Very little can be said with certainty about the music of the first three centuries of the church beyond texts used and liturgical forms followed. Judging from later music in the Eastern churches and in Gregorian chant in the West, the musical settings of these texts probably shared characteristics with much Eastern music, including tunes in various modes. Ecstatic song continued in the practice of the thanksgiving of the “prophets” in some early liturgies.
It is evident that a set pattern of liturgy emerged at a very early date. In a letter to the Corinthian church (a.d. 96), Clement of Rome included a long, noble prayer which is closely related to eucharistic prayers of later centuries; it also refers to the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts … ), which was a common feature of both Jewish and early Christian worship. The Didache (c. a.d. 100) records that the Communion celebration was combined with a common meal (an agape or love feast) and that it was preceded by the confession of sins. It also gives the set prayers that were to be used, along with the encouragement to the “Prophets” to continue in prayer “as much as they desire” (Didache X, 7).
At about the same time, the pagan historian Pliny (Governor of Bithynia, c. 111–113), in a letter to the Roman emperor Trajan, referred to Christians as “meeting on a fixed day before daylight and reciting responsively among themselves a hymn to Christ as a god, and that they bound themselves by an oath not to commit any crime.… When they had performed this it was their custom to depart and to meet together again for a meal, but of a common and harmless kind.” The hymn mentioned may well have been one of the New Testament Christological hymns (such as Col. 3:16), or an extrabiblical hymn of the same type.
The Second Century
The first definitive worship order is contained in Justin Martyr’s First Apology (to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, c. 150) in which he describes a typical Christian worship service “on the day called the Feast of the Sun.”
The Liturgy of the Word
- Readings from the Prophets, and “memoirs of the Apostles” (Gospels and Epistles)
- Sermon (instruction and admonishing)
- Common prayers (the congregation standing, all participating)
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
- Kiss of peace
- Offertory (Alms, bread and wine)
- Prayer of thanksgiving (“at great length” and improvised “according to his ability”) followed by a common “amen”
- Communion
The Third Century
Beginning with the third century, we have much more information about the practice of worship in the church. Primary sources of this information include the writings of Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 220), Tertullian (d. c. 240), and Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–c. 386). One of the most significant records is by Hippolytus of Rome (d. c. 236) in a Greek document known as The Apostolic Tradition.
The significant feature of this compilation is a complete eucharistic prayer which is suggested as a model for Christian worship, though each leader is encouraged to “pray according to his ability.” It is interesting to note that the prayer begins with the Salutation and the Sursum Corda, which were traditional Jewish forms long before they were used by Christians. The Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy) is not indicated, though it was in common use by this time. Music (psalms and hymns) are also not mentioned, but were undoubtedly included.
This then is the outline of worship as recorded by Hippolytus, including the biblical concepts mentioned in the eucharistic prayer (see R. C. D. Jasper and G. J. Cuming, eds., Prayers of the Eucharist: Early and Reformed, 2d ed. [New York: Oxford University Press, 1980], 22-23):
Liturgy of the Word
- Psalms
- Lessons
- Sermon
- Intercessory Prayers
- Kiss of Peace
Liturgy of the Table
- Offertory (the bread and wine are brought to the table)
- Salutation (responsory, between leader and people)
- The Lord be with you: And with your spirit.
- Sursum Corda
- Lift up your hearts: We lift them up to the Lord.
- Let us give thanks to the Lord: It is meet and right.
- Eucharistic prayer (thanksgiving)
- Salvation history (the Incarnation; Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection)
- Works of institution (“He took bread, and giving thanks, … ”)
- Rememberance (Gr. anamnesis) (“Remembering therefore his death and resurrection”)
- Oblation (“We offer to thee the bread and the cup, … ”)
- Invocation of the Holy Spirit (Gr.epiklesis) (“We beseech thee that thou shouldst send thy Holy Spirit, … ”)
- Doxology to the Trinity, with congregational amen
- The Communion
- Presbyter’s post-Communion prayer; people’s amen
- Bishop’s benediction and dismissal
According to the presbyter’s closing prayer, the “Holy Mystery” was received, “not for guilt or condemnation, but for the renewal of soul and body and spirit.”
The Fourth Century
In the early decades after Christ, the Christian religion was practiced in secret, in adherents’ homes, or even in underground catacombs for fear of persecution by Roman authorities. Once the emperor Constantine decreed that Christianity should be tolerated throughout the empire (a.d. 313), the new faith spread like wildfire. It is evident that by this time Christian worship was already developed considerably. The Christian faith was now free to develop its practices openly and to record them in detail for posterity. Larger and larger buildings were erected for the growing congregations, and worship was organized and disciplined to meet the challenge. More and more of the activity (including some of the singing) was given to the clergy, partly to control the occasional outcropping of heresy.
We shall look at one more early worship form, recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions (a.d. c. 380). It is called the Clementine Liturgy, since the anonymous book is written “in the name of” Clement, Bishop of Rome at the end of the first century. From Books II and VIII of the Constitutions, this complete service may be reconstructed (see Ibid., 70–79):
The Liturgy of the Word
- Scripture Readings (several, from Old and New Testaments, especially the Epistles and Gospels)
- Psalms, interspersed with the above (some sung by cantors, some with responses by the congregation)
- Sermons (by several of the presbyters)
- Dismissal of the catechumens (those under instruction but not yet baptized), the possessed, and the penitents with a Litany and people’s response (“Lord, have mercy”)
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
- Prayers of the faithful
- Salutation and response (a Trinitarian benediction, or “The Lord be with you, etc.”)
