The answer
The Introduction to the Creed is what is said prior to the recital of the Creed, and begins with “We exalt you, the Mother of the True Light.”
This piece was formulated by the Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council5, which convened in the City of Ephesus in Asia Minor in 431, in response to the heresy of Nestorius the Heretic, who claimed that the Virgin Lady Mary is the Mother of Christ’s humanity only, and not Mother of God (“Theotokos,” i.e. “Mother of God”) as we profess Her to be.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
Notes
5 Translator’s note: Other sources claim that the Introduction was authored by St. Cyril of Alexandria, and that it received approval by a local council that was convened in Alexandria (cf. Iris Habib el Masri, The Story of the Copts: The True Story of Christianity in Egypt, Vol. 1 [Merry Springs, California: St. Antony’s Monastery] 258).
Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 15–16.
The pages in the book (15–16)
