphany and other
It is probable
early evidences might be cited.
that at first in Egypt some spot on the bank of the
and in
river N ile was chosen for the ceremony
remote places any stream or well of water served
the purpose.
Later, and more particularly after the
.

Arab conquest, when the open performance of the

rite was rendered dangerous or impossible, the benediction

of

building,

the water took

and

it

became

tank generally found

1

It is

one of the

place within a sacred

customary to build the large

in

the

duties of the Copt,

salem, to bathe in the Jordan.

narthex.
on

Quite

in

his pilgrimage to Jeru-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

348

[CH.

i.\.

accordance with this theory, we may notice that the

those distinctly anterior to
earliest churches of all
have no such tank. Such, for
the Muslim invasion
instance, are the church

of the White Monastery

and most of the churches of the desert

while,

on

the other hand, buildings decidedly later than the

Mohammedan
Sifain,

era,

such as

Abu Sargah and

have a tank which

is

Abu-'s-

plainly part of the

That
original structure.
festival of the Epiphany

anciently in Egypt the

was associated specially
with the sacrament of baptism admits of no question
but what was the exact nature of the association, how
far the Epiphany tank was used as a font for baptismal immersion, and for what period such usage
lasted, are problems which seem beyond solution.
But the presence of the lighted candles at the
;

ceremony of consecration looks like a baptismal

reminiscence, as was also the unclothing of those

who plunged in the water.

The Melkites retain the Epiphany

consecration of

water in a somewhat different form. A small cross

decked with sprays of olive or some leafy shrub is
blessed, and thrown into a river or any convenient
water, after a service of prayer held by the bishop
over the water. The bishop and his clergy are
arrayed in full processional vestments, and so march

down

to the riverside, followed

by the multitude of
thrown into the water,
a number of men plunge in, and struggle for its
possession for it is supposed to bring to the owner

When

the people.

the cross

is

a blessing for the coming year. There is a Melkite

church and community at Port Said, where I have
seen the ceremony performed, for want of fresh
water, on the

quay of the harbour.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

The

like

ceremony

lingers to

this

349
day also

in

Armenia.

There, after the liturgy on the feast of

a
Epiphany,
large metal vessel of water is set up in
the choir, and a procession passes round the church.
In this procession the priests carry a taper and a

and a thurible, the

Last comes the celebrant,

gospel, deacons carry a taper

subdeacons a taper only.

who

When

carries a large cross.

they return to the

choir, the

celebrant hallows the water, dividing it

crosswise with the cross, and pouring upon it chrism
in like manner.
After the service the people carry

away the water

streams

to sprinkle their houses, wells,

but the same form of benediction

peated on that day

and fountains in the

in the

open

air

over

all

is

and
re-

rivers

vicinity.

PALM SUNDAY AND HOLY WEEK.

Osanna Sunday

is

the

name given by

the Copts

to the feast of palms, which, doubtless, was celebrated

by them long before a similar celebration found its
into western

There

a solemn midservice held in the church, at which the

night
blesses
branches of palm. A grand procesbishop
sion then forms, the
clergy bearing crosses and

way

ritual.

is

tapers and palm branches they sing as they move,

and make a station singing before every altar and
:

all

the principal pictures and reliquaries.

The Coptic hours are (i) Midnight or Matins.

Lauds, at 6 a.m. (3) Tierce, at 9 a.m.
(4) Sext,

Passing

Nones,
at

at 3 p.m.

7.30 p.m.

(6) Vespers, at 6 p.m. or sunset.

(2)
at

(7)

Dawn

noon.

or
(5)

Compline,

Ancient Coptic Churches.

350

[CH. ix.

thus round the church they return to the haikal,

where the mass is accomplished. The lessons read
dead, because all
avoided
obsequies are,
possible,
during Holy
Week. In olden times, before the days of persecution, and sometimes even after the Arab conquest,
a great procession passed from the principal church

are

those

appointed

the

for

if

through the town bearing the blessed

this day the people carry them home,
and weave from them baskets and other like things,
In the Nestorian
which they send to their friends.
at Alexandria

branches.

To

and Armenian rituals Palm Sunday is celebrated

with the same benediction of branches.
At one o'clock in the night following Palm Sunday
in Egypt the prayers of Eastertide begin, and ought
to be continued without ceasing until Easter mornThe mass is not celebrated on the Monday,
ing.
Tuesday, or Wednesday and all the prayers are
recited in the choir, while the door of the haikal is
;

closed.

On Maundy Thursday

tierce, sext,

and nones

are duly recited after which, if there be no consecration of the holy oils to come first, a procession is
formed to the small tank in the nave, where the
;

patriarch blesses the water with ceremonies similar

to those ordained for Epiphany but the gospels and
:

hymns on

occasion dwell upon the subject of

our Lord's washing the feet of his disciples. At the
this

end of the prayers the patriarch gives his benison

to the assembled priests and people, sprinkling them
then also he washes
with water from the tank
the feet of sundry persons, both cleric and lay, and
:

Called juioJI

u-f+

or Thursday of the Covenant.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.]

them with a

dries

On

towel.

this day,

351
immediately

washing of feet, the door of the haikal is

opened for the celebration of the holy communion,
after which it is closed again
but in this mass the
after the

kiss

of peace and the commemoration of the dead

are omitted.

In the

Armenian

rite

for

Maundy Thursday

is placed in the choir, and chrism is

crosswise
poured
upon it at the benediction. When
the bishop has washed the feet of clergy and people,

vessel of water

he also anoints them. Then, resuming the cope,

which was laid aside for the feet-washing, he is lifted
up on high, and dispenses the people from fasting
during Eastertide.
The churches continue open

all

night with cease-

which the hymns, orisons, and lecthe Passion.

On Good Friday l
morning at tierce a small cross is set up in the nave
but at the eleventh hour the cross is replaced by a
The nave meanwhile is'
picture of the crucifixion.
illuminated with a great number of tapers and lamps.
Then the priests put on their vestments, and offer
less services, in

tions

relate

to

incense before the picture, singing the praises of the

Crucified.
All the hymns and chaunts on this day
are very slow and mournful in tone
the gospels all
commemorate the crucifixion. Prayers for all the
:

faithful

are recited at the end of the sixth, ninth,

and a certain number

eleventh and twelfth hours

of genuflexions are made by the congregation at

various places, where the name of Christ is named.

When

over, the bishop or kummus

which three tapers are burning,

the twelfth hour

uplifts the cross,

on

is

or Great Friday.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

352

[CH. ix.

while the people cry one hundred kyries towards

Then a procession
each of the cardinal points.

forms and passes three times round the church,

carrying the picture of the crucifixion, which they
take to the

Upon

altar.

the altar a silken veil

is

lying and the cross, which was set up in the nave,

and the picture, being placed on the veil, are covered
with rose-leaves and myrrh and basil then the veil
is folded over them, and thus they are removed and
This ceremony of
buried underneath the altar.
course typifies the entombment of our Lord, and
;

corresponds to the burial of the rood in the Easter

sepulchre, as practised in our ancient English Church.
enacting, the congregation pray; and when
finished, they go to their homes and break their

While
it is

it is

fast.

Here again a comparison of Armenian custom is

A representation of the tomb of our
interesting.
Lord is set up in the midst of the choir on Good
on

a cross engraved or painted with

a figure of Christ, which the people kiss.
It remains
in this position until the commencement of the mass

Friday

it

is

on Easter eve.

On

the night of

Holy Saturday the whole

l

psalter
also a procession through the
church, in which stations are made, while the choir
is

recited.

There

is

Three Children the story of

Nebuchadnezzar is also read. Mass is celebrated as
on Good Friday, except the lessons, half of which
sing the song of the

or Saturday of Light.
The name points to the
fire as practised in the Greek Church

custom of kindling Easter

but

Greeks

cannot ascertain positively that the Copts agree with the

in

this particular.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix.j

353

are read in a mournful tone, half in a tone of joy.

After mass all the gospel of St. John is read, and
the silver book of the gospel is carried in procession

round the church

and the service

a great

lasts

number of hymns

all

through

the

follow,

hours of

darkness.

On

morning the psalms and hymns of

the resurrection are sung, and after them come the
Imcensing of the altar and the office of matins.
Easter

mediately following matins the celebration of the

korban commences but on this occasion it is neces:

sary for the priest to wear all the liturgical vestments at matins as well as at mass. As soon as the

and before the gospel of the mass

of the haikal are closed then,
the
doors
begun,
the priests standing within the sanctuary, and the
epistles are ended,

is

deacons without

in the choir, all

hymn

of the resurrection.

When

the

together sing the

apparently at this
point that the cross and the picture of the crucifixion
are disentombed from the cavity under the altar.

hymn

is

It is

finished, the doors of the haikal

are thrown open again, and priests and deacons pass

three times round the church in solemn procession.

appropriate music as they move, and

they carry with them the picture of the resurrection.
On their return to the choir the picture is

They chaunt

put in its accustomed place, and the remainder of

the service is performed in the manner usual on

Sundays.

i.

i.

e.

e.

the Festival of the Resurrection, or

the Great Festival.

VOL.

ii.

A a

Ancient Coptic Churches.

354

THE

SEASONS OF FASTING.

The Copts have been

number and

[CH. ix.

at all times noted for the

severity of their seasons of abstinence

nor even at the present day has the general recognition of such seasons in any way diminished, though
now, as before, there are many individual examples
of laxity. Lent is, of course, the most important time
of fasting, and so is called the Great Fast l in conIn
tradistinction to Advent or the Little Fast 2
ancient times Lent began on the day after the feast
of Epiphany, and lasted for forty days. Holy Week
was then a separate season, some six weeks later
than the end of Lent, and coinciding with the Jewish
.

But tradition relates that the Coptic

Demetrius
at the end of the second century
patriarch
fixed the time for Lent as at present, and joined on
Passover.

to

it

the season of Holy

Week.

The

Coptic Lent begins on Monday, and lasts up

to Palm Sunday.
During this time the people are
forbidden to eat meat or eggs or fish, or to drink
wine.
Coffee also is forbidden.
Moreover no food
or drink whatever may be taken between the hours
of sunrise and sunset but in cases of special weak:

ness a dispensation

be needful.

is

granted of such a kind as may

fast of Ramadan

The Mohammedan

somewhat resembles the Christian Lent in its regulations, and was probably borrowed from it.
During
Lent mass is celebrated at nones except on Saturday
and Sunday.

The

greater part of
ftwt^i
"
"
^i>t^XJl
r

Holy Week

is

also observed

.a.!'

.l
\

+
" <o.

Various Ceremonies.

CH. ix. j

355

as a fast by the Copts, and every Friday up to the

hour of nones.
still is to some extent, customary
the Copts to undertake a great
Lent
for
during
The journey on camels
pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
about
fifteen
occupied
days, and great numbers went

was, and

It

They reached J erusalem for Palm Sunday,

week in visiting the holy places, and on

together *.
spent the

Easter morning attended mass in the church of the

Holy Sepulchre. A pilgrimage to Jerusalem formed
also one of the canonical penances.
Advent lasts for forty days preceding the feast of
the Nativity 2 and is rather less severe in its regulations than Lent, fish for instance not being prohibited.
But on Christmas eve, as well as on the
,

eve of Epiphany, a

Another

The legend

fast is

appointed until sunset.

