Prayer Book Society of Canada on the words of Divine Worship

In the Lent 2014 newsletter of the Prayer Book Society of Canada, there is a long article on the restoration of the traditional wording of the Prayer of Humble Access in the Divine Worship liturgy used by Ordinariate parishes. Here is a short excerpt from the article:

 One of the bugbears of the revisers was the “overly penitential” nature of the Book of Common Prayer, and one of their favourite targets was the Prayer of Humble Access, held up for mockery as the Prayer of Humble Excess.
The authors of the Canadian Book of Alternative Services (BAS) followed the lead of those who produced the 1979 U.S. Prayer Book, and removed the same words. During the wave of propaganda that accompanied its introduction, the removal of these words became something of a touchstone, a cause célèbre, for the liturgical changes it embodied. It was proudly pointed out at so many “implementation sessions” for the BAS how the revised wording was so superior to that of the BCP. Cranmer’s phrase was derided for being “simplistic”, “literal minded”, even “fundamentalist” in implying that the bread was for our bodies, and the chalice for our souls, even though the Words of Administration which immediately follow the Prayer of Humble Access make it clear that both bread and wine are for the preservation and cleansing of both body and soul.
 BAS for the Cranmer’s wording was based on a footnote from Dom Gregory Dix’s book The Shape of the Liturgy (p. 611-12), where Cranmer’s memorable and sublime phrase is dismissed as a “mediaeval speculation”. (Dix’s book was treated with something approaching reverence by the liturgical revisers, almost as if it were Holy Scripture itself.) In fact, Dix had it quite wrong: the parallel imagery “bread/Body/body” on the one hand and “wine/Blood/soul” on the other (that is, the bread of the sacrament / the Body of Christ given for us / our bodies, and the wine of the sacrament / the Blood of Christ shed for us / our souls), is neither mediaeval nor speculative. Thomas Aquinas derives it from Ambrosiaster, the patristic writer of the fourth century, and Ambrosiaster in turn derives it directly from Leviticus 17:11: “It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Thus the imagery belongs to the early Church’s meditation on the Scriptures, and to the Scriptures themselves. It needs to be remembered that it is this mind of the early church as it meditated upon the Scriptures which was the ideal for the Anglican reformers, in contrast to the Continental reformers, who tended to work on the basis of sola Scriptura , “Scripture alone”. So Cranmer’s memorable language encapsulates Aquinas, Ambrosiaster, and Leviticus - Mediaeval Church, Patristic Church, and the Old Testament, all in reference to the supreme act of Our Lord’s sacrifice for us as set out in the New Testament.

Hat tip to Jim Hilborn.

Liturgy as provider of an ordered and bordered encounter with Scripture

From the blog Haligweorc comes an interesting post on the Daily Office:

...When people think of Anglo-Catholics or Anglo-Catholicism or even Catholic Anglicans, they tend to think of vestments and smoke and sacraments, clusters of candles, and racks of rosaries; the daily office – not so much. And yet, the daily office is a central liturgical discipline that grounds so much of what we do. The Mass and the Office are not alternatives, they are complements. To cleave to the Catholic faith East and West is to give the daily office the honor and the attention – and the attentiveness – that it is due.

The two public rites of the church – the holy Eucharist and the daily office – have the same primary purpose: the worship and glorification of God. And that always has to be kept central. But the secondary purposes are different. The Eucharist is mystigogical and leads us into the heart of the mystery of Christ. The office is catechetical and instructs and forms us in the foundations of the faith. Now, you might be wondering… The dominant theme of our time together is the Anglo-Catholic social tradition. So why am I taking up time talking about the office? (Or, as I’ve heard some Episcopal clergy say, why are you spending your time talking about prayer when you should be talking about justice issues!) It’s because the Anglo-Catholic social conscience must be formed, it must be crafted, and the distinctive characteristic that differentiates a secular drive for a just society from one formed in the Catholic Anglican tradition is the process and method of its formation. The greatest tool that we have for molding a Christian social conscience is Scripture itself, and more particularly, the attentive practice of the daily office.

The wellspring of the Western liturgical tradition and particularly the monastic practices that have nourished it is the concept that the liturgy provides an ordered and bordered encounter with Scripture. Again, the liturgy provides an ordered and bordered encounter with Scripture.This is true of the Eucharist, it’s even more true of the office. It was true of the Sarum offices that the reformers received, and the Anglican offices received an additional infusion from Cranmer’s own Protestant love of the Scriptures.

