The Liturgy of Addai and Mari (or the Holy Qurbana of Mar Addai and Mar Mari) is the Eucharistic liturgy belonging to the East Syriac Rite and was historically used in the Church of the East of the Sasanian (Persian) Empire. This liturgy is traditionally attributed to Saint Addai (disciple of Saint Thomas the Apostle) and Saint Mari (a disciple of Saint Addai). It is currently in regular use in the Assyrian Church of the East (including its archdiocese the Chaldean Syrian Church of India), the Ancient Church of the East, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of India, and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The latter two are Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with the Holy See of Rome.
Overview The Anaphora of Addai and Mari is similar to the ancient eucharistic rite of the Didache, belonging to "a primordial era" before the Words of Institution were made standard across other anaphoras. The Anaphora of Addai and Mari is perhaps the only anaphora in continuous use by an apostolic church since its establishment.Mateusz Rafal Potoczny (2019) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337307286_THE_ANAPHORA_OF_THE_APOSTLES_ADDAI_AND_MARI_AND_ITS_CHRISTOLOGICAL_CHARACTERStylianos Muksuris, The Anaphorae of the Liturgy of Sts. Addai and Mari and the Byzantine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: A Comparative Study. The anaphora that is part of this liturgy is of particular interest, being one of the oldest in Christianity, possibly dating back to 3rd-century Edessa,Addai and Mari, Liturgy of. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005 even if the outline of the current form can only be traced as far back as the time of the Patriarch Ishoyahb III in the 7th century. In the form given in the oldest manuscripts, this anaphora does not include the Words of Institution, which has raised ecumenical concerns. The Eastern Catholic churches employing this liturgy have inserted the Words of Institution in accordance with their Eucharistic teaching.
Relations between Rome and the Assyrian Church have dramatically improved since the 1980s. The patriarch, Mar Dinkha IV, visited Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1984 and participated in a day of prayer for peace at Assisi in 1986. In 1994, Mar Dinkha and Pope John Paul II signed a common declaration in the Vatican. This common Christological declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East in 1994 established that both churches confessed the same doctrine concerning Christology (the divinity and humanity of Christ). This declaration went on to create a mixed committee for further theological dialogue between the two (now sister) churches. The text affirmed that Catholics and Assyrians are "united today in the confession of the same faith in the Son of God". In 2001 this committee drew up guidelines for mutual admission to the eucharist between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, overcoming the issue of the lack of words of Institution in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari.
Use
The Liturgy of Addai and Mari has been in continuous use in the Church of the East since at least the 7th century. Hymns by Saint Ephrem and others are often sung during the communion. A piece of dough from the eucharistic bread is saved from week to week, not as reserve sacrament but as leaven for the next week's bread. Authors from Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 400) to Shimun XXI Eshai in the mid-20th century and Mar Aprem Mooken of India in the early 21st century have identified the Epiclesis, beginning with the words Netheh Mar Rookha d'Qudsha... (May the Holy Spirit come...) as the high point of the Holy Qurbana.
In the Syro-Malabar Church this liturgy has three forms: a simplified form, a standard form for Sundays use, and a highly solemn form, known as the Raza, used only on solemnities. A reform of the Raza in order to return to the unadulterated and original form was issued in 1985,Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Decree dated 19 December 1985 followed in 1989 by a reform of the other two forms carried out with the same principles.Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Decree dated 3 April 1989
A slight reform of the liturgy of Addai and Mari celebrated by the Chaldean Catholic Church came into effect on 6 January 2007, making uniform the many different uses of each parish and removing additions introduced over the centuries in imitation of the Roman Rite. The main changes were: a return to the ancient arrangement of the interior of churches, restoration of the preparation of the bread and wine before the beginning of the service and removal of Filioque from the Creed.
The prayers of the liturgy of Addai and Mari are of three types, according as they are recited by the celebrating priest or bishop: cushapa: personal prayers of the celebrant gehanta or "inclinations": prayers said in low voice by the celebrant qanona: conclusions of the gehanta conducted aloud
Absence of the Words of Institution The Eucharistic Prayers (or Anaphoras) of all the present Christian Churches that believe in apostolic succession include the Words of Institution, and the relevant Institution narrative, with the sole exception of some versions of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari.