Fast of Heraclius.

fast is that called the

that on his passage through Palestine

that emperor all along his route promised safety to
the Jews
but when he arrived at Jerusalem, he
is

was entreated by the Christians there

to

massacre

the Jews, in revenge for cruelties practised by them,

and particularly for the pillage of the Holy City, in
which the Jews had leagued with the Persians.
Heraclius, hesitating to break his promise and to
cancel the bond given even in writing, was over-

persuaded by the Christians, who

themselves and their posterity to

him

all

fast

engaged

for

a week for

end of the world. So the massacre was

It preceded Lent,
ordered, and the fast continues.
but now has been incorporated with it, the first
1

to the

According to Abu Dakn as many as 60,000 Copts sometimes

from Cairo but the estimate is obviously exaggerated.

started

A a

Ancient Coptic Churches.

356

week of the great

fast

[CH. ix.

being called the Fast of

Heraclius.

The

third great fast of the Coptic Church, called

the Fast of the Apostles, begins with Pentecost and

but the time of its duralasts for about forty days
:

tion varies.

Another period of abstinence

for three

is called the Fast of Niniveh, comes

about a fortnight before Lent and a fifteen days'

days, which

honour of the Assumption of the Virgin

observed, beginning on the first day of August.
fast in

is

CHAPTER

X.

Legends of the Saints^.

LEGEND OF ABU-'S-SIFAIN OR

this

day died

St.

Rome.

the city of

ST. MERCURIUS.

who was of
His grandfather and

Mercurius,

were hunters of wild beasts who

going out upon a certain day, as was their
2
wont, were met by two men with faces of dogs who
slew the grandfather.
And when they were fain to
the
father also, the angel of the Lord prevented
slay
them, and said, Touch him not, for from him shall
come forth good fruit.'
Thereon the angel surrounded the men with a fence of fire and they being
straitened besought the father of Mercurius, and did
and God changed their hearts
worship before him
into meekness, so that they became as lambs, and
entered with him into the city.
After that Mercurius was bestowed on him of God, but his father
called him Philopater.
As for the dog-faces, they
abode in that house a long time and were converted,
abiding until Philopater grew to man's estate and
became a soldier. They were wont to go with him
into the wars, and none could withstand them,
because their faces remained as aforetime. Afterward they died.
father

'

See pp. 259, 260, supra.

Sic
it seems to be an
expression denoting the heathen.
:

Ancient Coptic Churches.

358

[CH. x.

As for the saint, he became one of those to whom

God gave power and courage and the people of the
:

At this time there

city called his name Mercurius.
was at Rome the king Dacius, who was a worshipper
and a flock of barbarians coming upon his
he
city,
gathered together his army, and went out to
meet them. But, seeing their multitude, he became
amazed and affrighted. Howbeit Mercurius went
forward unto him and said, Fear not
God will
destroy our enemies, and will deliver them into our
hand/ When he left the king, a man of light robed
in long white raiment appeared unto him
in his
hand was a sword which he gave unto Mercurius
saying, If thou dost vanquish thy enemies, remember
the Lord thy God.'
Wherefore when Mercurius
over
them, and went back as a vanprevailed
quisher, the angel appeared unto him, and brought
to his mind to remember the name of the Lord.
So when the war was ended, and the king wished to
worship his idols, together with his soldiers, Mercurius went not to worship.
King Dacius hearing
thereof made htm come, and was astonished when he
saw that the love of Mercurius to him was changed.
But Mercurius cast in the king's face his garment and
of idols

'

'

deny my Lord Jesus.'

was
Whereupon
king
exceeding wroth, and
him
to
with
beat
commanded
palm rods and with
but fearing that the people would rise
scourges
him
for Mercurius' sake, he led him bound
against
with iron chains to Caesarea, and ordered that his
head be taken there.
So was his holy war accomplished, and he won
the crown of life in the kingdom of heaven.

his girdle, saying,

'

will not

the

May

his intercession

be with

us.

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

359

After his martyrdom, in the days of Julianus the

heathen king, who persecuted the believers, St. Basil
asked Mercurius with great beseeching to avenge
him on the heathen king wherefore the Lord sent
St. Mercurius, who pierced the king with his spear,
and slew him. Before the departing of his soul, he
filled the palm of his hand with blood, and sprinkled
it towards heaven,
saying, O Lord, receive the soul
which thou gavest me/
And his image is under him *.
May his prayers be with us and preserve us.
:

'

Amen.

LEGEND OF ABU-'S-SIFAIN

On

this

day we

2
.

feast for the consecration of the

church of the great martyr, lover of his parents,

Mercurius Abu-'s-Sifain, hero of Jesus Christ.
His father was of Rome, a hunter of wild beasts,
and this martyr was bestowed upon him by the word
of the angel of the Lord.
His name was at the first
Abadir, and he was brought up

among

the faces of

dogs.

When

he grew up, he became a soldier and in

the reign of the king Dacius, a heathen king and
worshipper of idols, Abu-'s-Sifain went to him and
threw down his girdle before his face; and then girded
I do not
himself, and said,
deny my Lord and my
God Jesus Christ.' The king ordered him to be
;

'

I. e.

the figure of Julian is under St. Mercurius in the pictures.

is so called because of his
many battles he is

Abu- s-Sifain

generally depicted brandishing two swords.

2
Another version of the same story.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

360

[CH. x.

then sent him

beaten with palm rods and scourges
to Caesarea, where he was beheaded and his war
was completed, and he obtained the crown of life.
After his martyrdom they built churches in his
;

name.
In the time of St. Basilius there was a king, a
This king imhypocrite, whose name was Julianus.
Basilius
prisoned Basilius and went to war abroad.
in his prison some other Christian prisoners,
and while he prayed he
for whom he went to pray

saw

looked on the wall, and saw a painting of Mercurius

riding on a horse and carrying in his hand a
St. Basilius besought him to kill the king,
spear.
and to deliver the people of Christ from the royal

Then the picture vanished from the wall,

at once returned, and in it Mercurius showed

tyranny.

and

his spear dripping with blood.

*
asked, Hast thou slain him?'

Thereupon Basilius
He bowed his head.

This is the reason that the painters always paint

Mercurius leaning down his head, and St. Basilius
before him.

May
enemy

his prayers
till

be with

the last breath.

us,

and save us from the

Amen.

LEGEND OF ANBA SHAN<JDAH.

On

day died the holy father, the monk, the

worshipper Anba Shanudah, the archimandrite from
the city of the Cataracts in Akhmim.
His father
was a tiller of the soil and kept a flock of sheep
this

these sheep he gave to his son to watch.

Shanudah's custom was to give his food to the other

Legends of the Saints,

CH. x.]

361

shepherds, and then going down to a lake of water

in the winter, when it is very cold, in this lake he

stood and prayed.

holy old man said that he
saw the ten fingers of Shanudah shining like ten
lamps.

His father took him, and went to his uncle Anba

Howbeit Yagul
Yagul, that he might bless him.
took the boy's hand, and put it upon his own head,
for thou shalt be a great
saying, Bless thou me
'

saint for a great multitude.'

with his uncle.
On a certain

So

his father left

him

day a voice was heard

crying from heaven and saying, Anba Shanudah is

hallowed archimandrite for all the world.'
Then
'

Shanudah began from this time to do many devout

At his uncle's death
things and many worshippings.
he was put in his place and he became a light to all
the country, and made many discourses and rules for
He went to the
monks, abbots, laymeri, and women.
Council of the Two Hundred at Ephesus with the
;

His

Father Cyrillus.

him

disciples did not wish to take

so a cloud carried him, and he

before
the
passed
patriarch, who was in the ship, and
All were amazed.
greeted him.
in the ship

Jesus Christ came many times to speak with him,

and he washed Christ's feet and drank the water. The
Lord revealed to him many hidden things, and he
prophesied many prophecies, and lived like Moses
one hundred and twenty years.
At his death he
saw an assembly of saints who came behind him he
saw also our Lord Jesus Christ, and said, Hold me,
that I may worship the Lord.'
They lifted him up,
and he worshipped. Then said he unto them, Fare:

'

'

well in the Lord.'

commandments

He

left

and he died

with the young

in peace.

many

Ancient Coptic Churches.

362

May

the

blessing of his

prayers

[CH. x.

be with

us.

Amen.

LEGEND OF MARI MINA.

On

day we feast for the holy father Mari

was born at Mareotis near Alexandria.
The finding of his body after burial was on this wise.
None knew where he was buried but the Lord
wished to show where the holy body lay. It came
Mlna.

this

He

to pass that a certain shepherd, watching his flock

near a hill, saw a lamb with a soreness bathing

himself in the river, and then rolling in dust over
that place where the body of the saint was buried
;

and at once the lamb was cured. The shepherd

was amazed, and took every lamb which had the
same sickness to that place, made them bathe, and
then roll in the dust. All were cured forthwith.
He did likewise with sick men; and all sick persons
who put the dust upon them were made whole.
Howbeit none knew the reason of this thing.
Now the king heard of the shepherd; and having
a leprous daughter he sent her to the shepherd, who
wrought on her the same cure by the same means.

When

she wished to know the reason of this thing,

Mari Mina appeared to her in a vision, and said unto
the Lord bids thee
her, My body is in this place
to dig, and to bring it forth.'
Being awakened, she
did according to this word, and brought forth the
noble body, and built on the spot a church.
Then the king bade all chiefs and notables to
build houses near the place and the city was called
'

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

Many wonders were shown from

The patriarch and bishops came and

Mareotis.

363
this

con-

body.
secrated the church, and the fame of its wonder
spread on every side. All this was wrought by the

power of the martyr Mari Mina.

May his blessing and intercession be with

us.

Amen.

..

LEGEND OF MART TADRUS.

His father was called Yuan, who came from the

He was taken
village Shatb in Upper Egypt.
where he dwelt, and married
prisoner to Antioch
a daughter of the place, who worshipped idols, and
knew not God's worship. She bore him this saint
But when she wished to present
called Tadrus.
him to the house of idols, and to teach him her
worship, the father was angry and suffered her not.
So she drove him away from the house, and kept
;

the

boy with

ceasing that
of salvation.

When

her.

God

The

prayed without
would lead his son in the way
father

he learned science and

wisdom and God enlightened the two eyes of his
heart, so that he went to a bishop, who baptised him.
His mother hearing thereof waxed very wroth. The
boy asked if his father was dead or no, and a servant
of the house told him that his mother drove him
away for being a Christian. Tadrus became a soldier
of the king, and then a captain of an army. When
the king went to make war with the Persians, he
In
took this saint with him to accompany his son.
the city of Ukhaitus (sic] there was a great dragon,
;

the saint

grew

up,

364

Ancient Coptic Churches.

[CH.

x.

which the people of the city worshipped and they

were wont to offer him year by year some one that
he might eat him. There was a Christian widow in
the city who had two children and it came to pass
that the people took the children, and offered them
to the dragon, at the time when Mari Tadrus was
;

there.
telling

was a

The woman

stood before him and wept,

When he knew that she

him her matter.

