Music and Liturgy

Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical Liturgy for Worship

Submitted To: Rev. Dr. George Mathew Kuttiyil Submitted By: Subin John Mathew Submitted On: 11th September, 2012.

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Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical liturgy for Worship. Introduction:- Liturgy is much more than an expression of thanks in words. A true liturgy is the highest art of God and Human, not for some other purposes, but as an expression of the true being of the Creator and the Creation.1 The Liturgy of St. James is a first-century liturgy written by St. James the Brother of the Lord, who wrote the Epistle of St. James in the New Testament. Amongst many liturgists in Britain, the Liturgy of the ancient Church of Jerusalem, the Liturgy of St. James, has been of lasting interest. The divine liturgy of St. James is still, in its Syrian form, the principal liturgy of the Syrian Oriental Church, both in Syriac and, in the ancient Syrian Orthodox Church of India, in Malayalam and English. In India and abroad Syrian Church communities follow the liturgical tradition of Jerusalem Antioch Liturgy of St. James superpose themselves in one and the same territory. It is essential for the church to communicate their faith in the language and culture of its people through liturgy as well. Liturgy therefore must be relevant and an expression of the living faith of the people. The meaning and strength of the faith of a church could only be understood through its liturgy. Therefore this paper is an attempt to find how the St. James liturgy has been and at the same time how it can be further more acceptable as a Unifying and Ecumenical one. The term Liturgy:Liturgy can be defined as the public and official service of worship that the Christian Church renders to God. Liturgy is derived from Greek 'leitourgia' translated from the Hebrew 'abodah' in the LXX. Leitos comes from archaic Greek 'Leos' which means 'people' and 'erqo' means to do, to work.2 The word Liturgy literally means service rendered to God and humans. Liturgy is a symbolic drama of the history of redemption.3 The incarnation of God is the main focus of liturgy. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14). The whole of liturgy is for the growth of humanity and the creation to the glorified existence. According to John Fenwick, well known liturgiologist, Professor of liturgy at Trinity College, Bristol, and Arch bishop of Canterbury's Asst. Secretary for Ecumenical affairs Christian worship has to do two things.4 a) It has to lift the believer out of the drab, plain, uninspiring circumstances of his or her daily life and them a vision of the majesty and holiness of God. b) It has to teach that the Incarnation shows that God is present in the ordinary things of life, and that he can be approached in simplicity as a loving Father, because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Why St. James Liturgy:St. James, the brother of our God, was martyred very early, he was the very first bishop of Jerusalem. He wrote the liturgy which was the favorite liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. St. John Chrysostom of course shortened the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great; St. Basil the Great shortened the Liturgy of St. James. It is considered to be the most ancient and venerable of
1 2 3 4 Paulos Mar Gregorios, Worship in a Secular Age, (Tiruvalla: CSS, 2003), 9. Roots and Wings of our Liturgy, (Kottayam:Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Annual Clergy Conference, 2008), 42. Ibid.,19. John Fenwick, Liturgy For Identity and Spirituality, (Kottayam: TMAMROC, 2008), 14. 2

Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical Liturgy for Worship by Subin John Mathew.

