Antiochene Liturgy

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The family ofliturgies originally used in the Patriarchate of Antioch begins with that of the Apostolic Constitutions; then follow that of St. James in Greek, the Syrian Liturgy of St. James, and the other SyrianAnaphorus. The line may be further continued to the Byzantine Rite (the older Liturgy of St. Basil and the later and shorter one ofSt. John Chrysostom), and through it to theArmenian use. But these no longer concern theChurch of Antioch.

The liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions

The oldest known form that can be described as a complete liturgy is that of the Apostolic Constitutions. It is also the first member of the line of Antiochene uses. TheApostolic Constitutions consist of eight books purporting to have been written bySt. Clement of Rome (died c. 104). The first six books are an interpolated edition of theDidascalia ("Teaching of the Apostles and Disciples", written in the first half of the third century and since edited in a Syriac version by de Lagarde, 1854); the seventh book is an equally modified version of theDidache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, probably written in the first century, and found by Philotheos Bryennios in 1883) with a collection ofprayers. The eighth book contains a complete liturgy and the eighty-five "Apostolic Canons". There is also part of a liturgy modified from the Didascalia in the second book. It has been suggested that the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions may be the sameperson as the author of the six spurious letters of St. Ignatius (Pseudo-Ignatius). In any case he was aSyrianChristian, probably an Apollinarist, living in or near Antioch either at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. And the liturgy that he describes in his eighth book is that used in his time by theChurch of Antioch, with certain modifications of his own. That the writer was an Antiochene Syrian and that he describes theliturgical use of his own country is shown by various details, such as the precedence given to Antioch (VII, xlvi, VIII, x, etc.); his mention ofChristmas (VIII, xxxiii), which was kept at Antioch since about 375, nowhere else in the East till about 430 (Duchesne, Origines du culte chrétien, 248); the fact thatHoly Week andLent together make up seven weeks (V, xiii) as atAntioch, whereas in Palestine andEgypt, as throughout the West,Holy Week was the sixth week ofLent; that the chief source of his "Apostolic Canons" is the Synod of Antiochin encæniis (341); and especially by the fact that his liturgy is obviously built up on the same lines as all the Syrian ones. There are, however, modifications of his own in theprayers, Creed, and Gloria, where the style and the idioms are obviously those of the interpolator of the Didascalia (see the examples in Brightman, "Liturgies", I, xxxiii-xxxiv), and are often very like those of Pseudo-Ignatius also (ib., xxxv). Therubrics are added by the compiler, apparently from his own observations.

The liturgy of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions, then, represents the use of Antioch in the fourth century. Its order is this: First comes the "Mass of the Catechumens". After the readings (of the Law, the Prophets, the Epistles, Acts, and Gospels) thebishop greets the people with2 Corinthians 13:13 (The grace ofOur Lord Jesus Christ and the charity ofGod and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all). They answer: "And with thy spirit"; and he "speaks to the people words of comfort." There then follows alitany for thecatechumens, to each invocation of which the people answer "Kyrie eleison"; thebishop says a collect and thedeacon dismisses thecatechumens. Similarlitanies and collects follow for the Energumens, the Illuminandi (photizómenoi, people about to bebaptized) and the public penitents, and each time they are dismissed after the collect for them. The "Mass of the Faithful" begins with a longerlitany for various causes, for peace, theChurch,bishops (James, Clement,Evodius, and Annianus are named),priests,deacons, servers, readers, singers, virgins,widows,orphans, married people, the newlybaptized,prisoners, enemies,persecutors, etc., and finally "for everyChristiansoul". After thelitany follows its collect, then another greeting from thebishop and thekiss of peace. Before theOffertory thedeacons stand at the men's doors and thesubdeacons at those of thewomen "that no one may go out, nor the door be opened", and thedeacon again warns allcatechumens,infidels, andheretics to retire, the mothers to look after their children, no one to stay inhypocrisy, and all to stand in fear and trembling. Thedeacons bring the offerings to thebishop at the altar. Thepriests stand around, twodeacons wave fans (‘ripídia) over thebread andwine and theAnaphora (canon) begins. Thebishop again greets the people with the words of2 Corinthians 13:13, and they answer as before: "And with thy spirit". He says: "Lift up your mind."R. "We have it to the Lord."V. "Let us thank the Lord."R. "Right and just." He takes up their word: "It is truly right and above all just to sing to Thee, Who art trulyGod, existing before all creatures, from Whom all fatherhood inheaven and on earth is named.…" and so theEucharistic prayer begins. He speaks of the "only begotten Son, the Word and God, Saving Wisdom, first born of all creatures, Angel of thy great counsel", refers at some length to theGarden of Eden, Abel, Henoch, Abraham,Melchisedech, Job, and othersaints of theOld Law. When he has said the words: "the numberless army of Angels … the Cherubim and six-winged Seraphim … together with thousands of thousand Archangels and myriad myriads ofAngels unceasingly and without silence cry out", "all the people together say: 'Holy, holy, holy the Lord of Hosts, theheaven and earth are full of His glory, blessed forever,Amen.'" Thebishop then again takes up the word and continues: "Thou art truly holy and all-holy, highest and most exalted for ever. And thine only-begotten Son, our Lord andGodJesus Christ, is holy …"; and so he comes to the words of Institution: "in the night in which He was betrayed, taking bread in His holy and blameless hands and looking up to Thee, HisGod and Father, and breaking He gave to His disciples saying: This is the Mystery of theNew Testament; take of it, eat. This is My body, broken for many for the remission ofsins. So also having mixed the cup of wine and water, and having blessed it, He gave to them saying: Drink you all of this. This is My blood shed for many for the remission ofsins. Do this in memory of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you announce My death until I come."