Christian, he thought

'

This widowed

woman

Then he
persecuted, and God will avenge her.'
and
his
from
his
turned
down
face
to the
horse,
got
went
towards the dragon,
east and prayed and he
all the people watching him from the walls.
The
twelve
was
cubits
of
this
but
the
dragon
length
Lord gave Tadrus power against the dragon, and he
Thus he
pierced him with his spear and slew him.
Thence he
delivered the widow's two children.
went to Upper Egypt to look for his father. There
he found him, and knew him by means of tokens
which his father showed him. He abode in that
then he went back to
place until his father died
where
found
the
he
Antioch,
king had become a
heathen, and was persecuting the believers in Christ.
So he went to the king, and confessed before him
Ere this the priests of the
the Lord Jesus Christ.
idols had slandered him to the king, and the people
is

of Ukhaltus told the king This is the man that

killed the dragon, our god.'
Thereupon the king
commanded to torture him. He was punished by
instruments of torture, but the Lord strengthened
'

him.

Then

the king
in the

they threw him

commanded
fire,

to burn him
so
and beheaded him. His
;

martyrdom was accomplished.

A woman

of the faithful took his body, which she

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

365

purchased for a great sum, and hid it in the house,

Then she built
till the end of the persecution.
Howbeit some say that this
churches in his name.
woman was his mother.
May his intercessions be with us. Amen.

LEGEND OF MARI GIRGIS, OR

ST. GEORGE.

This saint was born

in

the

year

280 of the

He was

of noble parents and brought

a
education.
When he was fourteen
with
up
good
years old, his brother died, and he became a

Messiah.

captain

in

the

army

at

Dicaeopolis.

Then he

fought and slew the great dragon, and delivered

the king's daughter, on whom the lot fell a certain
year to be given up to the dragon.

king for his

Whereupon the
good courage made him vizier, not

He
Now

knowing that he was a believer

in Christ.

is

called the first martyr under Diocletian.

on a
certain day Mari Girgis saw a proclamation against
the Christian religion, and tore it down publicly

Henceforth he scorned office and

all worldly
things, and prepared to defend the faith.
So he distributed his wealth, freed his slaves, and
went to the court there he spoke to the king and
chiefs saying, How, O king and chiefs, durst ye
make such proclamation against the religion of

with great anger.

'

'

The king was wroth,

Christ, the true religion ?
but hid his anger, and signed to the consul Magnetius
answer for him.
emboldened thee to do

(sic)

to

The

consul said,
'

this thing

'

Who

Mdri Girgis

Ancient Coptic CJmrches.

366

answered and
witness

'

said,

the

to

truth.'

am

[CH. x.

a Christian, and come to

the king told him

Then

under threat of torture to worship his idols when

Mari Girgis refused, the king ordered him to be
:

driven out and pierced with spears.

Howbeit the
Then he was cast into
spears nowise hurt him.

where they tied his feet, and put a pavingstone upon his breast.
He continued till next day
thanking God and on the morrow, being brought
prison,

before the king, he persisted in his

faith.

Then

king ordered him

the

to be tied by thin ropes on a

board set with iron spikes, so that the cords cut his
flesh
also a cupboard with knives inside it was put
on his breast. But Mari Girgis endured this torture,
thanking God.
So the king, fearing he would die, loosed him,
and told him again to believe in the heathen gods.
But Girgis refused. And a dark cloud appeared
with thunder and lightning, and a voice came out of
I am
the cloud saying, Fear not, O Mari Girgis
with thee
whereat astonishment fell on the bystanders.
Next he was put in a tank full of hot
he remained three days without
where
plaster,
evil.
Thus far, then, the torments of
suffering any
the saint now shall come his wonders.
A sorcerer once presented to him a magic cup.
Girgis made the sign of the cross on it, the lifegiving cross which belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ,
When he drank of the cup, he
to whom be glory.
took no hurt. The sorcerer seeing this believed in
our Lord Jesus Christ.
By power of prayer accepted before our Lord the
thrones on which the heathen kings were sitting
blossomed into leaf and flowers.
:

'

Legends of the Saints:

CH. x.j

367

prayer also he once cured a widow's son.

May his .prayers and intercessions be with us.

By

Amen.

LEGEND OF ABU KIR AND YUHANNA, OR

SS. CYRUS AND JOHN.

Abu Kir was of

Abu Sir west of the

the city of Damanhur, near to

He had a brother called
Nile.

and both were very rich. They agreed

Philipa
with two priests called Yuhanna and Abtulmaz, and
the four went to Kartassah, where was the governor.
Before him they confessed the Lord Jesus Christ.
He commanded them to be shot upon with arrows
:

Next he
but the arrows came not nigh them at all.
commanded them to be cast into a burning fiery
furnace but the Lord sent his angel, and delivered
them from the fire. Then the king commanded
;

them

bound to the tails of horses, and to be

All this
from
Kartassah to Damanhur.
dragged
was done to them, and they took no hurt. At last
the king commanded them to be beheaded by the
sword outside the city of Damanhur. Their marto be

tyrdom was accomplished, and they obtained its

crown.
Some men came from Sa al Haggar, and
took the body of Abu Kir, and built thereover a
church.
But the bodies of the other three saints
were taken by people of Damanhur, who wrapped
them in goodly apparel, and placed them in
Damanhur.
May the prayers of all be with us, and save us
from the evil enemy till the last breath. Amen.
Afterwards an angel appeared to the patriarch

Ancient Coptic Churches.

368

[CH. \.

him take away the

bodies of Abu Kir and Yuhanna.
So the people
went and dug them out, and carried them with
honour to the church of St. Mark at Alexandria
There they built a church over
by the river.
Cyrillus of Alexandria, bidding

them.

Near

church was an underground labyrinth

where the heathen were wont to meet

this

of the idols,

every year to make a feast to the idols. When

they saw the wonders that were shown from the
bodies of these two saints, they left their idols and
their labyrinth,

and became Christians.

LEGEND OF YAKUB AL

M UK ATT A,

WHO WAS CUT TO

On

OR ST. JAMES

PIECES.

day won martyrdom Mari Yakub al

Mukatt'a.
was of the soldiers of Sacratus, son
of Safur king of Persia.
He was greatly beloved
this

He

by the king, who took his counsel in many things

and for that reason he inclined the heart of this
saint from the worship of Jesus Christ.
His mother
and wife and sister hearing of this wrote unto him a
;

'

letter, saying,

Jesus Christ,
wit

fire

Why

and sun

herein, we
forward.'

hast thou forsaken the faith in

and followed the created elements,

Know

to

thou dost persist

shall be as strangers unto thee hence?

When

that

if

he read this letter, he wept with bitter

If my kinsfolk are estranged
weeping, and said,
from me, how can I be estranged from the Lord
From this time forth he began to read in
Jesus ?'
'

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

369

and he wept, and forsook the

But when certain persons told the
king about him, he bade him come and seeing that
what they reported was true, he commanded to
scourge him with grievous scourgings. Howbeit this
books

Christian

king's service.

changed not his belief.

to cut him with knives.

Then

the king commanded

cut off the fingers

So they

feet, and his

and they cut him

of his hands, then the toes of his

and

his

hands and

thirty-two pieces.

his arms,

Whenever they

legs,

into

cut a limb from

O God of the
sang hymns, and said,
Christians, receive unto thee a branch of the tree in
'

him, he

the greatness of thy mercy for if the vine-dressers

dress the vine, it will blossom in the month of Ni:

sann

and

branches will spread abroad.'

nought remained save his breast, his head,
and his waist, and he knew that the time drew near
for the deliverance of his soul, he asked of the Lord
1

its

When

have mercy on them, and to pity them, saying,

'My hands are not left unto me, that I may lift them
up unto Thee, and here my limbs are thrown around

to

wherefore receive, O Lord, my soul.'

Forthwith Christ Jesus appeared unto him, and
comforted him, and strengthened him, and he was
Ere he gave up the ghost, he made haste and
glad.
took his holy head (sic] and went to the places of
His body was taken
light to Christ who loved him.

me

by God-fearing men, who wrapped it well, and put it

in a goodly place.
His mother and wife and sister,
his
of
hearing
martyrdom, rejoiced exceedingly; and
came to the place of his body, and wept thereon, and
put upon it costly apparel and spices.
1

VOL.

I. e.
ii.

in the springtime.

Nisann corresponds

to April.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

370

[CH. x.

In the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, two good

kings, a church and monastery were built upon it.
The king of Persia hearing of this monastery, and
of the martyrs and of their bodies, and the miracles
which were shown from them, commanded to burn

the bodies of the saints in every place throughout

kingdom. Then some of the believers took the

his

James, and coming with it to Jerusalem,

placed it with St. Peter the bishop of Rahui. With
him it continued till Marcian became king. At that
time St. Peter took it and came into Egypt, unto a
There he abode some days,
city called Bahnasah.
and with him certain monks. While they were
singing hymns at the sixth hour near the body,
St. James appeared unto them with a multitude of
Persian martyrs, who were clad in Persian raiment.
And they sang hymns with them and blessed them.
Afterward the saint said unto them, My body shall
lie here according to the Lord's commandment.'
Then Peter the bishop, wishing to return to his own
country, took with him the body and bare it to the
But
sea thus he disobeyed the word of the saint.
the body was caught away from their hands to the

body of

St.

'

place where it was before.

May his intercession preserve us for ever.

Amen.

was said that his body in Persia, when there

was a feast and the people were gathered together
around it, was wont to move in its coffin till the end
It

of the feast.

Where

the body of the saint

none knoweth.

May

his prayers

be with

us.

Amen.

now

is

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

371

LEGEND OF THE FIVE AND THEIR MOTHER.

This day we make the feast of Kosman and
Dimian and their brothers Antinous, Laudius and
These were from the
Ibrabius, and their mother.
in
the
of
Arab
Daperma
country. Their mother
city
was called Theodora. She was a God-fearing woman,
a widow, and kind of heart. She taught her children
medicine, and they visited all, and chiefly the poor,
without

money

or price.

When

the king Diocletian

became heathen, he heard that these heroes did

He bade
break upon the worship of the idols.
them to come, and tortured them with all manner of
torture, such as beating, burning with fire, and
casting them into bath furnaces during three days
and three nights. From all this the Lord made
them arise without scathe. Their mother continually
comforted them, and strengthened them to bear the
torment.

Then

she blasphemed the king to his face, and

wicked gods also. The king commanded to

behead her, and she won the crown of life. Her
body remained after her death cast away, and none
dare bury it but her son Kosman cried and said,
O people of the city, have ye no pity in your hearts
to carry the body of this old widowed woman to
all his

'

'

burial

one called Buktor, son of Romanus,

took the body, wrapped it in a shroud, and buried it.
Then the king ordered him to be banished to Egypt,
where he died.
As for her children, the next day they also were
B b 2

Hearing

this

Ancient Coptic Churches.

372

[CH. x.

beheaded and obtained eternal life. When the persecution was over, the people built to them churches,
which were consecrated on such a day as this and
;

from them were shown many miracles.

May their prayers be with us. Amen.

LEGEND OF ABU NAFR.

On

day died the good father, the master of

and
of good old age, the saint Abu Nafr,
fair report
the wanderer in the wilderness of Upper Egypt.
This is according to the word of St. Bifnutius, who
this

desired to see the wanderers, who are servants of

God. He saw some of them, and wrote their story;

among whom was this saint.

