A Brief
History of Christian Liturgy
by David
Greatrix
In the current era of Liturgical reform and
"modernization", the use of the historic liturgy of the
Christian Church has become synonymous with conservatism. This is due,
in large measure, to the fact that the current form of the liturgy, with
a few minor changes, has been in use since the sixth century. Therefore,
advocates of radical reform often make appeals to worship in a
"new" and "fresh" manner. However, liturgy and
worship are not interchangeable ideas. Corporate worship is the activity
that includes repentance to the Triune God, His forgiveness of our sins
through confession and absolution, the Gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s
Supper and our response of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Liturgy is
the form which that group follows when they are worshipping. Not
everyone who participates in the liturgy is worshipping, as worship also
incorporates a faith response on the part of the worshiper. One can
almost be certain that Cain and Abel used the same form, or liturgy,
when offering up their sacrifices in Genesis 4. However, Abel’s
sacrifice was accepted by God while Cain’s was refused because of the
difference in their motivations and attitudes. The historic liturgy,
which has been used by the Church for almost 1400 years, is the form for
worship that is most appropriate for engendering the correct attitude in
the worshiper.
Origins
The word "liturgy" itself is taken from the Greek word
leitourgia, which can best be translated as "public work at
private expense". In Ancient Greece, the taxation system did not
work as well as the government had hoped, and public projects were often
under-funded. In order to ensure the completion of a specific project, a
wealthy private citizen would endow the government with enough funds in
exchange for public recognition of his donation, a practice that still
survives today. The word leitourgia became associated with
worship practices when the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into
Greek, in a translation called the Septuagint. The only Greek
word that the translators could use to refer to worship practices in the
temple was orgia, which was a reference to the practices at pagan
temples, and has the same connotations in Greek that it has today in
English. The word leitourgia was substituted because corporate
worship is a public activity that we all participate in individually.
The full Christian Liturgy, as we have it today, is one service that
can be divided into two sections, the service of the Word, and the
service of the Lord’s Supper. The two liturgies in The Lutheran
Hymnal are in reality the same service. However, the first service,
"page 5", is only the service of the Word and is an
abbreviation of the second, "page 15", which is both sections.
The service of the Word ultimately has its roots in the practices of
Jewish Synagogue worship. The heart of Synagogue worship is readings
taken from Scripture, one from the Law and one from the Prophets,
followed by commentary on them by one of the rabbis (teachers).
This practice can be found in Luke 4:16, when Jesus reads from the
Prophets, and then comments on it, saying that the prophecy has been
fulfilled in front of the congregation. This practice is also very
similar to the current liturgy, in which the service of the Word centers
around Scripture readings, one each from the Old Testament, the
Epistles, and the Gospels, and the commentary on them applying law and
Gospel in the sermon.
Ordinary and Propers
The Liturgy can further be divided into the parts that are the same
every week, called "the ordinary", and the parts that change
weekly, called "the propers" because they are proper to that
Sunday. The ordinary includes the Kyrie, the Gloria in
Excelsis, the Creed, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei, and,
in the Lutheran Rite, the Offertory and Nunc Dimittis. The
propers include the introit, the collect, the gradual, the
Scripture lessons, the prayers, and the preface to the Sanctus.
Many of these names are in different languages, and will be explained
below in the order in which they occur in the service.
Invocation
The Lutheran service begins with an Invocation of the Triune God, In
The Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, which is
followed by an Amen, Latin for "so be it", by the
congregation. This is done because of Jesus’ statement in Matt. 18:20,
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the
midst of them. This is followed by the general Confession and
Absolution of Sins, sometimes labeled as confiteor (Latin for I
confess) a uniquely Lutheran part of the service. This begins with a
series of sentences and responses between the pastor and the
congregation which are reminders that God alone is the source of
forgiveness, rather than we ourselves. The Confession and Absolution
which follows are taken from the prayers of Catholic Priests used in the
Middle Ages during their personal preparations prior to the service of
the Eucharist. Luther incorporated these into the public service after
the reformation.
Introit
The Introit, which is Latin for "entrance" or
"beginning", is the point at which the traditional Roman
service began. Prior to the fifth century, the service began with the
priests filing into the church in silence. Pope Celestine I decreed that
a psalm, which he called the introit, should be sung by the choir at
this point. Pope Gregory the Great, who held that office from 590-604,
was in large measure responsible not only for the standardization of the
liturgy, but also for the standardization and codification of Roman
Chant, which has been called Gregorian Chant, in his honor, ever since.
Pope Gregory altered the form of the introit into the form that is still
in use today. The introit begins with an antiphon, which is
usually one verse of a psalm that summarizes or sets the theme of what
follows. This is followed by part or all of a psalm, usually different
than the one from which the antiphon is taken. Following that is the Gloria
Patri, which is Latin for the first two words of Glory be to the
Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. The introit concludes
a repetition of the antiphon.
