The Ancient Church Orders (Maclean)

The Ancient Church Orders (Maclean)

Arthur John Maclean

2nd–5th century

A handbook by Arthur Maclean, a bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church, on the early church orders and the picture they give of the church’s life: its buildings and worship, ministers and their ordination, baptism and confirmation, doctrine, fasts and festivals, and a chapter on how the orders are related and when they were written. It quotes them at length in English.

Chapter I: General Characteristics of the Literature

1. The object of the present book is to give a description of certain early Christian manuals of instruction and worship which are conveniently called Church Orders. Many of them have been unknown, at least in modern times, until quite lately. Others have been known, but strangely neglected. We are now, however, in a position to estimate the value of the attempts which were made in early ages to provide the clergy and the faithful with liturgical and hortatory manuals, before the era of the Great Liturgies began. While considerable doubt exists as to the exact date and the relation to one another of several of the documents, yet we know enough to make for ourselves a general picture of the worship of the Church in the fourth and fifth centuries. The Church Orders which, so far, are known to us, may be divided into several classes. Those of the first class are descended from one original, agreeing together largely, not only in topics treated, but even

2 M. in the order of treatment and in the wording and phraseology; yet exhibiting the greatest freedom in the handling of material. The same may be said of the second and fourth classes. The Church Orders treated of in this volume are the following: (a) Canons of Hippolytus. Egyptian Church Order*. Ethiopic Church Order*. Hauler's Verona Latin Fragments, part 3*. Testament of our Lord. Apostolic Constitutions viii. 3—46. Constitutions through Hippolytus. Appendix to Arabic (and Ethiopic?) Didascalia. Sahidic Ecclesiastical Canons 64—78. Syriac Octateuch, books iv.—vii. Ethiopic Statutes 53—72. (b) Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Apostolic Church Order. Apostolic Constitutions vii. 1—32. (c) Apostolic Constitutions vii. 33—viii. 2. (d) Didascalia, early forms (Syriac, Latin). Apostolic Constitutions i.—vi. Ethiopic Didascalia. Arabic Didascalia. We shall also have occasion to examine the Sacramentary of Sarapion (or Serapion), and some other illustrative literature. * These three works are joined together by Funk under the name 'Egyptian Church Order.' But as they exhibit considerable differences in detail it will be convenient to keep them separate.

3 It is proposed in the following pages to describe the contents of these manuals, and then to derive from them sketches of various features of Church life; the Church buildings, the daily prayers, the eucharistic liturgy, the Agape, the ministry and ordination, the baptismal customs, the fasts and festivals; also to consider the doctrinal complexion of the various books; and so to arrive at a determination of their date. 2. It will be well, however, first to mention some general characteristics of the literature, as these characteristics greatly affect our estimate of its value. We are at once struck, in most of these manuals, with their pseudonymous form. Many of them profess to have been written, or handed down, by the Twelve Apostles. In the earliest of them, the Didache, this fiction only extends to the title: 'The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles.' Others are much more thorough-going. In ApCO the pretence runs all through the book. The Apostles are enumerated, and the precepts are ascribed each to one Apostle by name. All forms of Didasc keep up the fiction (e.g. H₁ pp. 19, 59 f., 63, 72). So does AC in all its books (e.g. ii. 39—cf. || Didasc, EthD; iv. 7—cf. || EthD, not Didasc; vii. 2, 11, 22, not || D); in bk. viii. it divides the precepts among the Apostles, including Paul and James the Lord's brother, whom it names as being present with the Twelve, together with 'the rest of the presbyters and the seven deacons' (viii. 4). Indeed in AC the pretence is emphasised. It is

4 1—2 found in EdCan, which is called in one MS 'The doctrine of the Apostles through Addai' and which has a subscription mentioning Addai. In EgCO, EthCO, H₃, the fiction is only found in a bare reference to the 'apostolic tradition' (H p. 121), unless the title of EgCO found in SEC (Egyptian Heptateuch) is part of this manual, and is not rather due to the compiler of the Heptateuch. In this title the work is said to have been given 'by the hands of Clement.' The reference to Clement is found elsewhere (AC title and viii. 46, ApCan 85, Test titles and subscriptions to both books, ArD preface, EthD preface). Clement is also mentioned, but not as part of the fictitious setting, in AC vi. 9, 18, vii. 46, viii. 10. In Test the pretence is pushed to its utmost limit. This manual professes to be the legacy left by our Saviour to his Apostles before the Ascension, and to give his own words and commands as to the government of the Church through Thomas, Matthew and John (i. preface) and Clement (title etc.). The ascription to our Lord is removed in the derived ArD-app. The only manual which may be thought to be quite free from the pseudonymous form is CH, and even there it seems probable that the title is an instance of it.

5 It is of some importance for us to consider the meaning of this pretence, and the closely related question of antiquarianisms. If the intention of the authors was to pass the manuals off as being several hundred years older than they really were, they would naturally try to introduce as many antiquarianisms as possible, and thus the books would give us no true picture of the times of the writers. But three considerations make us pause before taking this view. (a) One is the extraordinarily widespread prevalence of the habit. Besides the literature in question we find a large number of Jewish and Christian works affected by it. This would lead us to consider the ascription of books to older writers as a fashion of the day—it extended over a long period—and as a dramatic fiction, rather than as what we understand in the present day by the phrase 'a literary forgery.' Instances of such a 'dramatic fiction' will at once occur to us, in the canonical books of the Bible (e.g. Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes), in the Apocrypha (e.g. the Wisdom of Solomon), in the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, or among the Gnostic sects (e.g. the Clementine Recognitions and Homilies). The fashion has even remained to the present day when we speak of the 'Apostles' Creed,' or when we read in the eighth Anglican Article of Religion of 'Athanasius's Creed.' (b) Another consideration is the want of motive. These Church Orders were not literary bombshells bursting from a supposed antiquity on a circle of learned men; but by their very nature were intended for the use of the people themselves. Anything obviously out of date would defeat the object of the book. And though the individual writers have, as we shall see, each their own doctrinal standpoint, yet there is no very clear 'tendency' discernible in at any rate the great majority of the books.

