Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy 2022

Problems in the Early History of Liturgy Convener: Jim Sabak, OFM (jimsabak@gmail.com) is a Franciscan Friar of Holy Name Province, and currently the Director of Worship for the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina. Jim also serves on the Executive Committee of the Catholic Academy of Liturgy.

Members in Attendance: Stefanos Alexopoulos, Paul Bradshaw, Glen Byer, Nathan Chase, Max Johnson, Lizette Larson-Miller, Clemens Leonhard, Anne McGowan, Arsany Paul, David Pitt, Mark Roosien, Nicholas Russo, Jim Sabak.

Visitors in Attendance: Arsany Paul, Mark Roosien, Jason McFarland.

Description of Work: The Problems in the Early History of Liturgy Seminar once again tackled the complexities of the evolution and practice of liturgy in its most early stages of development. This year’s papers focused on the composition and practical theology of early Eucharistic Prayers, the use and purpose of fasting before the great feasts, the employment of liturgical texts on a series of scrolls in the Greek liturgy, prayers for and about Earthquakes and the ever evolving research on the Barcelona Papyrus, and the differences between banqueting and Eucharist, and the status of clergy who fail in their mission in the Early Church.

We concluded our time together with a discussion on the roles of liturgical scholars as both liturgists and historians.

Papers and Presentations: • Paul Bradshaw, “The Formation of the Eucharistic Prayer in the Apostolic Tradition.” This presentation examined the eucharistic prayer in the Apostolic Tradition that showed its core to be as old as the second century.

• Nathan Chase, “Factors that Influenced the Development of Early Eucharistic Prayers.” Scholars have long noted a number of influences that led to the development of the classical anaphoras, particularly in the fourth century.

The most frequently cited factors include: the influence of doctrinal controversies, the movement of texts and people, the shift from oral to written texts, and the need for the liturgy to be more instructional. In light of new studies on the development of Eucharistic praying in the early Church, there is a need to reflect anew on the factors that influenced the development of the anaphora, particularly in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries.