The Liturgies in Order
The Liturgies in Order
SermonIndex
c. AD 50 – 1900
A list of the early liturgies, church orders and descriptions of worship from the earliest to the latest.
The Liturgies and Church Orders in Order of Date
Every liturgy, church order and description of worship in the collection, from the earliest to the latest, with the date, the rite and a note.
The Didache (c. AD 50–120, description)
The thanksgivings over the cup and bread (chapters 9–10) and the Sunday gathering (chapter 14). Earliest witnesses. The oldest surviving Christian prayers for the Lord’s Supper.
Justin Martyr, First Apology 65–67 (c. AD 155, description)
Baptism and the Sunday Eucharist at Rome, described for the emperor. Earliest witnesses. The first full account of a Sunday service: readings, sermon, prayers, kiss of peace, bread and cup, and the collection for the poor.
The Apostolic Tradition (Hippolytus) (c. AD 215, church order)
Ordination prayers, baptism, and the earliest known eucharistic prayer in full. Earliest witnesses. Burton Scott Easton’s English of 1934, a composite of the Latin, Sahidic, Arabic and Ethiopic versions (the Greek is lost). Many scholars now doubt that it is one man’s work from about 215. Given as public domain in the United States.
The Didascalia Apostolorum (third century, church order)
A Syrian church order: bishops, the assembly, widows, fasting and the Eucharist. Earliest witnesses. Margaret Gibson’s English translation from the Syriac (1903).
The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles (Addai and Mari) (third century onward, liturgy)
The oldest anaphora of the Church of the East, with no words of institution in the oldest manuscripts. Church of the East (Syriac). English now; the Syriac text is planned beside it.
The Euchologion of Serapion of Thmuis (c. AD 350, prayer book)
A bishop’s prayer book from Egypt: anaphora, baptism, ordination and blessings. Alexandria (Greek and Coptic). Bishop John Wordsworth’s English translation (1899).
Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses (c. AD 350, description)
Lectures to the newly baptized on baptism, chrism and the Eucharist at Jerusalem. Earliest witnesses. Lectures 19–23 of the Catechetical Lectures describe the Jerusalem rite step by step.
The Liturgy of Clement (Apostolic Constitutions, Book 8) (c. AD 380, liturgy)
A complete Syrian liturgy with the prayers of the faithful, deacon’s proclamations and the great thanksgiving. Jerusalem and Antioch (Greek and Syriac). Book 8 of the Apostolic Constitutions, compiled in Syria about AD 380.
The Divine Liturgy of Saint Clement (Neale) (c. AD 380 text; Neale’s version 1859, liturgy)
The Clementine liturgy of Book 8, translated by J. M. Neale. Jerusalem and Antioch (Greek and Syriac).
Egeria’s Pilgrimage (c. AD 384, description)
The daily and Holy Week services at Jerusalem, seen by a Spanish pilgrim. Earliest witnesses. McClure and Feltoe’s English translation (1919), with the Latin text on its own page.
Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries (c. AD 390, description)
Ambrose explains baptism and the Eucharist to the newly baptized at Milan. The Latin West.
The Divine Liturgy of James (fourth century onward, liturgy)
The ancient liturgy of Jerusalem, still sung in a few places on the feast of James. Jerusalem and Antioch (Greek and Syriac).
The Divine Liturgy of Saint James (Neale) (same liturgy, Neale’s version 1859, liturgy)
Neale’s translation of the Greek liturgy of James. Jerusalem and Antioch (Greek and Syriac).
The Divine Liturgy of Mark (fourth to fifth century, liturgy)
The ancient liturgy of Alexandria. Alexandria (Greek and Coptic).
The Divine Liturgy of Saint Mark (Neale) (same liturgy, Neale’s version 1859, liturgy)
Neale’s translation of the liturgy of Alexandria in its Coptic form. Alexandria (Greek and Coptic).
The Liturgy of Basil the Great (fourth century onward; Greek text c. AD 800, liturgy)
The longer liturgy of Constantinople, in the oldest Greek text (the Barberini manuscript) beside Hapgood’s English. Constantinople (Byzantine). The English is the later Orthodox text of Basil, so it agrees in substance but not always word for word with the ninth-century Greek.
The Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom (Neale) (late fourth to fifth century, liturgy)
The usual Sunday liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Constantinople (Byzantine).
The Coptic Liturgy of Saint Mark (Cyril) (fifth century onward, liturgy)
The ordinary liturgy of the Coptic Church with the anaphora of Saint Cyril, in Brightman’s English; the Basil and Gregory anaphoras have no free English yet. Alexandria (Greek and Coptic).
The Testament of Our Lord (fifth century, church order)
A Syrian church order with the fullest early account of the prayers, the building and the offices. Earliest witnesses. Cooper and Maclean’s English translation from the Syriac (1902).
The Liturgy of Nestorius (fifth century (attributed to Nestorius), liturgy)
The second anaphora of the Church of the East, in Badger’s English. Church of the East (Syriac). The anaphora of Theodore is not in a free English translation online yet.
The Leonine (Verona) Sacramentary (fifth to seventh century, sacramentary)
The oldest Roman collection of Mass prayers. The Latin West. Feltoe’s Latin text (1896). The manuscript begins in April and breaks off in December. No English translation is free online.
Pseudo-Dionysius, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and The Liturgy (c. AD 500, description)
A mystical reading of the Eucharist and baptism. Constantinople (Byzantine).
Narsai, Liturgical Homilies (c. AD 500, description)
Homilies on the mysteries of the Church of the East. Church of the East (Syriac).
The Syriac Liturgy of Saint James (fifth to seventh century, liturgy)
The Jacobite order with the anaphora of Mar James, in Brightman’s English. Jerusalem and Antioch (Greek and Syriac).
The Liturgy of Malabar (Neale) (sixth to seventh century, liturgy)
The liturgy used by the Thomas Christians of south India. Church of the East (Syriac).
Nestorian Baptism, Marriage, Burial and Ordination (East Syriac rites, rite)
The other rites of the Church of the East, in Badger’s English (1852). Church of the East (Syriac).
The East Syrian Daily Offices (East Syriac rites, service book)
Evening, night and morning services, Compline and the fasts, in Maclean’s English (1894). Church of the East (Syriac).
The Gelasian Sacramentary (seventh century, sacramentary)
The Roman Mass and baptismal prayers as used in Gaul. The Latin West. H. A. Wilson’s Latin text (Oxford). Book I (the church year and baptism), Book II (saints’ days) and Book III (Sundays and the daily prayers).
The Missale Gothicum (Gallican Mass-book) (c. AD 700, sacramentary)
A Gallican Mass-book with its prefaces, blessings and baptismal rite. The Latin West. Bannister’s Latin text (1917). The Bobbio Missal is not online yet: the free scan of the Henry Bradshaw Society volume is only a facsimile of the manuscript, and its printed text is in a separate volume.
The Armenian Liturgy (seventh to eighth century, liturgy)
The Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church, in three English versions. Armenian.
The Ethiopic Liturgy (seventh to eighth century, liturgy)
The Ethiopic order with the Anaphora of the Apostles, in Brightman’s English and in Mercer’s. Ethiopic (Ge'ez). Mercer translates only the Anaphora of the Apostles in full. The other Ethiopic anaphoras (Mary, John, and the rest) have no free English translation online yet.
The Ambrosian Liturgy (fourth to eighth century, liturgy)
The ordinary and canon of the Mass of Milan. The Latin West. Atchley’s English translation (1909).
The Gregorian Sacramentary (eighth century, sacramentary)
The Roman Mass as sent by Pope Hadrian to Charlemagne. The Latin West. H. A. Wilson’s Latin text (Henry Bradshaw Society, 1915), with the supplement and the additional prefaces and blessings.
The Orthodox Service Book (Hapgood), part 1 (later forms, service book)
The liturgies of Chrysostom, Basil and the Presanctified, vespers and matins, in English. Constantinople (Byzantine).
The Orthodox Service Book (Hapgood), part 2 (later forms, service book)
The sacraments and the offices. Constantinople (Byzantine).
The Office of the Prothesis (Neale) (later forms, service book)
The preparation of the bread and cup before the Byzantine liturgy. Constantinople (Byzantine).