- Kiss of peace
- Offertory
- Washing of hands of the bishop and presbyters
- Offering of the bread and wine and of alms
- “Fencing” of the table (to forbid participation by the unworthy)
- Robing of the bishop in “a splendid vestment”; he then makes the “sign of the cross” on his forehead.
- The eucharistic prayer (Anaphora)
- Sursum Corda (“Up with your mind … ”)
- Preface: Thanks for all of God’s providence, beginning with creation, the provision of all things for life on earth, and the history of God’s dealings with his people
- Sanctus (“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts … ”)
- Thanksgiving for the incarnation and redemption
- The words of institution: “For on the night he was betrayed, he took bread in his holy and blameless hands and, looking up to you, his God and Father, he broke it.… Likewise he also mixed the cup of wine and water and sanctified it.… Do this for my remembrance … until I come.”
- Anamnesis and oblation
- Epiklesis: “ … send down your Holy Spirit upon this sacrifice, the witness of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, that he may make this bread body of your Christ, and this cup blood of your Christ; that those who partake may be strengthened to piety, obtain forgiveness of sins, be delivered from the devil and his deceit, be filled with the Holy Spirit, become worthy of your Christ, and obtain eternal life.”
- Prayer of intercession (ten sections)
- Doxology and people’s amen
- The Lord’s Prayer
- Bidding prayers led by the deacon, and bishop’s prayer
- The call to Communion: “Holy things to the holy people” with response: “One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, blessed to the ages. Amen.”
- Gloria in excelsis: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill among men.”
- Hosanna and benedictus qui venit (Matt. 21:9): “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. God is Lord and is manifested to us: Hosanna in the highest.”
- Communion, with the singing of Psalm 34 (“O taste and see that the Lord is good”)
- Bishop’s thanksgiving for communion and intercession followed by prayer and blessing
- Dismissal
It is apparent here that the Liturgy of the Eucharist was a highly significant part of public liturgy, although it may not have taken as long to perform as the Liturgy of the Word (with its multiple Scripture readings, a number of psalms, and several sermons).
A spirit of fear and dread connected with receiving holy Communion unworthily eventually discouraged worshipers from participation in Communion. Over the next few centuries, participation dwindled, and most people took Communion only once a year, as they were obliged to do.
The Church Year
In the most ancient expressions of the church’s worship, God is revealed through Scripture and sermon in the Liturgy of the Word, and in Communion in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Furthermore, the macrocosm of God’s revelation throughout history is shown in the shape of the liturgical year recorded in the liturgical calendar.
In the West, the church year begins with Advent (starting four Sundays before Christmas), a time of penitence in anticipation of the coming of Christ, a time when believers remember God’s acts in creation, in the history of the Jewish people, and in the prophecies and the events leading up to Christ’s incarnation. Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6) celebrate God’s self-revealing in Christ; the first of these is undoubtedly related calendrically to the Jewish Feast of Lights (Hanukkah) and the Christian transformation of the pagan celebration of the winter solstice into Christmas. The season of Lent (forty days before Easter) beginning with Ash Wednesday, is a high period of penitence in preparation for Holy Week, recalling Christ’s forty days of temptation, and Israel’s forty years of wandering in the desert. Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Easter) follows the last days of Christ’s earthly ministry, including his triumphal entry, death, and resurrection. Easter is often called the “Christian Passover” (Pascha)because of its similarity to the Jewish holiday, revealing the Christian’s deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. Pentecost (a name taken directly from the Jewish festival of “first fruits”) commemorates the sending of the Holy Spirit and the establishing of the church; this event begins the second half of the church year. In this final season (called variously “The Weeks after Pentecost,” “The Season of the Holy Spirit,” “The Church Season,” “Ordinary Time,” or in England—where the season is reckoned from the Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday—“Trinity Season”) the emphasis is on God’s purposes for the church in this “age of grace” through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
In each period and on each particular day of the church year, the Scripture readings (lections), the prayers, and the sermons are different to match the theological emphasis of that season and day.
Witness Music in The Early Christian Era
Post-biblical writings of the early church fathers suggest that Syrian (Antiochian) churches may have been first to develop a corpus of Christian hymnody. In the conflict over the teaching of Arius (c. 250–366), both orthodox and heterodox used popular hymns to support their arguments. In the East in northern Mesopotamia, Ephraem Syrus (born c. 307), so successfully advanced the anti-Arian cause that he was called “the cithern of the Holy Spirit.” In the West, Ambrose of Milan (c. 340–397) countered the Arian hymns with his own doctrinally pure texts. He also developed a simple, rhythmic, and syllabic chant that had strong appeal to the masses of unsophisticated worshipers.
Perhaps the only overt reference to musical evangelism in the early church is a statement about Nicetas of Remesiana (c. 335–c. 414), a missionary to Dacia (now part of Yugoslavia), who is given credit for writing the immortal Latin hymn Te Deum laudamus. Jerome (c. 340–420) says that Nicetas spread the gospel among fourth-century European pagans “chiefly by singing sweet songs of the cross.”