The Coptic liturgy is divide into 3 parts : the assembly , the liturgy of the word, the liturgy of the faithful. and through each one of this parts God revel himself to the priest in Different ways
Part One : The Assembly:
the assembly is the First thing we do in any liturgy and it starts with the prayer of the hours (agepya) and this is when God revels Himself to the priest in the people and at the time( one of the few times) the priest would be facing the congregation( most likely the deacons) . After we finish the prayers of the hours, the priest stands at the door of the sanctuary, facing the west. The bread and wine are presented to him while a deacon stands at his right carrying a veil with the wine in his right hand and a lighted candle in his left hand and the priest chose “a lamb without blemish”. In front of the priest stands a anther priest or (old deacon) with the lambs which to be chosen from. the offered lambs has to be odd number because it should not have a pair and they should be either three or five or seven. Three as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, Five :symbolize the five sacrifices of the Old Testament and seven symbolize the 5 sacrifices of the old testament and the 2 sacrifice birds that were offered to pure the leaper(the church tend to chose the number seven in order to have enough barka for the congregation) , The lamb symbolize Jesus Christ that’s why it is circular because God has no beginning nor ending and in the middle of the (hamel) there is 5 pierces which symbolize the 5 pierces that were in Jesus body when He was on the cross. After the priest chose the “a lamb without blemish” he puts it on a veil setting it down on the north side of the altar. The deacon would bring the wine into the sanctuary. The paten which the (hamel) is placed on has a four edged cover which symbolize the four hands which buried Jesus. the priest rubs the lamb with water which symbolize the anointing of the body of the Lord before being wrapped in linen, as recorded in the Gospel. then the priest wraps it in a veil, and proceeds with the “Procession of the Lamb.” which is a symbol for carrying the body of Jesus wrapped in linen to lay it in the tomb. then the priest and the deacons mention the names of the people who brought the gifts . The people respond by singing a psalm: usually part of Psalm 116 the psalm says” alleluia this is the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it ” which is the prophesy of the resurrection. When the procession around the altar is concluded, the priest stands in front of the altar facing east and consecrating the wine and bread in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. then the deacon testify on that saying “One is the Holy Father, One is the Holy Son, One is the Holy Spirit, blessed be the Lord God forever. Amen. Praise the Lord all you nations, praise Him all you people, for His mercy is confirmed upon us and the truth of the Lord endure forever Alleluia.”
The priest then covers the bread with a veil and the chalice ( the place where the wine is kept) with another veil. Then the priest and the deacon cover the altar with the Prospherin ( a long cloth that cover the altar), and put another veil on top of the Prospherin. The Veil covering the bread and wine stands for the cloth which was upon the head and face of Christ and the prospherin is the becomes the stone that closed the door of the tomb and the other veil is the seal that the tomb was sealed with . and then the priest bows down and raise to say the absolution of the ministries which allow the him and the deacons to see the body of Christ on the altar and not to be harmed or get blind like the soldiers of the tomb and this conclude the first part of the liturgy (the assembly).
your are more than welcome to ask question or comment and If I mentioned something wrong feel free to correct me.
