downloadTheology & History
Calvin: The Form Of Church Prayers, Strassburg Liturgy (1545) Part I
Although there is considerable diversity within the Reformed community, it is fair to say that the ideas of John Calvin strongly influenced Reformed worship practice. Calvin's Strassburg Liturgy is presented below.
Introduction Definition of Calvinist. It is often assumed that "Calvinist" and "Reformed" are synonymous, but in fact the Reformed tradition includes considerable diversity. The most important streams within the Reformed family of churches are usually called Zwinglian and Calvinist, for the two most outstanding leaders, Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich and John Calvin in Geneva. One of the critical issues in the sixteenth century was who could share in the Lord's Supper together; Zwinglians and Calvinists agreed upon intercommunion in 1549, but there continued to be a variety of theological and practical differences within this family of Reformed churches, particularly in ecclesiology and the liturgy. Calvinist Worship and Liturgy in Context. Although their descendants have sometimes forgotten it, sixteenth-century reformers were very deeply concerned about worship and they devoted an immense amount of time, thought, and care both to the theology and the practice of worship. Indeed, the primary purpose of much reform was to bring the church back to the right worship of God, according to God's will. The negative task of attacking what they perceived as a perversion of worship was normally only a necessary first step toward the goal of a pure worship which would glorify God and serve human salvation. There was no universal agreement on what exactly was the right and pure worship of God, and the process of discerning what was wrong and what should be put in its place took time and effort. Even where there was general agreement in principle, there were diversities in practice, particularly when it came to embodying worship in liturgical acts. The liturgy which is called "Calvinist" is not the work of one person but of a community, though John Calvin gave the service his own particular impress, and his influence was very important in the spread of this liturgy. The Sunday service of Word and Sacrament is the fruit of many years of study, reflection, and practical experimentation on the part of a considerable number of church leaders, especially Martin Bucer and colleagues in Strassburg, in contact with other reformers across the whole spectrum of theological opinion. The liturgy published here also did not remain frozen, though it continues to be one of the best expressions of worship in the sixteenth-century Calvinist tradition. Theological Principles. Calvin's liturgy was clearly shaped by certain biblical principles and influenced by what was known of early church practice. Calvinists believed that there are some elements which are necessary for a rightly formed liturgy, and they read Acts 2:42 as a summary of the first Christians' worship: "the teaching of the apostles, the breaking of bread, fellowship/koinonia, and prayers." Calvinists generally understood this biblical pattern to mean that liturgy should include the Word/Gospel purely preached, the sacraments rightly administered, prayer (both spoken and sung), and the expression of communal love, for example in the kiss of peace or almsgiving. Liturgical Practice. Early Calvinists were not as literalistic as some of their descendants; they did not read the Bible as a book of liturgical rubrics. In different circumstances, it was possible to have different practical expressions of the essentials, and early Calvinists were prepared to alter details to fit historical or pastoral situations. Such changes must not be made simply to be entertaining or creative; the fundamental basis for reshaping the precise order is practical concern for how the right worship of God is best expressed in a given community (usually a region, not different congregations of the same city). The church's liturgy does not belong to the pastors, though those specially trained in the necessary knowledge (Bible, theology, history) are the proper leaders in formulating the community's worship. One way of illustrating the minister's role is through his dress, which was simply the ordinary street dress (outer garment) of an educated man. The "Genevan gown" was originally intended not to distinguish the minister from any other lay-educated person (physicians and lawyers wore the same thing); the academic gown did emphasize the importance of a learned ministry among Calvinists, since the chief task of a pastor was to proclaim the gospel using every gift of mind as well as heart. Calvin himself was very conscious of the heart, though some Calvinists have focused narrowly on the mind. The Development of Calvin's Liturgy. The form of Calvin's Sunday service printed here is his "Strassburg liturgy." After his first ministry in Geneva ended in 1538, Calvin was for three years the pastor of a French-speaking refugee congregation in the German-speaking city of Strassburg. Here Calvin associated with Bucer and others, and was much influenced by the Strassburg German liturgy which had been developing over the previous fifteen years. Calvin was particularly impressed with the singing in Strasbourg, and his first liturgical publication (1539) was a small French Psalter containing twenty-two pieces: Psalms translated by the gifted French poet Clement Marot or by Calvin himself, and Simeon's Song, the Decalogue, and the Apostles Creed, set to music. Later, as more of Marot's translations became available, Calvin replaced his versions with Marot's; Calvin's colleague in Geneva, Theodore Beza, translated the rest of the Psalms and published the complete Psalter for the first time in 1562. After 1539, the Psalter and the Calvinist