Liturgy of Saint Basil
The Liturgy of Saint Basil or, more formally, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great (
Texts
The various extant anaphoras attributed to St. Basil in the various Eastern Christian rites may be classified into two groups: one which includes the Egyptian texts, and one which includes all other texts.[1]
The older Egyptian version was found in 1960 in a Sahidic Coptic,
The other group of the Liturgies of Saint Basil includes the
The older manuscript of the Byzantine version is 8th century Codex Barberini Gr. 336, and this text was the ordinary liturgy celebrated in
History
The Anaphora of Saint Basil, in its core structure, arose in the 4th century. Over time, crucial parts of the anaphora were expanded by inserting credal statements. In particular in the prayer after the Sanctus, but also in the expansion of the Anamnesis, which was influenced by the Christological debates of that period. These changes appear to have been influenced by the dogmatic definitions of the Synods of Antioch in 341 and 345.[5] The parts of this liturgy placed before and after the anaphora are generally deemed to be later.
With regards to the supposed lost common source (Ω-BAS) of Byzantine group of versions, Engberding (1931) as well as following scholars as Gabriele Winkler (2005) suggest that the ancient Armenian version (the Liturgy of Saint Gregory the Illuminator) is the one which has better preserved the readings of Ω-BAS. Gabriele Winkler underlined also direct Syrian influences on this text.[5]
On regards the relation between the Byzantine and the Egyptions groups of versions, there is no a clear consensus among scholars: while Winkler supports a certain preeminence of the ancient Armenian version, other scholars such as Engberding and Fenwick suggest that the older Sahidic Egyptian version is roughly correspondent to a hypothetical text from which also Ω-BAS derived.[3]: 231, 5 While there is no historical evidence that Basil of Caesarea was the author of the older Egyptian version, he visited as laymen Egypt in 356-7,[3]: 220 and it is therefore possible that there he entered in contact with Egyptian texts which he later modified, tuning the liturgical structure and enforcing a more developed theological structure,[6]: 129–30 so giving origin to the other Basilian versions.
Literary testimonies
A certain reference to a liturgical text which went under the name of Basil is given in a letter of Peter the Deacon, one of the Scythian monks sent to Rome to settle certain dogmatic questions. Writing about the year 520 to the African bishops in exile in Sardinia, Peter, an Oriental, mentions a Liturgy of Saint Basil, which was known and used throughout the entire East, and even quotes a passage from it.[7][1]
Leontius of Byzantium, writing about the middle of the 6th century, censures Theodore of Mopsuestia because he was not content with the liturgies handed down by the Church Fathers to the churches, but composed a Liturgy of his own, showing thereby no reverence either for that of the Apostles, or for that composed in the same spirit by Basil.[8] The Quinisext Council, or "Council In Trullo" (692), in its thirty-second canon draws an argument from the written Liturgy of the archbishop of the church of the Cæsareans, Basil, whose glory has spread through the whole world.[9][1]
In tracing the history of this liturgy, scholars have been for a long time misdirected by a 16th-century forgery under the name of
Byzantine Liturgy
The Byzantine Liturgy is used in the countries which were evangelized from Constantinople, or which came under its influence for any considerable period. Since the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has become the normal liturgy of the Byzantine Church, that of St. Basil is now used only ten times a year:
- The five Sundays of Great Lent (Palm Sunday is not considered by the Orthodox to be part of Lent)
- On Holy (Maundy) Thursday and Holy Saturday
- On the Great Feastsof Nativity or Theophany fall on a Sunday or Monday, the Liturgy of St. Basil is celebrated on the day of the feast, and the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated on the Eve.
- On the Gregorian Calendarfor the years 1901–2100).
The Liturgy, as it is currently celebrated in the Byzantine Rite differs very little from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the primary difference being in the silent prayers said by the priest; also the hymn
Differences from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Liturgy of Preparation (Prothesis)
- Mention of St. Basil instead of St. John Chrysostom at the removal of particles and at the dismissal
Liturgy of the Faithful
- First Prayer of the Faithful
- Second Prayer of the Faithful
- Prayer of Fervent Supplication
- Anaphora (see details, below), ending with All of Creation and its prayer
- Prayer for the Church, ending with the priest's ekphony, "And grant that with one mouth and one heart we may glorify and praise..."
- Prayer at the Ekteniaof Supplication
- Prayer at the Bowing of Heads
- Prayer of Thanksgiving after communion
- Prayer before the Ambon (used on 1 January, and inconsistently at other Liturgies of St. Basil)[citation needed]
- Dismissal (mentioning St. Basil instead of St. John Chrysostom)
- During the Prayers After Communion, the troparion and kontakion chanted are those to St. Basil.
Anaphora
The Anaphora proper begins after the
While the actual
The
The Great Intercession for the living and the dead is much longer in St. Basil.
Because of the longer prayers that make up the Anaphora of Saint Basil, the musical settings for the hymns chanted during the prayers are longer and often more ornate than those used during the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
Coptic Liturgy
The main liturgy used by the Coptic Church is known as Liturgy of Saint Basil.
Anaphora
The Egyptian (or Coptic) anaphora of Saint Basil, even if related and using the same
The structure of the Bohairic Coptic version used today in the Coptic Church can be summarized as follow:
- Anaphora:
- the Opening Dialogue
- the Christby whom all things were made.