6 (c) The thinness of the disguise is another reason for doubting whether a serious forgery was intended. In some cases the merest tyro could detect cases of anachronism. No serious forger would be so careless. (See e.g. for Test, Cooper-Maclean, p. 27.) With the moral right or wrong of this custom we need not concern ourselves. But the arguments given above will lead us to discard the idea that the authors introduced antique features for the sake of deception. 7 This however does not exhaust the question of antiquarianisms in the literature under consideration. The various writers used, it is clear, older material, belonging to an age in some cases considerably earlier than their own. In the older material many customs would be described which had become obsolete when the original was adapted. Did the adapters leave these features of the older material, though they did not apply to their own time? The answer seems to be that old features were allowed to remain, provided that they did not contradict the usage of the compilers' own time. An old phrase would be left, but perhaps given another turn or another meaning. If however the old features were so contradictory of present usage that they would only produce confusion in the reader, then they were modified or omitted. The best way of considering the method of treatment of old material is to compare (as in Funk DidCA vol. i.) D and AC vii. 1—32, or Didasc and AC i.—vi., when the above remarks will, it is believed, be fully justified. As a concrete example, we may consider the references to persecution. Few will doubt that at least the greater part of the literature is post-Nicene; yet we find many such references, both in the liturgical forms and in the canonical rules and exhortations. These passages in the post-Nicene books have been taken from ante-Nicene sources, but are retained and might be applied by the reader either to persecutions from other Christians, or to a possible recrudescence of heathen opposition. But it must be said that the language used rather points to an era when the time of persecution had not been very long a thing of the past (see also below, pp. 28, 31 f.).

8 3. Another preliminary remark may be made, on the experimental nature of the liturgical forms in these Church Orders. Liturgies were only just beginning to crystallise into fixed shapes. The writers of these manuals saw no harm in dealing with the works of their predecessors very freely. For Eucharist, Baptism, Ordination one general outline runs through them all and was well established. But the words with which the outline was clothed were still in a fluid condition. The forms were in their nature experimental; some of them did not stand the test of usage; some contained not quite advisable phraseology; all were on their probation; and their chief interest lies in their exhibiting to us the steps by which the Great Liturgies, their successors, were gradually built up. 4. Before we proceed to consider the Church Orders in detail, it will be desirable to mention the compilations in which some of them are embedded, and to explain where they may be found. We will later on consider the question whether any or all of these works are mere compilations, or whether their authors were also the authors of any of the Church Orders contained in them. The compilations are as follows:

9 SAHIDIC ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS, or EGYPTIAN HEPTATEUCH (bk. i. [§§ 1—30] = ApCO; bk. ii. [§§ 31—62] = EgCO; bks. iii. [63], iv. [64—71a], v. [71b—73, 75b—78], vi. [74, 75a], parallel to AC viii.; bk. vii. = ApCan). The books are here given as in the Bohairic (Tattam), the sections as in the Sahidic (Horner); the Bohairic sections are not quite the same as the Sahidic. SYRIAN OCTATEUCH (bks. i., ii. = Test; bk. iii. = ApCO; bks. iv.—vii., parallel to AC viii.; bk. viii. = ApCan). ETHIOPIC STATUTES (1—21 = ApCO; 22—48 = EthCO; 49—72, parallel to AC viii.). HAULER'S VERONA LATIN FRAGMENTS (i.—lxiv. [part 1, H₁] = fragments of Didasc; lxv.—lxvii. a [part 2, H₂] = fragments of ApCO; lxvii. b—lxxx. [part 3, H₃] = fragments of a Church Order very like EthCO). APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS (bks. i.—vi. = Didasc largely interpolated; vii. 1—32 = D interpolated; vii. 33—end, liturgical matter, source uncertain; viii. 1, 2 a tract 'Of Charismata'; viii. 3—end, a Church Order parallel to CH. In some MSS, ApCan follows, almost as a ninth book [in Funk's edition = AC viii. 47 f.]).

10 Some of these compilations have only become known in modern times; but AC has been known since the Reformation. An epitome in Latin was published in 1546 by Carolus Capellus, and the full Greek text in 1563 by Turrianus (DCA i. 119). Many modern editions of the Greek have appeared; especially we may notice those of Ueltzen 1853, Lagarde 1862, and Funk (DidCA) 1905. This last contains also D, ApCan, Didasc (in a Latin translation), ConstH, ArD-app, a conflation of EgCO, EthCO, and H₃, also Sar, and some minor matter. We need not adhere to Funk's theory of the dates of the documents to benefit by the admirable way in which the materials are displayed. An English translation of AC is somewhat anachronistically included in ANCL. The eighty-five Apostolic Canons may also be seen in Hefele's Councils vol. i.—Of other manuals, SEC was published, in Bohairic with English translation, by Tattam in 1848; the Sahidic and Arabic texts of it, with English translations, have lately been published (1904) by Horner in the same volume as EthS, which we are now fortunate enough to have entire with full Ethiopic text and English translation. Hitherto we had only known the Ethiopic in part, through a book by Job Ludolf (Leutholf), entitled Ad suam historiam aethiopicam commentarius (1691). Lagarde gives SEC in Aegyptiaca.—Of the Syrian Octateuch only three books have been published. The first two (Test) were first published by Rahmani in 1899. The third book (ApCO) was published in Syriac and English by Arendzen in 1901 (JThSt iii. 59 ff.); this is the most convenient form of ApCO, though it may also be seen elsewhere (see below). As it has been preserved in several languages, it has often been edited, first by Bickell in Greek from a MS at Vienna, 1843. Bickell invented the useful name 'Apostolic Church Order.' The Verona fragments have been published, from a palimpsest at Verona, by Hauler in 1900.

