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

Sunday, December 21, 2014

A sermon preached on the Fourth Sunday of Advent



"The day Mary said yes is the day the human race made a new start."

Today is Rorate Sunday, the name taken from the first word of the Introit for today's Mass, and a text often heard in the beautiful plain chant of the hymn "Rorate Caeli de super". And it is a fitting text for the day the Church sets aside during Advent to recall Mary's "Fiat' to the Archangel's message which was the dawn of our salvation.


Father Bradford of St. Athanasius preached a sermon on this topic which was published in the Advent 2009 issue of Anglican Embers (Volume II, Number 12).


As a bonus, the last page also includes the poem "Anagram on Mary" by Anglican pastor and poet George Herbert.


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