Liturgy of Saint James

Last updated

The Liturgy of Saint James is a form of Christian liturgy used by some Eastern Christians of the Byzantine rite and West Syriac Rite. It is developed from an ancient Egyptian form of the Basilean anaphoric family, and is influenced by the traditions of the rite of the Church of Jerusalem, as the Mystagogic Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem imply. It became widespread in Church of Antioch from the fourth or fifth century onwards, replacing the older Basilean Liturgy of Antioch. [1] It is still the principal liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Maronite Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and other churches employing the West Syriac Rite. It is also occasionally used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Melkite Catholic Church. The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church uses a reformed variant of this liturgy, omitting intercession of saints and prayer for the dead.

Contents

Lineages of the West Syriac Rite. West Syriac Rite.svg
Lineages of the West Syriac Rite.

The liturgy is attributed with the name of James the Just and patriarch among the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem.

The historic Antiochene liturgies are divided between Alexandrian and Cappadocian usages. Among these, the Liturgy of Saint James is one of the liturgies that evolved from the Alexandrian usage; others include Coptic Anaphora of Saint Basil, the Byzantine Liturgy of Saint Basil and the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. [2] The liturgies attributed to Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil are the ones most widely used today by all Byzantine Rite Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine Rite Lutherans, and some Eastern Catholic Churches.

Manuscript tradition

Its date of composition is still disputed, but most authorities propose a fourth-century date for the known form, because the anaphora seems to have been developed from an ancient Egyptian form of the Basilean anaphoric family united with the anaphora described in The Catechisms of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. [3] The earliest manuscript is the ninth-century codex, Vaticanus graecus 2282, which had been in liturgical use at Damascus, in the diocese of Antioch. The only critical edition was published by Dom B.-Charles Mercier in the Patrologia Orientalis , vol. 26 (1950).

A West Syriac Rite liturgy of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church holding paterissa (crozier) Holy mass of the Syriac Orthodox Church.jpg
A West Syriac Rite liturgy of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church holding paterissa (crozier)

Order of liturgy

Orthodox bishop Longin (Talypin), holding his paterissa (crozier), presiding over a celebration of the Liturgy of St. James in Dusseldorf, Germany. Liturgy St James 3.jpg
Orthodox bishop Longin (Talypin), holding his paterissa (crozier), presiding over a celebration of the Liturgy of St. James in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The Liturgy of Saint James the Just is the skeleton of the whole Qurbono Qadisho with all the prayers before the anaphora being exactly the same, no matter which anaphora is chosen. The Liturgy of St James the Just comprises:[ citation needed ]

  1. The First Service
    1. Prothesis
  2. The Second Service
    1. Reading from the Holy Books
      1. The Trisagion
      2. Antiphon before the Pauline Epistle (Galatians 1:8–9)
      3. The Epistle of Saint Paul
  3. The Third Service
    1. The Husoyo (Liturgy of Absolution)
      1. The Proemion
      2. The Sedro (Main Prayer)
      3. The Etro (Fragrance/incense prayer)
  4. The Anaphora
    1. The Kiss of peace
    2. Veiling and placing of the hands prayer
    3. The Dialogue
    4. Preface
    5. Sanctus (Qadish)
    6. Words of Institution
    7. Anamnesis
    8. Epiclesis
    9. Petitions
    10. Fracturing
    11. Liturgy of Repentance
      1. Lord's Prayer (Abun dbashmayo)
    12. Invitation to Holy Communion
    13. The Procession of the Holy Mysteries
    14. Prayer of Thanksgiving
    15. The Dismissal of the Faithful

In the books of the Patriarchal Sharfet seminary, this order is clearly strict, with the deacon and congregation prayer being the same no matter which anaphora is used. The only prayer that changes when a different anaphora is used is that of the priest.[ citation needed ]

Rubrics

The bishop elevates the chalice while the deacon fans the Gifts with the ripidion. Liturgy St James 8.jpg
The bishop elevates the chalice while the deacon fans the Gifts with the ripidion.