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the Antiochean group of liturgies.5 The Liturgy of St. James certainly had the reputation of being, if not the oldest liturgy, one of the most venerable forms of the Eucharistic service. It is still in use, occasionally at Jerusalem and is used on St. Jamess day by a growing number of Byzantine parishes. In one or another of its versions it is used by the Old Syrian and Malankara Orthodox Churches (Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox).6 The Christians who belong to the Syrian Churches are: the Malankara Catholic, the Jacobite, the Orthodox, Marthomite, Thozhiyoor, and outside India are the Antiochene Catholic and Orthodox Churches.7 In the second half of the 7th century the Antoichene Syrian Liturgy was introduced in India by providential consequence of the Portuguese Missionary work in India through the Antoichene Jacobite prelates. From 1751 on the abridged form of the Antiochene Syrina anaphora became the basic text of the liturgy of the Malankara Syrian community. This ancient and apostolic liturgy was further revised with reformation in the Mar Thoma Church, by removing from it all unscriptural elements. The shape of this liturgy is simple and easy to follow, and it is enriched with elements of solemnity, majesty and mystery. The Liturgy of Saint James as it presently exists has been brought into conformity with developed Trinitarian Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy. In the liturgy what happens in the world continually and everywhere i.e., God's self-communication, is explicitly celebrated. But in the liturgy the divine depth of human existence is more clearly manifested and more decisively accepted in the freedom of faith. Any liturgy is always liturgy of the church. It is the Church's self-expression, manifesting its nature. It's through the liturgy the participants encounter the sacramentality of the church. All liturgical celebrations manifest the backward flow of doxological energy at its first place. In this thanksgiving and praise the church expresses its openness to receive God's gift. Liturgy of St. James tradition as Unifying and Ecumenical:The Jerusalem-Antiochene origin of St. James anaphora is the basis for numerous elements in common with other Syriac anaphoras.8 Theologically and ecclesiologically the presence of Liturgy of St. James into this country turned to be a boon to the original Syrian Christian tradition in Indian Church. It reorients the St. Thomas Syrian Churches and binds together a good number of Christians who bear vestiges of the Syria-Palestinian traditions. St. James Liturgy is called a people's liturgy because it maintains a continuous dialogue between the celebrant and the worshipers.9 It thus enjoys the status of being an ecumenical chorus of at least five particular churches which confesses allegiance to different heads and faiths. All prayers in this liturgy are replete with idioms, echoes and images of the Bible and are full of symbolism which engages the faculties of the body, mind and soul and invite the faithful to an ever deepening understanding of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. The focus of worship is the salvation act of God, development, revision and redaction of liturgy were based on the understanding of God and His Salvific act. The Liturgy of St. James begins (after the celebrants Prayer of Preparation) with the Invocation. The veil and the holy doors are opened at this point and we are at once aware of the majesty of God in the words of the invocation.
5 Koshy Mathew K ed., Roots and Wings, (Bangalore: WordMakers Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2004),53. 6 http://britishorthodox.org/miscellaneous/the-liturgy-of-st-james-%E2%80%93-fr-john-ross/ Accessed on 9th Sep 2012. 7 Kurian Valuparampil, St. James Anaphora: An Ecumenical Locus A Survey of the Origin and Development of St. James Anaphona, (Christian Orient: Vol 8/Issue 4, 1987), 177. 8 Ibid., 177. 9 Op Cit., Koshy Mathew, 54. Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical Liturgy for Worship by Subin John Mathew. 3

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Indeed, this is the hallmark of the Liturgy of St. James. A deep sense of the majesty of God and the awesomeness of the Holy Mysteries that leads to the contemplation of the Divine presence. The Anaphora, or great central prayer of the Liturgy, we are reminded of the glories of Gods creation and our bounden duty to render thanks for it and for all the many blessings He showers upon us. The St. James liturgy always proclaims the promise of salvation and liberation from the anxiety and guilt of the individual, by communicating within a historically and culturally conditioned from of expression and particular experience of liberation and reconciliation, salvation and redemption. The faith community must make effort to meaningfully construct the connection between God and the World, the transcendent and the historical and ecological. In the liturgy, there is an awesome vision of God, who creates and fulfills all creation. It is the vision that accompanies and sojourns with creation and its brokenness and alienation, healing and transforming the created order. Liturgy of an individual church has to do with the whole church and the whole Church is involved in the liturgies of the individual churches. Thus there is a responsibility to the churches as whole to help every individual find a place of acceptable worship. Features of St. James Liturgy:Some of the important features of Christian liturgy that makes liturgy of St. James unifying and Ecumenical are as follows.10 1. Christological Nature:- As a part of Trinitarian theology we can experience a living God the Father who reveals his intimate relation with Jesus Christ and also unfolds the plan of salvation through Christ. Any liturgy thus is an act of thanking God for His redeeming action. 2. Epiclesis:- Epiclesis is the prayer that expresses the presence of the Divine Spirit prayed for the descend and sanctify of the elements used in the Eucharist by the Holy Spirit. St. Ephrem says that it is through the sacraments that the Church renews the gift of the Holy Spirit.

