A: The Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Sundays from 8:30 am – 11:30 am, Tuesdays from 5:00 am – 7:00 am, and Fridays from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. The fourth Saturday of every month is an Arabic only Liturgy from 8:00 am – 10:00 am. Vespers and Matins are prayed on Saturday evenings from 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm, and the Midnight Praises (aka Tasbeha) are sung on Saturdays nights from 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm.

A: Our services take place at St. Philopateer Coptic Orthodox Church, located on 1450 E. Campbell Road in Richardson, Texas.

A: If you have never attended an Orthodox liturgical service before, you may be unfamiliar with or confused by the rituals, prayers, processions, etc. Feel free to ask a congregant for guidance or explanations, or contact Father Boulos in advance so that a congregant can meet you at the door and assist you throughout the liturgical service.

In celebrating the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, we maintain a tradition of worship established by Christ’s apostles, preserved by Church tradition, and inherited by modern-day believers. The Liturgy is formal and traditional, and we ask that all congregants respect the presence of God by dressing modestly (no shorts, hats, cut-offs, sleeveless tops, revealing clothing, etc.). In keeping with I Corinthians 11:5, we ask also that all women cover their head during the Liturgy service. Head scarves are available at the entrance of the church building, or you may bring your own with you. Tri-lingual liturgical books (English, Arabic, and Coptic) containing the text and direction of the liturgy are available to all congregants; the liturgical text and directions also are projected on an overhead screen. Holy Communion is given at the conclusion of the Liturgy.

A: We encourage congregants to arrive before the reading of the Gospel, which typically occurs at 9:00 am.

A: We are always happy to receive visitors at our church, and we want your experience to be enjoyable and fulfilling. When you visit St. Philopateer Coptic Orthodox Church, you will not be put on the spot. We will not single you out or require you to give us any information. After the service, we will not come knocking on your door. We ask only that you allow us to be your host.

A: Children aged 3 and over can attend Sunday School classes immediately following the Liturgy. These classes typically meet for one hour. Elementary-school aged children also may join our children’s choir which meets after Sunday School classes. Every summer we organize a week-long evening Vacation Bible School program as well as summer-long daytime activities.

A: Teenagers may attend the high-school Sunday School class every Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 9: p.m. Their class typically meets for one hour. Eligible teenagers may also join the Pre-Servants Program, a program which prepares teenagers to serve their church and community by offering a more focused, detailed study of God’s Word and church history and the opportunity to participate in community service projects. The Pre-Servants Program meets Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Teenagers also may join the high school choir, which meets after Sunday School classes.

A: College students and young adults may join the Young Adults Meeting held every Sunday following the liturgy. The meeting typically lasts one hour. For more information or questions, email stphiloservice@gmail.com. College students and young adults also have the opportunity for fellowship with their peers, Bible study, and community service with St. Philopateer Fellowship (SPF), which meets Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm at St. Philopateer Church. For more information or questions, email spf0100@gmail.com.

A: All women are welcome to join the Women's Ministry for fellowship, Bible study, and lecture series designed with women's unique needs and experience in mind. The Women's Ministry meets Saturdays immediately following the Liturgy.

A: The term "Coptic" is derived from the Greek "Aigyptos" meaning "Egyptian." When the Arabs arrived in Egypt in the seventh century, they called the Egyptians "qibt." Thus the Arabic word "qibt" came to mean both "Egyptians" and "Christians."

A: The word "orthodox" was coined by the ancient Christian Fathers of the Church. Orthodox is a combination of two Greek words, "orthos" and "doxa."

"Orthos" means "straight" or "correct." "Doxa" means at one and the same time "glory," "worship" and "doctrine." So the word orthodox signifies both "proper worship" and "correct doctrine."

The Orthodox Church today is identical to the undivided Church in ancient times. The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther once remarked that he believed the pure Faith of primitive Christianity is to be found in the Orthodox Church.

A: The Copts are proud of the apostolicity of their Church, whose founder is St. Mark – one of the seventy Apostles and one of the four Evangelists. He is regarded by the Coptic hierarchy as the first of their unbroken 117 patriarchs and also the first of a stream of Egyptian martyrs.

This apostolicity was furnished not only on grounds of its foundation, but rather by the persistence of the Church in observing the same faith received by the Apostle and his successors, the Holy Fathers.

To learn more about St. Mark the Evangelist, click here.

A:From the Orthodox point of view, Roman Catholicism is a medieval modification of the original Orthodoxy of the Church in Western Europe, and Protestantism is a later attempt to return to the original Faith. To our way of thinking, the Reformation did not go far enough.

