The Coptic Orthodox Church is a Church founded by Saint Mark , The Apostle Gospel, in the city of Alexandria, Egypt in the 1st century. According to which the Coptic Orthodox Church is an apostolic church that believes that the head of the church is the Pope of Alexandria, successor of Saint Mark the apostle. And as such it is empowered by God and the Church to care and preside over its holy synod, which is the highest legislative and executive authority, since according to the Coptic Church there is a hierarchical church.
The Coptic word comes from the Greek word “aegyptus” which means Egypt, which means descendants of the ancient Egyptians and then refers to Christians who belong to the Orthodox Church founded in Egypt.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 2 Base of the Church
- 3 The sources of the doctrine
- 1 Disclosure
- 2 Tradition
- 3 Bible
- 4 The Old Testament
- 5 The New Testament
- 6 The liturgy
- 7 The councils
- 4 Sources
History
In order to continue his great work of bringing man closer to God, Pope Shenouda III , who has founded Churches throughout the world ( Africa , Europe , Asia , Australia , North America and South America ), sent in 2001 Father Mikhail Eduard to celebrate the first Mass in Mexico and baptized the first Mexican family in July of 2001 , and to buy land and enélconstruir a church. The land was purchased on October 2, 2001, in Tlayacapan, Morelos state, and in January 2002 the construction of the Church began with his Holiness’s own capital.
- The November of July of 2002 His Holiness Pope announced in St. Mark ‘s Cathedral in Cairo , Egypt , founding the first Coptic Orthodox Church in Mexico .
- The December of September of 2002 Father Mikhail Eduard celebrated the first Mass on the grounds of the Church.
- The 25 of February of 2003 the name of the Coptic Church in Mexico was published in the Official Journal of the Federation.
- The November to June of 2003 Father Mikhail Eduard received registration of the Church Coptade the hand of the Secretary of the Interior and the presence of the Director of Religious Affairs in Mexico City. And later, his holiness sent Father Mikhail to celebrate more Masses and baptize more people.
- The 1 as January as 2006 the service began with Father Zakaria Albramousy with Masses, baptisms, etc.
Base of the Church
The fundamental bases of this doctrine are: There is a Creator God from Heaven and Earth, We believe in the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit and the three are one God. We believe that God the Son incarnated through the spirit and took human form in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was born, was crucified and rose again on the third day, for the salvation of mankind. We believe that there are seven sacraments that regulate the relationship between man and God, which are: * Baptism, Confirmation, Communion, Marriage, Priesthood, Confession and Holy Oils.
- We believe that Holy Mass brings us into communion with God through consecrated bread and wine.
- We believe in the resurrection of the dead, final judgment, and Eternal life.
- The fundamental basis of all our belief is mainly the Holy Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments.
- Another basis of our Faith is the Nicene Creed made by the Holy Fathers, with Pope Athanasius of Alexandria being the main author, who was Pope number twenty in the History of the Church of Alexandria and later the other holy councils.
- We believe that the Virgin Saint Mary is the mother of God, and the first to be called the Mother of God was Pope Kyrillos the Great, the twenty-fourth Pope of Alexandria.
The sources of the doctrine
The Coptic Orthodox Church has doctrines such as:
Revelation
Every morning in the Morning Office, the Orthodox Church proclaims: “God is Lord and He has manifested Himself to us; blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 118, 26-27) The first foundation of Christian doctrine is found in this phrase: “God has manifested Himself to us.” God has shown Himself to His creatures. However, He has not revealed His innermost Being, since His essential totality cannot be understood by creatures. God has truly shown only what men can see and understand of his Nature and Divine Will. The fullness and perfection of the Revelation of God is found in his Son Jesus Christ; He is the fulfillment of the gradual and partial Revelation of God in the Old Testament. Jesus is the only truly “Blessed …
Tradition
The continuous life of the People of God is called the Holy Tradition. The Holy Tradition of the Old Testament is expressed in the Bible, in the continuous life of the People of Israel until the birth of Christ. This Tradition is fulfilled, completed and enlarged in the Age of Messiah and in the Christian Church. The Neo Testamentary Tradition or Christian Tradition is also known as the Apostolic Tradition or the Church Tradition. The central written part of this tradition is found in the New Testament writings of the Bible. The Gospels and other writings of the Apostolic Church form the heart of Christian Tradition and are the main written source and inspiration for everything that developed in the following centuries. This Christian Tradition is delivered from town to town, in space and time. The word Tradition itself means exactly this: “that which is transmitted” or “delivered” from person to person. The Holy Tradition, therefore, is what is transmitted from person to person, and delivered within the Church from the time of the apostles of Christ, until today.
