Anaphora of St Gregory the Theologian

In Brief

The Anaphora of St Gregory the Theologian is the festal eucharistic prayer of the Coptic Church: the prayer of the great feasts, while Basil's is the ordinary and Cyril's is now rare.¹ Burmester's synopsis defines its place exactly: Gregory is "reserved for the Feasts of Christmas, the Epiphany and Easter, when the Liturgy is celebrated at night", and Cody adds Palm Sunday to the traditional occasions.²³ Its distinction is the address: it is the only Coptic anaphora addressed to the Son, and it is used on the feasts of Christ because it is addressed to Christ.³ In shape it "shows the structure of an Antiochene or Syrian anaphora" and "is presumably of Syrian origin".³ Tradition ascribes it to St Gregory of Nazianzus; scholarship does not accept the ascription, and in modern times, Cody notes, some celebrants do not use it at all, some using parts of it inside the Basil anaphora.³

The Shape of the Liturgy

Part by Part

Authorship & Date

The books ascribe the anaphora to Gregory the Theologian. The ascription is a tradition, and it is kept distinct from authorship here. What scholarship can say: the prayer is Antiochene in structure and presumably Syrian in origin, a relative of the Egyptian Basil rather than the work of the fourth-century Cappadocian.³ Ernst Hammerschmidt's 1957 study of the Coptic Basil and Gregory liturgies lists five principal Bohairic manuscripts of the two anaphoras, the documentary basis for the Coptic text.⁵ The Greek recension, a separate stream of the same tradition, was edited by Albert Gerhards.⁶ The Latin version is Renaudot's.⁷ One confusion is excluded at the start: the Ethiopian anaphoras attributed to Gregory are not this Coptic anaphora translated into Ge'ez; they are a different composition. The entry's position: the ascription is traditional, the origin Syrian, the text Coptic.

Witnesses & Editions

The Coptic text survives in two dialects. Sahidic fragments predate the Bohairic witnesses, though their dates are not established; the dated Bohairic euchologion Vat. copt. 17 (1288) is therefore never called the earliest witness without qualification.⁴⁵ Hammerschmidt's five principal Bohairic manuscripts are the basis of the modern Coptic text.⁵ For the Churches in print: Ṣalīb 1902 for the Coptic Orthodox. The Greek recension stands apart in Gerhards's edition.⁶ As with the Egyptian Basil, Brightman does not print the Egyptian Gregory: his collection gives the Greek Mark and the Coptic Cyril.⁹

Verification 2026-09-20 (Mike): the Coptic preface opening and the incarnation-segment opening are quoted from the opened 2024 Daniel Girgis article.¹⁰ The 2025 Girgis article on the economy segments could not be opened, so its Coptic segment labels were removed and the segment structure is given in English.⁸ The remaining Coptic wording was not verified from an opened source, so the parts outline renders those incipits by English descriptor.

Theology & Spirit

Everything in this anaphora turns on the address to the Son. The preface opens, ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡ⳪︦ ⲫϯ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲫⲙⲏⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲫⲙⲏⲓ: "O You, He Who Is, Master, LORD, true God of true God".¹⁰ The divine name is proclaimed of Christ, and the same preface confesses the incarnation directly: "ⲛⲑⲟⲕ [ⲡⲉ] ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲛ̀ⲥⲏⲟⲩ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ ⲁⲕⲓ ⲛⲁⲛ ϩⲓϫⲉⲛ ⲡⲓⲕⲁϩⲓ ⲁⲕⲓ ⲉⲑⲙⲏⲧⲣⲁ ⲛ̀ϯⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ": "You, He Who Is at all times, have come to us on the earth. You have come to the womb of the Virgin."¹⁰

The post-Sanctus, the anaphora's economy section, is built in four segments: creation and the fall, the prophets and the law, the incarnation, and the cross and the judgment. Daniel Girgis's 2025 article supplies a Coptic incipit and English rendering for each segment, but the article page could not be opened for verification, so the segments are given here in English.⁸ The whole of salvation history is thus told as the acts of the Son, to whom the prayer is addressed throughout. The intercessions follow the epiclesis, in the Antiochene order shared with Basil.³

Relations

Basil's is this prayer's ordinary companion: the same Antiochene shape, the same Coptic order of the liturgy, the Father's where Gregory is the Son's.¹¹ In modern practice the two even borrow from each other, some celebrants praying parts of Gregory inside Basil.³ Cyril's is the third of the euchologion, the one that keeps the Alexandrian order with the intercessions before the Sanctus.¹² The three together are the Coptic Church's anaphoral treasury; Gregory is its festal voice.

