Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-202 AD), in “Against Heresies” 1:10:1-2

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith:

[We believe] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race; in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord and God and Savior and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send “spiritual wickednesses,” and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love — some from the beginning [of their lives], and others from [the day of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these — for no one is greater than the Master; nor, on the other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it.

The painting was found in 1921 on the left-hand wall of the baptismal chamber of the house-church at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates River in modern Syria.

It is now part of the Dura Europos collection at the Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts.

On the right, the paralytic is on his bed. Top center, Christ is saying, “That you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins: rise up, take up your bed and walk.”

On the left, the man takes his bed (a cot-like couch) and walks away. This story is appropriate for a baptismal chamber, in that it represents the forgiveness of sins.

To this right of this scene, Christ is stretching his arm out to Peter, saving him from the waves of the sea.

The figure of Jesus in this fresco, one of the the oldest we know, is a type of the Teacher. He wears a tunic and pallium and sandals on his feet, he has close-cropped hair, and his face is that of a youthful, distinguished intellectual.

This fascinating document carries the Greek title The Teaching [didachē] of the Twelve Apostles.

The Didachē is a short catechism, probably written in Syria during the second half of the 1st century. Eusebius in the fourth century counts it among the spurious books, along with the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd, and the book of Revelation. Rufinus, Athanasius, and other writers give it a place among the deuterocanonical works. Other writers reject it entirely, though the Ethiopian Orthodox Chruch counts it as canonical.

The text is paraphrased and quoted extensively among the early fathers, but the work itself was considered lost until in 1873 Philotheos Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, rediscovered it in the Greek Codex Hierosolymitanus, written in 1053. Bryennios published it ten years later. He had earlier published the full text of the Epistles of Clement from the same manuscript in 1875.

Shortly after Bryennios’ initial publication, the scholar Otto von Gebhardt identified a Latin manuscript in the Abbey of Melk in Austria as containing a translation of the first part of the Didache; later scholars now believe that to be an independent witness to the tradition of the “Two Ways”" section. Dr. J. Schlecht found in 1900 another Latin translation of chapters 1 through 5. Coptic and Ethiopian translations have also been discovered since Bryennios’ original publication.

The Didachē is concerned with practical discipline and does not deliberately teach doctrine, but from the writer’s assumptions we learn a great deal about the development of the early Church in his generation.

It is divided into three parts. The first part is a moral teaching called the “Two Ways,” which also comprises the eighteenth to twentieth chapters of the Epistle of Barnabas. Regarding this section, the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) says:

The most acceptable theory among the many proposed on the character and composition of the Didache is that proposed by Charles Taylor in 1886, and accepted in 1895 by A. Harnack (who in 1884 had most vigorously maintained its Christian origin) — that the first part of the Didache, the teaching concerning the Two Ways (Didache, ch. i.-vi.), was originally a manual of instruction used for the initiation of proselytes in the Synagogue, and was converted later into a Christian manual and ascribed to Jesus and the Apostles.

The third chapter of the Didachē, especially, resembles very closely passages in the Babylonian Talmud.

Beginning in the seventh chapter, the second part of the Didachē addresses baptism, fasting, prayer, and the Eucharist. Its proscription regarding fasting “with the hypocrites” refers obliquely to the Monday and Thursday fasts described in the Mishnah, and substitutes for the Christian a fast on Wednesdays and Fridays (a discipline which survived until the twentieth century in the West and is still current in the Christian East.)

Christians are to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day, as the Jews prayed the Shema thrice daily. Interestingly, the Lord’s Prayer here is not quite St Matthew’s version, and includes the added doxology: “For Thine is the power and the glory for ever” while the doxology in most manuscripts is added to Matthew with “…the Kingdom and the power and the glory.” The Eucharistic prayers in chapters nine and ten are reminiscent of the Jewish blessings over bread and wine, and are echoed in later centuries by Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

The third part of the Didachē, beginning in chapter eleven, gives instruction regarding itinerant teachers and prophets, who in the writer’s generation, still exist in parallel to the offices of the local congregation: “Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers.” The presence of these wandering prophets, and the final chapter’s expectation of the Lord’s return in the writer’s generation, are typical of the Church of the late first century.

Eusebius, in Book 5 of his Ecclesiastical History, records a letter sent from the Christians in Gaul to their brothers in Asia. As Eusebius writes, this record is “worthy of perpetual memory.” Amid persecution they discovered depths of faith, received great grace, and fought the good fight to the end. May we never see such tribulation; but if we must, may we contend for the faith as triumphantly as these saints did.

Eusebius writes: Other writers of history record the victories of war and trophies won from enemies, the skill of generals, and the manly bravery of soldiers, defiled with blood and with innumerable slaughters for the sake of children and country and other possessions. But our narrative of the government of God will record the most peaceful wars waged in behalf of the peace of the soul, and will tell of men doing brave deeds for truth rather than country, and for piety rather than dearest friends. It will hand down to imperishable remembrance the discipline and the much-tried fortitude of the athletes of religion, the trophies won from demons, the victories over invisible enemies, and the crowns placed upon all their heads.

The country in which the arena was prepared for them was Gaul, of which Lyons and Vienne are the principal cities. The most celebrated churches in that country sent an account of the witnesses to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, relating in the following manner what was done among them. I will give their own words:

The servants of Christ residing at Vienne and Lyons, in Gaul, to the brethren throughout Asia and Phrygia, who hold the same faith and hope of redemption: Peace and grace and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

The greatness of the tribulation in this region, and the fury of the heathen against the saints, and the sufferings of the blessed witnesses, we cannot recount accurately; indeed they could not possibly be recorded. For with all his might the adversary fell on us, giving us a foretaste of his unbridled activity at his future coming. He endeavored in every manner to practice and exercise his servants against the servants of God — not only shutting us out from houses and baths and markets, but any forbidding us to be seen in any place at all.

But the grace of God led the conflict against him, and delivered the weak, and set them as firm pillars, able through patience to endure all the wrath of the evil one. And they joined battle with him, undergoing all kinds of shame and injury. Regarding their great sufferings as little, they hastened to Christ, manifesting truly that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” First of all they endured nobly the injuries heaped upon them by the populace — clamors and blows, draggings and robberies, stonings and imprisonments, and every other thing an infuriated mob delights in inflicting on enemies and adversaries. Then they were taken to the forum by the chiliarch and the authorities of the city and were examined in the presence of the whole multitude; and having confessed [Christ], they were imprisoned until the arrival of the governor.

Afterwards they were brought before him, and he treated us with the utmost cruelty. Then one of the brethren, Vettius Epagathus, a man filled with love for God and his neighbor, interfered. Though he was a yong man, his life was so consistent that he had attained a reputation equal to that of the elder Zacharias: for he “walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” He was untiring in every good work for his neighbor, zealous for God and fervent in spirit. As this was his character, he could not endure the unreasonable judgment against us, but was filled with indignation, and asked to be allowed to testify in behalf of his brethren, that there is among us nothing ungodly or impious.

But those around the judgment seat cried out against him, for he was a man of distinction, and the governor refused to grant his just request. The governor merely asked if he also were a Christian. Confessing this with a loud voice, he was taken into the order of those bearing witness [for Christ]. Vettius Epagathus was called the advocate of the Christians, but he had the Advocate in himself, the Spirit more abundantly than Zacharias. He showed this by the fullness of his love, being well pleased even to lay down his life in defense of the brethren. For he was and is a true disciple of Christ, “following the Lamb wherever He goes.”

Then the others were divided, and the first witnesses were manifestly ready [to be executed], and finished their confession with all eagerness. But some appeared unprepared and untrained, weak as yet, and unable to endure so great a conflict. About ten of these proved to be abortions, causing us great grief and sorrow beyond measure, and impairing the zeal of the others. These others had not yet been seized, but continued constantly with the witnesses and did not forsake them.

Then all of us were greatly afraid because of uncertainty as to their confession — not because we dreaded the sufferings to be endured, but because we looked to the end, and were afraid that some of them might fall away. But those who were worthy were seized day by day, filling up their number so that all the zealous ones, and especially those through whom our affairs had been established, were collected together out of the two churches.

And some of our unbelieving household members also were seized, as the governor had commanded that all of us should be examined publicly. These, being ensnared by Satan, and fearing for themselves the tortures which they beheld the saints endure, and being also urged on by the soldiers, accused us falsely of Thyestean [cannibalistic] banquets and Oedipean [incestuous] intercourse; of deeds which are not only unlawful for us to speak of or to think, but which we cannot believe were ever done by men.

