Christian Liturgical Texts: 4th – 6th C CE

Syriac-Speaking Christianity:Anaphora of Addai and Mari

Qanona• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God

the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now, always, and for ever and ever.

• And he signs over the Mysteries, and they respond: Amen.

• And he continues: Let your minds be above.• And they respond: With you, the God of Abraham, and

of Isaac, and of Israel, O glorious King.• And he continues: The oblation is offered to God, the

Lord of all. • And they respond: It is meet and right.

Gehantha• Worthy of praise from every mouth, repeat, and

confession from every tongue, and adoration and exaltation from every creature is the worshipful and glorious name of your glorious Trinity, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for you created the world in your grace and its inhabitants in your mercifulness; you saved men in your compassion, and showed great grace unto mortals. Thousands upon thousands of those on high bow down and worship your majesty, O my Lord, and ten thousand times ten thousand holy angels and spiritual hosts, the ministers of fire and spirit, glorify your name, - and with holy cherubim and spiritual seraphim offer worship to your Lordship, repeat,

Qanona

• crying and singing praise without ceasing, calling, one to another, and saying,

• and they respond, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts, for heaven and earth are full of his praises, and of the nature of his being, and of the excellency of his glorious splendor. - Hosanna in the heights. Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who came and comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the heights.

Kushapa

• You are holy, O God, the Father of truth, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named. You are holy, O eternal Son, by whose hand everything came to be. You are holy, O Holy Spirit, being through whom all is hallowed. - Woe is me! Woe is me! For I am amazed. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people whose lips are unclean, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. How terrible is this place, for today I have seen the Lord face to face, and this is nothing if not the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. -

• And now let your grace be upon us, O Lord, repeat, and cleanse our uncleanness, and hallow our lips, and, O my Lord, mingle the voices of our feebleness with the hallowing of the seraphim and the praises of the angels. Glory to your mercies, for you have associated creatures of dust with spiritual beings.

Gehantha

• And with the heavenly hosts we give thanks to you, O my Lord, repeat, even we, your feeble, unworthy, and miserable servants, for you have brought about great grace in us which we cannot repay, for you clothed yourself with our humanity, that you might make us alive by your Godhead. You have exalted our humble state, raised up our fallen condition, given new life to our mortality, forgiven our debts, set right our sinfulness, enlightened our minds, and, our Lord and our God, you have condemned our enemies, - and granted victory to the feebleness of our unworthy nature in the abundant mercies of your grace. Repeat.

Qanona

• And for all your aids and graces towards us we will lift up to you praise, honor, confession, and worship, now, always, and for ever and ever.

• And he signs over the Mysteries, and they respond: Amen.

Kushapa

• O Lord God of hosts, accept this oblation (from my unworthy hands) for all the holy catholic church, for all the just and righteous fathers who were well-pleasing before you, for all the prophets and apostles, for all the martyrs and confessors, for all the mourning and distressed, for all the needy and harassed, (for all priests, kings, and rulers,) for all the ill and afflicted, for all the departed who have died and gone out from among us, for this people which looks for and awaits your mercies, - and for my unworthiness, misery, and poverty. Repeat.

• Yea, our Lord and our God, according to your mercies and the abundance of your kindness, deal with your people and with my misery, not according to my sins and offenses, but may we—I and these—be deemed worthy of the pardon of debts and the forgiveness of sins through this holy body which in true faith we receive through the grace which is from you. Amen.

Gehantha

• O my Lord, in your many ineffable mercies, repeat, make a good and acceptable memorial for all the just and righteous fathers who were well-pleasing before you through the commemoration of the body and blood of your Christ which we offer you upon your pure and holy altar, as you taught us. Bring to pass your tranquility and peace in us all the days of the world.

• - Yes, our Lord and our God, bring to pass your tranquility and peace in us all the days of the world, repeat, that all the inhabitants of the earth may know you—that you alone are God, the Father of truth, and that you sent our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son and your Beloved, and he, our Lord and our God, came and taught us in his life-giving gospel all the purity and holiness of the prophets and apostles, of the martyrs and confessors, of the bishops and teachers, of the presbyters and deacons, and of all the children of the holy catholic church - who have been signed with the living seal of holy Baptism.

• We too, my Lord, your feeble, unworthy, and miserable servants who are gathered in your name and stand before you at this hour, and have received by tradition the example which is from you, while rejoicing, glorifying, exalting, and commemorating, perform this great, fearful, holy, life-giving, and divine Mystery of the passion, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• And may there come, O my Lord, • your Holy Spirit, and may he rest upon this oblation of

your servants. May he bless it and hallow it, and may it be for us, O my Lord, for the pardon of debts, the forgiveness of sins, the great hope of resurrection from the dead, and for new life in the kingdom of heaven with all who have been well-pleasing before you. And for all this great and marvelous dispensation towards us we will give thanks to you and praise you without ceasing in your church, which is saved by the precious blood of your Christ - with unclosed mouth and open face, repeat,

Qanona

• while lifting up praise, honor, confession, and worship to your living, holy, and life-giving name, now, always, and for ever and ever.

