The Origins of the Anaphoral Benedictus

This paper presents evidence for the Benedictus following theSanctus having been introduced first in Jerusalem in the Liturgyof St James. The structure and variety of the Benedictus areexamined, along with theories of Jewish and Antiochene originin relation to the Apostolic Constitutions. A fifth-centuryJerusalem homily provides the first evidence for the Mattheanform, subsequently contained in all versions of the Liturgyof St James and which becomes normative for nearly all eucharistictraditions. The conclusion distinguishes between the originsof the idea of the anaphoral Benedictus and the origins of itsform. The idea of a ‘blessed be’ acclamation afterthe Sanctus may well lie in Jewish traditions, but the originsof its form lie in the Palm Sunday acclamation of fourth-centuryJerusalem.