Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 21 (2024): 121-138

Jakša Primorac

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven

Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

This article is an analysis of seven ancient extant Christian liturgies. They are distinct

complex forms of the original Lord’s Supper ritual which have been performed

continuously for almost two millennia, from Antiquity until today. The liturgy is the holiest

and the most mysterious act of faith for Catholic and Orthodox Christians, as well as for

the members of the Churches of the East. It is held at the most important gathering on

Sunday morning, when Jesus Christ resurrected according to the Scripture, and on other

holidays and feasts. Firstly, we will discuss the older form of the Roman Catholic mass, the

so-called Tridentine mass, today practiced by a small part of the faithful. In Eastern

Christianity, the focus will be on the analysis of the liturgies from three church families: 1)

Eastern Orthodox churches with Diophysite doctrine, 2) Oriental Orthodox churches with

Miaphysite doctrine, 3) Churches of the East (Assyrian and Ancient) which follow the

doctrine of radical Diophysitism (ʽNestoriansʼ).

We will examine the standard Byzantine

liturgy of Eastern Orthodox churches, and four liturgies of Oriental Orthodox churches:

Coptic, Syriac, Armenian and Ethiopian. Also, we will explore the common liturgy of the

Churches of the East.

Rather than discussing theological contents and meanings of the liturgies’ texts, our

intention here is to acquaint the reader with the complex issues of history of the liturgies

and other selected aspects, primarily architecture, painting, drama and music, which will be

discussed from ethnological point of view.

The Bloodless Sacrifice: An Overview of Ancient Christian Liturgy

The ancient extant liturgy is the central ritual of traditional Christianity. Meticulously

elaborated in theology, the liturgy expresses the very essence of Christianity in the mystical

and symbolic way. At the liturgy, the faithful are physically united with Jesus Christ.

The terms ʽMonophysitesʼ for members of the Oriental Orthodox churches, ʽNestoriansʼ for members

of the Churches of the East, ʽJacobitesʼ for members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, ʽMelkitesʼ for

members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and ʽUniatesʼ for members of the Eastern Catholic

churches are often used as pejorative exonyms and therefore will not be employed in this article. Daniel

Patte (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 632,

p. 786, pp. 805-806, p. 836, pp. 861-862, pp. 1261-1262.

Sean O’Riordan, ‚The Eucharistˮ, The Furrow 6/5 (1955), pp. 315-323; Eve Tibbs, A Basic Guide to Eastern

Orthodox Theology: Introducing Beliefs and Practices (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), pp. 141-164.

Jakša Primorac

122

In its beginnings, the liturgy was a very simple ritual. According to the Gospels, on the

evening of Maundy Thursday, anticipating the following day’s tragedy, Jesus Christ

performed the rite of consecration of the bread and wine and instructed his followers to

do the same by repeating his words and gestures.

All traditional churches discussed here

hold that, during the consecration ritual, the bread and wine transform into the real body

and blood of Christ, although physically these substances do not change. They represent

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of humanity. In the end of the liturgy, the

priests and the faithful consume a symbolic small amount of the holy bread and wine (or

only bread in the Roman Catholic tradition). This way, they receive communion: by eating

and drinking the living Christ, they strengthen themselves to endure life’s difficulties. This

specific form of spiritual consolation represents the essence and the peak of religious life

for most members of the churches discussed here.

The basic difference between the early Christian ritual of the Lord's Supper and ancient

extant liturgies is that the creators of all liturgies very early, already in the first centuries of

Christianity, shaped this simple ritual in such a way as to expand it into hours-long and very

complex prayer structures. In particular, the recognition of Christianity by the Roman

Empire in the 4

century contributed to this process of elaborating and ceremonialising of

liturgies. For centuries, theologians, spiritual writers and poets modified and expanded

liturgies. However, over time liturgies became standardised and further changes were not

permitted any more. Most liturgies discussed here took their final shape in the Middle

Ages.

In this analysis, I decided to use the term ‘liturgy’ because it is acceptable for both, the

Western Roman Catholic mass and various Eastern liturgies.

The term ‘mass’ is the most

widely known due to the fact that Roman Catholics are the world’s largest Christian

community. On the other hand, Eastern Orthodox churches, numbers-wise the second

largest community of Christians discussed here, use exclusively the term ‘liturgy.’ This term

is also employed in European languages for liturgies of the Oriental Orthodox churches,

Churches of the East and non-Byzantine Eastern Catholic churches, even though these

churches usually use the terms ‘holy sacrifice’ and ‘consecration.’

Neil Xavier O’Donoghue, ‚The Shape of the History of the Eucharistˮ, New Blackfriars 93/1043 (2012),

p. 72, p. 74; Anscar J. Chupungco, ‚History of the Liturgy Until the Fourth Centuryˮ, in Anscar J.

Chupungco (ed.), Handbook For Liturgical Studies: Volume I: Introduction to the Liturgy (Collegeville: The

Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 98-101.

Francis Appiah-Kubi, ‚The Theology of the Holy Eucharist and the Doctrine of Transubstantiationˮ,

Noyam E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 7/6 (2021), p. 78; Angelo Nicolaides, ‚Investigating the

Holy Eucharist and the term ʽpeople of Godʼ according to the Eastern Orthodox Churchˮ, Pharos Journal

of Theology 102 (2021), p. 1.

Michael Fiedrowicz, The Traditional Mass: History, Form, & Theology of the Classical Roman Rite (Brooklyn:

Angelico Press, 2020), pp. 3-42; Manel Nin, ‚History of the Eastern Liturgiesˮ, in Anscar J. Chupungco

(ed.), Handbook For Liturgical Studies: Volume I: Introduction to the Liturgy (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press,

1997), pp. 117-119, pp. 123-128.

In ancient Greek, ‘liturgy’ originally means ‚work for the people‛ or ‚public service‛. Naphtali Lewis,

“Leitourgia and related termsˮ, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 3 (1960), p. 177.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

123

Liturgy’s Performance Structure

The liturgy takes place in a sacred space, a special building usually built in a specific

architectural style and embellished with various works of art. Each of the seven churches

discussed here is known for its unique architecture and art works.

At the centre of the liturgy is the main celebrant – a priest or a bishop. He represents

Christ the High Priest. That is why he wears specially decorated clothes that symbolise

Christ's divine majesty. The bishop, the highest priestly rank with the authority of an

administrator of a church province, wears priestly clothes, but also additional items that

symbolise his authority, similar to those worn by royalty: a special headdress – mitre,

bishop’s crosier, special clothing items, etc. Deacons, subdeacons and altar servers wear

their liturgical clothes, which are simpler than those of higher ranks. Each church has its

own clothing style, and not only the forms and types of decorations do differ from each

other, but also the level of decoration: from simple to luxurious vestments.

In addition to the priests’ liturgical attire, various other textiles, such as curtains and

covers, often lavishly decorated, are used in the liturgy. There are also various ritual items

used by priests and their assistants, such as lit candles, candleholders, censers, crosses, flags,

canopies, umbrellas and large fans (ripidions, i.e. flabella).