Then follow theAnamimnesis ("Remembering therefore His suffering and death andresurrection andreturn to heaven and His future second coming …"), theEpiklesis or invocation ("sending Thy Holy Spirit, the witness of the sufferings of theLord Jesus to this sacrifice, that He may change this bread to the body of thy Christ and this cup to the blood of thy Christ …"), and a sort oflitany (the great Intercession) for theChurch,clergy, the Emperor, and for all sorts and conditions of men, which ends with adoxology, "and all the people say:Amen." In thislitany is a curious petition (after that for the Emperor and the army) which joins thesaints to living people for whom thebishopprays: "We also offer to thee for (‘upér) all thy holy andeternally well-pleasingpatriarchs,prophets, just apostles,martyrs, confessors,bishops,priests,deacons,subdeacons, readers, singers, virgins,widows,laymen, and all those whose names thou knowest." After theKiss of Peace (The peace ofGod be with you all) thedeacon calls upon the people topray for various causes which are nearly the same as those of thebishop'slitany and thebishop gathers up theirprayers in a collect. He then shows them theHoly Eucharist, saying: "Holy things for the holy" and they answer: "One is holy, one is Lord,Jesus Christ in the glory ofGod the Father, etc." Thebishop gives the peopleHoly Communion in the form of bread, saying to each: "The body of Christ", and the communicant "answersAmen". Thedeacon follows with thechalice, saying: "The blood ofChrist,chalice of life."R. "Amen." While they receive, the xxxiii Psalm (I willbless the Lord at all times) is said. After Communion thedeacons take what is left of theBlessed Sacrament to the tabernacles (pastophória). There follows a short thanksgiving, thebishop dismisses the people and thedeacon ends by saying: "Go in peace."

Throughout this liturgy the compiler supposes that it was drawn up by theApostles and he inserts sentences telling us which Apostle composed each separate part, for instance: "And I, James, brother of John the son of Zebedee, say that thedeacon shall say at once: 'No one of thecatechumens,'" etc. The second book of the Apostolic Constitutions contains the outline of a liturgy (hardly more than therubrics) which practically coincides with this one. All theliturgies of the Antiochene class follow the same general arrangement as that of the Apostolic Constitutions. Gradually the preparation of the oblation (Prothesis, the word also used for the credence table), before the actual liturgy begins, develops into an elaborate service. The preparation for the lessons (the little Entrance) and the carrying of the oblation from theProthesis to the altar (the great Entrance) become solemn processions, but the outline of the liturgy: the Mass of the Catechumens and their dismissal; thelitany; theAnaphora beginning with the words "Right and just" and interrupted by the Sanctus; the words of Institution; Anamimnesis,Epiklesis and Supplication for all kinds of people at that place; theElevation with the words "Holy things to the holy"; the Communion distributed by thebishop anddeacon (thedeacon having thechalice); and then the finalprayer and dismissal—this order is characteristic of all the Syrian and Palestinian uses, and is followed in the derived Byzantineliturgies. Two points in that of the Apostolic Constitutions should be noticed. Nosaints are mentioned by name and there is no Our Father. The mention ofsaints' names, especially of the"All-holy Mother of God", spread considerably amongCatholics after the Council of Ephesus (431), andprayers invoking her under that title were then added to all theCatholicliturgies. The Apostolic Constitutions have preserved an older form unchanged by the development that modifies forms in actual use. The omission of theLord's Prayer is curious and unique. It has at any rate nothing to do with relative antiquity. In the "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (VIII, ii, 3) people are told topray three times a day "as the Lord commanded in his Gospel:Our Father", etc.

