Transcript The Agpeya - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern

The Agpeya
September 3, 2006
What is the Agpeya?
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What does the word
“Agpeya” mean?
The book of the hours.
Why is it called “the
book of the hours?”
What is so important
about the Agpeya?
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The agpeya is composed of prayers for
different hours of the day. Each reminding us
of God’s love for us.
The agpeya has very specific prayers that
teach us to thank God, praise Him, and
glorify Him in everything that we do.
It is broken up into several different sections
for each part of the day.
Prime (the Morning Prayer)
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The prime is the very first
prayer of the agpeya.
This is prayed when we
wake up in the morning.
It reminds us of the Lord’s
incarnation, death and
resurrection.
In it we thank God for
granting us a peaceful sleep
and waking up to the new
day.
Terce ( The Third Hour prayer)
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This section reminds us
of 3 events:
Christ’s trial with Pilate
His ascension into the
heavens.
And the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the
disciples.
Sext (The Sixth Hour)
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This prayer reminds us
of Christ’s crucifixion on
the Cross.
In it, we ask that Christ
delivers us from every
evil passion and that
we remember His
commandments.
None ( The Ninth Hour)
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The ninth hour
commemorates Christ’s
death on the Cross and
the repentance of the
thief.
In this section, we ask
that God accepts our
repentance as He did
the thief.
Vespers ( the Eleventh Hour)
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This sections
commemorates taking
Jesus’ body down from
the cross.
Here we give thanks to
God again and ask that
we may be counted as
those who labored in
the Eleventh hour.
Compline (the Twelfth Hour)
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This section reminds us
of Jesus’ burial.
Here we ask that God
forgives us our sins and
allows us a peaceful
night’s sleep.
The Midnight Prayers and the Veil
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The midnight prayers are
to remind us about the
second coming of Jesus
Christ. There are 3
sections for the 3 stages
of Christ’s prayer in the
garden of Gethsemane.
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The Veil is an extra prayer for the bishops
and monks to allow them to examine their
hearts.
The order of the prayers.
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The agpeya has a specific order of prayers that we
follow.
First, we pray the Lord’s prayer, the thanksgiving
prayer, and Psalm 50.
Then, we pray some psalms for the correct hour, the
Gospel, and the litanies.
Followed by, kirie eleison 41 times…Why 41 times?
39 scourges, crown of thorns, and the slap on His
face.
Finally, each hour is concluded by the absolution and
the conclusion to every hour.
Conclusion
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The agpeya helps us organize our prayers and
thoughts during prayer. If you notice, that there are
many times where we repeat the same prayer every
time. The agpeya helps us see the other kinds of
prayers that we can do and what is acceptable in
front of God.
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However, the most important part is the heart of
the believer when he/she reads the agpeya.
Memory Verse
“Seven times a day I
praise you.”
Psalm 119:164