He saith, that when he entered

the wilderness, he

saw a fountain and a palm-tree, and the saint Abu

Nafr coming towards him he was naked, and the
hair of his head and of his beard covered his body.
Bifnutius seeing him was afraid, and thought that he
was a spirit. Abu Nafr crossed before him, and
prayed the prayer of the gospel, which is Our
;

'

Father which

art in heaven.'

Then he

said to him,

Welcome, O Bifnutius.' When he heard himself

by his name, and heard also the prayer, his
fear departed. Then the two began to pray together
after that they sat and communed together about
Bifnutius asked Abu Nafr to
the marvels of God.
tell him what was the reason of his coming to this
place, and where he had been before that ?
He answered and said, I had been in a monastery, in the which are pious and good monks.
One day I heard the monks speaking about the
'

called

'

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

373

dwellers in the wilderness, namely the wanderers,

and praising them for every kind of excellence.

"

asked them, " Why are they better than you ?

"
They said, Because they dwell in the wilderness,
but we are near to the world and if one day we
are angry, we find some person to comfort us and
I

if

we

we

are sick,

are naked,

we

who visit
who clothe

us

find those

find those

whatsoever we desire

we can

obtain

us
;

and

but

if

we

anything
all

these

privileges are not for the dwellers in the wilderness."

When I heard them speak thus, my heart burned

me and in the night I took a little bread, and

went out from the monastery then I prayed, and
asked our Lord for a place to dwell in. So I walked
on. The Lord directed me to a place where I found
a holy man, and with him I abode till he taught me
within

the way of wandering.

Thus I came to this place,
wherein I found this palm-tree, which gives every
year twelve clusters of dates, and every cluster is
enough for one month. This is my food, and my
drink is from the water of this fountain.
It is now
three score years that I am here.
All this time
I have not seen
face
of
man
but
thine
any
only.'
While they were speaking the angel of the Lord
came before them, and ministered unto them the
body of our Lord and his blood. After that they
ate very

food.

little

Then

the colour of the saint

Abu Nafr was changed, and became like fire, and

he bowed his knee and worshipped before God.
Then to Bifnutius he said, Fare thee well,' and gave
'

up the ghost

1
.

The

saint Bifnutius

wrapped him

He

in a piece of linen, and buried him in a cave.

sore coveted to dwell in his place but as soon as
;

The Arabic idiom

is

the

same

exactly.

he

Ancient Coptic Churches.

374

buried him, the palm-tree

fell

[CH. x.

and the fountain was

This came to pass by the device of God,

dried up.
that he might enter again into the world, and preach
the knowledge of the holy wanderers whom he had
In truth
seen, but specially of the saint Abu Nafr.
he came to the world, and told the story of this

and the day whereon he died.

May their prayers be with us. Amen.

saint,

LEGEND OF ANBA BARSOM AL ARIAN.

On

day died the holy father and the great,

Anba Barsum al 'Arian, who is naked from all vice
and clad with virtue who is perfect among the
This saint was of
saints and in the love of God.
his
name
father's
was
Egypt
Wagu, a scribe to
His mother was daughter to
the Tree of Pearls 1
Al Tab'aun. His parents were very rich and when
this

they died, the uncle of the saint seized upon

all

their

Howbeit Barsum made no quarrel with

him, but left all the wealth of this world, and lived
the life of the good men and of the wanderers. He
possessions.

possessed nought of this world's goods, and always

went naked, abiding in the church of the great
2
martyr Mercurius at Old Cairo in a grotto dark and

swampy, underground. He prisoned himself therein,

and abode there nearly twenty years, praying alway
day and night without ceasing. His food was beans
moistened with unsavoury brine his drink also was
brine.
He was a very devout man, and there was
;

'

1
The sister of the
The Tree of Pearls,'

last khalif

of the Fatimite dynasty was called

A.D. 1000.

See the plan of the church of Abu-'s-Sifain in

vol.

i.

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

375

no manner of worship but he did it. God gave him

power over devils, and was with him in secret and
in public; because this saint showed himself at the end
of time,
of their

showed
in

his

when men could not achieve

by reason
weakness and feeblemindedness. So God
virtue

forth this father, who excelled many saints

devotion, his eating and his drinking, his

patience and his modesty, his charity for

all

men and

all,
pity upon them and upon
all creatures, and his
making all men equal before
him in whatsoever they asked. He murmured not
at any, but was long-suffering and of good patience.
With him great and small were one, poor and rich,
bond and free all were equal before him in charity.

well-doing for

his

All this that he might accomplish and make perfect

all that was written about the saints that went before
:

that

men might know

of a surety, by seeing and not

by hearing.
So when he came out from the

cave, he went on
there he abode suffering
heat and cold during winter and summer. And he
always tormented himself, staying in the sun all the

the roof of the church

days of the summer, so that his skin became black

this he did for devotion and for worship, and for
On the
torture of nature, which he ever suffered.
roof he remained nigh fifteen years.
At this time
arose in Egypt a great persecution, wherein all the
churches of the Copts were shut, and the Copts
were obliged to wear blue turbans of ten cubits in
also their other raiment was changed.
length
were
dismissed from their offices, and were
They
to
ride the wrong way, and to put on a
compelled
kind of shoe which is called thasuma,' and when;

and

'

The Arabic

is

'

literally

long-minded/

Ancient Coptic

376

CJiurcJies.

[CH. x.

ever they entered the bath they had to put little

round their necks. So that they were in sore
need in all things. They were persecuted and despised by the vulgar, who erewhile honoured them
and the khallf of this time was resolved to kill them
The reason of
all, but God did not empower him.
bells

all

these things was their sins

for the apostle saith,

'

Sin being accomplished begetteth death.'

But this father Barsum was always praying and
beseeching God with a fervent heart for the brethren.

He

fasted forty days continually, till God took away

Then the governor
again his anger from them.

of Egypt took him out from the church, and persecuted him and imprisoned him
but Barsum
foreknew this one day before it happened. When
;

he was in prison, he neither ate nor drank, but

whatever the believers brought him he gave to his
fellow-prisoners. When some of them asked of him,
When shall we be delivered from prison ? he
answered, On this day': and so it was.
Then they took him out of prison, and led him
There he
into exile to the monastery of Sharan.
No
stood on the roof, as he was wont in Egypt.
man without God's help could excel him in devotion,
worship, austerity, and suffering the torture of nature.
For his food was of the things that are maggoty, and
was shown openly to venomous reptiles yet he ate
it very delicious and sweet by the
grace of God.
'

'

'

And

of innocence,
hath said in his book
God changed the bitterness
of their torment into sweetness:' and also as the
this is as the

holy old man,

full

'

holy Mari Ishac Suriani and Mari Siman al 'Amudi

say, that God clothes his saints with a garment of
'

light

so that they feel neither heat nor cold.'

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

377

never lay on the ground but

comforter to every believer or unbeliever who took refuge with him.
He changed not his turban to blue, but God kept
him from all his adversaries. Most of the governors
of this time, princes and judges to wit, were wont to
resort unto him and they saw him wearing a white
turban and God protected him from their enmity.

This saint

all

his life

with naked skin.

He was

None

dare force him to wear the blue turban.

converted
despair.

He

many souls to salvation, and that out of

He used alway to say that all sins are

He always spake in holy

forgiven after repentance.
were
not
understood
save by those
similitudes, which

He was a great comforter to

enlightened of God.
the people, because by his prayers God put away
his anger.
Churches were opened, men rode the
right way,

and were employed

in office,

and

their

raiment was made right, and all the aforesaid changes

were abolished save only the blue turbans.
The brethren were suffered to ride horses in
journeys; and God destroyed every one who wished

men might glorify God the Aland

God
was
pleased with his people, and had
mighty;
on
These things were caused by
them.
compassion
the prayers of this father, Barsum. God gave him the
grace of prophecy, healing of bodies and souls, and
knowledge of things to come and he was accomHis look drew all men to
plished in all holiness.
and
whosoever
saw him did not wish to
gfood works,
o
leave him. This was for the grace and kindness and
He hated the glory of this
love which were in him.
and
madness.
But God has shown to
world,
feigned
all that he is the wisest of men, whose single aim
was the love of God and doing his commandments.
to kill them, so that

Ancient Coptic Churches.

378

BarsOm was alway comforted by the Holy

in him.
Ever he looked to God,

which dwelt

innocent angels of

[CH. x.

Spirit,

to the

to the prophets, apostles,

light,

He

went in the spirit to their

he
of
dwelling
light, as he showed to those whom
trusted well.
This father dwelt in the monastery
His old
fifteen years, and his age was sixty years.
and when he
age was good and pleasing to God
the Lord
died
unto
he
his
works,
accomplished
good
who loved him, and inherited the lofty dwellings of
His body was buried in
light with the holy saints.
martyrs, and

saints.

the monastery of Sharan,

Abu

This was

Markura.

in

by the name of

also

the year 1033 of the

martyrs

May

known

his prayers

be with us

till

the last breath.

Amen.

LEGEND OF THE VIRGIN'S ASCENSION.

On

this

day we

feast the feast of the ascension of

the body of the immaculate Lady the Virgin Mortomariam 2 Mother of Christ the Son of God, the Word
,

made

flesh

from

her.

After her death our fathers

the apostles were sorely grieved for loss of her, and

the Lord promised them that he would show her to

them

in the flesh.

On

a certain day they saw her

in the flesh sitting at the right hand of him who was

made flesh from her, and she was in great glory.

She stretched

forth her hand,

of the disciples
1

If this date is correct, the

The

'

and blessed every one

girt round by a great

Tree of Pearls

beginning of the legend.

Arabic is

fied at the
2

and she was

'

is

wrongly

identi-

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

company

of angels

and

praised her, and said,

right

hand

in

379

David the prophet

The queen stood at thy

saints.
'

Then

raiment of gold.'

the disciples were glad, and they

and returned full of joy.

fell

the souls of

on

their faces,

This feast was appointed

in the Church for the

remembrance
of
the
Mother of God.
everlasting

May

her intercession be with

us.

Amen.

LEGEND OF SIMAN AL HABIS AL AM^JDI, i.e.

SIMEON THE PRISONER OF THE PILLAR,
OR SIMEON STYLITES.

On this day died Simeon the Prisoner of the Pillar.

He was of Syria. When he was a child, he kept
sheep for his father, and he went to church every day.
After that the grace of the Lord moved him. So he
arose, and came to a monastery, wherein he continued
alway worshipping God with great devoutness and
diligence.

He was wont
on

his head,

every day to carry dust and ashes

and he vexed himself with fastings and
Then he bound his two sides against

great thirst.
the flesh with a rugged rope, till it ate its place away,
and an evil smell came forth. The monks could not

abide this evil smell, and would not suffer him to

come nigh them. Seeing the monks misliked him,

he came out from the monastery and went into a dry

The abbot of the monastery
pit, where he stood.
saw a vision as it were of one saying unto him, 'Ask
of my servant Simeon' and in this vision he saw also
that he who appeared rebuked the monks for the
;

Ancient Coptic Churches.

380

[CH. x.

The
departure of the saint from the monastery.
abbot told his vision to the monks, who were sore
amazed, and soon came out searching after him.
Thereupon they found him

in the pit,

without food

or drink, and worshipped him, asking forgiveness of

him and they brought him back with them to the
;

When

he saw them giving him glory

he
could not suffer it
but went
monastery,
out, and came to a rock where he stood sixty days
without sleeping.
Thereafter the angel of the Lord
unto
him, and said unto him that the Lord
appeared
had received his prayers for the salvation of his own
soul and of many others.
Then he stood on a pillar
monastery.

in the

thirty

cubits

high for the space of fifteen years.

