The Barcelona Papyrus is a 4th-century

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, coming from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and cataloged as ''P.Monts.Roca inv.128-178''. It is the oldest liturgical manuscript containing a complete anaphora. This codex is for the main part conserved in the Abbey of Montserrat and it includes seven pages (154b-157b) of prayers in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

with a complete anaphora, a related prayer to be said after receiving the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

, two prayers for the sick and an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

hymn perhaps of

baptismal Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

type. The Codex also includes a few

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

texts and a long list of Greek words.

Anaphora

The anaphora included in the Barcelona Papyrus was first published by Ramón Roca-Puig in 1994, and the critical edition was issued by M. Zheltov in 2008. This anaphora, which could be related to some

Pachomian monastery The Pachomian monasteries or the ''Koinonia'' of Upper Egypt were a group of Christian Cenobitic monasticism, cenobitic monasteries founded by Pachomius the Great during the 4th century A.D. Altogether, by the mid-300s A.D., nine Pachomian monaster ...

, was a form well known in Egypt before about the 7th century: in fact other two fragments of it have been recovered: the so-called ''Louvain Coptic Papyrus'', a Coptic version dating from the 6th century, and the Greek fragment PVindob. G 41043. The anaphora of Barcelona includes all the typical elements of a developed anaphora, with the particularity that its

epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from , ) refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in religious contexts. The term was borrowed into the Ch ...

is placed before the

Words of Institution The Words of Institution, also called the Words of Consecration, are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event. Eucharistic ...

, as in the

Roman Canon The Canon of the Mass (), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name ''Canon Missæ'' was used in the Tridenti ...

and in the Anaphora of Deir Balyzeh.The Egyptian Sunnarti fragments (J. Hammerstaedt, ''Griechische Anaphorenfragmente aus Ägypten und Nubien'' Opladen, 1999, pag:156–160) have the same peculiarity The content of this anaphora, which includes no

Intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer, praying on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy speci ...

s, is the following: * Opening Dialogue, *

Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

which praises the

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

for the creation of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them (quoting as usual in the

Alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Ro ...

anaphoras), and which next praises also

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, *

Sanctus The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thr ...

, without the ''Benedictus'' as usual in early Egypt and introduced by a ''Pre-Sanctus'', * ''Post-Sanctus'' centered on Christ, *

Oblation An oblation is a solemn offering, sacrifice or presentation to God, to the Church for use in God's service, or to the faithful, such as giving alms to the poor. The word comes from the Late Latin ''oblatio'' (from ''offerre'', ''oblatum'' 'to ...

, offering the bread and the cup, * an

Epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from , ) refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in religious contexts. The term was borrowed into the Ch ...

directed to the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

, with an explicit request to change the bread and wine into the

Body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...

and

Blood of Christ Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby, or the sacram ...

, * a short '' Institution narrative'' followed by the Anamnesis, * a petition for worthy Communion which could be considered as a second or implicit epiclesis, * final

Doxology A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...

. The liturgical scholar Paul F. Bradshaw suggests that this anaphora reached its final form in the 4th century, adding the Sanctus, as well as the Epiclesis and the Institution narrative, to a more ancient material, which could more likely derive from West Syria rather than from

Thanksgiving prayer

The thanksgiving prayer, also included in the Barcelona Papyrus, is a prayer to be said after having received the

and it is shaped on the basis of the last part of the anaphora. This simple pairing of the anaphora with the thanksgiving prayer reminds the same early structure found in chapters 9/10 of the

Didache The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as ''The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations'' (), is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise ( ancient church order) written in Koine Greek, dated by modern scholars to the first or (l ...

and in the chapters 25/26 of the 7th books of the

Apostolic Constitutions The ''Apostolic Constitutions'' or ''Constitutions of the Holy Apostles'' (Latin: ''Constitutiones Apostolorum'') is a Christian collection divided into eight books which is classified among the Church Orders, a genre of early Christian litera ...

Prayers for the sick

Among the prayers found in the Barcelona Papyrus, there are two texts that probably refer to the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick: a prayer associated to the

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism, ''semikhah'' (, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christianity, Christian churches, chirotony. is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

in order that the "spirit of illness" leave the faithful, and on another prayer for the consecration of the oil for the sick, which alternatively could refer to the consecration of the oil of catechumens.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelona Papyrus Anaphoras (liturgy) Greek-language papyri 4th-century manuscripts