9 - The Apostolic Constitutions, Egeria, and the eastern councils

Summary

This last eastern chapter consists of a miscellany of crucially important material. The Apostolic Constitutions give a detailed description of the liturgy in late fourth century Antioch; Egeria's celebrated diary presents a service by service description of the liturgical week in early fifth-century Jerusalem; and the Councils of Laodica offer a scattering of specific information about liturgical song in later fourth-century Asia Minor. The so-called Canons of Basil are of more dubious significance because of their uncertain date.

Apostolic Constitutions

This compilation of legislative and liturgical material is the longest of the church orders. It appears to have been written in about 380 by a Syrian of Arian tendencies, quite possibly the author of the interpolated Ignatian epistles. It incorporates large portions of earlier church orders: the Didascalia in books one through six, the Didache in book seven and the Apostolic Tradition in book eight. Still the material is so reworked or expanded that virtually all the musical references reflect the time of compilation. Of particular significance among these are passages citing the gradual psalm, the Sanctus and the communion psalm. The material is presented here in the following order: that dealing with the Eucharist, the daily offices, and other occasions and circumstances.