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Rh ANTIOCHENE

572

ANTIOCHENE

apostles, martjTs, confessors, bishops, priests, dea- cons, subdeacons, readers, singers, virgins, widows, laymen, and all those whose names thou knowest." After the Kiss of Peace (The peace of God be with you all) the deacon calls upon the people to pray for various causes which are nearly the same as those of the bishop's litany and the bishop gathers up their prayers in a collect. He then shows them the Holy Eucharist, saying: "Holy things for the holy" and they answer: ""One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ in the glory of God the Father, etc." The bishop gives the people Holy Commimion in the form of bread, saying to each: "The body of Christ", and the communicant " answers Amen". The deacon fol- lows with the chaHce, saying: "The blood of Christ, chalice of life." R. "Amen." While they receive, the x.xxiii Psalm (I will bless the Lord at all times) is said. After Comm\inion the deacons take what is left of the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacles (ira<rTo06^ia). There follows a short thanksgiving, the bishop dismi.sses the people and the deacon ends by saying: "Go in peace."

Throughout this liturgy the compiler supposes that it was drawn up by the Apostles and he inserts sen- tences telling us which Apostle composed each separate part, for instance: "And I, James, brother of John the son of Zebedee, say that the deacon shall say at once: ' No one of the catechumens,' " etc. The second book of the Apostolic Constitutions contains the outline of a liturgy (hardly more than the rubrics) which practically coincides with this one. All the liturgies of the Antiochene class follow the same general arrangement as that of the Apostolic Con- stitutions. Gradually the preparation of the obla- tion (Prothcsis, the word also used for the credence table), before the actual liturgy begins, de\'elops into an elaborate service. The preparation for the lessons (the little Entrance) and the carrying of the oblation from the Prothesis to the altar (the great Entrance) become solemn processions, but the out- line of the liturgy; the Mass of the Catechumens and their dismissal; the litany; the Anaphora 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; the Elevation with the words " Holy things to the holy"; the Communion distributed by the bishop and deacon (the deacon having the chalice); and then the final prayer and dismissal — this order is characteristic of all the Syrian and Palestinian uses, and is followed in the derived Byzantine liturgies. Two points in that of the Apostolic Constitutions should be noticed. No saints are mentioned by name and there is no Our Father. The mention of saints' names, especially of the "All-holy Mother of God", spread considerably among Catholics after the Council of Ephesus (4.31), and prayers invoking her under that title were then added to all the Catholic liturgies. The Apostolic Constitutions have pre- served an older form unchanged by the development that modifies forms in actual use. The omission of the Lord'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 to pray three times a day "as the Lord commanded in his Gospel: Our Father", etc.

II. Tfie Greek Liturgy of St. James.— Oi the Anti- ochene liturgies drawn up for actu.al 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 the Quinisextura Council (II TruUan a. d. G92), which oiiotes it as being really composed by St. James, the brother of Our Lord. The Council appeals to this liturgy in defending the mixed chalice against the Armenians. St. Jerome (died 420) seems to have

knowTi it. At any rate at Bethlehem he quotes as a liturgical form the words " who alone is sinless ' ', which occur in this Liturgy (Adv. Pel., II, x.xiii). The fact that the Jacobites use the same liturgy in Syriac shows that it existed and was well established before the Monophysite schism. The oldest manuscrijjt is one of the tenth century formerly belonging to the Greek monastery at Messina and now kept in the University library of that city. The Greek Liturgy of St. James follows in all its essential parts that of the Apostolic Constitutions. It has preparatory prayers to be said by the priest and deacon and a blessing of the incense. Then begins the Mass of the Catechumens with the little Entrance. The deacon says a litany (^KT^«ia), to each clause of which the people answer " Kyrie eleison". Meanwhile the priest is saying a prayer to himself, of which only the last words are said aloud, after the litany is finished. The singers say the Trisagion, "Holy God, holy Strong One, holy Immortal One, have mercy on us." The practice of the priest saying one prayer silently while the people are occupied with something differ- ent is a later development. The Lessons follow, still in the older form, that is, long portions of botti Testa- ments, then the prayers for the catechumens and their dismissal. Among the prayers for the cate- chumens occurs a reference to the cross (lift up the horn of the Christians by the power of the venerable and life-giving cross) w-hich must have been written after St. Helen found it (c. 326) and which is one of the many reasons for connecting this liturgy with Jerusalem. When the catechumens are dismissed, the deacon tells the faithful 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 imposing ceremony. The in- cense is blessed, the oblation is brought from the Prothesis to the altar while the people sing the Cherubikon, ending with three Alleluias. (The text is different from the Byzantine Cherubikon). Mean- while the priest says another prayer silently. The creed is then said; apparently at first it was a shorter form like the Apostles' Creed. The Offertorj' prayers and the litany are much longer than those in the Apostolic Constitutions. There is as yet no reference to an Iconostasis (screen di\'iding the choir or place of the clergy). The beginning of the "Anaph- ora" (Preface) is shorter. The words of Institution and .4namimnesis are followed immediately by the Epiklesis; then comes the Supplication for various people. The deacon reads the "Diptyclis" of the names of people for whom they pray; then follows a list of Saints beginning with "our all-holy, immacu- late and highly praised Lady Mary, Mother of God and ever-virgin." Here are inserted two hymns to Our Lady obviously directed against the Nestorian heresy. The Lord's Prayer follows with an introduc- tion and Embolismos. 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 the chalice while the priest says: "The mi.xing of the all-holy Body and the precious Blood of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ." Before Communion Psalm xxxiii is said. The priest says a prayer before his Communion. The deacon com- municates 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 the Blessed Sacrament is taken by the deacon to the Prothesis; the prayers 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 Apos- tolic Constitutions. The prayers are longer, the ceremonies have become more elaborate, incense is used continually, and the preparation is already on