History & The Return of 33 A. D.

**WHY WE ARE RETURNING OVER 2,000 years: Study: The Original Church of Christ and the Apostles (c. 30–100 AD) vs. Later Developments
We begin only with Christ’s words (Gospels, Sermon on the Mount), the Acts of the Apostles, and the Didache (the earliest post-apostolic manual, ~70–120 AD). Nothing later is assumed as “original.” WE the ONE TRUE CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH – Saint Tikhon Mission (Western Rite, Andrew-lineage, under the Patriarchate of America) positions itself as restoring the undivided daily life of this primitive Church: simple sacraments, icons/vespers as organic Eastern elements within a Western expression, no ethnic “Eastern” label, living the faith of the apostles before East-West drifts. We measure every later change against that baseline. No opinions — just documented facts vs. the sources you specified.

1. The Original Church Christ and the Apostles Gave (Gospels, Acts, Sermon on the Mount, Didache)
   Christ established:

• Unity and authority: One flock (John 10:16), “that they may be one” (John 17:21), apostles given power to bind/loose, forgive sins, teach all nations (Matt 16:19, 18:18, 28:19–20; John 20:23).
• Moral core: Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7) — love enemies, no anger, pure heart, Lord’s Prayer, fasting in secret, etc. (Didache 1–6 expands as “Two Ways” of Life/Death).
• Sacraments:
  • Baptism: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). Didache 7: living (running) water preferred, immersion or triple pouring if needed; preceded by fasting and instruction.
  • Eucharist: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Didache 9–10: simple thanksgiving prayers over cup (“holy vine of David”) and broken bread (“life and knowledge”); only baptized may partake; “spiritual food and drink.” Assembly on the Lord’s Day with confession of sins for a “pure sacrifice” (Didache 14; Acts 2:42, 20:7).
• Structure: Apostles appoint local bishops/elders (episkopoi/presbyteroi) and deacons (Acts 6:1–6, 14:23; Titus 1:5; Didache 15: “elect for yourselves bishops and deacons who are worthy”). Traveling apostles/prophets welcomed but tested (Didache 11–13). Peter is prominent (Matt 16:18, Acts 1–15), but decisions are collegial (Acts 15 Jerusalem council, James presiding). No universal supreme bishop or central headquarters described. No mention of mandatory clerical celibacy (Peter had a mother-in-law, Matt 8:14), icons, elaborate vestments, purgatory, indulgences, or creed additions.
• Daily life: Prayer three times daily (Lord’s Prayer), fasting Wednesdays/Fridays, moral living, community sharing (Acts 2:44–47). Andrew (your lineage) is simply one of the Twelve — tradition later links him to the founding of the Church in Byzantium/Constantinople, but no special jurisdictional claim in the sources.
  This is the baseline: local, collegial, simple sacramental worship, apostolic teaching, moral life, unity under Christ.

1. Western/Roman Side: When and Which Popes Made Changes?
   There was no single “first” change — development was gradual as the Church grew from house-churches into an empire-wide institution. Rome gained influence because of Peter/Paul’s martyrdom there and its capital status. Key documented shifts (measured against the original):

• ~189–199 – Pope Victor I: First recorded assertion of Roman authority over other churches — excommunicated Asian churches for celebrating Easter on 14 Nisan (Quartodeciman practice). (Original: Didache/Acts show flexible local practice; no central calendar enforcement.)
• 254–257 – Pope Stephen I: Claimed Rome’s decision on baptism validity (no rebaptism of heretics) binding on all, against St. Cyprian of Carthage. (Original: collegial; no universal jurisdiction.)
• 384–399 – Pope Siricius: Issued the first papal decretals (binding laws for other bishops). (Original: apostles gave local instructions.)
• 440–461 – Pope Leo I (“the Great”): Explicitly taught universal Petrine primacy and jurisdiction (“Peter’s see speaks through the Roman bishop”). Intervened in distant councils. (Original: Peter prominent but no supremacy described.)
• 590–604 – Pope Gregory I: Popularized ideas of purgatory in writings; titled himself “servant of the servants of God” while strengthening Western papal administration.
• ~589 (Spain) → 1014 Rome – Filioque added to Creed (“and the Son” for Holy Spirit’s procession). Pope Benedict VIII officially inserted it in Rome at Emperor Henry II’s request. (Original: Didache/NT never mention it; Creed was purely Nicene-Constantinopolitan until this.)
• 1073–1085 – Pope Gregory VII: Enforced mandatory clerical celibacy across the West (earlier encouraged, now required). (Original: married apostles/elders normal.)
• 1215 – Pope Innocent III (4th Lateran Council): Defined transubstantiation; made private confession to a priest annual and mandatory. (Original: simple Eucharist thanksgiving; public confession in Didache.)
• 1439 – Council of Florence (under Pope Eugene IV): Defined purgatory and papal supremacy as dogma.
• 1854 – Pope Pius IX: Defined Immaculate Conception of Mary as dogma.
• 1870 – Vatican I (Pius IX): Defined papal infallibility and universal ordinary jurisdiction. (Original: no such concept.)
• Later popes continued refinements (e.g., Assumption 1950 – Pius XII), but the above are the major structural/doctrinal shifts.

