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Celebrating the Visitation of the Virgin Mary with Scripture

One of my hobbies of late, in this long period of quietness online, has been gathering the appointed readings from various Prayer Books for the holy days in the Church year and lining them up as additional readings for the Daily Office for a deeper dive into these commemorations. In the case of today’s holiday, the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, most of the Prayer Book tradition did not appoint or observe this feast, so there aren’t as many different sources to pull from. But there are still enough readings to run with.

Preparation Readings

Isaiah 11:1-10 = One of Isaiah’s prophecies of the shoot (or branch) from the stump of Jesse, this is where we read the traditional sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit often associated with Confirmation, and pictures of nature at peace with itself because of the perfect reign of the Righteous Branch (Jesus). The inspiration of the Holy Spirit at the presence of the pre-natal Jesus is going to feature prominently in this holiday’s main story.

Hebrews 2:11-18 = Jesus is not afraid to call us (humanity) brothers, because he became incarnate, true man. His compassion and aid are thereby assured in his incarnation, which we are about to celebrate today.

Beginning the Feast

1 Samuel 1:1-20 = A barren woman receives a miraculous pregnancy! Hannah serves as a sort of type (or picture) both of Mary and of Elizabeth, who also experienced miraculous pregnancies from God. Hannah promises to dedicate her child (before he’s even born) to the Lord, just like with Mary and Elizabeth’s sons (Jesus and John).

Hebrews 3:1-6 = Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son and heir. Again, his incarnation brings about a new layer of relationship with his people that confirms his greatness (even above Moses) as well as his faithfulness and effectiveness.

The Main Event

Luke 1:39-56 = This is the holiday’s commemoration. Here we read of the Virgin Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth, both pregnant, and the pre-natal John leaps for joy at the presence of the pre-natal Christ! Elizabeth blesses Mary for it, and Mary delivers her Magnificat, that great song (or canticle) of praise that serves as part of the Church’s daily prayers to this day.

Zephaniah 3:14-18 = Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion, the prophet writes, in anticipation of Mary’s words in the approaching Gospel. The prophet’s words of restoration and hope also set the stage for what Mary herself proclaimed.

Psalm 113 = He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children, this Psalm proclaims among the various blessings of our benevolent Lord. With the memory of the story Hannah echoing in our minds from earlier, this psalm is thus a popular choice for holidays that have to do with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Colossians 3:12-17 = Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as he once did in Mary, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs such as hers as well.

The Wrap-Up

Zechariah 2:10-13 = Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for God will dwell in your midst! Mary is the Daughter of Zion par excellance, and indeed she delivered quite the song in response to God dwelling within her. We all are now admonished to keep our flesh silent in worshipful adoration before the arising of Christ from his holy dwelling of the womb of Mary.

John 3:25-30 = Years later, John made this great statement about Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptizer never ceased jumping for joy at the presence of his Savior, and his final recorded command is for us to join him in following Christ. May it ever be so.

Almighty God, by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with the Blessed Virgin Mary and greeted her as the mother of the Lord: Look with favor on your lowly servants, that, with Mary, we may magnify your holy Name and rejoice to acclaim her Son as our Savior; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Passion Week: anticipating Holy Week

Users of the 2019 Prayer Book may notice that yesterday (the 5th Sunday in Lent) is labeled “Passion Sunday”. This can be a little confusing for those unaccustomed to the classical Prayer Book tradition, or pre-modern Western Catholicism in general, because we’re used to thinking of Palm Sunday as the day when we observe the passion and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s briefly explain that.

Most major Sundays in the calendar have a follow-up Sunday to give it further explanation and context: Easter Sunday is followed by a Sunday that looks at the events of Easter evening; Pentecost is followed by Trinity Sunday to explain how this third person of the godhead still does not threaten monotheism; Christmas is followed by the Circumcision (before 1928 anyway; since then there’s been a 2nd Sunday in Christmas which fulfills the same role with different scripture readings). But Palm Sunday doesn’t have room for a follow-up Sunday, because the next Sunday after that is Easter Day. Granted, the entirety of Holy Week is a wonderfully slow-motion examination of the events of Palm Sunday, but in terms of having an actual Sunday dedicated to giving it further context you have to look backwards instead of forwards, and that gives us the 5th Sunday in Lent. So on this “Passion Sunday” we anticipate Palm Sunday by looking at the blood of the covenant. The traditional Epistle lesson is from Hebrews 9, examining the blood of Christ as the giving of the New and better Covenant, over against the Old Mosaic Covenant. On Passion Sunday we examine the sacrifice of Jesus as our Great High Priest, in preparation for examining the sacrifice of Jesus as the Spotless Victim on Palm Sunday.

With that traditional background in mind, I’d like to recommend a modern take on observing “Passion Week” in preparation for Holy Week. Specifically, as Holy Week walks through the events that surround our Lord’s crucifixion (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19), why not look at the ‘previous chapter’ throughout this week? Let’s pick up where Jesus and his disciples leave the Upper Room and head over to the Garden of Gethsemane.

