Sacramental Rites In The Coptic Orthodox
Church
Bishop Moussa
The seven Sacraments of
the Church are the channels by which we receive the graces and blessings of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has existed in the church since the day of
Pentecost, when He dwelt in it according to the Lord’s promise: "I will
pray to the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth when the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for
He dwells with you, and will be in you" (John 14:16,17).
The Holy Spirit works in
the church through the Sacraments, giving us His gifts, blessings and comfort,
and teaches us and guides us to the way of truth. "But the Comforter,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach
you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to
you" (John 14:26).
The Seven Sacraments of
the Church are:
1. Sacrament of Baptism: Instituted by the Lord Jesus by His Baptism in
the River Jordan and by His words to Nicodemus saying: "Most assuredly
I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God... Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3), and by saying
to our fathers the Apostles, "Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptising them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew
28:19).
2. Sacrament of
Confirmation: Instituted by Lord
Jesus when He said: "If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water". But this He spoke concerning the Spirit whom those
believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39). About the
Sacrament of Confirmation, in the Book of Acts it is mentioned : "Now
when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when
they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they
laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts
8:14-17).
The Holy Spirit was
received by the laying of hands, but when the number of believers increased,
the Apostles were unable to keep track of each individual to lay upon them
their hands in order to receive the Holy Spirit. So they made the Myron out of
certain oils mixed with spices; the same spices which were brought to the tomb
to embalm the shrouded Christ. It was approved for the dwelling of the Holy
Spirit, and allowed the priests to anoint the newly baptised
by the Myron to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, to dwell in them, in order
to become temples of the Holy Spirit.
3. Sacrament Of
Repentance: Instituted by the Lord
Jesus when He said to His pure disciples: "Assuredly I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew: 18:18), and
after Resurrection He said, "As the Father has sent me, I also send you
and when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John
20: 21-22).
4. Sacrament Of The
Eucharist (Thanksgiving): Instituted
by the Lord Jesus in the upper room in Zion, on the night of His passion when
He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to His disciples saying, "Take
eat, this is My Body. Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks
He gave it to them, and they all drank from it and He said to them "This
is My Blood of the new covenant which is shed for many" (Mark
14: 22-24).
5. Sacrament Of The
Unction Of The Sick: Instituted by the Lord
Jesus when He said to His disciples, "Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers" (Matthew 10:8), and, "Whatever city you enter … heal
the sick who are there" (Luke 10:8). The Apostles then put the Lord’s
words into practice: "They anointed with oil many who were sick and
healed them" (Mark 6:13). Our teacher St. James the Apostle advised
believers to practice it, by saying, "Is anyone among you sick?
Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith
will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has
committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:14-15).
6. Sacrament of The Holy
Matrimony: Instituted by the Lord
Jesus who blessed the Sacrament of Matrimony by attending the wedding of Cana
of Galilee, where, "He manifested His glory and His disciples
believed in Him" (John 2: 1-11). Also, teacher St. Paul says, "This
is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Churches"
(Ephesians 5:32). This means that the physical union between a man and his wife
is a sign and symbol of a greater spiritual matter, that is, of the unity of
heart and soul, resembling the unity of Christ and the Church.
7. Sacrament of
Priesthood: Instituted by the Lord
Jesus when He chose His twelve disciples among many of His followers, and
called them Apostles. The selection was accomplished after a whole night of
prayer, when the Lord Jesus went out to the mountain to pray (Luke 6: 12-13),
and then sent them to preach saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand" (Matthew 10:7). The Lord said to them, "I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
should remain" (John 15:16). He gave them the authority saying, "Assuredly
I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew
18:18). After the resurrection, the Lord, "Breathed on them and said
to them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of
any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are
retained" (John 2:23), and to them only, He said, "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you" (Matthew: 28:19-20). He gave the mystery of His Holy Body
and Blood only to them saying, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).
Definition of a Church
Sacrament
The Church Sacrament is
an invisible grace we receive by practicing a visible rite, and a visible sign
or substance performed by a priest.
1. In the Baptism the
substance is water by which we receive the second birth from Water and
Spirit.
2. In the Confirmation
the substance is the oil of Myron, by which the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
3. The sign of the
Sacrament of Confession is the confessing person, who accepts the prayer of absolution
at the end of Confession to gain forgiveness of sins.
4. The substance of the
Sacrament of Communion is the bread and wine, by which we eat the Holy Body and
Precious Blood of Emmanuel our God.
5. The substance of the
Sacrament of Unction of sick is oil, by which we receive physical and
psychological remedy.
