Grade 12 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Sunday School Curriculum Grade 12
St. Jerome informs us about an abbot called Apollo who was always smiling. He attracted many to
the ascetic life as a source of inward joy and heartfelt satisfaction in our Lord Jesus. He often used to
say, ―Why do we struggle with an unpleasant face? Aren‘t we the heirs of the eternal life? Leave the
unpleasant and the grieved faces to pagans, and weeping to the evildoers. But it befits the righteous
and the saints to be joyful and pleasant since they enjoy the spiritual gifts.‖
This attitude is reflected upon church worship, her art and all her aspects of life, so that it seems
that the church life is a continuous unceasing feast. Pope Athanasius the Apostolic tells us in one of
his paschal letters that ―Christ‖ is our feast. Although there are perpetual Feasts, the believer
discovers that his feast is in his innermost, i.e., in the dwelling of Christ the life-giving Lord in him.
The church relates and joins the feasts to the ascetic life. The believers practice fasting, sometimes
for almost two months (Great Fast) in preparation for the feast, in order to realize that their joy is
based on their communion with God and not in eating, drinking and new clothes.
The Coptic feasts have deep and pleasant hymns, and splendid rites that inflame the spirit. Their
aim is to offer the living, heavenly and evangelic thought and to expose us to the Holy Trinity and
their redeeming work in the life of the church, in a way that is simple enough to be experienced by
children, and deep enough to quench the thirst of theologians.
III. Feasts of the Coptic Church
A. The Seven Major Feasts of Our Lord
1 The Annunciation on Paramhat 29, c. April 7: In it we recall the fulfillment of the Old
Testament prophecies, and the attainment, which the men of God had longed for across the
ages, namely the coming of the Word of God incarnate in the Virgin‘s womb .
2 The Nativity of Christ on Kiahk 29, c. January 7: It is preceded by a fast of 43 days. It is
the confirmation of the divine love, when God sent His Only-begotten Son incarnate. Its aim
is to prepare the hearts of the believers to receive Jesus Christ; the Word of the New
Testament, in the same way Moses fasted in order to receive the Ten Commandments, the
Word of the Old Testament.
3 The Epiphany or the Baptism of Christ on Tuba 11, c. January 19/20. It is connected with
Nativity and the circumcision feasts for in the Nativity, the Word of God took what is ours
(our humanity), and in the ―circumcision‖, He subjected Himself to the Law, as He became
one of us. But in the Epiphany, He offered us what is His own. By His incarnation, He
became a true man while still being the Only-begotten Son of God, and by baptism we
became children of God in Him while we are yet human beings. In this feast, the liturgy of
blessing the water is conducted, and the priest blesses the people by the water on their
foreheads and hands to commemorate baptism.
4 The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday): It is the Sunday that precedes Easter. It
has its characteristic joyful hymns (the Shannon -Hosanna (Matthew 21:9)), and its delightful
rite. The church commemorates the entrance of our Lord Jesus into our inward Jerusalem to
establish His Kingdom in us and gather all in Him. A procession moves towards the nave of
the church were it stops before the icons of St. Mary, the Archangels, St. John the Baptist, the
Apostles, the martyrs, the ascetics, etc…and before the church doors and the baptismal basin,
praising God who embraces all together in His Son Jesus Christ. The procession ends by reentering
the sanctuary of God as the saints of the Old and New testaments meet with the
heavenly in heaven (sanctuary) forever. At the end of the Liturgy of Eucharist, a general
funeral service is held over water, which is sprinkled on everyone just in case anyone may
158 PENTECOST PERIOD