Orthodox Eucharistic Liturgies

and Liturgical Theology

Information and Readings for Auditors

Course Syllabus

Download Syllabus

Attending Class

Class will be held on Wednesdays at 11am in the Divinity Common Room (North).

Required Texts

The following books should be acquired for this course as they will be read in their entirety. Copies will also be placed on reserve at Trinity College Library.

  • Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist (SVS Press)
  • Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy (SVS Press)

Week 1: Introduction to the Course and Liturgical Theology

Themes

  • Course overview and expectations
  • Introduction to liturgy and liturgical theology
  • Patristic and scholastic approaches, and the meaning of lex orandi est lex credendi
  • Introduction of readings and methodology

Readings

Week 2: Early History and Development of Eucharistic Liturgies

Themes

  • Survey of the history of the Liturgy from the Old Testament to the end of the 4th century
  • Worship in the Bible, both Old and New Testament
  • Worship in the early church, including within its eschatological worldview
  • Development of liturgical tradition and of the structure of Eucharistic liturgies
  • Study of early liturgical sources and commentaries
  • The meaning of ‘typology’ and ‘allegory’

Readings

Primary Sources

Primary texts drawn from Lucien Deiss, Springtime of the Liturgy. 

Students will be assigned and focus on different primary texts within this collection as follows:

Biblical sources

  • Old Testament and Jewish liturgy, pp 3-19 
  • Institution of the Eucharist, pp 22-26
  • New Testament hymns — Doxologies and blessings, pp 29-37
  • New Testament hymns — Christological hymns, pp 38-45
  • New Testament hymns — Professions of faith and baptismal hymns, and Didactic and hortatory hymns, pp 46-56
  • New Testament hymns — Canticles from Luke, pp 56-61
  • New Testament hymns — Hymns of the Apocalypse, pp 62-69

Early church (first three centuries)

  • Didache, pp 73-77
  • Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, pp 81-85
  • Justin Martyr, pp 89-94
  • Melito of Sardis, Homily on Pascha, pp 99-110
  • Clement of Alexandria, pp 115-119
  • Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, pp 123-153
  • Didascalia of the Apostles, pp 169-180

Week 3: Historical development of the Liturgy from the early centuries to the 8th century

Themes

  • Continued study of early liturgical sources and commentaries
  • Historical development of the Eucharistic liturgies from 4th century to the 8th century
  • Study of patristic ‘mystagogical’ commentaries on the Divine Liturgy
  • The meaning of ‘symbol’ and ‘sacred’

Documents

Readings

Primary Sources

Apart from where noted, page references are to Lucien Deiss, Springtime of the Liturgy.

Early church (fourth century)

  • Apostolic Constitutions
    • Various prayers, pp 213-222
    • Divine Liturgy, pp 222-240
  • Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem, pp 269-289

Early oriental Orthodox tradition

  • Anaphora of Addai and Mari, pp 157-163
  • Euchology of Serapion of Thmuis, pp 183-208
  • Euchology of Der Balyzeh, pp 243-248

Week 4: Historical development of the Liturgy: 9th century to the present

Themes

  • Historical development of the Eucharistic liturgies from 9th century to its final shape in the 14th century
  • Continued study of patristic ‘mystagogical’ commentaries on the Divine Liturgy

Documents (same as last week)

Readings

Mystagogical catecheses

Week 5: In-depth study of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: The Liturgy of the Catechumens

Themes

  • The text and theological significance of the first part of the Divine Liturgy will be studied under the following topics:
    • The Sacrament of the Assembly
    • The Sacrament of the Kingdom
    • The Sacrament of Entrance
    • The Sacrament of the Word
  • NB: the in-depth study will consider both normal and ‘hierarchical’ (or pontifical) texts/rubrics

Readings

Primary Sources

Alternatively:

Further Reading on “Pietism”

Useful Resources

Week 6: In-depth study of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: The Liturgy of the Faithful (part 1)

Themes

  • The text and theological significance of the central part of the Divine Liturgy will be studied under the following topics:
    • The Sacrament of the Faithful
    • The Sacrament of Offering
    • The Sacrament of Unity

Readings

Primary Sources

Alternatively:

Week 7: In-depth study of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom: The Liturgy of the Faithful (part 2)

Themes

  • The text and theological significance of the rest of the Divine Liturgy will be studied under the following topics:
    • The Sacrament of Anaphora
    • The Sacrament of Thanksgiving
    • The Sacrament of Remembrance 
    • The Sacrament of the Holy Spirit
    • The Sacrament of Communion
  • Reflection on the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom following visit
  • Review and re-evaluation of patristic mystagogy

Readings

Primary Sources

Alternatively:

Week 8: Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great

Themes

  • The distinctive features of the Liturgy of St Basil (compared to the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom)
  • Evening ‘Vesperal’ Liturgies (Eves of Nativity, Theophany, Holy Friday, and Pascha, and the Feast of the Annunciation when it falls on a weekday in Lent)

Primary Sources

Week 9: The Liturgies of St James and St Mark, and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Themes

  • History, development and themes of the Liturgies of St James and St Mark, and contemporary efforts to renew them
  • History, development and themes of the Orthodox Lenten Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Readings

Primary Sources

Video

Excerpt from the Liturgy of St James:

Week 10: Eucharistic Liturgies in the Oriental Orthodox Traditions

Themes

  • Further reflection on the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts (following visit)
  • Guest lectures to explore the history and development of the Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac, and Armenian liturgical rites and the distinctive features of their Eucharistic liturgies

Prerecorded Guest Lectures

On Ethiopian Orthodox Tradtion

On Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syriac Orthodox Tradition

On Armenian Tradition

Week 11: Liturgical ‘Renewal’ in the Orthodox Church

Themes

  • Building on themes discussed throughout the course, an exploration of the question of worship today, the need for liturgical ‘renewal’ as well as its countercurrents within the Orthodox Church

Video

For further reading connected with this lecture:

Readings

Week 12: Course Review

Themes

  • Review of course themes and preparation for the final exam

Readings

At this point in the term, you are unlikely to want to work through this entire text. Here is a summary of the introduction.

In Remembering the Future, Zizioulas emphasises that eschatology (literally, knowledge of the final things, that is, God’s future kingdom) profoundly shapes Christian existence, particularly through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is described not merely as a remembrance of past events—Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension—but crucially as the remembrance (anamnesis) of the future: Christ’s coming Kingdom. Eucharistic remembrance thus actively makes the future Kingdom present, transforming the nature of time itself and affecting believers ontologically.

In the Eucharist, the Church anticipates and celebrates Christ’s return, experiencing the “not yet” of the Kingdom as an “already” present reality. Zizioulas argues this remembrance is not a psychological act but ontologically significant—it truly enacts Christ’s presence, shaping reality. The Eucharist reorients life toward the eschaton, freeing believers from enslavement to the past or the present’s limitations.

This “remembrance of the future” allows Christians to interpret history, life, and their existence through the lens of the coming Kingdom. Christ’s risen presence, experienced eucharistically, brings the future into the present, radically reshaping everyday life. Eucharistic participation thus transforms the whole person, aligning believers’ lives with the reality of God’s future and enabling communion with Christ and each other in anticipation of eternity.