Section 06: The Divine Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy that bears St. John Chrysostom’s name is the most frequently celebrated Eucharist in the Orthodox Church, and his eucharistic teaching is among the most uncompromising witnesses of the patristic age to the reality of the mysteries. This section treats, in turn, the history and attribution of the liturgy named for him, and the theology of the Eucharist that runs through his homilies and shaped Orthodox devotion.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Overview
Two questions meet here. The first is historical: in what sense is the liturgy “of Chrysostom”? Following Robert Taft, its anaphora is a Constantinopolitan redaction of an older Antiochene prayer — the Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles — which John brought from Antioch and revised, while the whole liturgy received his name only centuries later and rose only gradually to its present default status over the Liturgy of St. Basil. The second is theological: the homilies speak with a vehement realism — the “dread mysteries,” changed by Christ and not by the priest — balanced by a pastoral insistence on frequent communion grounded in purity rather than presumption.
This section is a companion to the pan-Orthodox treatment of the Eucharist in the Orthodoxy guide, kept consistent with it — including the attribution and the Schmemann-anchored account of the liturgy’s structure (see Orthodoxy Guide: The Divine Liturgy). It is also the parallel to the Basil section, with which the displacement chronology is shared (see St. Basil the Great: The Liturgy of St. Basil).
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom | What the attribution means (the Antiochene Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles behind CHR, per Taft and Engberding); when the name is first attested (Barberini Gr. 336; the whole liturgy named from the 11th century); its rise to default status over Basil via the Studite reform; the structure as celebrated today. |
| Eucharistic Teaching | His eucharistic realism (the “dread mysteries”; the Matthew, John, and 1 Corinthians homilies; De proditione Judae); the priest at the altar (De sacerdotio); frequent communion and the balance of preparation over worthiness; his influence on the Orthodox pre-communion prayers. |
Why It Matters
The liturgy named for Chrysostom is the worship in which most Orthodox Christians meet the Eucharist most Sundays of their lives, and his teaching is the patristic backbone of the Orthodox confession of the real presence and of the priest as Christ’s instrument. The section is also a model of attribution done responsibly — neither severing his name from a prayer his redaction genuinely shaped, nor crediting him with every word of a liturgy that grew over centuries.
See Also
- Orthodoxy Guide: The Divine Liturgy — the pan-Orthodox treatment of the structure, with which this section is kept consistent
- Orthodoxy Guide: The Holy Eucharist — the dogmatic theology of the Eucharist his homilies underwrite
- St. Basil the Great: The Liturgy of St. Basil — the parallel liturgy displaced from daily use
- The Reforming Archbishop — John as bishop of the see whose worship bears his name
References
- Taft, Robert F. The Byzantine Rite: A Short History. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992.
- Taft, Robert F. A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. 6 vols. Rome: Pontifical Oriental Institute, 1975–2008.
- Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vols. 9–14 (Chrysostom’s homilies and treatises).
- Schmemann, Alexander. The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1988.