The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Have Liturgy - Will Travel...

Our Anglican Use liturgy is well-travelled, and it travels well. During our pilgrimage we celebrated Mass according to the Book of Divine Worship in so many places which are important to our faith - in the Basilica of San Clemente, in St. Peter's Basilica, in the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi, in the Chapel of the Eucharistic Miracle at Orvieto, in the Basilica of Santa Croce at Florence, in the Basilica of St. Francis at Siena in the presence of the Miraculous Hosts, in San Onofrio which is the lovely little church staffed by the Graymoor Friars and is the church of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major - and in nearly everyplace we celebrated the Mass there were people who asked the same two questions: when they saw our students in their uniforms they would ask "Where are these beautiful and polite students from," and then they would ask about the impressive liturgy...

Read the rest at Fr. Phillips' blog Atonement Online.
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