Part II. The doctrine: B. The Sacraments

The Sacraments

A sacrament is an invisible Grace given under a visible sign; it should be administered by an ordained priest. Under no condition can a lay person perform it.

The sacraments are seven; they are :

1. BAPTISM : Is a spiritual birth which is invisible, its visible sign is the water. The Coptic Church decrees infant baptism by complete immersion. Consequently, the baptized must have a Godfather (or Godmother) who pledges to bring him up in the Christian Principles. The Baptism acknowledged by the Coptic Church is that administered by an ordained priest through a specific Ritual. This is true of all the other sacraments. The only baptism other than this acknowledged one is the baptism by blood. This means that a person martyred in the Name of the Christ without having been baptized is esteemed a member of the Church: his blood as it was shed became his baptism.

2. THE CHRISM (CONFIRMATION) : By which the Holy Spirit indwells the spirit of the baptized. Its visible sign is the special mixture of spices and olive oil called “the Chrism”. It differs from any ointment in that its very first ingredients were put on the dead Body of our Saviour. After His glorious Resurrection, these spices were divided among the Apostles. In the beginning, they put their hand on the head of the baptized who thus received the Holy Spirit. When the number of the believers grew and men were ordained, the Chrism began to replace the laying-on of hands. St. Mark brought to Egypt his share of Chrism. Across the generations, wherever St. Mark’s Successor finds the amount running low, he invites his bishops, and together they get the needed spices and olive oil, then chant the Ritual set for its consecration using the amount remaining as a leaven. This Ritual is called “Cooking the Chrism”. This is the only sacrament over whose Ritual the Pope must preside. And since the Holly Spirit appeared over the Head of the Christ as He was coming out of the Jordan after His Baptism; and since the Apostles unvariably laid their hands on the baptized immediately after their baptism, the Coptic Church follows their example administering the Chrism to the baptized as soon as he is lifted out of the baptismal font and dried. Also since the baby as soon as he emerges out of his mother’s womb must breathe else he will die, so the newly born of the Spirit must breathe spiritual air. This is possible only through the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Chrism follows the Baptism immediately. This is the Confirmation in the Coptic Church.

3. THE EUCHARIST : This is esteemed the sacrament of sacraments, or according to the Coptic Church expression “the mystery of mysteries”. For in this sacrament the very visible sign — the bread and wine — become transubstanciated in very deed. Each communicant partakes first of the Body then of the Blood separately. The baptized and chrismed infant is given of the Blood only, and will not partake of both Elements until he can chew. He communes even in his infancy because he has become a member of the Body of the Christ, and as such must be given the means wherewith to respire the spiritual air. At the same time, we are told in the Acts time and again that a man was baptized he and his household which signifies that babies were included. It should be noted that after Communion, a Copt neither genuflects nor bows because he has the Christ within him.

4. CONFESSION OR REPENTANCE : Since human nature is prone to err, confession is the means by which the baptized can attain forgiveness of those sins committed after baptism. Confession is actually one of the most difficult duties for any human being because by means of it he avows that he is sinful. This necessitates humility. and humility is a virtue from which many shrink. In the Coptic Church, it is called spiritual medecine, and the father confessor a spiritual doctor. Therefore, each person chooses his father confessor just as he chooses his physical doctor. The priest must know the confessor who has to face him squarely. Because no doctor can administer any medecine to his patient without thorough examination in order to give him the medecine most suitable for his constitution. So the father confessor must know his “patient” for the same reason. For confession is not merely a recounting of sins, its goal is that the confessor will receive the direction and the guidance most suitable to him. To clarify this point: suppose two persons said a lie, one of them brought up by God fearing parents who educated him and the other is illiterate or uncared for. The sin is one, but the sinners are different. It is the duty of the father confessor to treat each according to his abilities. This is clearly indicated by our Lord in the parable of the talents, and in His saying to whom much is given much will be asked” (Matt 25 : 15 — 28). The priests are the father-confessors because, through their ordination, they received that authority given by the Christ to His disciples “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18). This authority, He Himsalf, respected as we can see from His order to Saul when He appeared to him on the Damascus road. For when the bewildered Saul asked: “What shall I do Lord ?” The answer was: “go into the city and it shall be told thee”. At the same time, the Lord appeared to Ananias and told him to go and direct Saul. (Acts 9 : 1 — 18). This authority is given them regardless of their worth, for the Christ bestows His Grace freely, and it is in His Name and Worth that all spiritual authority has its effectiveness. Consequently, when a person confesses, the father confessor, after giving the needed counsel, guidance or discipline, absolves the confessor.

