The Sanctus in the Eucharistic Prayer

A historical investigation into one of the unsolved mysteries of Christian liturgy.

Bryan D. Spinks (Author)

9780521526623, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 July 2002

276 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.41 kg

"...thoroughly-researched [and] carefully crafted..." Religious Studies Review

The sanctus (the 'thrice holy'of Isaiah 6.3) is found in nearly all ancient and modern eucharistic prayer. Its origin as a constituent element in this prayer is one of the unsolved mysteries of Christian liturgy, and the author of this study puts forward a comprehensive investigation into its background and sources. In making his enquiry, Dr Spinks shows that earliest attestations of its use derive from Syria and Palestine. This evidence is then matched against current theories of the origin of the eucharistic prayer, which leads the author to state his theories about the likely origin of the sanctus, and the implications this has for theories of anaphoral evolution. The use of the sanctus from the seventh century through to the present is described, a survey which takes note of the innovatory uses of Cranmer and Luther, and which places the study of the sanctus in a wide theological context.

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction: the enigma of the sanctus
Part I: 1. The Old Testament background and setting
2. The worship of heaven and the qedussah in Judaism
3. Continuity and influence in early Christian documents
Part II: 4. The sanctus in the East Syrian and Syro-Byzantine eucharistic prayers
5. The sanctus in the Egyptian and western eucharistic prayers
6. The possible origins of the sanctus in the eucharistic prayer
Appendix: the literary forms of the sanctus
Part III: 7. Developments in east and west to the reformation
8. The reformation rites
9. Protestant and Anglican liturgies 1662–1960
10. The sanctus in some contemporary eucharistic prayers
11. The sanctus in perspective
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX]