Jump to content

Liturgy of Saint Cyril

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5th-century liturgical Coptic relief

TheLiturgy of Saint Cyril(orAnaphora of Saint Cyril,Coptic:Ϯⲁ̀ⲛⲁⲫⲟⲣⲁ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲓⲁ̀ⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ,Ti-anaphora ente pi-agios Kyrillos) is one of the threeAnaphorasused at present by theCoptic Catholic Churchand theCoptic Orthodox Churchand it retains the liturgical peculiarities which have originated in the earlyChristian Egypt,[1]thus forming the core of the historicalAlexandrian Rite.When reference is made to itsGreekByzantine Riteversion, this text is usually known asLiturgy of Saint Mark(orAnaphora of Saint Mark).

Present usage[edit]

This liturgy can be used at present by theCoptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria,as well as by theCoptic Catholic Church,during theLenttime or in the month ofKoiak,but its prolongation and particular melodies makes its use uncommon today.[2]This text does not cover the wholeDivine Liturgy,extending only from the pre-anaphorical rites (the prayer of the veil) to the distribution of theCommunion,thus including the anaphora in the strict sense of the word. The Coptic Liturgy of Saint Basil is used for the remaining part of the service.

In theByzantine Rite,the Liturgy of Saint Mark, as transmitted by theGreek Orthodox Church of Alexandria,is used in a few places each year on thefeast dayofSaint Markby theRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia,which authorized it in 2007.[3]

History[edit]

Middle-Ages CopticSaint Barbarachurch

According to liturgical tradition,Christianitywas brought toAlexandria in EgyptbySaint Mark.The town then acquired importance as a center of church government and Christian theology with itsCatechetical School.The liturgical uses that developed locally are known as theAlexandrian Rite,and the texts used for the celebration of theEucharistare known as theLiturgy of Saint Mark.

Thelingua francaof theWestern worldin the early centuries of Christianity was theKoine Greek,and the Liturgy of Saint Mark was in such a language. The translation of this liturgy inCoptic,used by most of the Coptic population at that time, is attributed toSaint Cyril of Alexandriain the first half of the 5th century. Thus the Greek version of this liturgy is usually known asLiturgy of Saint Mark,while its Coptic version is regularly calledLiturgy of Saint Cyril,even if the formal name of the latter is "the Anaphora of our holy father Mark the Apostle, which the thrice-blessed Saint Cyril the Archbishop established".[1]

The oldest survived completemanuscriptsof both the Liturgy of Saint Mark and of Saint Cyril date from theHigh Middle Ages.From the 5th century to the High Middle Ages both versions developed on parallel and mutually interconnected lines, with reciprocal translations and with most of the additions added to both of them.[4]Both versions have some own peculiar material. The use of the Liturgy of Saint Mark by theGreek Orthodox Church of Alexandriawas blamed by thePatriarch of Antiochand canonistTheodore Balsamonat the beginning of the 13th century.[5]

Manuscript Tradition[edit]

Thefirst millenniumwitnesses of the early stages of this liturgy are the following fragments:

  • TheStrasbourg papyrus,written in the 4th or 5th century, includes the first part of thepreface,with theparaphraseofMalachi1:11followed by some shortintercessionsand it ends with adoxology.Scholars disagree on whether this prayer in the 4th or 5th century is a part of the Liturgy of Mark or itself a complete prayer, however the majority leans towards seeing it as a complete Eucharist prayer separate from the Liturgy of Mark.[6]
  • TheJohn Rylandsparchment465, written in Greek in the 6th century and badly conserved, includes the text from the firstepiclesisup to the end of the anaphora.[7]
  • TheBritish MuseumTablet, written in Coptic in the 8th century, includes the text from the first epiclesis up to the second epiclesis.[8]
  • someSahidic Copticfragments.[1]

Other ancient texts which belong to the Alexandrian Rite are important in the study of the development of the Liturgy of Saint Mark: theAnaphora of Serapionis the earlier witness of some ancient material,[9]theAnaphora of Barcelonaand theDeir Balyzeh Papyrusare different developments based on the same material, theCathechesesofCyril of Jerusalemare useful to trace the relationship with theLiturgy of St. James.

