Are rites and Church Hymns necessary in the Church? Do they impact on our salvation and eternity?

St. John the Beloved recorded in his Revelation the secrets of heaven; its structure and order, and the hymns of the heavenly hosts. This revelation reveals the following:

First: Our God is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). That is why the Church, the Bride of Christ, ought to imitate her heavenly Bridegroom and avoid thinking that spiritual worship is equivalent to an absence of order or a lack of organization.

Second: The rite of the Church with its various Church Hymns varies according to the occasion. It is like a language that is understood even by those who do not know the language we speak. It plays an educational role in the lives of children, youth, and even philosophers and scientists. For example, many children, after attending church, return to their homes and try to play the metallic lids of kitchen pots as though they were cymbals; while other children rejoice if their parents give them a toy censer. Also, in classes where children learn Church Hymns, we often observe that children who remain silent when they are in the group will sing aloud the hymn they heard upon returning home.

In one of our churches in Pasadena, California, a primary (or elementary) school Sunday School class visited the church. A child of Chinese origin asked the priest of the church, “Why do you put pictures of these people on the iconostasis?” The priest replied, “We believe that those who have passed from this life are alive and are happy in Paradise. We hang these pictures (icons) to always remind us that we too will depart to Paradise one day and share with them in their praises and joy in God.” A few days later, the priest received a letter from one of the children saying, “Since I saw the iconostasis in your church, I no longer fear death, either for myself or for anyone in my family.”

Third: A beloved brother from East Brunswick wrote, “The hymns and rites of the Church are powerful and beautiful instruments that make us cling to God and allow us a glimpse of the heavenly life. The Fathers used various musical tunes and rites during the different seasons of the Church — whether feasts or fasts — that allow us to experience the spirituality of the prayers and mysteries of our worship.

“This is especially evident in the rite of Bright Saturday (Apocalypse Night) when the faithful gather together and keep vigil all night by the tomb of Christ, bearing witness to the victory of the Cross over the darkness of the abyss. In the first prayer that the priest chants at the royal door of the sanctuary, next to the tomb, he sings Psalm 151: “I was small among my brothers.” The Church is explaining to her children who are practicing the rites of Bright Sunday that although the appearance of the cross shows Christ’s weakness as He submits Himself to death, it is He who destroyed death. Then the believers stand up and walk in a procession around the church, holding candles to announce that Christ is the light that dispels darkness. Every moment of this night is a living lesson that inflames the hearts of the faithful and strengthens their faith. We proceed from all the stories of salvation (Susanna, the three

youths in the furnace of fire, Daniel in the lions’ dens, etc.) to wonderful hymns that proclaim the power and divinity of Christ; like the melody of Agios Athanatos Nai Nan, which means, ‘Holy Immortal, have mercy on us,’ until we reach heaven through the readings and hymns of the Book of Revelation. This is how the Church sets out with her children from the tomb of Good Friday to the heavenly Jerusalem, and the celebrations of the Resurrection.”

This is an example of the beauty of the rites, the readings, and the Church Hymns of Bright Saturday. In the chapter on the “Coptic Calendar,” I will talk more about Church Hymns, rites, and readings, and how they disclose the meaning behind each occasion that pertains to our salvation, spiritual growth, and the living testimonies to the work of the Holy Trinity for the sake of our eternity.⁶⁰⁶