liturgy were normally printed together. It is generally thought that Calvin published a version of his French Sunday service during his Strassburg pastorate, perhaps in 1540, but no copy of this exists, and its precise contents remain unclear. The first extant texts of Calvin's service were published in 1542: one in Strassburg by his successor as pastor in the French congregation, one by Calvin himself in Geneva, where he had returned in the autumn of 1541. The two editions of 1542 were somewhat different, since Calvin had been obliged to modify his text for the Genevan situation. Another edition of the Strassburg text, with more changes (which tended to combine elements of the two 1542 editions), was published in 1545, and editions of the Genevan service, with minor modifications, appeared during Calvin's lifetime (1547, 1549, 1552, 1553, 1559, 1561) and later. The text followed here is Strassburg 1545, with the most important variants noted in the commentary. One final word about the order: Calvin expressed clearly that he wanted to see the service of Word and the service of the Lord's Supper celebrated weekly. He could accept a monthly celebration, however, because he believed that people needed time to prepare for a right participation in the Supper, and in Strassburg, Calvin's congregation celebrated the Supper monthly. The Word and the service of the Supper were not printed in a block, since the sacrament was not celebrated every time there was a service of the Word. (Besides the Sundays when the sacrament was not celebrated, there were weekday services of the Word, the most important being the days of prayers.) Here the order of the printed text has been slightly altered to present the whole service as it might have been experienced. Text: The Form of Church Prayers On Sunday morning the following form is generally used. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen. Commentary: The text is Psalm 124:8, the usual greeting in Calvinist services. In Strassburg the minister is probably at the Table; in Geneva, already in the pulpit. Text: Confession My brethren, let each of you present himself before the face of the Lord, and confess his faults and sins, following my words in his heart. O Lord God, eternal and almighty Father, we confess and acknowledge unfeignedly before thy holy majesty that we are poor sinners, conceived and born in iniquity and corruption, prone to do evil, incapable of any good, and that in our depravity we transgress thy holy commandments without end or ceasing: Wherefore we purchase for ourselves, through thy righteous judgment, our ruin and perdition. Nevertheless, O Lord, we are grieved that we have offended thee; and we condemn ourselves and our sins with true repentance, beseeching thy grace to relieve our distress. O God and Father most gracious and full of compassion, have mercy upon us in the name of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And as thou dost blot out our sins and stains, magnify and increase in us day by day the grace of thy Holy Spirit: that as we acknowledge our unrighteousness with all our heart, we may be moved by that sorrow which shall bring forth true repentance in us, mortifying all our sins, and producing in us the fruits of righteousness and innocence which are pleasing unto thee; through the same Jesus Christ &c.[Our Lord. Amen.] Commentary: People kneel for the confession. In place of traditional individual confessions, Calvinists made confession a corporate act of the church as a body. Calvinists begin worship with the recognition of sinfulness because humans can only approach God rightly if they acknowledge what they are: sinners in need of God's grace in Christ. Text: Now the Minister delivers some word of Scripture to console the conscience; and then he pronounces the Absolution in this manner: Let each of you truly acknowledge that he is a sinner, humbling himself before God, and believe that the heavenly Father wills to be gracious unto him in Jesus Christ. To all those that repent in this wise, and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, I declare that the absolution of sins is effected, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Commentary: Calvin instructs the pastor to pronounce an appropriate text of Scripture. Bucer offers several examples: John 3:16; 3:35–36; Acts 10:43; 1 Tim. 2:1–2. For Calvinists, the power of forgiveness is attached to the Gospel, not particular persons, and Christians may confess to each other and have the promise of forgiveness, though the minister of the Word is the usual bearer of the Gospel and therefore of the Word of forgiveness. Genevans insisted on omitting the scriptural verses and absolution, probably because they associated these with the priestly monopoly on absolution in Roman Catholic tradition. Text: Now the Congregation sings the first table of the Commandments, after which the Minister says: The Lord be with us. Let us pray to the Lord. Heavenly Father, full of goodness and grace, as thou art pleased to declare thy holy will unto thy poor servants, and to instruct them in the righteousness of thy law, grant that it may also be inscribed and impressed upon our hearts in such wise, that in all our life we may endeavor to serve and obey none beside thee. Neither impute to us at all the transgressions which we have committed against thy law: that, perceiving thy manifold grace upon us in such abundance, we may have cause to praise and glorify thee through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen. Commentary: The 1542 Strassburg text says "the people sing"; in 1545 the words "the first table of the law" are added—possibly simply expressing what had been the content of the singing, though this cannot be proved. Geneva omitted the Decalogue until 1549, then sang it after the sermon; here, between