ABSTRACT
“Surely the Lord is in this place … How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!” (Gen 28:16–17). Jacob’s declaration at Bethel would also characterize the Orthodox understanding of the Church as not simply a type and figure of Heaven, but the actual substrate of that future transformation (Evdokimov 1965: 7). Such a heavenly paradigm is the foundation upon which the entire liturgical tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church is established. This chapter only begins to describe the complexity, breadth of influence, and theological depth of the liturgical tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This chapter is a synopsis of the liturgical life in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
