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Feast of Nativity

ophadeceophadece
in Coptic Orthodox Church
Are there any Coptic churches this year that will celebrate the feast of Nativity on the 25th of December?
Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
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Comments

  • AndrewRezk
    What o_O
  • ophadeceophadece
    That is a rumour I heard and I am checking if anyone else might have heard anything
    Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    ?
    Was that ever an option???
    If so, I hope they started fasting the 43 before the 25th 
    ;)
  • ophadeceophadece
    I am glad to have heard Coptic bishops in the UK and the USA opposed to that idea.. God bless His Bride and keep Her safe in this ugly world
    Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    I don't think it's about "opposing" the idea as much as it is something that will disconnect us from the Church in Egypt. Meaning, that people wouldn't mind changing it to December 25, but only if the Church in Egypt and the Coptic Church everywhere else in the world change too...which i don't think will ever happen.

    Also, not too many think about the fast. Here in the states, thanksgiving mostly comes before or on the beginning of the fast...few times it comes before like this year...but the majority of time people get to enjoy thanksgiving with meat. Changing the feast to be December 25 will simply make that option an impossibility. 

    Moreover, the Greeks and most of the EO will probably not make the change...so, changing will just make us look bad. 
  • ItalianCopticItalianCoptic
    edited December 2019
    No. The church's calendar is Julian. The Western church is Gregorian, or the contemporary calendar we use in the vast majority of the World today. No Coptic church will celebrate the Feast of the Nativity on the 25th of December. This was rejected fairly recently due to what Mina said. I have a few Greek friends here in the U.S., and they celebrate it on the 25th, while Greece celebrates it on the 7th of January.

    Just because we speak English and must be more aware of a change of cultural norms in the church in the next 20 years, doesn't mean we should cut off ties to Egypt. The Greek church is fragmented because of those mistakes. Copts aren't the first Orthodox to leave their native lands.

    I'm personally glad our church was aware enough of the choices of past Orthodox leaders, and the current political climate in Egypt does not warrant a complete cut off of administration to Europe, North America or Australia, like the Greeks and Russians of over a century ago.

    The rise of communism, poverty and war created the need for the Greek and Russian churches to basically create autonomous patriarchates that exist in those churches today. That lead to even more splits, like the Orthodox Church in America, and a few outliers in Greek Orthodoxy as well.
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    @minatasgeel
    I heard that someone claimed that HGBY permitted for Copts to break their fast on thanksgiving, and that usually it is okay to do so?
  • Daniel_Kyrillos
    Breaking the fast for thanksgiving doesn’t happen for us... we enjoy a fishgiving :)
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    @Jojo_Hanna...so I am not in the SUS, but knowing His Grace, or even any of the bishops in NA or elsewhere, they would never allow this. People like to make up stuff to justify their actions. You can email him and ask from the contact page on suscopts.org
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    I know HG personally and we frequently speak, I just read someone write this somewhere and wanted to know what your reactions would be to such a lie...
    HGBY is far more knowledgeable and wise to have never spoken such a thing.
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    I also wanted to confirm something, on Wednesday and Fridays of the Advent Fast, one is not permitted to eat seafood, correct?
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    no. :-)
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    Wdym @Tasgeel Affandy ??
    We were always taught such...
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    oh, wait, i am sorry, i didn't see the "not". I stand corrected
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    Lol, I almost changed dinner plans for tomorrow ;)
  • ophadeceophadece
    Thank you all for your lovely replies.. You make me live again.. :-)
    @minatasgeel I thought the Greek Church in America follow the Gregorian calendar, do they not?
    @ItalianCoptic very nice to hear from you those thoughts and not only that but also that you have such a stance. The church is fortunate to have someone like you to serve Her congregation. One thing to modify, the Coptic Church follows the Coptic calendar that is parallel to the Julian calendar, but She does not follow the Julian one. I would like to be very precise compared to other people who give any reasons that are nearly correct but not correct. Please remember that the 6th of Nasee' does not fall on the same day as the 29th of February, plus other important dates of course..
    Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
  • athansius951
    In the diocese of HEM Serapion there has been given permission to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity on the 25th of December when decided appropriate by the priest of the church as well as on the 28th of koiakh, but the fast is NOT to be broken until the 28th of koiakh. 
  • mabsootamabsoota
    remember we do get an extra day without fasting this year, 29 kiahk (8 jan) is a wednesday, so no wednesday fasting that day!
  • ophadeceophadece
    No comment
    Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    I love you @ophadece :D
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    His response is perfect. 
  • Daniel_Kyrillos
    @mabsoota has eyes on the prize :)) :))
  • mabsootamabsoota
    i was thinking of all those who were feeling sad about eating lentils and nuts on 25th...
  • mabsootamabsoota
    in response to pharaoh nashed, I have also seen that, they want to have an extra service with Christmas tunes.
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    It's a complete joke that should not be respected at all.
    One cannot simply "delete" our heritage in such a manner.
  • athansius951
    Yes mabsoota, they would change the service to the festive tune. In response to Jojo, it's the bishops right to defend the faith in the way he sees necessary. If he sees its pastorally fit to, without breaking the fast, have the Christmas service on the 25th as well as January 7th, then it is his right to do so. HH  gave a talk concerning this. 
  • ophadeceophadece
    Dear @PharaohNashed,
    I respectfully disagree. It is not anyone's right in the church to change what is steadfast and fixed by the forefathers, otherwise why don't they allow fish in the Great Lent, or Wednesday and Friday? I assume we are talking about the Orthodox faith, so how is this defending the faith when the pillars of Orthodoxy are fiddled with?
    Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ
  • mabsootamabsoota
    I don't know the situation, so won't comment further
  • athansius951
    @ophadece HH Pope Kyrillos changed the canons of the church to allow fish on Wednesdays and Fridays because he saw that the congregation wasn't fastign at all and he thought that they should at least try and fast a little bit, it wasn't until HH Pope Shenouda decided that the church was in a stable enough position to bring back the fasting without fish. 
  • Jojo_HannaJojo_Hanna
    Pope Kyrillos VI did NEVER change Church canons concerning the Wednesday’s and Friday’s fast and eating fish... He simply made an exception (to that man only) due to the simplicity of the way he was already fasting.
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