Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/231

AFRICAN for the needs of the Church, the necessities of the brethren were considered and provided for, and various business pertaining to the Christian community was transacted; and finally, the agape was celebrated as a fitting conclusion to a reunion of the disciples of Christ. The agape seems to have been celebrated in Africa in the same manner as in other countries, and to have degenerated into an abuse to be suppressed here, as well as elsewhere.

These liturgical meetings generally took place at night, or just before dawn, and hence Tertullian speaks of such an assembly as a cœtus antelucanus, a "meeting before the dawn" (Apol., ii), while others speak of it as a vigil. Possibly the hour was chosen to commemorate the time of the Resurrection of the Lord, or perhaps it was selected to enable the Christians in times of persecution to evade their persecutors. The true Christian liturgy, in a strict sense of the word, is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the sacrifice of the New Law. This generally followed the long prayers of a vigil, and even to-day some traces of the vigil survive, since a similarity may easily be noticed between the prayers for the ancient vigils, and the first, or preparatory part of the Mass; or perhaps even more clearly in the first part of the Masses for the Ember days, or the Mass of the Pre-sanctified on Good Friday. Thus the Holy Eucharist was celebrated very early in the morning ordinarily, and the regular day chosen for assisting at the sacrifice and partaking of Holy Communion was the Sunday, in commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ. The Sabbath was not observed by the Christians in the Jewish sense, and the Jewish festivals were also abandoned, as is evident from the words of Tertullian (De idolatria, xiv), speaking of the observance of festivals by Christians, "to whom Sabbaths are strange, and the new-moons and festivals formerly beloved by God". The Sunday was now the Lord's day, a day of rejoicing, on which it was forbidden to fast and to pray in a kneeling posture. "We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful". (Tert., De corona, iii.)

When Sunday was thus kept in honour of the Resurrection it was only natural that Friday should be considered the appropriate day for commemorating the passion and death of Christ and hence the early Christians met for prayer on Friday. There was also a reunion on Wednesdays, whose origin cannot be satisfactorily accounted for. The Wednesday and Friday meetings were known to Tertullian by the name of stations (stationes). In Africa it appears to have been the custom to celebrate the Holy Eucharist on station days, although it does not seem to have been the practice in other churches. Everywhere these were days of fasting, but as the fast lasted only until the ninth hour, the liturgy would be celebrated and communion distributed about that time in the afternoon. Of all the Sundays, the feast of Easter was the greatest, and was celebrated with special solemnity. Good Friday, called by Tertullian "Pascha", was a day of strict fast, which was prolonged through Holy Saturday. This latter day was only a day for the preparation for the feast of Easter; but still it was the most solemn vigil during the year, and the one on which all the vigils were modelled. Holy Saturday does not seem to have had any special liturgical service assigned, the present service being the ancient Easter vigil anticipated. Possibly the vigil of Easter was observed so solemnly on account of the tradition that the Lord would return to judge the world on the feast of Easter, and the early Christians hoped He would find them watching. Easter in Tertullian's time was followed by a period of fifty days' rejoicing until Pentecost, which was considered as the close of the Easter season rather than as a solemn feast with a special significance. In the third century Lent, as a period of forty days' fasting, was unknown in Africa. Of the greater immovable feasts the earlier writers appear to know nothing; hence Christmas, the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the festivals of the Blessed Virgin and the feasts of the Apostles do not seem to have been celebrated. The festivals of local martyrs seem to have taken precedence over what are now regarded as the greatest feasts of the Church, and their anniversaries were celebrated long before the great immovable feasts were introduced. Such celebrations were purely local, and it was only at a much later date that commemorations of foreign saints were made. The early Christians had a great devotion towards the martyrs and confessors of the faith, carefully preserved and venerated their relics, made pilgrimages to their tombs, and sought to be buried as near as possible to the relics of the martyrs, and hence the anniversaries of the local saints were celebrated with great solemnity. Thus the calendar of the African Church in the ante-Nicene period was rather restricted, and contained but a comparatively small number of feast days.

Among the liturgical functions, the celebration of Mass, or of the Holy Eucharist, occupies the most important place. Although the early writers speak in a guarded manner concerning these sacred mysteries, still they give much precious information on the liturgy of their age. The Mass seems to have been divided into the Mass of the catechumens, and the Mass of the faithful, and among the orthodox Christians the catechumens were rigidly excluded from assisting at the sacrifice proper. Bread and wine are used as the matter of the sacrament, but a little water is added to the wine to signify the union of the people with Christ. St. Cyprian severely condemns certain bishops who used only water in the chalice, declaring that water is not the essential matter of the sacrifice, and its exclusive use renders the sacrament invalid. Both Tertullian and St. Cyprian have passages which seem to give the form of the Eucharist in the very words of Christ as quoted in the Holy Scripture. Sometimes there is great similarity between their words and the phraseology of the Roman canon. There are allusions to the Preface, the Sanctus, the commemoration of Christ, the Pater noster, and to different acclamations. Tertullian speaks often of the kiss of peace, and considers the ceremony very important. References are also made to a litany which was recited during the Mass, but no precise information is given concerning its place in the liturgy. At Mass the faithful received communion under both species, under the species of bread from the bishop or priest, and under the species of wine from the deacon, and each one, after receiving communion, answered "Amen" to profess his faith in the sacrament. Sometimes the faithful carried the Host home, and there communicated themselves, especially in times of persecution. Communion seems to have been received fasting, as Tertullian implies when he inquires what a pagan husband will think of the food of which his Christian wife partakes before any other food. The early Christians appear to have communicated frequently, even every day, especially during a period of persecution. The greatest reverence was shown to the Sacred Species, so the faithful strove to be free from all stain of grievous sin, and deemed it a serious fault to allow any of the consecrated elements to fall to the ground.

Baptism, as the initiatory rite of Christianity, is mentioned frequently by the early writers; Tertullian wrote a special treatise on this sacrament, describing the preparation required for it, and the ceremonies accompanying it. The catechumens should prepare for the reception of baptism by frequent prayers, by fasts, and vigils. Although he usually speaks of the baptism of adults, still he admits the baptism of