The sermon was often linked with pastoral work, so that the listeners might not feel that they were being given orders, but instead offered God’s love through the fatherhood of the priest. “If the gospel reading is complete, and if a bishop is present, he should hold the gospel in his hand and address the congregation from the passages that have been read. If there is
1548 See Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Christ in the Eucharist. 2nd ed . (Sporting, Alexandria: St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church, 1973).
1549 Anaphora means to “lift up” for the Church is raised up to heaven through the celebration of the eucharist.
1550 Monastery of the Syrians, St. Basil the Great: His Life, Asceticism, and Church Canons (Arabic) (St. Mary’s Monastery (Deir al-Sourian), 2003): p. 542.
no bishop and the priest is capable of preaching, let him speak … and a prayer that is relevant to the passage of the gospel is read.”1551