Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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In the Divine Liturgy, before the Institution Narrative, the priest says: "whereby we were bound and sold on account of our sins, He descended into Hades through the cross…" Then, the congregation responds saying "Amen. We believe." Then the priest continues and says "He rose from the dead on the third day..." Isn't there something missing here? Shouldn't we say "He descended into Hades and took the righteous to Paradise"? Or at least maybe place an asterisk in the Liturgy Book with an explanation below? We have a lot of converts and interested Christians who come to our church. Without the proper understanding, it seems very strange just to say He descended into Hades through the cross without an explanation or another sentence. I would probably be offended if I didn't understand the context and the theology behind it. I realize this probably won't change, but just a thought to explain this to others by references in the Divine Liturgy book to Acts 2, Eph. 4 and 1 Peter 3, a short paragraph to explain the descending to the lower parts.

The focus in this segment of the Divine Liturgy is the fulfillment of the plan of Salvation with emphasis on Christ alone. A footnote could help explain the reason why He descended into Hades. The more expanded Divine Liturgy books are very few in number because they are too costly and would be too large to hold during the Divine Liturgy. In addition, they are also written in Arabic. By the grace of God and the generosity of interested individuals, perhaps we could have a few copies at each church library for the use of more in depth spiritual education. As our church grows and draws people from a diversity of cultures and backgrounds, we do need to be more cognizant of the importance of providing more in depth explanations.
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