Primary source · Greek (surviving in Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Ethiopic)

The Apostolic Tradition (attributed)

Name: The Apostolic Tradition (attributed)
Author: Hippolytus of Rome

Attributed to Hippolytus of Rome · c. AD 215

What this text is

The church-order under Hippolytus's name: ordination prayers, the catechumenate, baptismal questions, and the oldest full eucharistic prayer — recovered by scholars from a Verona palimpsest and the Eastern versions.

Profile of Hippolytus of Rome →

Interlinear passages

Word-for-word glosses of the original; the complete public-domain translation is linked below.

The anaphora — opening of thanksgiving (Verona Latin)

GratiasThankstibito theereferimuswe renderdeus,O GodperthroughdilectumbelovedpuerumservanttuumthyIesumJesusChristumChrist

Public-domain translations

Verona Latin (ed. E. Hauler, 1900) — literal gloss

We render thanks unto thee, O God, through thy beloved servant Jesus Christ, whom in the last times thou didst send to us as saviour and redeemer and messenger of thy counsel — the Word who is from thee, through whom thou madest all things.

Manuscript witnesses

Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare LV (53) — Latin palimpsest

c. AD 494

The under-writing of the Verona palimpsest carries the oldest text of the church order.

EARLIEST WITNESS

Sahidic, Bohairic, Arabic & Ethiopic versions

5th c. onward

The full shape survives only by triangulating the oriental church-order tradition.

EASTERN VERSIONS

Provenance

Rome (attributed), 3rd century core; reconstructed from versions

Editions & scholarship

Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.

The Apostolic Tradition: A Commentary (Hermeneia)
P. Bradshaw, M. Johnson & L. E. Phillips, 2002
Synoptic edition of all versions with commentary — and the case for a composite text.
La Tradition apostolique (SC 11 bis)
Bernard Botte, 1968
The classic reconstruction.

Figures named in this text (1)

Hippolytus of Rome