Problems in the Early History of Liturgy

Convener: James G. Sabak, O.F.M., Executive Committee, Catholic Academy of Liturgy; Director of Worship, Diocese of Raleigh, NC; Associate Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Community, Raleigh, NC; Chair, American Franciscan Liturgical Commission

Members in Attendance: Teresa Berger, Paul Bradshaw, Harald Buchinger, Pedrag Bukovec, Glenn Byer, Nathan Chase, Charles Cosgrove, Rick Fabian, Hans-Jürgen Feulner, Lizette Larson-Miller, Clemens Leonhard, Liborius Lumma, Martin Lüstraeten, Anne McGowan, Hugo Méndez, Mark Morozowich, Anna Petrin, Marie-Ange Rakotoniaina, Jim Sabak, Dominic Serra

Description of Work: The work of this seminar involves a variety of topics on celebration and significance of the liturgy in the early centuries of the common era. At this meeting the seminar fielded papers on the historical development of the reception of Holy Communion by children in the Eastern and Western traditions, the challenge of exorcism in light of early Christian apologetics, a comparative perspective on occasional prayers in liturgical year, the celebrations of Epiphany and various octaves in the Jerusalem lectionary, the meaning of the phrase “terminum figat” in the Apostolic Tradition, the advice of John the Deacon on Roman liturgical practice, representations and experiences of time in late-antique Roman Africa, the interpolation of the Institution Narrative in the BAR, influences on the Anaphora of St. James, and resonances between the cup of the Last Supper and Greco-Roman toasting. In addition, members of the seminar provided brief reports on the status of current research projects.

Papers and Presentations: • Liborius Lumma, Universität Innsburck, “Holy Communion for Children:

Issues between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches.” While baptized Eastern Catholic infants are entitled to receive holy communion in a Roman Catholic Eucharistic celebration, Roman Catholic infants are excluded from the same communion. From the perspective of Catholic Canon law this is easy to explain, but it raises not only severe pastoral issues in the Catholic Church today but also serious questions about the relation between Liturgical studies, Sacramental theology, and Canon law. • Nathan Chase, PhD Candidate, University of Notre Dame,“The Interpolation of the Institution Narrative into BAR.” The interpolation of the institution

narrative is the crux interpretum in the history of the Barcelona Papyrus and a number of other Egyptian anaphoras. The interpolated nature of Barcelona’s institution narrative can be seen through internal literary analysis and through a comparison to Cyril’s Epiclesis 1 and a number of other Egyptian anaphoras. • Martin Lüstraeten, University of Mainz, “Exorcism as a Challenge to our

Perception of Christian Apologetics.” Martin reflected on how exorcism is treated in the apologetical writings, from Justin Martyr up to Nicetius. Besides several contradictions one gets the impression that the exorcism of the possessed was much more uncommon than stated in the sources and that the subject is only treated (and repeated) as part of a line of argument and thus to fulfill a certain rhetoric function. • Harald Buchinger, Universität Regensburg, “Text-Matter-Ritual: Occasional prayers of the liturgical year in historical and comparative perspective.” Harald’s paper aimed at categorising the various kinds of material objects used in Easter liturgy, the genres of prayers addressing them, and the hermeneutics of a-mimetic, mimetic and post-mimetic use. • Dominic Serra, The Catholic University of America, “John the Deacon: How

Roman is His Advice?” John the deacon’s letter to Senarius of Ravenna at the start of the sixth century provides an account of catechumenal rites and baptismal practice that contradicts the evidence we have from other reliable sources of the Roman liturgy of the time. This paper offers some information about the interlocutors, John and Senarius, and about the relationship of Rome to North Italian liturgical practice that helps clarify the reasons for and the nature of the discrepancies. • Predrag Bukovec, Universität Regensburg. Among the early anaphoras, the