When these accusations were reported, all the people raged like wild beasts against us, so that even if any had formerly been moderate on account of friendship, they were now exceedingly furious and gnashed their teeth against us. And that which was spoken by our Lord was fulfilled: ” The time will come when whosoever killeth you will think that he is serving God.” Then finally the holy witnesses endured sufferings beyond description, Satan striving earnestly to make some of them speak slander as well.

But the fury of the populace, and governor, and soldiers was aroused exceedingly against Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne, and Maturus, a late convert but a noble combatant, and against Attalus, a native of Pergamos where he had always been a pillar and foundation, and Blandina, through whom Christ showed that things which appear poor, obscure and despicable to men are of great glory with God, through love toward Him manifested in power, and not boasting in appearance. For while we all trembled, and Blandina’s earthly mistress, who was herself also one of the witnesses , feared that on account of the weakness of her body, she would be unable to make bold confession, Blandina was filled with such power that she was delivered and raised above those who were torturing her by turns from morning till evening in every manner, so that they acknowledged that they were conquered and could do nothing more to her. And they were astonished at her endurance, as her entire body was mangled and broken; and they testified that one of these forms of torture was sufficient to snuff out a life, not to speak of so many and such great sufferings. But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, renewed her strength in her confession; and her comfort and consolation and relief from the pain of her sufferings was in exclaiming, “I am a Christian, and nothing vile is done by us.”

But Sanctus also endured marvelously and superhumanly all the outrages which he suffered. While the wicked men hoped, by the continuance and severity of his tortures to wring something from him which he ought not to say, he girded himself against them with such firmness that he would not even tell his name, or the nation or city to which he belonged, or whether he was bond or free, but answered in the Roman tongue to all their questions, “I am a Christian.” He confessed this instead of name and city and race and everything besides, and the people heard no other word from him. For this reason the governor and his tormentors desired to conquer him, but having nothing more that they could do to him, they finally fastened red-hot brazen plates to the most tender parts of his body. And these indeed were burned, but he continued unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession, and refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly fountain of the water of life, flowing from Christ Himself.

Sanctus’ body was a witness of his sufferings, being one complete wound and bruise, pulled out of shape, and altogether unlike a human form. Christ manifested His glory, suffering in him, delivering him from his adversary, and making him an example for the others. He showed in Sanctus that nothing is fearful where the love of the Father is, and nothing painful where there is the glory of Christ. For when the wicked men tortured him a second time after some days, supposing that with his body swollen and inflamed to such a degree that he could not bear the touch of a hand, if they should again apply the same instruments, they would overcome him — or at least by his death under his sufferings others would be made afraid — not only did not this occur, but, contrary to all anyone could have expected, his body arose and stood erect in the midst of the subsequent torments, and resumed its original appearance and the use of its limbs, so that through the grace of Christ these second sufferings became to him, not torture, but healing.

The devil thought that he had already consumed Biblias, who was one of those who had denied Christ. Desiring to increase her condemnation through the utterance of blasphemy, brought her again to torture, to compel her to report impious things concerning us. But she recovered herself under the suffering, and as if awaking from a deep sleep, and reminded by the present anguish of the eternal punishment in hell, she contradicted the blasphemers. “How,” she said, “could we eat children, when we do not think it lawful to taste the blood even of irrational animals?” [cf. Acts 15:20] And from that point on she confessed herself a Christian, and was given a place in the order of the witnesses .

But as the tyrannical tortures were made of no effect by Christ through the patience of the blessed ones, the devil invented other contrivances: confinement in the dark and most loathsome parts of the prison, stretching of the feet to the fifth hole in the stocks, and the other outrages which his servants are accustomed to inflict upon the prisoners when furious and filled with the devil. A great many were suffocated in prison, being chosen by the Lord for this manner of death that He might show forth His glory in them.

Some had been tortured so cruelly that it seemed impossible that they could live, even with the most careful nursing. Yet, deprived of human attention, they remained in the prison and were strengthened by the Lord and invigorated both in body and soul. These exhorted and encouraged the rest.

But those who were young and arrested recently, so that their bodies had not become accustomed to torture, were unable to endure the severity of their confinement, and died in prison.

The blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted with the bishopric of Lyons, was dragged to the judgment seat. He was more than ninety years of age and very infirm, scarcely indeed able to breathe because of physical weakness. But he was strengthened by spiritual zeal through his earnest desire for martyrdom. Though his body was worn out by old age and disease, his life was preserved so that Christ might triumph in it. When he was brought by the soldiers to the tribunal, accompanied by the civil magistrates and a multitude who shouted against him in every manner as if he were Christ himself, he bore noble witness. When the governor asked who the God of the Christians is, Pothinus replied, “If you are worthy, you will know.” Then he was dragged away harshly, and received blows of every kind. Those near him struck him with their hands and feet, regardless of his age, and those at a distance hurled at him whatever they could seize. All of them thought that they would be guilty of great wickedness and impiety if any possible abuse were omitted, for in this way they thought to avenge the offense against their own deities. Scarcely able to breathe, Pothinus was cast into prison and died after two days.

Then a great dispensation of God occurred, and the compassion of Jesus appeared beyond measure in a manner rarely seen among the brotherhood, but not beyond the power of Christ. For those who had recanted at their first arrest were imprisoned with the others, and endured terrible sufferings, so that their denial was of no profit to them even for the present. But those who confessed that they were imprisoned as Christians, found that no other accusation being brought against them. But the first were treated afterwards as murderers and defiled, and were punished twice as severely as the others. For the joy of martyrdom, and the hope of the promises, and love for Christ, and the Spirit of the Father supported the latter; but their consciences so greatly distressed the former that they were easily distinguishable from all the rest by their very countenances when they were led forth. For the first went out rejoicing, glory and grace being blended in their faces, so that even their bonds seemed like beautiful ornaments, as those of a bride adorned with variegated golden fringes. And they were perfumed with the sweet savor of Christ, so that some supposed they had been anointed with earthly ointment.

But the others were downcast and humble and dejected and filled with every kind of disgrace, and they were reproached by the heathen as ignoble and weak, bearing the accusation of murderers, and having lost the one honorable and glorious and life-giving Name. The rest, beholding this, were strengthened, and when apprehended, they confessed without hesitation, paying no attention to the persuasions of the devil.

After these things, finally, their martyrdom was finally distributed into various kinds. For plaiting a crown of various colors and of all kinds of flowers, they presented it to the Father. It was proper therefore that the noble athletes, having endured a manifold strife, and conquered grandly, should receive the great and incorruptible crown.

Therefore Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina and Attalus were led to the amphitheater to be exposed to the wild beasts, and to give to the heathen public a spectacle of cruelty, a day for fighting with wild beasts being specially appointed on account of our people. Both Maturus and Sanctus passed again through every torment in the amphitheater, as if they had suffered nothing before, or rather, as if, having already conquered their antagonist in many contests, they were now striving for the crown itself. They endured again the customary running of the gauntlet and the violence of the wild beasts, and everything which the furious people called for or desired, and at last, the iron chair in which their bodies being roasted, tormented them with the fumes. And the persecutors did not stop, but were yet more enraged against them, determined to overcome their patience. But even so they did not hear a word from Sanctus except the confession which he had uttered from the beginning. So these, after their life had continued for a long time through the great conflict, were at last sacrificed, having been made a spectacle to the world throughout that day, in place of the usual variety of combats.

But Blandina was suspended on a stake, and exposed to be devoured by the wild beasts who should attack her. And because she appeared as if hanging on a cross, and because of her earnest prayers, she inspired the combatants with great zeal. For they looked on her in her conflict, and beheld with their outward eyes, in the form of their sister, Him who was crucified for them, that He might persuade those who believe on Him, that every one who suffers for the glory of Christ has fellowship always with the living God. As none of the wild beasts at that time touched her, she was taken down from the stake, and cast again into prison. She was preserved thus for another contest, so that, being victorious in more conflicts, she might make the punishment of the crooked serpent irrevocable; and, though small and weak and despised, yet being clothed with Christ the mighty and conquering Athlete, she might arouse the zeal of the brethren, and, having overcome the adversary many times, might receive through her conflict the incorruptible crown .

But Attalus was called for loudly by the people, because he was a person of distinction. He entered the contest readily on account of a good conscience and his genuine practice in Christian discipline, and as he had always been a witness for the truth among us. He was led around the amphitheater, with a tablet carried before him on which was written in the Roman language “This is Attalus the Christian.” The people were filled with indignation against him. But when the governor learned that he was a Roman, he commanded him to be taken back with the rest of those who were in prison concerning whom he had written to Caesar, and whose answer he was awaiting.

