Outside the Sanctuary
Our discussion in the previous issue was about the sanctuary and the altar. We continue our discussion today about what is outside the sanctuary, where we find the mangalia and the anbel.
The word mangalia is a Coptic word meaning “the place of the Gospel,” and the anbel is a high pulpit that one ascends by steps, for preaching.
It is fitting that teaching should be from a high place, because of the loftiness and elevation of teaching.
Thus, the anbel symbolizes Mount Sinai in the Old Testament and the Mount of the Sermon in the New Testament…
The mangalia is used only for teaching and for reading the Holy Books, and it must not be used for other purposes…
In churches there are two mangalias: one facing west and the other facing east. The one facing west faces the people, for teaching, and the one facing east faces the altar, for prayer.
This is because we consider the reading of the Gospel to be a form of prayer, in which we raise our voices to God. The Gospel in the Agpeya is a form of prayer.
Very often the priest says to the deacon, “Pray the Gospel”…
There is another pulpit for teaching besides the mangalia and the anbel, which is the bishop’s chair, called the cathedra, meaning a pulpit. From it comes the word cathedral, which is the large church in which the bishop’s chair is located.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year (Issue Nine), 27-2-1976.
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