Coptic Orthodox Church - Tasbeha.org Community

Abouna Phaltaos El Soriany movie trailer!

markmarcos — Tue, 06 May 2014 00:29:52 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yGGYAawvrY

i thought you guys would enjoy this! it's the tailer for abouna phaltaos! it's soooo good!

does anyone know when the movie is going to come out?

Change in bylaws for election of new Pope

qawe — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:37:26 +0000

http://lacopts.org/articles/new-regulations-for-choosing-the-coptic-orthodox-patriarch/

What do you guys think?

Personally I see a lot of pros: no diocesan bishops, every priest and full deacon allowed to vote (expansion of voting base), candidates unable to be nominated if ever nominated before (I read this, but can someone confirm that this is still the case), which stops people with a lifelong dream of becoming Pope trying twice.

However I see some cons: general bishops are still allowed - this rank will become an unhealthy 'training ground' for future Popes; tacit endorsement of the RC model of Pope in that people of all dioceses vote for him, not just his own diocese of Cairo and Alexandria (although the Orthodox ecclesiology of the papacy was stressed in other sections, albeit ineffectual, of the new bylaws.

Testing period for monks

St. Pachom — Sun, 11 May 2014 20:16:01 +0000

For some reason the monastic process is different in America from Egypt. In America, coptic orthodox laymen who wish to become monks are to undergo a testing period in the monastery they are to join for three years. They are free to leave and go back to the world during that time if they wish. They can also be asked to leave. They wear white cassocks during this testing period until they are blessed and consecrated to join the community, if deemed fit by the abbot. In Egypt there is a testing period when white is worn, and another when blue is worn. Can someone explain the difference between the two? And the significance, if any? Much appreciated! Pray for me as I'm preparing to go on a monastery retreat this summer.
Christ is Risen from the Dead!

Church's stance on hunting

davidschanter — Sun, 04 May 2014 12:46:04 +0000

Was wondering if someone could give me more information on our church's stance on hunting. If we are allowed to hunt, if there are certain restrictions, can we do it for sport, if we need permission, and so on. If you could point me to some sources, that would be nice. If we are completely nonchalant about it (which is what it seems), let me know if you have a source who states that.

Thanks

How long does it take to become coptic

IAmHoly — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:52:18 +0000

How long does it take for someone to convert to Coptic Orthodox for marriage. Please discuss time differences for Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and pagan. Please don't give obvious and annoying answers like "it depends," or "people shouldn't convert for marriage" etc. Please just answer the question based on what you've seen.

Patriarch Eutychius

peter_saad — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 19:29:48 +0000

Does anyone know anything about this patriarch, and what the view of the Coptic church is on him? Im writing a 6 page research paper on him.. thanks!

judas zafaa procession significants/rite?

markmarcos — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 00:13:49 +0000

what is the rite or significance of the procession of judas? opposite way? and my priest said that some traditions are to hold an upside down chair in the zaffa? did u guys ever hear of this?

pre-servents lectures Orthodox Vs Protestant

markmarcos — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:06:08 +0000

Hey guys I wanted to share some Youtube videos about the Orthodox beliefs comparing to that of the Protestant beliefs. It's a pre-servants broadcast with the blessing of Anba Yousef of the SUS diocese. I think you will all enjoy it and learn a lot from it! Please spread it around!
GBU all.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNCd1g_tB83DzCttxfKkTlA?app=desktop

Sermon on Bright Saturday (Apocalypse night) in English

Amoussa01 — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 02:19:29 +0000

Does anyone know where I can find a good one? Thanks!

politics in the church

ophadece — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:41:27 +0000

Dear all,
I read that an Egyptian singer by the name of Ihab towfik sang the most famous patriotic song nowadays inside a church.. supposedly that was a church in France. Does anyone know if that's true?
Oujai

Character Maligning

Ioannes — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:40:25 +0000

Why does it seem that people get more upset over their character and wether it is being maligned or not, rather than the character of the church being maligned? I have experienced people who essentially deface the church, while thinking they are defending it, but then get upset about the response to their stupidity and consider the response as a character assassination?

