Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/305

 CANON

257

CANON

It is very possible that at some unknown period — perhaps in the fifth eentury — the Canon went through a complete alteration in its order and that its com- ponent prayers, without being changed in themselves, were turned round and re-arranged. This theory, as frill be Been, would account for many difficulties.

In the first century, as known, the Church of Rome, like all other Christian Churches, celebrated the Holy Eucharist by obeying Christ's direction and doing as He had done the night before He died. There were the bread and wine brought up at the Offertory and consecrated by the words of Institution and by an invocation of the Holy Ghost; the bread was broken and Communion was given to the faithful. Undoubt- edly, too, before this service lessons were read from the Bible, litanies and prayers were said. It is also known that this Mass was said in Greek. Hellenistic Greek was the common tongue of Christians, at any ■ it side Palestine, and it was spoken by them in Home as well as everywhere else, at the time when it was understood and used as a sort of international language throughout the empire. This is shown by the facts that the inscriptions in the catacombs are in Greek, and that Christian writers at Rome (I Ep. Clem., etc.) use that language (cf. de Rossi, Roma BOfrl 11. 237). Of the liturgical formulas of this first

geriod little is known. The First Epistle of St. lenient contains a prayer that is generally considered liturgical (lix-Lxi), though it contains no reference to the Eucharist, also the statement that "the Lord commanded offerings and holy offices to be made carefully, not rashly nor without order, but at fixed times and hours". It says further: " The high-priest [i. e. bishop] has his duties, a special place is ap- pointed to the priests, and the Levites have their ministry'' (xl). From this it is evident that at Rome 1 1 le lit urgy was celebrated according to fixed rules and a definite order. Chap, xxxiv tells us that the Ro- mans " gat hered toget her in concord, and as it were with one mouth", said the Sanetus from Is., vi, 3, as we do. St. Justin Martyr (died c. 167) spent part of his life at Rome. and died there. It is possible that his "First Apologv" was written in that city (Bardenhewer, Altidrchl. Litt.. I. 206), and that the liturgy he de- scribes in it (lxv-lxvil was that which he frequented at Rome. From this we learn that the Christians first prayed for themselves and for all manner of per- sons. Then follows the kiss of peace, and "he who presides over the brethren" is given bread and a cup of wine and water, having received which he gives thanks to God, celebrates the Eucharist, and all the people answer " Amen." The deacons then give out Holy Communion (loc. cit.). Here is found the out- line of our liturgy: the Preface (giving thanks), to which may be added from I Clem, the Sanetus, a celebration of the Eucharist, not described, but which contains the words of Institution (c. lxvi, "by Hi- prayer"), and which corresponds to our Canon, and the final Amen that still keeps its place at the end of Lcharistic prayer. Perhaps a likeness may be « t ween t he Roman use and those of the Eastern lea in the fact thai when St. Polycarp came to Rome in 155, Pope Anicetus allowed him to celebrate, just like one of his own bishops (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V. xxiv ). The canons of Hippolytus of Rome (in the beginning of the third century, if they are genuine; cf. Bardenhewer, op. cit.. I. 541-3) allude to a l'.u- charistic celebration that follows the order of St. Justin, and they add the universal introduction to the Preface. "Sursum corda", etc.

The first great turning-point in the history of the Roman Canon is the exclusive use of the Latin lan- guage. Latin had been used side by side with Greek, apparently for some time. It occurs first as a Chris- tian language, not in Rome, but in Africa. Pope Victot an African, seems to have been

the first Roman bishop who used it (supposing that III.— 17

the Ps.-Cypri3n, "De Aleatoribus", is by him; Har- nack, "Der Ps.-Cypr. Tractat. de Aleatoribus", Leip- zig, 1888). After this time it soon becomes the only language used by popes; Cornelius (251-53) and Stephen (254-57) write in Latin. Greek seems to have disappeared at Rome as a liturgical language in the second half of the third century (Kattenbusch, Symbolik, II, 331), though parts of the Liturgy were left in Greek. The Creed was sometimes said in Greek down to Byzantine times (Duchesne, Origines, 290). The "Ordo Rom. I" says that certain psalms were still said in Greek (Mabill'on, Mus. Ital., II, 37- 40); and of this liturgical use of Greek there are still remnants in our Kyrie Eleison and the " Agios o Theos.", etc., on Good Friday. Very soon after the acceptance of Latin as the only liturgical language we find allusions to parts of the Eucharistic prayer, that are the same as parts of our present Canon. In the time of Pope Damasus (366-S4) a Roman writer who was guilty of the surprising error of identifying Melchisedech with the Holy Ghost writes. "The Holv Ghost being a bishop is called Priest of the most high God. but not high priest " (Sacerdos appellatus est excelsi Dei, non summus) " as our people presume to sav in the Oblation" ( "Qua-stiones Y et N. Test." in P. L., XXXV, 2329; Duchesne, op. cit., 169). These words evidently allude to the form "thy high priest Melchisedech" (summus sacerdos tuus Mel- cliisedeeh) in the Canon. Pseudo-Ambrose in " De Sacramentis " (probably about 400 or later; cf. Bar- denhewer, " Patrologie", 407) quotes the prayers said by the priest in the Canon : " Fac nos banc oblat ionem adscriptam, ratam, rationabilem, acceptabilem, quod figura est corporis et sanguinis Iesu Christi. Qui pridie quam pateretur, in Sanctis manibus suis accepit panem, respexit in coelum ad te, sancte I'ater omni- potens, ieterne Deus, gratias agens, benedixit, fregit fractumque apostolis suis et discipulis suis tradidit. dicens: Accipite et edite ex hoc omnes: hoc est enim corpus meum quod pro multis confringetur. Simil- iter etiam calicem, postquam coenatum est, pridie quam pateretur accepit, respexit in cceluni ad te, sancte Pater omnipotens, seterne Deus, gratias agens. benedixit, apostolis suis et discipulis suis tradidit dicens: Accipite et bibite ex hoc omnes: hie est enim sanguis meus." "And the priest says", continues the author, "Ergo memores gloriosissinue eius passionis et ab inferis resurrect ionis et in eu'lum adscensionis. offerimus tibi banc immaculatam hostiam, banc pa- nem sanctum et calicem vitae seternse; et petimus et precamur, ut banc oblationem suscipias in sublimi ttltari tuo per manus angelorum tuorum, sicut susci- pere dignatus es munera pueri tui iusti Abel et sacri- liciuin patriarchs nostri Abralue et quod tibi ob- tulil summus sacerdos Melchisedech" (quoted bv Du- chesne, op. cit.. 170; P. 1... XVI, 443). It will be seen that the whole of this prayer, but for a few unim- portant modifications, is that of our Canon. Pope Damasus has been considered one of the chief com- pilers of the Roman Liturgy. Probst thinks that he ordained the changes in the Mass that occur because of the calendar of seasons and feasts, and attributes to him the oldest part of the Leonine Sacramentary (Lit. des IV. Jahrhunderts und dcren Reform, too sqq.). Funk in the "Tiibinger Quartalschtift " (1894, 683) denies this. One liturgical change made by this pope is certain. He introduced the word Alleluia at Rome (Greg. I. Epp. IX, xii. in P L., LXXVEI, 956). Innocent I 1101-17) refers to the Canon as being a matter he ought not to describe — an apparent survival of the idea of the Discipline! - and savs it is ended with the kis- of peace (Ep. ad Decentium in P. L., XX, 553): "After all the things that I may not reveal the Peace is given, by which it is shown that the people have consented to all that was done in the holy mysteries and was celebrated in the church". He also says that at