#1: Peter’s Denial Foretold
Hebrews 3:12-19, Psalm 53, Matthew 26:30-35 or Mark 14:26-31

Saint Peter and the others express confidence that they will never fall away, despite Jesus’ warning. The reading from Hebrews continues that warning against falling away and points it toward us, and the Psalm hammers that home even further with the indictment: “The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’.“

#2: Our Lord’s Prayer in the Garden
1 Samuel 3, Psalm 116:12-end, Matthew 26:36-46 or Mark 14:32-42 or Luke 22:39-46

As Samuel learned to pray and listen to God’s voice in the middle of the night, so Jesus shows the perfected art of nighttime vigil, pleading with the Father for mercy yet submitting his human will to the divine will. The Psalm allows us to join in with his prayer, lifting up the cup of salvation and recognizing the blessedness of the death the Holy One.

#3 (and #8): Our Lord’s Betrayal
Isaiah 33:1-10, Psalm 109:1-15, John 18:1-14

As Judas betrays his Lord, we are reminded in Psalm 109 of the curse that Peter would later identify against him for his treachery. Isaiah’s prophecy also speaks against the likes of Judas, promising destruction upon the destroyer.

#4: Our Lord’s Betrayal Arrest
Colossians 1:9-13, Psalm 107:10-18, Matt. 26:47-56 or Mark 14:43-52 or Luke 22:47-53

When Jesus is arrested we see the long-building of conflict between worldly darkness and divine light coming to a head. It is ironic that the crowd must carry torches to light the way through their own dark world in order capture and detain the Light of the World. The Epistle and the Psalm, therefore, direct us to reflect on our redemption from the domain of darkness.

#5 (or #9): Peter’s Denial Before the Cock Crows
Isaiah 22:1-4, Psalm 88:13-end, Luke 22:54-62 or Matt. 26:69-75 or Mark 14:66-72

Jesus is totally abandoned by his earthly companions. Isaiah’s prophecy call out the “leaders” for their flight, Psalm 88 expresses our Lord’s loneliness having lost all his friends from sight, and Saint Peter realizes his shame yet cannot now repent of his denials.

#6: Our Lord is Mocked and Beaten
Isaiah 65:1-7, Psalm 74:9-19, Luke 22:63-65

Isaiah speaks of a holy servant of God who stands silent before his mockers, and that is what we read here fulfilled in Luke’s account. “How long is the enemy to scoff?” we ask ourselves in the Psalm, and then go on to encourage ourselves with the truth of our Lord’s reign despite the appearances the moment.

#7: Our Lord’s Trial before the Jewish Council
Jeremiah 38:14-28, Psalm 110, Matthew 26:57-68 or Mark 14:53-65 or Luke 22:66-71

The Prophet Jeremiah was subjected to a stacked court, and was only saved at the last minute by the King. Jesus, too, is subjected to an unfair (and even illegal) trial, with false accusations being thrown at him. In both scenarios it is the Word of the God which they both speak which finally earns them a verdict of blasphemy. Psalm 110 stands as a testimony of God’s eternal promises to his Anointed One.

#8 (or #3 continued): The Unfaithfulness of Annas and Peter
Isaiah 33:1-10, Psalm 109:1-15, John 18:15-27

Peter begins to deny his association with Jesus while the senior priest Annas also demands Jesus’ respect and rejects his teachings. As before against Judas, Isaiah 33 and Psalm 109 speak against those who betray the Lord’s Christ.

#9 (or #5): Peter’s Denial Before the Cock Crows
Isaiah 22:1-4, Psalm 88:13-end, Matt. 26:69-75 or Mark 14:66-72 or Luke 22:54-62

Jesus is totally abandoned by his earthly companions. Isaiah’s prophecy call out the “leaders” for their flight, Psalm 88 expresses our Lord’s loneliness having lost all his friends from sight, and Saint Peter realizes his shame yet cannot now repent of his denials.

#10: Our Lord’s Trial before Pontius Pilate
Sirach 4:20-28, Psalm 45:1-9, John 18:28-40

The wisdom of Sirach cautions us never to speak against truth, even before rulers, even unto death, and that is precisely what Jesus does until Pilate finally scoff’s “What is truth?” Psalm 45, in turn, celebrates the true and beautiful lordship of Christ.

If you want to see a roadmap for how you can organize these devotions through all three of the modern lectionary years, here’s a handy table:

Year AYear BYear C
Monday
Hebrews 3:12-19
Psalm 53
Matthew 26:30-35		Monday
Hebrews 3:12-19
Psalm 53
Mark 14:26-31		 
Tuesday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Matthew 26:36-46		Tuesday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Mark 14:32-42		Monday
1 Samuel 3
Psalm 116:12-end
Luke 22:39-46
Wednesday
Isaiah 33:1-10
Psalm 109:1-15
John 18:1-14		  
Thursday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Matthew 26:47-56		Wednesday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Mark 14:43-52		Tuesday
Colossians 1:9-13
Psalm 107:10-18
Luke 22:47-53
  Wednesday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Luke 22:54-62
  Thursday
Isaiah 65:1-7
Psalm 74:9-19
Luke 22:63-65
Friday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Matthew 26:57-68		Thursday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Mark 14:53-65		Friday
Jeremiah 38:14-28
Psalm 110
Luke 22:66-71
 Friday
Isaiah 33:1-10
Psalm 109:1-15
John 18:15-27		 
Saturday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Matthew 26:69-75		Saturday
Isaiah 22:1-4
Psalm 88:13-end
Mark 14:66-72		 
  Saturday
Sirach 4:20-28
Psalm 45:1-9
John 18:28-40
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What’s in a name (or title)?