In its kinetic dimension, the liturgy’s performance structure is composed of various

individual or collective movements and acts. They are mainly performed by clerics and altar

servers. The congregation is intended to play a rather passive role, although there are

certain simple motions in which they participate. In its essence, the liturgy is not dynamic.

Many parts are slow and without any movements. The purpose of the performance

slowness is to encourage meditation and contemplation. At the same time, the totality of

the liturgical performance is impossible to imagine without music, that is, uninterrupted

chanting of prayers. In the Tridentine Roman mass, there are also parts when there is

complete silence, which further stimulates the devotion in silent prayer.

Liturgical motions include various signs of the cross and bowings, the priest’s blessings

in the form of a cross with a hand, a hand cross or a candle, raising of holy objects etc.

Liturgical acts are often shaped as simple synchronised sets of gestures and movements.

These include genuflections, shorter or deeper bows, kneeling, incensation, standing in

longitudinal and horizontal lines, and shorter or longer processions in the form of lines,

circles, squares, and rectangles.

Many acts in the traditional Roman Catholic mass and the Byzantine and Armenian

liturgies somewhat resemble royal and military ceremonies. This is due to the fact that

liturgies in the European Middle Ages were inspired by royal, military and other related

rituals. In this context, strict ritualistic hierarchy among clerics and altar servers should be

interpreted. Lower ranks must show respect to higher ranks, usually by kissing their hands,

The bishop’s mitre in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Armenian Church is in the form of a

pointed arch. The mitre in the form of a crown is worn by the Byzantine, Coptic and Ethiopian bishops,

as well as by the bishops in the Churches of the East. Bishops of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the

Antiochian rite do not wear mitres but hoods.

Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister, Ecclesiastical Vestments: Their Development and History (London: Elliot

Stock, 1896), pp. 60-136, 175-191.

Jakša Primorac

124

which is a reminiscent of European feudal etiquette.

The fact that the Alexandrian and

Antiochian rites, the rite of the Churches of the East and the Ethiopian rite are less

hierarchical indicates a different historical development of non-European ancient rites.

Holy Cities of Early Christianity

Through the dedicated work of missionaries, Christianity as a new religion reached most of

the Mediterranean region and surrounding areas under the political administration of the

Roman Empire shortly after Christ's earthly life. In the first three centuries, Christians were

severely persecuted by the Roman Empire. However, in 313 Christianity was declared as

the official religion in the Empire and the situation for Christians fundamentally changed.

Three continents were known to the peoples of the Mediterranean in Antiquity:

Europe, Asia and Africa. At the joint council of all Christian bishops in Nicaea in 325, it

was determined that three large cities on different continents would be the seats of the

patriarchs: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. The patriarchs were primarily supposed to be

the overseers of the existing dioceses on their continents and of missionary activities. The

Pope of Rome was in charge of Europe (with the title of the Patriarch of the West), the

Pope of Alexandria was given the title of the Patriarch of Africa, and the Patriarch of

Antioch administered the church in Asia (with the title of the Patriarch of the East). In

330, the capital of the Roman Empire was transferred from Rome to Constantinople, and

in 381, at the council in that city, it was decided that Constantinople, as New Rome, would

also acquire the status of patriarchate. In 451, at the Council of Chalcedon, it was decided

that Jerusalem would be added to the patriarchates. After that, the idea of pentarchy was

established, i.e. the five patriarchates had the right to permanently rule the entire Christian

world, mutually respecting the internal borders and changing them only by agreement.

In the holy patriarchal cities of early Christianity, four rites developed with their own

liturgies and liturgical chants: Roman, Byzantine, Alexandrian and Antiochian. The

Jerusalem rite existed in Antiquity and partially in the Middle Ages, when it was replaced by

other rites.

The first four liturgies will be presented in the ancient order of the pentarchy cities:

Roman, Constantinoplean (i.e. Byzantine), Alexandrian and Antiochian. The other three

liturgies will be presented in chronological order: liturgy of the Churches of the East,

Armenian and Ethiopian liturgy.

Willem Frijhoff, ‚The Kiss Sacred and Profane: Reflections on a Cross-Cultural Confrontationˮ, in Jan

Nicolaas Bremmer and Herman Roodenburg (eds.), A Cultural History of Gesture (Cambridge: Polity Press,

1991), p. 212; Leslie Brubaker and Chris Wickham, “Processions, Power, and Community Identity: East

and Westˮ, in Walter Pohl and Rutger Kramer (eds.), Empires and Communities in the Post-Roman and Islamic

World, c. 400-1000 CE (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), p. 123, p. 126 and p. 129.

William Hugh Clifford Frend, ‚Persecutions: Genesis and Legacyˮ, in Margaret M. Mitchell and Frances

M. Young (eds.), The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 1: Origins to Constantine (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 503.

Manel Nin, ‚History of the Eastern Liturgiesˮ, p. 116.

John F. Baldovin, Liturgy in Ancient Jerusalem (Bramcote: Grove Books Limited, 1989), pp. 11-20.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

125

Roman Tridentine Mass: Baroque Splendour of Medieval Mysticism

The Roman Catholic mass will be analysed in the basic form in which it was performed in

the Latin language from late Antiquity until the 1960s. In the late Middle Ages, there were

many variants of the handwritten and printed Roman Missals and many different types of

Latin rites or masses throughout Western Europe. They had been continuously developing

since Antiquity. In 1570, after the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V completely standardised

the mass. From 1570 to 1969, for full four hundred years, the Roman mass remained

virtually unchanged.

In this article, the Tridentine mass is viewed as a form of continuity from the earliest

Christianity until the 1960s. The new, reformed mass, created at the Second Vatican

Council, preserved many elements of the old mass, mostly those regarding the text and

performance structure. However, in some important aspects it broke the continuity with

the old mass. The reformers tried to bring it closer to modern believers, as well as to renew

some of the practices from the first centuries of Christianity.

That is why in the context

of historical continuity, our focus will be only on the Tridentine mass.

The Tridentine mass was created at the peak of Counter-Reformation. It opposed

Protestantism by preserving all the features of medieval mysticism and symbolism. After

Pius’s standardisation, the Tridentine mass was performed in the context of peculiar

splendour of the lavish Baroque, while Protestantism favoured aesthetic minimalism and

simplicity.

In the past, as well as in the present, the Roman Catholic mass has been usually

performed in churches that are exemplars of one or more canonical style periods in West

European architecture, painting and sculpture, from Antiquity until today. Together with

visual arts styles, the performance elements of the mass developed during centuries. At the

same time, theological and artistic aspects were synchronised. Post Tridentine baroque

vestments were influenced by Gothic and Renaissance styles, but the garments had

different cut and were more elaborately decorated.

The Tridentine mass standardisation occurred between the late Renaissance and early

Baroque. The influences of previous times are evident in theological and artistic aspects.

