Lucius: Liturgy for the Feral Nation

A Divine Liturgy written by St. James in the year 54 A.D.

A Feral Service

Like most of the Ferality, I am someone ambivalent about Churchianity. That is not to say I'm not a church-goer. I was for many years until circumstances arose that made that aspect of my life more complicated. In any event, for a long time I have been fascinated with the early Church and its relationship to later practices and the implications for believers today. My comments reflect my studies, my beliefs, and my experiences.

The earliest Church was Christ and the Apostles; from there it expanded out in the wider community. But what was the shape of that community? The initial recipients of the Gospel were Jews, and their religious life followed the patterns of Judaism. But, again, what was that? First, we have to be clear that Judaism in the first century AD was not Judaism as it exists today. The two are related, to be sure, but modern Judaism and Christianity are both outgrowths of currents in the Holy Land, and particularly in the region of Galilee.

The restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem marked the reesablishment of the Jews as a nation, but religious life had changed in the periods of exile and the diaspora. Only a minority of Jews lived in Judea, and only a minority of those were in a position to attend regularly to temple ceremonies. That latter, moveover, had a primarily political funciton. Ordinary religious life focussed around the synagogue. This was particularly true in the more distant areas, such as Galilee and the Hellenistic cities of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.

We know relatively little of the early synagogue. It appeared to be fundamentally a room where men sat and discussed Torah. From the Jewish tradition the book of Acts and Pauls letters we can construct a little bit about the patterns. On Friday evening there would be a gathering at the synagogue where prayers would be offered. Upon returning, the Sabbath lights would be lit and the blessing said over the cup and the meal. At the conclusion of the Sabbath there would be a time for further contemplation or discussion of Torah -- the "upper room" of the Bible.

In the diaspora communities it would have been common for Jews and Gentiles to attend portions of the observances together -- the Gentiles being "God-fearers," those who accepted the God of Abraham but had not made the formal conversion to Judaism. And after the initial spread of the teachings of Jesus, members of the synagogue community would include Jews, Gentile God-fearers, and followers of Jesus.

The book of Acts and Pauls letters to the Corinthians tell us what ulimately happened -- the followers of Jesus were expelled from the Synagogues. This seems to have appeared more or less simultaneously throughout the diaspora world between 50 and 60 AD. Thereafter Christians had to gather in private homes. What occured was merger of the Sabbath synagogue service and the home observances.

We have two good pieces of historical evidence for the character of worship in the diaspora communities in the period after 60 AD. The first is the Epistle to the Ephesians. Scholars have long been troubled by this letter because it is not very "Pauline" in its language -- the vocabulary and syntax are very different from Paul's other letters. The late biblical scholar Markus Barth argued -- quite convincingly in my opinion -- that the reason for this is that the letter is largely knit together from hymns and liturgical texts in use in Ephesus. Much of the letter, when analysized closely, is actually writen in metrical verse. Barth showed that certain formulaic passages bear similarity to Greek religious texts from Ephesus. As an example, Ephesians 2:12-18 have obvious hymn-like characteristics.

That passage reveals much more, though. It shows how the early Christian community was made up of exiles -- Jews alienated from their community and Gentiles set apart from theirs. Keep in mind that the religious cults of the ancient world were essentially political -- to be a full citizen required participation in the pagan rites. A Christian could not do that, and would thus be alienated from his city. But through Jesus, the divisions between Jews and Gentiles had been erased.

The clearest sign of this would have been both -- Jew and Gentile -- together in the worship of the Lord.

What would that worship look like? Here our best source is a text known as the Didache. It is a very ancient text from Egypt, only discovered in the 1870s. There has been considerable argument over the date, but the best estimates suggest it had to have been written either shortly before or after AD 70. It contains the oldest formula for the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

On the Lord's own day gather together and break bread and give thanks (eucharistesate) having first confesed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who has a quarrel with a companion join you until they have been reconciled, so that your sacrifice may not be defiled. [14:1-2]


The thanksgiving prescribed is markedly similar to the Kiddush:

First concerning the cup:

We give you thanks, our Father,
for the holy vine of David your servant,
which you have made known to us
through Jesus, your servant;
to you be the glory forever.



And concerning the broken bread:

We give you thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge
which you have made known to us
through Jesus your servant;
to you be the glory forever.
Just as this broken bread was scattered
upon the mountains and then was
gathered together and become one,
so may your church be gathered together
from the ends of the earth into your kingdom
for yours in the glory and power
through Jesus Christ forever. [8:2-4]

The line "to you be the glory forever" seems to have been a response. As for the first part, it is highly likely to have been based on a local version of the standard Sabbath blessing. This blessing is for the beginning of the meal; afterwards there is a post-meal blessing:

We give you thanks, Holy Father
for your holy name which you
have caused to dwell in our hearts,
and for the knowledge and faith and immortality
which you have made known to us
through Jesus your servant;
to you be the glory forever.
You almighty Master, created all things for your name's sake

and gave food and drink to men to enjoy,
that they might give you thanks,
but to us you have graciously given
spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Jesus your servant. Above all we give thanks because you are mighty

to you be the glory forever.
Remember your church, Lord,
to deliver it from all evil
and make it perfect in your love,
and gather it, the one that has been sanctified,
from the four winds into your kingdom,
which you have prepared for it,
for yours is the power and the glory forever.
May grace come, and may this age [or "world"] pass away.
Hosanna to the God of David.
If anyone is holy, let him come;
If anyone is not, let him repent.
Maranatha!
Amen.

Simple, beautiful, and contains all that one needs.

For a decade now, this has been our Friday evening blessing, following the lighting of the lights. I usually add a psalm, and then during dinner we generally discuss some issue of scripture, generally following up on a question from one of the boys. My sense is that this is how the early community, barred from the synagogue, would have done things -- carry out the Sabbath eve requirments, say the appropriate blessings, and then enjoy an evening of food, friendship, and fellowship.

It is the practice for those who have been made strangers and sojourners in their own city as well as those divided by the lines of Jew and Gentile. It is intended to draw both together in fellowship and faith, to make them fellow citizens in the city of the faithful and thus to consecrate them to the work of building up Christ's body, as Ephesians says.

A Feral liturgy!

~ LUCIUS SEPTIMIUS

SOURCES:

FIRST

SECOND

THIRD

Ancient Byzantine Chants from The Divine Liturgy,

Holy Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch
Sung in Arabic and Greek