The title page in books is not typically a source of great attention for the modern reader.  Their role in the modern book is little more than a formality, at best an ornamentation to showcase the fine art of typesetting.  But in years past, the title page was precisely that – a page for the full title of the works following, akin to the abstract of a research paper or the thesis of the essayist.  And it is in this old traditional vein that the Prayer Book’s title page functions today.

Our cultural preference for brevity and compact bundles of information has created a literary world full of acronyms, and the Prayer Book is very much bundled into this phenomenon.  “BCP” is the standard abbreviation for this book, though as with all acronyms it has its shortcomings.  For many curious observers from the outside of the Anglican tradition, BCP is often thought to stand for “book of common prayers”.  While this may seem like a small error, simply pertaining to grammar, the difference between common prayer and common prayers speaks to a fundamentally different understanding of liturgy and worship.  The term “common prayers” evokes an image of an anthology book – a resource containing a number of prayers that can or should be used regularly and widely.  For those not formed by the church’s historic liturgical tradition, this is closest understanding they have of what liturgy is: a collection of prayers that a church or individual uses in certain times and in certain ways.

“Common prayer”, however, denies the punctiliar or isolated view of the contents of the book, and takes it as a whole.  The Eucharist is not only the object of the sacrament, it is an entire worship service.  The Daily Office is not only a string of scriptures and prayers, it is a devotional whole.  Liturgical worship is not only a slavish pattern of how, when, and what to pray together, but a coherent lifestyle of worship, prayer, devotion, and ministry.  The goal of liturgy is not to orchestrate a monotonous chorus of voices speaking in unison, but to unite hearts and minds in the knowledge, love, and proclamation of the triune God (cf. Romans 15:5-6, Ephesians 4:1-6, Philippians 1:27, 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8).

And yet, the Prayer Book is more than about unity through prayer.  The full title is far more expansive.  Consider the five parts in turn:

The Book of Common Prayer

This primarily refers to the Daily Office, historically Morning and Evening Prayer but also now to Midday Prayer, Compline, and Family Prayer.  The common prayer of the Church is her daily sacrifice of penitence, praise, and thanksgiving, which spiritually continues and fulfills the ancient daily sacrifices under the Old Covenant of Moses.  As the pious Hebrew in those ancient days united their times of prayer with the daily sacrifice in the Temple (cf. 1 Kings 18:36, Ezra 9:5, Psalm 5:3, 141:2, Daniel 9:21, Amos 4:4), so too does the Christian now join in spiritual union with the whole Church in the act of Common Prayer.

And Administration of the Sacraments

The Sacramental ministry of the Church is also Common Prayer in the sense that it is the prayer of the Church gathered, but it stands apart in that it is a priestly liturgy.  Just as only authorized priests could offer certain types of sacrifice at the Lord’s Altar under the Old Covenant, so too is the work of feeding and teaching the flock limited to those who are duly called and ordained for the task (cf. John 21:15-17, Titus 1:5-9, James 3:1, Article XXIII). 

With Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church

The language of Article XXV has been understood in different ways, namely that either (1) there are two Sacraments and five sacred rites which used to be called sacraments before the reformation, or (2) there are two Christ-given Sacraments and five Church-given Sacraments.  Whichever side of this debate one finds oneself upon will dictate where the line is drawn between “Sacraments” and “Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church.”  But in either way of grouping them, the Prayer Book contains liturgies for all of them.  The Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child is a sacred rite; the Consecration of a Place of Worship is a sacred rite; the anointing of the sick and the marriage ceremony are at least sacred rites, if not also sacramental.

According to the Use of the Anglican Church in North America

As Article XXIV asserts, “It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, and utterly [a]like; for at all times they have been divers[e], and may be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word.”  This honest commitment to the historical reality that liturgy is changeable protects us against “Prayer Book Fundamentalism”, insisting upon extreme forms of uniformity that have never existed in the history of the Church.  This phrase in the book’s title identifies the part of the Church that uses this liturgy.  Thuse the Use of the Anglican Church in North America stands alongside the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Use of the Church of England, the Use of Sarum, the Lutheran German Mass, the Tridentine Mass, the Gregorian Mass, the Liturgy of Saint James, and countless other variations of the One Church’s liturgy throughout the ages.

