Questions & Answers

Rituals

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship › Rituals

The question

During the Divine Liturgy, how many times does the priest cense before the Pope, Bishop and Priest?

The answer

During the Divine Liturgy the priest censes twice before the bishop(s) or the priest(s), once during the prayer of incense for the Pauline Epistle and another during the Praxis. In each of these times the priest censes three hands before the Pope or the bishop, two hands before a hegoman and one hand before a priest. An extra censing to the highest rank in the church is given during the Pauline.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

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Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 901 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.