Lecture 11: Early Liturgies Dr. Ann T. Orlando 10 October 2017 Early Liturgies

Introduction First a word of caution Early Sources Liturgical Calendar Roman Liturgical Developments Assignment Early Liturgies

Caution There may be no early Christian research that is more uncertain and contested than liturgical studies Limited sources Geographical variations Variations among bishops in same/nearby location Some secrecy by Christians concerning the liturgy Calendar issues also complicated by Lunar vs. solar calendar year basis (Jewish calendar is lunar, not solar) A solar year is slightly longer than 365 days Years usually measured by years during a ruler’s reign (eponymous) Calendar adjustments between Julian and Gregorian calendars Julian calendar based on developments by Julius Caesar, c 44 BC, introduced leap years Gregorian calendar developed for Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 Early Liturgies

Liturgical Sources Pliny’s Letter to Trajan (c. 112) Justin Martyr, First Apology (c. 160) Church Orders Didache (Syria, late 1st or early 2nd C) Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition (c. 215) Apostolic Constitutions (c. 310, may depend on both Didache and Apostolic Tradition) Tertullian, On Baptism (c. 200) Episcopal letters and homilies from 2nd – 4th C (especially for liturgical calendar) Early Liturgies

Weekly Celebrations Weekly gathering in Pliny Eucharist celebrated weekly on a Sunday (see First Apology) Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays (Didache, Tertullian) Station Days Local celebrations in memory of the ‘birthday’ of the martyrs Early Liturgies

Easter Controversy Key for early Church was what day of week and when to celebrate Easter Key for Easter was Good Friday Some wanted to follow Jewish calendar for Passover, 14 of Jewish month of Nisan; known as Quartrodecians Based on Julian calendar this could be 25 March or 6 April Especially prominent in Asia Minor in 2nd C; Irenaeus said Polycarp followed this practice By end of century, Pope Victor condemns the practice Eventually, at Council of Nicaea (325) all agree Easter to be celebrated on Sunday Sunday following the 14th day of the paschal moon Paschal moon after spring equinox Equinox determined by the Church in Alexandria In the West, beginning of Lent at 40 days before Good Friday (but not clear if for all or only catechumens) Lent officially said to begin on Ash Wednesday by Pope St. Gregory Great (d. 604) Early Liturgies

Ester Controversy (cont.) Due to variations in calculating spring equinox and phases of moon, Easter calendars start to vary by location in 6th C By 16th C problem with Julian calendar leads to calendar reform and new calculation for specifying Easter by Pope Gregory XII (1578) Leap years every 4 years unless century is divisible by 4 Easter is first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the spring equinox New martyrology Early Liturgies

Liturgical Calendar: Christmas Popular ‘history of religion’ theory from 19th C was that Christmas was a Christian replacement for Roman winter solstice Sol Invictus celebration But Christmas celebrated (2nd C) before Sol Invictus celebrated by Romans (3rd C) Christmas celebrated on Dec 25, not Dec 22 Far more likely that for early Christian celebration of Nativity based on Good Friday A traditional date for Good Friday was taken as 25 March Early Christians seem to have honored this also as the date for Incarnation; thus Jesus birth is nine months later, Dec. 25 Some Christians used the other popular date for Good Friday, April 6, and follow the same reasoning to recognize Jan 6 as Christmas; still the case for a few Eastern Christians Early Liturgies

Other Important Early Feast Days Epiphany From Greek for manifestation In early centuries Jan 6 variously celebrated as Birth, Visit of Magi, or Baptism of Jesus Traditional day for bishop to proclaim when diocese would celebrate movable feasts (i.e., Easter) Ascension and Pentecost Celebrated continually since apostolic times (Acts of Apostles) Assumption (Dormition) of Mary Church in Ephesus then elsewhere celebrated the assumption of Mary on/about August 15 Became common feast day in Church in 5th C Early Liturgies