Together with the New Coverdale Psalter

Finally, the largest section of the book is actually simply Scripture, namely, the Book of Psalms.  Traditionally this line identifies them as “The Psalms of David,” though in this 2019 edition of the Prayer Book it was deemed appropriate to identify the new translation used for the Psalms.  The inclusion of the Psalms in the Prayer Book itself, rather than resorting to reading them from the Bible, is for several reasons.  First, they are specially notated in the Prayer Book, or pointed, for congregation recitation or chanting, which is not a feature of regular translations of the Bible.  Second, there are multiple translations of the Bible currently in use throughout the Church, which would cause difficulty when different groups come together.  Similarly, third, from an historic perspective the first Prayer Book did use a then-current Bible translation (The “Great Bible”) for its Psalter, and once it was established in common use it was better to retain that translation rather than replace it with the Geneva Bible in 1560, the Bishops’ Bible in 1568, or the King James Bible in 1611.  This leads, fourthly, to the present day, in which a modernization of liturgical language is desired.  Rather than creating an entirely new translation (as was the case in the American Book of 1979), it was deemed better to use the historic Prayer Book Psalter (originally translated by Miles Coverdale) as the basis for the present modernization.  This way our language of worship resonates more closely with the language of our forebears, and those who look back into the historic books will find familiar turns of phrase there.

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Telling the Story of Ash Wednesday: A Scriptural Tour

While there are a great many church traditions and history lessons that can be explored and explained, oftentimes the best way to understand “Why we do what we do” on various holy days throughout the year is to look at the use of Scripture on and around those days.

Ash Wednesday is rich with scriptural material to explain its purpose and position in the church calendar.

By far the best place to start is the traditional first reading at the mass, or service of Holy Communion. Normally this would be an Epistle but Ash Wednesday is one of the extremely rare occasions that called for an Old Testament lesson instead: Joel 2:12-17. (Modern Prayer Books often appoint verses 1 & 2 as well.) This is one of the iconic calls to corporate fasting in the writings of the Prophets, and even on its own stands as a remarkably clear introduction to the season of Lent. Reading this text aloud almost feels like issuing a public announcement in and to the Church. We now call a solemn assembly to consecrate a fast with weeping and mourning, to rend our hearts and not our garments, for all of us old and young have sinned against the Lord and are called to repent.

This is followed by the traditional Gospel, Matthew 6:16-21 (again, with modern lectionaries often adding verses 1-4 for further context). Here, Jesus is teaching us us how to go about fasting, as if in response to Joel’s proclamation to begin a communal time of fasting. “When” (not if!) “you fast, do not look gloomy… [but] anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting may not be seen by others.” As if Joel wasn’t clear enough about the sincerity of repentance to which we’re called, the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets the record straight: this is not a performative spiritual discipline, but one we are to undertake wholeheartedly with sincerity.

The next text of Scripture which is iconic for use on Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51. This is the Penitential Psalm par excellance, the most famous and the most heartfelt of all the penitential psalms in the Bible. The praying or chanting of this psalm is a typical component of the Ash Wednesday penitential service, and even in churches outside the liturgical tradition there are echoes of this psalm throughout other traditions of worship and lament. If you are not in the habit of praying the Psalms, Psalm 51 on Ash Wednesday is a perfect place to start.

Other psalms often associated with worship services on the first day of Lent include Psalms 6, 32, 38, 57, 102, 103, 130, and 143.

Modern liturgies tend to favor three readings of Scripture at services of Holy Communion, so to Joel 2 and Matthew 6 is now added an Epistle lesson. There are three main possibilities, depending upon the particular tradition you dip into. One is Hebrews 12:1-14, where we are exhorted to pick ourselves up despite the discipline of the Lord, and to receive his chastisement of evidence of his loving desire to see us grow unto perfection. Another is 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (starting with “We implore you on behalf of Christ…”). “Now is the favorable time… now is the day of salvation”, St. Paul declares, as he recounts his many sufferings which commend his legitimacy as a true Apostle of Christ and encourages us likewise not to receive the grace of Christ in vain. The third is James 4:1-10 which speaks of God’s desire for us and the call to humble ourselves before him so that the devil may flee from us and that God may exalt us.

To these core Scripture lessons we can add a number of additional readings, drawn from various Prayer Books over the centuries, to give us further context and instruction. Let us consider them in canonical (rather than logical) order…

Isaiah 58 – This is a classic text on the nature of true fasting, noting (like Jesus did) that a true fast is one that inwardly kept, not merely outwardly performed. Here the other traditional Lenten disciplines of alms-giving and prayer are introduced alongside fasting, making the three a composite whole of godly spirituality.

Isaiah 59 – More in the vein of Joel 2, this chapter decries the sinfulness of God’s people and the lack of justice in their midst and the justice that God promises to bring (either for or against them) in the end. This is should help us further our meditations on our own sinfulness.

Jonah 3 (& 4) – The story of Jonah preaching repentance to Nineveh (and his subsequent anger at the fact that they actually did repent and were spared by the Lord) is another effective entrance into the Lenten season. We should follow the example of the wicked Ninevites who actually repented in sackcloth and ashes, rather than the example of Jonah who just wanted to see them all dead.

Luke 15 – The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son are beautiful pictures of God’s compassion toward sinners and his desire to see us repent. In a way this reading can be seen as an extension of the lesson of James 4, mentioned above.

Luke 18:9-14 – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector gives us a further illustration of the teachings of Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6. Only the tax collector returns home justified because his prayer came from a truly contrite heart, as opposed to the pharisee’s prayer of prideful access.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – This epistle text is the same as that traditionally appointed on Septuagesima Sunday, nearly three weeks before Lent begins. Here we read of the call to self-discipline as a spiritual exercise, as in running a race. This invites us to enter the Lenten fast with vigor and intent.