the confession and the prayer before the sermon, they sang a psalm. The first table (Num. 20:2–11) expresses how to worship and love God; the second concerns love of neighbor (Num. 20:12–17). The Decalogue may well have been placed after the confession and absolution because in Calvinist understanding, the most important use of the Law (in Calvin studies called "the third use of the Law") is to show the forgiven sinner what a regenerate life looks like. Text: While the congregation sings the rest of the commandments, the Minister goes into the pulpit; and then he offers prayers of the type which follows. [Collect for Illumination] We call upon our heavenly Father, Father of all goodness and mercy, asking Him to cast the eye of His mercy on us His poor servants, not imputing to us the many faults and offenses which we have committed, by which we have provoked His wrath against us, but [instead] seeing us in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, as He has established Him as Mediator between Him and us. Let us pray that, as the whole plenitude of wisdom and light is in Him, He may guide us by His Holy Spirit to the true understanding of His holy teaching, and may make it bear in us all the fruits of righteousness, to the glory and exaltation of His Name and the instruction and edification of His church. And we will pray to Him in the name and the favor of His beloved Son Jesus Christ, as we have been taught by Him, saying: Our Father who art in heaven, [hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven so also on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.] Commentary: The invocation of the Holy Spirit before the Bible reading and sermon was at the minister's discretion; Strassburg gives this example, Geneva simply lists key points. (Author's translation.) Text: [Scripture reading and sermon] Commentary: The Bible reading and sermon are not described in Calvin's service, though Bucer gives a few instructions. Reformed theologians rejected the lectionary because they saw it as having treated Scripture in a very selective way, and they wanted people to hear the whole Bible proclaimed. Following the practice of John Chrysostom and others, Reformed pastors normally preached straight through a Biblical book, the system called "continuous reading" (lectio continua). At special times, such as Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, Calvin would interrupt whatever series he was doing to preach on the appropriate biblical texts. He also envisioned interrupting a series for sermons on the Lord's Supper (though probably this would not apply regularly if the Supper were celebrated frequently). Normally, the pastor would read from the Bible, taking up the text where he had left off at the previous sermon and reading the number of verses he thought he could cover. Calvin's sermons probably lasted about an hour, though many of his colleagues were less restrained and he took some of them to task for going on too long. Usually the Sunday morning text was a Gospel, occasionally an Epistle. On Sunday afternoons, Calvin preached on the Psalms or Epistles; on weekdays, the text was usually Old Testament. (Preaching services were held frequently in Reformed cities: at least several days a week, and often daily.) Calvin's sermons (all extant ones were preached in Geneva) were biblical exposition and application. The text was explained verse by verse; the content was much like Calvin's commentaries (lectures to future pastors) but suited to the education of his audience. One of the marked characteristics of the sermons is the application and/or exhortation for each person to apply to herself or himself what the Bible teaches. Text: At the end of the Sermon, the Minister, having made exhortations to prayer, commences in this manner. Almighty God, heavenly Father, thou hast promised to grant our requests which we make unto thee in the name of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: by whose teaching and that of His apostles we have also been taught to gather together in His name, with the promise that He will be in the midst of us, and will be our intercessor with thee, to obtain all those things for which we agree to ask on earth. First we have thy commandment to pray for those whom thou hast established over us as rulers and governors; and then, for all the needs of thy people, and indeed of all mankind. Wherefore, with trust in thy holy doctrine and promises, and now especially that we are gathered here before thy face and in the name of thy Son, our Lord Jesus, we do heartily beseech thee, our gracious God and Father, in the name of our only Saviour and Mediator, to grant us the free pardon of our faults and offenses through thine infinite mercy, and to draw and lift up our thoughts and desires unto thee in such wise that we may be able to call upon thee with all our heart, yea agreeably to thy good pleasure and only-reasonable will. Wherefore we pray thee, O heavenly Father, for all princes and lords, thy servants, to whom thou hast intrusted the administration of thy justice, and especially for the magistrates of this city. May it please thee to impart to them thy Spirit, who alone is good and truly sovereign, and daily increase in them the same, that with true faith they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, as thou has given Him all power in heaven and earth. May they seek to serve Him and to exalt His kingdom in their government, guiding and ruling their subjects, who are the work of thy hands and the sheep of thy pasture, in accordance with thy good pleasure. So may all of us both here and throughout the earth, being kept in perfect peace and quietness, serve thee in all godliness and virtue, and being delivered and protected from the fear of our enemies, give praise unto thee all the days of our life.