11 It will be convenient to mention here the books in which the individual Church Orders may most conveniently be seen. The Didache was discovered at Constantinople by Bryennius and first published by him in 1883. It may be conveniently read in Lightfoot and Harmer's Apost. Fathers, compendious edition, in Greek and English. For CH we have several editions. These canons were first published in Arabic with a Latin translation by De Haneberg (1870); they may most conveniently be seen in Latin, with parallels from other manuals, and commentary, in Achelis' edition published in 1891, Die Canones Hippolyti ('Texte und Untersuch.' vi. 4). Riedel published a German version in 1900. For EdCan see ANCL vol. xx. ('Syriac Documents,' p. 35 ff.). For Test in Syriac and Latin see Rahmani, Testamentum Domini nostri, 1899, and for an English version Cooper-Maclean, The Testament of our Lord, 1902. For EgCO in Bohairic and English see Tattam, The Apost. Const...in Coptic, 1848, p. 31; translation* of the Sahidic, Horner, Statutes of the Apostles, 1904, p. 306; in Arabic and English, Horner, pp. 95, 244. For EthCO in Ethiopic and English see Horner, pp. 10, 138. For Didasc in a Latin translation see Funk, DidCA i. (in parallel columns with AC i.—vi.); in Syriac and English, Mrs Gibson, Horae Semiticae i, ii; in Latin (fragments), Hauler, Didascaliae Apostolorum Fragmenta Veron. Lat. 1900, pp. 1—90. For H₃ see Hauler, pp. 101—121 (Latin fragments). For ApCO in Syriac and English see Arendzen as above; in Bohairic and English, Tattam, p. 1; in Ethiopic and English, Horner, pp. 1, 127; translation* of Sahidic, ib. p. 295; in Arabic and English, ib. pp. 89, 233; in Latin (fragments), Hauler, pp. 92—106; in Greek, Lagarde, Reliquiae juris ecclesiae antiquissimae, 1856. For ConstH see Funk, DidCA ii. 72—96. For AC see above. For ArD (appendix, etc.) see Funk, DidCA ii. 120—136. EthD was first published (in Ethiopic and English) by Platt in 1834, from an Ethiopic MS found at

12 * For the Sahidic text see Lagarde's Aegyptiaca. Jerusalem. Sarapion's sacramentary was discovered in the Laura Monastery of Mount Athos, and first published by Wobbermin at Leipzig in 1899. The Greek text, with notes by Brightman, may be conveniently seen in JThSt i. 88 ff., 247 ff.; an English translation with Introduction has been edited by Bp J. Wordsworth (S.P.C.K., 1899). The student may also consult discussions on one or other of these Church Orders in Brightman LEW (which gives the liturgical part of AC with an elaborate discussion of problems of authorship), Funk TUH, and Wordsworth MG. The Pilgrimage of 'Silvia' or of 'Etheria,' which was discovered at Arezzo in Italy by Dr Gamurrini in 1884, and first published by him in 1887-88, may be most conveniently read (in Latin) in the Appendix to Duchesne's Origines du culte chrétien (Eng. tr. Christian Worship; its origin and evolution, S.P.C.K., 1903).

Chapter II: Contents of the Canons of Hippolytus and Cognate Church Orders

1 Taking a general view of the whole of this series of books we may summarise the contents thus. Rules are given for the election and ordination of a bishop, and for the first Liturgy celebrated by him, with or without forms of prayer; for the ordination of presbyters and deacons, for the appointment of minor orders, widows and deaconesses, and with regard to confessors and gifts of healing; for the reception of converts, and their preparation, baptism, confirmation and first communion; for the Agape; for hours of prayer, for feasts and fasts, and for various minor Church observances. 2 It will probably bring the scope of the books most conveniently before the reader if the contents of seven of them are set forth in tabular form. The arrangement of EgCO has been adopted as a basis, as being most in accordance with that of other manuals. Achelis has rearranged CH on this basis, on the supposition that in course of time and of translation into Eastern languages, the order of the sections has become dislocated. We must notice that except in one or two minor points (notably in the sections about widows, subdeacons, and readers) the order in the first five Church Orders here given is the same up to the Communion of the neophytes. After this EgCO, EthCO and H₃ agree in arrangement, and that of Test is nearly the same; but the order of CH is quite different. The sections on fasting, almsgiving, the Agape, firstfruits, etc. (xxxii—xxxvi) come in CH at the end, much later than in the parallels; while those on the Hours of prayer, etc. (xxv b—xxvii) come earlier. It is difficult to conceive, with Achelis, that this disarrangement is entirely due to later translators or scribes. It seems much more probable that the Compiler, who added several new sections to his source—in particular those dealing with married and travelling presbyters, married women, fasts, the Paschal Vigil, the computation of Easter, and vestures—at the same time altered the order of his source with regard to the minor regulations in the latter part of the book.