Hebrews 3:12-4:13 – The discourse in the early chapters of Hebrews deals with the promised “Rest”, the ultimate Sabbath, to which God’s people are called, and how neither Moses nor Joshua ultimately brought anyone to the true spiritual land of rest. This gives another layer of vision to our conception of Lent: our spiritual disciplines at this time comprise our “striving to enter that rest” to which we look forward.

2 Peter 3 – Finally, this chapter gives Lent a slightly eschatological flavor to it, which is more typical of Advent. Nevertheless, this period of discipline pointing toward the ultimate hope of glory does have an “endtimes” sort of vibe to it, and the call to holy living issued here by St. Peter neatly ties together the themes of spiritual discipline, holy living, and preparation for the glory of the eternal life to come.

All of these readings and themes can be said to be collected up in this prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made,
and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
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The Organ and the music collection

Perhaps one of the most noticeable things, when one walks into our chapel, is the little organ sitting against a wall. This is a pump organ – you work the bellows with your feet while your hands play the manuals (keyboard). It has two stops underneath the keyboard (not quite in sight in the picture below) that you can work with your knees: the one on the left is an octave link, rendering the highest and lowest thirds of the keyboard louder and more majestic; the one on the right is damper board, muffling the sound coming out if you want to have a more dramatic difference in dynamics (volume). From what I understand of these 100-year-old pump organs, they were typically employed in small churches and homes, and it certainly fulfills that role excellently for us!

Apart from a nice built-in stand for holding up music in front of the player, this organ also has some handy shelf space where I can keep accessible the most useful church music. I need very little of it in my church, as we rarely deviate from the one hymnal we use, and I don’t prepare special preludes or postludes. That would be nice, but as I function as both priest and organist, there’s only so much back-and-forth that I can handle.

So what are the books that we’ve got on hand here?

In the center is the Book of Common Praise, the hymnal that we’ve been using for the past several years, now. It’s a great book, and I’m glad we switched to it.

On the left-hand side there are actually twelve books (half of them are very thin).

  1. The Hymnal 1982 – this was the standard hymnal of the Episcopal church, still used by a number of contemporary-language Anglican churches as well.
  2. The Hymnal 1940 – our church received a large box of these as a donation when we started meeting (before even I joined!), so this is what we used for the first several years.
  3. The American Psalter – published in 1930, this book contains all the Psalms and Canticles (in the 1928 prayer book) set to Anglican Chant tunes.
  4. Saint Dunstan’s Plainsong Psalter – this is a newer book for traditional-language worshiping churches. It’s a beautiful resource and we’ve used one or two of its hymns before.
  5. The Plainsong Psalter – from 1932 and renewed in 1960, this book contains only the Psalms, set to ancient plainchant. It’s largely redundant in light of the previous book, but an extra copy isn’t a bad thing!
  6. The Choral Service – this Manual for Clergy and Organists from 1927 has instructions and music for setting the majority of the Prayer Book services to chant, with a good bit of historical information included along the way.
  7. The Plainchant Evening Psalter and Canticles – from 1916 and revised in 1920, this book only contains the psalms and canticles for Evening Prayer.
  8. The Kyrial (St. Dunstan Edition) – This book contains a whole bunch of different ancient plainchants for the various “mass parts” (primarily the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Gloria in Excelsis) set to the English language.
  9. The English Gradual (Part 1 – The Ordinary) – Using modern notation rather than historic chant notation, this book provides a number of chants useful for clergy and choirs (again in the traditional Prayer Book language) for various parts of the Communion service.
  10. The English Gradual (Part 2 – Supplement) – I think this is a homemade photocopy edition, bearing only about 40 pages of additional music. It’s mostly for Anglo-Catholic commemorations (like some of the Roman devotional masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin) but it also supplies chants for a few holy days that are now standard such as the Transfiguration and St. Joseph Day.
  11. The English Gradual (Part 2 – The Proper) – this is the real sequel to book 9 above. For the most part this book supplies the “proper” parts of a mass, that is, the chants that are unique to a given day or commemoration, namely the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Sequence, Offertory, and Communion sentences.
  12. The English Gradual (Part 2 – The Proper, Supplement) – like book 10, this tiny booklet provides additional Proper chants for those extra feasts and commemorations mentioned above.

On the right-hand side we just have eight music books.

