# Communion veils

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/communion-veils — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

Communion veils are small cloths used by Coptic communicants to cover their mouths after receiving the Body of Christ; they are laid aside before receiving the Blood.[^1]

## Description

Communion veils are small cloths held by communicants to cover their mouths after receiving the Body of Christ. This cloth is called a “corporal,” and its use is described under the heading of liturgical “mats.”[^1][^2]

These mats are square or circular pieces of fabric, white, pink, or blue, with a cross embroidered in the center. The same class of cloth has other liturgical uses, including covering the eucharistic bread and wine and being held in the celebrant’s hands during prayers.[^3]

## Use at Communion

The mats are distributed to communicants shortly before Holy Communion. Communicants cover their mouths with them after receiving the Body, but lay them aside before receiving the Blood.[^1] *Understanding the Liturgy* specifies that the small veil is held in the right hand.[^2]

## Historical account

*Understanding the Liturgy* connects the practice with the earlier reception of communion in the hand. It traces the veils to wealthy women in fourth-century Rome who, out of reverence, received the Body of Christ in silken cloths adorned with a cross and held in the right hand. It explains the name “corporal” as deriving from the Latin *corpus*, meaning “body.”[^4]

The source suggests that the custom spread rapidly to Constantinople and Alexandria. It places the Egyptian Church’s transition to administering communion directly into the mouth sometime in the Middle Ages, while noting that holding the corporal in the right hand and raising it to the mouth continued afterward.[^5]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 139)
[^2]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 80)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 139)
[^4]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 81)
[^5]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 81)