Visual elements are lavish, but the performance structure is rather simple. The mass is

performed slowly and calmly, with the aim of creating an impression of magnificence. The

atmosphere is mystical and symbolic. It is created by the stimuli of different senses. Beside

Jörg Bölling, „Zur Erneuerung der Liturgie in Kurie und Kirche durch das Konzil von Trient (1545-1563):

Konzeption – Diskussion – Realisationˮ, Analecta musicologica 47 (2011), pp. 126.

William D. Dinges, ‚Ritual Conflict as Social Conflict: Liturgical Reform in the Roman Catholic Churchˮ,

Sociological Analysis 48/2 (1987), pp. 141-142.

Keith F. Pecklers, ‚History of the Roman Liturgy from the Sixteenth until the Twentieth Centuriesˮ, in

Anscar J. Chupungco (ed.), Handbook For Liturgical Studies: Volume I: Introduction to the Liturgy (Collegeville:

The Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 161-163; Mike Tyldesley, ‚Signs of the Timesˮ, Im@go: A Journal of the

Social Imaginary 11/20 (2022), pp. 38-40.

Michael S. Rose, In Tiers of Glory: The Organic Development of Catholic Church Architecture Through the Ages

(Cincinnati: Mesa Folio Editions, 2004), pp. 23-98; Pauline Johnstone, High Fashion in the Church: The Place

of Church Vestments in the History of Art from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century (Leeds: Maney, 2002), pp. 85-

112.

Jakša Primorac

126

a dimmed candlelight of wax candles and oil lamps, while inhaling the scent of burnt wax,

or incense in festive occasions, the faithful watch the rhythm of changes between static and

dynamic parts of the mass. They also take part in congregational standing, sitting or

kneeling, depending on the character of a certain mass part. As in other ancient liturgies,

the priest is facing the altar, i.e. east (ad orientem) while the faithful watch his back. Rather

static sections, in which the priest sings or prays quietly in front of the altar, are interrupted

by simple synchronised movements of clerics and altar servers.

In terms of acoustics, loud organ playing and/or singing of medieval monophonic

Gregorian chants or later polyphonic artistic compositions are exchanged with moments of

complete silence.

From the contemporary reformed mass perspective, the Tridentine mass is long,

monotonous because of specific static performance, incomprehensible because it is held in

Latin and archaic in terms of music. These characteristics make it similar to Eastern

liturgies. Today, the post-Vatican II mass dominates in the Roman Catholic world.

However, the Tridentine mass is still performed in various communities scattered around

the world, because the movement for its renewal was successful, especially after the 1990s.

Byzantine Divine Liturgy: Heaven Has Come Down to Earth

The Byzantine liturgy will be considered in its standard form, as performed by all Eastern

Orthodox churches. The liturgy arose from the Antiochian rite and the defunct

Cappadocian rite. It was given its basic form by St. Basil, the bishop of Caesarea in

Cappadocia in the 4

century, and St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople in

the 5

century.

The Byzantine liturgy is the most performed ancient extant liturgy in the world. The

elaborate performance structure of the liturgy arose from the patriarchal cathedral of the

Great Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. It was directly inspired by the

ceremonies at the nearby court of the Byzantine emperor. The final shaping of the

Byzantine liturgy was mostly completed during the 12

century.

From the 16

to the 20

century, the performance of the liturgy in the Russian Empire was aesthetically modified

under Western European influences, primarily the influences of feudal and military

ceremonies, theatre, and especially art music, and to a lesser degree even the Tridentine

mass. This had a chain effect on all liturgies of Eastern Orthodox churches in the Balkans,

Michael Fiedrowicz, The Traditional Mass: History, Form, & Theology of the Classical Roman Rite, pp. 46-47, p.

56, p. 59, pp. 200-230.

Peter Jeffery, Re-Envisioning Past Musical Cultures: Ethnomusicology in the Study of Gregorian Chant (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 69-86.

Dennis M. Doyle, ‚The Traditional Latin Mass Movement and the Unity of the Churchˮ, Münchener

Theologische Zeitschrift 72 (2021), pp. 350-355, pp. 362-366; Nathaniel Marx, Ritual in the age of authenticity: An

ethnography of Latin Mass Catholics (PhD diss., University of Notre Dame, 2013), pp. 29-73.

Robert F. Taft, The Byzantine Rite: A Short History (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1992), pp. 18-20, pp.

77-83.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

127

the Caucasus and the Middle East, as well as on the Armenian liturgy.

Today, the

Byzantine liturgy’s performance structure is largely standardised. Still, there are slight

differences in liturgical practices among various autocephalous churches.

Theological postulates from which the Byzantine liturgy originates are, in many aspects,

similar to other ancient liturgies. The Byzantine liturgy is interpreted as a heavenly, cosmic

worship, an act that transcends time and the world. In it, the kingdom of heaven descends

to earth. The kingdom of heaven is inhabited by God, angels, saints and the souls of the

righteous, who will welcome the faithful after their death. This is why the entire liturgy is

imbued with ritual symbolism. And the interior of the church building is understood as the

cosmos. The hierarchised kingdom of heaven is frescoed on its vaults and walls, and

painted on the high altar partition – the iconostasis. The divine grace pours upon the

faithful from various directions.

The long liturgy's performance is completely integrated into the architectural-

iconographical ambience of the church. It is made up of many ritual movements and acts.

For example, it consists of shorter or deeper head bows, frequent making the sign of the

cross, blessings by priests and kissing hands of higher rank priests. Processions imply

synchronised walking in lines, circles, squares and rectangles. They include incensation and

ringing of small bells on censers, carrying candles, ripidions and other ritual items. The

faithful often light candles in designated places, in the church’s nave or narthex.

Expensive liturgical clothing has a special form and decorations. The bishop's mitre

resembles the Byzantine imperial crown.

Chanting according to the Octoechos, that is the musical system which consists of eight

modes, is in complete harmony with the mystical character of the liturgy. Although the

performance structure of the liturgy differs only slightly in various autocephalous churches

in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus, and in the diasporas, the chants in

these churches are significantly different.

Byzantine chanting in Koine Greek has been

preserved in a continuous form from the Middle Ages until today in autocephalous

churches with Greek ethnic population (Churches of Greece, Cyprus, Constantinople and

Alexandria). It is usually called Neo-Byzantine chant.

Unlike Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy has a long and rich tradition of

translating liturgy from Greek into vernaculars. In their missionary work, the Byzantines

allowed the Georgians and the Slavs in the first millennium, and later the Arabs

Georgij Krylov, ‚Izgnat' barokko iz bogosluzhenijaˮ, Bogoslov.Ru: Nauchnyj bogoslovskij portal (Sergiev Posad:

Bogoslov.Ru, 2016), https://bogoslov.ru/article/4797445 (accessed 11 November 2023).

Vasilij Krivoshein, Istochnik: Bogoslovskie trudy: Arhiepiskop Vasilij (Krivoshein), edited by Aleksandr Musin

(Nizhnij Novgorod: Hristianskaja biblioteka, 2011), pp. 644-661.

