HANDBOOK TO THE CHRISTIAN LITURGY - By James Norman, M.A. - Archdeacon of the Herbert, North Queensland. - first published by the SPCK 1944. - This Edition prepared for katapi by Paul Ingram 2003.

PART II - COMMENTARY

THE MASS OF THE FAITHFUL - I

From this point to the Anaphora, while the forms are fairly constant, the order varies greatly. Ap-Const has what is probably the original, and certainly the most logical, order:
the Prayers of the Faithful, the Kiss of Peace, and the Offertory.
Since then the Creed has been added, and the ceremonies of the Greater Entrance, due to the development of the Prothesis, have influenced the whole presentation of the rite.
Consequently the Entrance with the Offertory tended to come earlier, and the Kiss of Peace to be postponed until just before the Anaphora.
It is obvious that, in view of our Lord's words about the settlement of differences between brethren, the Kiss should precede the Offertory, so long as the offerings are made by the worshippers in person;
when that practice ceased it probably appeared better that it should come just before the sacramental offering, the Anaphora.
It has also been closely connected with the Diptychs.

The following table shows the order in the various liturgies:

	Key	Ap-C	Jas	Syr-Jac	Mk	Copt	Eth	Nest	Byz	Arm	Rm	Amb
Lit	Litany	Lit	Lit		Lit	Vl	Lit	Lit		Cr	Cr
Pr	Prayer	Pr	Pr	Pr	Pr	Lit	Pr	Pr	Pr	Lit
Ins	Incense		Ins	Ins	Ins	Pr		Inc		Pr		Ks
Ent	Entrance		Ent		Ent			Ent	Ent	Inc		Ent
Bl	Blessing		Bl							Ent
Cr	Creed		Cr	Cr		Cr	Cr	Cr	Off
Ks	Kiss	Ks	Ks	8	Ks	Ks	Lav	Lav	Ks
Lav	Lavatory	Lav		Ks	Ins		Ks	Off	Cr		Off
Inc	Inclination		Inc	Dip	Cr			Dip			Ins	Vl
Off	Offertory	Off	Off		Off						Lav	Off
Dip	Diptych											Dip
Vl	Veil		Vl	Vl				Ks			Off	Cr

With Theodore of Mopsuestia the order was Offertory, Litany, Prayers, Kiss, Lavatory, Diptychs.
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the Prayers of the Faithful

There are two types of prayer, which make up the Prayers of the Faithful in the Eastern Churches, the Litany with its responses, and the longer prayer said by the priest, usually secretly.
They are now often said simultaneously, as with litanies in other places, but they seem originally to have been separate acts of worship.
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the Litany

The word 'litany' is used in several senses, but we have here to do only with the deacon's litany, which consists of a number of sentences in which the deacon calls on the congregation to pray for a certain subject or series of subjects, to which the people respond with Kyrie eleison or some similar phrase.
In the early centuries there are many allusions to the prayers offered for various people, some of which probably refer to such litanies;
but as it is not said how the prayers were offered, we cannot distinguish them from such prayers as we shall consider next.
The writings of St. Chrysostom (370-98) mention the deacon's requests and the subjects of his prayers, and imply the Kyrie eleison: 'and all say one prayer, a prayer for mercy' [See Brightm. Lit. E. & W. 477, notes 7, 8; 478, n. 13.].In the same writer there are four litanies, for the catechumens, the energumens, the penitents, and the faithful respectively. The form probably developed at Antioch, but much earlier than this.
It was established in all the Eastern liturgies before the Nestorian schism, for all have litanies of the same type.
It is, however, the Greek Church that has most developed them, for in some, as in Jas, scarcely any portion of the rite is without its litany.

It evidently became at an early date in the East a custom for the deacon to accompany the priest in all parts of the liturgy with devotions of this kind, so that eventually, with the exception of a few special prayers which the priest said aloud, the whole service was occupied with chants and diaconal prayers, to which the priest added the ecphoneses of his secret prayers.
Hence it is difficult to discover from the numerous litanies scattered about the several rites at what point the deacon's litany was originally introduced, or which petitions belong to it.
On the whole the evidence points to the Prayers of the Faithful;
those of the classes dismissed are probably an extension of this.
Throughout the East we have the same subjects of petition, and often in the same words and phrases, in remotely different regions;
but they are so intermingled, and transposed in position, that their history would be difficult to recover from the manuscripts.

