The 7 Sacraments of the Coptic Church

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The 7 Sacraments of the Coptic Church

• 1- Baptism

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What is a Baptism?

• Baptism is the divine Adoption of us by God, who
  adopt us to share His Kingdom and his life
  forever.
• Baptism is our own Easter the old sinful nature
  is drowned, when we rise from the waters, we rise
  to a new life with Christ.
• Baptism is God claiming us as his property
• Baptism is our new birth. It is the creation of
  the new man in Christ

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• Baptism is to be clothed with Christs strength.
  (Galatians 326,27)
• Baptism is Gods love announcing you are Mine you
  belong to Me forever
• Baptism is Gods breathing into us the breath of
  His life and become a member of His Family
• Baptism is the transition from the world that is
  under the power of the evil one to the world that
  has been redeemed by Christ.
• Baptism is a journey, the beginning of a life
  long walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Baptism is the boundary line between the Old
  Testament where St. John the Baptist is its end,
  and the New Testament where Jesus Christ is the
  beginning of it.
• Through baptism God granted us the privilege of
  addressing Him as OUR FATHER WHO ART IN
  HEAVEN..., listen to what St. John said See
  what love the Father Has given us that we should
  called children of God (1 JHON 31)

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The Word BAPTISM

• It is from the Greek word BAPTIZO, which means
  to IMMERSE something / someone totally in water.

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Baptism Symbols in the Old Testament
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• Noahs Ark Genesis 76- 81-20 and 1Peter
  320,21
• Exodus from Egypt The waters of the Red Sea
  became the door and the way leading the chosen
  people to the new life. Exodus 1415-
• Neman the Syrian 2 Kings 51-14
• The three Holy Youth Daniel 313-28 and
  Matthew 311

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The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus
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• John the Baptist began his ministry of preparing
  the way for the messiah by a baptism of
  repentance in the waters of the Jordan River.
• Jesus begins His ministry on Epiphany by stepping
  into the waters of the Jordan River to be
  baptized.
• He was the only one who was without sin and did
  not need to be baptized. But He did so to save
  us, to identify Himself with us, to show us the
  great importance of baptism for our salvation.

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• Jesus baptism by John illustrates how He tools
  the sins of humanity upon Himself. Jesus
  fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah He was
  pierced through with our faults crushed for our
  sins .Yahweh burdened Him with the sins of all
  of us (Isaiah 535-6) St. Paul wrote For our
  sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that
  in Him we might become the goodness of God (2
  Cor.521)

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• It was our sins that Jesus carried into the
  water. He was baptized not because He needed to
  be cleansed but because we needed to be cleansed.
  He did not hold Himself away from our sinfulness
  but went down into the waters with us so that we
  might rise from the waters of baptism to a new
  life.

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Why do we baptize Infants?
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• It shows that God love us and accept us before we
  can even know or love Him. It shows that we are
  wanted and loved by God from the very first
  moment of our life.
• We bring infants to baptism not because they
  believe but in order to plant the faith on them.
  Baptism is like the planting of the seed of faith
  in the human soul. Nourished and fed by Christian
  training in the family and in the Churchs
  school, the seed of faith will grow to produce a
  mature Christian.
• Early Christians baptized entire families
  including children. Thus infant baptism continues
  to be practiced in the Orthodox Church today as
  it was in the early Apostolic Church. Please
  read Acts 1114-16, 1631-33 188

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Who instituted this Sacrament?
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• Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted this sacrament
  by being baptized by John the Baptism in the
  Jordan River. Matthew 313-16
• After The Resurrection, the Lord assured to His
  disciples to baptize who believes in Him when He
  said, Go therefore and make disciples of all the
  nations, baptizing them in the name of the
  Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
  (Matthew 2819)

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Baptism by Immersion (Why Immersion?)
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• Baptism symbolizes death and resurrection with
  Christ. St. Paul says Or do you know that as
  many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
  were baptized into His DEATH? Therefore we were
  BURIED with Him through Baptism into DEATH, that
  just as Christ was raised from dead by the glory
  of the Father, even so we also should walk in
  newness of life. (Romans 63-4).

