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History of Tai Shori

copt333
in Hymns Discussion

Hi all,

I recently came across an article (linked below) that mentions a longer version of the hymn Tai Shori that is rarely used today. The text is as follows:

This censer of pure gold,

bearing the sweet incense,

in the hands of Aaron the priest,

offering incense upon the altar,

before the mercy seat,

is the holy Virgin Mary;

who brought forth Jesus Christ,

the Son and Logos.

The Holy Spirit came upon her,

purified her, sanctified her,

and filled her with grace.

Through her intercessions,

O Lord, grant us the forgiveness of our sins.

I was surprised to find this, because I am Coptic Catholic and this is the version we chant (though in Arabic/English rather than Coptic). Until now, I haven’t been able to find any explanation for why we use a longer form of the hymn.

It seems that when the Coptic Catholic Church was established in 1741, this longer version may have been the commonly used form of Tai Shori across all churches, and we simply maintained it. However, this is just my assumption and I could be wrong.

I haven’t been able to find further information about this older version, and I’m very interested to learn when and why it stopped being used in the Coptic Orthodox Church.

I do know that Tai Shori and Tee Shori were originally one hymn and later separated into two. However, in this longer text, only the first part aligns with Tai Shori, while the second part doesn’t match Tee Shori.

If anyone has historical insight into this longer version or its development, I’d love to learn more.

https://ukmidcopts.org/resources/spiritual-articles/understanding-the-liturgy-the-liturgy-of-the-catechumens/

Comments

  • mabsootamabsoota
    i don't know but i know the uk midcopts group as i was part of the diocese for 7 months about 13 years ago (was working in the area) - there are some wonderful servants there.
    if you zoom in on that page, you see that the quote is from 'understanding the liturgy' by abouna athanasius iskander - more articles from him here:

    and i found the original text here:
    all 123 pages of it!
    please share with us what you find there and please also visit the coptic orthodox church for the beautiful Christmas liturgy (or one of the tasbeha services during kiakh if you can't make the liturgy) :-)

  • Daniel_Kyrillos
    @mabsoota heartbreaking that Fr. Athanasius doesnt cite where the longer version comes from
  • mabsootamabsoota
    is he still alive? you can maybe write to him.
    I wrote to a website owner who translates texts once and she wrote back!
    also i wrote to a priest who publishes orthodox books to ask for permission to modernise the english in one of the book chapters and then share it with a group at church and he said yes!
    i bought the book from from a catholic bookshop and there was an email address in it and it worked.
    sometimes people who publish stuff find time to reply when you contact them directly.#
    you might even end up collaborating with them in one of their publications
    :)
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