It is from Syria that we have the best information.
That for the catechumens has already been given. Ap-Const has a very long litany in the Mass of the Faithful, much of which occurs nowhere else. St. Chrysostom seems only to be mentioning the subjects, and it will suffice to give his list here:

Let us pray for all the world.
For the Church which extends to the end of the world.
For all bishops, presbyters, &c.
For kings and rulers.
For those who are here and everywhere.
For the sick, those in the mines, those in slavery.
For energumens.
For those on sea and land.
For the weather (ἀέρων).
Let us pray for the angel of peace.
Let us pray that the oblations may bring peace (τὰ προκείμενα πάντα εἰρηνικά).

[Brightm. loc. cit. 478, nil. 13, 14.]

This seems to be the true type of the Litany of the Faithful, which eventually found its completion in the Intercession within the Anaphora. But beside it, as a result of the disappearance of the dismissals, another Litany, which is an adaptation of that for the Catechumens, has found its way into the Prayers of the Faithful. It is found inJas, Nest, Chrys (after the Great Entrance).

Let us attend carefully.
In peace let us beseech the Lord.
For the peace from above, &c.
For the peace of the whole world, &c.
For the salvation and defence of the clergy.
For the forgiveness of sins, &c.
For a perfect, holy, and sinless day.

The Response to these is Kyrie eleison.

The angel of peace, a faithful guide, &c.
Repentance and forgiveness of sins.
What is good and profitable for our souls.
The rest of our life in peace and health.
A Christian end of life.

The Response to these is παράσχου Κύριε.

A commemoration of the Saints with the reply Ζοὶ Κύριε.

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Ecphonesis.

This is from Jas at the Mass of the Faithful.
Ap-Const II has before the Litany a prayer in which reference is made to the fall of Adam and his dismissal from Paradise.
Duchesne thinks this is the prayer said over penitents similar to that of Ap-Const VIII [Christian Worship, 59 n.].
This ends with the Episcopal blessing, Num.vi.24-6, and a prayer taken from scriptural passages: Ps.xxviii.9, 'O save thy people', Acts xx.28, and 1 Pet.i.19, ii.9. Ps.xxviii.9 also ends the Litany before the Gospel in Jas.

In the West there was probably a similar litany in the Mass, which dropped out at an early date in Rome (see Kyrie, p.158), but it was outside the Mass that litanies there found their principal function.
We need not consider them here;
but one of them has made its way into the Missal, the Litany of the Saints, sung on Easter Eve after the blessing of the Font and before Mass begins. Germain tells us that 'here the deacons pray for the people'.
This is a litany similar to those in the East, but we have no books giving the deacons' parts.
Amb has a threefold Kyrie here, and also a litany at the beginning of Mass.
Stowe and Moz have the latter in Lent.
The Gall and Byz Litanies are before the Dismissals;
but one gathers that at Lyons it was ordinarily after, since the Council of Lyons permits penitents as a special favour to remain in the Church 'usque ad orationem plebis quae post evangelium legeretur'.

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the Prayers of the Faithful

The Litany seems to be the most constant representative of the Prayers, which, according to Justin, were ' sent up' between the Sermon and the Offertory [Apol. i.67.]; but there are prayers of the same nature said by the priest in various liturgies, though it is not easy in most cases to determine their contents.
Clement of Alexandria says:
'For we have been taught to say in the prayers: O Lord our God, give us peace, for thou hast given us all things.' [Ep. ad Joan, Ant. v.105.]
This petition has been preserved in Copt and Eth with the address, 'O king of peace', immediately after a petition for the king, his armies, magistrates, &c., 'order them in all peace'. In Mk it has been transferred to the Intercession.
The Council of Laodicea (314-72) ordered three prayers for the faithful before the Kiss of Peace, the first silently, the second and third aloud. Egypt has these three:
(1) for peace,
(2) for the bishops and clergy,
(3) for the safe meeting of the congregations.
Sarap has only the second, but he also has other prayers.

The following in Byz are called 'Prayers of the Faithful'.

prayer of the faithful I:

Thou, Lord, hast showed us this great mystery of salvation,
thou hast vouchsafed to us,
thine humble and unworthy servants,
to be ministers of thy holy altar;
do thou make us sufficient by the power of thy Holy Spirit for this ministry,
that standing blameless before thy holy glory we may bring to thee the sacrifice of praise;
for thou art he that worketh all things in all.
Grant, Lord, that our sacrifice may be acceptable
on behalf of our sins and the transgressions of thy people,
and well-pleasing to thee.
For all glory, honour, and worship is due to thee, &c.