Robert F. Taft, The Byzantine Rite: A Short History, pp. 36-38, pp. 67-75.

Christina M. Gschwandtner, Welcoming Finitude: Toward a Phenomenology of Orthodox Liturgy (Bronx: Fordham

University Press, 2019), pp. 80-145.

Krista M. West, The Garment of Salvation: Orthodox Christian Liturgical Vesture (Yonkers: St Vladimir's

Seminary Press, 2013), pp. 85-139.

Christian Hannick, Orthodoxe Kirchenmusik: I: Einleitung: MGG Online, www.mgg-

online.com/article?i=mgg15860&v=1.2&rs=mgg15860 (accessed 10 December 2023).

Tore Tvarnø Lind, The Past Is Always Present: The Revival of the Byzantine Musical Tradition at Mount Athos

(Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2012), pp. 5-7, pp. 204-206.

Jakša Primorac

128

(Patriarchate of Antioch) and Romanians in the early modern period to use their own

languages. Since the beginning of the 20

century, the Byzantine liturgy has been translated

and performed in other vernaculars around the world. However, ancient liturgical languages

are still widely used, such as Koine Greek and Old Slavonic.

The Fate of Alexandria and Antioch

To understand the Alexandrian and Antiochian liturgies, it is crucial to take into account

the schism that arose at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The assembled bishops of the

Christian world of the time had a major disagreement in interpreting theological doctrine.

The Diophysites believed that Christ was one person with two separate natures: divine and

human, while the Miaphysites (still derogatorily called ʽMonophysitesʼ) believed that Christ

had only one nature that contained divine and human features. The emperors accepted

Diophysitism as the state religious doctrine, and proclaimed the the Miaphysits as heretics.

Since Miaphysite churches, today the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Syriac Orthodox

Church, have continuously kept the ancient Alexandrian rite (in the Coptic language) and

Antiochian rite (in the Aramaic language), we will present their extant liturgies. Therefore,

we will not discuss the standard Byzantine liturgies in contemporary Eastern Orthodox

(Diophysite) Patriarchates, Alexandrian and Antiochian.

Alexandrian Coptic Liturgy: Voices of Descendants of Pharaoh’s Subjects

In the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, in Egypt, the majority of the local

population were the Copts. Their Coptic language is a direct successor of the ancient

Egyptian language. The Copts mostly accepted Miaphysitism, while Diophysitism was

accepted by the population in the cities: Greeks, other peoples settled in the cities and a

small number of the Copts. Consequently, there coexisted two patriarchs: the Miaphysite

and the Diophysite one. For the Copts, Miaphysitism was partly an expression of resistance

to the hegemonic policy of the Byzantine Empire. The Copts used Coptic as the liturgical

language, and the Greeks used the Greek language. Due to the weakening of the

Diophysite Patriarchate of Alexandria, especially as a result of the Arab and Crusader

conquests, the remaining small community of that patriarchate permanently switched from

the Alexandrian rite to the Byzantine one by the end of the 12

century.

Bert Groen, ‚Liturgical Language and Vernacular Tongues in Eastern Christianityˮ, in Paul Van Geest,

Marcel Poorthuis, Els Rose (eds.), Sanctifying Texts, Transforming Rituals: Encounters in Liturgical Studies

(Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2017), pp. 412-417.

Wolf Liebeschuetz, ‚Theological and Political Aspects of the Council of Chalcedonˮ, Scripta Classica

Israelica 36 (2017), p. 108, pp. 114-120.

Paola Buzi, La Chiesa copta: Egitto e Nubia: Con una breve Appendice sull’Etiopia (Bologna: Edizioni Studio

Domenicano, 2014), pp. 18-42.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

129

Coptic churches have specific architecture and iconography.

Liturgical clothing is

relatively simple. The basic colour worn by all liturgy performers is white, and decorative

clothing items in other colours are added to it. Priests wear small mitres similar to those of

the Roman bishops, with short veils behind, while bishops wear specific turbans or

Byzantine mitres. In the past, during the liturgy, bishops covered their heads only with thin

white scarves.

The Alexandrian Coptic liturgy is noted for its length. It is performed at a slow pace,

and its focus is on contemplation. The faithful are very dedicated to listening to long sung

prayers. The performance structure of the liturgy is less dynamic than the Roman,

Byzantine, Antiochian and Armenian ones. It mostly takes place in the altar.

The Coptic

liturgy is most recognisable for its unique rhythmic chanting accompanied by cymbals and

triangles.

The basic language of the liturgy is Coptic (the so-called Bohairic, the successor

of ancient Egyptian), but today the liturgy is performed bilingually, in Coptic and in Arabic.

Due to the rootedness of the Coptic rite in Christianity of ancient Hellenistic Alexandria,

many important liturgical phrases and formulas in the Coptic liturgy are still performed in

the Greek language.

Antiochian Syriac Liturgy: Living Heritage of the Former Patriarchopolis

In the territory of the Patriarchate of Antioch, the situation was very similar to that in the

Patriarchate of Alexandria. The conflict between Diophysites and Miaphysites was not only

theological, but also ethnolinguistic. The Miaphysite patriarch was expelled from Antioch in

518 and since then he has lived in various cities and monasteries.

Part of the natives who

spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, by joining Miaphysitism expressed the desire

for autonomy and independence from the Eastern Roman Empire, i.e. the Byzantine

Empire. They preserved the Aramaic language until today.

On the other hand, Aramaic

speakers who were loyal to Diaphysitism during the late Middle Ages almost completely

Pierre du Bourguet, ‟Art and Architectureˮ, in Aziz Suryal Atiya (ed.), Coptic Encyclopedia I: Abad-Azar

(New York: Macmillan, 1999), pp. 261-278.

Archbishop Basilios, ‟Liturgical Vestmentsˮ, in Aziz Suryal Atiya (ed.), Coptic Encyclopedia V: John-Mufa

(New York: Macmillan, 1991), pp. 1475a-1479a.

Athanasius Iskander, Understanding the Liturgy: A Series of Articles Published in ‟Parousiaˮ: September 1993 –

March 1997 (Kitchener: St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, 2001), pp. 104-119.

Nicholas Joseph Ragheb, The Transmission of Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Music: Historical and Contemporary

Forms of Theorization, Translation, and Identity Construction (PhD diss., University of California Santa Barbara,

2019), pp. 256-259.

Nicholas Ragheb, ‟Coptic Ethnoracial Identity and Liturgical Language Useˮ, in Omotayo O. Banjo and

Kesha Morant Williams (eds.), Contemporary Christian Culture: Messages, Missions, and Dilemmas (Lanham:

Lexington Books, 2018), p. 154.

Christine Chaillot, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East: A Brief Introduction to Its Life and

Spirituality (Geneva: Inter-Orthodox Dialogue, 1998), pp. 12-23, pp. 25-28.

Arietta Papaconstantinou, ‟Why did Coptic fail where Aramaic succeeded? Linguistic developments in

Egypt and the Near East after the Arab conquestˮ, in Alex Mullen and Patrick James (eds.), Multilingualism

in the Graeco-Roman worlds (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 60-66.