The Lord wrought

at his

he was wont to exhort

all

hand many wonders

who came unto him.

and
His
and

father searched after him, but found him not,

As for his mother, she
died without seeing him.

knew where he was after many

him while he was on the pillar.
and then

fell

asleep under the

and came to
She wept greatly,

years,

pillar.

The

saint

asked of God to do good unto her, and she died

in her sleep.
They buried her under the pillar.
Howbeit, Satan had malice against Simeon, and
He
smote him in the legs with grievous sores.
continued most of his time standing on one foot for
many years, until his leg was full of worms, which
fell down under the pillar.
Once there came unto
him the chief of the robbers, and passed the night
Simeon asked of God to do him evil so
nigh him.
the robber died not many days after. Then he asked
of God, and God brought forth a fountain of water
under the pillar. After this he went to another very
and
high pillar, where he stood nigh thirty years
:

Legends of the Saints,

CH. x.]

381

when he accomplished

forty-eight years in prayer,

the Lord wishing to give him rest from the weariness of the flesh, he exhorted men and turned many

heathen to the Lord Jesus

unto the Lord.

then he died and went

The
came

patriarch of Antioch, hearing of his death,

and bore him to Antioch with great glory.

May

his prayers

be with

us.

Amen.

LEGEND OF MAR!NA.

On

this

day died the chosen

saint,

bride of Jesus

Christ, Marina.

She was the daughter of a heathen father and

mother, and her father was a priest of idols in
Antioch. He loved her very much, and she was
very beautiful to look upon. When she came to
the age of fifteen years, her mother died whereupon
her father brought her to a Christian woman, at
;

whose house she stayed till her father's death.

One day she heard her foster-mother telling of the
troubles of the saints and their martyrdoms, how
they shed their blood for the name of Christ. So,
desiring to become a martyr, she asked God to give
her power and help, that she might conquer the
heathen. At this time there came to the throne a

heathen king, known by the name of prince Valerius,

who came from Asia to Antioch to the end that he

might seize the Christians. It came to pass that

when St. Marina came out with her hired servants
and handmaids, the heathen prince saw her beauty,
and his heart departed out of him. He commanded
his soldiers to lay hands on her, that he might take

Ancient Coptic Churches.

382

When the

her unto him to wife.

[CH. \.

soldiers desired to

made the sign of the cross upon her

body, and said, Have mercy on me, O Lord, and
take her, she

'

me

forsake

not.'

governor, and

The

returned

soldiers

to

the

We

were not able to take

the damsel, because she called on Jesus Christ.'
When he heard that, he commanded them to bring
her, and he questioned her of her faith. She answered
and said, I am a Christian, believing in Jesus of
Nazareth, who will deliver me from thine unbelief
and from the wickedness of thy heart.' Then the
prince, being wroth in his soul, straightway offered
a sacrifice to his abhorred gods and made her
stand before him, and told her, Know, Marina, that
I have
so follow thou my counsel,
pity upon thee
and offer sacrifice to the gods, and thou shalt have
told him,

'

'

great honour.'

She answered and

'

said,

do not waver from the

worship of God, my God, but I offer the sacrifice of

He said
thanksgiving to my Saviour Jesus Christ.'
to her,

To

who was crucified of the

her with many punishments.

this Galilean

Jews ?' and threatened

She did not obey him, but said she was ready to be
tormented and to rest with the wise virgins. So he
became angry, and commanded to beat her with
Then
rods, and her blood ran upon the ground.
they combed her flesh with sharp knives, and threw
her into a dungeon. The Lord always cured her from
While she was in the dungeon
all this suffering.
praying, a great dragon came out upon her, opened
wide his jaws, and swallowed her. Her soul was
but she stretched out
ready to depart from her
her hands, and made the sign of the cross in the
Forthwith the mouth of the dragon
dragon's belly.
;

CH. x.]

Legends of the Saints.

383

gaped open, and she was delivered, and came out

in great safety.
Then she turned and saw somewhat like unto a black man, putting his hands
on his knees, and saying unto her, Cease to pray,
When she
and obey the king's commandment.'
heard that, she caught him by the hair of the head,
and took a cudgel which she found in a corner of
the dungeon, and smote therewith the devil's head.
Thus was the devil tormented by her, and besought
her to lighten his suffering. She answered him
then she made the sign of the
Shut thy mouth
cross upon him, and the earth opened and swallowed
him up.
The next day the king commanded her to be
brought before him, and bade her worship the idols.
She spake roughly unto him whereon he commanded his soldiers to hang her up, and to kindle a
After that they threw
fire under her to burn her.
her into the water to drown her but she asked of
the Lord that this water might be a baptism unto
So a dove came down upon her carrying in
her.
She plunged in the
his mouth a crown of light.
at that hour
believed
thrice.
water
Many persons
and their heads were taken by the sword. Howbeit
the prince grew weary of torturing her, and said, If
'

'

'

'

the people of Antioch will

he commanded to take her head. The

leave her alive,

believe.'

So

all

There seeing
city.
and angels of light, she

executioner led her outside the

the Lord, to whom be glory,

said unto the swordsman, Wait that
'

may

pray'

and when her prayer was ended, she said, Do

thy bidding.' Howbeit he would not but she said,
Unless thou accomplish it, thou hast no lot or part
He went up to her exceeding sorrowful,
with me.'
'

'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

384

[CH. x.

and made the sign of the cross upon the sword, and
took the head of the saint. Thus she won the crown
of martyrdom. The executioner went hastily to the
prince, and smote his own neck with the sword, confessing the Lord God of this martyr, and won everlasting happiness.
May their prayers be with us.

Amen.

LEGEND OF TAKLA.

On

day died the apostolic and holy Takla.

This saint lived in the days of St. Paul: and it came to
pass that when St. Paul went out from Antioch into
Iconia, there was at Iconia a believer called Sifarus,
who took him to his house and a great multitude
this

came together

to hear his doctrine.

when she heard the apostle

from
a window that she might
looked
speaking,
learn his doctrine, and continued in this estate
three days and three nights, neither eating nor
This

virgin, Takla,

His words went down to the depths

of her heart and her soul.
But her parents and
her servants became exceedingly sorrowful, and
drinking.

desired her to

change

this

way

of thinking.

It

to pass that her father met Dimas and

Armukhanis, and he complained unto them of his
daughter.
They made him ask help of the prince
against Paul, who bade Paul come, and examined
his doctrine and his estate.
He found no cause

came

against him, but commanded to bind him.

As soon as the saint Takla heard thereof, she put
off her jewels, and went to the apostle in the dungeon,

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

385

his feet.
When her own
found
her
knew
that
she was at the
not, they
people
So the prince ordered to burn her.
apostle's feet.

and bowed herself before

Her mother

also cried out saying,

'

Burn

her,' that

women might take warning of her example

because many noble women believed the word of
Paul.
Then the prince commanded also to burn

all

So they brought them forth out

As for Takla, her mind and her
were
with
Paul.
She beheld St. Paul
St.
eyes
and he ascended with his body through
praying
the heaven.
So, making the sign of the cross on
Paul with her.
of the dungeon.
:

her body and her face, she cast herself into the fire.
Then the women who were standing by wept for
her but the Lord sent forthwith much rain and
;

and the furnace became like cold dew

and she was delivered from the fire, as one that
comes out of a garden. She went at once to the
place where St. Paul was hidden, and asked him
to cut her hair, and suffer her to be his handmaid.
He did this thing for her sake. When she went to
Antioch, one of the Batarka saw her, and finding her
very beautiful, desired to marry her howbeit she
spake roughly unto him. Wherefore he stirred up
lightning,

the ruler of the city against her who commanded

She stayed
to throw her unto the lions.
among the lions two days, and the lions licked her
;

them

they bound her between two oxen, who

her
through all the city: and when this
dragged
She
did no harm unto her, they let her go free.
feet.

Then

who comforted her, and increased

and
bade her go and preach of
faith,
So she went to Iconia, where she preached
and then she went to her own country.

went unto

St. Paul,

her in the
Christ.

Christ
VOL.

II.

C C

Ancient Coptic Churches.

386

[CH. x.

and her mother

inasmuch
as she had accomplished her apostolic strivings and
her accepted warfare, the Lord desired to give her
So she died,
rest from the troubles of this world.
and won the crown of them that confess and preach.

There she converted her

father

to believe in Christ Jesus;

and

after that,

her body is now in Singdr, as

written in the History of the Patriarchs.
May her prayers be with us. Amen.
It is said that

it

is

LEGEND OF ABU
day won martyrdom the noble saint Abu
who
was of Kalin in the Gharbieh, a soldier
Sikhirun,

On

this

When the commandof Ariana, ruler of Ansina.

ment of the heathen king Diocletian came to worship
idols, this saint stopped in the midst of the assembly
and spake scorn of the king and his gods. None
dare torment him by reason of his warlike strength
but they imprisoned him in the ruler's prison. When
it happened that the ruler of Ansina came to the
city of Siut, they brought Abu Sikhirun unto him
and five soldiers with him, whose names are Alphanus,
Armasius, Aikias, Petrus, and Kiranius these agreed
:

Abu

Sikhirun to shed their blood for the name

of the Lord Jesus. When they came before the
with

ruler,

he commanded to cut their

torture them.

Some

that

and to

of these five were crucified,

but it was com-

and of some the heads were taken

manded

girdles,

the saint

Abu

Sikhirun should be

it was commanded to tear

head even unto the neck and
he was bound to the tail of a mule and dragged

beaten gloriously.

off the scalp of his

Next,

CH. x.j

Legends of the Saints.

through the

city.

Then he was

387

cast into a tank full

of lead, and the tank was covered

next he was
crushed together and thrown into a bath furnace.
;

But in all of these punishments the angel of the

Lord came unto him, encouraged him and made
him whole, comforted him and gave him much
When they were perplexed by his torture,
patience.
they called a great magician, named Iskandaru, who
feigned to bewitch sun and moon, to ascend up into
the sky, and to have dealings with the stars.
He
ordered the door of the bath to be shut then he
took a snake, and as he uttered certain words the
:

snake was split asunder into two pieces next, he

took its poison and its fat and its liver, and put them
into a brazen cauldron, and brought them unto the
Then he made him enter into the bath, and
saint.
:

gave him

to eat of this

cooked poison.

But the

chief of devils, do all

this son of Christ'
and he suffered

saint cried aloud saying,

'

thy power upon

no harm. The sorcerer was greatly astonished, and
The devil, whose help
the saint said unto him,
thou dost implore, will torment thee by the power
;

'

my Lord Jesus Christ.'

Forthwith the devil came, and began to buffet the
The
magician, until he believed in the Lord Jesus.
ruler hearing thereof, took the head of the sorcerer,
of

wrath was greatly multiplied against the

He tormented him with many torments, the
saint.
At last he
saint always thanking the Lord Jesus.
his
should
be
taken
that
head
commanded
by the
edge of the sword. So he won the crown of ever-

and

his

lasting bliss.
May the intercession of this saint be with us,

guard

us,

and save

us.

Amen.
c c 2

and

Ancient Coptic Churches,

388

LEGEND OF

On

[CH. x.