But the intervening time was not wasted nor fruitless to the witnesses , for by their patience the measureless compassion of Christ was manifested. For through their continued life the dead were made alive, and the witnesses showed favor to those who had failed to bear witness. And the virgin mother had much joy in receiving alive those whom she had brought forth as dead. For through their influence many who had denied were restored, and re-begotten, and rekindled with life, and learned to confess. And being made alive and strengthened, they went to the judgment seat to be interrogated again by the governor. God, who does not desire the death of the sinner but mercifully invites to repentance, treated them with kindness. For Caesar commanded that they should be put to death, but that any who might deny should be set free. Therefore, at the beginning of the public festival which took place there, and which was attended by crowds of men from all nations, the governor brought the blessed ones to the judgment seat, to make of them a show and spectacle for the multitude. Wherefore also he examined them again, and beheaded those who appeared to possess Roman citizenship, but he sent the others to the wild beasts.

And Christ was glorified greatly in those who had formerly denied him. For, contrary to the expectation of the heathen, they confessed Christ. They were examined by themselves, as if they were about to be set free; but when they confessed, they were added to the order of the witnesses. But some continued outside, who had never possessed a trace of faith, nor any apprehension of the wedding garment, nor an understanding of the fear of God; but, as sons of perdition, they blasphemed the Way through their apostasy. But all the others were added to the Church.

Alexander was a Phrygian by birth and a physician by profession, who had resided in Gaul for many years, and was well known to all on account of his love to God and boldness of speech.

While these others were being examined, Alexander stood before the judgment seat and by signs encouraged them to confess, appearing to those standing by as if in travail. But the people being enraged because those who formerly denied now confessed, cried out against Alexander as if he were the cause of this. Then the governor summoned him and inquired who he was. And when Alexander answered that he was a Christian, the governor being very angry condemned him to the wild beasts. And on the next day he entered along with Attalus. For to please the people, the governor had ordered Attalus again to the wild beasts.

And they were tortured in the amphitheater with all the instruments contrived for that purpose, and having endured a very great conflict, they were at last sacrificed. Alexander neither groaned nor murmured in any manner, but communed in his heart with God. But when Attalus was placed in the iron seat, and the fumes arose from his burning body, he said to the people in the Roman language: “Look! What you are doing is devouring men; but we do not devour men, nor do any other wicked thing.” And being asked, what name God has, he replied, “God does not have a name as man has.”

After all these, on the last day of the contests, Blandina was again brought in, with Ponticus, a boy about fifteen years old. They had been brought every day to witness the sufferings of the others, and had been pressured to swear by the idols. But because they remained steadfast and despised them, the multitude became furious, so that they had no compassion for the youth of the boy nor respect for the sex of the woman. Therefore they exposed them to all the terrible sufferings and took them through the entire round of torture, repeatedly urging them to swear, but being unable to effect this; for Ponticus, encouraged by his sister so that even the heathen could see that she was confirming and strengthening him, having nobly endured every torture, gave up his spirit.

But the blessed Blandina, last of all, having, as a noble mother, encouraged her children and sent them before her victorious to the King, endured herself all their conflicts and hastened after them, glad and rejoicing in her departure as if called to a marriage supper, rather than cast to wild beasts. And, after the scourging, after the wild beasts, after the roasting seat, she was finally enclosed in a net and thrown before a bull. And having been tossed about by the animal, but feeling none of the things which were happening to her, on account of her hope and firm hold upon what had been entrusted to her, and her communion with Christ, she also was sacrificed. And the heathen themselves confessed that never among them had a woman endured so many and such terrible tortures.

But not even thus was their madness and cruelty toward the saints satisfied. For incited by the Wild Beast, wild and barbarous tribes were not easily appeased, and their violence found another peculiar opportunity in the dead bodies. For, through their lack of human reason, the fact that they had been conquered did not put them to shame, but rather further kindled their wrath like that of a wild beast, and aroused the hatred of both the governor and the people to treat us unjustly. This was in fulfillment of the Scripture: “He that is lawless, let him be lawless still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.”

For they cast to the dogs those who had died of suffocation in the prison, carefully guarding them by night and day, lest any of them should be buried by us. And they exposed the remains left by the wild beasts and by fire, mangled and charred, and placed the heads of the others by their bodies, and guarded them in like manner from burial by a watch of soldiers for many days. And some raged and gnashed their teeth against them, desiring to execute more severe vengeance upon them; but others laughed and mocked at them, magnifying their own idols, and imputed to them the punishment of the Christians.

Even the more reasonable, and those who had seemed to sympathize somewhat, reproached them often, saying, “Where is their God? They chose their religion rather than life; what has it profited them?” So various was their conduct toward us; but we were in deep affliction because we could not bury the bodies. For night was no use to us for this purpose, nor did money persuade, nor entreaty move them to compassion; but they kept watch in every way as if the prevention of the burial would be of some great advantage to them.

The bodies of the witnesses, having thus in every manner been exhibited and exposed for six days, were afterward burned and reduced to ashes, and swept into the Rhone by the wicked men so that no trace of them might appear on the earth. And this they did, as if able to conquer God and prevent their new birth; “so that,” as they said, “they may have no hope of a resurrection. Through trust in a resurrection they bring to us this foreign and new religion and despise terrible things, and are ready even to go to death with joy; now let us see if they will rise again, and if their God is able to help them, and to deliver them out of our hands.”

Those who bore witness were so zealous in their imitation of Christ, “who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God,” that, though they had attained such honor, and had borne witness, not once or twice, but many times, having been brought back to prison from the wild beasts, covered with burns and scars and wounds, yet they did not proclaim themselves witnesses, nor did they suffer us to address them by this name. If any one of us, in letter or conversation, spoke of them as witnesses, they rebuked him sharply. For they conceded cheerfully the appellation of Witness to Christ “the faithful and true Witness,” and “firstborn of the dead,” and Prince of the life of God; and they reminded us of the witnesses who had already departed, and said, “They are already witnesses whom Christ has deemed worthy to be taken up in their confession, having sealed their testimony by their departure; but we are lowly and humble confessors.”

And they besought the brethren with tears that earnest prayers should be offered that they might be made perfect. They showed in their deeds the power of testimony, manifesting great boldness toward all the brethren, and they made plain their nobility through patience and fearlessness and courage, but they refused the title of Witnesses as distinguishing them from their brethren, being filled with the fear of God.

They humbled themselves under the mighty hand by which they are now greatly exalted. They defended all, but accused none. They absolved all, but bound none. And they prayed for those who had inflicted cruelties upon them, even as Stephen, the perfect witness: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” But if he prayed for those who stoned him, how much more for the brethren!

For through the genuineness of their love, their greatest contest with the Beast was this: That, being choked, he might cast out alive those whom he supposed he had swallowed. For they did not boast over the fallen, but helped them in their need with those things in which they themselves abounded, having the compassion of a mother, and shedding many tears on their account before the Father. They asked for life, and He gave it to them, and they shared it with their neighbors. Victorious over everything, they departed to God. Having always loved peace, and having commended peace to us, they went in peace to God, leaving no sorrow to their mother, nor division or strife to the brethren, but joy and peace and concord and love.

This record of the affection of those blessed ones toward the brethren that had fallen may be profitably added on account of the inhuman and unmerciful disposition of those who, after these events, acted unsparingly toward the members of Christ.

When the Lord Jesus Christ, having gathered his disciples round him to supper on the night before he suffered death, solemnly broke bread before them and blessed a cup of wine and gave them to his disciples, he enjoined them to continue this thenceforward as a continual memorial of his death and passion undergone for the redemption of the world. This command was obeyed from the time that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church shortly after our Lord’s ascension into heaven. We are told, of those who were converted by the preaching of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, that ‘they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers’. [Acts ii. 42.]

The first liturgy of the type that later became universal does not appear, in the records that have come down to us, until two centuries after this. We have a certain number of notices in the literature of those centuries, from which it is possible to learn something of the nature of the prayers and ceremonies that accompanied the ‘breaking of the bread’; and these we must examine. The evidence is, however, at almost every point confused by the absence at that period of any clear definitions of religious ideas, and of the technical language in which they would at a later date be expressed. It is with the utmost caution that we should form conclusions based on words and phrases which have a very definite meaning to us, but which were probably used more loosely in a primitive age. The sentence quoted in the last paragraph is an example. We shall see later on that a great deal of uncertainty in the interpretation of evidence arises from doubt as to whether words like ‘prex‘, ‘orationes‘, &c., have in any particular case a specialized meaning such as they often acquired, or are used quite generally. In the Acts of the Apostles ‘ the prayers’ may mean, as it would later, the prayers that were used on the occasion of the breaking of the bread; on the other hand, with more probability, the writer may be referring to some other occasion on which the congregation met for prayer. This ambiguity will pursue us for some centuries.