3. Trinitarian Dimension:- Liturgy helps in revealing and expressing the divine presence of the Trinity in the worship. Especially in the St. James liturgy is centered with trinitarian dimension. The role of trinity in the divine salvation is beautifully and profoundly presented in the Ante-communion and communion service of the St. James liturgy. 4. Reading of the Scripture:- Reading of Psalms, the Epistle, and the Gospel adds proclaiming the Word and administering the sacrament through liturgy. Bible has influenced the liturgy and liturgy has influenced in the formation of the scriptures and thus mutually compliment each other. Therefore we can say that Bible is a creedal statement or liturgy of the people of God. Lucian Deiss says Jewish Liturgy is was the womb from which Christian Liturgy was born. 5. Common Prayers of the Church:- The common prayers comprises of mainly three litanies. The litany of fervent prayer, a litany for the departed and the litany for the catechumens. 6. Kiss of Peace:- The second part of the worship begins with the offering of kiss of peace and a brief exhortation by deacon to reverence and awe in offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice which is about to take place. 7. The other features are Soteriological aspect, Scriptural basis, Ecclesial Nature, Healing aspect, pedagogic aspect, ecological dimension, and finally Inclusive in nature. 8. Components that are found similar are a) Introductory dailogue, b) Preface or first part of thanksgiving, c) Sanctus, d) Post-Sanctus, or second part of thanksgiving, e) preliminary
10 George Mathew Kuttiyil, Sailent Features of Liturgy: Roots and Wings of our Liturgy, (Kottayam:Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Annual Clergy Conference, 2008), 43f. Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical Liturgy for Worship by Subin John Mathew. 4

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epiclesis, f) narrative of the institution, g) anamnesis, h) epiclesis, I) intercession and 10) concluding doxology. 11 Conclusion:- St. James Liturgy keeps the Syrian Churches of India and elsewhere in an ecumenical tact. A project of restoring the Syrian Liturgy according to the norms of the Syrian Fathers is another desirable ecumenical field inviting especially these Syrian Christians. The Liturgy of Saint James may strike many Westerners as being very full in contrast to the somewhat brief rites used by modern Western Churches. Indeed it is full, and in an age when millions of people in the West are losing all sense of the mystery, and when their understanding of the Faith in general, and the Eucharistic liturgy in particular is almost entirely lost, bare and scant Eucharistic rites will not serve to bring them back into the fulness of the Faith. In this respect the Liturgy of St. James leaves us under no mistaken impression as to what we do and of the Orthodox Faith which underlies it. It tells us about the depth of Gods love for us and the divine action in the world undertaken for our salvation. A good liturgy therefore not only proclaims the liberation of humanity through the Cross of Christ, but also uncovers concrete conditions which prevent human growth and provides the opportunity for all the participants in a symbolic way, their freedom from oppressive structures. The very purpose of liturgy is to participate in the mission of God in Christ involving a missionary mandate of the faithful. God's act of creation,renewal and consummation (hope) are three things by which the St. James Liturgy is structured. Considered ecumenically, the use of the Liturgy of Saint James might go a long way to assisting the recovery of an Orthodox understanding of the Christian Faith in the West and so brings a few steps nearer to the much-to-be-desired reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches. Bibliography:Davies, J. G. ed., A Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, London: SCM Press, 1972. Fenwick, John. Liturgy For Identity and Spirituality, Kottayam: TMAMROC, 2008. Gregorios, Paulos Mar. Worship in a Secular Age, Tiruvalla: CSS, 2003. Kuttiyil, George Mathew. Salient Features of Liturgy: Roots and Wings of our Liturgy, Kottayam:Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Annual Clergy Conference, 2008. Mathew K, Koshy. ed., Roots and Wings, Bangalore: WordMakers Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2004. Valuparampil, Kurian. St. James Anaphora: An Ecumenical Locus A Survey of the Origin and Development of St. James Anaphona, Christian Orient: Vol 8/Issue 4, 1987. http://britishorthodox.org/miscellaneous/the-liturgy-of-st-james-%E2%80%93-fr-john-ross/ Accessed on 9th Sep

11 J. G. Davies, A Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, (London: SCM Press, 1972), 10-17. Tradition of St. James Liturgy as Unifying Ecumenical Liturgy for Worship by Subin John Mathew. 5