The Ancient Liturgy

The online Liturgy wars are in full swing. Everyone wants to chime in and everyone wants to pretend their Liturgy is the oldest. In this piece, we'll take a look at the first liturgy in Biblical history. All modern Christian liturgical traditions trace back to this one.

It’s not Novus Ordo. It’s not the TLM. It’s not Divine Liturgy either.

The Liturgical wars are in full force nowadays. Things are even more tense with the excommunication of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Today, I’m not here to talk about SSPX. I’m here to talk about the ancient Liturgy.

Not the Novus Ordo.

Not the Vetus Ordo (TLM).

Not the Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom.

In fact, it’s not even the Liturgy of St. James.

We need to think back to a time before Jesus walked the earth. A time before the Second Temple. A time even before the First Temple.

The people of Israel had just left Egypt. The Apostolic Church would not be established on earth for millennia. No Temple had been built. The Ten Commandments were kept within the Ark of the Covenant; a box containing stone tablets and the Real Presence; carried all over the desert by human hands.

God struck down Uzzah for trying to steady the Ark. Centuries earlier, God struck down Aaron’s sons for offering strange fire.

What defines a Holy place?

Before we go any further, we need to take a look into what Liturgy is meant to address.

4 And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am. And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.

— Exodus 3:4-6, Douay-Rheims Bible

This is not a neutral passage. We’re not inside a Church or a Temple here. This is a burning bush in the wilderness. Theoretically, anybody could just walk through accidentally and therein lies the danger. The Lord makes several warnings here.

Come not nigh hither

This is to keep Moses safe. Later in Exodus, God makes it explicit that nobody can see His face and live.

put off the shoes from thy feet

This foreshadows Gospel. The Apostles must have their feet washed to enter the Kingdom.

the place whereon thou standest is holy ground

A place in which God chooses to dwell becomes Holy. Even here. The ground likely had dirt, rocks and maybe some weeds — yet it is Holy enough to kill Moses.

Liturgy is an entry into a space just as sacred, where God has chosen to dwell. Honestly, is this something to take casually?

I was once given a formal tour of my local parish. We entered the Sanctuary. On the outside, I was a little nervous. On the inside, terrified was an understatement.

Liturgy is a structured attempt at the exact encounter that Moses has here at the burning bush.

The Tent of Meeting

Even during Moses’ earthly life, this encounter quickly evolved for structure and safety. In Exodus 33, Moses is now meeting the Lord from within a tent. In this passage, we also see the beginning of formal reverence beginning to form. When people see the cloud at the entrance, they bow.

7 Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp. 8 And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle. 9 And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses. 10 And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood, and worshipped at the doors of their tents. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.

— Exodus 33:7-11, Douay-Rheims Bible

At this point, Aaron, Moses’ brother, has been appointed but not yet consecrated as high priest. Moses is still the primary mediator between God and His people. Aaron is the starting point of the Kohanim, the Israelite priesthood. Moses is treated as a different sort of priest. Moses is the starting point for Aaron. He’s Aaron’s brother.

When Aaron assumes his role as high priest, he’s consecrated by Moses.

God uses Moses to consecrate the entire Aaronic line.

When Aaron dies, he doesn’t choose a successor. His son assumes the job. After Moses dies, the Kohanim are the primary mediators within the Tent of Meeting.

The Word of the LORD

3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice: We will do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord. 6 Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls: and the rest he poured upon the altar. 7 And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken we will do, we will be obedient. 8 And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

— Exodus 24:3-8, Douay-Rheims Bible

This is the first instance we see God’s Word read in a public setting. When reading the Word, Moses erects an altar. As the people are gathered, they offer sacrifice on top of the mountain. Blood is spilled. It is also poured out upon the altar as an offering to the LORD. Only then does Moses proceed to read to the people. A very clear pattern begins to emerge here. As the story of Israel continues, this practice develops naturally into what we’d call Liturgical readings today.

Not only do they offer sacrifice when reading the word, Moses sprinkles the blood of the sacrifice on the congregation. Read this part again.

8 And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

John Chrysostom loved types. What we see here is a type of Baptism. The people are sprinkled with blood as the covenant is renewed. In Catholic liturgy today, we echo this when a priest sprinkles Holy Water onto the congregation.

The Table for the Bread of Presence

23 Thou shalt make a table also of setim wood, of two cubits in length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and half in height. 24 And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold: and thou shalt make to it a golden ledge round about. 25 And to the ledge itself a polished crown, four inches high: and over the same another little golden crown. 26 Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings, and shalt put them in the four corners of the same table over each foot. 27 Under the crown shall the golden rings be, that the bars may be put through them, and the table may be carried. 28 The bars also themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold to bear up the table. 29 Thou shalt prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups, wherein the libations are to be offered of the purest gold. 30 And thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in my sight always.

— Exodus 25:23-30, Douay-Rheims Bible

Here, the Lord gives explicit architecture; designs and instructions for His table which holds the Bread of Presence. Notice here that it is present on the table and before Him always. This is not the same as the Eucharist but we need to pay really close attention here.

God is truly present at this table. His instructions for reverence are explicitly clear.

The table is essentially a wooden altar and it’s plated in gold. All dishes an utensils are made of pure gold. The bread of Presence is to be left on the table always.

This table is used for offerings of bread, libation and incense. In modernity, we tend to get a bit casual with these things. These simple items are offerings to the Living God. The ancient Israel was not to approach the table casually and neither are we.

Liturgy is Sacramental

Even in Old Testament Liturgy, before the First Temple was even built, the Sacramental skeleton of the Liturgy is already there. For starters, God is Holy, and we, as impulsive and fragile creatures, don’t know how to handle holiness. This is why God gave us the Commandments, to teach us to be Holy, because He is Holy.

Even dating back to the ancient Israelite Liturgy, the pieces of a Liturgy are laid out pretty clearly by God Himself. A Liturgy requires a priest, an altar and an offering. Liturgy of the Word has been typified since God ordered the Law to be read in front of His people. The Bread of Presence and Libation offerings foreshadowed the Holy Sacrifice of Communion.