Draft:Liturgy in the early church

The liturgy in the Early Church is the set of acts of worship of the early church, which are currently part of the historical study of Christian liturgy. It includes all the rites and public acts of worship, the feasts and commemorations, as well as the meeting places, and related practices such as fasting and almsgiving.

places of worship

During the apostolic age, Christians met in the homes of the community members, particularly in the large rooms on the first floor. Over time, communities could only meet in the largest houses, the domus. In this case, the entire ground floor was used: both the atrium area, which remained open to anyone, and the peristyle area, which was reserved for regular members of the community.

The use of both spaces, the atrium for the people and the peristyle for the closest members, gave rise to the separation between the altar area ("presbytery") and the people's area ("nave"). Around the 5th century in Eastern Christianity, the temple was developed, a low barrier that separated both parts. During the Middle Ages, an icon decoration was incorporated, giving rise to the iconostasis that Orthodox churches currently have.

liturgical chant

The early church maintained the Hebrew tradition of singing hymns and praises, and especially the singing of the 150 psalms. As regards the musical aspect, a series of Gnostic melismas from the 2nd century suggest that this same technique may have been used by Christians as well. The way of singing them in the synagogue was the psalmodic solo: a single cantor intoned the sacred text. In the time of Origen the first evidence of responsorial singing is preserved: at each verse the assembly repeated a phrase from the same psalm as a refrain.

Singing, then, was not applied exclusively to the Lord's prayer, but could also be used at any time when psalms were recited. At the end of the period of early Christianity, many monastic communities dedicated several hours every day to the singing of praises and psalms.

early altar

Initially, the Eucharist was celebrated on three-legged wooden tables, like those common in the homes of the Patricians, rectangular or circular in shape. Mobility was very important to maintain secrecy and security during times of persecution. This also responded to a substantial difference between Christianity and paganism: for paganism the important thing was the Temple, while for Christianity the important thing was what happened during the celebration. An artistic representation to illustrate this point is the agape table that appears in the catacombs of Saint Callixtus.

church of Dura europos

In 1931, a team of archaeologists discovered the ruins of a church, dating from around 230 to 250, in a border town on the banks of the Euphrates called Dura Europos. It is an ordinary house that was adapted for clandestine worship during this time of persecution. Its most important facilities are the atrium, the main hall and the baptistery. These last two rooms were decorated with religious images, symbols and frescoes illustrating passages from the gospels.

The Good Shepherd, Adam and Eve

Procession of women

Healing of the paralytic

Wall painting from the Baptistery: Christ and Peter walking on the water

baptism

According to the Didache, if possible, Baptism should be performed by immersion in "living water," that is, a river or a fountain; and if this was not possible, by triple infusion of water on the head. The text also recommends that all those present practice fasting, especially the person to be baptized should fast one or two days beforehand.

Eucharist

The ceremony of the Eucharist, the central act of Christian worship, has its origin in the Last Supper of Christ with his disciples. During the apostolic period it took place immediately after the agape meal, a communal meal in which all the Christians of the place participated. After the numerical increase of Christians, the agape meal became impractical, so that, from the year 150, references to this activity disappeared completely, and only the Eucharist was mentioned. Around the year 112, Pliny the Younger was governor of Bithynia and in a letter to the Emperor he described that the Christians gathered before sunrise. The liturgist Josef Jungmann interprets that in this way the celebration coincided with the time when the Resurrection of Jesus was commemorated.

Around the year 155 we find the first complete and detailed description of a Eucharistic rite in the First Apology of Justin the Martyr:

On the day called “of the sun” all Christians gather. Public reading of the “Recollections of the Apostles” and the writings of the prophets. The one who presides over the assembly makes an exhortation for the people to imitate the examples that have been read. Those present offer prayers to remain faithful to the evangelical message. After the prayers, they exchange the greeting of peace. Then “the one who presides over the brothers” receives from the assembly bread and a glass of wine mixed with water. The President recites the prayer of consecration with the words of Jesus. The people respond “amen”. The deacons distribute the Eucharist to those present.

The Didache also shows the Confession of sins: “When you meet on the Lord’s Sunday, break bread, and, so that the sacrifice may be pure, give thanks after confessing your sins. Whoever among you is hostile to his friend, let him leave the assembly until he has been reconciled to him [Matthew 5:23-24], so that he may not profane your sacrifice.”

The same author in his Dialogue with Trypho asserts that the Eucharist constitutes a “sacrifice.” The Eucharist is for him, as well as for Ignatius of Antioch and the author of the Didache, the central act of worship, in which only the baptized who follow the precepts of Jesus Christ are allowed to participate.

liturgical times

The Christian conception of time led to the organization of church activities in cycles: annual, weekly, and daily. During the year, different times and commemorations occurred, such as Easter and Pentecost.

The Jewish concept of the week was little known in the Greco-Roman world, which was more accustomed to the Ides, Calends, and Nones, and to a lesser extent to the eight-day Nundinals. However, the week was central to the life of the Early Church in order to know which day was Sunday. The importance of congregating on Sunday is inferred by quotes from the New Testament, the Apostolic Fathers, and the acts of condemnation of numerous martyrs captured by the Romans during Sunday worship.

Wednesdays and Fridays were days especially dedicated to fasting and prayer, in memory of the betrayal of Judah (Wednesday) and the death of Christ (Friday) as recounted in the Didache and in The Shepherd of Hermas.

daily prayer

From the earliest Christian records we find the practice of praying three times a day, probably at the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour at least with the prayer of the Lord's Prayer, and beginning the day with an extended period of prayer. The first prayer vigil is described in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, and from then on it became part of communal prayer on holy days and on special occasions, such as funerals or the arrest of a member of the Church.

primary sources

In addition to the evidence provided by archaeology in catacombs and other places of early Christian worship, there is an abundance of primary sources describing the cult of the pre-Nicene period. Both the Didache and Justin's First Apology provide succinct but important information about the mode of celebration of the Eucharist and some prayers said during Thanksgiving. In addition, Tertullian (+ 245) and St. Cyprian (+ 258) have detailed descriptions of the rite of baptism, penance, and communal prayer.

Along with the Didache, the following liturgical texts stand out, among others:

Apostolic Tradition, a text from the end of the 2nd century or beginning of the 3rd century attributed to Hippolytus of Rome.Didascalia apostolorum, a liturgical guide from around the year 230, in Syria.The text called Apostolic Canons, from the 4th century.