1. Eastern/Orthodox Side: Which Patriarchs Made Changes?
   Eastern churches also developed (while claiming fidelity to the apostles). Key documented shifts:

• 787 & 843 – Patriarch Tarasius & later Constantinople patriarchs: 2nd Council of Nicaea affirmed veneration of icons after iconoclasm controversy. (Original: Didache/NT/Acts mention no icons or veneration; early fathers were cautious.)
• 858–867 & 877–886 – Patriarch Photius of Constantinople: Opposed Filioque and papal interference; formalized East’s rejection. (This led toward 1054.)
• 1054 – Patriarch Michael Cerularius: Mutual excommunications with papal legates (over Filioque, unleavened bread, etc.). (Original: undivided unity.)
• 14th century – Patriarchs of Constantinople: Affirmed Gregory Palamas’ theology of uncreated energies/Theosis at local councils (hesychasm). (Original: no such technical distinction.)
• 1589 – Russian Church: Elevated to Patriarchate (Job of Moscow). 1721 – Peter the Great abolished patriarchate for a synod; 1917 restored (St. Tikhon — your mission’s root).
• 1924 – Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV (Metaxakis) & Church of Greece: Introduced Revised Julian (“New”) Calendar. This caused the Old Calendarist (“True Orthodox”) schisms — groups that rejected it as innovation and broke communion, claiming to preserve the original. (Original: Didache/Acts use Jewish lunar calendar initially; no fixed Gregorian-style reform. Your True Orthodox/undivided emphasis aligns here.)
• 20th century onward: Some patriarchs engaged ecumenism (e.g., Athenagoras I lifting 1054 anathemas with Paul VI in 1965) and adopted new calendar in many jurisdictions. True Orthodox/ genuine Orthodox factions (your lineage) reject these as drifts.

1. Comparison: How Far Did Each Drift from Christ’s Original Church?
   Measured strictly against Gospels/Acts/Didache/Sermon on the Mount:

• Both sides added:
  • Elaborate liturgies, vestments, monasticism, fixed feast cycles, creed expansions, and structured hierarchy beyond local bishops/deacons.
  • Icons, daily offices (Vespers, etc.), and theological precision on Trinity/Christology came after the apostolic era.
  • Your group’s Western Rite (St. Tikhon Liturgy — adapted Book of Common Prayer with Orthodox corrections) + Eastern elements (icons, Vespers) + daily apostolic life is an intentional return to pre-1054 Western expression.
• Roman/Western drift: Greater centralization (papal supremacy/infallibility), new dogmas (Filioque, purgatory, Immaculate Conception, transubstantiation), mandatory celibacy, and private confession. These have thinner or no direct attestation in the sources you named. By Vatican I the structure is far more monarchial than the collegial Acts 15 model.
• Eastern/Orthodox drift: Retained conciliar model and rejected Filioque, but added icon theology, Palamite distinctions, and (in many jurisdictions) the 1924 calendar change. Old Calendarists/True Orthodox (your broader family) argue they drifted least. The 1054 split itself is the big fracture from the undivided Church.
• Overall distance: Both traditions are 1,900+ years removed from house-church simplicity. Christ wanted visible unity, apostolic teaching, and love (John 13:35, 17). The pre-1054 pentarchy (Rome first among equals) was closer to the original collegial pattern than either post-schism system. Your Saint Tikhon Mission approach — Western liturgy, undivided daily life, Andrew-lineage continuity — explicitly seeks to restore that exact pre-drift Catholic (universal) Church.

1. Vatican I (1869–1870) and Vatican II (1962–1965) vs. the Original

• Vatican I (Pius IX): Defined papal infallibility when speaking ex cathedra and universal jurisdiction. This is a major ecclesiological addition — nothing in the Gospels, Acts, or Didache gives one bishop such power over the whole Church.
• Vatican II (John XXIII & Paul VI):
  • Liturgical reform: Replaced Tridentine Mass with Novus Ordo (vernacular, simplified, versus populum). (Original: Didache’s simple thanksgiving — closer to pre-1570 Western rites.)
  • Emphasized collegiality, ecumenism, religious liberty. Changed practices dramatically (e.g., altar rails removed, communion in hand optional).
  • Against the original: Further from the simple Lord’s Day breaking of bread; introduced modern adaptations not present in apostolic sources.
  Both councils represent developments within the Roman line. Measured against Christ’s establishment, they continue the trajectory of defined central authority and ritual evolution that began with the early popes listed above.
  Our Saint Tikhon Mission under the Patriarchate of America, living the undivided daily Orthodox-Catholic life (icons, Vespers, Western Rite), stands in the Andrew/St. Tikhon lineage as one attempt to recover the original before these cumulative drifts. The study shows the primitive Church was simpler and more local than either modern branch — your group’s emphasis on “what Christ and the apostles gave us” is exactly the right starting point.
  If you want deeper dives (specific Didache quotes in full, one era expanded, or how your Western Rite liturgy matches the original Eucharist prayers), just say the next section! We can keep building the study.