This is from Bas; those of Chrys and of Byz-Greg are of the same character and have the same ecphonesis.
It is to be said after the corporal is spread, and before the Great Entrance.
While it is being said, the deacon and people repeat the same two petitions as were said at the first Antiphon of the Enarxis, 'Again and again in peace', and 'Help and save us' with the words, 'As many as are faithful ' prefixed.
In the thirteenth century the whole Ectene was said each time.

An interesting explanation of the reduction to these two clauses is given by the Διάταξις - Diataxis of Philotheus (1354-76), which tells the deacon to follow the priest, singing the Ectene, until he finishes the prayer, and then he says, Σοφία - Sophia, as a sign that the ecphonesis is to begin.
[De Meester, D.A.C.L. vi. 1619. The Constitution of the Patriarch Philotheus was a canonical law regulating the carrying out of the liturgy.]
In the Rumanian edition of Jassy (1679) it was still complete.
In the recent edition of Bucharest (1902) there are four petitions (or rather sentences).

The memorial of the Enarxis (p. 130) is not said here.

prayer of the faithful II;

Ο God, who hast looked with mercy and pity on our humility,
who hast set us humble and sinful and unworthy servants
before thy holy glory to worship at the holy altar,
do thou strengthen us with the power of the Holy Spirit for this ministry,
and give us, by the opening of our lips,
the power of speech to invoke the grace of thy Holy Spirit
upon these gifts which are to be presented.
For being always guarded by thy power we send up glory to thee, &c.

So Bas. Similar prayers, without the definite reference to the Epiclesis, in Chrys and Greg.
The same lesser litany is repeated here.

It will be noticed that these prayers are not now the kind of prayer described by early writers, but are preparatory to the Offertory and Anaphora.
They are therefore not different from some of the prayers in other liturgies, which are noticed under the heading of Offertory.
Syr-Jac is peculiar in having its Offertory before the Mass of the Catechumens (the Qurbono), and only the traces of one in the usual place.
Apart from the Offertory prayers there is nothing corresponding in Arm.
A prayer which perhaps more truly represents the primitive prayers of the faithful, though much expanded by the compiler's own phraseology, is in Ap-Const immediately after the Litany.

O Lord Almighty, the most high,
who dwellest in the heights',
the holy one that abidest in the holy places,
supreme ruler (ἄναρχε μόναρχε)
who hast given us through Christ the message of knowledge,
that we might know thy glory and thy name,
which he revealed for our understanding,
do thou thyself now look down through him upon this thy flock,
and cleanse it from all ignorance and evil-doing,
and grant it sincerely to fear and love thee,
and to be afraid before thy name.
Be kind and propitious, and deign to hear their prayers;
keep them steadfast, blameless, and unblemished,
that they may be holy in body and soul,
'not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing',
that they may be perfect,
and that none of them be insufficient or defective.
O mighty aid, with whom there is no respect of persons,
be the helper of this thy people,
whom thou hast chosen out of tens of thousands,
whom thou hast purchased by the precious blood of thine anointed,
thou leader and guide,
dispenser and guard,
mighty defence,
bulwark of safety,
'out of whose hand no one may pluck'.
For there is none other God like thee,
for in thee is our refuge.
'Sanctify them in thy truth for thy word is truth.'
O impartial and all-seeing one,
deliver them from 'all manner of sickness and disease',
from all transgression,
from all malice and deception,
from the fear of the enemy,
'from the arrow that flieth by day,
and the pestilence that walketh by night',
and fit them for eternal life which is in Christ, &c.

Mk has prayers accompanying the Litany, in much the same words as the Litany, and then, after an ecphonesis, the deacon continues bidding and the priest prays.
The latter portion seems to correspond with the prayers and resemble the method of the Roman Good Friday prayers (Orationes solemnes).

The only relic of the Prayers of the Faithful in the usual Roman Mass is a Mutual Salutation after the Creed with Oremus, but no prayer follows.
The ancient prayers seem to have been preserved in these Good Friday prayers, which in the eighth century were also used on Wednesday in Holy Week. They are:

for the Church,
the Pope,
bishops, clergy, and ministers,
the Emperor,
catechumens,
against ills,
for heretics and schismatics,
Jews,
pagans.

The form is that the priest says, 'Let us pray for, &c. Let us pray'; deacon, ' Let us bend our knees';
subdeacon, 'Rise', and then the prayer;
but in the case of the Jews, the second ' Let us pray', and the deacon's and subdeacon's proclamations are omitted.
In Gel and Greg the deacon says the ' Rise', and the exception of the Jews is not made.
On other days only the 'Oremus' remains of all this.

