Peace be with you!

My name is Nader Ata. I am a Conventual Franciscan Friar of the Our Lady of Angels Province, USA. I am a transitional deacon preparing for Priesthood Ordination in the fall.

Seeking to live with Franciscan Joy each and every day!

*All of photos on this blog were taken by me unless noted otherwise. Please ask permission before using them. Thank You!*

*Also I am not the greatest speller or writer in the world, so please let me know if something is misspelled. Thank you!"

Enjoy!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Coptic Catholic Church

Yesterday (Sunday July 20) I went to the Coptic Catholic Church in Brooklyn New York for Sunday Mass (for the second time). As you may or may not know I was baptized in the Coptic Orthodox Church and received all three of the sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Every since I was in kindergarden I have gone to Catholic Schools for my education and subsequently attending Roman Catholic - Latin Rite - liturgies. It was not until entering the friars that I realized that when my family chose to become members of the Catholic Church we became members of the Coptic Catholic Rite not the Roman (Latin) Catholic Rite. This is because the Coptic Catholic Rite is closer to the Coptic Orthodox Rite of my baptism than is the Roman (Latin) Catholic Rite.

While I am stationed in Brooklyn, I wanted to take the opportunity to understand and be familiarized with the Coptic Catholic Church as I could. Brooklyn is the home of one of only two churches in all of the United States that are Coptic Catholic (the other is Los Angeles, CA). The Church in Brooklyn is called Resurrection Coptic Catholic Church. It was given this name because it was around the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter) in 1985 when this community took over a once Roman (Latin) Rite Church called St. Stanislaus. As you can see from the picture on the left, the paintings, stain glass windows, statues, and Stations of the Cross were all kept. The church has a very
Western Church feel to it but once the liturgy begins it is easy to see the Eastern Church side of the church. You can see in the picture on the right the beautiful icons of the East that is another way to draw one into both the humanity and the mystery of the Church. The Liturgy at this church is prayed mainly in Arabic but many of the prayers and the consecration are done in English.

I want share with you two parts of the Liturgy that I have come to appreciate. First is in the beginning of the Liturgy - I believe the first time the priest uses the incense - the people (in Arabic) sing "The Censer of gold is the Virgin, her amber is our Savior, she has given birth to Him, He has saved us, and remitted our sins." To me it is a wonderful image of incense, especially because it is used in the Liturgy so much. For them it truly is the rising up of our prayers to God. The second part of the Liturgy
that I have come to appreciate is the immense sense of mystery I had while I was participating in the Liturgy. It is so mysterious yet down to earth that you feel like you are at the heavenly banquet with Christ. I like to say "I am caught up in the Liturgy." I have no sense of time when I am there, essentially there is no time but God's time. It is difficult to describe.

This last picture is a close up the altar. That hexagon-shaped container on the altar is where the chalice and the patent are kept. You can see the microphone and the book used by the main celebrant during the Liturgy. If you have any questions feel free to ask aka post them and I will try to answer them the best way I can. God Bless!

13 comments:

michael dwyer said...

DEAR FATHER,I HAVE CALLED THIS CHURCH TO GET THE MASS TIMES-ALL TO NO AVAIL . THE PRIEST DOESN,T ANSWER THE PHONE. CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME? MICHAEL DWYER
BIAFRA1@GMAIL.COM

coptic said...

i am one of the members of the church. it starts every sunday from 11:00AM til 1:00PM.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Catholic Church. I
am a Polish Roman Catholic and ask
just one favor of you. In your
blog, can you pleae change the
spelling of "St. Stainislaus" to
the correct "St. Stanislaus".
Thanks. Our loss of that church
is your well-deserved gain.

Friar Nader Ata, OFM Conv. said...

Thank you for correcting my spelling Thomas. I should have caught that since I did enter a Polish Province of the Friars. The correction has been made!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Friar Nader Ata, OFM Conv. said...

Dear Who I am,

Peace be with you! I would love to answer your question, but I would prefer to do so in an e-mail. Would you be able to send me an e-mail at naderata3@yahoo.com?

Thanks,
Nader

Anonymous said...

Dear brother Nader,

I am a Coptic Catholic who joined the Catholic communion from Coptic Orthodoxy about 6 years ago. I am blessed to have found your blogsite.

I consider myself fully an Orthodox in communion with Rome. I joined the Catholic Church not out of a rejection of any of my beliefs as a Coptic Orthodox, but simply out of a rejection of my misunderstandings of the Catholic Faith.

Blessings,
Marduk

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Greetings,

My name is Jeffrey, and I am a Roman Catholic that is very interested in the Coptic Catholic Church.

There are no Coptic Catholic Churches in Atlanta, GA. I have visited two Coptic Orthodox Churches and enjoyed the Divine Liturgy and Coptic Language. However, I would like to stay in communion with the Catholic Church, which is why I would love to attend and become active in a Coptic Catholic Church.

Does anyone have contact information of the Coptic Catholic Cathedral in Brooklyn?
Website or e-mail?

Peace be with you all in Christ

Friar Nader Ata, OFM Conv. said...

Hey Jeffery,

Peace! I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to your comment, I was away from the internet for awhile.

Thanks for contacting me! I am in love with the Coptic Catholic Church too. I do have contact information about the Church in Brooklyn. Are you interested in talking with the pastor there or a parishioner there?

Let me know.

Blessings,
Friar Nader

Lois said...

Dear Father Nader, my names is Lois Rogers. I am a writer for the Catholic press in the Diocese of Trenton. Our paper there is called The Monitor.
I have worked there for 12 years, but before that, I was the religion writer for the Asbury Park Press and had the opportunity to write many times about members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, even covering Pope Shenouda when he came to the opening of St. Mina Church in Holmdel.
I would very much to write stories of substance about the Catholic Coptic Church.
I am hoping you know some members of the community in the Trenton Diocese -- Monmouth, Mercer, Ocean and Burlington counties -- and would come up to Brooklyn to meet other members of the community.
Let me know if this may be possible.
Thank you and God Bless you,
Lois

Unknown said...

Hi Lois,

Peace! Thank you for your message. It is interesting that you found my post because I am from the Diocese of Trenton. My home parish is St. Anthony of Padua in Hightstown.

Feel free to e-mail me at naderata3@gmail.com so that we can talk more.

Thank you,
Friar Nader

Unknown said...

Beautiful church, I am also apart of the Coptic Catholic church here in Sydney, Australia.
God Bless you all.