Reform of the Liturgy

If the Liturgy is to be reformed, then it must have been formed in the first place. I will treat here of the Divine Liturgy, which is so called because it has been given to us as a gift from God. If we do something different than what God has revealed to us, we have not received the gift. In the very first place, Our Lord has given us the Liturgy as food.

In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus compares this food to the manna given to the Israelites in the desert, “I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” Jesus adds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” and “the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:32,35,51).

The Eucharist is divine food; it is the bread of life, and even more, it is God giving himself to us. Pope John Paul II wrote, “The church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious – among so many others, but as the gift “par excellance,” for it is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work” (“Ecclesia de Eucharistia,” 11).

Meal fellowship

The Gospels reveal this gift as given at the last supper that Our Lord had with his disciples. It is also possible to see this meal in the context of Our Lord’s life among us. His presence with us at meals was an important part of his ministry. John the Baptist preached a message of repentance. He lived in the desert and fasted, but “the Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Mt 11:19). In fact, he dined with all classes of people and frequently ate with “tax-collectors and sinners” because he came “not to call the righteous but sinners” (Mt 9:13).

When he fed the multitudes in the miracle of the five loaves, he “gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds” (Mt 15:36).

When Jesus was arrested and crucified on the cross, this fellowship at meals was a gift torn from his followers.

However, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to those who believed in him, appearing to them through closed doors and eating with them (Luke 24:43). Jesus is revealed to his disciples at Emmaus precisely in the act of breaking bread at table (Lk 24:30-31). Even death was not to break the meal fellowship the Lord has with us.

The intensity of this meal fellowship was revealed especially at the last supper. Here the formation of the Liturgy according to the apostolic tradition is established according to the Scriptures.

The story of the supper Our Lord had before his arrest is told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. That this is the tradition of the church was especially affirmed by St. Paul, who writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over [in betrayal, for crucifixion], took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” (1 Cor 11:23-25).

The presence of Jesus with us in meals was therefore to be done by the service of the bread and cup, by which he would be with us always at our table through the gifts of bread and wine that we offer.

Divine remembrance

“Remembrance” here means much more than a simple “calling to mind,” a faint “memory.” It is divine remembrance which makes real that which is being remembered.

This, then, tells us how the Liturgy is to be formed. We must do it as Our Lord commanded. The Divine Liturgy sees this as a command of God.

The Liturgy of St. Basil quotes the command as found in the letter of St. Paul, “Do this in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this chalice, you proclaim my death and profess my resurrection” (1 Cor 11:26).

The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom says more briefly, “Remembering, therefore, this saving command and all that has come to pass.”

Every time we celebrate the Liturgy, therefore, we “remember” together with God all that the Lord has done for us, and he is present with us, and all of our salvation is happening in our lives as we fulfill the Gospel command.

Basic form of Liturgy

In Scripture we find the basic form of the Liturgy as revealed by Our Lord. The Gospel of St. Matthew describes this supper, “while they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to his disciples” (Mt26:26). The words of the Gospel are repeated in the anaphora, the eucharistic prayer, itself. We repeat all these actions. The Liturgy is celebrated with bread and wine.

The bread and wine are taken. In the Western Church, the taking of the bread and wine is done more simply, while in the Byzantine Church, it is brought to the holy table in a “great entrance,” with incense, and prayer and hymn. The bread and wine are then placed upon the holy table, which is commonly called the altar, and a prayer of blessing is said by the priest, standing in Christ’s place by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Today we often think of blessing as a sprinkling with holy water or the making of a sign of a cross, but the blessing that is meant here is the prayer of the Eucharist, called in the Eastern tradition the “anaphora,” or “offering.” Blessing, indeed, means that something is revealed though the words of a prayer, to be sacred – a gift of God for us.

At the Last Supper, Jesus certainly used the meal blessings of his Jewish tradition with the added revelation that the bread he was giving was his body and the wine his blood, for the life of the world. Jesus then broke the bread. This was particularly a Jewish custom to symbolize the sharing of a meal.

All Christian Liturgies maintain a solemn and ritual breaking of the bread to indicate our community with one another. Finally, the holy gifts are distributed in Communion, in various ways in the different churches, to complete our real union with one another in God. This is the basic format of the Liturgy, and the church cannot wander from it. Whenever the Liturgy is “reformed,” it must be a remaking of this one form given to us by the command of God. 


Archpriest David M. Petras SEOD teaches at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He is the author of  “Time for the Lord to Act: A Catechetical Commentary on the Divine Liturgy,”

Info: Byzantine Press