The Liturgy of the Early Church

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLVIII, Issue 45, 15 November 1923, Page 13

The Liturgy of the Early Church

(By Historicus.)

[The following instructive article was contributed to the Southern Cross on the occasion of the recent ceremonies in connection with St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Adelaide, a report of which appeared in our last issue.] Having undertaken to write this article on the Liturgy in connection with the current Cathedral ceremonies, I have made the interesting discovery that it would be much easier to write a volume on the subject. The word Liturgy leitourgia ) is a Greek compound of two words ( leitos , fra on), and etymologically has two meanings : . ' ' : (a) Civil. , (b) Religious. In its civil sense it denotes a free service rendered publicly to the State. In its religious signification it means the “Ministration of the priest to God This “Ministration of the priest to God” must be understood to be essentially sacrificial. Kai pas men ‘iereus esteke hath’ ‘emeran leitourgon kai tds autds polldhis prospheron thusids dunantai pereilein ( amartias. Heb. x. 11; Luke i. 23; etc. I say essentially , .not exclusively. Because every service officially authorised by the Church can be conyprehended in the word Liturgy. “Officium ecclesiasticum dicitur liturgia quod idem est ac officium publicum. . .” But it is “the Mass that matters,” and so — • “Praecipue Sacrum Missae Sacrificium public© celebratur.” The Mass is the Christian Sacrifice. It is the source and centre of real Christian worship. It is the Liturgy. For its due and worthy celebration the early Christians built basilicas. For the same reason we to-day erect Cathedrals. Should any of my non-Catholic readers doubt this, let him take the testimony of the learned Protestant Grotius: . “I find in all the Liturgies Greek, Latin, Arabic, Syriac, and others— prayers to God that He would consecrate by His Holy Spirit the gifts offered and make them the Body and Blood of His Son. I was right, therefore, in saying that a custom so ancient and universal that it must be onsidered to have come down from primitive times ought not have been: changed.” ■ To “consecrate the gifts offered” and to transubstantiate them into the Body and Blood of the Son of God is to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass. This consecration and transubstantiation this Liturgy — only “comes down” to us from primitive times.” We perform it in strict con-, formity with the command of Christ -when He said; “Do this in commemoration of Me." _ The Mass is, therefore, the essential Christian worship. ■ Hence the sublimity of the ceremonies, the glory of the ritual, and the grandeur of the structures. Hence the music, the incense, the art. Our worship is no whitewashed barn -worship. It is the worship of cathedral and basilica, because our God is the God “the work of whose _Jiands the firmament declares and whose glory the heavens . show forth;” The Mass as a sacrifice is, of course, the direct institution of Jesus Christ. The attending Liturgy was a matter

of, historic developments; But this Liturgy is not billy; ancient It is ApostolicAs .we celebrate it to-day . it.- is - more than substantially the same as celebrated by the martyrs in the Roman catacombs and as celebrated by victor*ions Catholicism after the peace of Constantine. Originally the Mass was preceded by the ’’Nocturns” of the Office, and began with the Kyrie. ‘ The Introit was chanted by the “Schola Cantorum” as the celebrant approached the altar. Even the best, of our modern choirs is but a poor substitute for,these early Christian Chanters; This is very keenly realised by everyone who-has studied the origins of the Liturgy at Rome and elsewhere; But reminiscences of the Sistine, the Lateran, and San Clemente’s loomed largely in the memories of some of us dur* ing Sunday’s ceremonies at the Cathedral. The celebration of the Liturgy as performed during the Pontifical Mass at the Cathedral-on Sunday, and again at Vespers in the evening, was .the same, with a few accidental differences caused by development, as was normal in the Church of the first centuries. During those cen-' turies the Bishop was ordinarily the - celebrant, and was surrounded by the clergy. In this relation those parts of the Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Hayden on Sunday not on the altar, but in the plane of the sanctuary, were particularly noticeable. The rendering by the choir of the (a) Gradual, (b) Offertory, and N (c) Communion, , ■ ' had the closest resemblance possible to the chanting of the ancient “Schola Cantorum,” the most. important difference ■ being that the Cathedral Choir was, as is now customary, differently placed in the edifice. Their singing of the parts of the Liturgy referred to, to the Psalm tones, specially emphasised their approximation to the very earliest Christian chanters. r" - . ’ During the Pontifical Vespers the employment of four chanters to intone in turn the Antiphons and the beginning of each Psalm was in distinct accordance with the most ancient Liturgical arrangements. The continuation of the Psalm by two sets of choirs, one'responding to the other, was of later date, but was strictly and, very beautifully adhered to on Sunday. ’ : ' V It will thus be seen that, the Liturgy of the Church to-day is essentially, substantially, and in structure the same as handed down to us from the earliest ages, and endorsed with the most authoritative of sanctions. Identity of faith and worship requires identity of Ritual. To this identity the Church has always been faithful, because she is the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and, therefore, like Him. “The same yesterday, to-day, and forever.’*