Reflections from the monastic heart of the desert

Amid the monastic desert of Egypt, in the heart of the Saint Bishoy Monastery, a moment of profound depth took place as part of the broader World Council of Churches Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order. The Coptic Orthodox Church stands within one of the oldest continuous liturgical traditions in Christianity, in the very place where prayers and Divine Liturgies have risen unceasingly since the fourth century.

We celebrated the Liturgy of St Basil, the Coptic Orthodox Eucharistic rite that preserves the very anaphora received from the Lord Jesus Christ and entrusted to His holy apostles. Across generations, this sacred deposit was preserved within the Coptic tradition and upheld by the great fathers of the church. Chief among them is St Athanasius the Apostolic, who safeguarded the doctrine of Christ’s full divinity during the Council of Nicaea. From that same council came the Nicene Creed, the creed we still proclaim today within this very liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy, especially in the anaphora, from the Greek meaning “to lift up,” carried worshippers into the heavens. It was in that very moment that many of us felt it tangibly; the church ascending in prayer, unfolding the story of salvation until communion, Christ abides in us, and we in Him.

In this moment, we do not imitate history; we embody it, the same Eucharist, the same confession, the same faith since the first century. This very same liturgy is celebrated across all Coptic Orthodox churches worldwide, differing only in the language of prayer. Its structure and theology are entirely drawn from the Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. In the liturgy, we recount the entire story of salvation, not as observers, but as participants. It is a prayer on behalf of all creation: nature, nations, and every generation, offered for the unity of the church, and for the steadfast leadership of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith entrusted to her.