ST. SOPHIA.

day died the saint Sophia.

This saint went to church with some Christian
neighbours, and she believed in the Lord Jesus.
She went to the bishop of Manuf, who baptised her
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, one God and she continued in going to the
church.
But a certain man went and told unto
He
Claudius, the ruler, that she was baptised.
therefore made her come to him and questioned her
of the matter and she confessed and denied it not.
He punished her with many punishments. First, he
beat her with thongs of cowhide then he passed a
hot iron over all her joints, and hung her up. During
this

all this

So

she was ever crying aloud,

the ruler

commanded

'

am

a Christian.'

to cut off her tongue,

and

to lead her back to prison and he sent his wife unto

her, who began to speak softly and promised many
but the saint heeded not. At last he
promises
;

commanded

Then

to cut off her head.

prayed a long prayer,

in the

St.

Sophia
which she asked of God

and his soldiers for her sake.

bowed her head to the swordsman, who

to forgive the ruler

Then

she

cut off her head with the edge of the sword and she
the crown of martyrdom and immortality in the
;

won

kingdom of heaven.

Christian

purchased

woman

took her holy body, which she

for a great price,

and wrapped

it

in

many

her house, and

here many wonders were shown from it.
People
saw on the day of her festival a great light upon
her body, and much frankincense come forth thereprecious wrappings, and put

it

in

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

389

When

Constantine became king of Constantinople, and heard of the body, he sent and transported it to the city of Constantinople, and built to
her a great church in the which he placed her body.
from.

Many

miracles were

shown from

it.

May her prayers and blessings be with

save us from the wicked enemy. Amen.

LEGEND OF

On

this

ST.

us,

and

HELENA.

day we feast for the consecration of the

1
temple of the Holy Resurrection
The holy queen Helena in the twentieth year of
the reign of her son Constantine, after the assembly
of the holy council at Nicaea, took great riches and
I have made a vow to
said to her son,
go to the
Holy Resurrection, and to seek for the body of the
The king was very glad,
cross which giveth life.'
and sent with her soldiers, and gave unto her much
When she came there and had taken a
wealth.
.

'

blessing from these holy places, she began to search

for the cross, and she found it after much weariness.
glorified it with great glorifying, and worshipped
Then she set to build the
with great worship.
temples of the Resurrection, and Golgotha, and

She
it

Bethlehem, and the Cavern and the Height, and

Gethsemane and all the temples, and to overlay

them all with jewels, and gold, and silver. At
Jerusalem was a holy bishop who counselled her
not to do this thing, and said unto her, After a
little time the heathen will come and spoil the
'

I. e.

the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

390

[CH. \.

and throw them down, and take away

places,

Thou

to

build

all

rather with

oughtest
thy doing.
such good building as is customary, and give what
remains of the money to the poor.' She hearkened

and gave him much money, and

charged him so to do. When she came to her son,
and told him what she had done, he was greatly
rejoiced and sent other money, and straitly urged
them to build, and commanded wages to be given
in full tale to the workers at the end of every day,
lest they should become weary and God be against
him.
When the building was accomplished, in the
thirtieth year of the reign of Constantine, he sent
many vessels and much precious apparel, and charged
the patriarch of Constantinople to take with him
bishops, and sent to Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, to take with him also bishops, that they
might assemble with the patriarch of Antioch and
of Jerusalem, and consecrate the temples that were
built.
All were assembled and bode until the sixteenth day of the month Tot. Then they consecrated
the temples which were built and on the seventyto this counsel,

round these places carryeighth day they passed

ing the cross, and worshipped the Lord, offering
the mysteries and glorifying the cross.
Then they
own
their
homes.
departed to
their
intercession
be with us till the last
May
all

breath.

Amen.

THE FINDING

On

this

OF THE CROSS.

day is the remembrance of the glorious

Lord Jesus. This was discovered by

cross of our

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.j

391

the God-loving queen Helena, mother of Constantine, when she cleared away the heap at Golgotha.

Now the reason of this heap is, when the miracles

were shown from the holy sepulchre, such as raising
of the dead and curing of cripples, the Jews waxed
wroth, and cried out in all Judea and Jerusalem that
every one who sweeps his house or who has dust
must cast it upon the sepulchre of Jesus of Nazareth.
They continued in doing this above two hundred
till
years, so that the heap became a mountain
St. Helena came and took the Jews, of whom she
imprisoned one Juda till he revealed unto her the
Then she discovered the holy cross, and
place.
built for it a church, which was consecrated.
They
feast unto the cross on the seventeenth day of the
month Tot and all the Christians were wont to
;

make

pilgrimage to this church at the feast of the

Resurrection.

came

to pass that Isaac of Samra, while he was

with
some men in the way, waxed athirst
walking
and found no water. They passed nigh unto a pit
It

wherein was bitter water of an evil savour. The

people were greatly straitened, and Isaac of Samra
began to mock them. The priest waxed zealous for
zeal of God and disputed with Isaac
but Isaac said
unto him, If I behold power in the name of the
;

'

cross,

will

believe in Christ.'

Then

the priest

prayed over the bitter water, and it became exceeding sweet, so that all the people drank thereof and
their cattle also.

Howbeit

drink, found the water

He

Isaac,

when he wished

which he had put

to

in his bottle

wept, and bowed himself before

the priest Ogidos, and believed in Christ, and drank
of the water, in the which was the virtue to be sweet

full

of worms.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

392

[CH. x.

unto believers and bitter to unbelievers. Moreover

in the water was seen a cross of light.
They built
the
a
and
church
when
Isaac
came to
upon
pit
Jerusalem, he went unto the bishop and was baptised
by him, he and all his family. The cross was found
in the tenth day of the month Barmahat and as this
day falleth in time of fast, the feast was made on the
day of the consecration of the church, which is the
seventeenth day of Tot.
:

Glory and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ for

ever and ever. Amen.

LEGEND OF GIRGIS OF ALEXANDRIA.

On

day obtained martyrdom Mari Girgis of

His father was a merchant of Alexandria and having no son, he went to the church of
Mari Girgis on the day of his feast (which was on
the seventh day of Hator), and asked this saint to
intercede for him before the Lord, that he might
bestow on him a son. The Lord heard his prayer,
and gave him a son whom he called Girgis. The
mother of this saint was sister to Armenius, governor
this

Alexandria.
:

of Alexandria.

His parents died, and he remained at his uncle's

His age was then twenty-five years; and
he was loving to the poor, and merciful and kind.
Armenius had an only daughter, who went on a
house.

day with her friends to walk. It happened

that she saw outside the city a monastery, in which
were hidden monks who were praising God with
sweet voices. Their praise was rooted in her heart,
and she began to ask the young man Girgis, her
certain

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

aunt's

son,

the

of

meaning

these

393

hymns.

He

unto her, and declared also the punishment of sinners, and the reward of the righteous.
When she returned to the house, she avowed to her
father that she believed in Christ Jesus.
declared

it

At the first he spake smoothly unto her to return

from that way, but she hearkened not
then he
commanded to take her head, and she won the
crown of martyrdom.
Howbeit certain men told
;

the governor that Girgis was the cause of

all

these

So he took him and tormented him very

and
then sent him to the village of Ansina,
hardly,
where he was tormented with all sorts of torments
and at the last they took his head, and he won the
crown of martyrdom. A deacon called Samuel took
the holy body and went unto Memphis.
When his
uncle's wife knew that, she sent and took his body,
and put it with the body of her daughter.
May their prayers and intercessions be with us.
things.

Amen.

LEGEND OF ABBA

On this day won martyrdom Abba Maharuah, who

was from Faium, a God-fearing man. When he
heard the news of the martyrs, he came to Alexandria desiring to die in the name of Christ Jesus.
It was told him in a vision,
It is destined for thee
to go to Antioch.'
While he was thinking after this
'

how he

could reach Antioch, and was seeking

a ship, the Lord sent unto him his angel, who carried
him on wings from Alexandria to Antioch, and made
him stand before Diocletian the king, and confess
vision

394

Ancient Coptic Churches.

before him Christ Jesus.

[CH. x.

The

king asked him of

his name and his country, and was astonished at his
presence; and offered him many rewards and benefits,
the which he refused.
Then the king threatened
so he commanded to
him, but the saint feared not
torment him. They tormented him once once they
:

let loose

upon him

lions

once they burned him in

a large cauldron of copper.

once they put him in

Thereafter they took his head by the edge of the
He
sword, and he won the crown of martyrdom.
was made an exchange for all the martyrs of
fire

Antioch who won martyrdom

May his intercession be with

in

us.

Egypt.

Amen.

LEGEND OF THE ANGEL MIKHAIL (MICHAEL).

On this day we feast for the angel Michael, chief

of the angels, the merciful angel who makes intercession for all mankind.
This angel was seen of Joshua, the son of Nun,
in great glory in the likeness of a soldier of a king.
He was afraid and bowed before him, saying, O sir,
The angel
art thou with me or against me ?
answered and said, I am the chief of the powers
of heaven, and on this day I will deliver the
Amalekites into thy hand, and give thee dominion
over Arlha.'
This is the angel who comforts and strengthens
the saints, and makes them longsuffering, until their
Charities and feasts were
war is accomplished.
made unto the saints in his name on the twelfth
because this angel asks of
day of every month
'

'

'

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

the Lord the fruits of the

395

earth and the

rise

of

the Nile, that the Lord may make them perfect.

Once a man called Dorotheos and his wife Theista

were wont to

the angel Michael, on the

twelfth day of every month and for this cause God,
by the intercession of the angel, granted them riches
feast to

out of poverty

wherewith
sell

them

for these holy persons finding nought

to make the feast, took their clothes to
:

in order to

make

the feast.

The

angel

appeared to Dorotheos, and commanded him to go

to the seller of sheep and buy from him a lamb for
one-third of a dinar, and to a fisherman to buy from

him a
the

fish for

fish.

one-third of a dinar

Then he must go

and take from him

clothes.

When

and not

to

to the seller of

open
wheat

that he needs, and not sell his

the man made the feast, as he was
all

bidden, and called the people as was his wont, he

went to search for a little wine in a cupboard, and

was astonished

much wine, more than he had

the guests went away, the angel

to find

When

need

of.

came

in the likeness

which he had when he appeared

and bade him open the fish, in which
he found a parcel containing three hundred dinars
and some gold. The angel said to them, This is
the price of the sheep, and the fish, and the meat,
and the gold is thine because the Lord remembered
thee and made mention of thy charities.
So hath
he rewarded thee in this world, and he will reward
thee in the world to come.'
While they were
astonished, he said unto them, I am Michael, one
of the angels, who have delivered thee from all thy
troubles, and offered thy charities before the Lord/
They worshipped him, and he vanished out of their
sight, and rose up into heaven.
to Dorotheos,

'

'

Ancient Coptic Churches.

396

[CH. x.

This angel has wrought many wonders.

May his intercession be with us for ever.

Amen.

STORY OF ANBA ZACHARIAS.

On

this

day died the

father, the patriarch

Anba

Zacharias.

This saint was of Alexandria, wherein he was a

He had a good repute, chaste in body, meek
priest.
in behaviour, venerable in years.
When the patriarch Anba Philotheos died, the bishops were gathered
together with the Holy Ghost to choose under God's

who

While they
the Apostle, seeking
for the one convenient, they heard that a certain man,
having procured by power of station and money a
counsel one

were

letter

him

should be convenient.

at the church of St.

from the

sultan,

Mark

was coming and bringing with

servants, thinking to be patriarch.