6- The sign of the
Sacrament of Matrimony is the bride and groom who receive the prayers, so the
Holy Spirit dwells upon them and unites them in body and spirit.
7. The sign of the Sacrament
of Priesthood is the ordained person, who accepts the prayers of the Sacrament
of Priesthood and the laying of hands for a certain priestly rank, to gain the
grace for starting church services -whether Sacraments or authority for various
church matters and management.
Redemptive and
Non-Redemptive Sacraments
There are four
redemptive Sacraments out of the Seven Sacraments. They are necessary for
eternal salvation, and every believer should practice them in order to gain
eternal salvation. These are:
1. Baptism
2. Confirmation
3. Confession
4. Communion
The other three
Sacraments are non-redemptive and unnecessary for eternal salvation.
5. Sacrament of Unction
of the Sick: Given for the remedy of those who are physically or
psychologically unwell only.
6. Sacrament of
Matrimony: For those who want to marry for the purpose of sharing lives and
bearing children. However, there are many monks and nuns, and those who live
celibate lives who gain eternal life with merit.
7. Sacrament of
Priesthood: Reserved only for those who are ordained as a deacon, priest or
bishop. However, the majority of the Congregation have
no priestly ranks, but are called for redemption and eternal life.
Physical Medicine and
Spiritual Medicine:
Physical medicine has
three classes of medicine:
Preventive Medicine: like vaccination given to children against
smallpox, paralysis and others, to protect them against these diseases. The
Preventive Medicines are:
Sacrament of Myron: by which the Holy
Spirit dwells to fortify against sin and evil, helps to overcome sin and
provides victory in spiritual struggle.
Sacrament
of Matrimony: protects the couple from falling into the sin of adultery.
Curative Medicine: prescribed for a person after having had the
doctor diagnose the reason for illness. The Curative Medicines are:
Sacrament of Baptism: provides the cure from
the original sin for children, and from the committed sins of those older.
Sacrament of Confession and Repentance: for those who repent and confess, this sacrament provides the
cure and forgiveness of their sins.
Sacrament of Unction of the Sick: provides cure for those who are physically and psychologically
ill, caused by sin.
Supplementary Medicine: various vitamins, prescribed by the doctor to
strengthen the human body, giving energy and immunity against a disease once
more. The same applies to the soul in that resembles the body; it is prone to
spiritual diseases like sin, satanic warfare’s and others. Our great physician,
the Lord Jesus made the church our spiritual hospital, and the priest as its
spiritual physician, as St. John Chrysostom once said, "Are you a sinner?
Go to the Church which is a hospital not a court". In the church you will
find the spiritual physician who is the priest. Tell him your sins, as he
accurately examines everything and prescribes the appropriate cure. The
Supplementary Medicines are:
Sacrament of Communion:
after receiving the Holy Body and precious Blood of the Lord Jesus, we gain
power to help us in overcoming the evil one.
Sacrament of Priesthood:
Priesthood gives the priest grace and power in his struggle as he strives to be
our example in attitude, and not be a stumbling block, but rather to keep himself pure from sin, and accept the great rank of
priesthood in reverence. He should remember what our teacher St. Paul said: "We
have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men" (1
Cornithians 4:9).
An Unperishable
Feature
Certain Church
Sacraments are performed with an unperishable
feature, so must not be repeated again at any time.
1. By Baptism we are
made children of God our Father, and this is unperishable.
2. By Chrism we are made
soldiers of our great King, and this is unperishable.
3. By Priesthood we are
made servants and priests of the great High Priest, and this is unperishable.
But the rest of the
Sacraments are performed repeatedly as needed.
Conditions To Accomplish The Seven Sacraments
For every Sacrament of
the seven, there are three essential and necessary conditions in order to
administer them:
1. An adequate substance
for the Sacrament like water for Baptism, bread and wine for the Sacrament of
Communion, oil for the Unction of the Sick, and so on.
2. An ordained priest by
the laying on of the apostolic hand.
3. Invocation of the
Holy Spirit by the priest, by praying certain prayers for the dwelling of the
Holy Spirit and sanctification of the Sacrament.
That is why the
Sacraments must be administered in a correct official way according to the
order given by God, as our Good Saviour instituted
and organised them, placing the adequate substance
and specific prayers for every Sacrament, placed by the fathers guided by the
Holy Spirit. The Sacrament is not true and effective for the believers unless
it is administered correctly according to God’s will,
and the placement of the fathers guided by the Holy Spirit, and handed over by
the Church and Holy Councils. Amen.
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