Commentary
We mentioned in the previous issue that fish is not eaten on Wednesdays and Fridays because the rite of Wednesday and Friday during fasting is the rite of the Holy Forty Days.
We received a comment from Dr. Youssef Mansour, Professor of Practical Liturgics at the Theological Seminary, in which he says:
“Please be so kind as to clarify that what is meant is the rite of fasting, not the rite of performing the prayers.”
He mentioned differences in the rite between the Church’s liturgical prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays and its prayers during the Holy Forty Days.
What we mean, of course, is only the similarity in the fasting rite in terms of not eating fish, and not the similarity in the prayers.
For example, on Wednesdays and Fridays their hymns are not chanted in the manner of Great Lent. We thank Dr. Youssef Mansour for his observation.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Fifth Year – Issue Eleven – 14 December 1974.
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