  1. Grace Anglican Church – Supplemental Music Collection – I printed our own supplement to the hymnal we normally use, after several years of drawing particular songs and hymns from other sources.
  2. Hymns for the Living Church – printed in 1986 by Hope Publishing Company, this is a fairly standard evangelical hymnal.
  3. Worship and Service Hymnal – also printed by Hope, this 1957 hymnal (reprinted in 1999) was the book I grew up using in my childhood congregational church.
  4. The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration – Word Music published this hymnal in 1986, and my congregational church switched to it sometime when I was a teenager. It’s got a few responsive readings and “services” (combinations of songs) built in, making it an interesting liturgical resource for a church that has no official liturgy.
  5. The Saint Dunstan Hymnal – in 1968, this book was put together as a supplement to to the 1940 Hymnal, providing a number of chant-based hymns (mostly ancient) that bring some of the treasures of the monastic tradition to the table.
  6. Hymns of Worship & Service – in 1905, this hymnal was produced to be an ecumenical resource (perhaps one of the first hymnals of this kind), based on then-current usage in various church traditions. Interestingly it has a few canticles and liturgical bits towards the end, utilizing both plainchant and Anglican Chant!
  7. Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs – this book was a smaller project put together by a seminary professor and a professional church organist, and contains a lovely collection of songs that they wrote. Much of these songs use well-known melodies, making them very easy to pick up, and I’ve drawn from this book quite a bit over the years.
  8. The Book of Psalms for singing – My wife got this giant three-ring-binder book of metrical psalms before we were married. Metrical psalms are psalms that have been re-translated so that they conform to the metre of English poetry and thus can be sung as hymns. The result of this is that you get some interesting paraphrases of the Psalms, but they’re often easier for a congregation to sing than the chant forms.
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The Saint Benedict Medal

Continuing the Visual Tour of the Saint Aelfric Chapel at Grace Anglican Church (which I started last year but stalled), we’re looking next at the Saint Benedict Medal “Window”. There are two “windows” or picture frames which sit either in a window or on the side of the altar here – one is always of St. Aelfric, the chapel’s namesake, and the other rotates. For most of the month of January we’ve had Saint Peter there, but with the beginning of the Pre-Lent season we’re about to switch to this:

What it is

I first came to know of the Saint Benedict Medal in seeing it embedded into a crucifix, and as I looked up the meaning of its various letters I was impressed with the array of spiritual warfare verses employed. There may be a couple variations of the medal out there, but the one pictured here is fairly typical

In the center is the Cross, the letters reading downward are C.S.S.M.L. which stand for crux sacra sit mihi lux (the Holy Cross be my light). The letters left to right are N.D.S.M.D. – non draco sit mihi dux (let not the dragon be my guide). Both of these phrases have the same meter and they rhyme, making them a handy pair to memorize as a prayer against the devil’s temptations.

A circle surrounds the cross and forms the border of the medal. Four sets of letters arc around this circle, initially four more verses with which to reject Satan (and mostly from Scripture).

  • I.V.B. ipse venema bibas (drink your own poison)
  • V.R.S. vade retro Satana (get behind me, Satan)
  • N.S.M.V. non suade mihi vana (suggest not to me vanities)
  • S.M.Q.L. sunt mala quae libas (Evil are [the things that] you offer)

The word “Pax” (peace) sits atop the circle, and the four quadrants between the Cross and the circle contain the initials C.S.P.B. Crux Sancti Patris Benedicta (the Cross of the Holy Father Benedict).

Why it’s here

As an Anglican who loves the Prayer Book, I have a great fondness for St. Benedict. He is the Father of Western monasticism, codifying Early Church practice into a system that has been replicated in many ways across Western Europe ever since. And his approach to worship and liturgy, particularly centering on holy living and praying the Psalms, is extremely influential in the formation of the Anglican Prayer Book tradition. Our pattern of praying all 150 Psalms each month is a riff from the Benedictine pattern of praying all the Psalms in a week, for example.

More specifically, the Medal of Saint Benedict is a devotional tool that I think we have undervalued in 21st-century spirituality. We don’t always take the devil as seriously as we ought, and could benefit from reminders to reject his evil temptations.

As such, you’ll see it out in the chapel during the two-and-a-half weeks of Pre-Lent, and during the last two weeks of Lent (Passiontide & Holy Week). This serves a double purpose: first is the obvious emphasis on the doctrine of repentance that characterizes this time of year, and second is the tradition of veiling images in the church during the latter weeks of Lent. The Medal of Saint Benedict is not an image (like all the other entries in this “window”) and therefore doubly appropriate for these solemn moments in the Church Year.

Posted on by Fr. Brench

A brief glossary index for the BCP 2019

For those who are new to the Christian faith, or at least to Anglicanism in particular, simply handing them a Prayer Book can be a bewildering experience. This brief article has been written to serve as a sort of pamphlet to provide a brief topical introduction to the value and use of the Prayer Book (2019 version).

CONVERSION

The process of becoming a Christian is often portrayed as a moment of instant clarity and change.  While there certainly are break-through moments along the way, conversion is a process that can take a long time.  In the Prayer Book we summarize it as a three-fold taking off and a three-fold putting on.  It’s found on pages 164 (Baptism), 177 (Confirmation), 185 (both), and 194 (Renewal of Baptismal Vows).  We reject the world, the flesh and the devil (the proximate, personal, and cosmic dangers) and replace them with Jesus, the biblical faith, and God’s commandments.  The repetition of these baptismal vows at our subsequent confirmation and periodically thereafter reminds us that the Christian is both once and always converting from the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God.

DOGMA

That which is absolutely required for true Christian faith is called dogma.  These are the non-negotiable points of belief which unite Christians of all stripes, the rejection of which identifies ancient (or renewed) heresies.  The holy Trinity and the two natures in the one person of Christ Jesus are the two primary centers of Christian dogma.  The full statements are called Creeds, of which we have received three: the Apostles’ (page 20 et al), the Nicene (page 109), and the Athanasian (page 769).