We respectfully differ with Roman Catholicism on the questions of papal authority, the nature of the church, and a number of other consequential issues. Historically, the Orthodox Church is both "pre-Protestant" and "pre-Roman Catholic" in the sense that many modern Roman Catholic teachings were developed much later in Christian history.

The word "catholic" is a Greek word meaning "having to do with wholeness." We do consider ourselves "catholic" in that sense of the word, that is, as proclaiming and practicing “the Whole Faith.” In fact, the full title of our Church is "The Orthodox Catholic Church."

We find that Protestants readily relate to Orthodoxy's emphasis on personal faith and the Scriptures. Roman Catholics easily identify with Orthodoxy's rich liturgical worship and sacramental life.

Many of the "polarities" between Protestants and the Roman Communion (i.e., "Word versus Sacrament" or "Faith versus Works") have never arisen in the Orthodox Church. We believe Orthodox theology offers the Western denominations a way in which apparently opposite differences can be reconciled.

A:In current usage, the words "conservative" and "liberal" indicate a variety of often-conflicting viewpoints. Usually we don’t really fit either category very well.

On three major occasions during the first millennium of Christianity the leaders of the worldwide Church, from Britain to Ethiopia, from Spain and Italy to Arabia, met to settle crucial issues of Faith. The Orthodox Church is highly "conservative" in the sense that we have not added to or subtracted from any of the teachings of those three Ecumenical Councils. But that very "conservatism" often makes us "liberal" in certain questions of civil liberties, social justice and peace. We are very conservative, or rather traditional, in our liturgical worship.

A:The question implies precisely a kind of polarity (i.e., “Bible versus Tradition”) which is not found in the Orthodox Christian worldview.

“Tradition” or in Greek “paradosis,” is used very often in the New Testament both as a verb and a noun. Tradition means “that which is handed over.” The New Testament carefully distinguishes between “traditions of men” and The Tradition, which is the Faith handed over to us by Christ in the Holy Spirit. That same Faith was believed and practiced several decades before the New Testament Scriptures were set down in writing and given canonical (i.e., official) status. We experience the Tradition as timeless and ever timely, ancient and ever new.

We distinguish between The Tradition, which is the Faith/Practice of the Undivided Church, and traditions, which are local or national customs. Due to changing circumstances, sometimes cherished traditions must be altered or respectfully laid aside for the sake of The Tradition.

The New Testament Scriptures are the primary written witness to the Tradition. Orthodox Christians therefore believe the Bible, as the inspired written Word of God, is the heart of the Tradition. In the New Testament all basic Orthodox doctrine and sacramental practice is either specifically set forth, or alluded to as already a practice of the Church in the first century A.D. The Tradition is witnessed to also by the decisions of the Three Ecumenical Councils, the Nicene Creed, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, by the liturgical worship and iconography of the Church, and in the lives of the Saints.

A:The Christian Church learned to worship in the Jewish Temple and in the Synagogues. Again and again the New Testament tells us that Jesus, Paul and the others worshipped regularly in Jewish houses of worship. (See for instance Luke 4:16; Acts 3:1; Acts 17:1-2.) We know from archaeology, and from modern Jewish practice, that Synagogue worship was and is highly liturgical, i.e., communal, organized, ceremonial, and done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40).

Orthodox worship is also very Scriptural in the sense that it is a kaleidoscopic mosaic of Scriptural quotations, paraphrases, references, and allusions. It is, quite literally, “to pray the Bible.”

Apart from the fact that we worship in English, our services are basically identical to those of the early Christian Church.

A:The Tradition as a set of basic principles outlining our worldview is a constant. Its very constancy, however, sometimes will even demand change. As a simple instance of this, by Tradition our worship is to be celebrated in a language understood by the worshipping congregation. This means the Tradition not infrequently requires a change in liturgical language. As another instance, the Tradition also requires constant change in ourselves as, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we grow spiritually and respond ever more fully to the call of God in Jesus Christ.

A:There are points of contact between Orthodox and Roman Catholic belief on these issues and modern Roman Catholic practice. There are also significant differences. To discuss them in depth is beyond the scope of this short summary. The following is a brief statement of the Orthodox point of view:

We honour the Virgin Mary as “higher than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim” because she is the woman who gave birth to Jesus, Who is the Word of God, Who is God. We call her blessed and think of her as the greatest of missionaries, for her unique mission was to deliver the Word of God to the world. (See Luke 1:43, 48: John 1:1, 14; Galatians 4:4.)

We likewise honour the other great men and women in the life and history of the Church – patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors and ascetics – who committed their lives so completely to the Lord, as models of what it means to be fully and deeply Christian. These men and women are called “saints”, a word deriving from the ancient Latin word meaning “holy.” For example, we believe that men like the apostle Paul – in their devotion to Christ – led holy lives and that we are indeed to be imitators of him, as he was of Christ.

