Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - February, 2005

A Trinitarian Worship

by Fr. Eldhose Koungampillil, London, UK

The Liturgy of St. James was written by the Apostle St. James himself, the brother of our Lord and the First Bishop of Jerusalem. He celebrated this Liturgy (the Holy Qurbana) on Wednesday after the Pentecost Sunday in St Mark’s monastery (‘Upper Room’). This Liturgy is the source of all the eastern liturgies which is the ancient right of Jerusalem. The Judeo-Christian character of this Liturgy itself is an evidence for its origin in Jerusalem. The Bible witnesses that the Apostle St. James was a pillar of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15; Gal 2: 9) and he had a definite role in the formation of first Christian mode of Liturgy. In the Syrian liturgical family the so called Antiochean right is divided in two, the West Syrian and East Syrian liturgies. The East Syrian Liturgy is most commonly used by the Nestorian Church; it includes the anaphoras of Nestorius, Adai and Mari and Theodore of Mopsuestia. The West Syrian right is used by Syrian Orthodox , Syrian Catholic and Maronite churches. Currently the Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobite) is the only Church which uses this Liturgy in the regular services.

According to the twelfth century scholar, Mor Dionysius Bar Salibi, “on Wednesday James the brother of Lord celebrated the Liturgy which has his name the beginning of which being God and Lord of all”. St. James, the Apostle himself endorsed the anaphora; “God lives I have not added anything to or omitted anything from what I have heard from the Lord”. The Liturgy of St. James was transferred to Antioch when Antioch became the dominant centre of Christianity, especially after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 72. This Liturgy of St. James became the Patriarchal rite of both Jerusalem and Antioch in AD 325 after the Great Council of Nicea. The Syrian Liturgy of St. James is designed in the Trinitarian pattern of worship which is the main characteristic and distinctive identity among other eastern liturgies and is a result of the patristic thought and contemplation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This Trinitarian pattern of worship proclaims Christian faith and Christian life which participate in the divine of the ‘Triune God’.

In the holy Qurbana both our verbal and non-verbal actions signify that we worship God who is in three Persons. The custom of making the sign of cross by using the three touching fingers of right hand, introduced in Antioch by St. Ignatius of Antioch. This refers to the three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who are always with us and their Unity in the holy Godhead. This means the cross actually renews our lives into the life of holiness and the fellowship of the holy Trinity. Whenever the sign of the Cross is formed, the three Persons of the Trinity are invoked so that whoever says ‘in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’ seals himself with the sign of the Cross (Mor Philoxenos of Mabboug, AD 523).

The Liturgy of St. James assigns a definite role to each Person in the Holy Trinity; i.e., the Creation to the Father, the Redemption to the Son and Sanctification to the Holy Spirit. In the beginning of the Liturgy, prior to the public celebration the Priest adores and praises the Holy Trinity, “To the Glory and honour of the Holy Trinity”, and the Priest censes the altar three times and saying, “Adoration to the Compassionate Father”, “Adoration to the Merciful Son”, and “Adoration to the Holy Spirit”. (St. James Liturgy). This adoration of the Holy Trinity is the model of the whole Eucharistic worship in the Liturgy of St James.

The Trisagion (thrice-holy hymn) “holy, holy, holy Lord”(Isaiah 6:3), originated from the vision of the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament. It is a praise and glorification of the Truine God by the heavenly beings, Seraphim or the Divine assembly (Psalms 82:1) to the Lord of Saboath whom the prophet Isaiah saw (Isaiah 6:1-30). This thrice-holy hymn (Sanctus) is not only a praising to the life-giving Trinity but also in which the whole congregation mystically join with the heavenly choirs of Seraphim and Cherubim; “The angels confess One God, three holy persons, saying Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Almighty of Saboath”; “by singing three times Holy, Holy, Holy they signify that this God, who had no beginning and no end, is three persons”.(Moses Bar Kepha). It is possible to think that the Trisagion in St. James Liturgy was adapted from the Jewish Liturgy when there was no longer strife between the Church and Synagogue. The thrice-holy hymn is entered in three places in the Synagogue Liturgy; a. Qedussah deyoser before the Shema; b. Qedussah de Amidah; c. Qedussah de Sidra. This synagogue Qedussah could be one of the sources of the Trisagion in the Christian Eucharistic prayer especially in the Liturgy of St. James. Similarly there are many places in the Liturgy of St. James where this thrice-holy hymn occurs like; a. Qawmo (Holy Art Thou O God); b. Trisagion, c. blessing of the Censer; d. The Elevation (when Priest carries up the Paten and Chalice).

