In my past few posts, I have shared what I’ve been learning about the development of the church gathering during the first three centuries. Here we’ll look at how the liturgy developed in the fourth century, when the Church was able to regularly, openly gather in public for the first time. During this period parts of the liturgy crystallized into their final form: for example, the anaphoras of St Basil and St John Chrysostom, which were written in the late 4th century, are still widely used in the Eastern Church. The main texts I will use here are the Apostolic Constitutions 2.57; 8.5-15; the Travels of Egeria; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 22–23; Ambrose of Milan, On the Sacraments 4.5-6.4; Theodore of Mopsuestia, Baptismal Homily 5.
Where?
After Christianity was declared a licit Roman religion in 313, worship moved into more public spaces, especially basilicas, which were used for civic assemblies. [43] These buildings had a large central nave – a large rectangular area often flanked by columns – and a semicircular apse at one end. The altar and the throne from which the bishop preached were usually in the center, although later they moved to the apse. [44] There were mosaics on the walls and ceiling of the basilica, usually depicting narrative scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and the semicircular ceiling of the apse had a mosaic of Christ in the center with various saints surrounding him (see especially Santa Costanza in Rome). [45]
The Apostolic Constitutions, a late 4th-century Syrian church order which expands on the earlier Didascalia, describes how an ideal church building should be laid out:
First let the building be long, turned toward the east, with the vestries on each side at the east end, so it will be like a ship. Let the bishop’s throne be placed in the middle, and let the presbyters sit on each side of him, and let the deacons stand nearby in close-fitting garments, for they are like the mariners and managers of the ship. With regard to these, let the laity sit on the other side, with all quietness and good order... Let the reader stand on some high place in the middle. (2.57)
Like in the third century, church buildings were to be oriented to the East to facilitate standing prayer ad orientem (cf. Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.14; Basil, On the Holy Spirit 27.66). However, we can also see some clear developments. For example, there are vestries (pastophoria), rooms dedicated for the clergy’s vestments. There is also a raised floor for the reader to stand on while reading the Scriptures, which we don’t see in any third-century text. The Church also saw new rituals imported from Roman civic life, such as the use of incense, which is first documented in the late 4th-century travel diary of the pilgrim Egeria (24.10). [46] For that matter, the fourth century is the first time that we see an interest in pilgrimage to holy sites for worship, as exemplified by Egeria herself.
When?
Sunday morning was still the primary time for the eucharistic gathering in the fourth-century Church, along with some Saturdays (e.g., Apostolic Constitutions 2.59; 5.20; 7.23, 30; 8.33). During the fourth century, churches also began having prayer services without the Eucharist in the morning and evening on weekdays. [47] This practice is documented by Eusebius of Caesarea (Comm Ps 64), St Basil (Letter 207.3), and Egeria (Travels 24.1-7; 25.5), among others. The Apostolic Constitutions (8.34-39) outlines what took place at these daily gatherings: the morning or evening psalm was read, then the catechumens and other groups were dismissed, the bishop offered the prayer of thanksgiving, and blessed and dismissed the faithful.
The fourth century also saw the full blossoming of the liturgical calendar. [48] Apostolic Constitutions lists the Nativity (25 Dec), the Epiphany (6 Jan), Lent (fasting Mon-Fri for 40 days), Holy Week (fasting Mon-Sat), Pascha, Thomas Sunday (7 days after Pascha), Ascension (40 days after Pascha), and Pentecost (50 days after Pascha) in its calendar (5.13, 18-20). The debate over the date of Pascha was finally put to rest by the Council of Nicaea in 325, in favor of the Roman practice of celebrating on Sunday. Canon 20 of Nicaea also formalizes the practice of standing, rather than kneeling, for prayer on Sunday and on all the days between Pascha and Pentecost (cf. Basil, On the Holy Spirit 27.66).
Who?
With the peace of the Church, there was a huge influx of converts who were not as knowledgeable about their faith or deeply committed as earlier generations of believers. This led to an increase in the number not only of catechumens, but also penitents – baptized Christians who couldn’t commune at a certain time due to sin – and non-believers who attended church services (“hearers”). Still, only baptized believers could take the Eucharist, and clergy emphasized the need for repentance and salvation for communion to one’s benefit (e.g., John Chrysostom, Hom Eph 3.4). [49] Therefore, an elaborate series of dismissals between the sermon and eucharistic prayers developed in the fourth century (Apostolic Constitutions 8.6-9). These dismissals (missa) may be the reason that the liturgy came to be known as Missa (“Mass”) in the Latin-speaking West. [50]
As the Christian population grew, the former ideal (at least in the East) of one church in each city under one bishop became less possible to sustain. The bishop gradually became the overseer of a diocese with multiple parishes, each with a presbyter who offered the Eucharist under his authority. This began in the third century, as we find an example in St Cyprian (Letter 27) and learn from the Liber Pontificalis that there were 25 parishes in Rome by AD 309. In the fourth century, however, this arrangement increasingly became the norm even in the East.
