Divine Liturgy
What is the Praxis or Acts reading?
The Praxis is the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Praxis means acts or deeds. This reading shows the life of the Church after the Resurrection: preaching, baptism, healing, suffering, mission, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.
Why Acts Is Read During The Liturgy
The Church reads Acts because the Eucharist belongs to the same apostolic life. The Liturgy is the worship of the Church founded by Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and sent into the world. Hearing Acts before the Gospel places the people inside the continuing story of the apostolic Church.
The Praxis also shows that the Church's life flows from the Resurrection and Pentecost. The apostles preach Christ, baptize, heal, endure persecution, appoint servants, and gather the faithful around prayer and the breaking of bread. The Liturgy is joined to that life: worship, doctrine, mission, suffering, and holiness belong together.
What To Notice About The Praxis Reading
The Praxis often connects the Gospel to the visible life of the Church. It shows what happens when the words and works of Christ are carried by the apostles through the power of the Holy Spirit. The reading may speak about St. Peter, St. Paul, the deacons, the first believers, councils, miracles, imprisonment, martyrdom, or missionary journeys.
Hearing Acts in the Liturgy reminds the faithful that Communion is not escape from the Church's mission. The same Christ received at the altar sends His people into repentance, witness, mercy, and endurance.
- Coptic Rites (3): Liturgy of the Word, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Teaching slides on the Pauline, Catholic Epistle, Praxis, Synaxarium, Gospel litany, Creed, and related rites.
- Why are there multiple readings during the Liturgy?, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States Q&A. Pastoral answer naming the Pauline Epistle, Catholic Epistle, Praxis, Synaxarium, and Holy Gospel as the five readings.
- Coptic Liturgies, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Overview of the Divine Liturgy, the three Coptic liturgies, and the principal parts of the Eucharistic service.
- The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, CopticChurch.net. Service text and introduction for the most commonly used Coptic Divine Liturgy.
Praxis: The Acts reading in the Coptic Liturgy, showing the life and witness of the apostolic Church after the Resurrection and Pentecost.
Baptism: The sacrament of new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, joining a person to Christ's death and resurrection and to the life of the Church.
Eucharist: A Greek word meaning thanksgiving. In Orthodox worship it names the sacrament in which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.
Holy Communion: The faithful receiving the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, after baptismal life, repentance, confession, fasting, reconciliation, and pastoral preparation.
Altar: The holy table in the sanctuary where the Eucharistic gifts are offered and consecrated, treated with reverence as the center of liturgical worship.