Celestine writing to the Bishops of Gaul (431) gives a list of obsecrationes sacerdotales, which are used 'in the whole Catholic Church', and offered 'tota secum ecclesia congemiscente'.
They are:

for infidels,
for idolaters,
for Jews,
heretics,
schismatics,
the lapsed,
catechumens.

[Ep. xxi. 'Apostolici verba praecepti', ad episc. Gall, 11.]

There are many verbal coincidences with the above prayers.
They are more likely to be the ' Prayers' than the ' Litany' of the Faithful.

Baumstark dates these prayers from the time of Cyprian and Cornelius and relates them to the Alexandrian rite (see Inclination, p. 199) and the Eth baptismal formulary.
[Irenikon, xi (July-Aug. 1934), 3l6.]

Angl has restored the Prayers of the Faithful in the ' Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church'.
In 1549 it followed the Sanctus, but in 1552 it was transferred to its ancient place after the Sermon.
It is also made to serve as an Offertory prayer.

When the Prayers of the Faithful disappeared about the seventh or eighth century in the West, 'they left a need unsatisfied, and by the ninth century a practice had grown up of asking, before or after the Sermon, for prayers on behalf of certain subjects mentioned.
This eventually led to the 'Prone', or Bidding Prayer.
The same need is felt in the Church of England today, and is being inadequately met by biddings before the Prayer for the Church Militant;
but as they have no response, and are no part of the liturgy, they are not effective in engaging the devotions of the people.
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the Inclination

This prayer, which occurs only in the Syrian Churches, may be related to the Prayers of the Faithful.

The deacon first proclaims:

Let us bow our heads to the Lord.

Response: To thee, O Lord.

Priest: Thou who alone art a merciful God,
            send thy blessing upon those
            that bend their necks before thine holy altar,
            'O thou that dwellest on high,
            yet regardest the things that are lowly', and bless them;
            through the grace and mercies, &c.

So Syr-Jac. It occurs in Jas after the Kiss, and before the Offertory; in Syr-Jac there is no Offertory, but it occupies the same place. Nest has a longer form.

Angl has here an Exhortation, General Confession, and Absolution, with 'Comfortable Words' reinforcing the Absolution. There is also a 'Prayer of Humble Access', which is, like these, a preparation for communion.
Till 1927 it was after the Sursum corda; but then it was wisely placed after the Comfortable Words.

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the Creed

Listen to the Mirfield community chant the Creed. Music details HERE.

The introduction of the Creed into the liturgy at Antioch is attributed by Theodorus Lector (c. 528) to the Patriarch Peter the Fuller (470-88), and at Constantinople to the Patriarch Timothy I (511-18), both Monophysites [H.E. ii.32.]. In each case, too, this is related in such a way as to imply that previously it was said sometimes, at least in Lent, but that henceforward it was to be used at each synaxis. Under Timothy's successor, Macedonius, the Creed was only recited on Good Friday. In the West it was first used in Spain against the Arians. The third Synod of Toledo (589) orders it before the Lord's Prayer ' according to the king's writ' (this is Reccared) [Canon 2.]. That is its position in Moz. For the same reason it was used in Gaul. It is also found in Stowe. At that time it was not in the Mass in Rome. Leo III (795-816) forbade the use of the filioque clause, then established in Spain and Gaul, and discouraged the inclusion of the Creed in the Mass [Mansi, xiv.19.]. It is not in Greg. It was introduced into Rome by Benedict VIII (1014) at the request of the Emperor Henry II, who was accustomed to it in Germany [Bemo of Reich., De quibusdam rebus, 2.]. There was some demur on the ground that Rome had no need to protect itself against heresy. There is some uncertainty whether the evidence in each case refers to the first introduction, or to its use by priests as well as bishops. St. Gregory the Illuminator (302-31) is said to have introduced the Creed to Armenia.

The position is not uniform. In all the Eastern rites it comes after the Greater Entrance, but while it usually precedes the Kiss of Peace, in Byz and Mk, probably under Byzantine influence, it follows it. Rom, Gall, and Arm have it after the Gospel; Amb after the Offertory, as in Byz. John Biclarensis says that Justin II (565-8) had the Creed put in before the Lord's Prayer [See Brightm. Lit. E. & W. 532, n. 10.], and the Toledo Canon referred to above says that that was the Byzantine custom. There is, however, no other evidence for this, and St. Maximus (d. 662) gives it in the usual Byz position [Myst.18.].Eth-Our Lady puts it uniquely in the Anaphora, after a defence of the Faith against Jews and Moslems, and before the Sanctus.

During the Creed with the Greeks the great Veil (ἀήρ) is held and moved above the altar;
the Ruthenians have abandoned this,
but withdraw the Veil at the end of the Creed.

