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!