Our Coptic Church has a very rich musical heritage, for music has its deep effect on the soul, as mentioned before. Saint Paul said; “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). Music is used, since old, to move the believers’ desires and emotions for praying and worshipping. When one hears a sad hymn or song, it moves the tender emotions, – …

The month of Tubah is a month celebrating the salvation of our Lord which has come to all the earth. He was born for the specific purpose of saving all of humanity, both Jew and Gentile. During this month we celebrate the Nativity, the Circumcision, the Epiphany, and the Miracle at the Wedding of Cana of Galilee. It is a month of blessings. You would never know it if you opened the news. We know – …

From Monday, January 25 through Wednesday January 27, the Coptic Orthodox Church observes the Fast of Jonah, a three-day fast commemorating the fast of Jonah the Prophet in the belly of the great fish and culminating in the Feast of Jonah the Prophet on Thursday, January 28, 2009. To commemorate this holy period of fasting, our beloved father, His Grace Bishop Serapion has issued an audio Pastoral Message concerning the observance of the Fast of – …

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii wishes you all a blessed and joyous Feast of the Theophany 2010, commemorating the manifestation of the Holy Trinity to humanity and the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. His Grace Bishop Serapion has posted a festal message in audio format. You may hear or download it here: Festal Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Feast of the Theophany 2010 May our Lord – …

On Monday, January 18, millions in the United States and around the world observed the Martin Luther King holiday, which commemorates the life of Dr. King and the struggle of the African-American community seeking freedom, equality, and justice in the United States. The significance of this holiday should not be lost on Orthodox Christians. The experience of African Americans persevering in their pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice has many parallels for modern Christians around – …

At the recent annual meeting of Christian Churches Together in the USA, a fellowship of 36 churches and religious organizations in the United States, from January 12-15, 2010, church leaders gathered to deepen their fellowship with one another and present a united front in the face of recent events and tragedies that have affected the Christian community, as St. Paul says, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1  Cor. 12:26). The – …

In response to the recent attack and violence against Coptic Orthodox Christians in Nag Hammadi in which six Coptic Christians were martyred, church leaders from around the world have expressed their solidarity with the Coptic Orthodox Church in various ways. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of the Roman Catholic Church spoke out against the violence in his weekly blessing on Sunday, saying, "Violence against Christians … has caused indignation among many people, particularly because it – …

On the eve of the Glorious Feast of the Nativity, six Coptic Orthodox Christians were martyred in a new wave of sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt when three gunmen fired automatic weapons at them after they exited Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Nag Hammadi after the Divine Liturgy on the Feast. The names of the martyrs are as follows: Zakaria Toma, Mina Helmy Said, Bishoy Farid Labib, Boula Atef, Ayman Zakaria – …

Let revelry keep away from our rational entertainments, and foolish vigils, too, that revel in intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating pipe, the chain. The passage is obscure. of an amatory bridge, that is, of sorrow. And let love, and intoxication, and senseless passions, be removed from our choir. Burlesque singing is the boon companion of drunkenness. A night spent over drink invites drunkenness, rouses lust, and is audacious in deeds of shame. For if – …

My Beloved, the Blessed Children of the Holy Church, It is my pleasure to wish all of you a blessed Feast of the Nativity, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today, let us rejoice in His glorious birth, and with St. Gregory the Theologian let us say with a joyful voice, "Christ is born, let us glorify Him. Christ came from heaven let us go out to meet Him." With the – …

"It is well, my beloved, to proceed from feast to feast; again festal meetings, again holy vigils arouse our minds, and compel our intellect to keep vigil unto contemplation of good things. Let us not fulfill these days like those that mourn, but, by enjoying spiritual food, let us seek to silence our fleshly lusts." These were the words of our great father, St. Athanasius the Apostolic, in his fourth festal message to the Christian – …

Words about music are secondary to music itself. The true meaning of music lies in the aural experience. Other experiences are merely adjuncts or glosses on the acoustical event. Music is inseparable from function as is the case of music in the Bible. I. Definition of Music The science or art of incorporating pleasing, expressive or intelligible combinations of vocal or instrumental tones into a composition having definite structure and continuity. (Webster Third New International – …