Of far greater significance for Christian worship was our Lord's transformation of the Jewish
domestic ritual of the common family meal, at the Last Supper with His disciples "in the night in
which he was betrayed." To the Jew every meal was a sacred act, for it was nothing less than a
participation in the gifts of God's bountiful creation. Liturgical thanksgivings were offered before
and after each meal by the head of the family, by means of which the food and drink were
consecrated and made a means of religious communion with God and with one another. The
blessing and breaking of the common loaf of bread formally opened the act of fellowship. And on
special occasions, at the conclusion of the meal, a cup of wine mingled with water was solemnly
blessed by the head of the company and passed around the table for each one to partake of it. The
thanksgiving over the cup followed a traditional pattern: i )_ Praise was offered to God for His
provident care and nourishment; 2) His redemptive action in history for His people was recalled;
and 3) prayer was made for the coming of His Kingdom. Our Lord took this familiar ritual and
gave it a new and unforgettable interpretation, by the words He said when He distributed the
bread and the cup. So the Jewish domestic liturgy became the distinctive liturgy of "the household
of faith" (Gal. 6:10), of those who believe in Him and share the benefits of His redeeming sacrifice
THE EARLY CHURCH
The New Testament gives us various glimpses of the earliest Christian disciples at their
common prayers, when they gathered in the homes of members to break bread and celebrate with
thanksgiving the wondrous grace new-found in Christ. Much of their worship was informal and
spontaneous, immediately inspired and led by the Spirit at work in their midst. Each one,
according to his spiritual gifts, contributed to the common assembly some psalm or prayer, an
exhortation or a teaching. There were times when the exuberance of the occasion led to disorder
and confusion, with several trying to speak at once. But such disorder, which we know about chiefly
from the church in Corinth, was strongly denounced by the apostle, who insisted that "all things be
done decently and in order."
But the Christians of apostolic times were not entirely lacking in fixed elements and forms in
their worship. They had taken over from the synagogue the regular reading of the Old Testament
and some of its familiar prayers and hymns. There are echoes of this more formal type of praise in
the great anthems that we find scattered through the pages of the Book of Revelation. The prayers
of the Eucharist, said over the bread and the cup, were certainly based upon the Jewish forms used
by our Lord, and probably from the earliest days of the Church these thanksgivings included a
recalling of the Lord's institution of the rite at the Last Supper. Formulas for use at Baptism also
became fixed at a very early date, including brief questions and answers to be recited immediately
before the baptismal act. Then, too, we know that the Lord's Prayer was vised liturgically. For the
form of it contained in St. Matthew's gospel concludes the prayer with a typical Jewish doxology:
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever." This addition of the early
Church is lacking in St. Luke's version of the prayer (11:2-4).
We know very little about the development of the Church's worship in the generation
following the death of the original apostles and leaders. By the middle of the second century,
however, we are sufficiently informed about the pattern of the liturgy generally followed in all the
churches. The Sunday service was held about daybreak in some private house, where a suitable
room was fitted for the common gathering. The bishop was customarily the celebrant, but in his
absence a presbyter might act as his deputy. There were no furnishings in the room except the holy
Table and, behind it, a few seats for the officiating clergy. Each member brought to the service his or
her own offering of bread and wine, to be gathered together at the appropriate time for consecration.
Deacons were posted near the Table to assist the celebrant in his ministrations, or near the door to
keep watch lest any unauthorized intruder enter to molest the group.
We possess a brief description of the Sunday service from an Apology for Christianity
written about the year 150 by a teacher in the church at Rome named Justin. A native of Samaria
in Palestine, Justin was converted to Christianity in Ephesus, and later came to Rome, where he was martyred about the
year 165. He was thus well acquainted with the customs of the Church in both the East
and the West. His description of the Sunday liturgy of the Church was designed to allay
some scandalous gossip about its character that circulated among the pagans. For us it is
invaluable testimony to the ancient shape or "order" of the Eucharist, which underlies all
the later historic rites of Christendom. He says:
On Sunday we all have an assembly at the same place in the cities or countryside, and the
memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read as long as time allows. When the
reader has finished the president makes an address, an admonition and an exhortation about the
imitation of these good things. Then all arise together and offer prayers; and . . . when we
have finished there is brought up bread and wine and water, and the president offers in like
manner prayers and thanksgivings, as much as he is able, and the people cry out saying the
Amen.
The distribution and sharing is made to each from the things over which thanks have
been said, and is sent to those not present through the deacons. The well-to-do and those who are
willing give according to their pleasure, each one of his own as he wishes, and what is collected
is handed over to the president, and he helps widows and orphans, and those who are needy
because of sickness or for any other reason, and those who are in prison and the strangers on their
journeys. In short, he is a guardian to all those who are in want.
Justin does not mention any singing. But we know from other sources that psalms were
chanted between the lessons of Scripture. Note especially that the celebrant is allowed to
say the thanksgiving over the bread and wine according to his ability. In another passage,
however, Justin tells us that the content of this prayer followed a traditional pattern. The "president,"
he says, "offers praise and glory to the Father of all through the Name of the Son and the Holy
Spirit, and gives thanks at great length because we have been counted worthy to receive these
gifts from Him."
A half century after Justin's time another leader in the church at Rome, a presbyter named
Hippolytus, described in a brief manual called The Apostolic Tradition the customs and usages
of the Church. What he tells us about the Eucharist, including the forms of prayer which he sets
forth as a model, confirms the information that we have from Justin. Hippolytus also describes in
some detail the rite of initiation into the Church which took place on Easter Even.