3 In this table the contents of CH are given as we have them; the numbers in the first column are those of Haneberg; the question of interpolations in CH will be considered later. The numbers in the second column are the sections of SEC-sah; those of EthS being added in brackets. CH. i. Preface, independent. ii, iii a. Election and Consecration of bishop (form given). Liturgy celebrated by new bishop referred to, but only opening of Anaphora (Salutation and Sursum Corda) given. iii b. Blessing of oil and first-fruits (no form given), ending with Gloria Patri. iv. Ordination of presbyter with same form as for bishops, except in the name of the episcopate and enthronement. Bishops and presbyters equal except in power of ordaining and the name of the cathedra. v. Ordination of deacon (form given, independent). His duties; he does not belong to the presbyterate. vi. Honorary presbyterate of Confessors (confused).

4 vii a. Appointment of reader and subdeacon, without laying on of hands. No form given.

Egco, Ethco, H₂.

5 [In H₂ Preface, see p. 162.] 31 (22). Election and Consecration of bishop; form given in EthCO, H, not EgCO. Liturgy in EthCO, H (Anaphora), but H has not the latter part; in EgCO as CH. In EthCO, H (not EgCO) form for blessing oil for healing (and in H cheese and olives), in Liturgy after Epiclesis. In H Gloria Patri. 32 (23). Ord. of presbyter by bishop, the presbyters touching him. Same form (not given) as for bishops in EgCO; in EthCO, H simple but separate form. 33 (24). Ord. of deacon by bishop alone (reason stated and caution added). Form given in EthCO, H, not in EgCO. 34 (25). Honorary presbyterate of Confessors (confused). [Lacuna in H until baptism.] 35, 36 (27 a, c). Reader and subdeacons as CH. I. 1-18. Apocalyptic prelude. 19. Church buildings. 20, 21, 23. Election and Consecration of bishop, form given (long). Liturgy much developed, with some peculiar features.

6 22. Rules for bishops; days for Eucharist. 24, 25. Blessing of oil for healing and water (form independent). 26-28. Pro-anaphoral prayers, Lections, Mystagogia. 29. Qualification of presbyters. 30-32. Ord. of presbyter by bishop, the presbyters touching him. Separate form, based on EthCO, but much developed. Duties and daily prayers of presbyters. 33-37. Qualifications and duties of deacons. The Ectene (independent). 38. Ord. of deacon by bishop alone (reason and caution). Form given, developed from EthCO or H. 39. Honorary presbyterate of Confessors (confused). 44, 45. Subdeacons and reader (note order) appointed without laying on of hands. Short forms given.

AC viii, CONSTH.

7 3. Preface (not ConstH). 4-15. Election, Consecration and Enthronement of bishop (in ConstH short form like CH, in AC much developed). In AC (not ConstH) very full Liturgy, with Deacon's Ectene and forms for dismissal of Catechumens. 29. Blessing of water and oil for healing by bishop or by presbyter in his absence; form independent. [Not in ConstH.] 16. Ord. of presbyter by bishop in presence of the presbytery and of the deacons. Separate form (independent except one sentence). ConstH a little shorter. 17, 18. Ord. of deacon by bishop in presence of the whole presbytery and the deacons. Form given, independent. 23. A Confessor to be honoured; if occasion arises, he is to be ordained bishop, priest, or deacon (note development). 21, 22. Ord. of subdeacons and readers (note order). In AC with laying on of hands; form given [and so ConstH of subdeacons; about Reader only one sentence, and no laying on of hands].

8 CH. ix b. Honour due to widows (one sentence). vii b. Of Virgins, male and female. vii c. Position of subdeacons and readers at prayer. viii a. Gifts of healing. viii b, ix a. Married and travelling presbyters. x. Enquirers after the faith. xi-xvi. Forbidden trades, etc. xvii a, c. Duties of married women. Catechumenate (length not fixed). Rules for women after (?) childbirth; women pray apart; women's veils. xvii b, xviii, xix a. Dismissal of catechumens. Women after childbirth. Martyred catechumens. xix b. The Competentes; their bathing, fasting, exorcism (no form given), vigil. xix d. BAPTISM. Blessing of two oils (no form given). Form of Renunciation (after which first anointing) and of Submission to God. Creed (Roman) in 3 parts, one at each immersion. Formula of baptism (repeated thrice). Anointing by presbyter after baptism.

Egco, Ethco, H₂.

9 37 (26). Appointment of widows. (Note change of order in EthCO.) Not to be ordained. 38 (27 b). Of Virgins, female. 39 (27 d). Gifts of healing. 40 (28 a). Enquirers ('new men'). 41 (28 b-30). Forbidden trades, etc. 42, 43 (31, 32). Catechumenate (3 yrs.); catechumens' prayers; kiss of peace; women pray apart; women's veils. 44 (33). Dismissal of catechumens (no prayer given). Martyred and persecuted catechumens. 45 (34). The Competentes; their bathing, fasting, exorcism (no form given), and in EgCO, their vigil. 46 (35). BAPTISM. Blessing of water and two oils (no form). Form of Renunciation (after which first anointing) and of Submission to God, latter repeated at each immersion. Creed (not Roman in EgCO, EthCO) after immersion. EthCO adds clause on Resurrection to Creed. [H fragment begins in middle of (Roman) Creed, in 3 parts, one at each immersion.] No formula of baptism given. Anointing by presbyter after baptism.