The evidence about the Eucharist is also confused by the fact that at first it was sometimes, if not always, celebrated in connexion with, and following, a social meal known as the Agape or Love-feast, so that any description of the prayers used at the breaking of the bread may be taken to refer either to the Agape or material feast, or to the Eucharist or spiritual feast. This would not have much significance if it were not for the fact that before long – the date is difficult to determine – the two functions were separated, and we may suppose that any prayers belonging to the Agape, such, for instance, as the thanksgiving for the food consumed, would normally disappear, but might in some cases continue, probably with modifications adapting them to the liturgy. And indeed there are scholars, as we shall see, who hold that two of the prayers of the Didache are such, and that they do make sporadic appearances in the ancient liturgies.

The Agape

Two passages, one at the beginning of this primitive period and one near the end, when the Agape must have been near its extinction, will suffice to show its nature.

St. Paul, writing to the Church of Corinth [l Cor.xi.17 ff.], rebukes the brethren there for disorders which have happened at their religious gatherings. There are dissensions among them on these occasions. First he speaks at some length on improper customs among the women attending worship. Then he censures their differences, without indicating their cause, though they seem to be connected with the supper itself.

When ye come together in the congregation (ἐκκλησία – ekklesia)
I hear that dissensions (σχίσματα – schismata) prevail among you,
and I partly believe it.
Indeed there must be parties (αἱρέσεις – haireseias) among you,
that the trustworthy may be manifest.
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together,
it is not the Lord’s Supper that ye eat,
(οὐκ ἔστι κυριακὸν δεῖπνον φαγεῖν – ouk esti kyriakon deipnon phagein)
for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper,
and one is hungry and another drunken.
Have ye no houses in which to eat and drink?
Or do ye despise the congregation of God,
and humiliate the poor?
What am I to say to you?
Am I to praise you?
I cannot praise you in this;
for I myself received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, &c.

Here follows the account of the Institution of the Eucharist. Then there are warnings against unworthy partaking of the bread and the cup, ‘not discerning the body’, and a final exhortation:

Wherefore my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another.
If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home;
so that your coming together may not bring judgment upon you.

In this passage the meeting of the faithful was for the purpose of celebrating the Eucharist. The language leaves no doubt about that. On the other hand, it is equally certain that it was also a social feast, held in close connexion with the Eucharist. The mention of the dissensions at this point must mean that they were caused by the inconsiderate and self-indulgent behaviour described. The most natural explanation is that resentment was caused by the fact that some had too much to eat and drink, while others went hungry and thirsty. There is an explicit reference to the poor (τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας – tous me echontas). St. Paul does not discourage the holding of these meals, but suggests that those who have their own means should satisfy their hunger at home, in order, no doubt, that they should still participate, but as an expression of social fellowship, rather than for their bodily requirements. He does not indicate whether the feast or the sacrament came first, but the nature of the improper behaviour suggests that the Eucharist followed.

From this passage of St. Paul it will be as well to pass to the best account we have of the Agape, written by Tertullian in Africa at the end of the second century. It is in his Apology, where he is defending the Church to the heathen. After describing the charity and love that Christians show to one another, he proceeds:

Why wonder then if such love takes a social form (convivatur)?
For even our little suppers (cenulae) you revile as extravagant,
as well as scandalous from vice.

He then reminds them of the orgies which accompany heathen festivities, and continues:

It is only with the dining room of the Christians that men find fault.
Our feast shows its nature by its name;
it is called by the Greek word for ‘love’ (‘dilectio’, not ‘amor’).
Whatever it may cost, what is spent in the name of piety is well spent;
if by this refreshment we help a number of poor people, it is not, as with your parasites, for the satisfaction of enslaving their liberty through corrupting a belly by stuffing it to the accompaniment of insults, but by what is better in the eyes of God, consideration of the lowly…
Our people do not sit down to meat until prayer to God has been tasted.
That is eaten which hungry men need;
that drunk which is sufficient for the sober.
They are so filled, as men who remember that God is to be praised by them during the night;
they speak, as those who know that God is listening.
After water for the hands and lights have been brought,
each is called upon to sing in the company,
as well as he can, to God, either out of the Holy Scriptures, or that which is of his own composition.
This shows to what extent he is drunk!
In the same way the company dismisses with prayer
[Apol.i.39.].

There is no reference to the Eucharist in Tertullian’s account of the Agape; they had perhaps been separated by this time, though the reserve Christians were bound to maintain concerning the mysteries would naturally account for his silence. But his description enables us to understand the conditions under which the Eucharist was celebrated at an earlier time.

There are reasons for supposing that there was not at first any other public Office than the Eucharist [Swete, J.T.S.iii (1902), 162. Others, however, hold that there was a meeting, corresponding to the Synagogue service, which later became the Mass of the Catechumens.]. The Didache prescribes the use of the Lord’s Prayer three times a day in private devotions [c.8.]. The ‘ Stations’ mentioned by Tertullian [De oratione, 19.] were not meetings, but half-day fasts.

The Eucharist in the first century

The New Testament gives us incidental information about the worship of the Church, but scarcely ever is it definitely related to any particular type of gathering. It is therefore only by analogy with the liturgy as later developed that we can conjecture whether any particular acts of worship mentioned were made in connexion with the Eucharist or on some other occasion. Such conjectural associations will be noted in the Commentary. It will be sufficient here to mention that the Scriptures were read, and also, on certain occasions, the letters of the Apostles; psalms and hymns were sung, sermons delivered, prayers offered for all sorts of men, sins publicly confessed, and open professions of faith made. There were also prophesyings, sometimes quite unintelligible, and acts of healing, and of course baptisms and confirmations. We read as well of some ceremonies. They prayed standing, with hands uplifted, and heads bared; except the women, who were veiled. The kiss of peace was exchanged.

There will be no need to notice incidental allusions to worship in the apostolic age, except such as throw light on the liturgy. Quite early, however, either towards the end of the first century, or perhaps as late as the end of the second century, as some scholars think, [It has generally been placed between 80 and 90, or not much later; Woolley, in its present form, 110-30; Harnack 131-60; J. A. Robinson and R. H. Connolly make it dependent on the Epistle of Barnabas and place it well on in the second century.] prayers of a eucharistic flavour are prescribed in the Didache, a little book in whose second half is a manual of Church life, the precursor of the Church Orders, which will have to be considered later on.

In chapter 7 of this work directions are given for baptism; then there is a short passage about prayer and fasting, after which comes the following:

Concerning the thanksgiving (εὐχαριστία – eucharistia)
thus shall ye give thanks:

First, concerning the cup:We give thee thanks, our Father,
for the holy Vine of David thy servant (παιδός),
which thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy servant.
Thine is the glory for ever.

And concerning that which is broken:

We give thee thanks, our Father,
for the life and knowledge,
which thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy servant.
Thine is the glory for ever.
For as this broken bread (τὸ κλάσμα – to klasma),
scattered over the mountains and gathered together, is one,
so may thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy Kingdom;
for thine is the glory and the power,
through Jesus Christ for ever.

Let no one eat or drink of your thanksgiving (or Eucharist?)
but those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord.
For the Lord also has said about this:
‘Give not that which is holy to the dogs’.

And after ye are satisfied give thanks thus:We give thee thanks, Holy Father, for thy holy Name,
which thou hast made to dwell in our hearts,
and for the knowledge and faith and immortality,
which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy servant:
thine is the glory for ever.

Thou, Almighty Master, ‘didst create all things’ ‘for thy Name’s sake’,
and didst give food and drink unto men for enjoyment,
that they might give thanks to thee;
but didst bestow upon us spiritual food and drink and eternal life through thy servant.

Before all things we give thee thanks that thou art mighty;
thine is the glory forever.
Remember, Lord, thy Church,
to deliver it from all evil,
and to perfect it in thy love,
and gather it together ‘from the four winds’?
even thy Church which has been sanctified?
into thy Kingdom, which thou hast prepared for it;
for thine is the power and the glory for ever.May grace come and may this world pass away.
‘Hosanna to the God of David.’
If any man is holy let him come;
if any man is not, let him repent.
‘Maran-Atha.’
Amen.

But permit the prophets to offer thanksgiving as much as they desire.

