Early liturgical history is difficult to discern since the texts containing such information served a practical purpose and experienced frequent use, which accelerated their deterioration; and also because changes in practice were incorporated as new editions were created. Professor Burkitt criticizes any approach to recovering early liturgical history that attempts to work backwards from present practice. It is his position that careful work with the earliest available manuscripts is the best starting point for rediscovering early liturgical practices. This piece is a contribution to that endeavor. It provides an introduction, translation and commentary on a previously unstudied text (B.M. Add. 14528), which provides deeper insight not only into practice, but also into the conception of the canon. This text is significant for its frequent lessons from the Jewish Scriptures that accompany those from the Gospels, the Acts and the Epistles; and for its not exhausting the Scriptures in its lessons, but instead using the most appropriate text for each instance regardless of the occurrence of duplication. In an effort to chart the evolution of ritual within the Syriac-speaking church, Burkitt focuses on three sources: the Doctrina Apostolorum ; Marutha of Maipher?at; and Joshua the Stylite. These provide a timeline against which the text under primary consideration can be evaluated. Along with the translation and discussion Burkitt includes a useful index of lessons, which is laid out according to the books of Scripture.

Francis Crawford Burkitt (1864-1935) began his academic career as a student of mathematics. While at Cambridge University he moved to the study of Divinity, eventually becoming the Norrisian Professor. His interest in the text of the New Testament led him to study Syriac manuscripts and to publish widely in the field. He was a fellow of the British Academy.