Anders Ekenberg - The Prayers in the Apostolic Constitutions 7.25-26

The adaptations of the prayers in Didache 9-10 contained in CA 7.25-26 (ca. 380) are important for reconstructing the early history of prayers used at celebrations of the eucharist. So far, the relationship of 7.25-26 to language and contents of CA as a whole has not been studied carefully enough. The aim of the present communication is to show, on the basis of detailed analysis and detailed comparison of the passages in question with other parts of CA and other works of the same author, (a) that most of the modifications of the Didache texts found in 7.25-26 were made by the author/redactor of CA himself; and on the other hand (b) that he revised the texts on the basis of an already reworked version of Didache 9-10. The structure of this earlier version shows that a specific type of eucharistic prayers was in use in particular circles in Syria at least during the 3rd century. The final revision was, however, probably not expected to be used in worship at all.