The following text is that of the Council of Chalcedon (451),
the authoritative Creed of the whole Catholic Church:

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible.

The Greek and Latin Churches have 'I believe', also Deir-B;
but Copt, Eth, Nest, Arm 'we'; Syr-Jac, the priest says 'we', the people 'I'. Nicaea and Nest omit 'heaven and earth'.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God.

Nic has 'only-begotten', not here, but after the next clause;
so Arm, adding 'that is, of the essence of the Father'.
Syr-Jac and Nest 'only Son';
Eth 'the only Son of the Father'.
Deir-B omits 'one'; the Creed in this liturgy is not Nicene.

Begotten of the Father before all worlds (ages).

'Before all worlds' not in Nic nor Arm. Eth: ' who was with him before the world was created'.
Nest prefixes 'the first-born of every creature', which is in the Creed of Caesarea at a later place, and in Justin and the Lucianic here.
Nest also adds 'and not made'.

Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten not made.

Nic had before this, ' God of God'; and Rome and Arm, but not Stowe, insert this. Nest omits 'Light of Light'. ' Very God of very God' comes first in Nic. Eth, 'God of very God'. Stowe, 'born not made'.

Being of one substance with the Father;
by whom (i.e. the Son) all things were made.

Syr-Jac, 'Equal in substance'; Eth, 'Equal in his Godhead'.
Ap-Const VII adds 'in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible', and so Arm. Eth, 'but without him was not anything made in heaven or in earth'.
Nest,'by whom the worlds were framed and all things were created'.

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,
and was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary.

Arm, 'was incarnate, was made man, was born perfectly of the holy Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost'.
Syr-Jac adds 'Mother of God'.
Nest, 'was incarnate of the Holy Ghost, and was made man, and was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary'.

And was made man.

Arm after 'Holy Ghost' has 'by whom he took body, soul, and mind, and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance'.
Stowe, 'homo natus'.

Was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered, and was buried.

Arm, 'who having suffered, having been crucified and buried';
Syr-Jac and Eth, after 'suffered' add 'and died'.
Nest puts 'suffered' in the logical place before the crucifixion.

And rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of the Father,
and cometh again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead,
whose kingdom shall have no end.

Syr-Jac, after 'day' has 'as he willed';
Arm omits 'according to the Scriptures';
Eth,'ascended with glory';
Arm, 'into heaven with the same body', and 'cometh again in the same body in the glory of the Father'.
Nest omits 'with glory'.

And in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and giver of life.

Arm, 'Holy Ghost, uncreated and perfect';
Nest, 'one Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth'.
For 'giver of life' Rom has ' vivificantem';
Stowe, 'vivificatorem'.

Who proceedeth from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,
who spake by the prophets.

The celebrated filioque clause, adding 'and the Son' after the first 'Father', which is in all Western liturgies, originated in Spain, at the third Synod of Toledo (589), whose main object was to confirm the conversion of the Goths, who gave up their Arianism. It is not certain whether the words 'and the Son' were inserted inadvertently after 'from the Father' or whether they were thought to be an additional safeguard against the subordination of the Son. Anathemas were directed against those that denied the procession from the Father and the Son. There is, however, some doubt about the genuineness of the words in the Council of Toledo. Some manuscripts omit them, and in others, later hands added them. In any case it was at this time that they appeared in the text; they were widely adopted, spreading to Gaul. We learn that Charlemagne complained to Pope Hadrian (772-95) of the Creed that had been attached to the Acts of the second Council of Nicaea (787), because they used the phrase, 'the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son'. In 797 the filioque was adopted by northern Italy. In 810 the question of its inclusion, which had caused a dispute between the Latin and Greek monks in Palestine, was referred to a Council held at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the addition was approved. Leo III, without condemning it, refused to give his sanction, because it was not in the Creeds of the Ecumenical Councils. It was probably received in Rome at the same time as the Creed was introduced into the Mass. It is not in the Stowe Missal.

Rome has 'simul adoratur';
Stowe, 'coadorandum'.
Syr-Jac, 'apostles and prophets';
Arm, 'in the law and prophets and gospels, who came down upon the Jordan, preached in the apostles
[So some MSS. Other MSS and printed editions read 'preached the apostle'.]
and dwelt in the Saints'.
Nest omits all after 'Father' and substitutes 'the Spirit, the giver of life'.

In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and we look for a resurrection of the dead
and a life of the world to come.
Amen.

