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

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Another new rite at Blackfen

Quietly, with just two members of the faithful and myself, we had a little piece of history at Blackfen last night with Mass celebrated here for the first time according to the Book of Divine Worship (BDW). This is the book produced for the Anglican Use parishes in the United States (they are in full communion with the Church). It is legitimate for priests of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to use this rite.

Fr Simon Heans is a great help to me at Blackfen, usually saying either Saturday or Sunday evening Mass and often assisting at other functions. He often says a quiet Mass on a Wednesday evening when his prison Chaplaincy duties allow, and I suggested that he might like to offer this Mass according to the BDW. With a small and friendly congregation it is a good opportunity for him to become accustomed to the rite. It is also a chance for diocesan Catholics in the parish to hear and pray some of the beautiful prayers of the English tradition...

Read Fr. Finigan's full post about the "new rite" at Blackfen at his blog The hermeneutic of continuity

HT to Brian McCord.

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