John E. Burkhart

The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus (a.d. 215)

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The Apostolic Tradition, a church order which was compiled sometime in the third century and attributed to Hippolytus of Rome probably contains a text of a complete eucharistic prayer or anaphora. Although much of the text may have been typical of the eucharistic prayers in use in Rome at the time, some scholars suggest that it reflects the way in which a conservative bishop may have wished the Eucharist were celebrated.

Introduction

The study of this prayer in the twentieth century, and its application to the worship of the church at the table, has revolutionized the way the Eucharist is celebrated today. This classic prayer has influenced the shape and content of the new prayers of thanksgiving in contemporary liturgical and non-liturgical churches. It sets the words of institution within the context of a prayer that gives thanks to God, tells the story of salvation, offers sacrifice, calls upon the Spirit, and gives glory to God. The following is a Eucharist celebrated immediately after the consecration of a new bishop.

Text: And when he has been made bishop, all shall offer the kiss of peace, greeting him because he has been made worthy. Then the deacons shall present the offering to him; and he, laying his hands on it with all the presbytery, shall give thanks saying:

The Lord be with you.
And all shall say: And with your spirit.
Up with your hearts.
We have them with the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord.
It is fitting and right.

Commentary: This ancient dialogue builds on Boaz’s words to the reapers (Ruth 2:4). And it assumes that for those whose hearts are in God’s presence, giving thanks makes good sense.

Text: And then he shall continue thus: We render thanks to you, O God, through your beloved child Jesus Christ, whom in the last times you sent to us as savior and redeemer and angel of your will; who is your inseparable Word, through whom you made all things, and in whom you were well pleased. You sent him from heaven into the Virgin’s womb; and, conceived in the womb, he was made flesh and was manifested as your Son, being born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people, he stretched out his hands when he should suffer, that he might release from suffering those who have believed in you.

Commentary: The word for “child” may also mean “servant.” The focus is upon Jesus, through whom we pray, and because of whom we give thanks. “Angel” means “messenger.” Here, unlike many later prayers, there is a slight mention of creation. God’s goal is the creation and redemption of a people. And to this end, the “Word” is made flesh, as Jesus is born of Mary through the work of the Spirit. Strong verbs recite what has happened: sent, made, born, manifested, stretched, and release. Redemption is a “release” from captivity, and it requires, and overcomes, “suffering.”

Text: And when he was betrayed to voluntary suffering that he might destroy death, and break the bonds of the devil, and tread down hell, and shine upon the righteous, and fix a term, and manifest the resurrection, he took bread and gave thanks to you, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body, which shall be broken for you.” Likewise, also the cup, saying, “This is my blood, which is shed for you; when you do this, you make my remembrance.”

Commentary: What matters is not that he was “betrayed,” or even his “suffering,” but his choice to save. And in that saving, he is victorious. He overwhelms the ancient enemies: death, devil, and hell. In this context, his meal with his disciples is crucial to the story of redemption, as his body is broken and his blood is shed. And when we “do this,” we are summoned, across time, into the presence of him who suffered for us.

Text: Remembering, therefore, his death and resurrection, we offer to you the bread and the cup, giving you thanks because you have held us worthy to stand before you and minister to you. And we ask that you would send your Holy Spirit upon the offering of your holy Church; that, gathering her into one, you would grant to all who partake of the holy things (to partake) for the fullness of the Holy Spirit for the strengthening of faith in truth, that we may praise and glorify you through your child Jesus Christ, through whom be glory and honor to you, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy Church, both now and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Commentary: “Remembering … we offer.” We offer nothing of our own, except what we have been given. And even to be allowed to do this is cause for us to be grateful. Those who are grateful are free to ask; and Christians, as they offer thanks, call upon the Spirit to create unity among them, and to help them grow in faith, that their praise may be completed in Christ.

This table prayer, which is addressed to God, through his child Jesus, in the fullness of the Spirit, culminates with a doxology (“words of praise”), to which all give consent by saying “Amen.”

The Tripartite Structure of Prayer and the Trinitarian Formulary

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Jewish table prayer, thought by some historians of liturgy to be the antecedent of the early Christian eucharistic prayer, evidences a threefold pattern of praise, remembrance, and petition. In a general way this sequence corresponds to the formula “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” in Christian worship. Thus, liturgical practice may have helped to shape classical Christian Trinitarianism.

In recent years, more and more attention has been given to three issues that bear upon the understanding of the classic eucharistic prayers. First, there has been a developing concern to discover the possible relationships, both of continuity and change, between Jewish worship practices and prayers and the worship and prayers of early Christianity. Second, there has been a growing interest in the way in which prayers are structured. Thus, it has been observed by many scholars, both Jewish and Christian, that traditional prayers usually embody a pattern or sequence of themes and emphases. Third, throughout these studies, there has been an acknowledgment that praying shapes believing. An example of this dynamic is the way in which the classical doctrine of the Trinity evolved gradually as Christians began to pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit.