Kyrie
The next portion of the liturgy is the first part of the ordinary of
the service, the Kyrie, an abbreviation of the Greek phrase, Kyrie
eleison, which can be translated as "Lord, have mercy."
For the first three centuries of the Christian Church, the official
language of the Church was Greek, rather than Latin, as Greek was the
language in which the New Testament was written. This phrase, Lord have
mercy, was originally a response of the congregation to a petition
offered up by the priest. As time passed, it was combined with the
phrase Christe eleison (Christ have mercy), and it became a
separate part of the service. Pope Gregory the Great, in order to call
attention to the doctrine of the Trinity, altered the form so that it
was a threefold combination of three phrases: three Kyrie Eleisons,
three Christe Eleisons, and three Kyrie Eleisons. The present form in
the Lutheran service is one of each phrase with the words "upon
us" following, which were added by Bishop Kramner, an Anglican
bishop who was responsible for many other reforms within the Anglican
Church.
Gloria in Excelsis
The Kyrie is followed immediately by the Gloria in Excelsis,
which is an amplification of the song of the Angels at the incarnation
of Jesus in Luke 2:14. The title is the first part of the text of this
canticle in Latin, and can be translated as "Glory in the
Highest". The singing of this canticle designates a shift in the
mood of the service, as it moves from recognition of our sin and the
need for forgiveness, to the glorification of God because of His
deliverance. The Gloria was originally sung only by the Bishop except on
the celebration of Easter, when the rest of the clergy would join him.
The current practice of the celebrant singing Glory be to God on High,
and the congregation responding with the rest of the canticle, dates
from the eleventh century, a practice which eventually stopped, until it
was revived during the reformation. Luther, in accordance with his
desires to involve the congregation to a greater extent in the worship
service, reinstituted the congregational singing of this canticle, but
had them sing in German while the priests sang in Latin.
Collect
The Collect, which is a brief but significant prayer that is related
to the theme of the lessons, follows directly after the Gloria. These
short prayers, which are only one sentence long, have been in use for
over 1500 years and follow a fairly rigid five-part form. The parts are:
an invocation, identifying to whom the prayer is addressed, most often,
God the Father; the basis for the petition that is about to be offered;
the petition; the purpose for, or what may be accomplished by, the
petition; and finally a Doxological conclusion, occasionally
abbreviated, which in its full form is: through Jesus Christ, Your
Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and forever. This form is followed in the majority of
collects, but on occasion, parts are omitted, most often the basis for
the petition or the purpose for the petition. There are two different
theories as to how the collect received its name, the first of which is
from the Latin phrase ecclesia collectia, or "the church
gathered". The second theory comes from the early church in Gaul
(France), where the collect would be offered after the congregation
participated in silent prayer. The priest would then "collect"
the prayers of the people and send them to God.
The Scripture Lessons
At this point in the service there is a change in focus and in
attitude. Prior to this, the church has collectively been speaking to
God, first asking forgiveness for sins, and then glorifying God in the
Gloria. Now, God will speak to His church through His Holy Word, which
is read at this point. The practice of the early church was to have
three lessons, one each from the Old Testament, the Epistles, and the
Gospels. However, this practice fell out of favor in the Middle Ages,
and the lessons were reduced in number to two by eliminating the Old
Testament lesson. However, in the latter half of this century, the
practice of having an Old Testament lesson has been revived. The lessons
are chosen so that they are unified according to theme. They are also
separated by various responses by the congregation. Following the Old
Testament lesson is the Gradual, which is usually a verse from a Psalm,
and serves to link the Old Testament lesson to the Epistle. The name is
derived from the fact that the Gradual used to be read from the step of
the altar called the gradus. Following the Epistle lesson, the
congregation most often chants an alleluia, or a series of alleluias,
which is in preparation for the Gospel lesson.
The Gospel lesson is taken from one of the four Gospels in the New
Testament, and is always centered around Jesus. The reading of this
lesson used to have a great deal more imagery associated with it than
there is today. In the Middle ages, the rising of the sun was always
associated with and seen as a symbol of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Since the sun rises in the east, and since Christ has said that
He will return from the East, the traditional church in the Middle Ages
faced towards the East. Therefore, there was a North and South end of
the altar. Since the South was associated with light (longer days) and
warmth, it was a metaphor for the life lived in grace. Thus, the North
was associated with darkness (shorter days) and cold, and was a metaphor
for the kingdom of the Evil One. Thus, the Gospel lesson was read from
the North end of the altar, as a symbol of it being read where it was
needed the most. It was also read with more ceremony than today, with
the Gospel lessons being bound in a separate volume that was covered
with purple cloth (the color of royalty), illuminated with gold script,
and occasionally bound with expensive jewels. Today, in the Lutheran
liturgy, the Gospel lesson is surrounded by sentences and responses
between the pastor and the congregation. These greet and recognize Jesus
Christ, the Word, as being physically present in the reading of the
Gospel.