Arm,'in one baptism, in repentance, in propitiation and forgiveness of sins'.
Rom for 'look for' has 'expecto';
Stowe, 'spero'.
Arm, 'in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgment of souls and bodies, in the kingdom of heaven, and in life everlasting'.

An anathema against all who disbelieve in the complete divinity of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and an undertaking to glorify him, are added in Arm;
these peculiarities are probably due to Gregory the Illuminator.

The Deir-B fragments contain a Creed that is apparently part of the eucharistic liturgy, and reads thus:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
and in his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
and in the Holy Spirit,
and in the resurrection of the flesh,
and the Holy Catholic Church.

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the Kiss of Peace

This is closely associated with the Creed.
The Kiss was in use among the Jews as a sign, ranging from affection to respectful courtesy.
Our Lord reproaches Simon the Pharisee for not having kissed him on arrival at his house [Luke vii.45.].It at once became a method of greeting among Christians to express their relationship in the family of God. ' Salute one another with a holy kiss.' [Rom.xvi.16; 1 Cor.xvi.20; 2 Cor.i.12.]. It is not mentioned in the Apostolic Fathers, but Justin already speaks of it as a ceremonious action after the Prayers and before the Offertory [Apol. i. 65.]. Tertullian calls it the 'signaculum pacis, quod est signaculum orationis' but does not say when it takes place [De oratione, 18.]. Clement of Alexandria mentions it [Strom. vii. 7.], and Origen says it comes 'post orationes' [In Rom. x. 33.]; so Canons of Hippolytus. Timothy of Alexandria says: 'in the divine Anaphora the deacon proclaims before the Kiss, "Let the excommunicated go away" ' [Resp. Canon, 9.]. Cyril pf Jerusalem: 'Then the deacon cries, "ἀλλήλους ἀπολάβετε καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀσπαζώμεθα.

Often it cannot be certainly determined what position it occupies, as the words 'after the prayers' may refer to the Litany or to the Great Thanksgiving. In Cyril of Jerusalem it comes after the washing of the hands of the bishop and presbyters, and before the Anaphora. The Offertory is not mentioned, but must be earlier: in Theodore of Mopsuestia the deacons place the oblations on the altar before the Litany [Mingana, Woodbrooke Studies, vi. 84.]. In Syr-Jac the Kiss begins the Anaphora, coming after the tenuous Offertory, 'and before the Inclination and Prayer of the Veil, and in Nest it is also in the Anaphora, but after the Diptychs, and as in Syr-Jac before the Sursum corda; in these cases Anaphora has a wider meaning than usual. Ap-Const II has it before the Litany and prayers. But the general custom later in the East was to associate it with the Offertory, where it suitably corresponds, according to our Lord's words in Mt.v.24. That seems too to have been the place it held at first in the West. Augustine puts it after the Lord's Prayer, 'Pax vobiscum, magnum sacramentum osculum pacts' [Serm, ccxxvii.]. Tertullian's name 'signaculum orationis' has also been held to support that position, but it is doubtful if in his time the Lord's Prayer was used in the Canon, and the expression need not have reference to any specific prayer. Maximus has it after the Diptychs and before the Creed. In Nest it also follows the Diptychs but both are after the Creed. In Byz also it is before the Creed; elsewhere usually after. Gall and Moz have the Kiss after the Diptychs; Amb has adopted the Roman position, which is before the Lord's Prayer. Originally at Milan it was before the Prayer of the Veil. Innocent I objected to the practice some people had of giving it 'ante confecta mysteria' [Ep. ad Decentium, I.]. The reason he gives is interesting: 'By it (the Kiss) is shown that the people have given their consent to everything they do in the mysteries, and these are shown to have been finished by the seal of the peace which concludes them.' Amb's position is shown by the 'Pacem habete', which it has still before the Offertory, though the response is now 'To thee, O Lord'.

The Roman position must have been looked upon as ancient by Innocent; it may have come from Africa. Cabrol suggests that the removal of the Diptychs from the earlier portion of the Mass to the Canon drew with it the Kiss, which was also associated with the Diptychs [d.a.c.l.ii. 126.]; but it seems more probable that the Kiss was in the Canon before the Diptychs were moved there. In Gall it was also put in the Canon under Roman influence, for we find it there in Bobb, though there is still the heading to prayers in the old place 'ad pacem'.

The Peace of God be with you all.
And with thy spirit.