Parallel Prayers in Jewish and Early Christian Tradition

It is clear from the New Testament that Jesus and all of his disciples were Jews accustomed to the beliefs and practices of their time. Luke 2:41 tells that Jesus and his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover “according to custom.” And at Nazareth, according to Luke 4:16, “on the Sabbath day [Jesus] went into the synagogue, as was his custom.”

Throughout the New Testament, there are numerous and quite significant evidence of the dependence of early Christianity upon its religious background in Judaism. An outstanding example is the Lord’s Prayer, as it appears in Matthew 6:9–15 and Luke 11:2–4. The themes of “hallowing” God’s name and asking for the coming of God’s kingdom appear to be important in the Jewish piety of New Testament times. Although the text we now have of the Jewish Kaddish comes from much later compilations, it begins with words which are remarkably similar to those of the Lord’s Prayer: Exalted and hallowed be His great Name in the world which He created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom.… Here and elsewhere the parallels between the prayers of Jews and Christians are striking.

Furthermore, the language and contents of the Didachē, which is perhaps the earliest manual of Christian guidance for living and church order, indicate that early Christianity was developing in paths that may have been somewhat similar to those suggested in the Mishnah as characteristic of the Judaism of the first century. Surely this is true insofar as both of these religious guidebooks emphasize the importance of meals as occasions for the blessing or thanking of God. Meals, for Christians and Jews, are religious events, with solemn meaning.

The Structure of Jewish and Christian Prayers

More recently, however, the discussion has shifted. There is a growing recognition that, while questions of style and content remain important, there is much to be learned from the structures of prayers. Several scholars are now fruitfully studying the patterns of the prayers found in the Bible, the synagogue, and the church. A splendid example of this approach is Moshe Greenberg’s recent study of Biblical Prose Prayer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), which recognizes that such ordinary human acts as petitioning, confessing, and expressing gratitude have their own patterns. These “patterns remain constant throughout the Scriptures, regardless of source, because they arise immediately and naturally from life.” Among others who have done significant structural studies of Jewish and Christian prayer are Joseph Heinemann, Louis Ligier, and Thomas Talley.

One of the significant results of these structural studies is the discovery of a classic example of a Jewish table prayer in the Book of Jubilees 22:6–9. Jubilees was written sometime before 100 b.c., and it gives evidence of what may have been a typical table blessing from the time of the Maccabees. It attributes the prayer to Abraham, and its structure is formed by the acts of praising, remembering, and asking.

Praising
And he ate and drank, and he blessed the Most High God, who created heaven and earth, who made all the good things on the earth, and gave them to the sons of men so that they might eat and drink and bless their creator.

Remembering
And now, he said, I give thee thanks, my God, because thou hast let me see this day: behold, I am a hundred and seventy-five years old, an old man with a long life-span, and I have prospered all my days. The enemy’s sword has never at any time prevailed against me, nor against my children.

Asking
My God, may thy mercy and thy peace be upon thy servant, and upon his descendants, that they may be thee a chosen nation and a possession out of all the nations of the earth, now and in every generation on the earth forevermore.

The Tripartite Pattern of Prayer

This fundamental structure continues in the traditional Jewish table blessings, the date of whose origin remains unknown, but which remain in use (with only minor alterations) until this day. The three earlier benedictions (and responses) of the birkat hammazon may be reconstructed as follows:

Praising
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, for you nourish us and the whole world with goodness, grace, kindness, and mercy. Blessed are you, Lord, for you nourish the universe.

Remembering
We will give thanks to you, Lord our God, because you have given us for our inheritance a desirable land, good and wide, the covenant and the law, life, and food. And for all these things we give you thanks and bless your name forever and beyond. Blessed are you, Lord our God, for the earth and for food.

Asking
Have mercy, Lord our God, on us your people Israel, and your city Jerusalem, on your sanctuary and your dwelling-place, on Zion, the habitation of your glory, and the great and holy house over which your name is invoked. Restore the kingdom of the house of David to its place in our days, and speedily build Jerusalem. Blessed are you, Lord, for you build Jerusalem. Amen.

The tripartite structure is clear. And, as Joseph Heinemann comments, here, and elsewhere in Judaism, we find juxtaposed the three basic motifs of creation, revelation, and redemption, with emphasis upon the beginning of history, the giving of the Torah as the turning point, and the move towards the goal of history (cf. Joseph Heinemann, ed. Literature of the Synagogue [New York: Behrman House, 1975] and his Prayer in the Talmud: Forms and Patterns [Hawthorne, N.Y.: Walter de Gruyter, 1977]).

It is this tripartite structure that appears with vigor and clarity in the classic eucharistic prayer which may have been composed in the third century in the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus. In that prayer the structure begins, analogously, with thanks to the God who made all things, then recounts the story of Jesus, and finally asks for the sending of the Holy Spirit. As a result, one can see a liturgical impulse at work in the shaping of the classical Trinitarian formulary. The sequence “Father, Son, Holy Spirit,” although found in Matthew 28:19, is not that of some other “Trinitarian” passages such as 1 Corinthians 12:4–6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, or Ephesians 4:4–6. The tripartite structure of prayer may have contributed to the establishment of the classical Trinitarian sequence.