A word, in passing, should be noted: when people refused the Principle of confession to a father-confessor, they resorted to psychiatrists who, despite their cleverness and their technical efficiency have not received the God-given power which gives that inward peace sought by the confessors as well as by the psychiatrist consultants.

5. THE UNCTION : This is a prayer chanted over oil by which the believer is anointed. It is built on the words of St. James: “Is any sick among you? let him call the priests, let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith shall save the sick ... and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him” (5 : 14 — 15). Thus the oil is neither a simple ointment nor a mere massage — for had it been so, why should it be administered by a priest ? or how would it result in the forgiveness of sins ? Among the Copts, it is resorted to whenever there is any sick person or any worrying problem. The priest goes to the home of those who need it, prays there, anoints them at the end of the Ritual, and leaves to them whatever remains of the oil. Also, the Church chants this Service yearly on the Friday preceding Passion Week, at the end of which, each one present comes forward and is anointed by the officiating priest.

6. MATRIMONY : Marriage is a law instituted by God; in the sight of the Church it is a sacred tie symbolizing the union of the Christ with His Church. God created Eve to be Adam’s “help meet” (Gen. 2 : 18), while in the New Testament the Christ attended the Wedding at Cana wherein He performed His first miracle. Then He emphasized its sanctity by saying “What God has joined together let no man put asunder. For this reason, Marriage is between one man and one woman throughout their life span. It is indissoluble that it will have the quality of security and durability”. (Matt. 19:6). Our Saviour willed to make marriage a sacrament that He may bestow thereby, through His Grace, on the married couples, the power that will help them to perform their duties in the best way. The visible sign is the Ritual set specifically for administering it, and it should be celebrated in the church. The prayers comprise this idea: the priest says towards the end of the marriage ceremony, addressing the bride and groom “this holy marriage uniting you before the altar of God”. In addition, the Church was consecrated through the set Ritual, the Chrism, and the prayers continually offered within it, so it is the place most suitable for the fulfilment of this holy sacrament.

7. HOLY ORDERS : Our Blessed Saviour, by choosing His Apostles and disciples instituted the Christian priesthood. His choice meant setting some men apart and consecrating them for the Service of God and man. St. John Chrysostom (Bishop of Constantinople towards end of 4th century) says : “Look how the author mentions nothing in vain. For he said not how he was ordained, rather was he contented to say that he was ordained by prayer. Herein is all that ordination means: the hand is laid on the head of the man, and God does everything; that hand of man touches the head of the ordained, and God is the One Who performs this Grace through this human hand — if it is rightly done. See how among the Seven Deacons, one — Stephen — was given precedence. He had performed no miracles before that, but after his ordination he did — making clear that Grace alone is not enough and that the ordination is necessary too. For the Grace of the Holy Spirit was increased unto them for they were full of the Spirit before, yet that was the Spirit granted at the Baptism.” (comment on Acts VI).

The hierarchy of priesthood comprises three degrees because the angelic hosts are divided into three orders: the first, includes the Cherubim (Exodus XXV : 18), the Seraphim (Isaiah VI : 2) and the Thropes (Colossians I : 16); the second comprises Dominions, Principalities and Powers (Colossian I : 16), while the third includes Authorities (1 Peter III : 22), Angels and Archangels (Romans VIII : 38 and 1 Thessalonians IV : 16). On this wise, the Church arranged three degrees of priesthood : first, the Episcopos comprising the bishops, the archbishops and the patriarch (or pope); second, the priesthood including priests and chiefpriests; third, the deaconship comprising the deacons, the readers, and the cantors.

The visible part of the Holy Orders is the laying-on of hands and the prayers evident from the Scriptures and the Canons of the Apostles. But the invisible side of the priesthood is twofold :

1. it seals the person ordained with an indelible mark which lasts throughout life;

2. it bestows on him the Grace of God sufficient for the ministry for which he was elected. Again, St. John Chrysostom said : “Meditate on the great honour of the priesthood : behold men who live on earth and walk therein are charged with the administration of what is in heaven, and are given power denied to archangels.”

The first six sacraments are administered by the bishops and the priests; only the seventh is the prerogative of the bishops, for they alone have the right of ordaining. One bishop is sufficient for ordaining the priests, but two, at least, are necessary for ordaining a bishop. Thus, by the power of ordination alone, are the bishops distinguished.

The priesthood is, also administered once in a lifetime. In order to gauge the loftiness thereof, it is sufficient to know that the Christ Himself is the Chief-Priest (or the Shepherd of Shepherds), and that the Christian Priesthood outflows from Him.

Once elected for any degree of Holy Orders, the ordained remains thus for life. This is upheld by the Coptic Church after the pattern of the Apostles and Disciples. Over and above, since It is a Christ-given Grace and stems from the Christ Himself, It should last throughout life.