Anno Domini Before the 6th C, some Christians numbered years as years since the Passion In 525 Dionysius Exiguus, a monk in Rome, developed a set of Easter tables to predict for the next 95 years when Easter would occur. He also included a method for computing Easter beyond this period Dionysius replaced the older yearly numbering system based on tax cycles and years since Diocletian’s reign with years since the Incarnation (25 March), that is anno Domini But we did not want to perpetuate the memory of that impious persecutor in our cycles, so we have chosen rather to number the years from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the beginning of our hope might stand out more clearly for us, and so the cause of human salvation—that is, the Passion of our redeemer—might shine more conspicuously. In 6th C rabbis developed a yearly numbering system based on the years since creation or anno mundi, AM Early Liturgies

St. Hippolytus (170 – 240) Roman presbyter and teacher; opposed Pope Calixtus election as Bishop of Rome Calixtus was an uneducated deacon (note: Calixtus had been sent to the mines and ransomed out) Too lenient Eventually, Hippolytus reconciles with Calixtus Like Irenaeus and Tertullian, wrote Refutation of All Heresies Wrote Apostolic Tradition Among earliest complete liturgies Greek, but no Greek versions survived (portions in Latin, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac, Arabic) Early Liturgies

Back to a word of caution… Or perhaps nothing on the previous slide is true…or maybe only some of it is true (but what) Almost everyone accepts the Hippolytus wrote Refutation of All Heresies This has been hotly contested over the last 20 years, without resolution to today See John Baldovin, “Hippolytus and The Apostolic Tradition,” Theological Studies 64 (2003), 520-543 for summary of current research and arguments against the ‘traditional’ view Available at http://www.ts.mu.edu/readers/content/pdf/64/64.3/64.3.3.pdf I accept the traditional view (more or less) Early Liturgies

Apostolic Tradition Usually considered in 3 parts I. Of Clergy II. Of Laity III. Of Prayers and Fasting Note ordained (laying of hands) and non-ordained ministries Note similarities to our Mass today Basis of Eucharistic Prayer II Early Liturgies

Elements of Anaphora (Ancient and Modern) Anaphora, Greek, Lifting Up Sursum Corda, Latin, Let us lift up our hearts Anamnesis, Greek, Remembrance Epiclesis, Greek, Invocation of Holy Spirit Doxology, Greek, Giving glory to the Trinity Early Liturgies

Latin Mass Sometime in late 3rd, early 4th C some Christians in Western Roman Empire celebrate liturgy in Latin. Pope Damasus (late 4th C) encouraged Latin usage in the West Word ‘Mass’ (Missa) Used in 3rd C as dismissal, first of catechumens, then of faithful Used by Sts. Ambrose and Augustine in this context, specifically for dismissal at end of liturgy Eventually (6th C??) becomes Latin for entire Eucharistic celebration Early Liturgies

Early Lines of Latin Liturgy Two main forms in West in 2nd – 5th C Roman Liturgy Seems to have been a translation of what is available from Apostolic Tradition Gallican Liturgy Seems to have been a translation of liturgy from Antioch (Irenaeus??) Some standardization by Pope St. Leo I and Pope St. Gelasius (Leonine and Gelasian Sacramentary, mid and late 5th C, respectively) Sacramentary of Pope St. Gregory I Accepted as standardized basis for liturgy in West Early Liturgies

Kyrie Eleison, Another Uncertain Example Greek for “Lord Have Mercy” First mentioned in Apostolic Constitutions (early 4th C) Deacons intone and faithful respond Does not seem to have been part of earlier Greek liturgies (at least not mentioned) Does not seem to have been part of Gallican or early Roman liturgy Pope St. Gregory the Great mentions it, may have introduced it into into Latin liturgy to maintain some reference to earlier Greek liturgies Early Liturgies

Assignment Read Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, selections, handout Prepare for discussion on Thursday; NO PAPER Early Liturgies