DOCTRINE

From the basic dogma of the Church spring a great many other teachings, also called doctrines, which are elucidated to safeguard the core biblical faith.  Sadly, different church traditions (or denominations) differ in doctrine to various degrees, yet despite this disunity it remains necessary for Christians to know what they are invited to believe and for ministers to remain faithful to the standards they have professed.  For Anglicans, our basic doctrinal statement is a set of Thirty Nine Articles of Religion (pages 772–790).  Other “documentary foundations” responding to more recent issues in the Anglican Church are provided on pages 766, 768, and 791–793.

LITURGY/WORSHIP

But the Christian faith is not primarily a set of points to believe or disbelieve, but rather a life that is lived, and expressed first and foremost through prayer and worship, not didactic statements.  As such, the Anglican tradition has retained the liturgical wisdom of the Early Church in the Prayer Book.  Rather than simply reciting points of doctrine, we express our beliefs through our very prayers and worship services.  Liturgy (literally, a ‘public work’) is thus an integral piece of Anglican identity, uniting our practice, faith, and ethos in a single volume.  Conforming to one another in Christ with the Prayer Book liturgy, we are thus given a common language of worship and belief, spiritually shaped and formed into One Body, and directed into our respective lives beyond the church’s walls.

SACRED TIME

With our inheritance of the liturgical tradition comes a conception of time itself that differs from that of the world’s.  Just as the Old Testament shows us that all of history is guided by God’s providence, so too do the Church’s liturgy and calendar show us that every hour, day, week, season, and year is oriented around the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  There are prayers for morning (page 11), noon (page 33), evening (page 41), and night (page 57).  There are prayers for Sundays and Holy Days (page 104).  Within each of those liturgies are variations for different seasons of the year, and the calendar as a whole is explained beginning on page 687.  Seven principle holy days outline the Gospel throughout the year: Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, and All Saints’.  The various seasons are built around these holidays, and a number of other feasts and fasts punctuate the year.  This reflects the biblical witness wherein the Law of Moses taught the observation Sabbath and the three main holidays, while allowing for the creation of additional holy day observations according to custom and need (cf. Esther 10).  A handful of special liturgies for certain holy days is also provided on pages 542–595.

PSALMS

Arguably the very heart of all Christian liturgy are the Psalms.  This book of the Bible contains 150 song-prayers which have been on the lips of the people of God for thousands of years, and they are so vital to the Christian spiritual life that the Psalms in their entirety have always been printed as a part of the Book of Common Prayer – indeed, the longest section of the book (cf. pages 267–467)!  All attempts to learn the Daily Office of prayers in any liturgical tradition ought to begin with the Psalms: learning to read God’s word, praying it as man’s word, and thus pursuing union with Christ in spirit and soul.  Along with the Lord’s Prayer, there is no liturgy in the entire Prayer Book that omits at least something from the Psalms.  The Anglican tradition invites the worshiper to pray through the Psalms every month (page 735).

BIBLE

Also known as the sacred scriptures, holy writ, the word of God, the Bible is the full compendium (or library) of authoritative texts which the Church upholds and guards according to the direction of the Holy Spirit.  It has three parts: the Old Testament (written before Christ), the New Testament (written after Christ) and the Ecclesiastical Books (also known as the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon, also written before Christ).  Each of these sections of the Bible have their own functions (cf. Articles VI and VII on pages 773–775) and are further divided into smaller specific groupings.  Every Prayer Book has come with its own daily lectionary (Bible-reading plan); ours is introduced on page 736, and detailed on the subsequent pages.

BAPTISM

The Anglican tradition is sacramental.  This means that we receive the historic teaching regarding certain rites and ceremonies of the Church wherein God blesses us with his grace in real and tangible ways, as he promised in sacred scripture.  The first and fundamental of these sacraments is Holy Baptism (pages 160, 781–782).  In this sacrament, God regenerates the recipients, giving them birth into a new life, his Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and entrance into the covenant community of faith.

CONFIRMATION

Where Baptism is the beginning, Confirmation is a continuation, a strengthening, a personal affirmation that the faith persists in the recipient (cf. page 174).  Typically an Anglican is baptized as an infant and confirmed as a young adult once he or she has taken personal hold of the faith.  Confirmation is also the Church’s acknowledgment of the individual’s sincerity of faith, marking him or her with the laying-on of hands by the bishop (the pastor’s pastor who thereby represents the universal church rather than merely the local).  This rite is very much like one’s ordination to mature Christian service, receiving new gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer merely to cling to faith but also to pass it on to others (page 176).

COMMUNION

The highest mystery, or sacrament, of the Church is the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or the Eucharist.  In the species of bread and wine God’s people feed upon Christ’s own body and blood for their own life and salvation.  Where Holy Baptism is the new birth into a new life, Holy Communion is the food that nourishes that new life towards eternity.  The worshiper is exhorted to approach the Lord’s Table with reverence and thorough repentance (pages 147–148).  Two versions of the Communion service are provided in this Prayer Book (starting on page 105 and page 123); the first is the more historic form and the second is more modern.  Additional directions permit further variations to the order of service to match even more historical Prayer Book orders, but it should be emphasized that amidst this diversity of form lies a unity of doctrine.

