The Service For The Consecration Of A Church And Altar According To The Coptic Rite Edited With Translations From A Copt, (Paperback)

An intimate window into a consecration rite that shaped worship across centuries. Ritual words made suddenly present. Edited and translated by G. Horner from a Coptic and Arabic manuscript of A.D. 1307 for the Bishop of Salisbury, this edition brings the Service for the Consecration of a Church and Altar according to the Coptic rite into precise, readable form. Horner's Coptic translations are characterised by careful fidelity to the manuscript and a clarity that welcomes both the curious and the specialist; his religious manuscript translation practice remains an essential bridge between palaeography and devotion. Here the Coptic church liturgy and companion Christian ritual texts are not merely recorded, they are staged: an altar dedication ceremony with prayers, anointings and ritual directions set out so the reader can follow both form and theology. It offers unrivalled material for those studying church consecration rites and the choreography of an altar dedication ceremony, showing how words, gestures and sacred objects work together. Beyond vocabulary and rubrics, the volume sheds light on ritual timing, vesture and the interplay of Coptic and Arabic forms, evidence vital to historians of devotion, palaeographers and liturgical performers reconstructing historic practice. Students of medieval Egyptian Christianity and readers interested in ancient Christian traditions will find direct access to an early 14th century manuscript voice. Comparative readers exploring eastern orthodox liturgy and sacramental practice will appreciate the primary-source detail. For clergy, seminaries and collectors this is both a practical clergy study resource and a dependable liturgical scholars reference, supplying variant readings and contextual notes that support study and worship. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure. Whether a casual reader is drawn to the endurance of ritual or a classic-literature collector is assembling a specialist shelf, this restored edition places Horner's translations and a pivotal early 14th century manuscript back within reach.