Early 4th-century councils state or imply that presbyters offer the Eucharist without condemning this practice (e.g., Ancyra 1; Neocaesarea 9, 13; Nicaea 18). The Council of Arles in 314 says that even deacons were performing services, but resolves that this “should happen as little as possible.” The Apostolic Constitutions refers to both the presbyters and the bishop as “priests” (8.1), and in its ordination prayer for a presbyter, “that he may perform the sacred rites” (8.16). At the end of the fourth century, St John Chrysostom (Hom 1 Tim 11) and St Jerome (Letter 146.1), among others, state that the only difference between a bishop and a presbyter is that the former can ordain. [51] Thus, the parish with its presbyter became the foundational ecclesial unit during this period, but only within the diocese under the authority of the bishop.
What?
The rise in converts had two major effects on the events of the eucharistic gathering: (1) the liturgy became in part a catechetical tool, to help instruct new believers in the faith, and (2) many believers began to receive the Eucharist less often, because they were less prepared. [52] St Ambrose of Milan wrote against the practice of communing once per year, which he noted to be widespread in the East, in favor of daily communion (On the Sacraments 6.24-25). St John Chrysostom frequently complains about disorder and irreverent behavior during liturgy in the church at Constantinople (e.g., Hom Matt 19.7-9; 73.3; Hom John 3.1; Hom Acts 24.4). This also led to instructions by the deacons during the liturgy, such as “Let us stand,” “Let us bow down,” etc., as seen for the first time in multiple texts from this period.
The fourth-century church gathering began an opening greeting from the priest and response from the congregation. The readings from Scripture, which varied across time and place, then immediately began. In late 4th-century Syria, there were two readings from the Old Testament, followed by a reading from Acts or Paul’s letters, and a deacon would read from the gospels (Apostolic Constitutions 2.57). These readings were followed by the sermon, and if the bishop and multiple presbyters were present, they might each deliver a sermon (Ibid.; Travels of Egeria 25.1-2, 10; 26; 27.6; 42; 43.2). The deacon then exhorted hearers and unbelievers to leave, and the priest prayed over the catechumens, possessed, and penitents before dismissing them (Apostolic Constitutions 2.57; 8.5-9). Then the deacon offered intercessory prayers for the world, the church, the clergy, all believers, and anyone in need, and the priest prayed over the faithful, followed by the kiss of peace (8.9-11). [53]
Once the catechumens and other non-communicants departed, the deacons brought the bread and cup for the priest to consecrate. During this period, the eucharistic prayers began to crystallize into familiar patterns. In the Antiochene and Byzantine prayers, there was an initial dialogue → preface (giving thanks to God for who he is) → Sanctus hymn (“holy, holy, holy”) → anamnesis (remembering God’s works, concluding with the “words of institution”) → epiclesis (praying the Holy Spirit to descend on the gifts) → intercessions for the living and the dead → doxology. East Syrian and Alexandrian prayers had the same structure, but with the intercessions before the epiclesis and the Sanctus respectively. [54] The Roman prayers lacked the Sanctus unit and had the intercessions before the anamnesis. [55] These are the same structures still used in both the West and the East.
After the eucharistic prayers, the deacon would offer more intercessory prayers (Apostolic Constitutions 8.12-13). The congregation then prayed the Lord’s Prayer (Catechetical Lectures 23.11-18; On the Sacraments 5.18-30), which in the East was followed by the exclamation, “The holy things are for the holy,” with the response, “One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ” (Apostolic Constitutions 8.13; Catechetical Lectures 23.19), or, “One holy Father, one holy Son, one holy Spirit” (Baptismal Homily 5.22-23). The communicants would then come up in order and receive the Eucharist, perhaps while Psalm 33/34 (“Taste and see that the Lord is good”) was chanted (Apostolic Constitutions 8.13; Catechetical Lectures 23.20). The service would end with a prayer of thanksgiving and the dismissal (Apostolic Constitutions 8.14-15; Baptismal Homily 5.29).