Creed
The confession of one of the three ecumenical creeds, the
Apostles’, Nicene, or Athanasian, follows the reading of the lessons.
The word creed is an "Anglicization" of the Latin word credo
which means I, or we, believe. The Nicene Creed was written by the
Council of Nicea in AD 325 and was the first Creed to achieve the form
that is used today. This Creed has always been associated with the
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and is found in the Liturgy for that
service in The Lutheran Hymnal. The Apostles’ Creed, which was not
written by the Apostles, developed much more slowly and has always been
associated with the Sacrament of Baptism. This Creed, which was
confessed by those that were about to be baptized, achieved its final
form by the middle of the eighth century. Named after Athanasius, the
Athanasian Creed was most likely not completed by him, as he died in AD
375. It was probably written between AD 450 and AD 600. The Athanasian
Creed was intended to clearly define the concept of the Trinity in order
to counteract the Arian heresy, which sought to deny the divinity of
Christ. The sermon follows the confession of the Creed, and is most
often based on one of the three lessons for the day.
Offertory
In the Lutheran Liturgy, the sermon is followed by the Offertory,
which is taken directly from Psalm 51, David’s great psalm of
repentance after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the murder of
her husband Uriah. This plea, sung by the entire congregation, is a
preparation for the next section of the liturgy, the service of the
Lord’s Supper. In the early Christian Church, this was the point of
the service in which the catechumens (those not eligible to receive the
Lord’s Supper) were excused from the church service.
Preface to Holy Communion
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And also with you.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord, our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
Thus begins the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper in The Lutheran
Hymnal. This particular exchange between the pastor and the
congregation incorporates a traditional Jewish greeting that can be
found in Ruth 2:4, Joshua 6:12, among others, and is the traditional
opening of the seder, the Jewish Passover feast. This feast also
involves the sharing of a glass of wine (the cup of blessing) and
unleavened bread (in memory of the bread that the nation of Israel ate
in fleeing from the Pharaoh and his host). This is the same meal that
Jesus celebrated with His disciples in the upper room when He instituted
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. In utilizing much of the imagery
and substance of Old Testament practice, Christ is fulfilling the
‘figures’ that are presented there. Many, if not all of the events
in the Old Testament are earthly shadows of events in the New Testament.
Israel’s physical deliverance from slavery is a figure, or shadow, of
the world’s spiritual deliverance from the slavery of sin through
Christ’s great work. Luther, in his polemic On the Papacy in Rome
(LW 39:77,78), goes into a lengthy discussion of the OT figures and the
NT fulfillment of these figures in Christ. To quote: And so on
throughout the Old Testament: whatever references it makes to physical,
visible things mean in the New Testament spiritual and invisible things
which cannot be seen but which are possessed in faith alone.
Sanctus
The word Sanctus is Latin for "Holy". The text of
this canticle is a combination of the song of the seraphim: Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and Earth are full of Thy Glory
which is taken from Isaiah 6:3, and the song of the crowd at Jesus’
triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Hosanna, hosanna,
hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,
found in Matthew 21:9. The word hosanna, which is repeated many
times in this canticle, can be translated as "Save now!" The Sanctus
is followed immediately by the Lord’s Prayer, Matt 6:9-13, and
Luke 11:2-4, and the Words of Institution, which are the words that
Christ spoke when He first instituted the Lord’s Supper, and are taken
from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
Agnus Dei
This is followed by the Agnus Dei, Latin for "Lamb of
God", a communion hymn based on John 1:29 that was first introduced
around the year AD 700 by Pope Sergius I.
Nunc Dimittis
After the Distribution of the Lord’s Supper, it is the Lutheran
practice, and the practice of the Roman Church in Spain, to sing the Nunc
Dimittis, or "Now let us depart". This is the song of
Simeon in Luke 2:29-32, and is sung after Simeon sees the Savior shortly
after His birth. The beginning of this canticle, Lord now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, is taken from the formula for the
manumission, or freeing, of a slave. This idea is carried over into the
current usage, as Jesus Christ, our Lord, frees us from the slavery of
our sins by His suffering and death on the cross.
Benediction
The final portion of the service is the Benediction, or blessing, the
most common form of which is found in Numbers 6:24-26.
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Coxe, A. Cleveland The Ante Nicene Fathers. Charles Scribner’s
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Fisher, George Park History of the Christian Church. Charles
Scribner’s Sons: New York 1889
Schaff, Phillip History of the Christian Church. Charles
Scribner’s Sons: New York: 1910
Senn, Frank C. Christian Liturgy. Fortress Press: Minneapolis:
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