About the Agpeya

The word Agpeya (5agpia) is derived from the Coptic Ti agp (5agp) which means: the hour; so the Coptic Ti agpeya (5agpia) means: the Book of Hours.

The book contains the offices for the seven canonical hours used by the Coptic Orthodox Church. It contains Psalms, Gospel readings, and prayers to be said at specific hours by day and night, arranged in accordance with analogous events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. David the Prophet says, “Seven times a day I praise You because of Your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:164); and the Lord commands, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

H. H. Pope Shenouda III writes:

We use the Agpeya when we pray due to the spirituality and idealism of its contents.

By the assistance of the Agpeya we learn how to say our prayers and the appropriate way to speak to God.

The Agpeya teaches us to pray and to examine everything carefully. Such a way allows us to involve God in the details of our whole life since we leave nothing out in our dialogue with Him.

A worshipper who constantly has access to the Agpeya during his prayer time gets to know so many Biblical passages which assist him in his daily life and have a profound influence over his feelings and behavior.

The incorporation of such selected Psalms, Gospels, and prayers into Christian worship was adopted first by the Coptic Church of Alexandria. Thanks to the relative peace that it enjoyed during the first and second centuries, the Egyptian Church, long before any other church, was able to establish the pattern of these canonical hours. Both the structure and the contents of the Coptic Agpeya are the direct descendants of the original Canonical Hours which were used by the cenobite (communal) monasteries which originated in Egypt in the first quarter of the fourth century.

The principal element in the structure of the Agpeya is a selection of Psalms specially arranged to correspond with the basic theme of the hour in question. The Book of Psalms is seen by the Coptic Church as a source of divine treasure and a stream of spiritual edification and teaching which covers all aspects of the relationship between God and man. Therefore, the Church used the Psalms as a remedy of the believers’ lives and a means of inflaming their hearts with the fire of divine love.

The hours of the Agpeya are used in all kinds of prayer: individual, familial, and congregational. In the Eucharistic service, Midnight prayer is recited before Midnight praise, which, in turn, is followed by the Morning prayer. Then, after the service of Morning Offering of Incense, the Terce, Sext, and, on the days of fasting, None hours are incorporated. On the days of Jonah and during the Lent, Vespers and Compline are added, then follows the Divine Liturgy. None, Vespers, and Compline precede the Evening Offering of Incense, while, on days of fasting, None is not recited, as it is recited in the morning.

Following the practice common at the time of Christ (John 11:9), the day is computed from sunrise to sunset; thus, the first hour corresponds to 6 a.m., the third hour to 9 a.m., the sixth hour to noon, the ninth hour to 3 p.m., and so on (see also Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:3; 16:25). The Psalm system of the Coptic Canonical Hours is still that mentioned by St. John Cassian (c. 360 – 435 AD.) in his De Institutis 2:4; namely, twelve psalms for each hour. However, a further seven psalms are added to the twelve of the Office of Morning Prayer, while the Office of Midnight Prayer is composed of three nocturnes (watches).

Each of the Canonical Hours starts with the Lord’s Prayer, the Prayer of Thanksgiving, and Psalm 50. Then follow the appropriate Psalms, the reading from the Gospel, and the Litanies. These are followed by Kyrie eleison 41 times (representing the thirty-nine scourges (2 Cor. 11:24) of the Lord, the spear, and the crown of thorns), the Petition, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaouth…”, the Lord’s Prayer, the Absolution, and concluding with the supplication, “Have mercy on us, O God, and have mercy on us…”

1 – Prime: Morning Prayer, is designed to be prayed early in the morning, as a reference to the coming of the true Light, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Prime is mainly associated with the eternity of God, His incarnation, and His resurrection from the dead. It is intended to offer thanks to Him for having raised us from sleep, beseeching Him to shine upon us, enlighten our lives, and grant us the power of His resurrection.

2 – Terce: Third Hour, commemorates three significant events: Christ’s trial by Pilate, His ascension to the heavens, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. We pray that the grace of the Holy Spirit may cleanse our hearts and renew our lives.

3 – Sext: Sixth Hour, reminds us of the crucifixion and passion of Christ. We pray that through His life-giving passions, He may deliver our minds from lusts, turn our thoughts to the remembrance of His commandments, and make of us a light of the world and salt of the earth.

4 – None: Ninth Hour, commemorates the redemptive death of Christ in the flesh on the cross, and His acceptance of the repentance of the Thief. We pray that the Savior may mortify our carnal lusts, make us partakers of His grace, and accept our repentance when we cry out with the Thief, “Remember us, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

5 – Vespers: Eleventh Hour, is associated with the act of taking down Christ’s body from the cross. At the end of the day, we give thanks for God’s protection, and confess our sins with the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31) that we may be counted among the laborers who were called at the eleventh hour of the day (Matt. 20:1-16).

6 – Compline: Twelfth Hour, commemorates the burial of Christ. We remember the passing world and the final judgment. Mindful of our imminent standing before God, we ask forgiveness of our sins and protection through the night.

7 – Midnight: Commemorates the second coming of the Lord. The office consists of three nocturnes (watches), corresponding to the three stages of Christ’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 25:1-13).

8 – The Veil: In addition to these hours, there is another prayer called the Office of the Veil. The Didascalia directs that it be read by bishops and priests as a means of examining the heart before sleep. According to the Agpeya, it is for the use of monks.

1. The Agpeya is a book of prayer, let it be the first one to be opened in the morning. This will direct the whole day towards God, and encourage us to use the book several times a day.

2. Praying the hours is a means of examining the heart and correcting its faults. Therefore, with following the order of the Agpeya, we need to purify our hearts constantly by repentance and humility, to dwell in the truth, and to love all people. Thus, our order of prayer will be effective and fruitful.

3. The few minutes during which we prepare ourselves for prayer by examining the heart, repentance, prostration and contemplation have an important influence for obtaining the spirit of prayer.

4. Psalms are a rich food of the spirit; let us love them and enjoy reciting them frequently.

5. The quality of time used to pray matters more than the quantity of psalms that are recited. You can consult your spiritual father: It is useful to understand the meaning of prayer and think of it in your mind.

6. The words of the psalms are to be applied to yourself, and be said as if they are your own words, and not as sayings of others.

7. Do not move from one word to the other and from one psalm to the other without grasping the feeling and the truth it bears. Try to understand the purpose of each and every word and touch it with your heart, in order to experience its hidden and real meaning.

8. With each word which purposes worship, kneel down or at least bow your head in reverence.

9. Assign a time for your own prayers articulated by yourself, in which you express your desire and burning love to God. When you pray to God using your own words or verses from the psalms you will experience that joy and happiness will dominate your life.

N.B. The numbering of the Psalms in this Coptic Book of Hours (Agpeya) follow the Coptic Version of the Bible. It is one number behind that of other published versions of the Bible. For example, Psalm 50 in this Agpeya is Psalm 51 in the other Versions.

Arabic translation source: https://st-takla.org/Agpeya_.html