The Liturgy of St. James is commonly celebrated on the Feast of Saint James (July 25) and the first Sunday after Christmas, and then almost exclusively celebrated on a daily basis in Jerusalem, in the Eastern Orthodox Church.[ citation needed ] The Liturgy of Saint James is long, taking some hours to complete in full. The recitation of the Divine Liturgy is performed according to the worship rubrics of a particular Rite, with specific parts chanted by the presider, the lectors, the choir, and the congregated faithful, at certain times in unison. Like other compositions in the Byzantine tradition, the Divine Liturgy of St. James as celebrated in Greek forms the basis of the English transcription.[ clarification needed ] In its Syriac form, the Liturgy is still used in the Syriac and Indian Churches — Catholic and Orthodox — both in a Syriac translation and in Malayalam and English.

During the Offertory, the partiture[ clarification needed ] calls for a Cherubic Hymn chanted by readers as the priest brings the gifts to be consecrated onto the altar. In the Latin Catholic Church, this composition became popular as a separate hymn of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, known in English as Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence .

Musical annotation

The hymnographers of the early Church composed both the words of the sung prayers and the tones of the musical scale to be sung in a single codex for a particular community. The annotation was recorded in close correspondence to the text (for sample codices, see those [4] collated by the North American Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Anthony in Arizona) with neumes indicating the melodic tones and their duration used before the adoption of the Western system of staff and scales became established in medieval times. In those communities that worship in Syriac the neumes are mirror images of those used by the authocthonous Greek and Slavic Orthodox Churches and written and read right to left in accordance with the Syriac script of the prayer texts.

The English Hymnal features the 1906 Ralph Vaughan Williams arrangement of the English verses of the Cherubic hymn of the Offertory chant (see above) to the melody of the French folk tune Picardy. The hymn known as Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is also popular in the Roman Catholic Latin rite as an alternative to the spoken communion antiphon.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divine Liturgy</span> Rite practiced in Eastern Christian traditions

Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service.

Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". Within Christianity, liturgies descending from the same region, denomination, or culture are described as ritual families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenian Rite</span> Christian liturgical rite

The Armenian Rite is a liturgical rite used by both the Armenian Apostolic and the Armenian Catholic churches. Isaac of Armenia, the Catholicos of All Armenians, initiated a series of reforms with help from Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century that distinguished Armenia from its Greek and Syriac counterparts. These reforms included a retranslation of the Bible and a revised liturgy. During the Crusades and afterwards, missionary activity by the Latin Church influenced liturgical norms and induced some Armenians to join the Catholic Church. The modern Armenian Rite features elements and interpolations from the Byzantine Rite and Latin liturgical rites, with the celebration of the Eucharist emulating the Liturgy of Saint Basil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Qurbana</span> Eucharist in East Syriac Christianity

The Holy Qurbana, refers to the Eucharistic liturgy as celebrated in Syriac Christianity and the liturgical books containing the rubrics for its celebration. Churches that celebrate this liturgy include various descendants of the Church of the East. East Syriac Christianity consists of an Edessan liturgical rite called the East Syriac Rite. The major anaphora of the East Syriac tradition is the Holy Qurbana of Saints Addai and Mari; Addai being a disciple of Thomas the Apostle and Mari being Addai's disciple. These churches are primarily based in the Middle East and India, with diasporic communities settled in the western world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anaphora (liturgy)</span> Part of Eucharistic liturgy

The Anaphora, Eucharistic Prayer, or Great Thanksgiving is a portion of the Christian liturgy of the Eucharist in which, through a prayer of thanksgiving, the elements of bread and wine are consecrated. The prevalent historical Roman Rite form is called the "Canon of the Mass".

The Memorial Acclamation is an acclamation sung or recited by the people after the institution narrative of the Eucharist. They were common in ancient eastern liturgies and have more recently been introduced into Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist liturgies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Syriac Rite</span> Eastern Christian liturgical rite

The West Syriac Rite, also called the Syro-Antiochian Rite and the West Syrian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saint James in the West Syriac dialect. It is practised in the Maronite Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and various Malankara Churches of India. It is one of two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, the other being the East Syriac Rite. It originated in the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. It has more anaphoras than any other rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antiochene Rite</span> Family of liturgies originally used in the Patriarchate of Antioch

The Antiochene or Antiochian Rite refers to the family of liturgies originally used by the patriarch of Antioch. It includes the Liturgy of St James in Greek and Syriac, as well as other West Syriac Anaphoras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Syriac Rite</span> Christian religious rite

The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari and utilizes the East Syriac dialect as its liturgical language. It is one of the two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, along with the West Syriac Rite.

