# Liturgy of Saint Mark

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/liturgy-of-saint-mark — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

The Liturgy of Saint Mark is a Greek Eucharistic liturgy formerly used in Alexandria, whose anaphoric tradition is preserved in the Coptic Anaphora of Saint Cyril.[^1]

## Identity and tradition

The Liturgy of Saint Mark is a Greek Eucharistic liturgy formerly used in the Church of Alexandria; a recension of its anaphoric part is preserved in the Coptic church as the Anaphora of Saint Cyril.[^1] *Understanding the Liturgy* presents the tradition that Saint Mark brought the liturgy to Egypt and describes its original language as Greek.[^2]

The surviving textual evidence includes anaphoric fragments, one dating to the fourth or fifth century, while complete Greek texts survive in much later manuscripts.[^3] The traditional association with Saint Mark and the dates of surviving textual witnesses therefore concern different aspects of the liturgy's history.[^2][^3]

## Relationship to Saint Cyril

The Coptic translation is traditionally attributed to Saint Cyril, and the differences between the Greek and Coptic versions are characterized as minimal.[^4] Both appear to derive from the same recension of the old Egyptian anaphora, but each contains distinctive readings and additions.[^5]

The surviving witnesses to the present Coptic text are in Bohairic and none predates the twelfth century; earlier Greek and Sahidic fragments also survive.[^5] It remains uncertain whether the Bohairic version was translated directly from Greek or through a Sahidic intermediary.[^5]

## Eucharistic structure

The anaphora has several characteristically Egyptian features:[^1]

- Its opening thanksgiving briefly recalls God's saving actions before being interrupted by lengthy intercessions.[^1]
- The congregation joins the heavenly beings in the triple “Holy,” ending with “Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.”[^1]
- The following prayer takes up the word “full” and leads into a first epiclesis, asking God to fill the sacrifice with his blessing through the descent of the Holy Spirit.[^1]
- After the Institution Narrative and anamnesis, a second epiclesis invokes the Holy Spirit upon the people and the bread and wine, asking that he hallow and perfect them.[^1]
- No intercessions intervene between this second epiclesis and the concluding doxology.[^1]

The anaphora also expresses the universality of the offering through language associated with Malachi's prophecy: “We offer this reasonable and bloodless sacrifice,” offered by all nations from the rising to the setting of the sun.[^6]

## Other prayers and ritual features

Outside the anaphora, Egyptian elements include a prayer for forgiveness accompanying the incense before the readings, a prayer of preparation for communion before the Lord's Prayer, and an intercession for the rising of the river waters.[^7]

Surviving Greek manuscripts also exhibit assimilation to Byzantine usage: the readings are reduced to two, a greater entrance includes the Cherubicon, and the creed follows the kiss of peace rather than preceding it in Egyptian fashion.[^8]

In Coptic service books, the Anaphora of Saint Cyril and its accompanying proper prayers are intended for insertion into the common Eucharistic order supplied with the Anaphora of Saint Basil.[^9]

## Manuscripts and use

The oldest complete Greek witnesses include the thirteenth-century Codex Rossanensis and the Rotulus Vaticanus of 1207.[^3] Around 1203, the Byzantine canonist Theodorus Balsamon opposed the use of Saint Mark's liturgy in churches in communion with Constantinople, prescribing the liturgies of Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil instead.[^3]

For the Coptic musical tradition, most melodies of Saint Cyril's liturgy have been lost, and the liturgy was regularly used by Patriarch Macarius III (1942–1945), as well as performed by Abuna Pachomius al-Muharraqi.[^10]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 466)
[^2]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 90)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 467)
[^4]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 96)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 314)
[^6]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 17)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 466)
[^8]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 467)
[^9]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 314)
[^10]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 73)