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Ritual & Liturgical Studies

Further Reading:

Liturgical Theology & The Eucharistic Liturgy


  • Adolf Adam, Foundations of Liturgy: An Introduction to Its History and Practice.

  • Adolf Adam, The Eucharistic Celebration: The Source and Summit of Faith.

  • Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World.

  • Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology.

  • Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life: Christian Development through Liturgical Experience.

  • Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Tradition.

  • Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom.

  • Andrew McGowan, Ancient Christian Worship: Early Church Practices in Social, Historical, and Theological Perspective.

  • Arsenius Mikhail, Guides to the Eucharist in Medieval Egypt.

  • Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist.

  • Brian D. Spinks, Do This in Remembrance of Me: The Eucharist from the Early Church to the Present Day.

  • Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, The Study of Liturgy.

  • Christopher Hall, Worshipping with the Church Fathers.

  • Christopher Irvine, Cross and Creation in Christian Liturgy and Art.

  • Daniel Sheerin, The Eucharist (Message of the Fathers of the Church).

  • Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy.

  • F.E. Warren, The Liturgy and Ritual of the Ante-Nicene Church.

  • Fr. Athanasius al-Makary, A Summary of the Liturgical History of the Church of Alexandria (vol. 1-3).

  • Fr. Athanasius Iskander, Understanding the Liturgy.

  • Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty, Christ in the Eucharist.

  • Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty, The Eucharist.

  • George Kalantzis and Marc Cortez, Come, Let Us Eat Together.

  • H.G. Bishop Mattaos, Spirituality of the Liturgy.

  • H.G. Bishop Mattaos, How to Benefit from the Holy Liturgy (vol. 1-2).

  • H.G. Bishop Mattaos, Sacrament of the Eucharist.

  • Hippolytus of Rome, On the Apostolic Tradition (Popular Patristics Series, SVS Press).

  • Jean Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy.

  • J.G. Davies, The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship.

  • Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus.

  • Josef Jungmann, The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer.

  • Joseph L. Price, From Season to Season: Sports as American Religion.

  • Louis Bouyer, Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharistic Prayer.

  • Lucien Deiss, Springtime of the Liturgy: Liturgical Texts of the First Four Centuries.

  • Owen Cummings, Eucharistic Doctors: A Theological History.

  • Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies: Their Evolution and Interpretation.

  • Peter D. Day, The Liturgical Dictionary of Eastern Christianity.

  • Ramez Mikhail, The Presentation of the Lamb: The Prothesis and Preparatory Rites of the Coptic Liturgy (Studies in Eastern Christian Liturgies).

  • Raniero Cantalamessa, The Eucharist: Our Sanctification.

  • Robert Taft, Liturgy: Model of Prayer — Icon of Life.

  • Robert Taft, Saints — Sanctity — Liturgy.

  • Robert Taft, Worship is What Liturgy Does.

  • Rudolf Yanney, Coptic Church Review vol. 32 Special Issue: The Eucharist and Its Theological Aspects in Scripture, Liturgy, and Patristic Writings.

  • St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures on the Christian Sacraments (Popular Patristics Series, SVS Press).

  • Thomas Fisch, Primary Readings on the Eucharist.

  • Thomas K. Carroll and Thomas Halton, Liturgical Practice in the Fathers (Message of the Fathers of the Church).

  • Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life.

  • Willy Rordorf, The Eucharist of the Early Christians.


The Liturgical Calendar


  • Adolf Adam, The Key to Faith: Meditations on the Liturgical Year.

  • Adolf Adam, The Liturgical Year: Its History and Its Meaning After the Reform of the Liturgy.

  • Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Church Year (Celebration of Faith, Sermons, vol. 2).

  • Fr. John Behr, The Cross Stands While the World Turns: Homilies for the Cycles of the Year.

  • Fr. John Paul Abdelsayed, Treasures of the Fathers: Patristic Meditations on the Sunday Gospels of the Coptic Lectionary (series).

  • Fr. Lev Gillet, The Year of Grace of the Lord: A Scriptural and Liturgical Commentary on the Calendar of the Orthodox Church.

  • Fr. Mikhail E. Mikhail, Focus on the Family: A Scriptural and Liturgical Guide Based on the Coptic Orthodox Lectionary.

  • Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Spring.

  • Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Winter Pascha.

  • Georges A. Barrois, Scripture Readings in Orthodox Worship.

  • Hugh Wybrew, Orthodox Feasts of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary: Liturgical Texts with Commentary.

  • Johanna Manley, Grace for Grace: The Psalter and the Holy Fathers.

  • Johanna Manley, The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox.

  • Maxwell E. Johnson, Between Memory and Hope: Readings on the Liturgical Year.

  • Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Origins of Fasts, Feasts, and Seasons in Early Christianity.

  • Raymond E. Brown, Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year.

  • Thomas J. Talley, Origins of the Liturgical Year.


Baptism, Confirmation, Repentance, & Confession


  • Alexander Schmemann, Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism.

  • Ambrose of Milan, Method of Mystagogical Preaching.

  • Bill Corcoran, Preparing the Rites of Initiation with Adults and Children of Catechetical Age.

  • Boda Smith, Repentance in Christian Theology.

  • B.T.A. Evetts, The Rites of the Coptic Church: The Order of Baptism and The Order of Matrimony According to the Use of the Coptic Church.

  • E.C. Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy.

  • Edward Yarnold, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation.

  • Enrico Mazza, Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Age.

  • Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries.

  • Maxwell E. Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation.

  • Oscar Cullmann, Baptism in the New Testament.

  • Peter J. Leithart, Baptism: A Guide to Life From Death.

  • Robin M. Jensen, Baptismal Imagery in Early Christianity: Ritual, Visual, and Theological Dimensions.

  • St. Augustine, The First Catechetical Instruction (Ancient Christian Writers).


Matrimony


  • H.G. Bishop Moussa, The Christian Meaning of Marriage.

  • John Chryssavgis, Love, Sexuality, and the Sacrament of Marriage.

  • John Meyendorff, Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective.

  • Kenneth Stevenson, To Join Together: The Rite of Marriage.

  • Moheb Thomas and Youstina Thomas, Weddings and Wedlock: Insights from the Church Fathers on Happiness, Marriage, and Wedding Celebrations.

  • Paul Evdokimov, The Sacrament of Love.

  • St. John Chrysostom, On Marriage and Family Life (Popular Patristics Series, SVS Press).


Ordination


  • Alexandre Faivre, The Emergence of the Laity in the Early Church.

  • Alistar C. Stewart, The Original Bishops.

  • James F. Puglisi, The Process of Admission to Ordained Ministry: A Comparative Study.

  • James Monroe Barnett, The Diaconate: A Full and Equal Order.

  • Paul F. Bradshaw, Rites of Ordination: Their History and Theology.

  • Phyllis Zagano, Ordination of Women to the Diaconate in the Eastern Churches.


Death & Illness


  • Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy of Death.

  • Jean-Claude Larchet, The Theology of Illness.

  • Michael Marsch, Healing Through the Sacraments.

  • Paul Meyendorff, The Anointing of the Sick.

  • Thomas G. Long, Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral.

  • Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch, The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care.


Disclaimer: This list serves as a collection of various perspectives, titles, and backgrounds, and may not necessarily endorse the teaching, history, and understanding of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

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