• Anaphora of St Basil (Egyptian)siblingThe other Antiochene-shaped anaphora of the Coptic euchologion; the ordinary to Gregory's festal¹¹
• Anaphora of St Cyril (St Mark)siblingShares the common Coptic order of the liturgy that frames all three anaphoras¹

Disputed Questions

The ascription to Gregory of Nazianzus is traditional, not scholarly; the anaphora's Syrian origin is the working consensus.³ The date of the Bohairic text, and the relation of the Sahidic fragments and the Greek recension to it, are undetermined.⁴⁶ The entry takes no position beyond the evidence: a Syrian-shaped, Son-addressed festal anaphora, old in Egypt, its exact history still to be written.

Go Deeper

The address explains the calendar. Because the anaphora is "addressed to Christ", it is appointed for the feasts of Christ: the Nativity, the Epiphany, Easter, and Palm Sunday, the days when the Church celebrates what the prayer confesses, that the He-Who-Is "has come to us on the earth" and "has come to the womb of the Virgin".³¹⁰ Burmester's note that these are night liturgies adds the setting: the festal anaphora belongs to the night offices of the great feasts.² That some celebrants now omit it, or fold its prayers into Basil, is Cody's sober postscript on its modern fortunes.³

Recommended reading

• Hammerschmidt, Ernst, “Studien zum altägyptischen Kirchenwesen: Die anaphorischen Gebete der koptischen Basilius- und Gregorius-Liturgie”, PhD dissertation, Würzburg, 1957.The Coptic text from five principal Bohairic manuscripts.
• Gerhards, Albert, Die griechische Gregoriosanaphora: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des eucharistischen Hochgebets, Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen 65, Münster: Aschendorff, 1984.The Greek recension.
• Cody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Gregory”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 124a-125a.The concise scholarly conspectus. Read online

