The Library
1577 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
200–101 BC
1 work
c. 150–100 BC
Greek
Anonymous
Inserted into the third chapter of Daniel: a confession from inside the furnace that there is no prince or prophet or place to offer sacrifice any more, followed by a litany calling on frost and dew, whales, fowls, and all the works of the Lord to bless him.
100–1 BC
2 works
c. 100 BC
Hebrew
4QShirShabb
Anonymous
Thirteen songs for the first thirteen sabbaths of the year, describing the worship of the angelic priesthood in a heavenly sanctuary — seven chief princes, seven blessings, and the bricks of the wall and the chariot-throne itself joining in the praise.
c. 150 BC – AD 50
Greek
Anonymous
Fifteen verses supplying the prayer Chronicles says the worst king of Judah prayed in captivity and does not quote. The sins are more in number than the sand of the sea; the knees of the heart are bent; and the God who appointed repentance did so not for the righteous, who never needed it, but for the sinner.
101–200
1 work
c. 150–200
Greek, surviving in Coptic
The Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians
Anonymous
A Sethian account of how the heavens were populated, ending in a hymn of vowels and a claim that Seth wrote the book, placed it on a mountain, and set it there to remain until the last times. Jesus appears as Seth's final garment.
201–300
3 works
c. 215; authorship disputed
Greek
Attributed to Hippolytus of Rome · c. 170–c. 235
A manual of ordination prayers, the three-year catechumenate, the baptismal rite with its questions and anointings, and the eucharistic prayer that follows.
c. 200–250
Greek, surviving in Coptic
Anonymous
Three hymns of ascent and return, said to be copied from stone pillars Seth set up, with instructions on the order in which they are to be said going up and coming back down.
c. 3rd century
Greek
Phos Hilaron
Anonymous
A short hymn sung at the lighting of the lamps: having come to the setting of the sun and seen the evening light, we praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — worthy at every moment to be hymned by reverent voices.
301–400
8 works
c. 348–350
Greek
Cyril of Jerusalem · c. 313–386
Lectures delivered to candidates for baptism through Lent, then five more given in Easter week explaining the rites they had just been through for the first time.
c. 350–356
Greek
Euchologion
Serapion of Thmuis · d. after 362
Thirty prayers for a bishop's own use: the eucharistic prayer, blessings of oil and water, prayers over the sick, over the newly baptised, over the dead, and for the ordination of deacons, presbyters, and bishops.
c. 375–380
Greek
Anonymous
Eight books compiling and expanding the earlier church orders, covering clergy, worship, widows, martyrs, and closing with a full liturgy and a set of canons.
c. 381–384
Latin
Itinerarium Egeriae
Egeria
A woman's letters home from a three-year journey to Sinai, Jerusalem, and Edessa, describing what she saw and, at length, exactly how the Jerusalem church kept Holy Week.
c. 350–390; authorship disputed
Greek
Cyril or John of Jerusalem
Five addresses given in Easter week to those baptised days before, explaining at last what had been done to them: the renunciation facing west, the anointing, the threefold immersion, the white robe, and the eucharist, taken with the hands making a throne for the King.
c. 390–391
Latin
De Sacramentis
Ambrose of Milan · c. 339 – 397
Six addresses to the newly baptised at Milan, apparently taken down by a shorthand writer as Ambrose spoke — repetitive, colloquial, and much less polished than his written work. It quotes the eucharistic prayer he actually used, word for word.
c. 390–391
Latin
De Mysteriis
Ambrose of Milan · c. 339–397
Instruction given to the newly baptised in Easter week on what happened to them at the font and the altar, explained only after the fact.
c. 388–392; survives complete only in Syriac
Greek, surviving in Syriac
Theodore of Mopsuestia · c. 350 – 428
Sixteen addresses walking candidates through the creed clause by clause, then the Lord's Prayer, then baptism and the eucharist — describing the deacons' movements, the veils over the gifts, and the moment of silence, as a commentary on a rite being performed in front of the hearers.
401–500
4 works
c. 405
Latin
Cathemerinon
Prudentius · 348–c. 413
Twelve long hymns for the hours of the day and the seasons of the year, in classical metres of great technical accomplishment.
c. 388–420
Syriac
Theodore of Mopsuestia · c. 350–428
Sixteen instructions on the creed, the Lord's Prayer, baptism, and the eucharist, surviving complete only in Syriac after the Greek was destroyed.