Chapters 11 to 13 are about apostles and prophets. Chapter 14 reads thus:

And on the Lord’s own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. And if any man have a dispute with his fellow, let him not join your assembly until they have been reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be defiled; for this sacrifice it is that was spoken of by the Lord: ‘In every place and in every time offer me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great king, saith the Lord, and my Name is wonderful among the nations.’

At first sight these passages all seem to refer to the Eucharist, and so most scholars have taken them. Woolley says:’ That the forms given in chapters 9 and 10 are a form or part of a form of the Eucharistic liturgy can hardly be seriously doubted. The expression πνευματικὴ τροφή in chapter 10 cannot be used of anything but the Eucharist, and the compiler of Apostolic Constitutions certainly regarded these forms as liturgical [Liturgy of the Primitive Church, 49.]. Vernon Bartlet was so sure of it that he considered that the order of the cup and bread, agreeing with St. Luke against the other Gospels, was evidence that when this book was written St. Matthew’s Gospel could not have yet become well known in Syria. [Hastings, D.B. ext. vol. 448.]

Many scholars, however, have found difficulty about these prayers. Chapter 14 certainly speaks of the Eucharist, but 9 and 10 are at least doubtful. Duchesne, without questioning their eucharistic character, says that they have ‘altogether the aspect of an anomaly’, and ‘are outside the main stream’ [Christian Worship, 53.]. Fortescue thinks that they give ‘an incomplete description of an abnormal type of Eucharistic service’ [The Mass, 9.]. A German scholar, Greiff, considers that they are true eucharistic prayers, used only at the Paschal Eucharist, when the newly baptized communicated for the first time [Johanneische Studien, i (See J.T.S. Apr. 1931, p. 290).]. Dom Casel thinks they belong to the Eucharist, but that they are prayers to be said by the people [Jahrb. f. Lit. vi. 217 sqq.]. Drews and von der Goize took the earlier to be an old survival of a Eucharist-Agape, and the last a later eucharistic form. Lietzmann holds that they are an introductory celebration to an Agape. [Messe und Herrenmahl, 233.]

Some, however, look upon these passages as belonging to the Agape. Leclercq [D.A.C.L. xi. 539-52. But cf. art. 'Agape'.], following Cagin [L'Euchologie latine, 2 ; 'L'Eucharistia', 259 f.; also Schuster, Sacr. i. 64.] and other writers, marshals a great array of evidence in favour of their being the ‘grace before and after meals’ of the Agape. The question depends very much on the date and circumstances of the writer of the book. Opinion seems to be moving in the direction of a late date, but in that case it cannot be considered a normal Christian document. It is full of anachronisms for the end of the second century, though it may have been that the community which produced it was itself an anachronism [F. E. Vokes in The Riddle of the Didache, following Connolly, considers it a Montanist work. This might explain its oddity.]. In this case all these prayers may be truly eucharistic, but eccentric. If, on the other hand, it comes from the end of the first century, the first two prayers seem to belong to the Agape.

This was still the age of the composition of the New Testament, which was hardly completed. In the books of the New Testament the word εὐχαριστία always means ‘thanksgiving’ in its general sense. In the Didache the thanksgiving is made, not for the life and death of our Lord, but for certain benefits made known to us through him. The ‘Vine of David’ seems to mean the Church throughout the ages. The ‘ spiritual food’ does not seem to be the body and blood of our Lord, but, as the parallel of the preceding sentence shows, ‘knowledge and faith and immortality’; the thanksgiving is quite general for bodily sustenance and spiritual food. When Apostolic Constitutions, which incorporates the whole of the Didache, applies this language to the Eucharist it has to supplement it with suitable terms. A hearty meal is also implied by the word ἐμπλησθῆναι – emplesthenai’after ye are satisfied (filled)’, for this is a plain direction, not a phrase of devotional rapture. More?over, these prayers are found in much the same form (given below) in a tract De Virginitate of the fourth century, often attributed to St. Athanasius, where they are prayers of ‘Grace’ at ordinary meals.

They are distinctly Jewish in type. The following blessings of the Jewish prayers before the Sabbath meal may be noted:

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God,
King of the universe,
who createst the fruit of the vine.

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God,
King eternal,
who bringest forth bread from the earth.

The prayers of the Didache are therefore, if its date is early, probably not eucharistic; from Chapter 14, moreover, we should expect some reference to the sacrifice.

These thanksgivings, however, have their own interest, and some of the language will be found in the later forms. The prayers in De Virginitate mentioned above are as follows:

We thank thee, our Father, for thy holy resurrection.
For through Jesus thy servant thou hast made it known to us.
And as this bread, having been scattered, is that which is upon this table,
and, having been gathered together, has become one,
so may thy Church be gathered together,
from the ends of the earth, into thy kingdom,
for thine is the power and the glory for ever.
Amen.

(After the meal)
O God, the almighty, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Name that is above every name,
we thank thee and praise thee,
because thou hast considered us worthy to share thy good things, the material food.
We pray and beseech thee, O Lord, that thou wilt give us also the heavenly food.
[Ath. De Virg. 13, 14.]

The Didache is mentioned in this work, and these prayers may therefore have been adapted from it.

The question of the extent to which Jewish worship has influenced or moulded the Christian Liturgy is one to which much attention has been directed. Unfortunately most of the available information about the Jewish forms of worship comes from dates that are too late to give a safe indication of the prayers used in the time of the Apostles. That there was any conscious adoption or imita?tion of Jewish services can hardly be supposed, in view of the antipathy of the early Church to ‘Judaising’. On the other hand, the adherents of Christianity in the earliest days must have unconsciously formed their devotions according to the methods to which they were accustomed. The Eucharist may at first have been moulded somewhat on the lines of the Kiddush, a ceremonial meal held on the eve of the Sabbath and of festivals; if so, it is of little significance, for the Christian sacrament had an inspiration and ideal of its own. More certain is the relationship of the early part of the liturgy with the Sabbath morning Syna?gogue worship. The purposes and the materials at hand for these services of praise, instruction, and prayer were so similar that it was but natural that the Christian system should follow in the accustomed paths, as we shall see it did.

The second century

The writings of Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch give much interesting information about the Eucharist, but throw no light on the development of the rite. There is a long passage in St. Clement’s Epistle to the Romans (cc. 96-8) which has a general resemblance to the Great Thanksgiving of the liturgy, but there is no reason to sup?pose that it is anything more than a fervent prayer which the author composed for the purpose of the epistle, and it has no close affinity to any specifically liturgical formula [cc. 59-61.] (see Appendix A).

Pliny

There is, however, a much quoted and important letter, written to the Emperor Trajan, about AD 112 by the Roman orator, Pliny the younger, governor at that time of Bithynia. In the course of this letter, in which he consults the Emperor on how he ought to treat the Christians, he describes their worship, as it has been reported to him by the Christians themselves.

But they declared that this was the extent of their crime or error, that they were accustomed on a regular day to meet before dawn to sing the praise (carmen dicere) of Christ as a god, and mutually to bind themselves by an oath (sacramentum), not to any crime, but to commit no theft or robbery or adultery, nor to break faith, and, ‘if challenged, not to deny that a trust has been committed to them’. After this they were accustomed to separate, and meet again later to take food, which however is of an ordinary and harmless kind (promiscuum et innoxium). Even this, however, they gave up after I published my edict, by which in accordance with your orders associations (hetaeriae) had been forbidden.
[Ep. x.96.]

Here there were two gatherings of the Christians, one in the early morning and another later in the day. Of the first we are only told that a hymn was sung and an oath made. The second meeting was for the purpose of a meal. It is impossible from the data to come to any definite conclusion as to what these meetings respectively were. The second certainly looks like the Agape rather than the Eucharist, though it may well be the Agape-Eucharist. The hymn of the morning is probably a psalm accompanied by Scripture reading, or a series of acts of worship. The interesting item is the ‘sacramentum‘; one is tempted to see here already the technical term ’sacrament’, and to suppose that this is therefore the Eucharist already transferred to the morning. It is indeed quite possible that this morning service is the Eucharist, but the word is probably a coincidence, and we cannot say what was the feature that has thus impressed itself on Pliny’s mind. The fact that the Christians gave up the evening feast points to its being an Agape only. The Agape might well be described to a heathen as an ordinary meal; it is more than likely that the witnesses would have said nothing about the essential character of the Eucharist.