Jakša Primorac

130

switched to the Arabic language in everyday use, and in terms of rite they switched to the

Byzantine liturgy.

Aramean Miaphysites, the members of today’s Syriac Orthodox Church, at the

beginning of the 20

century lived mostly in the area of the present-day southeastern

Turkey, with the centre in the area of Tur Abdin, and in northwestern Iraq and northern

Syria. During the First World War they experienced large massacres by Turkish-Kurdish

military units. Today, Aramean Miaphysites mostly live in the diaspora.

Their liturgy is

performed in Aramaic, and sometimes in Arabic.

The temples of the Miaphysite Syriac Orthodox Church are usually simple buildings

with specific sanctuaries. The altar is placed in a niche. Its rich decoration is mainly inspired

by unique ornaments in the oldest monasteries in the Tur Abdin area.

A decorated cross

usually stands out on the altar. Liturgical vestments have particular forms and decorations.

The episcopal clothing is rather distinctive. The bishop does not wear a mitre, but a hood

and a large bishop's crosier. The Syriac liturgy has a developed performance structure. In

the sanctuary next to the priest on both sides are the deacons’ and subdeacons’ choirs. The

basic set of synchronised movements is simple. While the priest celebrates liturgy in the

altar niche, a deacon stands in the middle and constantly incenses the sanctuary. Two altar

servers stand to the side and hold ripidions with small bells. When the solemn parts of the

service begin, the deacon swings the censer which causes stronger ringing, and the bearers

of the ripidions lower them towards the priest and swing them, so they ring, too. These

motions produce a specific effect, both visual and auditory.

In its singing style, based on

the ancient Octoechos (Beth Gazo), the sound of the Syriac liturgy is closest to the Middle

Eastern modal system of maqam.

In order to provide a wider historical context of the development of contemporary

communities originating from the Antiochian rite in the first millenium, we will briefly

mention three Diophysite communities. These include the members of today’s Antiochian

Greek Orthodox Church, the members of the Melchite Greek Catholic Church and the

members of the Maronite Catholic Church. We will not describe their liturgies.

Antiochian Diophysites, that is Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, live mostly

in Syria and Lebanon. From the 10

until the 12

century, the old Antiochian rite was

Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, ‟Between Hellenism and Arabicization: On the Formation of an

Ethnolinguistic Identity of the Melkite Communities in the Heart of Muslim Ruleˮ, Al-Qanṭara 33/2

(2012), pp. 463-465.

Christine Chaillot, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East: A Brief Introduction to Its Life and

Spirituality, pp. 23-25, pp. 29-76.

Sarah Bakker Kellogg, ‚Ritual sounds, political echoes: Vocal agency and the sensory cultures of

secularism in the Dutch Syriac diasporaˮ, American Ethnologist 42/3 (2015), pp. 431-432.

Elif Keser-Kayaalp, ‚Églises et monastères du Ṭur ʿAbdin: Les débuts d’une architecture ʽsyriaqueʼ,ˮ in

Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet (ed.), Les églises en monde syriaque (Paris: Geuthner, 2013), pp. 272-286.

Ishaq Saka, Commentary on the Liturgy of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch (Piscataway: Gorgias Press,

2008), pp. 31-45.

Maher Farkouh, Die Madroshe der westsyrischen Kirche: Eine analytische und vergleichende Studie (PhD diss.,

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock, 2019), pp. 199-201.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

131

gradually being replaced by the Byzantine rite, which has been performed continuously

since the 13

century.

Maronites are a separate Christian community residing mostly in Lebanon. Their liturgy

fundamentally derived from the ancient Antiochian rite. At the turn of the 12

century,

they formed a union with the Roman Catholic Church, which was further strengthened in

the 16

century. In the late Middle Ages, they started using the Arabic language, which

replaced their original Aramaic language. The intense Latinisation of their Antiochian rite

began in the late 16

century.

Early Christian Missionary Work

In addition to the four patriarchal rites described in the previous section, a separate rite of

the Church of the East also originates from the era of early Christianity, as well as two rites

which were shaped by the missionary work of the Patriarchates of Antioch and Alexandria

– the Armenian and Ethiopian rites.

Aramaic Liturgy of the Church of the East: The Simple Ancientness

The Church of the East was created in 410 as the church of the Persian Empire. At the

general Christian Council in Ephesus in 431, the doctrine of the Constantinoplean

Patriarch Nestorius was condemned as heretical. He claimed that Christ’s mother Mary

should not be called the Mother of God (Theotokos) because it is impossible for a human

being to give birth to God. He also endorsed the idea of radical Diophysitism, i.e. Christ’s

two completely separate natures: divine and human. Many of Nestorius’s supporters took

refuge in Persia, where they established Nestorius’s doctrine as official with the local

clergy.

Due to a disagreement over calendars, in 1964 the Church of the East was divided

into two churches: the Assyrian Church of the East, which uses the Gregorian calendar,

and the Ancient Church of the East, with less followers, which uses the Julian calendar.

Both churches have three liturgical patterns, the central one being the liturgy of Addai and

Mari, one of the oldest liturgies in general. The Churches of the East have survived until

today in the area of northwestern Iraq and the western part of Iran. Like their Miaphysite

Christoph Leonhardt, ‟The Greek- and the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch in the Context of

the Syrian Conflictˮ, Chronos: Revue d’Histoire de l’Université de Balamand 33 (2016), pp. 22-25; Juan Pedro

Monferrer-Sala, ‟Between Hellenism and Arabicization: On the Formation of an Ethnolinguistic Identity

of the Melkite Communities in the Heart of Muslim Rule,ˮ pp. 445-453.

Matti Moosa, The Maronites in History (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2005), pp. 14-15, pp. 85-86, pp. 195-196,

pp. 220-221, pp. 267-280; Shafiq Abouzayd, “The Maronite Churchˮ, in Daniel King (ed.), The Syriac World

(London-New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 731-734, pp. 737-738.

Because of this, the followers of the Churches of the East are pejoratively called ʽNestoriansʼ to this day.

Unfortunately, so far, nobody came up with an adequate, neutral theological term to replace this offensive

one.

Jakša Primorac

132

neighbours, the adherents of the Churches of the East suffered in the 1910s at the hands

of Turkish and Kurdish army.

The liturgy of the Churches of the East is overall simple compared with other liturgies

discussed here. This is due to the long-term isolation of the Church of the East and its

reduced communication with other Christians. In the Church of the East, the architecture,

the interior of the church and the liturgical clothing are also simple, similar to many

Protestant churches.

Only the cross stands out on the altar. Today, the bishops of the

Ancient Church of the East occasionally wear the replica of the ancient Mesopotamian

‚pagan‛ crown as an identity symbol. Compared to other liturgies, the liturgy of the

Church of the East has the fewest liturgical motions and acts. Its text is relatively short

compared to most ancient extant liturgies.