440–461
Latin
Leo the Great · c. 400–461
Ninety-six short sermons for the feasts and fasts of the Roman year, in a compressed and balanced Latin built for oral delivery.
c. 470–500
Syriac
Memre
Narsai · c. 399–c. 502
Metrical homilies from the school of Nisibis on creation, the incarnation, baptism, and the eucharist, in the Antiochene christological tradition.
501–600
3 works
6th–7th century; authorship disputed
Greek
Anonymous
Twenty-four stanzas in alphabetical order addressed to the Mother of God, built almost entirely of salutations beginning with Hail.
569
Latin
Venantius Fortunatus · c. 530–c. 609
Hymns written for the arrival of a relic of the cross at Poitiers, singing of the tree on which the price of the world hung.
590–592
Latin
Gregory the Great · c. 540–604
Forty sermons on the gospel readings of the Roman year, preached during plague and siege, several of them dictated when he was too ill to speak.
601–700
4 works
c. 598–615
Latin
De Ecclesiasticis Officiis
Isidore of Seville · c. 560–636
An account of the origin of each order of ministry and each part of the liturgy, written to explain to Spanish clergy why they do what they do.
c. 628–630
Greek
Maximus the Confessor · c. 580–662
A reading of the eucharistic liturgy in which the church building, the entrances, and the readings each figure the movement of the whole cosmos toward God.
633
Latin
The Fourth Council of Toledo
Seventy-five canons standardising the Spanish liturgy and clerical education, and regulating the status of Jews and of forcibly baptised converts.
c. 680–691
Latin
Anonymous
A manuscript of hymns, canticles, and collects used at an Irish monastery, including a eucharistic hymn and a hymn on the fire of Pentecost.
701–800
6 works
c. 703–728
Latin
Willibrord and his circle · c. 658–739
A working liturgical calendar from a missionary bishop's own book, with a marginal note in his hand recording the year of his consecration.
c. 700–750
Latin
Ordo Romanus I
Anonymous
A stage-by-stage description of a papal mass in Rome — the procession, the vesting, who carries what, where each official stands.
c. 715–730
Greek
Germanus of Constantinople · c. 634–c. 740
A commentary reading each part of the eucharistic service as a moment in the life of Christ, with the church building itself as heaven on earth.
c. 730–750
Greek
Cosmas of Maiuma · c. 675–c. 751
Festal hymns in the canon form for Christmas, Epiphany, and Holy Week, written at Mar Saba alongside his foster-brother John of Damascus.
c. 786
Latin
Paul the Deacon · c. 720–799
Patristic sermons selected and arranged for every day of the church year, commissioned by Charlemagne to give clergy something reliable to read aloud.
c. 784–791 in its Frankish form
Latin
Anonymous
The book of prayers said by the celebrant at mass, sent from Rome to Charlemagne and then supplemented to cover what Frankish use required.
801–900
5 works
c. 823
Latin
Liber Officialis
Amalarius of Metz · c. 775–850
An allegorical reading of the mass in which each gesture and vestment re-enacts a moment of the passion — the deacon's movements, the folding of the cloth, the silence of the canon.
c. 840–842
Latin
Libellus de Exordiis
Walafrid Strabo · c. 808–849
A historical rather than allegorical account of where churches, altars, bells, images, vestments, and the vernacular in worship actually came from.
843, expanded later
Greek
The Synod of Constantinople
A proclamation read aloud on the first Sunday of Lent, blessing the defenders of icons by name and anathematising their opponents, expanded over the centuries as new errors were added.
c. 830–860
Greek
c. 884
Latin
Liber Ymnorum
Notker the Stammerer · c. 840–912
Sequences written to fit the long wordless melismas sung after the alleluia, a form the author says he learned from a refugee monk fleeing Viking raids.
901–1000
2 works
c. 956–959
Greek
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus · 905–959
The full protocol of the imperial court and its liturgical year: processions to churches, coronations, receptions of ambassadors, and the acclamations to be sung at each.
c. 998
Latin
Odilo of Cluny · c. 962–1049
An order that on the day after All Saints every Cluniac house shall offer prayers and alms for all the faithful departed without exception.
1001–1100
1 work
c. 1044–1065
Georgian
Giorgi Mtatsmindeli · 1009–1065
A revision of the Georgian scriptures and service books against Greek originals, undertaken to bring the Georgian church into line with Byzantine usage.
1–40 of 56 matching · 1577 in the Library