Therefore

man who would fain

become patriarch by power of money and place, they
continued in prayer to God that he would choose for

being sorely grieved against a

them a

patriarch.

During that time Zacharias,

while he was coming down from

the staircase of the

church, carrying in his hand a bottle of vinegar, let

slide his foot, and fell rolling down to the lowest

howbeit the bottle of vinegar in his hand

The bishops and
remained whole and unbroken.
sore
were
amazed
hereat, and asked the
priests
Inasmuch as
people of him, both great and small.
all men ascribed unto him great virtue, the laity

step

The

laity (notables)

always have a voice and meet with the

The khedive has a veto.

bishops in council for the election.

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

397

agreed with the bishops to make him patriarch, and

he was chosen.
sorrows accompanied him
amongst the
him
law
at
before the governor,
monk sued
who took him and bound him and threw him to
lions
but the lions wrought him no harm. The
governor took vengeance on the keeper of the lions.
Then he made the lions hungry and slew a beast in
sacrifice, and smearing the patriarch with its blood

Many

which a

threw him to the

evil.

lions.

Yet they wrought him no

Then

the space

the governor bound him in prison by

of three months, and threatened him,

sometimes with killing, sometimes with casting to

lions, and with burning by fire, if he would not

None

of these three things made

him afraid. Then he promised great reward, vowing
to make him judge of judges of the Muslims ; but

forsake his faith.

all

these promises bent

him

not.

And when

the

governor brought him out from the dungeon, he

also vexed him in many things among which many
:

churches were demolished.

And

the

persecution
God the

endured for nine years. Then the Lord

Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, made

all

these

troubles to vanish away, and the governor commanded the saint to repair the churches, and to
restore unto them all things whatsoever were taken

The churches were built again,

and Zacharias also set to build other churches
and it was ordered that cymbals be beaten in the
away from them.

churches.

Thus

the things appertaining to the churches and

to the faithful became straight, and this father lived
thereafter twelve years, and

eight years.

was chief during twenty-

Ancient Coptic Churches.

398

Then he removed

May

his prayers

[CH. x.

to the Lord.

be with us and preserve us

all.

Amen.

LEGEND OF PETER THE PATRIARCH, THE LAST OF

THE MARTYRS.

On

this

day

won martyrdom Anba

who is the last of

patriarch of Alexandria,

Butros,
all the

martyrs.

was an assistant to a priest in

and
he was called Theodosius.
His
Alexandria,
mother's name was Sophia.
Both feared God greatly; and they had no son.
On the fifth day of the month Abib, which is the
feast of the two saints Peter and Paul, the woman
saw a company of Christians walking with their sons
before them, all dressed in goodly raiment.
She
waxed exceeding sorrowful, and wept, and asked
the Lord Jesus with tears before the holy altar to
bestow on her a son. That night Peter and Paul
appeared unto her, and told her that the Lord had
heard her prayers, and would give her a son who
should be called Peter and they commanded her to
go to the patriarch that he might pray over her.
When she awakened she told her husband, who was
Then she went unto the patriarch,
greatly rejoiced.
and asked of him to pray over her, telling him the
He gave her his blessing, and after a little
vision.
while a son was given to her, this saint Peter.
When he was seven years old, they delivered him to
the patriarch, as Samuel the prophet was delivered.
He became as the patriarch's own son, and was
His

father

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

consecrated by him,

first

399

reader, then deacon, then

He

helped him greatly in the business of the

and when the patriarch who is called Anba
T'auna was dying, he counselled that Peter should
be chosen in his place. So when he came to the
chair, the church was filled with light from him.
This came to pass in the days of Diocletianus.
Now there was at Antioch a patriarch who
followed the king's counsel, and he had two sons.
priest.

church

Therefore their mother, being unable to baptise

them in their own country, took them with her to
Alexandria.
But while she was yet at sea the
waves became furious and fearing that her sons
might die in the water without being baptised, she
wounded her breast, and with her blood she made
the sign of the cross upon the face of her two sons,
;

and baptised them in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Howbeit, they were delivered from the waves, and
came to Alexandria where they were brought to be
but whenever the
baptised with other children
patriarch wished to baptise them, the water became
stone.
This came to pass thrice. So the patriarch
asked her of the matter, and she told him all that
had happened in the way. He was astonished and
;

God, saying, Thus

only one baptism.'
'

glorified

there

is

saith the

Church, that

In the days of this Peter, Arius, the disobedient,

was excommunicated of the patriarch, because he

hindered him and was stubborn.
When Arius
heard that St. Peter was always teaching the people
every place not to worship heathen gods, he sent
messengers to take his head who caught Peter and
bound him. When the citizens heard of this thing,
they took their swords and their armour, and came
in

Ancient Coptic Churches.

4oo
to the

dungeon

When

(sic\

[CH. x.

to fight with the king's

messengers
be killed
would
many
die for his people and to

Peter saw that

he wished to
be with Christ so he sent to bid all the people
come, and comforted them, and counselled them to
for his sake,

abide in the true

Howbeit Arius, knowing

Lord leaving him ex-

faith.

was going

that Peter

to the

communicate, besought the chief of the priests to

make intercession with the patriarch to loose him

but Peter would not. Then he told unto them a
vision which he saw in the night wherein he beheld
Jesus, his raiment parted asunder, and his hand
covering his body with the robe. And Peter said,
*
O Lord, who hath parted thy raiment ? And he
answered, 'Arius because he hath parted me from
my Father. Wherefore beware thou of him.'
Thereafter the patriarch asked of the king's messengers in secret to break through the prison wall
from within and from without, and to take him to
accomplish the king's order. They did as he commanded they took him out to the city to the place
;

'

where was buried St. Mark the Evangelist. There

he prayed and after greeting all the people he gave
himself up to the swordsman, and prayed, saying,
O Lord Christ, suffer my blood to extinguish the
worship of idols.' A voice from heaven came unto
him and was heard by a holy virgin, the voice as of
one saying, Amen, be it unto thee according to thy
wish.'
The swordsman took his holy head, and his
body remained standing upright by the space of two
;

'

the people came who came in haste, being

nigh to the dungeon, yet not knowing what had
happened unto him, until one told them. So they
hours,

took

till

St. Peter,

and wrapped him, and made him

sit

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

401

on his chair, on the which none ever saw him sit

before while he was in life.
For while he was alive
he

said,

I sit

not thereon, because

see the power

they buried him

of the Lord sitting upon it.' Then

in the place of the bodies of the saints.

He

was

eleven years on the throne.

May

his prayers

and intercessions be with

us.

Amen.

STORY OF THE PATRIARCH ANBA MARKUS,

about 1800 A.D.

On this day died the patriarch Anba Markus, the

cviu of the patriarchs of Alexandria.
This father was of a village called Tammah, and
from his youth loved ever to wander in solitude.
Since therefore, by exceeding love for loneliness, he
become a monk, he went to the monastery
of St. Antonius, father of monks. There he became
monk, and waged much spiritual warfare. When the
patriarch Anba Yuanls the cvn died, all the bishops
and priests assembled in Cairo, and made a drawing
of lots to find the person meet for the office.
When
they had prayed to God to guide them in choosing
the man most worthy, the lot fell upon Markus.
So
sent
after
him
the
of
abbot
the
who
they
monastery,
was accompanied by a troop of Beduin, and brought
him to Cairo, albeit against his will, bound with iron
chains.
The fathers, the bishops, and the priests
came together, and made him patriarch of the chair
of St. Mark of Alexandria.
His name before he
was made patriarch was John, and they gave him
desired to

VOL. n.

Coptic form of

Yuhanna

D d

or John.

Ancient Coptic Churches.

402

name of Mark
During
were many afflictions and many
l

the

[CH. x.

his bishopric there

adversities, and this

two years after his coming to the chair

a multitude from the Frank countries, called the
chiefly, that

The
French, came and took possession of Egypt.
inhabitants of Cairo rose against them, and there
was war between them

for three days.

Then

the

house from the Harat-ar-Rum

patriarch changed
to the Azbiklah.
Then a vizier from Turkey came,
certain
accompanied by
English folk, and theydrave
out the French from Egypt.
The people suffered
much
the
at
the
hand
of
French
very
many places
were laid waste, and many of the churches made
his

desolate.

The

patriarch also suffered

many

adversi-

which cause he left Harat-ar-Rum, and came

to the Azbiklah, where he built a large precinct and a
large church in the name of St. Mark the Evangelist.
This is the first who inhabited the Azbiklah. He
was always repairing churches and monasteries which
were in ruin and was ever awake to preach to the
Moreover
people, and to teach them night and day.
he consecrated many bishops. And when the metropolitan of Abyssinia died, and certain monks and
priests came with a letter from the king of Abysties

for

asking a metropolitan, Markus consecrated for

him one who went with the Abyssinian priests, and
also sent to them books of sermons and of doctrines,
because he had heard that certain of them had
become heretic. A wonder was also wrought by
this father on this wise.
One year the river Nile
sinia

did not overflow

is

its

borders

This was only because

not an

official title.

his

wherefore the viceroy

predecessor was called John.

Mark

Legends of the Saints.

CH. x.]

403

asked of the Coptic patriarch and the other patriarchs to pray for the rise of the water of the Nile.
So Markus and all the priests and Christian people
came together and prayed to God, who hearkened to
their prayers, and made arise the water of the Nile
higher than its wont.
When he was sick with the sickness of death he
called unto him the chief of the bishops, and said
unto him, My time is come to leave this world
so
must thou and thy brethren meet together and
After three
consecrate a patriarch
neglect it not.'
the
and
he was
his
soul
to
Lord,
days
departed
buried in the church of Azbikiah which he had
'

and great was the pomp of his burial. He

on the chair thirteen years and four months.
May his blessing be with us till the last breath.
And to our Lord be praise for ever. Amen.

built

sat

D d

INDEX TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

ACANTHUS, pp. 243. 244. 245.
'Arjp

Babylon 167.
see

Baldakyn,

46.

Altar-canopy.

Alb, see Vestments.

Ballin, see Vestments.

Alchemy 251.

Balsam 331.
Banner 311.
Baptism 262

Alms-dish 289.
Altar 1-36.
- board

3. 7.

of

283.

canopy 28 seq. 194.

casket, see Ark.
cavity 305. 352. 353.
coverings 35-36. 283.
-

wood

Beduin 240.
Bell 45. 50. 79. 273. 316. 323.

Benediction 292. 316. 327.

of oil 333 seq.
- of
palm 349.
- of water 266.
271. 272. 339.
344- 346. 350- 39 1
Biruna 213.

6-7.

portable 25-28.
slab 7 seq.

Ambon

64. 314.
see

Amice,
'AJAVOS

Vestments.

Books 239-246.
Bowing before altar 309. 319.

280.

Ampulla

Amula

56.

Bread, eucharistic, 277.

Breastplate 102. 123.

56.

Angelic habit 308. 323.

Anointing the sick 326 seq.
Antimensia 27.

British usage 171. 198. 215.

Burial of the rood 352.

Apostolical Constitutions 268.

Apse 194.
Aquamanile 54.
Arcosolia 8. 13.

