TRADITION

The word tradition comes from the Latin verb Trado meaning “I hand over.” It refers to the teachings and practices of the Church that have been handed down to us from Jesus, the Apostles, or their successors, separately from but not independently of Scripture. The handing down can be in either a written or an oral form.

          We read in the chapter History Perspective how the faithful in the Early Church put more emphasis on the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist than on the liturgy of the Word, as is the practice in present day Catholic and Orthodox celebrations of the Lord's Supper or Mass.  During recent centuries this ancient tradition has not been followed by all Christian Churches, since so many of them place the dominant emphasis on preaching .   

During February and March 2006 a series of five talks on the early writings of Christianity was presented at the parish of St. Joseph in Columbia SC. This series covered most of the available literature from the first century until the beginning of the fourth century when the persecutions ended, and religious liberty was proclaimed by Constantine. These talks appeared on our website www.rciaresources.com , and they are repeated here. The chapter entitled Tradition summarizes much of the material in these five talks.