The liturgy is still mainly performed in

Aramaic. In the sanctuary, deacons’ and subdeacons’ choirs stand on both sides. Their

singing is performed partly solo, partly antiphonally in two groups. Most believers, men and

women, know the ancient liturgical chants by heart. In certain parts of the liturgy, they sing

them congregationally so that the whole church resounds with singing.

The Catholic counterpart of the two autocephalous Churches of the East is the

Chaldean Catholic Church. It was created in the 16

century by Catholic missionaries. It is

the church with the largest number of adherents in northern Mesopotamia, mainly in Iraq,

which inherited the rite of the Church of the East.

The rite and liturgy of this church are

somewhat latinised, but the singing remained very similar to the singing in the

autocephalous Churches of the East.

Malabarians and Malankarians: Indian Acculturation of Two Aramaic Rites

The missionary activity of the Church of the East permanently took root outside of its

original territory in the Middle East only in the South Indian state of Kerala. Christians

there trace the origins of their church to the mythical story about the arrival of St. Thomas

the Apostle in Kerala in 52 A. D. For that reason, Keralite Christians are also known as

Saint Thomas Christians. From the 8

to the 16

centuries, they were members of the

Wilhelm Baum and Dietmar W. Winkler, The Church of the East: A Concise History (London-New York:

Routledge-Curzon, 2003), pp. 1-32, pp. 73-80, pp. 98-99, pp. 104-111, p. 118, pp. 135-157; Kristian

Girling, The Chaldean Catholic Church: A Study in Modern History, Ecclesiology and Church-State Relations (2003-

2013) (PhD diss., University of London Department of Theology Heythrop College, 2015), pp. 17-19.

Nicholas al-Jeloo, ‚Persian Christians: Assyrian Art and Architecture of Urmia as an Example of Regional

Cultural Expressionˮ, Parole de l’Orient 40 (2015), pp. 18-20.

Stylianos Muksuris, The anaphorae of the liturgy of Sts. Addai and Mari and the Byzantine liturgy of St. Basil the

great: A comparative study (Master of Letters Thesis, Durham University, 1999), pp. 19-34, p. 262.

Eve Georges Sada, Assyrian – Syriac Chants: From the Liturgy of the Church of the East (PhD diss., University

of Oklahoma Graduate College, Norman, 2021), pp. 159-161.

Kristian Girling, The Chaldean Catholic Church: A Study in Modern History, Ecclesiology and Church-State Relations

(2003-2013), pp. 19-61, pp. 81-83.

Noëlle Zarifeh, Le chant de la šūhlāpa assyro-chaldéenne: Enregistrement, transcription et analyse des intonations de

tradition orale (PhD diss., Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali, 2018), pp. 191-

192.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

133

Church of the East. In the 16

century, Portuguese colonisers tried to impose on them

Latinisation of the old rite and to convert them to Roman Catholicism or Eastern

Catholicism. This was met with resistance from some of the Saint Thomas Christians. Still,

one group of the faithful formed the Malabar Catholic Church, which preserved the rite of

the Church of the East, adapted it to Catholic dogmas and latinised it over the centuries.

On the other hand, the faithful who opposed this church in mid-seventeenth century

joined the Miaphysite Patriarchate of Antioch and accepted its Antiochian rite. The new

autonomous church was referred to by different terms for centuries, among which the

name Malankara Orthodox Church stands out. In 1912, it split into two churches: one

autonomous church within the Syriac Orthodox Church (Jacobite Syriac Christian Church)

and the other independent as an autocephalous patriarchate (Malankara Orthodox Syriac

Church).

In the analysis of the five rites discussed so far, we did not analyse different variants of

the liturgies. However, with a brief analysis of the Malabar liturgy of the Churches of the

East and the Malankara Syro-Antiochian liturgy we set a precedent, because these two

liturgies represent the only prominent variants in the families of the Miaphysite Churches

and the Churches of the East. As both geographically and culturally Kerala is very far from

northern Mesopotamia, this is an additional criterion for presenting its Christian heritage

and liturgies in this place.

Both liturgies, Malabar and Malankara, are immersed in South Indian interethnic and

multireligious culture. This is manifested especially in architecture, painting and sculpture,

for example in ornate altars, in the choice of liturgical colours and bishops’ mitres, but also

in paraliturgical ceremonies, singing and instrumental music.

The playing of instruments

accompanies not only the choir’s singing, but the priest’s one, too, which is not practiced in

other liturgies.

Until recently, both liturgies were performed in Aramaic, whereas now they

are mostly performed in the regional language Malayalam.

The Syro-Malabar Eastern

Catholic liturgy is deeply latinised and resembles the post-Vatican II Roman Catholic

mass.

The Syro-Malankara liturgy is the same as the Syriac Orthodox liturgy in terms of

text and performance. However, there are different liturgical and paraliturgical practices.

For example, there are churches with three or five altars, and in exceptional cases three to

five priests perform liturgies simultaneously.

Dietmar W. Winkler, ‚The Syriac Church Denominations: An Overviewˮ, in Daniel King (ed.), The Syriac

World (London-New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 130-132; Przemysław Turek, ‚Syriac Heritage of the

Saint Thomas Christians: Language and Liturgical Traditionˮ, Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia 3 (2011), pp.

115-119.

Barnet Alex Varghese, ‚The Churches of St Thomas Christians of Keralaˮ, Ahana: Peer-reviewed Bilingual

Yearly on Visual Art and Culture 7 (2021), pp. 44-47.

Joseph J. Palackal, Syriac Chant Traditions in South India (PhD diss., The City University of New York, 2005),

pp. 93-133, pp. 178-182, pp. 214-218.

Przemysław Turek, ‚Syriac Heritage of the Saint Thomas Christians: Language and Liturgical Tradition,ˮ

pp. 120-121.

Paul Pallath, The Liturgical Heritage of the Syro Malabar Church: Shadows and Realities (Changanacherry: HIRS

Publications, 2019), pp. 18-20, pp. 129-191, pp. 213-227.

Joseph Pamplany, Thomas Kochukarottu, Joseph Kakkaramattathil, Liturgical Theology (Thalassery: Alpha

Institute of Theology and Science, 2016), pp. 64-72.

Jakša Primorac

134

In addition to Persia and India, two other missionary countries, Armenia and Ethiopia,

developed separate rites starting from the late Antiquity.

Armenian Patarag: Heavenly Liturgy in the Caucasus

The Armenian Apostolic Church was the first national church in Christianity as the

Kingdom of Armenia was the first independent country, outside the Roman Empire, that

accepted Christianity as its official religion at the very beginning of the 4

century

(probably in 300–301 A. D.). Miaphysitism, which arrived from Syria, was confirmed as

Armenian official state doctrine in 506. Old Armenian (Classical Old Armenian, Grabar) is

the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Armenian rite developed under the influence of the Antiochian and Byzantine rites. It

was partly influenced by the Roman rite in the Crusader period and by later missionary

activities of Eastern Catholicism. The cities outside the Armenian lands that initially had

impact on the creation of the Armenian liturgy were Edessa, Caesarea in Cappadocia and

Jerusalem.