People Speaking Coptic

ebnyasoo3 — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 03:03:23 +0000

Have you all seen this video:

This is amazing that people can actually speak coptic outside of church. Is it possible for someone like me who can only read to understand it to the point of speaking it?

This is fascinating to me.

It reminds me of when Ophadece used to subtitle his posts in coptic.

Are we allowed to go to Israel / Jerusalem?

mabsoota — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:38:55 +0000

dear tasbeha friends, can i please have some advice?

i saw something on another topic saying copts are not allowed by the pope to go to jerusalem.
is this true? why?

i ask because a very close friend is getting married in israel this year (to a Christian 'Messianic' jew) and we are invited and it will be terrible to not go. i don't know if we will be going to jerusalem in our travels, i was hoping to go there and to also visit friends in palestine.

several years ago, i was on holiday in what appeared to be the noisiest part of cyprus and escaped by doing a 1-day trip to israel (we went because of the cheap last minute price and the 2 nights of peace on the cruise ship), and the tourist trip was rather unsatisfactory. we were just 1 large group out of about a hundred large groups being squashed down the same streets and spending 5 to 10 mins each in various churches about which the secular israeli tour guide knew nothing (i have since read up on those places!). so i was hoping to see a few places in more detail (churches, synagogues, mosques, museums) and have some useful conversations with all the different people we know there about their situation.

so is that a problem? or is it just egyptians who are not supposed to go?

also i've heard that having an israeli stamp on your passport means you can't go to some other countries. is that true? on the cyprus tour they just hold your passports for the day, they don't stamp them. so i don't currently have a stamp.

thank you for your help, may God remind us daily of the joy of the ressurection feast :)

Pekethronos

St. Pachom — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:18:10 +0000

Can someone give a brief history of the hymn for pekethronos? Why do we call its hymn the Royal "Tune" if it is only used for Pekethronos and half of the Covenant Thursday Psalm? It does not seem like a tune but rather just a specific hymn. Why is it also called the Syrian tune?

Pray for me

General Funeral Service is in the Mournful Tune Again

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 16:24:22 +0000

The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, in its meeting this past week, has restored the General Funeral Service of Palm Sunday to be chanted in the mournful tune (Hazayni) rather than the annual tune.

Why should we fast?

Zoxsasi — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:04:43 +0000

What is the spiritual significance attached to abstaining from certain dietary products?

Of course I understand that fasting and prayer go hand in hand, by why isn't it prayer and confession, or prayer and walking or prayer and running??

Why is abstaining from certain food types , when coupled with praying, a mode of spirituality for us?

What do we gain when abstaining from animal produce??

Why can't we eat what we want, and just abstain from chocolate, or eat what we want and run 20 miles a day whilst praying?

Thanks

Digital Radio Show- How Homosexuality is percieved in the Coptic Church

copticyouth86 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:54:40 +0000

I've got a six week show as a lead up to the Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras on digital radio here in Sydney Australia and my show focuses on how homosexuality is percieved in different cultures. The fhirst show focused on the Coptic culture and I wanted to share it with the wider Coptic community.If you're interested go to the link www.2ser.com/staro and go to the second page where the show has been podcasted and available to stream under the title 'Queer Culture'.

~Gabriel

What to do in my situation?

damooster — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 05:12:27 +0000

Hello everyone,

I have a question, but as this is my first post here, I thought I'd combine it with a quick intro!

I am a 36 year old male. I'm a US citizen but I'm currently living in Hanoi, Vietnam with my wife (a Philippines citizen) and five month old daughter. We are a Roman Catholic family, but we are on opposite sides of the spectrum. My wife is a Catholic in name only, while I'm pretty conservative.

A few years ago, I watched a documentary about an Anglican vicar that visits Fr. Lazarus in the desert before spending some time out there himself (I'm sure you've all seen it before, but if not, it's called "Extreme Pilgrim"). Anyways, after I first saw the documentary, I began researching the Coptic Church and have a deep love for it. I want to convert, but I have two problems that I would like to ask for advice on:

1. Here in Hanoi, there are no Coptic (or Eastern Orthodox) Churches that I know. The only Eastern Orthodox Church that I know of is in Vung Tau, which would require me to take a plane to. Now, I plan to live here in Hanoi for about 2 more years, after which I will probably move to Canada or the Philippines (undecided at the moment). Is there any way I can go about converting if I wanted to? If so, who would I have to talk to? Is it even possible, or would I need to wait until I get to an area with a Coptic church? If it matters, I regularly attend the Catholic Mass every Sunday, but it can be burdensome on me spiritually.

