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Abstract There is a long-standing polemic that the ‘moment’ of eucharistic consecration for the West is the words of institution and for the East is the epiclesis. Zheltov and Mckenna have previously analysed this issue with respect to the Byzantine rite; however, there is still a need for analysis of the Coptic rite. This paper examines the liturgical, patristic, and medieval sources to provide a survey of understandings of the epiclesis and consecration within the Egyptian liturgical heritage. The liturgical sources utilized include the early Egyptian anaphoras, as well as those utilized in the Coptic rite today—Egyptian Liturgy of St Basil the Great, Anaphora of St Gregory the Theologian, and Anaphora of St Cyril of Alexandria. The paper will show that there is diversity of thought regarding eucharistic consecration within the Egyptian tradition; yet, while accents on moment and process are both present, consecration as a process appears to be the dominant understanding.
Beniamin Zakhary (Mon,) studied this question.