- the Pre-Sanctus, praising the Father on his throne of glory and worshiped by the hosts, so introducing
- the Sanctus, conducted without the Benedictus,
- the Post-Sanctus, recalling the whole history of Passion, Resurrection of Christ up to the Last Judgment,
- the Institution narrative,
- the Anamnesis, referring to the Passion, Resurrection and Second Coming of Christ,
- the Oblation, offering to the Father the Eucharistic gifts,
- the Epiclesis, asking the Holy Spirit to come and to sanctify and manifest the gifts as the Most Holy. The Holy Spirit is then asked to make the bread the Body and the chalice the Blood of Christ,
- the Intercessions, praying for the participants to become one single body, for the Church, for the Saint Basil. Then the diptychsare read, followed by the prayers for the dead,
- a prayer for the fruit of the Communion and the final doxology.
- the
The 7th-century Sahidic Coptic version found in 1960[2] shows an earlier and more sober[clarification needed] form of the Bohairic text: the manuscript, incomplete in its first part, begins with the Post Sanctus, and is followed by a terse Institution narrative, by a pithy Anamnesis which simply lists the themes and ends with the oblation. The next Epiclesis consists only of the prayer to the Holy Spirit to come and manifest the gifts, without any explicit request to change the gifts in the Body and Blood of Christ. The intercessions are shorter and only Mary is named among the saints.[6]: 112
Divine Liturgy
The term Liturgy of Saint Basil may refer also to the whole
Offertory
It begins with the dressing of the priest with
Then takes place the elaborate rite of the choosing of the Lamb: while the congregation sing 41 times the
The last part of the offertory resembles an anaphora: after a dialogue, the priest blesses the congregation and proclaims a prayer of thanksgiving, giving thanks to God for his support to us, and asking him for a worthy participation to the liturgy. Then comes the prayer of covering, said inaudibly by the priest, which has the form of an epiclesis, asking God to show his face on the gifts, and to change them in order that the bread and wine may became the Body and Blood of Christ. This text might come from an ancient anaphora or simply be a later High Middle Ages creation.[15] The paten and the ark with inside the chalice are here covered with a veil.
Liturgy of the Catechumens
In the
It begins with a
The reading from the Pauline epistles is preceded by the offering of incense at the four sides of the altar, at the iconostasis, at the book of the Gospel and at the faithfuls in the nave; in the meantime the faithfuls sing a hymn to Mary and a hymn of intercession. The Pauline epistle is followed by a reading from the Catholic epistles, and by one from the Acts of the Apostles. Another offering of incense is conduced (the Praxis Incense), similar to the Pauline incense except that only the first row of the faithfuls is incensed. A reading from the Coptic Synaxarium can follow.
After these readings, the
Liturgy of the Faithful
The Liturgy of the Faithful is the core of the Divine Liturgy, where are placed the proper
It begins with the prayer of the Veil,
The Anaphora is conduced. After the anaphora takes place the consignation,[15] i.e. the moistening of the Lamb with some drops of the consecrated Wine, which is show to the worship of the faithful. The Fraction of the consecrated Lamb ensues, during which the priest says a prayer which varies according to the Coptic calendar. All of the congregation stands and prays with open hands the Lord's Prayer.
To be prepared for partaking of the Eucharist, the faithful bow while the celebrant says in low voice the prayer of submission, then the priest and the participants offer each other a wish of peace and the priest inaudibly prays the Father for the forgiveness of sins (The Absolution to the Father).
The Elevation reminds the one of the Byzantine Rite, with the celebrant who raises the portion of the Lamb engraved with a cross (the ispadikon) crying: "The holy things for the holy ones". The priest makes a second consignation and puts gently the ispakidon in the chalice (the commixture),[16] then he recites aloud a Confession of faith. The partaking of the Eucharist follows, first the Body of Christ given to the celebrants, to the deacons and to the faithful who approach the sanctuary without shoes and then the Blood of Christ in the same order. Psalm 150 is sung in the meantime, followed by other hymns and melodies related to the Mysteries, or for any fast or feast being celebrated. The distribution of the Eucharist ends with a blessing with the Paten.
The dismissal rites include The Prayer of Laying the Hands and the final blessing.
Armenian Liturgy
Not used since about the 10th century, the
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Goggin, John (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- ^ a b J.Doresse and E. Lanne, Un témoin archaique de la liturgie copte de S.Basile, Louvain, 1960
- ^ ISBN 9780814662274.
- ^ ISBN 002897025X.
- ^ a b Winkler, Gabriele (2005), "Trinity and Liturgy: the Syrian Tradition (abstract)", Liturgy Conference 2005, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Institute of Sacred Music, archived from the original on 2005-02-17, retrieved 2007-12-31
- ^ ISBN 978-0814661536.
- ^ Patrologia Latina, LXV, 449
- ^ Patrologia Graecae, LXXXVI, 1368
- ^ Mansi, Coll. Conc., XI, 958
- ^ [1] "Venerable Gregory Domesticus of the Great Lavra of Mt Athos", Retrieved 2017-11-12
- ^ ISBN 9780195138863.
- ISBN 9780814661192.
- ^ Sleman, Abraam (ed.). "St. Basil Liturgy Reference Book" (PDF). CopticChurch.net. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ Malaty, Tadrous Y. (1973). Christ in the Eucharist. OrthodoxEbooks. p. 119.
- ^ ISBN 9781444333619.
- ^ "The Fraction in The Coptic Orthodox Liturgy". britishorthodox.org. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ISBN 9780814662274.
External links
- The Divine Liturgy of our Father Among the Saints, Basil the Great full text of the current Byzantine Liturgy of Saint Basil
- Anaphora for the Liturgy of St. Basil Byzantine setting
- Online text of the Coptic Liturgy of Saint Basil as used at present by the Coptic Church
- The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great (with Scriptural footnotes)