This volume is intended to fill a lack in understanding the theology of baptism in the Orthodox Church, as well as how the Coptic rite of baptism reflects and embodies this theology. The translation presented here comes from two different sources. Part One of this work, Meditations on Baptism, is a translation

of some of the writings of Fr Matthew the Poor (Matta Al-Maskin), one of the most famous and well respected figures in contemporary Egyptian monasticism. Part Two, Baptism in History and the Fathers, is a translation of three chapters that appeared in a book titled The Baptism of Water and the Spirit by Fr. Athanasius Al-Maqary, a monk in the monastery of St Macarius in the Nitria desert in Egypt.