St. Gregory the Great Orthodox Church

A Western Rite Congregation of the Antiochian Archdiocese near Washington, DC

AHOS Class Materials

 

WR Liturgics II

Roman Catholic and Anglican sources are given for reference.

For the Monastic / Roman Office 

A. The Monastic Diurnal: https://archive.org/details/monasticdiurnalo0000epis/mode/2up 

B. Monastic Breviary Matins and The Monastic Diurnal Noted 

      (the above three works have been reprinted by Lancelot Andrewes Press: https://www.andrewespress.com/

C. Fr. Jack Witbrock’s translations of the Roman and Monastic Breviaries:  https://www.antiochian.org.nz/write/printtexts.html 

D. The Divinum Officium Project (Latin and English texts for the complete daily office in different versions): https://www.divinumofficium.com/ 

E. Breviarum Gregorianum (the Gregorian chants with Latin texts for six offices each day): https://breviariumgregorianum.com/ 

F. John Mason Neale’s translation of the Roman Breviary: https://theanglicanbreviary.wordpress.com/2017/06/24/neales-breviary-in-pdfs/ 

G. Pius Parsch, The Breviary Explained, 1952: https://archive.org/details/breviaryexplaine0000pars/page/n3/mode/2up 

H. The Divine Office: A Study of the Roman Breviary by Edward J. Quigley, 1920: https://ia802206.us.archive.org/3/items/thedivineofficea00quiguoft/thedivineofficea00quiguoft.pdf 

I. Hymns of the Breviary and Missal, Britt & Henry, 1922: https://media.churchmusicassociation.org/pdf/hymnsofbreviary.pdf 

J. The Sarum Breviary: https://sarum-chant.ca/breviary/ 

 

For the English Office   

A. Resources for the Books of Common Prayer: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/england.htm 

B. Massey Shepherd, The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary, 1958: https://archive.org/details/oxfordamericanpr0000unse/page/n133/mode/2up 

C. Russian Observations upon the American Prayer Book, tr. by W. Barnes, ed. W. Frere, 1917: http://anglicanhistory.org/alcuin/tract12.html 

D. The St. Andrew’s Service Book (Antiochian Archdiocese, 1996): http://storage.cloversites.com/ststephensorthodoxcatholicchurch/documents/St.%20Andrews%20Service%20Book.pdf 

E. The English Office Noted with Antiphoner and Hymner (St. Gregory Orthodox Church): https://www.stgregoryoc.org/liturgy/texts-for-the-daily-office/ 

F. The St. Dunstan’s Psalter (Lancelot Andrews Press): https://www.andrewespress.com/shop/p/product-6-yrdld-pcpw6-t3kp7-hlhnp

 

 

The Ritual (and related materials)

A. The Orthodox Ritual – revised 2016

B. Pentecost Vigil

C. The Requiem Mass

D. The Roman Ritual (Weller)

E. The English Ritual (Knott)

F. A Manual for priests of the American Church (SSJE)

G. The Priest’s Prayer Book (Littledale & Vaux)

 

 

Holy Week

A. Alford, N., ed. – Holy Week according to the Orthodox Missal

B. Fenton, J., ed.  – The Orthodox Missal for Holy Week and Easter (Pius V)

C.  The Pilgrimage of Egeria (Etheria)

D. Davies, J.G. – Holy Week: A short history

E. McManus, F. – The rites of Holy Week : ceremonies, preparations, music, commentary (Roman Catholic, 1956)

F. Goddard, P. – Festa Paschalia: A History of the Holy Week Liturgy in the Roman Rite

References to post-schism development of the Western Holy Week services in Festa Paschalia

PALM SUNDAY 

      1. The Palm Sunday service of the Roman Pontifical of the 12th c. gradually spread and became the norm throughout the West. Page 82. 
      2. The Preface and inclusion of the Sanctus in the rite for the blessing of Palms dates from the 12th c. Page 74. 
      3. Knocking at the door with the foot of the Cross at the end of the procession dates from c. 1392, added to the Papal liturgy in 1604, later simplified. Page 80. 
      4. The dialogue at the beginning of the Passion Gospel was still evolving in the 12th c. Page 84. 
      5. The pause at “he gave up the ghost” in the Passion Gospel dates from the 14th c. in general use. Page 85. 
      6. The ceremony and chant at the conclusion of the Passion Gospel dates to the 13th c. Page 85. 
      7. Before the 12th century there were a number of Proper Prefaces in use for Palm Sunday; thereafter the Preface of the Cross gradually became the norm. Page 86. 