• And he signs over the Mysteries, and they respond: Amen.

Greek-Speaking Christianity:Anaphora of John Chrysostom

• PRIEST: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

• PEOPLE: And with thy spirit.• PRIEST: Let us lift up our hearts.• PEOPLE: We lift them up unto the Lord.• PRIEST: Let us give thanks unto the Lord.• PEOPLE: It is meet and right to worship Father,

Son and Holy Spirit: the Trinity, one in Essence, and undivided.

•  PRIEST (quietly): It is meet and right to hymn thee, to bless thee, to praise thee, to give thanks unto thee, and to worship thee in every place of thy dominion: for thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally the same, thou and thine Only-begotten Son and thy Holy Spirit. Thou it was who didst bring us from non-existence into being, and when we had fallen away didst raise us up again, and didst not cease to do all things until thou hadst brought us back to heaven, and hadst endowed us with thy kingdom which is to come. For all these things we give thanks unto thee, and to thine Only-begotten Son, and thy Holy Spirit; for all things of which we know, and of which we know not, and for all the benefits bestowed upon us, both manifest and unseen.

• And we give thanks unto thee also for this ministry which thou dost vouchsafe to receive at our hands, even though there stand beside thee thousands of Archangels and ten thousands of Angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, six-winged, many eyed, soaring aloft, borne on their pinions, (aloud) singing the Triumphal Hymn, shouting, proclaiming, and saying:

• PEOPLE: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of thy glory; Hosanna in the highest: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

•   PRIEST: (quietly) With these blessed Powers we also, O Master who lovest mankind, cry aloud and say: Holy art thou and all-holy, thou and thine Only-begotten Son, and thy Holy Spirit: holy art thou and all-holy, and magnificent is thy glory: Who hast so loved thy world as to give thine Only-begotten Son, that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; Who when he had come and had fulfilled all the dispensation for us, in the night in which he was betrayed,-- or rather, gave himself up for the life of the world,--took bread in his holy and pure and blameless hands; and when he had given thanks and blessed it, and hallowed it and broken it, he gave it to his holy Disciples and Apostles, saying:

PRIEST (aloud): Take, eat: this is my Body which is broken for you for the remission of sins.

• PEOPLE: Amen.

• PRIEST: (quietly) Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, saying:

• (Aloud) Drink ye all of this: this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for any, for the remission of sins.

• PEOPLE: Amen.

• PRIEST: (quietly) Having in remembrance, therefore, this saving commandment and all those things which have come to pass for us: the Cross, the Grave, the Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into heaven, the Sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious Coming:

• (Aloud) Thine own of thine own we offer unto thee, in behalf of all, and for all.

• PEOPLE: We praise thee, we bless thee, we give thanks unto thee, O Lord, and we pray unto thee, O our God.

• PRIEST: (Quietly) Again we offer unto thee this reasonable and unbloody service, and beseech thee and pray thee and supplicate thee: send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Gifts here spread forth: And make this bread the precious Body of thy Christ. Amen. And that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of thy Christ. Amen. Changing them by thy Holy Spirit; Amen, Amen, Amen.  That to those who shall partake thereof they may be unto cleansing of soul, unto the remission of sins, unto the communion of thy Holy Spirit, unto the fulfillment of the kingdom of Heaven, unto boldness toward thee, and not unto judgment nor unto condemnation.

• And again we offer unto thee this reasonable service for all those who in faith have gone before us to their rest: Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Ascetics, and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith: (Aloud) Especially our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorious Lady Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary:

• PEOPLE: It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos, who art ever blessed and all-blameless, and the mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, thou who without stain barest God the Word, and art truly Theotokos: we magnify thee.

•   PRIEST: (quietly) And for the holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John; the holy glorious, and all-laudable Apsotles; Saint (s) N. (NN.), whose memory we celebrate; and all thy Saints, at whose supplications look down upon us, O God. And be mindful of all those who have fallen asleep before us in the hope of Resurrection unto life eternal; (especially N, NN), and grant them rest, O our God, where the light of thy countenance shines upon them.

• And again we beseech thee: be mindful, O Lord, of every Bishop of the Orthodox, who rightly divide the word of thy truth; of all the Priesthood, the Diaconate in Christ, and of every priestly and monastic order.

• And again we offer unto thee this reasonable service, for the whole world, for the holy catholic and apostolic Church, for those who live in chastity and holiness of life, for all civil Authorities, and our Armed Forces everywhere; grant them, O Lord, peaceful times, that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity. (Aloud) Among the first be mindful, O Lord, of our Metropolitan N., whom do thou grant unto thy holy churches in peace, safety, honor, health and length of days, and rightly dividing the word of thy truth.

