The Marcionite Church of Christ is happy to announce that we reconstructed the Marcionite Christian Divine Liturgy and sacramental rites, which are now available in the Litourgicon, which can be read here.
The Marcionite Christian Divine Liturgy is based on the ancient liturgy of James the Just, one of the Seventy Disciples of Jesus Christ. This is the oldest known complete Christian liturgy in existence.
This liturgy is used as the basis for our reconstruction because it is the same liturgy used by Cyril of Jerusalem, who claimed that Marcionite Christians worshipped so similarly to Catholics that Cyril of Jerusalem needed to explicitly warn Catholics to be careful when entering Marcionite Churches and worshipping there.
Known interpolations have been removed from the liturgy, and it has been adjusted to comport with known Marcionite Christian church traditions, such as the westward direction of prayer, the Saturday Eucharistic fast, and the practice of open communion.
Interestingly, this liturgy already featured the Marcionite church tradition of a mixed chalice.
Marcionite Christians never adhered to the practice of dividing Divine Liturgy into morning and evening services, as this custom is based on the pattern of worship in the Jewish Temple and the Hebrew Bible’s instructions for morning and evening sacrifices.
In addition, the Marcionite Christian sacramental rites of Holy Baptism, Holy Chrismation, Holy Reconciliation, and Holy Ordination have been reconstructed based on the ancient rites found in the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles. They have similarly been modified to reflect known Marcionite Christian traditions such as fasting for the entire day prior to one’s baptism, anointing with oil, full triple or triune immersion baptisms, allowing Deaconesses to baptize other women, and finally, the practice of serving milk and honey to the newly baptized during Holy Chrismation, which was done in opposition to the Jewish restriction of the use of honey during sacrifices.
The Divine Liturgy and other liturgical rites found in the Litourgicon are based on the work and translation of James Donaldson (Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1886).