So Ap-Const. Syr-Jac, Eth, Arm, ' Peace to you all'; Jas, Copt, Byz, 'Peace to all'; Rom, 'Pax tecum'; Amb, 'The peace and fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always', on giving the Kiss, with the response. LeJay says the Amb form had nothing to do with the Kiss originally, but was a Benediction like those in the East [Ibid. i. 1405.]. The Gall formula for the Kiss was 'Pax Domini sit vobiscum'. At Sarum, at the beginning of the Mass, the priest kissed the deacon and subdeacon with these words: 'Receive the kiss (habete osculum) of peace and love that you may be fit for the most holy altar to fulfil the divine service', as Moz. This was not given in the Triduum or in Masses of the Dead. In the usual place the words were: 'Pax tibi et ecclesiae'; but York and Hereford had the other Sarum form with 'bond' instead of 'kiss', and then Hereford continued: 'The peace of Christ and the holy Church be to thee and all the sons of the Church'. A French practice still in use may be a relic of the original place; at the Offertory, when the offerings are made, the priest gives the people the ' pax' to kiss, saying 'Pax tecum'. This was a tablet of metal, ivory, or wood, engraved with a crucifix, introduced about the thirteenth century, which was passed round to be kissed. It disappeared from use in most places in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Salute one another with a holy kiss.

Ap-Const, Mk, Copt, Eth, Arm, and in the first person Cyril of Jerusalem and Jas. St. Paul uses this phrase four times, and St. Peter 'with the kiss of love' once. Nest, 'Give the peace one to another in the love of Christ'; Arm adds 'and those who are not able to partake of this divine mystery go without the doors and pray there'. Moz, 'Receive the kiss of love and peace that ye may be fit for the holy mysteries of God' (see Sarum above). Amb, 'Offer ye yourselves the peace'. Byz, 'Let us love one another that in unison we may confess the faith'.

There is no necessary connexion between the giving of the Kiss and the use of the words, 'Peace be unto you'. The phrase was the customary salutation among Easterns, and still is, but only with friends and those of the same religion. Consequently the Peace is often given in the liturgies where there is no Kiss. In the West it has had no similar use as a secular greeting, the word pax being used in Latin interjectionally as a call for silence; but our Lord's words would naturally be taken up by Christians as a greeting, and 'Pax tecum'is the greeting accompanying the Kiss. So Augustine, 'Pax vobiscum' [Serm. ccxxvii.]. Rom has, as well as the above words which are said at the Kiss, a form' Pax domini sit semper vobiscum' at the Consignation.

This may be originally the Blessing before communion, but it is almost the same as the words of Ap-Const here.

Formerly the Kiss of Peace was an actual kiss, passing between the members of the congregation, but it was replaced at an early date by symbolic actions, and is usually confined to the ministers. With the Greeks the priest now kisses the Oblations, the deacon his own stole. Nest and Syr-Uniats kiss the hand. The Maronites kiss their own hands, holding that of the recipient. With the Syr-Jac the hands are passed down the face, holding the other's hands. The Copts (where the ceremony is used) bow to touch the hand and "kiss their own. With the Arm the ministers kiss the altar and one another; the rest merely bow. In Rome the hands of one person are laid on the shoulders of the recipient, who puts his under the arms of the other.

There is usually a prayer in connexion with this ceremony. Syr is simple and effective:

O God and Lord of all,
account these our unworthy selves worthy of this salvation,
that being free from all guile and hypocrisy
we may greet one another with a holy kiss,
being united by the bond of love and peace,
through, &c.

So Syr-Jac, Jas. None in Ap-Const, Sarap. Copt has a long form 'of the holy Patriarch Severus: thou sayest it in the Anaphora of St. Cyril'; there are two alternatives, and also three hymns, but the whole of this is said to have fallen into disuse. Mk's form is shorter, and followed by a second prayer of incense. Eth has a 'prayer of the Kiss, of Basil', which is interrupted for the Kiss and the salute, and which includes the Gloria in excelsis, the connexion being shown thus: 'Thou didst fill all the earth with the peace which is from heaven, wherein the armies of heaven glorify thee saying: Glory to God, &c.' Byz-Barb has no prayer, but Chrys adds a threefold reverence of the priest to the Oblations with the words; 'I will love thee, O Lord my strength: the Lord is my stony rock and my defence' (Ps.xviii.1). Arm has an anthem instead of a prayer, expressing the ' bond of perfectness'. The Nest prayer is an extension of the Offertory, applying it to the living and the departed.

