Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

A TIME OF CELEBRATION 87can be imagined. The emphasis was on intense Scripture reading,the rationale simply being that the Word is made flesh in ChristJesus at Christmas. Or, at least, at Christmas the Word is revealedto our eyes in Christ Jesus who was born into the world that day.So the monks gave their eyes over to the reading of Scripture allday long.On Christmas Eve at 3:00 P.M., the monks assembled in thechurch and began the chanting of the pre-Christmas Office, thepreparation for the Christmas Kodes at midnight. Actually, thatservice went from 3:00 P.M. until 9:00 in the evening. The Officeincluded the chanting of special hymns, of special psalm tones andspecial readings. Lots of incensations, so there was a joyful atmospherein the church.Once again, pilgrims came from Upper Egypt and from Cairoand poured into the monastery. The church was filled with them.They trickled in all day, and by evening the church was packed.There was hardly enough room for the people to do what they usuallydo throughout the night—they will rest, they will be seated, orthey will lie down on the floor. Once again, it will be a very familial,intimate liturgical assembly that passes the night, half-waking, halfsleeping,in worship.After the preparatory pre-Christmas Office was sung, the assemblymoved into the heart of the Eucharistic worship which continuedfrom 9:00 P.M. until about 7:00 A.M. It was a Kodes similarin many ways to their other liturgies. There were several prefacesand orations and a special canon which are used only a few timesduring the year for their highest feasts.Bread for PilgrimsAs we were leaving the church at 7:00 in the morning, the abbot—whom they informally call their kommos—Anba Serabamon, handedme a large loaf of homemade bread, the kind which is otherwiseused only for Eucharistic worship. It can, by extension, also be usedfor a blessing. Because the crowd was so great, he also gave a numberof these loaves to other monks. The people will be hungry andthey will be seeking blessings. On Christmas Day, the blessingshould be not just words and an extension of the hand-cross or atouch; it should also be a chunk of bread, the monks told me.