The Secret is a prayer said in a low voice by the priest or bishop during religious services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandrian liturgical rites</span> Liturgical rites used by Coptic and Orthodox Tewahedo Church

The Alexandrian rites are a collection of ritual families and uses of Christian liturgy employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, and by three Eastern Catholic Churches.

The Liturgy of Saint Basil or, more formally, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, is a term for several Eastern Christian celebrations of the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist), or at least several anaphoras, which are named after Basil of Caesarea. Two of these liturgies are in common use today: the one used in the Byzantine Rite ten times a year, and the one ordinarily used by the Coptic Church.

The Anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition, also known as the Anaphora of Hippolytus, is an ancient Christian Anaphora which is found in chapter four of the Apostolic Tradition. It should not be confused with the Syriac Orthodox Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles, which is similar, and may be one of several liturgies derived from this Anaphora, yet is considerably longer and more ornate.

The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is the most celebrated divine liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. It is named after its core part, the anaphora attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in the 5th century.

Only-Begotten Son, sometimes called "Justinian's Hymn", the "Anthem of Orthodoxy" and/or the "Hymn of the Incarnation", is an ancient Christian hymn that was composed prior to the middle of the 6th century. It is chanted at the end of the Second Antiphon during the Divine Liturgies of St John Chrysostom, St Basil the Great and of St Gregory the Illuminator, and at the Little Entrance during the Liturgy of Saint James.

<i>Let all mortal flesh keep silence</i> Greek early Christian hymn text

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, also known as Let all mortal flesh keep silent, is an ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on words from Habakkuk 2:20, "Let all the earth keep silence before him" and Zechariah 2:13, "Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling". The original was composed in Greek as a Cherubic Hymn for the Offertory of the Divine Liturgy of St James; it probably antedates the rest of the liturgy and goes back at least to AD 275, with local churches adopting arrangements in Syriac. In modern times, the Ralph Vaughan Williams arrangement of a translation from the Greek by Gerard Moultrie to the tune of "Picardy", a French medieval folk melody, popularized the hymn among other Christian congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liturgy of Saint Cyril</span>

The Liturgy of Saint Cyril is one of the three Anaphoras used at present by the Coptic Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church and it retains the liturgical peculiarities which have originated in the early Christian Egypt, thus forming the core of the historical Alexandrian Rite. When reference is made to its Greek Byzantine Rite version, this text is usually known as Liturgy of Saint Mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anaphora of Saint Gregory</span> Liturgy of the Coptic Church

The Liturgy of Saint Gregory the Theologian is one of the three Anaphoras retained by the Coptic Church. The text is named after Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the Cappadocian Fathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Qurobo</span> Eucharist in Syro-Antiochene Christianity

The Holy Qurobo or Holy Qurbono refers to the Eucharist as celebrated in Syro-Antiochene Rite and the liturgical books containing rubrics for its celebration. West Syriac Rite includes various descendants of the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. It consists of two distinct liturgical traditions: the Maronite Rite, and the Jacobite Rite. The major Anaphora of both the traditions is the Divine Liturgy of Saint James in Syriac language. The Churches are primarily based in the Middle East, Africa, and India.

The Eastern Catholic Churches of the Catholic Church utilize liturgies originating in Eastern Christianity, distinguishing them from the majority of Catholic liturgies which are celebrated according to the Latin liturgical rites of the Latin Church. While some of these sui iuris churches use the same liturgical ritual families as other Eastern Catholic churches and Eastern churches not in full communion with Rome, each church retains the right to institute its own canonical norms, liturgical books, and practices for the ritual celebration of the Eucharist, other sacraments, and canonical hours.

References

  1. John Witvliet The Anaphora of St. James in ed. F. Bradshaw Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers, 1997
  2. John Witvliet The Anaphora of St. James in ed. F. Bradshaw Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers, 1997
  3. John Witvliet The Anaphora of St. James in ed. F. Bradshaw Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers, 1997
  4. "Writing Byzantine Music".

Further reading