Sources

1. ReferenceSamaan, Moses (Fr); Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church, 2012. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · an article posted on the diocese's website, read: 'The Liturgy according to St. Basil is the one used most of the year; St. Gregory's Liturgy is used during the feasts and on certain occasions; only parts of St. Cyril's Liturgy are used nowadays'; 'the Liturgy was first used (orally) in Alexandria by St. Mark and that it was recorded in writing by St. Cyril I', and from it 'the other two liturgies… are derived'; the Basilian liturgy 'drew heavily on the Liturgy of St. Mark the Evangelist'; St Gregory's 'is addressed to the Son'; 'Vespers and Matins prayers always preceede the service'
2. ScholarshipHadji-Burmester, O. H. E., “Rites and Ceremonies of the Coptic Church, Part II: The Service of the Hallowing (Synopsis)”, Eastern Churches Quarterly 8, no. 1 (January-March 1949), 1949, pp. 1-39, 1. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · archive.org full text read, pp. 1-39 (the synopsis runs to p. 37; pp. 37-39 are bibliography), signed 'Alexandria. Feast of St. Stylianos, 26th November 1948'; p. 14 checked on the page image. A synopsis of the Liturgy of St Basil with its Arabic rubrics translated. p. 1: 'The Liturgy of Saint Basil is that in general use in the Coptic Church throughout the year', Gregory 'reserved for the Feasts of Christmas, the Epiphany and Easter, when the Liturgy is celebrated at night'; p. 2: Cyril 'now very rarely used', 'sometimes used in Lent'; p. 4: the priest 'careful not to taste anything at all before the Liturgy'; p. 5 and n. 8: 'three or five or seven or more loaves', 'always presented in uneven numbers'; p. 6: the procession of the Lamb; p. 7: the water 'not less than a quarter or not more than a third', and the Prayer of Thanksgiving, n. 4 also said at the Offering of Incense; p. 8: the Prayer of the Prothesis with three signs, 'bless them… sanctify them… purify them'; p. 9: 'In actual practice this Prayer of Absolution is omitted and in its place shall be read May Thy servants ministering this day'; pp. 9-13: the incense and the four readings, one verse 'in Coptic' then the reading 'in Arabic'; p. 12: the Synaxarium 'generally by the priest'; p. 13: 'Stand with the fear of God. Let us hear the Holy Gospel'; p. 14: the prayer of the veil; p. 16: 'In the wisdom of God let us attend', 'the people recite the Creed'; the kiss, n. 4, 'to touch the hand of one's neighbour and then kiss one's own hand'; 'the choir sings, to the accompaniment of cymbals, the Aspasmos Hymn'; p. 17: 'Look to the east'; pp. 18-19: the people answer the institution 'We believe that this is so indeed. Amen', and the priest 'breaks the Oblation into two thirds and into one third, slightly and without separating'; p. 20 n. 2: a rubric of the Cairo Euchologion of 1932, 'Now indeed the Oblation has become the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ'; pp. 21-22: the seasonal petitions for the waters of the river, the seeds and the fruits, by Coptic month; p. 22: the commemoration of 'the principal Saints, and especially the Saints of Egypt'; p. 24 n. 1: the 1932 Euchologion 'contains eighteen Prayers of the Fraction'; pp. 24-27: the fraction, the Lord's Prayer, the absolution and the elevation; pp. 27-28: the Confession, 'The Body and the Blood of Emmanuel Our God, this is it in truth'; p. 29: Communion with 'The Body of Emmanuel Our God, this is It in truth. Amen'; p. 30: the dismissal and the eulogia; pp. 31-32: the loaf, leavened, made by a man, with five holes that 'represent the five nails', not fit 'after the expiration of three hours from the time of baking', and wine 'from dried raisins'; pp. 33-37: Communion, the Blood given 'with the spoon'
3. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Gregory”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 124a-125a, 124a–125a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read in full: the anaphora 'shows the structure of an Antiochene or Syrian anaphora' and 'is presumably of Syrian origin'; it is addressed to the Son; 'Traditionally, the Anaphora of Saint Gregory is used on major feasts such as Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter, and on PALM SUNDAY, because it is addressed to Christ'; in modern times some celebrants do not use it at all, and some use parts of it in Basil
4. ScholarshipMikhail, Ramez, “A Preliminary List of Bohairic Liturgical Manuscripts with a Focus on the Divine Liturgy and the Liturgy of the Hours”, Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies 15, 2023.Verified 2026-09-20 · Seen (FT): the numbered Bohairic liturgical manuscripts including Vat. copt. 17; fn. 3 notes that no critical edition of the Coptic text of the Cyril anaphora exists
5. ScholarshipHammerschmidt, Ernst, “Studien zum altägyptischen Kirchenwesen: Die anaphorischen Gebete der koptischen Basilius- und Gregorius-Liturgie”, PhD dissertation, Würzburg, 1957, 3–5.Verified 2026-09-20 · Seen (FT): pp. 3-5 read — the list of the five principal Bohairic manuscripts of the Basil and Gregory anaphoras