Why?
As I noted above, the liturgy during the fourth century took on a catechetical function in addition to its main purpose. We also have a few commentaries on the liturgy from this period that draw out the meaning of the prayers (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 22–23; Ambrose of Milan, On the Sacraments 4–6; Theodore of Mopsuestia, Baptismal Homily 5). In order to understand the “why” of the fourth-century liturgy in detail, it would be best to read these texts. Of course, the main purpose of the liturgy according to these writers is still the Eucharist itself. They offer arguments for the real presence of Christ in the sacrament (Catechetical Lectures 22; On the Sacraments 4.14-28; 6.1-4).
One of the best expositions of the fourth-century view of the Eucharist is St Gregory of Nyssa’s Catechetical Oration 37. Because the human is a composite of soul and body, salvation must involve bodily union with God as well as spiritual (37.1-3). According to physiology, the body comes into union with something by consuming it (37.4-7). For this reason, the Word of God makes bread that we eat into his body, by his word, “This is my body,” and wine that we drink into his blood (37.8-11). Thus, “the God who was made manifest [i.e., Christ]... in order that humanity might be deified by communion with the divinity... mixes with the bodies of the faithful so that, by union with the immortal, man might become a partaker of incorruption” (37.12). If I were to summarize Gregory’s argument somewhat crudely: you are what you eat, and so by his grace, we eat God.
The fourth-century Church Fathers continue to understand the Eucharist as a sacrifice, and even more explicitly as Christ’s own sacrifice: “we offer Christ sacrificed for our sins” (Catechetical Lectures 23.10; cf. Ambrose, Exp Ps xii 38.25; John Chrysostom, Hom Heb 17.3). [56] The eucharistic prayers from this period and afterward all refer to the sacrament as a sacrifice. Going back to the second century, as early as St Ignatius of Antioch, the Eucharist is seen as the means of bodily salvation by which the human is made immortal. With the greater reflection on Christ’s divinity in the fourth century, we see an even stronger emphasis that partaking of the body and blood of Christ is the way that the human being is bodily deified (e.g., Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 22.3; Gregory of Nyssa, Catechetical Oration 37).
Reconstruction
In this last section, I’ll try to reconstruct what a liturgy celebrated in the late fourth-century Antiochene rite might have looked like, since those are our most detailed sources from this period. I suspect this will look very familiar to Christians who use the Byzantine rite today (whether Catholic or Orthodox), but keep in mind that there were also East Syrian and Roman rites during this period, which are also still used today with some modifications in those traditions!
- On a Sunday morning, you enter the basilica in your city with a large crowd – hundreds to thousands of other people. The deacons guide each person to their place, all facing toward the eastern apse.
- The priest enters the church and takes his place in front of the altar. Facing toward the crowd, he greets everyone, “The Lord be with you all,” to which you respond, “And with your spirit.”
- Right after this, the reader stands on a high place in the center of the building and begins to read the day’s excerpts from the Old Testament. He then reads an excerpt from one of Paul’s letters. When the deacon takes the place of the reader, most of you stand reverently as he reads the gospel.
- You sit down again as the priest gives his sermon, explaining the meaning of the Scriptures that were just read, how they fit together, and exhorting everyone to take to heart and live out the words that you have just heard.
- When the sermon is finished, you all stand as the deacon takes his place again, proclaiming, “Let none of the hearers and unbelievers remain.” He exhorts the catechumens to pray and for you all to pray for them, and the priest lays his hands on them and prays for them, then they are dismissed. The same is repeated for the penitents in the crowd.
- After everyone but the faithful have been dismissed, the deacon leads a litany for the peace of the world, for the church and its unity, for the bishops and clergy, for all the faithful, and for everyone in need. With each petition, you pray silently, “Lord have mercy.”
- Once the litany is completed, the priest prays for all the faithful who are present. He says, “Peace be with you all,” and you respond, “And with your spirit,” then give the kiss of peace to the other believers around you.
- The deacons bring the bread and the cup to the altar, along with water for the priest to wash his hands. He makes the sign of the cross on his forehead, saying, “The grace of God, the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” You respond, “And with your spirit.” “Lift up your hearts.” “We lift them up to the Lord.” “Let us give thanks to the Lord.” “It is good and right to do so.”
