Volume 1

A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood.

Date:
[between 1890 and 1899?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1039/1096 (page 1019)
    and Ep. cxlvi. p. 1032, he says that in almost ' all the churches the apostolic benediction (2 Cor. xiii. 13) forms the introduction to the mystical liturgy. The additional mystical of course limits the term Lituryy, and, in fact, we shall Hnd that this benediction stands at the commencement of the anaphora in most of the liturgies that will come under our review. It is not found in that of St. Mark, nor the Coptic St. Basil, nor in the Mozarabic. I may mention also here that it is not found in either the Roman or the Ambrosian or the (iallican Canon. Theodoret therefore refers to the litur- gies of the Oriental churches proper.* (5.) Turning now to the services for the ad- ministi-ation of the Eucharist, which are specifi- cally called Liturgies, we may note in passing that the newly discovered complement to the first letter of Clemens Romanus contains liturgical ])hrases which we find also in the liturgy of the church of Alexandria, of which below. Apart from this, the earliest records of such service are contained in the letter of Pliny to Trajan, and the Apology of Justin Martyr. From the former, we know that the Christians used to meet on a stated day before it was light, and repeat alternately a hymn to Christ as Cod, and bind themselves Sacramento that they would commit no crime; then they separated, and came together again a second time to partake of food, ordinary and innocent. The use of the word sacramentum here certainly seems to point to the reception of the Eucharist, for it is, of course, inconceivable that an oath to this effect should be repeated on every occasion:—it may, however, point to the Baptismal promise. ' But the accounts in Justin Martyr give us more infor- mation. He describes the service as it was performed after the administration of Baptism, and again on an ordinary Sunday. Combining the two accounts together we learn that during the service the records of the apostles or the writings of the prophets were read by a special reader, and, when he had ceased, the President instructed the congregation, urging them to imitate the noble things of which they had heard. United or common prayer was offered for those who were assembled, for those who had been baptized, and for all believers everywhere, that now that they had learned the truth they might by their good works be enabled to keep God’s commandments so that they might attain to eternal salvation. The jirayers were said standing, and apparently by all: and these being concluded they saluted each other with the kiss of peace. Then bread was brought to the president and a cup of wine and water; and now he, alone, with all his energy, sent up his prayers and thanksgivings, and the people as- sented with the word “ Amen,” and the deacons gave to each of those who were present a por- tion of the bread and wine and water over which the thanksgiving had been offered, and portions were also sent by their hands to those who were absent, and, Justin adds, the wealthy and willing give freely, each according as he wishes, and the collection is deposited with the president, and he assists the orphans and widows. » The use of Xeiroopyia as embracing the evening ser- vice continued even to the end of the 6th centuiy (see Eustratius ; Mlgne, 86, p. 2380 b). those who are impoverished by sickness or other cause, those that are in prison, and strangers who may happen to be sojourning amongst them ; and Justin twice announces that this is done on the day called Sunday. In his dialogue with Trypho we have fre^^uent references to the Eucha- rist. From one of them we learn that at the time when the Christians offered their sacrifice to God, mention was made of the sufferings which the Son of God underwent (J)ialogue, § 117)- (6.) A question has arisen whether this ac- count refers to the service in Palestine—for Justin was a native of Samaria—or to the service near Rome, the seat of the emperors to whom his apology was addressed. The question seems to be settled by the following considerations:— The kiss of peace is given in the Roman church in the solemn mass after consecration: here it is before it. Again, it is one of the points which are noted as differencing the Roman from the other missae, that in the Roman order there was generally no lesson from the prophets. Here there was such lesson every Sunday. Thus we have apparently sufficient warrant for the conclusion of Palmer (Origines Liturgicae, vol. i. p. 42) that Justin Martyr’s account is of the liturgy of the patriarchate of Antioch. And it is interesting to note that later narratives agree with his description as far as it goes. All the points he introduces are found in the later liturgy of Jerusalem. (7.) Liturgy of Jerusalem.— Passing over for the time the liturgy contained in the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions, we proceed from Justin Martyr, who must have written about A.D. 150, to the lectures of Cyril, who was bishop of Jerusalem from the year 351 to 386. Cyril has left us seventeen lectures, delivered, apparently about the year 347, to the catechu- mens in the course of Lent, and five to the re- cently baptized, delivered shortly after Easter. In these five he gives descriptions and explana- tions of the sacramental offices, and, in the la'st of all, an account of the Communion Service. His hearers had been present at it, but they had not been taught the meaning of its several parts. (8.) There can be no doubt that every marked feature of the office, as it then existed, is noted here by St. Cyril. He commences, however, after the dismissal of the uninitiated ; at a point (that is) corresponding to the close of the sermon in the account of Justin Martyr. He describes the ablutions, possibly with Lavabo[IL 938], followed by the Kiss of peace, and then proceeds to the Sursum Corda^ Preface, Sanctus, Consecration, Intercession, Lord’s Prayer [Canon, I. 269], Sancta Sanctis, Gustate, and Communion [I. 413]. (9.) It is interesting to compare with this the liturgy of St. James,—the liturgy, that is, of the church of Palestine. We hav^e it in two forms: the one form from two Greek manuscripts (with a fragment of a third), of which the first was written during the 12th century at Antioch; the second MS. appears to have been transcribed at Mount Sinai during the 10th (Palmer, i. 21, 22). The second form, published by Renaudot, vol. ii. p. 29, is found in Syriac, and is still retained amongst the Monophysites or Jacobites in the East (Palmer^