Alright, so what do I mean by ordered and bordered? ...

Read the whole presentation. It is a great essay on the importance of the Daily Office.

Be Still and Know that I Am God...

Newly ordained deacon Chori Jonathin Seraiah writes:

"Be still, and know that I am God" has always been a tough verse for me personally. I do not mind being patient while I wait for God to work (I have lots of practice at that), but sitting still is much harder than doing something to pass the time. We are inundated today with temptations that prevent us from sitting still. Grocery stores have tv's hanging from the ceilings, video screens playing commercials on the end of most aisles, and background music from three different directions. How hard it has become to find a place where we truly can "be still". Parents who do not see this clearly are often crippling their children's spirits without knowing it. Allowing them anything that gives a constant stream of distraction (internet, tv, music, etc.) numbs the mind to the discipline of "being still".

One of the reasons that I have thought about this lately is because of something that happened during my recent ordination to the diaconate. Laying prostrate on that cold marble floor of the Cathedral while the litany of the saints was being sung is an experience I will never forget. Face down, arms outstretched, and pleading with God to make me the clergyman He wants me to be; it is truly a time to "be still". Although you do not need to spend time prostrate on the floor of a Cathedral, when was the last time that you were intentionally "still" before God? Parents may have to have someone else watch the children, and those who live in mixed homes may need to find another location. Certainly silent Eucharistic adoration is a good way that this is done, but it is not the only one, and if we use it as an excuse to avoid "holy silence" at other times, then we are missing out on a wonderful blessing.

Read all of his post at The Maccabean.

Statement on "Fortnight for Freedom"

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Collect for the Nation
Book of Divine Worship, page 503

Recent decisions by the executive branch of the United States federal government threaten both our Church’s ability to express its moral teaching within its own ministries and our constitutional freedoms. We know that attempts by the state to regulate, define, and constrain the ministries of the Church are not new. For two millennia the Church has lived in tension with the state and many of our defining moments came in times such as these. In particular, people of the Anglican tradition have reason to be cautious when the state interferes in the life and ministry of the Church. Since before the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket in 1170, the Anglican theological tradition has strained against the desires of the state to define the Church.

Within this legacy we are justifiably proud of the freedom enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while also justifiably concerned about recent attempts by the U.S. federal government to limit the Church’s vocation to serve others in accord with its moral teaching.

Therefore, in solidarity with faithful Catholics throughout the United States, I urge Ordinariate parishes and communities in the United States to observe the Fortnight for Freedom by upholding in prayer, education and witness the cherished protections of religious liberty. I also urge the faithful of the Ordinariate in the United States to read and share with friends the Statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Religious Freedom: Our First, Most Cherished Liberty.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson

from the Ordinariate web site

Novena to St. Thomas of Canterbury

In anticipation of the impending announcement on January 1 of the establishment of a personal ordinariate for the U.S., the St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Use Society of Washington, DC and Northern Virginia is inviting it's members and friends to pray a novena to St. Thomas, beginning on Friday, Dec. 23 and winding up on Saturday, Dec. 31. The Feast of St. Thomas (a.k.a., St. Thomas Becket) falls on Dec. 29, just three days before the announcement of the ordinariate.

For those of you unfamiliar with the practice of praying novenas, read an explanation on the "Fish Eaters" site, including historical background and instructions. I would say that this particular novena falls into the second category listed, a novena of preparation or "anticipation." We would be pleased to hear from you if you do decide to participate.

Download the novena here.

from the website of the St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Use Society.

See also the story at Catholic Online: Novena Anticipates Announcement of the Anglican Ordinariate in the U.S.

MEDITATIONS AND DEVOTIONS

BARONIUS PRESS is proud to announce the release of a new edition of Cardinal Newman’s Meditations and Devotions. The publication comes ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman in the Archdiocese of Birmingham on 19th September 2010.

We are delighted to be marking this historic event by the release of a new edition of The Meditations and Devotions. Through this book Cardinal Newman speaks to us and guides us deeper into the mysteries of the Faith. The book contains a selection of prayers and meditations composed by Newman himself, which were compiled after his death...

Read all about the new release at Baronius Press.