10 TEST. 40-43. Appointment of widows and of presbyteresses or 'widows προκαθημεαι.' Form given. Their duties and prayers (at great length). 46. Of Virgins, male and female (long). 47. [Charismatic] gifts. 11. 1. Enquirers. 2. Forbidden trades, etc. 3, 4. Catechumenate (3 yrs.); catechumens' prayers; kiss of peace; women pray apart; women's veils. 5. Prayer at dismissal of catechumens. Martyred and persecuted catechumens. 6-8a. The Competentes, their bathing, fasting, exorcism (long form given), vigil. 8b. BAPTISM. Blessing of two oils, one with form already given (in ii 7). Form of Renunciation (after which first anointing) and of Submission to God. Creed (Roman) in 3 parts, one at each immersion. No formula of baptism given. Anointing by presbyter after baptism. AC viii, CONSTH. 25. Of widows. Not to be ordained. 19, 20. Ordination of deaconesses with laying on of hands (form given). 24. Of Virgins. 26. Exorcists not to be ordained. 27, 28. Functions of the clergy, etc.

11 32⁻. Enquirers. 32⁻. Forbidden trades, etc. 32⁻. Catechumenate (3 yrs.). Instruction of the faithful. Duty to servants. M. xix e. CONFIRMATION by bishop (form given) with laying on of hands, kiss of peace, but no third anointing. xix f. COMMUNION (words of administration in both kinds given). Milk and honey partaken of. xix g, xx, xxxii-xxxv. Fast before first Communion. Fasts on Wed. Fri. and the Forty Days. Of fasting and alms to the poor. Agape on Sunday. Commemoration of departed. Catechumens not to be at Agape; bread given them. Supper for widows. xxxvi. Firstfruits (independent form, chiefly prayer for the Offerer). xxxviii. Paschal Vigil. xxii. Holy week fast. Easter computed with Jews. xxiii. Exhortation. xxiv a. Bishop visiting sick. xxviii, xxix a. Fast before Communion. Only the faithful to receive. Care for Eucharistic elements. Reverence in the Sanctuary.

Egco, Ethco, H₂.

12 CONFIRMATION by bishop (form given) with laying on of hands, anointing and kiss of peace. COMMUNION (words of adm. in both kinds [in H only of Bread]). Milk and honey mixed. Three cups in EthCO (honey, milk, wine) and H (water, milk, wine). Teaching of the Resurrection only after baptism (?). H has a lacuna before this. 47-52 (36-39). Of Fasting [H deest]. Agape (called The Lord's Supper in EgCO, H, not EthCO). Catechumens not at Agape; bread and a cup given them. (H; bread given them and each to offer a cup.) [EthCO adds: Gifts to the sick; public prayers at the lamplighting (form given), psalm singing, offering of a cup (cf. H); fragments given to the faithful as eulogiae.] Supper for widows. 53, 54 (40 B). Firstfruits, form given. [For interpolation in EthCO see p. 21.] 55 (41). Two days absolute fast before Easter. 56 (42). Bishop visiting sick.

13 57 (43). Private prayers on waking; instructions in Church. 58-60 a (44, 45). Fast before Communion. Only the faithful to receive. Care for Eucharistic elements. 9. CONFIRMATION by bishop (form given, developed from EgCO) with laying on of hands, anointing and kiss of peace. 10 a. COMMUNION (words of adm. of Bread). No milk and honey. Reference to water in chalice (cf. H). Caution as to care of the Eucharistic elements (see below). Teaching of the Resurrection only after baptism. 11-13. Alms to a widow or poor woman. Rules for Pascha, 'the lamplighting,' Pentecost. The Agape (catechumens not to receive). The faithful not to consort with heathen. 14-17. Firstfruits (form almost as EgCO, with short prayer for Offerer added). Property. Things strangled or sacrificed not to be eaten*. 18, 19. Paschal Vigil (independent). 20. Two days absolute fast before Easter. 21. Bishop visiting sick. 22. Singing the psalms. 25 b. Fast before Communion; see also ii. 10 above.

14 * So AC vi. 12 and || Didasc. Cf. ApCan 63 and Ac. xv. 20, 29. AC viii, CONSTH. 41-44. Commemorations of the departed and memorial feasts. 30, 31, 40. Firstfruits (independent form), tithes and eulogiae for the clergy. CH. xxx, xxxi. Distribution of 'oblations'; communicating sick presbyters. xxi. Clergy's daily prayer meeting, with the people. xxiv b, xxv a. Burials. xxv b-xxvii, xxix b. Hours of private prayer; duty of going to church when there is a meeting 'for the word of God.' Coming of the Bridegroom. At cockcrow prayer in the church. Sign of the cross, like the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal Lamb. xxxvii. Vestments at the Eucharist. EoCO, EtnCO, H₃. 60b (46). Clergy's daily prayer meeting (H deest). 61 (47). Burials (H deest). 62 (48). Hours of private prayer (at great length); duty of going to church if there is an 'exhortation.' [H fragment begins here.] Coming of the Bridegroom. At cockcrow private prayer. Sign of the cross etc. as CH. [In H this paragraph is given twice with slight variations.]

15 TEST. 10 b. Communicating sick presbyters; deacon baptises if presbyter absent. See i. 32 above. 23. Burials. 24, 25 a. Hours of private prayer either in the church or in the house. Christians and catechumens exhorted. [25 c-27, Conclusion.] AC viii, CONSTH. 33. Festivals, etc. 35-39. Public prayers for all men twice daily (form given). Not in ConstH. 34. Hours of private prayer either in the church or in the house. 45, 46. Hospitality for the persecuted. Long exhortation to good order (εὐταξία). Note 1. There is an interpolation in EthCO as given by Horner (pp. 162-178). Statute 40 (on firstfruits), here called 40 B, is preceded by another Statute 40, here called 40 A, which is no part of EthCO. The interpolation begins with another version of the prologue to H₃ (see below, p. 162), and proceeds to give a description of baptism, with a large number of forms for consecrating oil, the font, etc. In some particulars this description is inconsistent with what had been said before, in Statute 35, and it is a repetition in fuller terms of that Statute.