Apostolic Tradition ch. 4 is one of the most archaic examples. The difficult phrase “He (Christ) fixed a limit” in the middle of the prayer can be understood in the light of the descent of Christ which occurs in the Syrian tradition; the next parallels are Aphrahat and Ephrem. The second paper “On Anaphoral Development” was a brief sketch of two chapters of my doctoral thesis: the analysis of the Barcelona Papyrus and the development of the Egyptian epicleses. • Paul Bradshaw, University of Notre Dame, “The Early Jerusalem Lectionary and the Evolution of its Octaves.” Paul Bradshaw’s paper displays in order an early fragmentary lectionary from Jerusalem and considers what may—and may not—be learned from it, and especially in relation to the evolution of octaves. • Hugo Méndez, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “The Sixth Day of the Epiphany in the Early Jerusalem Lectionary.” Hugo’s paper concludes that Epiphany VI was the partial continuation of an older and more complex memorial on the Saturday immediately before Holy Week—one that commemorated all of Jesus’ encounter with Mary, the raising of Lazarus, and a later supper shared in the home of Lazarus. Méndez finds evidence

of this older celebration in Cyril of Jerusalem’s Catechetical Lectures, the Itinierarium Egeriae, and suggests that it may also stand behind Hesychius of Jerusalem’s eleventh festal homily. By the mid-fifth century, however, the church of Jerusalem limited the focus of this feast to the supper at Lazarus’ home; simultaneously, it moved the account of Lazarus’ raising to the only other date on which it held a public liturgy in Bethany: Epiphany VI. • Marie-Ange Rakotoniaina, PhD Candidate, Emory University, “Time in Late

Antique North Africa: Representations and Experiences.” This paper offers a reading of the sermons of Augustine on sun, moon and the seasons in light of Roman African representations of time. Weaving texts with North African visual evidence, I show how Augustine creates a new visual (counter-) culture that serves a renewed Christian pastoral education to time. The bishop of Hippo reclaims time and the cosmos in a process of Christianization of the celestial spheres. What was once the realms of the gods, he invests with

Christological and ecclesiological symbolism. • Clemens Leonhard, Universität Münster, “Languages in the Haggadah of Pesach.” The older parts of the Haggadah of Pesach are composed in Hebrew. However, the Haggadah starts with a short passage in Aramaic: „This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. May everyone who is hungry come and eat. May everyone who is needy come and celebrate Pesach. This year, here, etc.“ The paper and the discussion in the group analyzed the liturgical role of this passage at the beginning of the Haggadah and the origins of its textual elements. Its first part („This is the bread of affliction, etc.“) may be interpreted together with Israel Yuval as a medieval addition to the Haggadah that seems to be influenced by the Christian mass. For its second part („May everyone who is needy, etc.“), Menachem Kister claims liturgical origins in Second Temple times because of its parallel in Tobit 2. The paper suggests that this passage came into the Haggadah towards the end of the first millennium based on rather literary texts (e.g., the Babylonian

Talmud) than ritualized acts. • Anna Petrin, PhD Candidate, University of Notre Dame, “Influences on the

Sanctus of Mystagogical Catechesis 5: Implications for the Anaphora of St. James.” Anna offered a paper that considered the sources of the Sanctus unit described in Mystagogical Catechesis 5, associated with Cyril of Jerusalem. The paper considered the question of Egyptian influence, and it argued that the evidence for some influence from the Egyptian liturgical tradition was present in both the pre-Sanctus focus on creation and use of angelology, as well as the Sanctus-without-Benedictus described by the mystagogue. Finally she considered how the presence of Egyptian influence by the late fourth-century causes the need for a re-appraisal of the influences often associated with the Anaphora of St. James.

• Charles Cosgrove, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, “The Last Supper Cup and the Greco-Roman Toast: Resonances of Friendship and Gift-Giving.” The tradition that Jesus took a cup of wine at the Last Supper and gave it to his disciples implies a passing of the cup around the couches. Viewed among the cultural traditions of social dining at the time, the gesture resembles a Greek toast, which, unlike the modern toast, was not “drinking to” someone but giving a cup of wine to another diner or the dining group, as a symbolic gift and token of friendship. The gesture, originally Greek but adopted by Romans and Hellenistic Jews, was repurposed by a Christian storyteller and given a new meaning.

Other Work and Plans of the Seminar for the Future: In addition to presentations on current research and publication, the seminar will also consider discussion of current published texts in the field in future gatherings.