In this unit, students will study two significant liturgical texts integral to the daily practices of the Coptic Church: the Horologion (Agpeya, or Book of Hours) and the Psalmodia (Book of Evening and Midnight Psalmody). The unit will explore their historical development, structural composition, theological underpinnings, and function within spiritual life.
Unit code: DL1400A
Unit status: Approved (New unit)
Points: 18.0
Unit level: Undergraduate Level 1
Unit discipline: Liturgy
Delivery Mode: Online - Synchronous
Proposing College: St Athanasius College
Show when this unit is running| 1. | Describe the structure of the books of Psalmodia and Horologion. |
| 2. | Discuss the daily usage of the two books in Coptic Monasteries and Churches. |
| 3. | Analyse the historical development of the Horologion and Psalmodia within Christian churches, with particular emphasis on their evolution in the Coptic Church. |
Synchronous and asynchronous. Flipped classroom. Pre-recorded lectures, zoom tutorials, guided reading.
Basilios, Archbishop, Canonical Hours, Book of, in: Claremont Coptic Encyclopaedia, online.
Burmester, O.H.E. The Canonical Hours of the Coptic Church, in Orientalia Christiana Periodeca (OCP), vol. 2, 1936.
Cassian, John, and Boniface Ramsey. John Cassian, the Institutes Ancient Christian Writers. New York: Newman Press, 2000.
Davies, J. G. "Psalmody." In A Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship. London, 1972.
Mikhail, Ramez. Analecta Hymnica Coptica: Bohairic Hymns for the Liturgical Year from Medieval Chant Manuscripts. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 705. Scriptores Coptici 56. Leuven: Peeters, 2023.
Mikhail, Ramez. “Occasional Prayers in Bohairic Coptic Euchologia: A Preliminary Overview and Inventory.” Ex Fonte: A Journal of Ecumenical Studies in Liturgy 2 (2023): 337–362.
Mihálykó, Ágnes T. and Ramez (Arsenius) Mikhail. “A Prayer for the Preparation of the Priest and the First Prayer of the Morning in Sahidic Coptic (P.Ilves Copt. 8).” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 87 (2021): 353–370.
Mikhail, Ramez. Review of Orthodox Christianity: The Worship and Liturgical Life of the Orthodox Church, by Hilarion Alfeyev. Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies 1, no. 1 (2018): 124–126.
Moftah, Raghab., Robertson Marian., Roy Martha., and Toth Margit., Coptic Music, The Canonical Hours, in: Coptic Encyclopaedia, Vol. 6, New York 1991, pp.1724-1729.
Taft, Robert F. The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1986.
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2000 | 50.0 | |
| Essay | 2000 | 50.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 7 Oct, 2025
Unit record last updated: 2025-10-07 08:36:56 +1100