16 Note 2. AC viii. and ConstH consist of five tracts: (1) Of gifts, περὶ χαρισμάτων, §§ 1, 2; (2) Constitutions of the holy Apostles about ordination through Hippolytus, §§ 4-31; (3) Constitutions of Paul the holy Apostle about ecclesiastical canons, § 32; (4) Constitutions of Peter and Paul the holy Apostles, §§ 33-45; (5) Teaching about good order (εὐταξία), of all the holy Apostles, § 46. The last five chapters of this work (35—39) consist of part of a Church Order closely akin to Test. The contents are: description of the buildings (=Test i. 19 very nearly); ordination of bishops, with ordination prayer (=Test i. 20, 21 very nearly); times of prayer of bishops and presbyters (=Test i. 22 a, but there presbyters are not mentioned); bishops' fasts (=Test i. 22 b); description (only) of the Liturgy, corresponding to Test i. 26, 27, 23; Mystagogia (rather shorter than, but closely resembling Test i. 28). This is expressly said to be the end of the book.

17 Funk (DidCA ii. 122) gives a duplicate of § 38, with some omissions, as § 23. The repetition of this chapter may perhaps show that the Appendix was added to ArD by a later hand. Funk also publishes (ii. 120) the preface to ArD, which is prefixed to the older (Syriac) Didasc in Mrs Gibson's MS as an interpolation, and which is also almost the same as that of EthD (below, p. 32). Funk gives four sections of the first chapter, but no other part of this work is published. It is probable that a portion of the ETHIOPIC DIDASCALIA (§§ 25—30), of which we only know the headings, through Wansleb and Ludolf (Platt, p. xv f.), is also closely akin to Test. The headings are: (25) De structura Templi et ejusdem Heikel (הַיָּבֶל); (26) lacuna; (27) De ordinatione episcoporum; (28) De oratione episcoporum cum ecclesiasticis; (29) De jejunio episcopi; (30) continet Mystagogiam seu doctrinam occultam quam apostoli docuerunt.

18 The Mystagogia in these works and in Test is an instruction on the Christian religion given to the faithful on certain festivals at the Eucharist, after the dismissal of the catechumens; see below, p. 168.

iii. SAHIDIC ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS 63—78 (EGYPTIAN HEPTATEUCH iii.—vi.)

19 These sections are a reproduction of AC viii. with several omissions and variations. The ascription of various sections to the different Apostles is not retained. Similarly AC viii. 4 (the account of those said to be present) is omitted. There are no ordination prayers, and no Liturgy, but a description of the latter and a few of the shorter formulas are given, and a rubric is added at the end with reference to the consumption of the elements that remain. It is expressly said, in opposition to AC and ConstH, that none of the minor orders are to be ordained (below, p. 78 f.). There are no benedictions of oil and water; no daily public prayers are given. In the Bohairic (Tattam), but not in the Sahidic (Horner), the rules about newcomers and forbidden trades (= AC viii. 32 a) are postponed till after the Exhortation to Good Order. This work is either an excerpt from our AC viii., the writer altering what he had before him to suit his own Egyptian customs, or else an excerpt from an earlier form of AC. The statement that the minor orders are not to be ordained may perhaps incline us to the latter supposition.

20 Four of the books of the SYRIAN OCTATEUCH (iv.—vii.), which have not been published, appear to correspond closely with SEC 63—78. The table of contents is published in Lagarde's Reliquiae jur. can. p. xvii. The ETHIOPIC STATUTES 49—72 are almost the same as SEC 63—78 (see Horner, pp. 186—232). There are some slight variations; there is a long passage about resting on Saturday and on Sunday; and at the end several prayers for various occasions are iven.

Chapter III: Contents of the Other Church Orders

1. The Didache is so well known that it requires but little notice here. It begins (1—5) with a Tract on the Two Ways (of life and death). Then after a connecting sentence it gives various rules for Christian life and worship, for meats (6), for baptism, with a formula (7), for fasts on Wednesday and Friday, and for the use thrice a day of the Lord's Prayer (8); it provides two prayers before and one after the 'Eucharistic thanksgiving' (9, 10), see below, p. 62; it gives injunctions as to an itinerant ministry of 'apostles and prophets,' and as to firstfruits given to them (11—13), as to Sunday services (14) and the appointment of a local ministry of 'bishops and deacons' (15); and concludes with an exhortation to watchfulness (16). Its primitive character is seen by the arrangements for the ministry, and it is probably divided in time by a very considerable interval from all the other Church Orders mentione in this volume. Yet it is of great importance for our purpose, because it has been, in whole or in part, incorporated into the works next mentioned. The name 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles' is given in MSS to several other works, e.g. to ApCO-syr and EdCan.

2. The Apostolic Church Order. This manual, to which, as we have seen, some MSS give the name 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,' is also called 'The Canons of the Apostles,' but it must not be confused with the much later and much better known work of the same name, called in this volume the 'Apostolic Canons.' ApCO considerably develops the apostolic fiction found in the title of D, naming the Twelve in the prelude in a curious manner. Thus it makes Cephas and Nathanael different from Peter and Bartholomew, and it omits Matthew. Only one James is mentioned; perhaps the son of Zebedee is omitted, as ex hypothesi he was dead at the supposed time of writing. The sections are ascribed to different Apostles, as was afterwards done in AC. John begins the speaking, and is named first in the list, though Peter is the chief speaker. The preeminence of John leads us to think of Asia Minor as the home of this Church Order.