The Greek Liturgy of St. James

Of the Antiocheneliturgies drawn up for actual use, the oldest one and the original from which the others have been derived is the Greek Liturgy of St. James. The earliest reference to it is Canon xxxii of theQuinisextum Council (II Trullan 692), which quotes it as being really composed by St. James, thebrother of Our Lord. The Council appeals to this liturgy in defending the mixedchalice against theArmenians.St. Jerome (died 420) seems to have known it. At any rate at Bethlehem he quotes as aliturgical form the words "who alone is sinless", which occur in this Liturgy (Adv. Pel., II, xxiii). The fact that theJacobites use the same liturgy in Syriac shows that it existed and was well established before theMonophysiteschism. The oldestmanuscript is one of the tenth century formerly belonging to the Greekmonastery atMessina and now kept in the Universitylibrary of that city. The Greek Liturgy of St. James follows in all its essential parts that of the Apostolic Constitutions. It has preparatoryprayers to be said by thepriest anddeacon and a blessing of theincense. Then begins the Mass of the Catechumens with the little Entrance. Thedeacon says alitany (’ekténeia), to each clause of which the people answer "Kyrie eleison". Meanwhile thepriest is saying aprayer to himself, of which only the last words are said aloud, after thelitany is finished. The singers say the Trisagion, "HolyGod, holy Strong One, holy Immortal One, have mercy on us." The practice of thepriest saying oneprayer silently while the people are occupied with something different is a later development. The Lessons follow, still in the older form, that is, long portions of both Testaments, then theprayers for thecatechumens and their dismissal. Among theprayers for thecatechumens occurs a reference to the cross (lift up the horn of theChristians by the power of the venerable and life-giving cross) which must have been written afterSt. Helen found it (c. 326) and which is one of the many reasons for connecting this liturgy withJerusalem. When thecatechumens are dismissed thedeacon tells thefaithful to "know each other", that is to observe whether any stranger is still present. The great Entrance which begins the Mass of the Faithful is already an imposingceremony. Theincense is blessed, the oblation is brought from theProthesis to the altar while the people sing the Cherubikon, ending with threeAlleluias. (The text is different from the Byzantine Cherubikon.) Meanwhile thepriest says anotherprayer silently. The creed is then said; apparently at first it was a shorter form like theApostles' Creed. TheOffertoryprayers and thelitany are much longer than those in the Apostolic Constitutions. There is as yet no reference to anIconostasis (screen dividing the choir or place of theclergy). The beginning of the "Anaphora" (Preface) is shorter. The words of Institution and Anamimnesis are followed immediately by theEpiklesis; then comes the Supplication for various people. Thedeacon reads the "Diptychs" of the names of the people for whom theypray; then follows a list of Saints beginning with "our all-holy, immaculate and highly praisedLady Mary, Mother ofGod and ever-virgin." Here are inserted twohymns toOur Lady obviously directed against theNestorianheresy. TheLord's Prayer follows with an introduction andEmbolismos. The Host is shown to the people with the same words as in the Apostolic Constitutions, and then broken, and part of it is put into thechalice while thepriest says: "The mixing of the all-holy Body and the precious Blood of Our Lord andGod and SaviourJesus Christ." Before Communion Psalm xxxiii is said. Thepriest says aprayer before his Communion. Thedeacon communicates the people. There is no such form as: "The Body of Christ"; he says only: "Approach in the fear of the Lord", and they answer "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." What is left of theBlessed Sacrament is taken by thedeacon to the Prothesis; theprayers of thanksgiving are longer than those of the Apostolic Constitutions. The Liturgy of St. James as it now exists is a more developed form of the same use as that of the Apostolic Constitutions. Theprayers are longer, the ceremonies have become more elaborate,incense is used continually, and the preparation is already on the way to become the complicated service of the Byzantine Prothesis. There are continual invocations ofsaints; but the essential outline of the Rite is the same. Besides the references to the Holy Cross, one allusion makes it clear that it was originally drawn up for theChurch ofJerusalem. The first supplication after theEpiklesis is: "We offer to thee, O Lord, for Thy holy places which Thou hast glorified by the divine appearance of Thy Christ and by the coming of Thy holy Spirit, especially for the holy and illustrious Sion, mother of all churches and for ThyholyCatholic and apostolic Church throughout the world." This liturgy was used throughoutSyria and Palestine, that is throughout the Antiochene Patriarchate (Jerusalem was not made a patriarchal see till the Council of Ephesus, 431) before theNestorian andMonophysiteschisms. It is possible to reconstruct a great part of the use of the city of Antioch whileSt. John Chrysostom was preaching there (370-397) from the allusions and quotations in hishomilies (Probst, Liturgie des IV. Jahrh., II, i, v, 156, 198). It is then seen to be practically that of St. James: indeed whole passages are quoted word for word as they stand in St. James or in the Apostolic Constitutions.