Bible
“BIBLE” The written document of the Revelation of God is the Bible, the word that means the book or books. The Bible is also called the Holy Scriptures. The word writing simply means some written document. The Bible was written over the course of thousands of years by many different people. It is divided into two “wills” or “alliances”. These words mean “agreements” or perhaps we could say “contracts”. The two wills are the Old and the New; each has their own writings. As a book, the Bible contains many different types of scriptures: law, prophecy, history, poetry, narrations, aphorisms, prayers, letters, and symbolic visions.
The old testament
The Old Testament writings begin with the Five Books of the Law, which are called the Pentateuch. ( Pentateuch means 5 books.) They are also called the Torah, which means the Law. These five books are sometimes referred to as the Books of Moses , as they focus on the Exodus and the Mosaic laws. In the Old Testament there are also books about the history of the People of Israel, such as I and II Kings and I and II Samuel; the Wisdom or Wisdom books, such as the Psalms , Proverbs and Job; and books of prophecies bearing the names of the Old Testament prophets. A prophet is someone who publicly professes the Word of God through direct divine inspiration. Generally many people think that a prophet is someone who predicts the future, but this is only its secondary meaning.
The Orthodox Church also counts among the authentic books of the Old Testament the books that are called Deuterocanonicals (other Christians place these books in second place or reject them completely because they are not considered inspired).
The new Testament
The heart of the New Testament is made up of the four Gospels: that of Saint Matthew , Saint Mark , Saint Luke and Saint John , who are called the Evangelists, which means those who wrote the Gospels. The word Gospel comes from the Greek , -Evangelion- and, as we have already seen, it means “Good News”. The New Testament also contains the Book of the Acts of the Apostles , written by Saint Luke. In addition we find fourteen Epistles (which simply means “letters”) attributed to the Apostle Saint Paul. However, it is possible that some, such as the Epistle to the Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Also found in the New Testament are three epistles written by the Apostle John ; two by the Apostle Peter ; one attributed to the Apostle Santiago and another to the Apostle Tadeo (Judas). Finally there is the Books of Revelation, which is also known as the Apocalypse , attributed to Saint John.
For the Orthodox Christian, the Bible is the main written source of Divine Doctrine, since God Himself inspired his writing by his Holy Spirit.
Liturgy
“THE LITURGY” The word Church literally means an assembly of people called together to do some common work. When members of the Church come together as People of God to worship, this assembly is called the Liturgy of the Church. The word Liturgy itself means the common work or action of a particular group of people for the good of all. So the Divine Liturgy of the Christian Church signifies the common work of God done by the People of God.
The Old Testament people’s liturgy was the official worship in the Jerusalem temple according to the Law of Moses, as well as the annual feasts and fasts, and the private prayers and services performed by the Israelites in their homes or in the synagogues. By definition,
Synagogues are houses of meeting or prayer; they are not temples, since according to the Mosaic Law there was only one temple in Jerusalem where the priestly worship was held. The Israelites gathered in the synagogues for prayer, scripture study, preaching, and contemplation of God’s work.
The councils
“THE COUNCILS” As the Church developed throughout history, it faced many difficult decisions. But the Church always resolved its difficulties, and its decisions were based on the consensus of opinion among all believers inspired by God, led by their respective leaders, first the Apostles and then their successors, the Bishops.
The first ecclesiastical council in history took place in the Apostolic Church to set the conditions under which Gentiles, that is, converts who were not of the Jewish faith, could enter the Church. (See Acts 15.) From that time on, throughout the history of the Church, councils were called at all levels of Church life to make important decisions. The Bishops met regularly with their Priests (Priests), and with the laity. Very early in the history of the Church the practice was established that the bishops in each region met regularly in council.
