Liturgy of Jerusalem

The Rite of Jerusalem is that of Antioch. That is to say, the
Liturgy that became famous as the use of the patriarchical church
of Antioch, that through the influence of that Church spread
throughout Syria and Asia Minor, and was the starting point of the
development of the Byzantine rite, is itself originally the local
liturgy, not of Antioch, but of Jerusalem. It is no other than the
famous liturgy of St. James. That it was actually composed by St.
James the Less, as first Bishop of Jerusalem, is not now believed
by any one; but two forms in it show that it was originally used
as local rite of the city of Jerusalem. There is a reference to
the Cross among the prayers for catechumens--"Lift up the horn of
the Christians by the power of the venerable and life-giving
cross"--that is always supposed to be a reference to St. Helena's
invention of the True Cross at Jerusalem in the early fourth
century. If so, this would also give an approximate date, at any
rate for that prayer. A much clearer local allusion is in the
Intercession, after the Epiklesis: "We offer to thee, O Lord, for
thy holy places which thou hast glorified by the divine appearance
of thy Christ and by the coming of thy Holy Spirit" (these are the
various sanctuaries of Palestine) "especially for holy and
glorious Sion, mother of all Churches" (Sion, in Christian
language, is always the local Church of Jerusalem. See JERUSALEM
II) "and for thy holy Catholic and Apostolic Church throughout the
whole world" (kata pasan ten oikoumenen, which always may mean,
"throughout the whole Empire"). This reference, then, the only one
to any local Church in the whole liturgy -- the fact that the
Intercession, in which they pray for every kind of person and
cause, begins with a prayer for the Church of Jerusalem, is a sure
index of the place of origin.

We have further evidence in the catechetical discourses of St.
Cyril of Jerusalem. These were held about the year 347 or 348 in
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; it is obvious that they describe
the liturgy known to his hearers there. Probst has examined the
discourses from this point of view ("Liturgie des IV
Jahrhunderts", Muster, 1893, 82-106) and describes the liturgy
that can be deduced from them. Allowing for certain reticences,
especially in the earlier instructions given to catechumens (the
disciplina arcani), and for certain slight differences, such as
time always brings about in a living rite, it is evident that
Cyril's liturgy is the one we know as that of St. James. As an
obvious example one may quote Cyril's description of the beginning
of the Anaphora (corresponding to our Preface). He mentions the
celebrant's versicle, "Let us give thanks to the Lord", and the
answer of the people, "Meet and just". He then continues : "After
this we remember the sky, the earth and the sea, the sun and the
moon, the stars and all creation both rational and irrational, the
angels, archangels, powers, mights, dominations, principalities,
thrones, the many-eyed Cherubim who also say those words of David:
Praise the Lord with me . We remember also the Seraphim, whom
Isaias saw in spirit standing around the throne of God, who with
two wings cover their faces, with two their feet and with two fly;
who say: Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth. We also say these
divine words of the Seraphim, so as to take part in the hymns of
the heavenly host" ("Catech. Myst.", V, 6). This is an exact
description of the beginning of the Anaphora in the Liturgy of St.
James.

We have, then, certain evidence that our St. James's Liturgy is
the original local rite of Jerusalem. A further question as to its
origin leads to that of its relation to the famous liturgy in the
eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions. That the two are
related is obvious. (The question is discussed in ANTIOCHENE
LITURGY.) It seems also obvious that the Apostolic Constitution
rite is the older; St. James must be considered a later, enlarged,
and expanded form of it. But the liturgy of the Apostolic
Constitutions is not Palestinan, but Antiochene. The compiler was
an Antiochene Syrian; he describes the rite he knew in the north,
at Antioch. (This, too, is shown in the same article.) The St.
James's Rite, then, is an a adaptation of the other (not
necessarily of the very one we have in the Apostolic
Constitutions, but of the old Syrian rite, of which the Apostolic
Constitutions give us one version) made for local use at
Jerusalem. Then it spread throughout the patriarcate. It must
always be remembered that, till the Council of Ephesus (431),
Jerusalem belonged to the Patriarchate of Antioch. So this liturgy
came to Antioch and there displaced the older rite of the
Apostolic Constitutions. Adopted unchanged at Antioch (the local
allusion to "holy and glorious Sion" was left unaltered), it
imposed itself with new authority as the use of the patriarchical
Church. The earliest notices of an Antiochene Rite that we possess
show that it is this one of St. James. There is no external
evidence that the Apostolic Constitution rite was ever used
anywhere; it is only from the work itself that we deduce that it
is Syrian and Antiochene. Under its new name of Liturgy of
Antioch, St. James's Rite was used throughout Syria, Palestine,
and Asia Minor. When Jerusalem became a patriarchate it kept the
same use.

The Liturgy of St. James exists in Greek and Syriac. It was
probably at first used indifferently in either language, in Greek
in the Hellenized cities, in Syriac in the country. Of the
relation of these two versions we can say with certainty that the
present Greek form is the older. The existing Syriac liturgy is a
translation from the Greek. There is good reason to suppose that
at Jerusalem, as everywhere else, the primitive liturgical
language was Greek. The schismatical Monophysite Churches formed
in the fifth and sixth centuries in Syria kept St. James's Rite in
Syriac. The Orthodox used it in Greek till it was supplanted by
the daughter-rite of Constantinople about the twelfth century. At
present the old Rite of Jerusalem is used, in Syriac, by the
Jacobites and Uniat Syrians, also in a modified form in Syriac by
the Maronites. The Greek version has been restored among the
Orthodox at Jerusalem for one day in the year -- 31 December.

ADRIAN FORTESCUE
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas

In memory of Fr. Thomas Thottumkal


From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the  entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this  worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For  more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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