(05) Discíplina Arcáni

Disciplina Arcani

The earliest Christians treasured everything that Our Lord had said and done. Matthew, the former tax-collector, was first to write down a long and detailed account of His words and actions, about eight years after the Ascension. There were probably many other written pieces in circulation in the earliest years, but the status and authority of the Four Gospels, guaranteed by the apostles themselves and their nominated successors, ousted the others. Various letters sent by the apostles to particular communities - churches - were also widely copied and circulated.

A different approach was taken to the actual details of worship. Strange as it sounds to us now, it was strictly forbidden to reveal, or even to write down, the Mysteries of the Faith, including the words and actions of the Mass and the other Sacraments. This was to prevent their being mocked of profaned by unbelievers, in obedience to Our Lord’s words: “Do not cast your pearls before swine.”

Those preparing for admission to the Church were sent out after the reading of the Gospel. Only the Baptised were allowed to remain for the Sacred Mysteries. The words of the Creed were not taught to the catechumens until eight days before their baptism. The Lord’s prayer was always spoken in secret. This tradition is continued down to the present day among priests and religious who follow the traditional Prayer of the Church: the Our Father is said silently until the final phrase - a remarkable link with these earliest days.

There are many references in the literature to this practice.

When the Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the State religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth Century, the Christians were slow to change their ways, and the “discipline of the secret” was kept for another century or more. But the Missal was now for the first time written down from the carefully-treasured oral tradition.