How is the Coptic Lectionary (Katameros) organized?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The Coptic Lectionary, known as the Katameros, is defined in coptic terms as "The book of church readings quoted from the Holy Bible, appointed to be read at public worship." In Coptic Orthodox practice, its organization spans specific seasonal volumes, Sunday cycles, and weekday classifications.

Seasonal Books and Volumes

According to coptic terms and dictionr, the lectionaries are organized into distinct volumes across the church year:

• "an annual lectionary"
• "another for the great lent"
• "a third for the Holy Week or the Pasch"
• "one for the Pentecost, i.e. the fifty days following Easter"

Sunday and Seasonal Themes

As explained in Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail, the readings follow distinct thematic segments:

• Sundays Throughout the Year: The readings of the Sundays "deal with the work of the Holy Trinity: The love of God the Father, the grace of the Son Jesus Christ, and the fellowship and gifts of the Holy Spirit." For instance, collections such as Katameros Sunday Readings for the Month of Kiahk (Pikatameroc `ntemrompi `nniouai (Nikuriaky) Nimetws `nnikuriaky `mpi`abot <oiak) divide liturgical readings across the specific Sundays of the month.
• The Lenten Season: In the Great Lent segment, the Lectionary "sheds light on the relationship between the prophecies read in the Old Testament and their fulfilment in the New Testament."

The Weekdays Lectionary

Both Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail and Coptic Family - Father Mikhail E Mikhail outline the system for the weekdays lectionary, which is read throughout the year based on the Coptic Calendar ("divided into twelve equal months, each of which has thirty days in addition to a small month of five or six days, according to the type of year"):

• Lives of the Saints: The weekday readings are based on the lives of the saints, where "The Feast Days of the Holy Saints of the Church and its martyrs are divided into groups, each of which has its own readings."
• Selection of Readings: "There are sixty-nine different readings for the whole weekdays lectionary, so we select the proper reading according to these groups."

Finally, THE RITES OF THE HOLY LITURGY - HG Bishop Mettaous notes that during worship, "The ‘Katameros’ (the lectionary) should be opened to the correct readings" when the priest offers incense before it, proclaiming, “We worship the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to Whom is the Glory forever, Amen.”.

Sources: coptic terms; dictionr; Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail; Coptic Family - Father Mikhail E Mikhail; قراءات قطماروس شهر كيهك في الاحاد; THE RITES OF THE HOLY LITURGY - HG Bishop Mettaous