- The priest begins the eucharistic prayer by giving thanks to God the Father for who he is, for his great goodness, that he made all things by his Son, that he is surrounded by innumerable hosts of angels who sing (and the people sing with them): “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of his glory, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
- The priest recalls in prayer what God has done for us in history, culminating in his Son’s taking flesh and being crucified for us, in the night on which he was betrayed taking bread and saying, “This is my body,” and the mixed cup and saying, “This is my blood.”
- The priest continues, remembering Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming, and offering the bread and cup to God, he asks that God would send the Holy Spirit upon the offering to show them to be the body and blood of Christ. He prays intercession for various groups of people, including all the believers present, and he concludes with a doxology. You respond, “Amen.” “The peace of God be with you all.” “And with your spirit.”
- Having finished the eucharistic prayers, the deacon leads another litany for the offering itself, for the church, the clergy, everyone in authority, and all the faithful.
- After this, the priest prays again for everyone present, and you with the rest of the congregation pray the Lord’s Prayer. The priest proclaims, “The holy things are for the holy,” and you respond, “One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever to the glory of God the Father.”
- Everyone who is partaking comes forward to take the Eucharist as Psalm 33 (“Taste and see that the Lord is good”) is chanted. When your turn comes, you go up to the priest, who says, “The body of Christ,” and you reverently receive the body in your hand, careful not to lose any crumbs, responding, “Amen.”
- You turn to the deacon who holds the cup, who gives you a sip, saying, “The blood of Christ.” You respond, “Amen,” careful not to spill a drop. You press your hand to your still-wet lips and make the sign of the cross on your forehead. You know that this is the medicine of immortality, which unites you bodily to Christ and makes you a member of his own Body.
- Once everyone has partaken, the deacon thanks God for giving us this sacrament, and prays that it would be for salvation rather than condemnation. The priest also offers a prayer of thanksgiving.
- Finally, the deacon proclaims, “Bow down and receive the blessing.” You incline your neck as the priest blesses you all, asking God to protect you in soul and body. The deacon says, “Depart in peace,” and you leave with the rest of the faithful to return home, bringing Christ himself with you bodily out into the world to sanctify it.
Conclusion
If anyone has actually read this far, I hope you enjoyed this series of posts! It was a fun change of pace for me to try to reconstruct what “church” itself looked like during the first few centuries, and I definitely learned a lot in researching this topic. I hope I’ve made it clear that these reconstructions aren’t necessarily accurate – especially in the first two centuries, we only have scattered testimonies about the church gathering, and my reconstruction assumes more uniformity than there likely was. Still, I tried to be careful only to include information that we find in the primary sources from these centuries.
I think it’s important to notice both the familiarity and foreignness of the early church liturgy, especially in the first two centuries. One might be tempted to look only at the similarities with one’s own tradition, but this would be a mistake. For example, as far as I know, the deipnon-symposion structure of the first century church gathering isn’t found in any Christian tradition today!
Even so, by the fourth century, the liturgy had mostly crystallized into the forms still found in various Christian rites. This was one of the things that spurred my own journey from restorationist Protestantism to more liturgical Christianity and ultimately to Eastern Orthodoxy. I believe that the history of the Christian liturgy shows us both that there is a wider range of genuine Christian expression than sometimes recognized, and that liturgy developed for a reason, thus we should be cautious about changing it, or worse, abandoning it entirely.
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[43] Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 73-77; Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 61-62.
[44] Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 76.
[45] Jensen and Ellison, Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art, 86-103.
[46] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 62.
[47] Bradshaw, Origins of Christian Worship, 171-178; Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 89-92.
[48] Bradshaw, Origins of Christian Worship, 182-190; Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 109-111.
[49] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 66.
[50] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 74-75.
[51] John D. Zizioulas, Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries (Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2001), 205-217.
[52] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 62-69.
[53] Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 78-80; Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 72-75.
[54] Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 81-82; Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 75-101, 111-129. For fourth-century examples of the Antiochene structure, see Apostolic Constitutions 8.12, St Cyril of Jerusalem’s Catechetical Lecture 23.4-10, and the anaphoras of St Basil and St John Chrysostom (still in use today). For the East Syrian structure, see the anaphora of Addai and Mari and of St Peter (both also in use today). For the Alexandrian structure, see the Prayers of Sarapion of Thmuis and the Strasbourg Papyrus.
[55] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 101-109. The only fourth-century source for the Roman anaphora, as far as I’m aware, is St Ambrose of Milan’s On the Sacraments 4.21-29.
[56] Bradshaw and Johnson, The Eucharistic Liturgies, 129-132.