Washing before praying agpeya

stozi

Hi, I'm having trouble finding a full guide on praying the hours. I have read to wash hands and face first. Is there a particular way to do so?

Then, when to cross oneself and when to prostrate during the prayer? really prostrate 41 times during lord have mercies? You need to be fit.

Thanks!

minatasgeel

"washing" is not something you have to do before praying with the agpeya. It may be a thing in other church, but for sure not the coptic church. 

stozi

Ah. I think I got that from Wikipedia

minatasgeel

not the best source for the faith.

stozi

Yes. But it cites a book from 1906. So perhaps it's a practice lost over time.

Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney (1906). A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Methuen. p. 399. Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.

mabsoota

probably in the old days ppl didn't wash a lot and would come home covered in desert dust.

so it made sense not to get black greasy marks on the books.

i normally pray without washing, but if my hands are sticky from eating dinner then i wash my hands first so the book doesn't get dirty.

which reminds me it is time for prayer!

(and hi to minatasgeel - long time no post!)