Ark 42 seq. 55. 283.

Armenian altar 23. 33.

Burnus,

60.

Charta bombycina 241.

Chasuble, see Vestments.

Vestments.

Aspersion 268. 292. 339. 345.

Aster or dome 39.
VOL.

Chrism 19

seq. 269. 271.

337- 340- 343- etc.

78.
II.

etc.

of priesthood 209 seq.

Casula 196.
Chains put on patriarch 306. 309.
401.
Chalice 37 seq.

Cap

169. 184. 214 bis. 227. 233.

Aumbry

Cope and Chasuble

Cambutta 228.
Candelabrum 68.

349- 350- 35i- 352.

vestments 122. 126. 142. 162.
see

see

(Vestments).

usage 49. 50. 263. 280. 328.

Armlet,

seq. 388. 399.

266.

Baptistery 264. etc.

Basin, see Ewer.

lights 56.

of

fire

299.

Index.

406

built
over martyrs'
bodies 362. 367. 368. 369.
388.
dedicated to martyrs 360. 365.

Churches

Cidaris 203 n.

Dikanikion 219.
Diptychs 49. 289.
8iarKOKa\vfifJ.a

46.

Dome, eucharistic,
Dove 383.

see Aster.

Circumcision 263.

Colobion no.
Coloured vestments 112. 113. 195.
196. 200.

298. 315.

320.
Confessionary, see Crypt.

see

Emblems

Ephod

98. 102. 123.

104. etc.: see Vestments.

fTTifiaviKia

Epiphany ceremonies 346

seq.

- tank
349.

128

etc.:

see

Vest-

see

Amice

ments.
iis

75.

234-235.

2 73-

3i5- 3 2 3- 325- of consecration

19. 21.

102.

203. etc.

(Vestments).
Eras, Arabic terms

Corporal 17. 45. 48. 50. 315. 335.

Crewet 55. 271.
Cross, amulet 233
57.

183.

92.

benedictional

182.

Enamelling on glass 70-71.

Vestments.

Coptic language 247-257.

dialects of 255.

Corona

Elevation of host 82.

291.

Confirmation 262 seq.

Consecration of altar 343. etc.
- of
baptistery 344 seq.
- of
bishop, see Orders.
- of church
338 seq. 363. 372.

39- 39 1

'

Egyptian mythology 94.

Confession 277. 296.

Cope,

231.
*yx f lp lov 144 n. 163. 169.

22.

for,

96

Ethiopia 25. etc.

Eucharist 275 seq. 373.
Eulogiae 292.

Ewer 53.
Excommunication 399,

n.

etc.

400.

Exorcism 269. 272.

340.
-

pectoral 231.

processional 233. 234. 309.

335Crown, baptismal 273.
- bridal
63. 305. 325.
episcopal, see Vestments.
Crucifix 57.
Crutch or staff 83. 225.

Crypt 13 seq.
Cucullus 198.
Cufic writing 253.
Cumhdach 246.
Cursive writing 241.
Curtain 30 seq. 39. 194.

Cymbal

82. 240. 273. 397.

Fan,

see

Fanon

Fasting 23. 276. 296. 316. 320.

354Flabellum 46 seq. 292. 309. 335.
339processional 49.
Font 271.
Fresco, see Mural painting.
Frontal for lectern 68.

Gabathae

see

Vestments.

Demotic writing 249. 250. 251.

72.

Galilaeon 272. 273. 331.

Gallican usage 161, 171.

Georgia 51.
Girdle

Dalmatic,

Flabellum.

122.

359. 386 (see also

ments).
- at
baptism 273. 274.

Vest-

Index.

Kissing threshold of sanctuary,

287. 315.
Kneeling 277. 290. 339.

Girdle at marriage 324.

Glove 233.

Gong
Good

8 1.

Friday 50. 351.

Gospel, book of, see Textus.
- stand
59. 60. 273. 274.
Greater entrance 284.

Xfpvtfiov 54.
\IT(0I>IOV

Greek

altar 6. 20. 23. 25. 32-36.

language 255.
usage 44. 80. 169. 215. 280.

293. 328. 337.

342-43

vestments passim,

see

etc.

chapters

on vestments.
Griffin's

egg

407

78.

IOI.

Labyrinth 368.
Lafafah, see Corporal.
Lamps 69 seq. 194. 327.
Lance, eucharistic 44.

Language, Coptic 247-257.

Lectern 65 seq.

Legend

89.

266. 297. 306. 312.

355- 357 seq.

Handbell, see Bell.

Hasirah, see Mat.
Hieroglyphics 249.
History of the Patriarchs 386.

Lenten

veil, see Veil.

Lights, ceremonial use of, 39. 55.

96. 273. 274. 284. 285. 286.

Hours of prayer, Coptic 349n.

289. 294. 321. 323. 326. 328.

335- 344- 346. 35iLiturgies 282.

Iconostasis 32. 33. etc.

Illumination 241 seq.

Magician 387.
Malabar Christians 134.

Images 83-84.
Immersion 267. 383.
Imposition of hands 310. 315.

Mandatum

Hood

183.

320. 321. 322.

Incense 270. 285. 286. 325. 335.
etc.

- box 62.
Infulae 214.
Insufflation 271. 273. 320. 321.
Irish usage 51. 60. 61. 81. 112.

171. 197. 215. 229. 245.

Isbodikon 279. 290. 291.

Jewelled vestments 98. 168. 177.
Jordan 265.
2O2.

Kiss of peace, see Pax.

Kissing altar 287. 315. 321.
bishop 317.

Maronite

350.

altar 24.

usage 50. 80.

- vestments 122.
127. 134. 136.
147. 162. 187. 213. 227.

Marriage crown 63.

Marriage of clergy 305. 313. 319.
Mass for the dead 297.
Mat, eucharistic 44.

etc.

Matrimony 323.
Melkite community

48. 49. 61.

106. 133. 276. 348.
- vestments 116.
132. 138. 160.

168. 191. 207. 219. 237.

Mention at the mass 289 n.

Milk and honey, 270. 272. 273.
Miracles 388.
Mitra, 207.

cross 314.
curtain 283.

Crown (Vestments).
Monuments 203.
Mosque 77.
Mount Athos, 80. 91. 93. 96.

gospel 286.

Mural paintings 83

Mitre, see

seq. 360.

Index.

408
Myron 330

see also

Chrism and

Oils.

Persian martyrs 369.

etc. IOI
.

(j)aivu>\ioi>

(j>iKu>\iw

49

n.

Phare 74.

Napkin 164.
Nestorian altar

6.

Pictures 87 seq. 311. 349.

24. 33.

chalice 38.

Pilgrimage 355. 391.

usage 77. 263. 280. 305.

- vestments
127. 142. 170. 187.
227.

Piscina 17.
Planeta 196.
jroXuoravpioi' 196.

Pope, title of 302.

Prayer before altar 398.

Ne0eX?7 46.
Nile, rise of 395. 403.

- to saints
96.
Oils, holy 56. 269. 270. 272. 325.

331

327.

seq.

see

also

Procession 48. 49. 176. 191. 273.

309. 311. 313. 3*14- 3 X 9 bis
-

Chrism and Galilaeon.

olvdvdt) 28.

343- 349- 350. 352. 353Prostration 296. 343.

Pulpit 65.

Olive branch 299.

Orders 301 seq.

archdeacon 321.
archpriest or
-

kummus

321.326.328.335. 339.340.

39-

Purgatory 297.
318.

Purification 263.

bishop 313.

55-

deacon 320.
metropolitan 312.
- monk
308. 322.
patriarch 302seq. 396. 401. etc.
priest 319.
- reader
322.
- sacristan
301.
singer 301. 322.
- subdeacon
321. 322.
Osiris, worship of 94. 248.

Ostrich-egg 77.
Oven 277.

Oxford University and the study

of Coptic 257 n.

Real Presence, doctrine of 296297.

Relics 12
3 6 9-

seq.

68.

311.

342.

Reservation of host 54. 293.

- of hallowed water
267.

Ring 214. 233. 324.

ijuriSiw 49.

Rosary 238.
Sacraments, the Coptic 262-329.
Sacred letters of Sanutius 3.
Sacring

bell 82.

Sagavard 214.
1

60

n.

Salt,

Palm

344. 349.
Sunday 349.
Paschal candle 68.

Paten 39.

etc.

use

of

274

n.

282.

34i-

Sanctus bell 82.

Sandals 233.
Screen 194. etc.

Patriarch, see Orders.

Pax 49. 60. 270. 286. 315.

Sees, the Coptic 318.

Semantron 80.

Pelican 243.

Sepulcrum

Penance 277. 298.

Serpent 218. 219. 223. 224.

122.
Persecution 375.

Sick,

irepi<rTf)6ioii

17.

Service books 258 seq.

communion of the 295.

292.

Index.
Sign of the cross 270. 274. 287.
288.

Vestments.

Amice 98-100. 117 seq. 276.

Armlet or sleeve or epimani-

319. 320.
322.325.344.345. 366. 382
bis. 383. 384. 399.
Singing-irons 281.
299.

409

315.

kion 99. 100. 104. 114. 163

seq. 165.
Ballin 118.

Spoon, eucharistic 40. 276. 291.

Chasuble 101. 105. 173

321.

Stamping the housel 279-280.

(rri\apiov I o 1 . 115.
Stole, see Vestments.

Synaxar 259.
Syrian altar 24. 27.
-

usage 48. 263. 338.

vestments 122. 136. 140. 141.

seq.

199.

Cope 99-100. 173

seq. 199.
Crozier or staff 217 seq. 346.
- Dalmatic
98. 109 seq. 276.
Epigonation 169. 235 seq.
- Girdle
98-100. 103-104. 124
seq.

142. 162. 166. 170. 185. 202.

212. 226. 227.

Maniple 98. 138. 144

n. 163.

164.

- Mitre or crown 120.

156. 184.

200

Mat.
Tabak,
Tailasan, see Vestments.
see

Tarbush 201.

Stole 99. 127 seq.

epitrachelion
128. 129 seq.

7.

Throne 309. 317.

Thurible 309. 339.
Gwiaarripiov

or patrashil

orarion 128. 134 seq. 321.

Superhumeral 101. 102.

etc.

I.

Tiara 207. 215.

Tailasan 120.
Vestments, eastern origin of 125.

Tonsure 322.

Tower

143 seq.

- Rational 101. 102.

ii7n. 122.
- Shamlah 118
seq. 314.

317. 322. 327. 339.

I

pall

162.

Teaching of the Apostles 268.

Textus 57 seq. 273. 309. 310.
Ba\acra-a

seq.

Omophorion or

81.

Wafer 278 seq.

Wanderers of the desert 372. 374.

Tribune 309. 314.

Turban 375. 377.

Washing

Varkass 122.
Vartaped 227. 228.
Veil,.eucharistic, 45. 285. 286. etc.

- Lenten
35.
- of crozier
219.

Vestments 17. 97-238.

- Alb
99.

the altar

9.

342.

- of eucharistic vessels
292.
of hands at mass 287.
- of feet 122.
145 n. 350. 361.
Water mixed with wine 284.

Urceolus 54.

Wine, eucharistic, 281.

- for
lamp 329.
- other use of

341.
277. 291.
Worshipping the patriarch 312.

Women

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