2. Even though my wife is Catholic in name only, she has shown resistance to me converting to Coptic Orthodoxy. She even gets frustrated if she sees me reading Coptic literature. There have been times, however, that she's shown a willingness for me to convert, but I was hoping someone in a similar situation could provide guidance. Did your spouse convert as well, or did they just allow you to while they remained in their faith?

Thank you in advance for any help, and I look forward to interacting with all of you.

Pope Cyril (Kyrillos) VI - Synaxarium

drewhalim — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:36:35 +0000

Does anybody have a Synaxarium entry for Pope Kyrillos in preparation for his feast next Sunday? Arabic and English would be good.

Satanism

Ioannes — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:43:38 +0000

Satanism, is it drawing pentagrams on the floor and sacrificing babies on some weird looking altar? Satanism, in the judeo-Christian sense, is the worship of the self by elevating the self above God, as satan did. Anyone notice how prevalent satanism is in this culture today? Aliester Crowleys "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" turned into "Do your own thing" in the 60's counter culture, sexual liberation movement. That turned into "Do what you wanna do" and now the liberal mantra of "To each his own." We are being urged to appeal to our emotion and desires, which is contrary to Orthodox teaching. So many have inadvertently elevated themselves to God's status, and certainly act as such. This is the apostasy St. Paul spoke of, the falling away, or an even better translation is defection. The people of the world are defecting from God, but to what? Themselves, their desires and their wants. As Crowley predicted that Thelema would sweep the earth and destroy Christianity, that seems to be coming to fruition as so many people have bought into this idea of selfishness rather than selflessness.

This satanic ideology can easily be seen throughout the media with movies and music beating this idea into our head like a mantra, "Do what you wanna do" and "if if feels good do it." It can also be seen in our own Christian faith as Luther invented the idea that scripture is the sole authority, relegating interpretation to anyone who had a bible, thereby bypassing any kind of institution instated by God. He also invented that it is by faith alone that one is saved, and by this placing salvation in the hands of any individual that should merely believe in Christ. Those sound very satanic to me, and satanic in the true sense of the word, that the individual is in control above God or anyone appointed by God.

Any comments or questions are welcome.

going to other OO churches

markmarcos — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:19:12 +0000

hi guys i was wondering if i need permission from my FOC to go to another OO (Oriental Orthodox) church... or can i just go without any thing...

What makes the great lent extra special or different?

[Deleted User] — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 07:43:13 +0000

Its a simple question. Why is everyone so excited when the great lent comes? What makes it so different from all the other fastings we have for church?

I hear people at church say "I can't wait for the lent" or "I waited all year for this!"
Why?

An Non Egyptian Pope?

St. Pachom — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 15:11:42 +0000

Do you think we will ever have a Pope who is not Egyptian? Australian, American, or perhaps from another African country(etc)? Obviously our selection of the Pope is ultimately God's will via the ballot but it feels as if for a new Pope to be really embraced and loved by his people(most of which are native Egyptians) he almost HAS to be Egyptian and speak arabic. I would love my shepherd either way but I feel like the general population would think differently. Would the clergy who vote to narrow it to 3 even vote for those candidates? Let me hear your thoughts. Happy Fasting.

Pray for me.

Coptic Orthodox Liturgy Documentary/Walkthrough

Amoussa01 — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 02:26:30 +0000

Is anyone aware of any documentaries, walk-throughs, explanations? It would be very much appreciated. So far I am already aware of a couple of books such as "understanding the Coptic liturgy" and the rites book by bishop Matteos but I was hoping for more. My goal is to create a video documentary for new comers and people who want to learn more about the Liturgy.

Thanks

Tony

Separation of Church & State

Theophilus 1 — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:58:09 +0000

Is separation of church and state an Orthodox ideology? Don’t quote me on this but I believe this idea was originally proposed by the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A in order to protect the church from corruption by the state.