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Rites of the Sacrament of Baptism
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• The rite of this sacrament was written around
  year 350 A.D. By Bishop Serapion of EMATY AL-
  AMDEED in North EGYPT, who was a friend of St.
  Anthony and Pope Athanasius. The rite of the
  Baptism Sacrament contains 4 major Parts

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• Mothers Absolution
• Renouncing Satan and Reciting the Orthodox Creed
• Liturgy of Baptism
• Baptism and Discharge the Baptismal water

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Mothers Absolution

• It signifies permission to receive the Holy
  Communion after the period of giving birth. It
  consists of Lords prayer Thanksgiving prayer
  Pauline and Psalm of Gospel the priest anoints
  the mother by a holy oil.

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Renouncing Satan and Reciting the Orthodox Creed

• Renouncing Satan is done facing the West Sunset
  when the sun disappears and was regarded by the
  Ancient Creeks as the place of the gates of
  Hades. The priest calls the sponsor (usually the
  mother) if other relative, he/she has to be a
  Coptic orthodox to renounce Satan, all his
  works, and all his children,
• then the priest faces and the sponsor who
  carries the infant face the east where the
  sunlight rises and asks the sponsor to accept
  Christ, who is the light of the world.
  Renunciation of Satan and accepting unity with
  Christ express our faith that the newly. Baptized
  has been transferred from Satan to Christ, i.e.
  from death to life.

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Liturgy of Baptism

• Similar to the Liturgy of Eucharist. It includes
  the Thanksgiving prayer, readings from the
  Pauline and Catholic Epistles, the book of Acts,
  from the Psalms and Gospels. Then the Litanies
  are said, followed by an inaudible prayer said by
  the priest while kneeling before the Baptismal
  Font. The prayer is very moving and spiritual.
  Send Your power from on High and help me to
  perform the service of this great heavenly
  Sacrament, and may Christ be imaged in those
  granted the anointment of the new Baptism from
  me. Build them on the foundation of the Apostles
  and prophets that they may never perish. Implant
  within them truth in Your One Holy, Universal and
  Apostolic Church to progress in Worshipping You

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Baptism and Discharge the Baptismal water

• The priest holds the infant from his hands and
  feet then immerses him/her in the baptismal water
  3-times as Jesus stayed in the tomb 3-days. Also,
  the triple immersion symbolizes the Holy Trinity
  since the baptismal formula used in the Orthodox
  Church In the Name of the Father, and of the
  Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 2819)
• If the priest wants to discharge the Baptismal
  water after Baptism, he washes his hands with
  some water to clear what clings to them from the
  Myron oil, then washes around the Baptismal font
  what was sprinkled from the Baptismal water that
  is contained some Myron, and pours it into the
  font. Then he opens the plug below the Baptismal
  font so all the water trickles into the reservoir
  in the ground. Thus the Baptismal rite ends.

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Baptismal Candle
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• Baptism is the Sacrament of entrance into light.
  It opens the eyes of the soul to see Christ, The
  Light of the world (John 119). It makes us
  Sons of the Light (1 Thess. 55). In the early
  church the Baptismal Candle was always kept by
  the baptized person. It was given to him with the
  Scriptural admonition Let your light so shine
  before men, that they may see your good works and
  give glory to your Father Who is in Heave
  (Matthew 516)
• The Baptismal Candle was brought to Church on
  feast days, on the baptismal anniversary and for
  the mid-night Easter Liturgy. In any Church
  Personal Occasion as marriage, ordinations,
  funerals, the people or their families bring the
  baptismal candle and lighten it in those
  ceremonies.
• The Baptismal Candle was a constant reminder for
  the Christian to live and die by the light of
  Christ.