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Does anyone know the approximate date for the original Liturgy of St. James? I printed the Liturgy from the CD "The Early Church Fathers, Catholic Edition". The reason I am asking is that it has the Axion estin prayer-hymn to the Theotokos.

Thank you for your help. Glory to Jesus Christ!

George The Latin

Shlomo George,

I would advise you going to a Maronite Church. We still use that liturgy as our Primary. As to your question our Church has been around since the 400's.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Yuhannon,

Thanks. There are three Maronite Churches; St. George/Holy Trinity, St. Anthony of the Desert, and Our Lady of Purgatory and a Syrian Catholic Mission; St. James Brother of the Lord, near to where I live. Do you know if this liturgy dates to Apostolic times? I am trying to find out if the "It is trully right to magnify you, O Holy Mother of God, ..." also dates from Apostolic times.

George the Latin

Dear George,

I had not heard anyone posit that the hymn Axion estin or Dostojno jest' dates from apostolic times. As far as I know it is from around the first millenium.

Perhaps Taft has written on it, mabe Kucharek will be more accessible, in any event online I found this [goarch.org] which agrees with some other sites online about the time of the appearance of this hymn.

Tony

Part 1 of 2 of my reply:

The hymn "Axion estin" dates to AD 980, when it was revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk in a kellion on Mount Athos (I have visited that kellion many times, ahving lived near it for a few months).

See the synaxarion for 11 June:
http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=489


The Synaxis of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated today for the following reason: In 980, during the reign of Emperor Basil II, when Nicholas Chrysoberges was Ecumenical Patriarch, the holy Archangel Gabriel appeared in the guise of a monk to the disciple of a certain elder living in a hermitage belonging to the Monastery of Pantocrator on the Holy Mountain. During Matins, after the monk had chanted the customary hymn, "More honorable than the Cherubim . . . ," composed by Saint Cosmas the Hymnographer, the Angel chanted the same hymn, but with the following prelude: "It is truly meet to call thee blest, the Theotokos, the ever-blessed and all-immaculate and Mother of our God." Marveling at the hymn's beauty, the monk asked his visitor - who appeared also to be a monk - to record this new text in writing, which the Angel did by miraculously inscribing the words on a piece of slate, using only his finger, and straightway he vanished from sight. This slate was brought to the Church of the Protaton, and from thence to Constantinople, to the imperial court and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as evidence of the miracle. Henceforth, this version of the hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos began to be chanted in the Divine Liturgy in all the churches. The place where the miracle took place is now called Adein, from the Greek word which means "to sing." The icon itself, before which this hymn was first chanted, is called "the icon of the Axion estin" ("It is truly meet") and it is kept in the sanctuary of the Church of the Protaton on the Holy Mountain.

Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA
Icon courtesy of St. Isaac's Skete

June 11 Apolytikion:

Fourth Tone

Ye hosts of the Fathers of Mount Athos, gather today, and shout with a voice of jubilation, leaping for joy, and faithfully keeping feast: For, behold, the praise of the most pure Theotokos wondrously and awesome is sung by the Angel; and therefore, as the Mother of God, we glorify her name.
Kontakion:

Fourth Tone

All of Athos keepeth feast this day in gladness; for it wondrously received from an Archangel's holy hand the hymn whereby thou hast ever been praised as the Mother of God, as is truly meet.

Thanks for a lovely post, Photius.

Part 2 of 2 of my reply:

Christ is Risen!

By the "Liturgy of St. James" or the "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom", et cetera, what is meant is that the priest's prayers and some basic deacon's and people's parts tightly bound to the priest's prayers, are attributed to the said saint, possibly as an oral form that was written down later.

So, you will find that the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has much, especially in the Liturgy of the Catechumens, that has developed since St. John's day, but the Anaphora and other priestly prayers are attributed to St. john, and the evolved Liturgy bears his name. However, in the Armenian Rite, you will also find a "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" that has the same priestly prayers, but which does not otherwise resemble the Byzantine version. Likewise with the Liturgy of St. James, several rites use it, but all have added different offertories (in the Byzantine Rite, it uses the same Proskemedia as for the other liturgies) and hymns and general structure. The use of "Axion Estin" is such an addition: In St. John's time, the priest continued chanting the Anaphora uninterruptedly where we now break and sing this hymn, or some other hymn, to the Theotokos, while the priest continues the Anaphora silently.

The editors of the version of the Liturgy of St. James that you read failed to edit out or footnote the later interpolation of such things as "Axion Estin", which would be easy to do by comparing the sundry editions of that liturgy by the rites that use it today.

In my Slavonic edition of the "Liturgy of Holy Apostle James, the Brother of God", there is an introductory editor's note that certain items were added, such as Justinian's ordering the addition of "O Only Begotten Son" and the Symbol of Faith to the Liturgy.

Since you are a Latin, you may be interested (and perhaps humored) by looking at how the Roman Liturgy was adopted by the Byzantine Rite as the "Liturgy of St. Peter the Apostle":

http://www.odox.net/Liturgy1-Peter.htm


As for your question about how old it really is, I do not know precisely, although I'm reasonably certain it reached its current written form a good while before the First Council of Nicea. Perhaps someone else will offer more information. Orthodox generally hold that Saint James did compose it, at least in the sense that these words are typical of what he prayed in an impromptu manner, which were memorized by those who heard it, and were eventually written down.

Photius, Reader

George,

Welcome to the Forum. Obviously, you live down in the "South Coast", as realtors are labeling it on radio commercials these days.

A quick question, where is St. James? I wasn't aware that there was a Syriac mission in MA or RI, although it makes sense. There is and has been a significant Syriac Catholic population of faithful in eastern Mass. and RI for decades. Until now, they've been served by the Melkite, Maronite, Syrian Orthodox, and, occasionally, the Antiochian Orthodox Churches (and many of them have been formally or informally absorbed over those decades into one or the other of those Churches).

I tried to check the website of Our Lady of Deliverance, the Syriac Eparchy, but it is down - as seems to be the case more often than not lately.

Many years,

Neil

Neil,

St. James Brother of the Lord is in Providence although I am not sure of an address. I emailed the Syriac Catholic Exarchate in Union City, NJ and "FrSyriac" responded that Liturgy is celebrated only when Bishop Younan visits Rhode Island. If I can find out more, I will let you know.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

George the Latin

Tony and Photius,

I would like to express my appreciation for your posts. I will check on the websites that you both have recommended.

I have two CD's; one by Lycourgos Angelopoulos and the Byzantine Greek Choir; and Nikolai Korniev and the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, both have the Axion estin/Dosoino 'Yest. I listen to both of them (although I prefer the Dostoino 'Yest sung by John Rutter's Cambridge Singers -- it seems to have more "life".

Again, thank you.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

George the Latin

Christ is Risen!
You're certainly welcome!
I'm not familiar with any of the recordings, but I'll venture to guess that youe preference is cultural, which has no intrinsic virtue or lack thereof, just musing that Rutter's rendition is more likely to appeal to western ears.

Photius

Photius,

You are probably correct about the cultural thing however I enjoy just as much the Greek Axion estin sung by the Byzantine Choir directed by Lycourgos Angelopoulos. I do have a preference toward any choir or chorus that sings a composition as if they understand what it is saying rather than just notes on a score.

Having said that, I am also trying to find a copy of Lycourgos' "Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom". I think it is available on CD but I have not found it anywhere -- even Borders.

Doxa Ieso Xristo!

George the Latin