Second Century Liturgy Uploaded!

A while ago I uploaded a document to the Patristics section of this blog which was a short extract from the writings of St. Justin, apologist and martyr of the Early Church. The extract came from his First Apology where he wrote about the liturgy of the Church in Rome during the Second Century. I’ve recently been doing some blog maintenance and I’ve now recorded that document onto MP3:

 First Apology (Extract) from St. Justin Martyr

More recordings will be coming over the next couple of weeks: Apostolic Tradition and the Liturgy of St. James.

Historic Worship

I would suggest that a large number of Christians naturally assume that the Early Church worshiped in the same way as their own congregation in 21st Century America:

(Thanks to Patrick Vanderpool for the artwork)

Thankfully, we are not left in ignorance as to how the Early Church worshiped, since Church Fathers such as St. Justin left us written descriptions. These documents show us that the Early Church had a structured liturgy which had, at its centre, the Eucharist.

Tough Questions

If you belong to a congregation where the Eucharist is not front and centre, I would invite you to ask yourself why this is so.  If the Apostles rose from the dead and attended your worship one Sunday, would they recognize it?

Now, I love contemporary Christian music and extended times of singing praise to God, but this is not my primary means of worship. It was not the priority of St. Justin’s worship nor that of the Early Church. The focus of the Catholic Church is the same as it was for St. Justin, that great gift of God, the Eucharist.