Much later, in the 19

and 20

centuries, the Armenian liturgy was influenced

by the liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is evident primarily in high

aesthetics of performance of synchronised movements and singing.

The altar shape and

the bishop’s mitre in the Armenian Church come from the Roman rite, while the priests

wear crowns similar to those worn by Byzantine bishops. Liturgical vestments are

distinctively designed (for example, they have high collars) and richly embroidered.

The

liturgy is performed on an elevated platform similar to a stage. The ripidions ringing is

identical to the practice in the Syriac Orthodox Church (described above).

The melodies

of the Armenian Octoechos performed in liturgy are specific. They are sung in unison or,

accompanied by the organ, in three-part or four-part arrangements.

Ethiopian liturgy: The Splendour of the Oldest African Christianity

Christianity became the state religion in Ethiopia in 330. The Ethiopian Church accepted

Miaphysitism from the Coptic Church, which ruled over the Ethiopian Church from the 4

Simon Payaslian, The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,

2007), pp. 34-35, pp. 44-45, p. 118.

Robert F. Taft, ‚The Armenian ʽHoly Sacrifice (Surb Partarg)ʼ as a Mirror of Armenian Liturgical

Historyˮ, in Robert F. Taft (ed.), The Armenian Christian Tradition: Scholarly Symposium: December 12, 1996

(Roma: Pontificio istituto orientale, 1997), p. 195.

Vladimir Sergeevich Blohin, ‚Voprosy vzaimootnoshenij Russkoj pravoslavnoj i Armjanskoj apostol'skoj

cerkvej v otechestvennoj istoriografii: Tendencii, dostizhenija, problemyˮ, Istorija, arheologija i jetnografija

Kavkaza 19/2 (2023), pp. 395.

Michael Daniel Findikyan, ‚Armenian Liturgical Vestmentsˮ, in Helen C. Evans (ed.), Armenia: Art,

religion, and trade in the Middle Ages (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018), pp. 282-285.

Donald Attwater, ‚The Mass in the East: III: Armenianˮ, The Irish Monthly 61/717 (1933), pp. 171.

Agota Bodurian and Stela Drăgulin, ‚Armenian Church Music: Genres, Modes, and Notation Issuesˮ,

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov 13/2 (2020), pp. 35-46.

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

135

century until 1959, when the Ethiopian church was granted autocephaly.

However, in

practice, this rule was symbolic, and the Ethiopian church enjoyed a high level of

autonomy.

The Ethiopian rite is related to the Coptic one, and they both derive from the same root –

the ancient Alexandrian rite. However, the Ethiopian rite was formed almost entirely

independently from the Coptic rite.

The Ethiopian liturgy is very specific compared to all other liturgies discussed here. It

fully expresses the features of traditional regional African Sub-Saharan culture. Ethiopian

icon painting style

and church architecture are also unique. Liturgical clothing is

distinguished by its form and choice of liturgical colours, which are often very vivid.

Singers and dancers also wear colourful costumes. Like the Coptic bishops, the Ethiopian

bishops wear distinctive turbans or Byzantine crowns on their heads. Priests and deacons

wear special types of head coverings.

The performance of the very long Ethiopian liturgy

is characterised by relaxed motions and the lack of strictly hierarchical roles of clerics and

altar servers. Short processions are frequent. All the faithful cover their bodies with thin

white cloth, while women cover their heads, too. Frequently, they perform prostrations and

participate in congregational singing. The Ethiopian Church also uses specific ritual items,

such as large processional richly decorated crosses and colourful umbrellas.

Ethiopian liturgical singing is unique.

After the completion of the liturgy, on solemn

occasions, the ritual 'aqwaqwam is performed with drumming and the sound of sistrums

and prayer sticks. The basis of the ritual is a special slow dance by selected performers,

which involves rhythmic swaying of the upper body while chanting. This ritual is the peak

of Ethiopian uniqueness in the context of ancient extant liturgies. The ritual follows a

The Eritrean Church seceded from the Ethiopian Church after Eritrea gained independence in 1993. Due

to contemporary situation, it would be correct to use the double name: ‚Ethiopian-Eritrean liturgy,‛ but

in light of the fact that the Eritrean church is much smaller than the Ethiopian one and that it separated

from it recently, I will only use the term ‚Ethiopian liturgy‛. Stanislau Paulau, ‚Ecumenical Dialogue in

the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churchˮ, in Pantelis Kalaitzidis (ed.), Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism:

Resources for Theological Education (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2014), pp. 600-601.

John Binns, The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia: A History (London-New York: I. B. Tauris 2017), pp. 39-60;

Margery Perham, The Government of Ethiopia (Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 1948), pp. 103-

109.

Geoffrey Wainwright and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, ‚Retrospect and Prospectˮ, in Geoffrey

Wainwright and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker (eds.), The Oxford History of Christian Worship (Oxford-New

York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 1372.

Stanislaw Chojnacki, ‚Two Ethiopian Iconsˮ, African Arts 10/4 (1977), pp. 44-47.

Fabrizio Cammelli, Paramenti d’Oriente: Le Chiese Ortodosse e Orientali e i loro paramenti (Lecce: Youcanprint,

2021), pp. 194-200.

Tom Boylston, The Shade of the Divine: Approaching the Sacred in an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Community

(London: London School of Economics and Political Science, 2012), pp. 127-131.

Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Peter Jeffery, Ethiopian Christian Liturgical Chant: An Anthology: Volume One:

General Introduction: Dictionaries of Notational Signs (Madison: A–R Editions Inc., 1993), pp. 1-5.

It is an ancient manual metal percussion instrument of the rattle type.

Jakša Primorac

136

solemn ceremonial procession led by priests with altar slabs (tabots)

on their heads,

decorated with special long cloths of vivid colours.

Despite all its peculiarities, the Ethiopian liturgy is a standard ancient extant liturgy in

terms of text and performance and thus does not differ at all from other liturgies. It is the

only Sub-Saharan Christian liturgy preserved from the earliest Christian centuries, which

carries many original features of East African Ethiopian and Eritrean culture.

Eastern Catholicism and Western Orthodoxy

Eastern Catholic churches are autonomous churches ‟of its own rightˮ (sui iuris) within the

Catholic Church. The full communion of the Eastern Catholic churches with the Pope of

Rome is represented by the recognition of the papal supremacy and equal mutual

sacramental sharing, including mutual eucharistic communion.

From the 11

until the 15

century, Eastern Catholicism was mostly present in southern Italy, among the Byzantine

rite congregations, as well as in Lebanon among the Maronites. From the 16

century until

the mid-20

century, the Roman Catholic Church attempted to create unions with all

eastern autocephalous churches gathered in three families (Eastern Orthodox churches,

Oriental Orthodox churches and the Churches of the East).

All mentioned churches now

have their catholic counterparts;

however, most of Eastern Catholic churches have

significantly smaller congregations compared to their rival autocephalous churches.