The Catechisms ofSt. Cyril of Jerusalem were held in 348; the first eighteen are addressed to theCompetentes (photizómenoi) duringLent, the last six to theneophytes inEaster week. In these he explains, besides Baptism and Confirmation, the holy liturgy. The allusions to the liturgy are carefully veiled in the earlier ones because of thedisciplina arcani; they became much plainer when he speaks to people justbaptized, although even then he avoids quoting thebaptism form or the words ofconsecration. From these Catechisms we learn the order of theliturgy at Jerusalem in the middle of the fourth century. Except for one or two unimportant variations, it is that of St. James (Probst, op. cit., II, i, ii, 77-106). This liturgy appears to have been used in either language, Greek atAntioch,Jerusalem, and the chief cities where Greek was commonly spoken, Syriac in the country. The oldest form of it now extant is the Greek version. Is it possible to find a relationship between it and other parent-uses? There are a number of very remarkable parallel passages between theAnaphora of this liturgy and the Canon of the Roman Mass. The order of theprayers is different, but when the Greek or Syriac is translated into Latin there appear a large number of phrases and clauses that are identical with ours. It has been suggested thatRome andSyria originally used the same liturgy and that the much-disputed question of the order of our Canon may be solved by reconstructing it according to the Syrian use (Drews, Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Kanons). Mgr. Duchesne and most authors, on the other hand, are disposed to connect the Gallican Liturgy with that ofSyria and the Roman Mass with the Alexandrine use (Duchesne, Origines du culte chrétien, 54).

