This session explores the intersections of liturgy, religious space, and liberation in Middle Eastern Christian communities, both in their homelands and in the diaspora. The four papers speak to the diversity of Middle Eastern Christianity across time and place: examining Ephrem the Syrian’s reimagining of space and salvation in the context of the 4th century siege of Nisibis; exploring how Egyptian Christians mythologized the inundation through ritual, literature, and devotion; considering how the Coptic Eucharistic liturgy becomes a transformative tool for liberation in a social and theological context; and illuminating how traditional Coptic archatectural aesthetics are reinterpreted and reimagined in a contemporary American context.
Abstract
This paper examines Ephrem the Syrian’s reimagining of space and salvation in the context of the siege of Nisibis in 363 CE. Focusing on the Nisibene Hymns, it explores how Ephrem portrays Nisibis as a paradoxical space—both a site of suffering and a gateway to paradise. Employing Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia and Gaston Bachelard’s phenomenology of space, this study demonstrates how Ephrem reconfigures the perception of confinement and liberation. By likening Nisibis to Noah’s Ark, he transforms its besieged walls into thresholds of divine favor, where enclosure signifies protection rather than captivity. The analysis reveals how Ephrem’s theological vision frames suffering as a means of spiritual ascent, aligning the fate of his city with the eschatological promise of paradise. Through poetic imagery and biblical typology, Ephrem invites his audience to see themselves as truly free, while casting their oppressors as those spiritually imprisoned.
The Archangel Michael’s characterization in Coptic and early Islamic Egypt extended beyond his traditional role as a healer and protector to that of patron of the Nile inundation. Coptic texts from the 6th to 12th centuries CE, which mostly include apocalypses, encomia, and various homilies, describe Michael’s role in bringing about a sufficient flood. The annual inundation was crucial for agricultural prosperity throughout the Nile Valley. Liturgical rituals associated with Michael’s feast days, on the 12th of Ba’ūna (June 6) and the 12th of Hatūr (November 8), coordinate with key moments in the river’s flood cycle. Such traditions, preserved in Coptic and later Arabic sources, show how Michaelic veneration in pre-modern Egypt intersected with local ecological sensibilities. By analyzing a variety of Coptic literary sources, this paper will explore how Egyptian Christians mythologized the inundation through ritual, literature, and devotion, revealing the connections between ecology and liturgy in pre-modern Egypt.
This paper is an exploration of the Coptic Orthodox Eucharistic liturgy, framed through the lens of Liberation Theology. It emphasizes the role of the liturgy as a means for spiritual and social liberation, focusing particularly on its relevance for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized and its transformative potential for both individuals and the broader world. The analysis explores how the liturgy reflects and responds to issues of injustice, and how it becomes a transformative tool for liberation in a social and theological context. This analysis explores both the liberation realized through the liturgy and the liturgy’s capacity to embody this liberation. It is a dual examination: assessing how the liturgy addresses social and cultural oppression, while also examining how its elements and internal dynamics are themselves liberating, in light of the people’s social context and cultural heritage.
This paper examines how the artistic program of Fanousian Coptic Churches in America reconfigures traditional liturgical spaces to reflect the evolving identities of diaspora communities. By analyzing both the aesthetic and architectural dimensions of worship spaces, the study explores the interplay between indigenous Coptic art forms and contemporary design practices. Fanous-inspired elements, a hallmark of cultural heritage, are reinterpreted to resonate with modern diaspora narratives, fostering communal identity and spiritual continuity. Drawing on site visits, interviews with church designers, and architectural analysis, the paper highlights the adaptive nature of Coptic liturgical art and its capacity to articulate historical memory, religious symbolism, and cultural belonging. The findings illustrate how material culture and artistic expression serve as pivotal markers in constructing a hybrid liturgical space, thereby offering new insights into the dynamic relationship between tradition and modernity in the American religious landscape. The study also reveals creative strategies that empower community voices.