HOLY THURSDAY 

      1. The reconciliation of penitents was a primary feature of the liturgies of Holy Thursday into the 13th c. and beyond, before gradually falling into disuse.  Page 127f. 
      2. The use of the Gloria and Creed, regardless of the status of the celebrant was added in 1474; before that only included if the Bishop was celebrant. Page 143ff. 
      3. The procession of the Sacrament to a place of reservation was done without ceremony before the 11th c in Gaul, and in Rome by the 13th c. The Procession was moved to take place after Mass in the 15th c. when the Pope celebrated, and for all in the 16th c. Page 146f. 
      4. The Pange Lingua (attributed to Thomas Aquinas, d. 1274) was appointed for the procession first in 1516, though use may predate this somewhat. Page 147. 
      5. The first reference to chanting Psalm 22 during the stripping of the altar is from 1230. Page 149. 
      6. The time for the service moved up to the third hour (9am) during the Middle Ages. Page 149. 
      7. The washing of altars was common, though not universal, before the 12th c. Page 154f. 

HOLY FRIDAY 

      1. The practice of beginning the Holy Friday Liturgy with two collects (found in the Gelasian Sacramentary) continued in some places until the 11th c. (then restored in the 1955 revision); beginning the liturgy with one collect (as in the Gregorian Sacramentary) became the norm thereafter. Page 171. 
      2. Having the Passion Gospel sung by three deacons was not adopted in Rome until the end of the Middle Ages. Page 171. 
      3. A silence at the end of the Passion was not observed in Rome before the 14th c. Page 172. 
      4. In the 12th c. the hour of the service was moved to the sixth hour (noon), later moved to earlier in the morning. Page 173. 
      5. Rome continued the Prayer (Solemn Collect) for the Roman Emperor until 1918 (for the Holy Roman Emperors and then for the Hapsburgs) Page 176. 
      6. The Solemn Collects were said kneeling until the 13th c. Page 177. 
      7. “The course of the 12th century saw major changes to the rite” [of the distribution of Communion]. Page 186.  
      8. Incensing the elements and the Orate Fratres were added in the 13th c. Page 187. 
      9. The elevation of the Host was added to the Mass in the 12th century and was eventually added to the Holy Friday liturgy as well. Page 188. 
      10. In the 11th c. receiving Communion on Holy Friday was widespread; not prohibited to all but the celebrant until 1622. Page 188f. 

PASCHAL VIGIL 

      1. In the 12th c. Roman Pontifical, fire is to be kindled if none remains from the fire of Holy Thursday. Page 211. 
      2. In the 13th c. fire was to be kindled between Sext and None (between noon and 3pm), then kept for a blessing later. Page 211. 
      3. The blessing of incense was added in the 12th c., as was sprinkling the fire with holy water and censing the fire. Page 211. 
      4. References to the sin of Adam and the work of bees varied in copies of the Exultet until the 13th c. Page 216. 
      5. The first reference to grains of incense being inserted into the Paschal Candle is from Cluny in 1060. First mentioned in Rome in 12th c. Page 219. 
      6. The triple-candle, used to light the Paschal Candle, is first mentioned in the 12th c. and what became the normal practice for the Procession and lighting of the Candle date from the 12th c. Page 221. 
      7. The Gregorian Sacramentary gives four lessons and the Gelasian Sacramentary gives twelve. The Missal of Pius V follows the Gelasian pattern; the 1955 service follows the Gregorian pattern. In Rome, in the 12th c., each of the 12 readings were read in Latin and in Greek, for a total of 24 readings. Page 230. 
      8. How and when the Litany was sung varied until the 15th c. Page 234f. 
      9. Some of the rubrics for blessing the font first appear in the Pontifical of Durandus (13th c.). Page 238. 
      10. Sprinkling the congregation at the conclusion of the blessing of the font first appears in 1571. Page 239. 
      11. Ringing bells during the Gloria did not appear in Rome before 1392. Page 243. 

The evidence presented in Festa Paschalia does not support the notion of the Holy Week services of the Missal of Pius V being “pre-Schism.” There is one reference, though, which could be cited for such a claim: 

What survived in the Easter Vigil liturgy prior to 1970, therefore represented, at least externally, the form of Mass as it was celebrated in Rome around the middle of the fourth century, modified only by a few later additions such as the prayers said silently by the celebrant at the Offertory and before his communion, and until 1955, the Last Gospel (p 244). 

This, however, speaks of the form for Mass at the Easter Vigil, without Creed or Agnus Dei, in both the pre-1955 and post-1955 services, and is not a commentary on what came before in the service. 

 

 

 

Church History III

Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (1848)

The Reply of the Synod of Constantinople to Pope Leo XIII (1895)

 Ukase of the Moscow Patriarchate (1936)

Abramstov, D. A Brief History of Western Orthodoxy (1960)

Abramstov, D. The Western Rite and the Eastern Church (1961)

Gabriel, A. A Retrospective: One Hundred Years of Antiochian Orthodoxy in North America (1995)

Alford, N. Ad Fontes: Source Materials for the Western Rite of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese (2025)