Justin Martyr

In the next piece of evidence, however, we find a writer, in defending the Church against the crimes attributed to it, revealing to the heathen something of the nature of the Eucharist, and here we find in Rome for the first time an outline of the liturgy in its main line of descent. St. Justin the Martyr, writing in Rome about AD 145, says:

But, after having washed (i.e. baptized) him who has believed and has been joined to us, we lead him to the place where those we call brethren are assembled, earnestly to offer common prayers for ourselves and for him who has been enlightened, and for all others everywhere, that having learned the truth, we may be accounted as men who practise good lives and keep the commandments, and thus may obtain everlasting salvation. Then breaking off the prayers we salute one another with a kiss. After that, bread is brought to him who presides over the brethren, and a cup of water mixed with wine (ὕδατος καὶ κράματος), And he, when he has received them, sends up praise and glory to the Father of all, through the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and makes a thanksgiving (εὐχαριστίαν ποιεῖται) at some length, because God has deigned to give us these things. And when he has finished the prayers and the thanksgivings, all those present assent to what he has said by repeating ‘Amen‘, a Hebrew word signifying: ‘So be it’. When the president has given thanks, and all the people have assented, those who with us are called deacons give to each of those present a portion of the bread and wine and water, over which the thanksgiving has been made, to partake of them, and they carry away some for those who are not present.

And this food is called among us ‘Eucharist’. It is not lawful for any one to partake of it unless he believes that the things that are taught by us are true, and he has been washed in the washing that is for the forgiveness of sins and the new birth, and thus is living as Christ commanded. For we do not receive these things as ordinary bread and ordinary drink, but, as through the word of God Jesus Christ our Saviour became incarnate, and took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food over which the thanksgiving has been made by a word of prayer which comes from him. (τὴν δι? εὐχῆς λόγου τοῦ παρ? αὐτοῦ εὐχαριστηθεῖσαν τροφήν), [The absence of articles makes the rendering of this phrase doubtful — It may mean 'by a prayer of the word'.] The very food, that is, by which our blood and flesh are nourished by transformation, are the body and blood of the same incarnate Jesus. For the apostles, in the memoirs which have been made by them, and which are called ‘Gospels’, have thus handed down that Jesus gave them commandment: having taken bread he gave thanks and said: ‘This do in remembrance of me; this is my body’. Likewise also taking the cup and having given thanks he said: ‘This is my blood’, and he gave of it to them alone.

And from that time we always recall these things to memory among ourselves, and those of us that have take care of those that lack, and we always help one another. And in all the offerings we make we praise the Creator of all things through his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And on the day which is called Sunday, there is an assembly (συνέλευσις) of all who live in the city and the country into one place, and the Memoirs of the Apostles and the Writings of the Prophets are read as long as there is time. Then, when the reader stops, the president admonishes and exhorts those present to the imitation of these good things. Then we all stand up together and send up prayers, and, as we have said before, when our prayers have ceased, bread is offered, and wine and water, and the president likewise sends up prayers and thanksgivings as much as he is able, and the people assent, saying ‘Amen’. And the distribution and reception is made for each from the things over which thanksgiving has been made, and some is sent by the deacons to those who are not present.
[Apol. i. 67.]

There is no doubt whatever that these two accounts are descriptions of the same rite, the former being for the communion of the newly baptized. If the prayers in the Didache are prayers for the baptismal love-feast, it is a striking fact that in Justin also we have first the neophytes’ Eucharist, and later that of the ordinary Sunday, but Justin makes no mention of the Agape, and the reception of the newly baptized might well have become attached to the eucharistic portion of the double feast instead of to the Agape.

There is now a distinct order of service:

1. Readings (only mentioned for Sunday).
2. Sermon
3. Prayers.
4. Kiss of Peace (only mentioned in the Baptismal Eucharist).
5. The Offering of bread and wine mixed with water.
6. The Prayers and Thanksgivings with Amen.
7. Communion.

The Lections mentioned are ‘the Memoirs of the Apostles or the Writings of the Prophets’; but the ἤ can hardly be pressed, especially in view of μέχρις ἐγχωπεῖ. The ‘Memoirs’ are certainly the Gospels, as Justin explains this in chapter 66. It is a little unusual that the Prophet should follow the Gospel, but there is no reason for supposing that the phrase refers to Christian prophets, as we find the pro?phetic lection holding a place in the earliest liturgies. The expression probably indicates the Old Testament in general.

The Sermon is an explanation of the Lection and its application to the life of the congregation.

Prayers are mentioned twice; in the Baptismal Eucharist we are told that the first prayers (this account does not mention prayer with the thanksgiving) were for all Christian people, that they may live good lives. Indeed, the prayer is apparently not restricted to Christians, for elsewhere Justin says that the Church prayed for the Jews and for all men.

Next comes the Kiss of Peace; though only mentioned in the baptismal form, it was probably used in the general Eucharist also.

Here then we have in broad outline the substance of the later liturgy. Apparently the catechumens have as yet no part in the sacred mysteries, not even in the preparatory portions, so that we can only divide the rite into two parts; the first, down to the Kiss of Peace, is the Pre-Anaphora. containing the Lections, Prayers, Offertory, and Kiss of Peace; the Anaphora, as it will be called later, i.e. the central formula of Consecration, is represented by the ‘Thanksgiving’. What was the form of the Thanksgiving there is no indication. If the words, ‘ by a word of prayer which comes from him’, are to be pressed, it will mean the Lord’s Prayer, rather than the narrative of the Institution, for the latter interpretation is inconsistent with the next sentence, where our Lord’s words are a commandment and not a prayer. This is not to say that the account of the Institution was not included in the prayer, but it is un?likely that it was ‘the word of prayer’.

We may notice the early date of the mixed chalice, and the reservation for the absent. In the rite also the mention of the Holy Spirit in connexion with the offerings should be noted.

Other writers

St. Irenaeus also mentions the Readings, Sermon, Hymns, Offertory, Prayers, and Amen. Two important passages dealing with the consecration will be considered in connexion with the Epiclesis. He gives us none of the forms used in the liturgy, except short formulae like ‘for ever and ever’.

St. Clement of Alexandria has the same features, and in addition he may refer to the Sanctus: ‘We always give thanks to God, as do the creatures (ζῶα – Zoa) who sing to him hymns of praise’, referring to the Seraphim [strom, vii. 12.].

There are some apocryphal works, which must also be quoted, for they contain eucharistic prayers. The first of these is the Acts of John, the authorship of which was attributed by Eusebius, Epiphanius, and others to Leucius Charinus. It belongs to late in the second century, and seems to come from Encratite circles [Woolley dates it AD160.]. This has several eucharistic prayers, of which this is an example:

And having asked for bread he gave thanks thus:

What praise, or what offering (προσφορά)
or what thanksgiving shall we mention in breaking this bread,
but thee alone, Lord Jesus?
We glorify thy Name which was spoken by the Father.
We glorify thy Name, which was spoken by the Son.
We glorify thy opening of ‘the door’.
We glorify the Resurrection which has been manifested to us by thee.
We glorify thy ‘way’.
We glorify thy ’sowing thy Word’,
thy grace, thy faith, thy ’salt’, thy ‘pearl of great price’,
thy ‘treasure’, thy ‘plough’, thy ‘net’,
thy greatness, thy crown,
thy being called for us the ‘Son of Man’,
thy gift of truth, thy peace, thy knowledge,
thy power, thy commandment, thy confidence,
thy hope, thy love, thy freedom,
the refuge that there is in thee.
For thou, Lord, only art the root of immortality,
and the fountain of incorruption,
and the throne of eternity.
And thou hast been called all this for us now,
in order that we, calling thee by these names,
may know thy greatness un-perceived by us until now,
and recognized by the pure only,
and reflected in thy manhood alone.
[Acta Johannis, c. 109.]

This prayer, and the others given in the Acts of John [Ibid., cc. 85, 110.] have little relation to the later liturgy, except a faint resemblance to the Anamnesis; but its method has some likeness to similar prayers to be found in the Acts of Thomas, a Syriac Gnostic work, also used by the Encratites and other heretics. Its date is late second or early third century. Here the eucharistic conception is more developed.
He brought bread and wine and placed it on the table, and began to bless it and said:

‘Living bread’, the eaters of which die not,
bread that fillest hungry souls with thy blessing,
thou that art worthy to receive the gift,
and to be for the remission of sins,
that those who eat thee may not die,
we name the Name of the Father over thee.
We name the Name of the Son over thee.
We name the Name of the Spirit over thee,
the exalted Name that is hidden from all.

And he said:

In thy Name, Jesus,
may the power of the blessing and the thanksgiving come upon this bread,
that all the souls which take of it may be renewed,
and their sins forgiven them.
[Wright, Apoc. Acts of App. ii. 268.]

And he brake and gave to Sifur and to his wife and his daughter.

A further example from this book is interesting as providing an example of an Invocation.