We also believe that in the risen Christ, prayer transcends the barrier between life and death and that those who have gone before us pray for us, as we remember them in our prayers. In Christ, we are one family. (See Hebrews12:1; II Timothy 1:16-18.)

As indicated in John 20:21-23, and James 5:14-16, we practice sacramental confession and absolution of sins. The presbyter (priest) is the sacramental agent of Christ. The priest sacramentally conveys Christ’s forgiveness, not his own.

A:The Holy Trinity “The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” are equal to each other in one unity and one essence, but each is a distinct hypostasis. God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth, and all seen and unseen. He created the world through the Son (the Word, or Logos) in the Holy Spirit.

From the Father, the Son is begotten not created; He is the Word of God. Through the Son we come to know the Father (Matthew 11:27). He is the Savior of the world. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, is the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2) and is One in essence with the Father just as is the Logos. The Holy Spirit is the Inspirer of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). He empowers the Church for service to God (Acts 1:8) and imparts spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-13) and virtues (Galatians 5:22-23) for Christian life and witness.

A:God gives every single person the chance to know Him. As we state in the Agpeya in the Conclusion of Every Hour, God “does not wish for the death of the sinner, but that he should return and live.” It all comes down to a matter of choice. It is up to our own free will to accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not whoever receives the Holy Spirit, because some people receive the Holy Spirit, but do not allow Him to bring about changes in their lives. St. Paul warned us “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). Thus we pray in the Third Hour of the Agpeya prayers: “Your Holy Spirit, O Lord whom You sent forth upon Your Holy disciples and honored apostles in the Third Hour, do not take away from us, O Good One, but renew Him within us.”

Those who reject the Lord think they know better. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12). Such people are usually wise in their own eyes, but we are commanded this: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil” (Prov. 3:7). “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). It is pride and a lack of wisdom that lead a person, by his own choice, to reject our Lord.

A:The Lord Jesus Christ Himself instituted the Holy Communion on the Thursday of the Covenant, in the Upper Room of Zion, a few hours before His arrest and trial. After He had celebrated the Rite of the Jewish Passover, He rose and washed His holy disciples’ feet as a sign of repentance and preparation; then He sat down and instituted the Passover of the New Covenant, which is the Sacrament of Holy Communion. “He took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat this is My Body, then He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying: Drink from it all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28) and St. Paul repeats these same words in the Holy Book of Corinthians 11:23-25. There is no delineation from the actual words from the Lord Jesus Christ, which speak as to how the change occurs. Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ’s actual words are intended as a Mystery.

Therefore, the Coptic Orthodox considered the change of the “bread and wine” as a MYSTERY. We do not contemplate on the existence of red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. We do not contemplate on its transubstantiation. It is simply a MYSTERY. We accept this as it is.

There are so many very important biblical verses about the Holy Communion that allude to its MYSTERY.

• “He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Body abides in Me, and I in him.” (John 6:56). By receiving this Sacrament “we become members of His Body, of His Flesh and of His Bones” (Ephesians 5:30) and we also become partakers of the Divine Nature (Peter 1:4).
• It gives us eternal life. “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. He who eats this Bread will live forever” (John 6:54,58).
• It grants us growth in the Spirit, holiness and life in the Lord Jesus Christ as He said, “For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink is indeed. As the living Father sent me, and I live in Him because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:55,57). Just as we nourish our bodies, making them healthy and strong, when we eat substantial food, we strengthen our souls and allow God’s grace to continually grow in us when we partake of the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through the Mystery of Communion.
• It gives remedy to the soul, body, and spirit, as we say in the Offertory Mystery: “That they (Holy Body and Precious Blood) may become to us all for participation and healing and salvation for our souls, bodies, and our spirits.”The actual words of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the reality of the His Body and Blood are very clear. They need no further explanation and the apostles understood this. The Jews at the time argued among themselves: “The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves saying ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat? From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then the Lord Jesus Christ said to the 12, ‘Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:52,66,67) It is worth noting that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted this Holy Sacrament and passed it on to His disciples during the last hour of His life. Therefore, we cannot accept the interpretation that He was speaking metaphorically to mean “in remembrance.”

St. Paul tells us that this sacrament implied sharing in the body of Jesus Christ. “I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless; is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (I Corinthians 10:15-16)

A: Those believers who were baptized in any of the Oriental Orthodox/Non-Chalcedonian Churches may partake of the Holy Communion at the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox/Non-Chalcedonian Church is comprised of the Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Indian), and Armenian Apostolic churches.