After a prelude which reechoes a phrase from the Epistle of Barnabas ('Rejoice O sons and daughters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'), and which prescribes the appointment of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers and widows (no other minor order is mentioned), the Tract on the Two Ways is reproduced (4—13* = D 1—4 a with some interpolations, and slight omissions in the first part); but the end of the Tract as given in D, including the 'Way of Death,' is altogether omitted, though the latter is referred to in ApCO 4. It is probable therefore that the Compiler had before him a mutilated copy of D, or of the Tract. The rest of D finds no place in ApCO, but instead, after two sections (14, 15) inserted to bridge over a gap, we have a series of regulations for the Christian ministry. The qualifications of a bishop are based on the Pastoral Epistles. Three presbyters are to be appointed by the bishop, and an elaborate reference is introduced to the elders of the Apocalypse (Rev. iv. 4), and to the position of the presbyters on either side of the bishop; those on the right are to regulate the service of the altar, those on the left to regulate the people; the presbyters are 'sharers in the mysteries' with the bishop, who is the 'shepherd' (see below, p. 68). The appointment of a reader, curiously enough, comes next. The deacons are three in number (so syr); their qualifications are based on the Pastoral Epistles. We have also sections dealing with good order among laymen and the ministry of women, including a curious side-remark about Martha and Mary, and an ἄγραφον of our Lord: 'The weak shall be saved through the strong.' Women must approach the Eucharist with heads covered (so rightly syr, see below, p. 42; other versions have 'must not pray standing,' apparently

* The sections in the Ethiopic and Arabic versions (Horner) are numbered differently. reading προσεύχεσθαι for προσέρχεσθαι, a very ancient corruption of the text), and must only minister to women (see below, pp. 83 f., 105 f.). This Church Order has no liturgical forms. 3. AC vii. 1—32. In these chapters the whole of D is reproduced, with many interpolations and with alterations made in order to bring the material into harmony with the age of the interpolator. It is instructive to note the manner of treatment. The interpolator has in several places introduced the apostolic fiction (above, p. 3 f.); also an allusion to the Emperor (§ 16), whose appointment (χειροτονία) is of the Lord, and to whose rulers tribute must willingly be paid. The regulations of D about apostles and prophets are omitted or reduced to an injunction to receive a strange teacher if he be tested, but to reject a false teacher (§ 28). First-fruits and tithes are to be paid to the priests (ἱερεῦσι), orphans, and poor, not as D to the prophets or to the poor (§ 29). Bishops, presbyters, and deacons are to be ordained (§ 31'). A protest against Judaic distinctions of meats is introduced, but those offered to idols are to be avoided (§ 20 f.), as in D. In Baptism anointing before and after the act of immersion is introduced (§ 22). The injunction of D that the candidate is to fast—the interpolator does not, like D, add the baptizer and others—is accounted for by the fact that our Lord fasted (see below, p. 137). The weekly fasts are to be either Wednesday and Friday, as D, or 'the five days,' i.e. Monday to Friday;

but every Saturday is to be kept as a festival except that on which our Lord was in the grave, the Creator under the earth (§ 23). One instance of a change of phraseology may be given. D (§ 4) has a rather difficult phrase about the duty of Christians to one who speaks the word of God. He is to be remembered 'night and day,' for 'whence the κυριότης is spoken, there is ὁ κύριος' (so ApCO-syr [JThSt iii. 65], with 'where' for 'whence'). The interpolator (§ 9) says that he is to be remembered 'day and night...for where the teaching about God is, there God is present.' Thus a difficult phrase is simplified, as indeed is also the case in ApCO-boh where the paronomasia is altogether removed.

ii. APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS vii. 33—viii. 2

1. The latter part of the Seventh Book consists of liturgical and other matter of which the source is unknown. We have first a long and diffuse prayer or meditation to be said by Christians in private (§§ 33—38); then a description of the instruction of catechumens and of the baptismal ceremonies, with prayers, etc. (§§ 39—45, see p. 96 ff. below). A list of early bishops of different sees is somewhat unexpectedly added (§ 46). And our present copies end with a text of the hymn Gloria in excelsis and with the Nunc Dimittis, both with additional clauses at the end, as is the case with the Te Deum as sung to-day (§§ 47—49). It may however be doubted if these last three chapters are not a later addition; they have no connexion with the rest of the book, and § 46 seems to be the more natural conclusion.— The presence in this book of the baptismal regulations explains their omission in bk. viii., where the parallel Church Orders have them (above, p. 16 ff.).

2. The first two chapters of bk. viii. (also found with some variations in ConstH, SEC, EthS, and Syrian Octateuch) are a diffuse tract Of Charismata (spiritual gifts), περὶ χαρισμάτων. This tract is thought to be based on a treatise of that name by Hippolytus, now lost; but it is certainly largely interpolated by the AC compiler.

iii. THE DIDASCALIA AND ITS COGNATES

1. The older Didascalia, now existing in Syriac and (in fragments) in a Latin version, itself probably interpolated, was doubtless originally written in Greek. It is a diffuse and loosely connected manual of instruction, with references to Church organisations and customs. It begins with moral precepts (= AC i.), which are followed by a long series of sections on the qualifications and duties of bishops and clergy, with a description of a church (= AC ii.); it gives directions about widows and the ministration of women (= AC iii.), about orphans and almsgiving (= AC iv.), about confessors and martyrs, with sections on the Resurrection, on the Paschal fast, and on the training of children (= AC v.). The work concludes with remarks on heresies and schisms (AC vi.). Those who study this manual in Mrs Gibson's edition should note that the manuscript used by her has a very long post-Nestorian interpolation not found in Codex Sangermanensis, which Lagarde used. This interpolation consists of passages from Test, ApCO, and elsewhere. It must be later than Jacob of Edessa, the translator of Test into Syriac (seventh century), as the Syriac of the interpolation is almost verbatim the same as that of Jacob.

