Anaphora (liturgy) - Historical Anaphoras

Historical Anaphoras

Many ancient texts of anaphoras have survived, and even if no more in use, they are useful to trace the history of the anaphoras, and in general the history of the Eucharist during the centuries. Most of these texts became parts of anaphoras still in use.

The earlier liturgical texts related to the celebration of the Eucharist are the chapters 9 and 10 of the Didache, even if there is not consensus among scholars if these texts are meant to be a Eucharist or not. We have next the Anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition, called also the anaphora of Hippolytus, the Liturgy of the seventh book of the Apostolic Constitutions and the Liturgy of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions that developed in the famous Byzantine Anaphora now part of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, through the lost Greek version of the Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles (of which we have a later Syrian version).

The more ancient text of the Basilean family of anaphoras was found in 1960 in a Sahidic Coptic version, possibly a text written by St. Basil himself, and recent scholars believes that this text, united with the anaphora described in The Catechisms of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, has been the base for the Anaphora of St. James included in the Liturgy of St James. The present Byzantine text of the Anaphora included in the Liturgy of Saint Basil is the final development of this anaphoric family.

In the East the more ancient text is probably the ancient form of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, followed by the Maronite Third Anaphora of St. Peter (said also Sharar) and by the Anaphora of Mar Theodore. Another important source is the anaphora described in the Mystagogical Cathecheses of Theodore of Mopsuestia.

In Egypt we have the Anaphora of Barcellona (and its related Louvain Coptic Papyrus), the Prayer into the Euchologion of Serapion, the Deir Balyzeh Papyrus, the Strasbourg papyrus and the ancient Anaphora of Saint Mark in Greek, which developed in the Coptic Liturgy of Saint Cyril.

Scholars find structural similarities in between the Roman and Egyptian anaphoral traditions: for instance the Barcelona Papyrus, as well as Deir Balyzeh Papyrus, include an epiclesis before the Words of Institution as in the Roman Canon. The earliest text similar to the Roman Canon is the quoted in De Sacramentis of Ambrose which include prayers close to the Canon's prayers such as Quam Oblationem, Qui pridie, Unde et Memores, Supra quae - Suplices te. The Roman Canon's prayers Communicantes, Hanc igitur, and the post-consecration Memento etiam and Nobis quoque were added in the 5th century, and it achieved practically its present form when modified by Gregory the Great (590-604) (see History of the Roman Canon).