The Syriac liturgies

After theMonophysiteschism and theCouncil of Chalcedon (451) bothMelchites andJacobites continued using the same rite. But gradually the two languages became characteristic of the two sides. TheJacobites used only Syriac (their whole movement being a national revolt against the Emperor), and theMelchites, who were nearly all Greeks in the chief towns, generally used Greek. The Syriac Liturgy of St. James now extant is not the original one used before theschism, but a modified form derived from it by theJacobites for their own use. The preparation of the oblation has become a still more elaborate rite. Thekiss of peace comes at the beginning of theAnaphora and after it this Syriac liturgy follows the Greek one almost word for word, including the reference toSion, the mother of all churches. But the list ofsaints is modified; thedeacon commemorates thesaints "who have kept undefiled thefaith of Nicæa, Constantinople and Ephesus"; he names"James the brother of Our Lord" alone of the Apostles and "most chieflyCyril who was a tower of thetruth, who expounded the incarnation of theWord of God, and Mar James and Mar Ephraim, eloquent mouths and pillars of our holyChurch." Mar James is Baradaï, through whom they have their orders, and from whom their name (543). Is Ephraim thePatriarch ofAntioch who reigned there from 539-545, but who was certainly not aMonophysite? The list ofsaints, however, varies considerably; sometimes they introduce a long list of their patrons (Renaudot, Lit. Orient. Col., II, 101-103). This liturgy still contains a famous clause. Just before the lessons the Trisagion is sung. That of theGreek rite is: "HolyGod, holy Strong one, holy Immortal one, have mercy on us." The Syriac rite adds after "holy Immortal one" the words: "who wast crucified for us." This is the addition made by Peter the Dyer (gnapheús, fullos)MonophysitePatriarch ofAntioch (458-471), which seemed to the Orthodox to concealMonophysiteheresy and which was adopted by theJacobites as a kind of proclamation of theirfaith. In the Syriac use a number of Greek words have remained. Thedeacon saysstômen kalôs in Greek and the people continually cry out "Kurillison", just as they say "Amen" and "Alleluia" in Hebrew. Shortliturgical forms constantly become fossilized in one language and count almost as inarticulate exclamations. The Greek ones in the Syriac liturgy show that the Greek language is the original. Besides the Syriac Liturgy of St. James, theJacobites have a large number of otherAnaphoras, which they join to the common Preparation and Catechumen's Mass. The names of sixtly-four of theseAnaphoras areknown. They are attributed to varioussaints andMonophysitebishops; thus, there are theAnaphoras ofSt. Basil,St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Peter,St. Clement,Dioscurus of Alexandria, John Maro,James of Edessa (died 708), Severus of Antioch (died 518), and so on. There is also a shortenedAnaphora of St. James ofJerusalem.Renaudot prints the texts of forty-two of theseliturgies in a Latin translation. They consist of differentprayers, but the order is practically always that of the Syriac St. James Liturgy, and they are really local modifications of it. A letter written byJames of Edessa (c. 624) to a certainpriest named Timothy describes and explains theMonophysite Liturgy of his time (Assemani, Bibl. Orient., I, 479-486). It is the Syrian St. James. The Liturgy of the Presanctified of St. James (used on the week days ofLent except Saturdays) follows the other one very closely. There is the Mass of the Catechumens with the little Entrance, the Lessons, Mass of the Faithful and great Entrance,litanies, Our Father, breaking of the Host, Communion, thanksgiving, and dismissal. Of course the wholeEucharistic prayer is left out—the oblations are alreadyconsecrated as they lie on the Prothesis before the great Entrance (Brightman, op. cit., 494-501).

The present time

TheJacobites inSyria and Palestine still use the Syriac Liturgy of St. James, as do also the Syrian Uniates. The Orthodox of the two Patriarchates,Antioch andJerusalem, have forsaken their own use for many centuries. Like all theChristians in communion with Constantinople, they have adopted the Byzantine Rite. This is one result of the extreme centralization towards Constantinople that followed theArab conquests ofEgypt, Palestine, andSyria. TheMelchite Patriarchs of those countries, who had already lost nearly all their flocks through theMonophysiteheresy, became the merest shadows and eventually even left their sees to be ornaments of the courts at Constantinople. It was during that time, before the rise of the new national churches, that the Byzantine Patriarch developed into something very like apope over the whole Orthodox world. And he succeeded in foisting the liturgy, calendar, and practices of his ownpatriarchate on the much older and more venerable sees of Alexandria,Antioch, andJerusalem. It is not possible to say exactly when the older uses were forsaken for that of Byzantium.Theodore Balsamon says that by the end of the twelfth century theChurch ofJerusalem followed the Byzantine Rite. By that time Antioch had also doubtless followed suit. There are, however, two small exceptions. In the island of Zakynthos and inJerusalem itself the Greek Liturgy of St. James was used on one day each year, 23 October, the feast of St. James the "brother ofGod". It is still so used at Zakynthos, and in 1886 Dionysios Latas,Metropolitan of Zakynthos, published an edition of it for practical purposes. AtJerusalem even this remnant of the old use had disappeared. But in 1900 Lord Damianos, the Orthodox Patriarch, revived it for one day in the year, not 23 October but 31 December. It was first celebrated again in 1900 (on 30 December as an exception) in the church of the Theological College of the Holy Cross. Lord Epiphanios,Archbishop of theRiver Jordan, celebrated, assisted by a number of concelebratingpriests. The edition of Latas was used, but the Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papadopoulos has been commissioned to prepare another and more correct edition (Echos d'Orient, IV, 247, 248). It should be noted finally that theMaronites use the Syrian St. James with a few very slight modifications, and that theNestorian, Byzantine, andArmenian Liturgies are derived from that of Antioch.

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