• PEOPLE: And of all mankind.

•  PRIEST: Be mindful, O Lord, of this city in which we dwell, and of every city and countryside, and of those who in faith dwell therein. Be mindful, O Lord, of those who travel by sea, by land, and by air; of the sick, the suffering, captives, and their salvation. Be mindful, O Lord, of those who bear fruit and do good works in thy holy churches, and who remember the poor; and upon us all send forth thy mercies: (aloud) And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and praise thine all-honorable and majestic name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

• PEOPLE: Amen.

Latin-Speaking Christianity:Roman Canon

The Roman Canon

• Priest: The Lord [be] with you [pl].

• People: And with your [sing.] spirit.

• Priest: Up [with your] hearts.

• People: We hold [them] to [the] Lord.

• Priest: Let us give thanks to [the] Lord our God

• People: It is fitting and right.

• Priest: It is truly fitting and right, our duty and our salvation, that we should always and everywhere give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

• [Variable body]• Through whom angels praise your majesty, dominions

adore, powers fear, the heavens and the heavenly hosts and the blessed seraphim, joining together in exultant celebration. We pray you, bid our voices also to be admitted with theirs, beseeching you, confessing, and saying:

Sanctus

• Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

• Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.

• Hosanna in excelsis.

• Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

• Hosanna in excelesis.

Te igitur

• We therefore pray and beseech you, most merciful Father, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices; above all, those which we offer to you for your holy catholic Church; vouchsafe to grant it peace, protection, unity, and guidance throughout the world, together with your servant N. our pope, and N. our bishop, and all orthodox upholders of the catholic and apostolic faith.

Memento Domine

• Remember, Lord, your servants, men and women, and all who stand around, whose faith and devotion are known to you, for whom we offer to you, or who offer to you this sacrifice of praise for themselves and for all their own, for the redemption of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and safety, and pay their vows to you, the living, true, and eternal God.

Communicantes

• In fellowship with [festival embolism] and venerating above all the memory of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, mother of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and also of your blessed apostles and martyrs Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddaeus, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and all your saints; by their merits and prayers grant us to be defended in all things by the help of your protection; through Christ our Lord.

Hanc igitur

• Therefore, Lord, we pray you graciously to accept this offering made by us your servants, and also by your whole family; and to order our days in peace; and to command that we are snatched from eternal damnation and numbered among the flock of your elect; through Christ our Lord.

Quam oblationem

• Vouchsafe, we beseech you, O God, to make this offering wholly blessed, approved, ratified, reasonable, and acceptable; that is may become to us the body and blood of your dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord;

Qui pridie• Who, on the day before he suffered, took bread in his

holy and reverend hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, gave thanks to you, blessed, broke, and gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take and eat from this, all of you; for this is my body.” Likewise after supper, taking also this glorious cup in his holy and reverend hands, again he gave thanks to you, blessed and gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take and drink from it, all of you; for this is the cup of my blood, of the new and eternal covenant, the mystery of faith, which will be shed for you and for the many for forgiveness of sins. As often as you do this, you will do it for my remembrance.”

Unde et memores

• Therefore also, Lord, we your servants, and also your holy people, having in remembrance the blessed Passion of your Son Christ our Lord, likewise his resurrection from the dead, and also his glorious ascension into heaven, do offer to your excellent majesty from your gifts and bounty a pure victim, a holy victim, an unspotted victim, the holy bread of eternal life and the cup of everlasting salvation.

Supra quae

• Vouchsafe to look upon them with a favorable and kindly countenance, and accept them as you vouchsafed to accept the gifts of your righteous servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham, and that which your high priest Melchizedek offered to you, a holy sacrifice, an unblemished victim.

Supplices te

• We humbly beseech you, almighty God, bid these things be borne by the hands of your angel to your altar on high, in the sight of your divine majesty, that all of us who have received the most holy body and blood of your Son by partaking at this altar may be filled with all heavenly blessing and grace; through Christ our Lord.

Memento etiam

• Remember also, Lord, the names of those who have gone before us with the sign of faith, and sleep in the sleep of peace. We beseech you to grant to them and to all who rest in Christ a place of restoration, light, and peace; through Christ our Lord.

Nobis quoque

• To us sinners your servants also, who trust in the multitude of your mercies, vouchsafe to grant some part and fellowship with your holy apostles and martyrs, with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all your saints into whose company we ask that you will admit us, not weighing our merit, but bounteously forgiving; through Christ our Lord.

Per quem + Per ipsum

• Through him, Lord, you ever create, sanctify, quicken, bless, and bestow all these good things upon us. Through him and with him and in him all honor and glory is yours, God the Father almighty, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through all the ages of ages. Amen.