The earlier manuscripts of the Liturgy of Saint Cyril date from the 12th century and are inBohairic Coptic.It is not known whether they derive directly from the Greek or through lost Sahidic versions. These manuscripts include some additions not found in the Liturgy of Saint Mark in Greek, but in general their readings are closer to the first millennium fragments than those of the Greek version.[1]

The earlier manuscripts of the Liturgy of Saint Mark are: theCodex Rossanensis,[10]theRotulus Vaticanus,[11]the incompleteRotulus Messanensis.[12][13]Another witness is the lost manuscript of the library of theGreek Orthodox Church of Alexandria,copied in 1585–6 by PatriarchMeletius Pegas.[14]TheRotulus Vaticanus,and even more the text copied by Pegas, show a progress in the process of assimilation toByzantineusages.[5]

Structure of the anaphora[edit]

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

The anaphora of Saint Mark (or Saint Cyril) found in theHigh Middle Agesmanuscripts shows all the typical peculiarities of theAlexandrine Rite,such as a long Preface which includes an offering and immediately followed by the intercessions, two epiclesis, the absence of theBenedictusin the Sanctus.[15]The structure of the anaphora (in the strict sense of the word) can be so summarized:

  • TheOpening Dialogue,
  • Thepreface,composed by:
    • praises to theFatherfor the creation of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them (quotingPsalm 146:6as usually found in the Alexandrine anaphoras), followed by praises also toChrist,
    • A firstOblation,offering the reasonable sacrifice and the bloodless worship (ref.Romans12:1), followed by aparaphraseofMalachi1:11,
  • Intercessionssection, composed by:
    • lengthy prayers for the Church, the livings, the deaths, making memory of Saint Mark and ofMary,and followed by thediptychs,
    • a second Oblation, requesting that the offerings are received in the heavenly altar as were the sacrifices ofAbelandAbraham(similar to the"Supra quae - Supplices te"of theRoman Canon),
    • additional intercessions for the livings, including the names of the currentPope of Alexandriaand bishop,
  • A well developedPre-Sanctus,
  • TheSanctus,without theBenedictusas usual in early Egypt, followed by a shortPost-Sanctuscentered on Christ,
  • A firstepiclesisthat simply asks God tofillthe sacrifice with blessing through the descent of theHoly Spirit,
  • TheInstitution narrative,in which are pronounced theWords of Institution,
  • TheAnamnesisof thePassion,ResurrectionandAscensionof Christ,
  • A third Oblation, offering the bread and the cup,
  • A secondepiclesisdirected to theHoly Spirit,with an explicit request to change the bread and wine into theBodyandBlood of Christ.This epiclesis uses theaoristtense,[16]thus simply narrating a conversion without stating whether it occurs in the present, future or past.
  • A final prayer for the fruits of theCommunion.

In the present use of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the section containing the Intercessions and the second Oblation has been moved to the end of the anaphora, following the pattern used in the Coptic Liturgies of Saint Basil andSaint Gregorybased anAntiochenestructure.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abcdCoptic Enc. 1 1991.
  2. ^Spinks 2010,p. 361.
  3. ^Pravoslavie 2007.
  4. ^Cuming 1997,pp. 58, 60.
  5. ^abCoptic Enc. 5 1991.
  6. ^Kacmarcik, Frank (1997).Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers.Liturgical Press.ISBN978-0-8146-6153-6.
  7. ^Jasper & Cuming 1990,p. 55.
  8. ^Jasper & Cuming 1990,pp. 54–56.
  9. ^Cuming 1997,p. 60.
  10. ^Codex Rossanensis,Vatican LibraryGr. 1970, 12th century
  11. ^Rotulus Vaticanus, Vatican Library Gr. 2281 dated 1207
  12. ^Rotulus Messanensis, Messina Gr. 177, 12th century
  13. ^Shenouda III 1995,p. 78.
  14. ^Cuming 1997,p. 57.
  15. ^Gabra 2009,pp. 28–29.
  16. ^Cuming 1997,p. 69.

References[edit]

Published editions[edit]

Full text available online[edit]

Other editions[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liturgy_of_Saint_Cyril&oldid=1228116783"