The Gall and Moz liturgies also have a prayer (variable), called Oratio ad pacem. It followed the reading of the Diptychs, and preceded the Sursum cor da. So Germain, 'ut per mutuum osculum teneant in se caritatis affectum'. Goth has one for nearly all Masses, but it has disappeared from Franc. Bobb has in some Masses an Oratio ad pacem, but without allusion to the Kiss, which had now been transferred to the Roman position, and Collects of a more general character were substituted for the proper prayer, though the name was retained. In some Masses there is none. In the older prayers the Kiss is the central theme. The Moz Missal also has numerous Collectiones ad pacem. In Amb the prayer was there, before the Prayer of the Veil, the deacon saying: 'Pacem habete: erigite vos ad orationem', the reply being 'Ad te, Domine'; but now it is in the place where the Roman Kiss is given, though the words 'Pacem habete' and the response are still in the old place. Rome, too, has the prayer, 'Domine Jesu Christe qui dixisti', which is probably a Prayer for the Kiss. The Sarum form is a communion prayer but it is to be said 'antequam pax detur'.
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the Great Entrance

The Oblation is now carried from the Prothesis by the north door and the north aisle to the great doors and thence to the altar. This ceremony developed after the faithful had ceased to make their own offerings of bread and wine at the Mass, and after the disuse of the dismissal of the catechumens. At an early date the faithful brought offerings of bread and wine for the purposes of the Eucharist. In Ap-Const the people are accustomed to make various kinds of offerings for the Agape, first fruits, &c., and the offerings of the Eucharist are called the 'Offerings of the Church'; it is probable that they were presented by the people. It cannot be determined when this practice ceased, but it continued very much longer in the West than in the East.

The offering by the people is witnessed by Augustine: 'Offer the oblations, which are to be consecrated on the altar. A man comfortably off (idoneus) ought to blush if he communicates from another's oblation.' [Serm. cclxv.] The Council of Macon (585) ordered all persons, men and women, to offer bread and wine at the holy altar every Sunday. In Germain the offerings must have been prepared beforehand. John the Deacon tells of a lady who recognized at the altar the Host given to her as of her own making, and was reproved by St. Gregory for smiling because she could hardly believe that what she had made could be given to her as the Body of the Lord [Greg. Vita, 23.]. There is, however, in none of these rites proof of the time of the offering. Rome still kept the offering of the people in the ninth century, the Pope himself receiving the loaves, and the Archdeacon the phials of wine. A relic of the offerings of the faithful is the offering of money for Church purposes, which is first mentioned in a Synod held under Gregory VII (1078). It was the substitution of unleavened bread that caused the disuse of the offerings. In Milan the bread and wine are brought by 'Vecchioni' [Members of a Guild of old men and women, called the School of St. Ambrose.], but this seems to be a Roman addition to the procession of the Entrance.

In the Sahidic Ecclesiastical Canons the deacons bring the gifts to the altar after all but the faithful have departed. The preparation of these offerings for use at the altar would take some time, and cause delay; convenience required that they should be prepared beforehand. At first this preparation would be of a simple nature, probably carried out during the service, for Eutychius (c. 580) shows that the Greater Entrance was in existence in his time, but that the cup had been 'just now mixed' [De pasch. Et ss. eucharistia, 7.]. Later the Byz rite, in which the Great Entrance seems to have originated, also developed not only a solemn procession but also a very complicated system of partition of the Host, which called for arrangement prior to the celebration of the liturgy proper.

Gall, Amb, and Moz also have a procession of the Oblations.
Syr-Jac has a Sedro of the Entrance, but there is nothing corresponding to the Great Entrance, the vessels being on the altar since the Qurbono before the service.
Nest has a ceremony that suggests the Greater Entrance, but has nothing to do with the Oblations.
After placing the vessels on the altar and covering them, the priest and deacon come out of the Sanctuary with the Cross and Gospels, and draw back the Veil; the priest begins the Anthem of the Mysteries, comes down, and gives the Peace to the people, and the Creed is said before they return.
In Narsai there is a procession of the mysteries carried by the deacons, who set them on the altar, and then the priests come in procession into the midst of the Sanctuary.

The Entrance is accompanied by the Cheroubicon, attributed by George Cedrenus to the reign of Justin II (565-78) [Hist. compend.: P.G. cxxi. 748.].
From the Byz rite the Entrance found its way into other Greek liturgies, but there is little information as to the ceremonies.
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PART II - COMMENTARY

THE MASS OF THE FAITHFUL - I

Key

Ap-C

Jas

Syr-Jac

Mk

Copt

Eth

Nest

Byz

Arm

Rm

Amb

the Prayers of the Faithful

the Litany

Ecphonesis.

the Prayers of the Faithful

prayer of the faithful I:

prayer of the faithful II;

the Inclination

the Creed

the Kiss of Peace

the Great Entrance