All eastern ancient extant liturgies discussed in this article are also performed within

Eastern Catholic churches. However, Eastern Catholic liturgies are to a higher or lesser

degree distanced from their autocephalous counterparts, mostly due to the long-term

process of influence of the Roman Catholic rite on ancient Eastern Catholic traditions.

This process of Latinisation is particularly evident in performative and visual aspects of

In Ge’ez language, tabot literally means the Old Testament ‚Ark of the Covenant‛ of Moses. Ethiopian

Miaphysites believe that this original tabot is kept in the city of Aksum. Each of the Ethiopian churches

has at least one small copy of the original tabot, which is also called a tabot and is used as an altar slab.

Haile Getatchew, ‚A History of the Tabot of Atronǝsä Maryam in Amhara (Ethiopia)ˮ, Paideuma:

Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde 34 (1988), p. 13; Marilyn E. Heldman, ‚Architectural Symbolism, Sacred

Geography and the Ethiopian Churchˮ, Journal of Religion in Africa 22/3 (1992), pp. 223-225.

Ol'ga Evgen'evna Maksimova, ‚Liturgicheskij tanec akvakvam v Jefiopskoj pravoslavnoj cerkviˮ, in Zoja

Mihajlovna Dashevskaja (ed.), Sretenskie chtenija: Materialy XXIV nauchno-bogoslovskoj konferencii studentov,

aspirantov i molodyh specialistov (Moskva, 24 fevralja 2018 g.), (Moskva: Svjato-Filaretovskij pravoslavno-

hristianskij institut, 2018), pp. 1-4.

Joan L. Roccasalvo, The Eastern Catholic Churches: An Introduction to Their Worship and Spirituality (Collegeville:

The Liturgical Press, 1992), pp. 5-19.

Alberto Elli, Breve storia delle Chiese cattoliche orientali (Milano: Edizioni Terra Santa, 2017), pp. 15-26; Taras

Khomych, ‚Eastern Catholic Churches and the Question of ʽUniatismʼˮ, Louvain Studies 31/3 (2006), pp.

217-219.

The only Eastern Catholic church without autocephalous counterpart is the Maronite Church.

The Chaldean Church and The Syro-Malabar Church have significantly more adherents than the

autocephalous Churches of the East. Segreteria di Stato Vaticano, The Eastern Catholic Churches 2016:

Source: Annuario Pontificio, https://cnewa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2016-Statistics.pdf (accessed

20 December 2023).

Ethnological-Historiographic View on Seven Ancient Extant Christian Liturgies

137

liturgies.

It occurred in order to adapt these churches to Roman Catholicism in terms of

theology, but also because both Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic clergy aspired to

mutual closeness and similar appearances. Since the Second Vatican Council some Eastern

Catholic churches have gradually re-introduced liturgical practices from the past, but this

does not happen often. Most of Eastern Catholics perceive the latinised aspects of their

rites as specific features of their identity and heritage.

Missionary work similar to the creation of Eastern Catholic churches, but substantially

less intense, since the mid-19

century has existed in two autonomous Eastern Orthodox

churches in North America, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. During the 19

and 20

centuries these churches attracted groups of disaffected Roman Catholics and Anglicans,

allowing them to retain their own liturgies. This phenomenon is called Western Orthodoxy,

and it has a relatively small number of followers. In both abovementioned Orthodox

churches today, the Western Orthodox do not have the right to their own bishop, that is,

autonomy, and their rites have been slightly modified according to the postulates of the

Byzantine rite. The adapted Roman Tridentine mass is called the Liturgy of St. Gregory the

Dialogist, while the adapted Anglican Mass is called the Liturgy of St. Tikhon.

Conclusion

In this article, I presented various historical and ethnological aspects of seven ancient

extant liturgies. Having roots in the same source and developing in different directions as

the oldest and most specific rites of the Lord’s Supper, these liturgies were originally

formed in mutually distant parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. In general, they did not

experience major external influences, nor did they undergo through radical reforms for

centuries. Due to specific historical circumstances, each of them developed autonomously.

Consequently, they differ from each other in terms of aesthetics and cultural significance.

Still, the very essence of the rite and text in all these liturgies is the same. Today, they are

present on the Internet, in live broadcasts and audio or audiovisual recordings. This way

they are within reach of large audiences all over the world. In their two-thousand years

long history, these seven liturgies constitute unique segments of the intangible and material

heritage of humanity.

Thus, the episcopal mitre, an identity symbol of a particular church, underwent certain changes. Byzantine

Catholic bishops in Ukraine wear mitres of a special design compared to Eastern Orthodox bishops. The

bishops of the Syriac Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church wear Roman-shaped mitres,

while their autocephalous counterparts do not.

Taras Khomych, ‚Eastern Catholic Churches and the Question of ʽUniatismʼˮ, pp. 225-236.

Jack Turner, Cum illi Graeci sint, nos Latini: Western Rite Orthodoxy and the Eastern Orthodox Church, (PhD diss.,

University of Wales Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Lampeter, 2010), pp. 9-10, 55-71,

111-121.

Jakša Primorac

138

Abstract: The author analyses

comparatively seven ancient extant

Christian liturgies: Roman Catholic

Tridentine mass, Byzantine liturgy of the

Eastern Orthodox Churches, four liturgies

of the Oriental Orthodox Churches:

Alexandrian-Coptic, Antiochian-Syriac,

Armenian and Ethiopian, and finally the

liturgy of the Churches of the East:

Assyrian and Ancient. Furthermore, the

author researches inculturation of

Antiochian-Syriac liturgy and Churches of

the East liturgy in South India, as well as

liturgies in Eastern Catholicism and

Western Orthodoxy. This study explores

historical events that are crucial to

understanding the origin and development

of ancient liturgies, as well as major

architecture, painting, drama and music

aspects of liturgies from ethnological

perspective.

Resumen: El autor analiza

comparativamente siete liturgias cristianas

antiguas existentes: la misa tridentina

católica romana, la liturgia bizantina de las

Iglesias ortodoxas orientales, cuatro liturgias

de las Iglesias ortodoxas orientales: copta

alejandrina, siriaca antioqueña, armenia y

etíope y, finalmente, la liturgia de las iglesias

de Oriente: asirio y antiguo. Además, el

autor investiga la inculturación de la liturgia

antioqueña-siríaca y la liturgia de las Iglesias

del Este en el sur de la India, así como las

liturgias del catolicismo oriental y la

ortodoxia occidental. Este estudio explora

eventos históricos que son cruciales para

comprender el origen y desarrollo de las

liturgias antiguas, así como los principales

aspectos arquitectónicos, pictóricos,

dramáticos y musicales de las liturgias desde

una perspectiva etnológica.

Keywords: Liturgy; Catholicism; Eastern

and Oriental Orthodoxy; Church of the

East.

Palabras clave: Liturgia; Catolicismo;

Ortodoxia oriental y del este; Iglesia del

Este.