6. ScholarshipGerhards, Albert, Die griechische Gregoriosanaphora: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des eucharistischen Hochgebets, Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen 65, Münster: Aschendorff, 1984.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued: the Alexandrian canon records it as the edition of the Greek recension of the Gregory anaphora; the book itself was not opened
7. Primary textRenaudot, Eusèbe, Liturgiarum Orientalium collectio, Paris, 1847.Verified 2026-09-20 · Seen (via archive.org): the Latin versions of the Coptic anaphoras of Basil and Gregory and of the Ethiopian anaphoras, including the 'Missa S. Basilii' and the Ethiopian Apostles anaphora (pp. 43-59)
8. ReferenceGirgis, Daniel, “On the Anaphora of St Gregory the Theologian”, Living Tradition (danielgirgis.com), 2025. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Verification failed 2026-09-20 (Mike): the article page could not be fetched (browser-service failure), so the four-segment Coptic incipits reported from this article (ⲭⲟⲩⲁⲃ, ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲡⲁⲛⲏⲃ, ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ, ⲁⲕⲓ̀ ⲉⲡϧⲟⲗϧⲉⲗ) remain unverified and were stripped from the entries; the segment table is cited only as this article's account, not as text
9. Primary textBrightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896, pp. 113–188. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. lxxxiii, lxxxv, lxxxviii–lxxxix checked; order locators spot-checked 13 Sep 2026 (pp. 362, 377–378, 393, 394; glossary s.v. Zeon, Cancelli, Ektene). Checked 19 Sep 2026 for the Ge'ez entry: Preface p. xiii, the Ethiopic translations are the Rev. C. J. Ball's ('the Rev. C. J. Ball for the Ethiopic (including the collation of the British Museum manuscripts)'); p. lxiii, the Egyptian rite; pp. lxxii-lxxiii, the Rome printing of 1548 ('Testamentum novum.. Missale') and the Lord's anaphora there; pp. 194-244, the Ethiopic Liturgy of the Apostles from BM Or. 545 (1670-75); p. 232, 'THIS bread… IS MY BODY' (a rubric between) and 'DRINK… THIS CUP'
10. ReferenceGirgis, Daniel, “As He Was — On the Name of God in Coptic Liturgy”, Living Tradition (danielgirgis.com), 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Article page opened and read 2026-09-20 (Mike): the Coptic preface openings of St Basil ('Ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡ⳪︦ ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ', 'O You, He Who Is, Master, LORD, God of Truth'), St Cyril ('ⲕⲉ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲁⲗⲏⲑⲱⲥ ϥⲉⲙⲡϣⲁ', 'For truly it is worthy'; the address 'Ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡ⳪︦ ⲫϯ ⲫⲓⲱⲧ', 'O You, Who-Is, Master, Lord God, the Father') and St Gregory ('ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲫⲛⲏⲃ ⲡ⳪︦ ⲫϯ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲫⲙⲏⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲫⲙⲏⲓ', 'O You, He Who Is, Master, LORD, true God of true God'), plus the Gregory incarnation-segment opening ('ⲛⲑⲟⲕ [ⲡⲉ] ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ ⲛ̀ⲥⲏⲟⲩ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ ⲁⲕⲓ ⲛⲁⲛ ϩⲓϫⲉⲛ ⲡⲓⲕⲁϩⲓ ⲁⲕⲓ ⲉⲑⲙⲏⲧⲣⲁ ⲛ̀ϯⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ', 'You, He Who Is at all times, have come to us on the earth. You have come to the womb of the Virgin'), all quoted in Coptic with the author's English translation
11. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Basil”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 121b-123b, 121b–123b. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · the Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia text read in full (item 125): Basil is the 'anaphora normally used in the Coptic church'; like Gregory's, and unlike that of St Mark/St Cyril, it is 'not of Egyptian but of Syrian origin'; 'fundamentally Syrian in both composition and structure, with some Egyptian retouching'; the prayer of the veil 'taken from the Syrian Liturgy of Saint James'; scholars differ on its relation to the Byzantine Basil, Engberding holding the Egyptian text 'closer to the original', and 'the verbal similarities between the two have not been explained to everyone's satisfaction'; the common order is Egyptian, with 'specifically Egyptian' features: four readings from the New Testament, 'the absolutions before the prayer of incense preparing the readings and after the prayer of inclination following the Lord's Prayer', and the homologia; 'The fraction of the consecrated bread takes place before the Lord's Prayer'; the Greek text 'has not been used for centuries, with Coptic and, increasingly Arabic, being the only liturgical languages retained', with short Greek elements; at 123b, there is 'some reason to think' that a recension of the Greek text was also used in the Melchite church of Alexandria 'until its local usages gave way to the integral observance of the Byzantine rite'
12. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Cyril”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 123b-124a, 123b–124a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read in full: 'the most typically Egyptian of the three anaphoras retained in the euchologion of the Coptic church'; 'In modern times the Anaphora of Saint Cyril is rarely used', some use its prayers in Basil, and 'some efforts are made to restore its' integral use; traditionally 'especially apt for use in Lent and in the Coptic month of Kiyahk'