The oldest manuscript of this anaphora was published by W.F. Macomber in 1966W.F. Macomber The oldest known text of the anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari OPC 32 (1966) 335-6 (known as Mar Eshaya text) and dates from about the 10th or 11th century. It does not include the Words of Institution, nor do other ancient manuscripts of later date. Mar Aprem Mooken of India indicates that many priests of the Assyrian Church of the East follow the old practice of not including the Words of Institution.Mar Aprem Mooken, "Anaphora of Addai and Mari from the Perspective of the Church of the East", in Studies on the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, ed. Boscos Pothur, (Kochi: LRC Publications, 2004), pp.205-206. The practitioners justify the absence of the Words of Institution by the practice of baking sacramental bread by Holy Leaven.
Some scholars believe that the medieval manuscript represents the 4th-century tradition (or even earlier), while others believe that the Words of Institution were originally present and were later dropped, probably due to the liturgical reform of Mar Isho-Yab III in about AD 650.Enrico Mazza, The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation, Liturgical Press: 1999 pag 73 The former include Macomber and Spinks, the latter H. Engerding and E. Mazza. B. Botte suggested that the Words of Institution were originally not written but recited from memory.For a review of the views of scholars, see Stephen B. Wilson, The Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari in ed. Paul Bradshaw Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers, (1997) pp. 19–37
Catholic Church's position The Catholic Church has always recognized the validity of apostolic succession of the Church of the East, and thus the validity of its priesthood. Still some Catholics questioned the validity of the consecration in the absence of the Words of Institution because the Council of Florence had declared that the words (in Catholic theology, the "form") of the sacrament of the Eucharist are "the words of the Saviour with which he effected this sacrament",Council of Florence, Decr. 4 Sep 1439, Denzinger 1321 words that the same council indicated as "This is my body" and "This is the chalice of my blood".Council of Florence, Decr. 4 Febr 1442, Denzinger 1352
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church never officially contested the validity of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari. In the closing decades of the 20th century, ecumenical rapprochement with the Assyrian Church of the East and the situation of the by then widely scattered Assyrian and Chaldean Christians who lacked a priest of their own Church made more acute the issue of the validity of the Eucharistic consecration of the form of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari that did not include the Words of Institution, as used by the Assyrian Christians, while the Eastern Catholic Churches that use the East Syriac Rite include in their versions of this liturgy the Institution narrative, with its Words of Institution. Accordingly, on 20 July 2001 the Holy SeeConcretely, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. declared that the Anaphora of Addai and Mari can be considered valid. Three reasons were given for this judgment. First, the Anaphora of Addai and Mari dates back to the early Church. Secondly, the Church of the East has otherwise preserved the orthodox faith in regard to the Eucharist and Holy Orders. And finally, though the Words of Institution are not spoken expressly, their meaning is present: "The words of Eucharistic Institution are indeed present in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, not in a coherent narrative way and ad litteram, but rather in a dispersed euchological way, that is, integrated in successive prayers of thanksgiving, praise and intercession".Guidelines issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Guidelines for admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East Catholic canon law excludes participation by Catholics in the Eucharistic services of Christian communities whose sacraments or priesthood it considers invalid, and permits participation by members of such communities in the Catholic Eucharist only in very exceptional circumstances and only if the individual members in question hold the same belief as the Catholic Church concerning the Eucharist;Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §4 and cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §4 but in the case of Churches whose sacraments and priesthood it considers valid, it allows such participation much more easily.Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 671 §§2-3 and cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 844 §§2-3 Accordingly, the 20 July 2001 document of the Holy See, titled Guidelines for admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, drew the following conclusions from the recognition of the validity of the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari as celebrated in the Assyrian Church of the East: Assyrian faithful are permitted, when necessary, to participate and to receive Holy Communion in a Chaldean celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Chaldean faithful unable to approach a Catholic minister are permitted to participate and to receive Holy Communion in an Assyrian celebration of the Holy Eucharist, even if celebrated using the Anaphora of Addai and Mari in its form without the Words of Institution. Assyrian ministers are warmly invited (but not obliged) to insert the Words of Institution in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari when Chaldean faithful are present at the liturgy.
The provisions above are thus intended for occasions when it is not possible for Assyrian or Chaldean faithful to attend their own Church. They are not a declaration of full communion between the two Churches, although the document recognizes that the joint declaration signed by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Dinkha IV of the Assyrian Church of the East has solved the main dogmatic problem between the two Churches and that on 29
November 1996 the Assyrian and Chaldean patriarchs had agreed to a list of common proposals aimed at re-establishing full communion.
Unlike the Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East has an Open Communion practice, allowing any baptized Christian to receive its Eucharist.
Dialogue between the two Churches later slowed down and was suspended in 2002.
Structure of the Anaphora