And he began to say:

Come, gift of the exalted;
come, perfect mercy;
come, Holy Spirit;
come, revealer of the mysteries of the chosen among the prophets;
come, proclaimer by his Apostles of the combats of our victorious athlete;
come, treasure of majesty;
come, beloved of the mercy of the Most High;
come, thou silent one, revealer of the mysteries of the exalted;
come, utterer of hidden things and shewer of the works of our God;
come, giver of life in secret, and mani?fold in thy deeds;
come, giver of joy and rest to all who cleave unto thee;
come, power of the Father, and wisdom of the Son,
for ye are one in all;
come and communicate with us in this Eucharist which we celebrate,
and in this offering which we offer,
and in this commemoration which we make.

There are several forms of words of Administration:

Let it be unto thee for a remission of transgressions and sins,
and for the everlasting resurrection.
Let this Eucharist be unto you for life and rest,
and not for judgment and vengeance.
Let this Eucharist be unto you for grace and mercy,
and not for judgment and vengeance.
Let this Eucharist be to you for life and rest and joy and health
and for the healing of your souls and your bodies.
[These and other illustrative texts will be found in Woolley, Liturgy of the Primitive Church.]

It is evident that these forms, which differ considerably among themselves, are not in the regular line of development, for the Acts of Thomas was probably written in the early years of the third century, when the normal type of liturgy, still very flexible and adaptable, had already attained a general outline and substance which is recognizably the same as it has in its varying forms to-day. But, with the data at present available, it is impossible to say to what extent at this time those who celebrated the Eucharist in the orthodox Churches were at liberty to depart from the more usual type, and improvise their own prayers; nor can we say whether the type of rite which was ultimately to become universal was always predominant, or whether it was only one of several, and eventually ousted the others.

Woolley suggests that there were three or perhaps four forms current in the second century; one of the ordinary type, one based on Grace before meals, one based on the baptismal formula, blessing the bread and wine in the name of the Holy Trinity, and perhaps one based on the Lord’s Prayer.[Op. cit. 45.]

The third century

At the end of the second century and in the earlier part of the third century the information about the liturgy be?comes more abundant, and we can gather from Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, and other writers many details about the contents of the service. But in none of these are the texts of the rite given. The details derived from them will best be noticed when we consider the liturgy in its separate parts. It is early in the third century that we first come upon a text of at least the central portion of the liturgy, which is reinforced within a few years by other texts and commentaries, which make it clear that at the beginning of the century a certain uni?formity of plan had established itself in various parts of the world, and that that plan was a development of what we have already seen in Justin Martyr.

The ‘Apostolic Tradition’ of Hippolytus

The account referred to is that contained in what was till recently known as the Egyptian Church Order, but is now more suitably called the Apostolic Tradition. This is one of a number of manuals which existed in the early Church, of which the Didache may be considered the earliest; most of them were later than the ‘Apostolic Tradition’. They contain directions for carrying out the social and religious work of the Church, and some of them give the text of the rites to be used. The Apostolic Tradition is known in several forms.

1. In the great Ethiopian law book called the Sinodos. This is usually known as the Ethiopic Church Ordinances or Statutes of the Apostles,
2. In the Coptic Ecclesiastical Canons [Sahidic Ecc. Canons, and Bohairic Apost. Const. and Canons of App.] there is a section generally known as the Egyptian Church Ordinances, which corresponds to (a)
3. A Latin translation, probably of the fourth century, of the same document, commonly referred to as the ‘Verona Latin Fragments’, is also known from a palimpsest of the late fifth century,
4. There is an Arabic version of the Coptic edition. Closely connected with these are two other works, one
5. which has only survived in Arabic, known as the Canons of Hippolytus, and
6. Testamentum Domini, of which a Syriac and an Ethiopian version are known. [Dom Gregory Dix, The Apostolic Tradition, is now the most con?venient edition for English readers. He gives the Latin text as well as the English translation with variants of other versions.] There are other Orders of the same nature as these, and related to them, but only one, the Apostolic Constitutions, to be considered later, is of liturgical interest.

That these works were in some way dependent upon one another has long been known. It was at first thought that the Canons of Hippolytus was the earliest, and that the others derived from it. But of recent years, mainly as a result of the careful work of Dom R. H. Connolly [Camb. Texts and Studies, vol. viii: The so-called Eg. Ch. Order. Connolly was anticipated by Prof. E. Schwartz, but to him is due the conviction now general.R. Lorenz, De Eg. Kerkord. en Hipp. van Rome, challenges his conclusions.], it has become fairly well established that the original is the Apostolic Tradition mentioned above, and that this is the work of Hippolytus, a scholar of great renown in Rome early in the third century, who contributed many import?ant theological works, and whose own life is somewhat a mystery. Eusebius, who wrote about AD 325, says that he was ‘bishop of another Church (than Jerusalem) some?where ‘; but there is evidence that he himself claimed to be Bishop of Rome, though he is not mentioned in any of the lists of the Bishops of Rome. He was certainly in strong opposition to Popes Zephyrinus and Callistus, but he was exiled with Pope Pontianus, and apparently their bodies were brought back together to Rome. It is generally assumed that he was the first Roman Antipope, but it is hard to reconcile that with the fact that he was canonized by the Roman Church. In 1551 there was found in the cemetery of St. Hippolytus in Rome a marble statue of a man seated on a chair which, from the inscription on the chair, was learned to be that of Hippolytus. On the side of the chair is engraved a list of his works and the kalendar that he is known to have constructed. Among the works is included ἁποστολικὴ παράδοσις – apostilike paradosis, which is evidently the work we are now considering. The book must be dated not far from AD 217.

In view of the importance of the liturgy set out in this document it is given here in full. The Coptic and Arabic versions and Canons of Hippolytus do not preserve the liturgy, though the last refers to it. The following is from the Latin version. It immediately follows after the form for the Consecration of a bishop; but although it is the liturgy used in connexion with that function, it seems also to be the one used on ordinary occasions.

And when he has been made bishop all offer him the Kiss of Peace (os pacis), saluting him because of the dignity he has been given.
Then the deacons offer the oblation to him,
and he, laying his hands on it with the whole presbytery, giving thanks, says:

The Lord be with you. And all say: And with thy spirit.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up unto the Lord.
Let us give thanks unto the Lord. It is meet and right.

And so now he goes on:

We give thanks to thee, O God,
through thy beloved Servant,
[I have used the word 'servant' to translate 'puer' as also παῖς - pais, to preserve the connexion with the many passages where ' servant' is required; but here 'son' would be better.]
Jesus Christ,
whom in the last times thou didst send to us
as Saviour and Redeemer and Messenger (angelus) of thy will;
who is thine inseparable Word,
through whom thou hast made all things,
and in whom thou wast well pleased;
Whom thou didst send from heaven into the womb of the Virgin,
and who having been contained in the womb was incarnate,
and was manifested to be thy Son,
being born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin,
who fulfilling thy will and purchasing for thee a holy people,
stretched out his arms when he was to suffer,
that by his passion he might free those who believed in thee;
And when he was betrayed to a voluntary passion,
that he might end death, and break the chains of the devil, and tread down hell,
and illuminate the righteous, and determine the end, and manifest the resurrection;
Taking bread and giving thanks to thee, he said:
Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you;
likewise also the cup saying:
this is my blood, which is shed for you;
as often as ye do this do it in remembrance of me:
Remembering therefore his death and resurrection,
we offer to thee the bread and the cup, giving thanks to thee,
because thou hast made us worthy to stand before thee and minister to thee;
And we pray that thou wilt send thy Holy Spirit upon the oblation of thy holy Church,
that uniting them into one (in unum congregans)
thou wouldst grant to all thy saints that receive it
the fulness of the Holy Spirit for the confirmation of faith in truth,
that we may praise and glorify thee;
Through thy servant Jesus Christ,
through whom be glory and honour to thee,
Father and Son with the Holy Spirit,
in thy holy Church,
now and ever,
Amen.
[Dix, p.6, for Latin original.]

In the Latin version there is then a blessing of oil, cheese, and olives, and in the Ethiopian version a series of com?munion prayers follow, which are not part of the original, though probably early. These will be noticed in their proper place.

Connolly’s argument for assigning the authorship to Hippolytus chiefly depends on the frequent coincidences in language and thought between this and his other writings. This means that the wording is his own, but it may not be so in the Eucharistic prayer. The following passage, however, shows that the great importance Hippolytus attaches to the apostolic tradition concerns the general structure and contents of the rite, and not the mode of expression:

It is not altogether necessary for him to recite the same words as we gave before in his thanksgiving to God, as though he had learned to say them by heart; but let each one pray according to his ability. If indeed he is able to pray suitably a prayer of elevated style, that is well; but if he is only able to pray according to a fixed form (so Dix, lit. ‘ in measure’; cf.’ canonical’) no one may prevent him, so long as his prayer is doctrinally sound. [Eth. vers. Stat. 25. See Dix, 19.]