The blessing of the Censer is considered to be one of the important moments in the Holy Qurbana. This is the time when the Priest blesses the censer three times in the name of each persons in the Holy Trinity which is an another version of the thrice-holy hymn. This is why before entering into the important part of the Liturgy the Priest proclaims, confesses and makes supplication three times to the Holy Trinity; “O, Holy and Glorious Trinity, have mercy upon me. O, Holy and Glorious Trinity have mercy upon me, a sinner. O, Holy and Glorious Trinity, receive this offering from my weak and sinful hands” (Liturgy of St. James).

According to the teachings and the tradition of the Syrian Orthodox Church, whenever the Priest blesses or consecrates something he must always make the sign of the Cross three times. This indicates that the Priest not only invokes the Holy Trinity but also it is a Trinitarian blessing, the blessing of each person in the Holy Trinity (Moses Bar Kepha). There are three times in the Holy Qurbana at which Priest makes sign of the Cross on the Eucharistic Elements (Bread and Wine); ‘Consecration of Bread and Wine (Barek Kadeesh)’; at the time of ‘Epiklesis’ and finally at the time of ‘Fracture and Commixture’. The role of each Person in the Holy Trinity is well expressed on these three above occasions. However, in the first place three signs of the Cross signify that the Father indeed Wills and the Son consents and the Holy Spirit sanctifies. At the second time (epiklesis) the Father Wills the Son consents and the Holy Spirit completes. And at the third time the Father Wills, the Son consents and the Holy Spirit perfects.

There are three times in the Holy Qurbana where the Priest turns towards the Congregation and blesses them. The third blessing which takes place just before the Elevation of the Mysteries is known as the blessing of the Holy Trinity; “the Grace and mercies of the Holy trinity, Glorious, uncreated, self existent, eternal, adorable and of one substance be with you all my brethren, for ever”(Anaphora of St. James). By this blessing the Priest commits the whole congregation unto the living Holy Trinity and seals them three times with the sign of the Cross so that the congregation may become pure and holy in order to have fellowship with the Holy Trinity in the Eucharistic worship. This blessing itself gives a definition of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity where we declare that God is One but in three Persons whose substance is One. He is eternal and omnipotent, and has no beginning or end.

The Elevation is another important part of the Holy Qurbana where the Priest carries up both the paten and the chalice ceremoniously which recalls the event of Christ’s ascension. The first part of the Elevation emphasises the Holiness and Unity in the Godhead as well as praises and glorifies the holy Trinity; “It is right that these Mysteries be given only to the holy and to the pure”; “One Holy Father, One holy Son, One Holy Spirit……..for ever and ever”. The second part proclaims that the mysterious presence of each Person in the Holy Trinity with the faithful who participate in the Holy Qurbana; “The One holy Father with us, who, by His mercy, created the world”; “The One holy Son with us, who, by His own precious sufferings, redeemed the world”; “The One holy Spirit with us, the Perfector and Fulfiller of all that has been and all that will be” (St. James Anaphora).

The ending of the Eucharistic prayers' (doxology) in the anaphora of St. James is devoted to the praise and glory of the Trinity. In the Liturgy of St. James these prayer endings are more expressed than those in the other anaphoras: “To Thee we offer glory and praise and to Thy Only-begotten Son and to the Holy Spirit, all-holy, and good, adorable, and life-giving Who is of one substance with Thee now and for ever, world with out end.” (St. James Anaphora). These prayer endings express the Unity as well as the distinctiveness of each person in the holy Trinity, Who are equally deserving of worship and glory. The final dismissal in the Liturgy of St. James is also set in the Trinitarian schema where the Priest commits the whole congregation to the grace and mercy of the holy Trinity; “we commit you unto the grace and mercy of the holy and glorious Trinity with the blessings” “May the blessed Trinity remit your debts and forgive your offences, and grant rest to the souls of your departed,…” (Anaphora of St. James).

The presence of the Holy Trinity is well observed in the Holy Qurbana where the Priest and the congregation are accepted by and united with the fellowship of the Holy Trinity. It must be noted that the Receiver of the Sacrificial Offering (the Holy Qurbana) is the Holy Trinity. By singing the Sanctus we praise and glorify each person in the Godhead who is present and enthroned in the altar. Thus we join with the heavenly beings, the seraphim and Cherubim who not only praise the glory of God but also with fear proclaim the nature and holiness of God. The holiness is a pre-requisite to receive the holy Qurbana and at the same time, at the Eucharistic worship the holy Mysteries make the faithful perfect and holy. Thus we see a triangular relationship in the holy Qurbana, we see the Father is involved as the source of sanctification (holiness) and the Son who made the possibility of sanctification by offering Himself and the holy Spirit who provides the means of sanctification. The Liturgy of St. James always upholds the grace and blessings from the holy Trinity through the holy Qurbana and the faithful are guided and protected by the grace of holy Trinity. Thus, the Syrian Orthodox Church sees that the Holy Qurbana draws the holy Trinity towards the faithful, and the faithful towards the holy Trinity.