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It is true at around 321, Emperor Constantine made Sunday the day of rest for the entire Roman empire, but in doing so, he was implicitly recognizing Sunday as the day of Christian worship as the day when everyone in the ROman empire should now rest. However, Christians worshiping on Sunday was well entrenched by the mid 2nd century AD and is supported theologically using the principle of Typology whereby Old Testament persons, events, signs find their fullfillment in the person of Christ and also supported by Sacred Scriptures and Tradition as affirmed by the CHurch Fathers.

In the story of Creation recorded in Genesis, we read that God created the world and he rested, which would be the 7th day [Saturday] for Jews. However, while God rested, we do not read in Genesis the command for Adam and Eve to rest. The notion of a Sabbath and rest does not occur until Exodus 16: 23-24 where Moses states “That is what the Lord has prescribed. Tomorrow is a day of rest, the Sabbath, sacred to the Lord. You may either bake or boil the manna, as you please; but whatever is left put away and keep for tomorrow. When they put it away as Moses commanded, it did not become rotten or wormy”. Later on in Exodus 20: 8-11, we see keeping the Sabbath Holy being put into the 10 commandments.

Again, using the principle of Typology, which is the primary biblical interpretational principle in the Catholic Church whereby persons, events, signs, etc in the Old Testament are seen as prefiguring Christ and thus find their fulfillment with Christ in the New Testament, Catholic theology sees the “mana” mentioned in Exodus 16 as prefiguring Christ as the true Bread of Life (c.f. John 6:32-52). Catholic Doctrine also sees in Genesis 14:18 the priest Melchizedek offering bread and wine as pointing to Christ and his offering of bread/wine, Exodus 12: 1-20, the Passover narrative which was instituted where the Jews were commanded to eat unleavened bread and partake of the Lamb as a perpetual institution, prefigures Christ as the true Passover lamb where his offering of bread/wine becomes his body and blood; Exodus 24:6-8 where Moses sprinkles blood [pointing to the sacrifice of Christ] on the altar [symbolizing God] and the people to seal the covenant, so that God and the people are now one [in Communion]. The Psalmist would write in PS 104: 14 “you bring bread from the earth and wine to gladden our hearts” pointing to common elements used the Greco-Roman world that would prefigure Christ’s use of them at the Last supper, also connects back to Gen 14:18 and Passover (c.f. Ex 20-1-20) and in Psalm 110:4 we read “The Lord has sworn and will not waver, like Melchizedek you are a priest forever.”

In book of Malachi 1:11 we read “For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations.” Later in Mal 4:2 we read “But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall.”

Reading all of the OT passages cited above in light of Christ and his actions through the principle of Typology allows us to show that Sunday worship is theologically orthodox Christian Doctrine. Christ himself criticized the rigid interpretations of the Sabbath laws that the scribes and Pharisees held (c.f. Mt 12:1-8; c.f. Mk 3:1-5). Further, Christ himself stated the Sabbath was made for man, not for God (c.f. Mk. 2:27). In addition, Catholic scholars have pointed out that when the Jewish Scholars criticized Christ for violating the Sabbath (c.f. Jn. 9:16, Jn 7:23, Mk. 3:4), Christ would always restate the Commandments and give them his divine interpretation but “He Never” restated “Keep Holy the Sabbath”. In fact, he stated “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (c.f. Mt 12:8).

The paschal mystery [passion, death, resurrection of Christ] now becomes our theological marker to interpret all of the OT passages. On Holy Thursday at the time of Passover, Christ celebrated the Last Supper (c.f. Lk 22:14-20; Mk 14: 22-26; Mt 26:26-30) where he used bread and wine to celebrate it and commanded his apostles to due this in his memory [fulfilling the Passover (c.f. Ex 20) and fulfilling Mal 1:11 as the new and eternal covenant/sacrifice to be celebrated as a perpetual institution]. It was on the first day of the Week [Sunday] that Christ rose from the dead (c.f. John 20:1; Lk 24:1; Mt 28:1; Mk 16:9) and also on the first day of the week [Sunday] that Christ first appeared to his Apostles {c.f. John 20:19; John 20:26). It would be later on Sunday on the road to Emmaus that Christ would make himself known through the breaking of the bread and that is how the Apostles recognized him as the Risen Christ [c.f. Luke 24: 13-35].

From the New Testament itself, we see that “Sunday” became associated with the Day of the Lord and even Christ himself [fulfilling Malachi 4:2] and thus became the day the early Church gathered and celebrated the Eucharist. For example, we see in Acts 2:42 an illustration of early Church communal life (i.e. worship) where the Christian community gathered to break bread. Later in Acts 20:7, we see Sunday being the day identified as the day to celebrate the Eucharist as we read “On the first day of the week, when we gathered to break bread…” Revelation 1:10 also gives an image of being caught up in spirit on the Lord’s Day [Sunday]. Also, St. Paul who did not want Gentile Christians to have to follow the Jewish customs does not seem to take keeping the Sabbath as being important so Jewish Christians keeping the Sabbath was fine as long as they did not mandate Gentile Christians to have to keep it (c.f. Romans 14: 5-6). However, as eventually Jewish Christians would be expelled from the synagogue and more and more Christian converts were Gentiles, and when you consider the other biblical texts pointing to Sunday as the Day of the Lord, it became very clear in the Early Church, based on both the NT itself and theological development that indeed Sunday was the day of worship

A few examples here should illustrate this point. For example, in the Didache 14: 1 [90-100 AD] cited from Fr. Jurgens Faith of our Fathers Volume 1 page 4 it states “On the Lord’s Day of the Lord gather together, break bread and give thanks after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure.”; St. Ignatius of Antioch writing to the Magnesians (107 AD 8:1) states “Do not be lead astray by other doctrines nor by old fables which are worthless. For if we have been living now according to Judaism, we must confess that we have not received Grace…..If, then, those who walked by ancient customs came to a new hope, no longer sabathing buy living by the Lord’s Day, on which we came to life through him and through His Death—which some deny…”

St. Justin Martyr writing around 155 AD writes “On the Day dedicated to the Sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place… St. Justin goes on to outline a Liturgy where by the Scriptures are read, the presider/celebrant preaches a homily/sermon and then the presider gives thanks (eucharistian) and then gives those assembled the Eucharist, etc.

In closing, Sunday worship, when is part of Apostolic Tradition and is attested to by the both Sacred Scripture and Tradition and when seen in the context of the person of Christ, is theologically orthodox and is thus the appropriate day for Christians to worship God, which in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Tradition, is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist consistent with Christ’s commands and recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and supported by the writings of the Apostolic Church Fathers.

Regards