We shall see this modified liberty of improvisation echoed at a later date.

Baumstark thinks that Hippolytus was so reactionary as to turn back from current practice to a state of things prior to the fusion of the Jewish morning prayers (the Mass of the Catechumens) with the thanksgiving after a feast (the Anaphora), and that this was due to his opposition to the Pope [Irenikon, xi (May-June 1934), 146.]. The book does speak of a morning ‘instruction’ (catechizatio) which the faithful are to attend, when it is held, before going to work; but they are also told to partake of the Eucharist before eating anything else. There is no reason to suppose that there was no ‘ Mass of the Cate?chumens ‘ preceding Hippolytus’s Anaphora; it is naturally not mentioned in the Mass described, as that follows the bishop’s consecration. There are indeed slight indications of the ‘Mass of the Catechumens’.

There can be no doubt that this work of Hippolytus was widely known, at any rate in the fourth century. Its influence has, however, often been exaggerated; for, while it does probably represent fairly well the liturgy in use in both East and West at the end of the second century, and has formed the core of the chief Ethiopian Anaphora, it does not appear to have directly affected the other Eastern liturgies. It is a witness for them rather than a source.

An examination of the Consecration Prayer of the Apostolic Tradition shows a considerable advance on that of Justin. We have now:

1. The Prayers (mentioned in xxii. 6, ‘after the prayers let them give the Kiss of Peace’).
2. Kiss of Peace.
3. Offertory.
4. Sursum Corda.
5. Thanksgiving.
6. An account of the Incarnation.
7. The Institution of the Sacrament.
8. A Memorial of our Lord’s death and resurrection (Anamnesis).
9. The Oblation of the bread and cup.
10. The Invocation of the Holy Spirit.

It will be seen that 5-10 make only one compound sentence with the Oblation and the Invocation as the principal verbs (we offer… and we pray).

Dura Europos in Syria was founded by Alexander’s lieutenant, Seleucus Nicator. The town was closely linked with Palmyra, serving as an important forward line of defense against Persians. It was captured and destroyed by the Sassanids in 256 AD shortly before the fall of the Syrian Metropolis itself.

The site did not attract significant attention until 1921, when mural paintings were discovered, notably synagogue frescoes dating from 235 AD which were in a remarkable state of preservation.

From Web syllabus for  History of Western Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh

From the Judaica Collection at Sterling Memorial Library

Home Worship of the Early Christians

In the 1920’s archaeologists working in present-day Syria uncovered in the desert sands a Roman garrison town, Dura Europos; once located at the edge of the Persian empire of the Sassanids.

In 256 A.D. the Persians laid siege to the town. The desperate inhabitants attempted defend their town by piling mounds of dirt against the walls. In doing so, houses next to the west wall were buried and thus preserved for the archaeologist who uncovered them, almost 1700 years later.

The archaeologist discovered that three of the covered homes had been renovated for use as religious buildings. One had become a Mithraeum, dedicated to the worship of the god Mithras. Another had undergone structural modifications to become a Jewish synagogue. The third home had been converted to a Christian church. This Christian church is especially important as it is the earliest complete church extant.

Inside the house church at Dura Europos

Fresco detail: The healing of the Paralytic. Click to enlarge…

An examination of the remains yields much about the liturgy of the early Christian church.

A typical Roman upper class house was centered around a columned courtyard with an open room caled the atrium . In the center of the courtyard was a pool or impluvium. At the opposite end from the entrance was a raised area tablinum containing a table and used by the family as a reception area and for ceremonial functions.

In the Dura Europos home converted to a church, scholars speculate that the congregation gathered around the pool, which was used for baptism. In the tablinum sat the bishop, who presided over the Eucharist, celebrated at the table. This arrangement provides a logical basis for the liturgical arrangement of later basilica churches.

Since the Lord warns us, saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and since He bids us to be simple to harmlessness, and yet with our simplicity to be prudent, then what else, beloved brethren, befits us than to use foresight and watching with an anxious heart, both to perceive and to beware of the wiles of the crafty foe; that we, who have put on Christ the wisdom of God the Father, may not seem to be wanting in wisdom in the matter of providing for our salvation?

For it is not persecution alone that is to be feared; nor those things which advance by open attack to overwhelm and cast down the servants of God. Caution is more easy where danger is manifest, and the mind is prepared beforehand for the contest when the adversary avows himself. The enemy is more to be feared and to be guarded against, when he creeps on us secretly; when, deceiving by the appearance of peace, he steals forward by hidden approaches.

More…

The author identifies himself as James — presumably the kinsman of Jesus — and claims to have written shortly after the death of Herod in 4 B.C. This dating is unlikely, however, as the work shows the influence of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. An early boundary is set by the use of Matthew and Luke; a late boundary is set by Origen’s referring to the work, and by its inclusion in the Bodmer papyri. Within this range, a dating in the middle of the second century is accepted by most scholars.

The majority of the work is devoted to the life of Mary, the mother of Christ. She is portrayed not only as a virgin but as an example of purity her entire life. Its popularity is attested to by the numerous surviving ancient translations, the earliest dating back to the third century. It confirms the antiquity of such traditions as Joseph’s being a widower with several children, who is appointed Mary’s guardian; the birth of Jesus in a cave; and the martyrdom of John the Baptist’s father Zechariah during the slaughter of the infants.

Over 140 manuscripts containing the Greek text of the Infancy Gospel of James have been recovered. We have the book in the original Greek and in several oriental versions, the oldest of which is the Syriac. But, oddly enough, there is no Latin version. The matter is found in an expanded and altered form in the ‘Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew’, but we have yet to find an old Latin translation of the present text. Such a thing seems to have existed, since the work is condemned in the Gelasian Decree.

Though the Protevangelium has never been considered Scripture, it is well worth reading to see what early Christians accepted as normal. Within living memory of the last of the apostles, the Protevangelium was being copied, translated and distributed among the churches, who found it both profitable and familiar.

Read the text…

They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life.  This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do.  Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man’s lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth.

They live in their own countries, but only as aliens.  They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners.  Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land.  They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring.  They share their food with each other, but not their marriage bed.  It is true that they are “in the flesh,” but they do not live “according to the flesh.”

They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.  They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require.  They love all men, and by all men are persecuted.  They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life.  They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance.  They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated.  They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay respect.

When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life.  They are treated by the Jews as foreigners and enemies, and are hunted down by the Greeks; and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their enmity.

The Epistle to Diognetus, ch. 5
2nd century

Christian Baptism

I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, “Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers’ wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Esaias the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from your souls; learn to do well; judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool; and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if ye refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

And for this rite we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads to the layer the person that is to be washed calling him by this name alone. For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and if any one dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness. And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Ghost, who through the prophets foretold all things about Jesus, he who is illuminated is washed.

Its imitation by demons

And the devils, indeed, having heard this washing published by the prophet, instigated those who enter their temples, and are about to approach them with libations and burnt-offerings, also to sprinkle themselves; and they cause them also to wash themselves entirely, as they depart from the sacrifice, before they enter into the shrines in which their images are set. And the command, too, given by the priests to those who enter and worship in the temples, that they take off their shoes, the devils, learning what happened to the above-mentioned prophet Moses, have given in imitation of these things. For at that juncture, when Moses was ordered to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites who were there, and while he was tending the flocks of his maternal uncle in the land of Arabia, our Christ conversed with him under the appearance of fire from a bush, and said, “Put off thy shoes, and draw near and hear.” And he, when he had put off his shoes and drawn near, heard that he was to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites there; and he received mighty power from Christ, who spoke to him in the appearance of fire, and went down and led out the people, having done great and marvellous things; which, if you desire to know, you will learn them accurately from his writings.

Baptism and the consecration of the Eucharist

But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized illuminated person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito so be it. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.

The Eucharist

And this food is called among us Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, “This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;” and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is My blood;” and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.

Weekly worship of the Christians

And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith:

[She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the Passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord;

And His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race &mdash in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all;

That He may send the “spiritual wickednesses,” and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love; some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the time of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.

She also believes these points as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them and teaches them, and hands them down with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same.

For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these, for no one is greater than the Master; nor, on the other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For since the faith is ever one and the same, neither does he who is able at great length to discourse regarding it make any addition to it; nor does he who can say but little diminish it.

— from Against Heresies 1.10. 1-2