2. AC i.—vi. The older Didasc has been freely treated by the compiler of AC. He has omitted some passages, but on the whole has enlarged his source by several interpolations. He has also altered many passages. We may notice some instances which illustrate his method. Didasc shows great fondness for Biblical quotations; but AC goes much further, and has profuse quotations, unlike Test, which, true to its pretence of authorship, is sparing of direct citations of the NT, though it constantly refers to it. Of alterations due to changed circumstances we note AC ii. 59, where the lay people are bidden to assemble for public worship twice daily, whereas Didasc only mentions the Lord's day; in AC v. 13 an elaborate festal cycle is introduced (below, p. 129); in AC vi. 17 directions about the marriage of the clergy in all grades are added. An unbalanced statement in Didasc on sin after baptism is modified in AC ii. 7 (below, p. 94). One other change of phrase may be mentioned. In Didasc we read (in the passage || AC ii. 26): 'These (the bishops) are your high priests; the priests and levites, who then were, are now deacons, presbyters, widows and orphans.' Here AC has: 'These are your high priests; but your priests (ἱερεῖς) are the presbyters, and your levites are the present deacons and your readers and singers and doorkeepers, your deaconesses and widows and virgins, and your orphans' (see p. 67 n. below). The interpolations, which are extremely numerous, are in the marked style of the AC Compiler (Brightman LEW p. xxiv f.).

3. The Ethiopic Didascalia is apparently derived from AC. The preface is nearly the same as that of ArD (p. 22). It begins with a sentence from AC viii. 4, enumerating those present (the Twelve, Paul, James) at the putting forth of the Teaching. This is followed by a passage which recalls ApCO 1, names the ranks of the clergy—bishops, presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, readers, singers, 'nipilobânos' (= παρθένους?), but deaconesses are omitted—and introduces the reference to Clement. In the middle of a sentence we reach the beginning of the older Didasc, and the first four books of AC are then followed, with some considerable alterations and omissions. At a point parallel to the end of AC iv. 12 Platt's MS comes to an abrupt end. It is divided into 22 chapters. We have, however, the table of contents of another MS. It is given by Platt (p. xv) from Ludolf, who borrowed it from Wansleb's Histoire de l'Église d'Alexandrie. In the Table the first 16 chapters appear to agree with Platt's, except that it omits the preface. The remaining six of Platt's chapters appear in the Table as 31, 32, 17, 33 (and 34), 18, 35; that is, the order of AC is departed from, for Platt's order is that of AC. The additional chapters in the Table are: (19) Of Virgins' vows, = AC iv. 14?; (20) Of Festivals and Pascha, = v. 13 ff.; (21) Of martyrs, = v. 1 ff.; (22) Of avoiding scandals, = v. 10; (23) Of swearing by idols, = v. 11; (24) Of the computation of Pascha, which must be in the week in which the fourteenth day of the moon falls, = v. 17 ff.; (25—30) chapters corresponding to ArD-app (see p. 22); (36) Of the resurrection of all men, = AC v. 7?; (37) Of keeping festivals joyfully, = v. 20?; (38) Of observing burials with hymns and prayers.

4. For the Arabic Didascalia, see above, p. 22.

iv. OTHER ILLUSTRATIVE LITERATURE

1. The Sacramentary of Sarapion, Bishop of Thmuis in the Nile Delta (so §§ 1, 15) and a friend of Athanasius, c. A.D. 350, is a set of prayers for the use of a bishop. It contains the Eucharistic Anaphora, with benedictions of water and oil for healing (1—6), baptismal prayers (7—11), ordination prayers for deacons, presbyters and bishops (12—14; there are none for minor orders), benedictions of oils for baptism and confirmation, and for sickness, see below, p. 43 (15—17), a funeral prayer (18), and pro-anaphoral prayers (19—30). Only the bishop's part is given. 2. The Pilgrimage of 'Silvia' or of 'Etheria' is an anonymous account of the travels in the East of a lady of Gaul or Spain at the end of the fourth century. She appears to have been the head of a religious community in her own land. She describes the services at Jerusalem; and to her we are indebted for a large amount of information about

M. the liturgical customs of that time. The name of the authoress is unknown; 'Silvia' and 'Etheria' are mere conjectures. The bishop of Jerusalem mentioned was probably St Cyril's successor. 3. The Catechetical Lectures of St Cyril of Jerusalem (CL) were delivered at Jerusalem A.D. 348, while St Cyril was still a presbyter. They give us a detailed description of the baptismal and Eucharistic usages of his time at Jerusalem. 4. The Eighty-five Apostolic Canons, often attached to AC, and perhaps by the same author, illustrate the ecclesiastical customs current in Syria at the end of the fourth century. They will be frequently referred to in these pages. They received canonical authority from the Trullan Council, A.D. 692. They are also to be found in SEC, as the seventh book of the Egyptian Heptateuch (Tattam, p. 174 ff.), but there are several variations; the order frequently differs, and the canon of Scripture in § 85 is not quite the same as in the Greek. These canons also form the eighth book of the Syrian Octateuch, but this part is not published.

5. The Edessene Canons appear to have been composed in Syriac. In addition to the canons there is an account of the preaching of the Apostles.