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

Monday, March 14, 2011

St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Use Society


The St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Use Society of Washington, DC and Northern Virginia (STCS) will hold an Anglican Use Mass on Saturday, March 19th at 4:00 p.m. at the abbey church of St. Anselm’s (Benedictine) Abbey in Washington, DC. The STCS invites all those interested in experiencing an Anglican Use Mass according to the Book of Divine Worship to attend the Mass and the reception following, in the building adjacent to the abbey church. Fr. Eric Bergman, a Pastoral Provision priest in the Diocese of Scranton, PA, and chaplain of the St. Thomas More Society, will celebrate the Mass and speak at the reception afterward.

Music for this Vigil Mass for the Second Sunday in Lent will be led by the St. Thomas of Canterbury 12-voice schola and will include works by Tallis, classic Anglican Lenten hymns, and propers from the Anglican Use Gradual. The mass setting will be the Missa Marialis (Fourth Service in the 1940 Hymnal).

This will be only the second time an Anglican Use Mass has been celebrated in Washington. In May 2007, the Anglican Use Society held its annual conference in Washington at the Catholic University of America. The final day of the conference included an Anglican Use Mass in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception — celebrated by Fr. Bergman. Fr. Bergman also celebrated an Anglican Use Mass in Baltimore at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church on January 23, 2011, in connection with the 38th annual March for Life.

Since September of 2010 the STCS has been holding Evening Prayer according to the Book of Divine Worship on the third Saturday of each month at 4:45 p.m. at the abbey church of St. Anselm’s. The March 19th Mass will take the place of their usual Evening Prayer.

For directions to St. Anselm’s Abbey (4501 South Dakota Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20017-2753), or to learn more about the St. Thomas of Canterbury Society, visit the STCS website: http://www.stthomascanterbury.org/index.html.

For more information on the event, please contact James W. Farr, Jr.

Hat tip to the Anglo-Catholic blog
Photo from the blog Pike Schemes.
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