But is this an Orthodox teaching? Are their any Church Father writings to support the Founding Fathers proposal?

In Christ

Theophilus

The Coptic church and Islam

Pefethronos — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 11:04:13 +0000

Do you guys think that Islam influenced the Coptic Church over the ages? If so, in what ways? Positive? Negative? Examples?

How different would the Coptic Church be if Islam never entered Egypt?

Arranged marriage failing

Theresa — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 00:30:40 +0000

An Egyptian orthodox family with an only son , father passed away few years back his mother was worried her son was going to be alone when it was her time to go , so she spoke to her son about arranged marriage he agreed in the respect that he doesn't want to upset his mum as shes not in good health ,
So marriage took place , 6 years later there are constant fighting between the married couple ,he works different hours every day and when he gets home its constant verbal abuse from the wife , this is an every day routine ,work , home ,abuse,,
He wants to leave his wife but his mother says please son for the kids stay ,
Now is that what god would want ?
A man slowly losing hope in all aspects of life even his children that he feels his losing his mind ,
He is lost in the way that what his religion church expects of him and what god expects of him and where does free will come into this ?
Does the man continue dieing slowly in his life of unhappiness where the whole family suffers as a man of the family what does he do ?

New Synaxarium

mabsoota — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 12:02:49 +0000

salaam dear brothers and sisters.

my priest says there is a 'new synaxarium', which is different to the synaxarium on the copticchurch.net website.

where can i find out more?

is it only available in arabic?

when is the feast day of saint severus on the new calendar?

Coptic Psalm

St. Pachom — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:37:18 +0000

Many Questions.

Does anyone know where I can get an Agpeya in Coptic?

Does anyone know where I can get a book for the daily Psalm and Gospel Readings in coptic? (for my church so that has a higher priority)

Can someone give a good source to learn how to chant the Coptic Psalm Annually?

How can I introduce the Coptic psalm in my church? myself and other chanters and readers would like to. Out of them, I am the only one that is free to go to liturgy on saturdays. If I learn the Coptic psalm, I can't just start chanting it because I feel like it. Should I talk to my priest first?

Do we chant the coptic psalm in annual tune during Great Lent? or is there a specific tune for it?

Any other information I would need to know is appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Pray for me.

Why is Coptic Church Closed to Orthodox Converts?

Martha — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 21:47:47 +0000

Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum so please excuse my ineptness at writing. I am a convert Orthodox Christian. I converted in 2004 after years of being in the Lutheran Church. I love my Orthodox faith and all it's rich history. My home church was in the OCA (Orthodox Church of America) up until two years ago when I moved to Southern California. I am now finding that there really isn't a place for a convert in a Orthodox Church here in Southern California.

To make a long story short, I have been married to a wonderful Coptic man for almost 40 years. When we married there were no Orthodox churches where we lived, let alone Coptic churches. So, we went to the Lutheran Church since it has a liturgutal service. As many of you may know, the Lutherans accepted a very liberal agenda. Neither of us were brought up that way so we searched for another church. I found the OCA and we were active members for 6 years. We then moved to Southern California and found that the Orthodox churches here are quite ethnic in character. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support ethnicity since I am of Scandinavian descent. But, they are closed to non-ethnic people.

I have been a member the past two years at an Antiochian Parish. I want to talk about my walk with Christ, church theology, prayer, fasting, etc. and it's not there. So, I ventured to look at other churches. I am quite familiar with the Coptic Orthodox Church. I went to a Coptic church yesterday and not "one" person said "hello" to me? Can you explain this? I was ready to go to Sunday liturgy - I had my Coptic liturgy book along with my head scarf with a design of St. Mena? I feel as soon as they saw me, they looked away. As I mentioned, I am of Northern European descent. I do not look Coptic. But, unknown to them, I understand their theoolgy, have studied their church and my own children and grandchild have been baptized in the Coptic church in Egypt.

I came home crying. I am able and willing to be a contributing member(s) of a Coptic church. My husband is willing to go where we feel welcome. Why was the door closed? Any insight you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, I understand the ramifications of being "Eastern Orthodox" vs "Coptic Orthodox". I was willing to do what was needed on my my part to become part of the Coptic community.