HEALING

Although the Lord’s Supper has traditionally been termed “the medicine of immortality”, the Church has received two other ministrations for the work of healing in individual Christians’ lives.  The first is the power of the keys (Matthew 16:19 & John 20:21-23) to forgive sins.  Although the primary worship services do include the people’s confession and the priest’s absolution of sins, an additional rite for ministering to the penitent is provided on pages 222–224.  Alongside this ministration to the sin-sick soul is a second pair of rites for ministering to illness of the body (pages 225–235) involving both anointing oil and the laying-on of the priest’s hands, as taught in James 5:13-15.  There are additional prayer resources to minister to the dying, for when the time comes (page 236–242).

FAMILY LIFE

The propagation of life is one of the very first commandments of God in the first book of the Bible, Genesis.  The sacred call to furthering life is provided for in the Prayer Book tradition.  The primary liturgy to this end is Holy Matrimony (page 198 et al), which now includes a betrothal statement to help couples prepare for marriage (page 213).  Another rite that supports family life is the Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child (pages 215–221).  Often overlooked in today’s culture is the need not only to live well but to die well.  The Prayer Book therefore provides prayers for a wake or vigil and for the funeral and burial itself.  Pages 246 and 248 set out the basic parameters and directions that guide how Anglicans are to handle end-of-life memorials.

CHURCH LIFE

Just as human biological life is propagated through families and safeguarded in marriage, so is the Church’s spiritual life propagated through Baptism and safeguarded by specially ordained ministers.  The Ordinal (beginning on page 470) sets out that requirements and manner in which ministers should be ordained.  As per New Testament witness and Early Church practice, Anglicans have three ordained offices: Deacons (servers), Priests (presbyters, elders), and Bishops (overseers).  Each order of ministry has its own liturgy for ordination with specific requirements, instructions, and examinations, as well as distinct Scripture lessons and prayers.  Deriving from this are additional rites for the Institution of a Rector (page 513) and the Consecration and Dedication of a Place of Worship (page 523 et al).

PRIVATE PRAYERS

Alongside the liturgical tradition guiding the way Anglicans prayer when together is, of course, the need for individual devotion, worship, and prayer.  The daily liturgies of Morning, Midday, and Evening Prayer, and Compline (night prayer) are certainly robust and valuable resources for private devotion but can also be time-consuming and non-portable (online resources such as dailyoffice2019.com notwithstanding).  The Prayer Book tradition has therefore developed over the course of time various resources to aid and equip families and individuals to pray.  The Daily Offices in miniature are provided on pages 66–75, and over 100 prayers and thanksgivings are catalogued on pages 642–645.  One frequent tradition throughout Anglican history has been for laymen to take up a handful of such brief prayers and use them in various situations: before and after church, during Holy Communion, at mealtimes, at work, and so forth.

Posted on by Fr. Brench

Balancing Stability and Variety in the Eucharistic Rite

This can be a touchy subject. Some people are very passionate about their liturgical sensibilities; some people literally couldn’t care less. Some people insist that variety is the spice of life and the worship service must be constantly changing lest it become stale and mindlessly regimented. Others insist that variety is vanity and stability in the liturgy is superior, providing consistent discipleship and formative value that would be undermined by constant changes. And of course there are ways that others still attempt to balance these conflicting poles of thought.

On the whole I am largely in the “stability” camp, and I don’t want a given church to be constantly reinventing its liturgy. I do believe that repetition is essential to growth – this is how we exercise for physical fitness, this is how artists get better at their art, this is how students learn things. Inconsistent worship breeds an inconsistent approach to theology, as worship is really the front line of theology – how we approach and interact with God in prayer is the first step of articulating actual doctrine and teaching. Thus I am very much a Prayer Book loyalist: stick to the text, and keep variation to a minimum.

But therein lies an awkward question: stick to which text?

I’ve heard it joke that the Joy of Anglicanism is getting to argue about worship for the rest of your life. And the potentiality is certainly there: every province has its own version of the Book of Common Prayer, and some are more different than others. And besides the Prayer Book there have been many edits, supplements, occasional services, missals, and alternative lectionaries, such that 100 congregations could each have a different eucharistic service order. Not to say that this is a unique feature: there are multiple versions of the Roman Rite, both historically and in the present day; the Lutherans have long since branched out from Luther’s original German Mass; Presbyterians rarely offer more than “guidelines” for structuring a worship service, and the rest of the Protestant world is largely in do-whatever-you-want mode, which usually means the congregation is at the mercy of their pastor’s private sensibilities.

So if I want a stable, formative, orthodox, and coherent Anglican Prayer Book service every Sunday morning, where do I turn? How do I decide what is best?

STEP ONE: Conformity

“Conformity” is such a bad word in modern American culture, but in terms of church worship it’s very much a value. It is good for churches to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ and to be on the same page as one another. If we are indeed one body then we really ought to be growing together in roughly the same ways. Conformity in my case means using the edition of the Prayer Book that my province of the church (the Anglican Church in North America) has promulgated, the Prayer Book of 2019. 

STEP TWO: Utilizing the Basic Options

In that book there are two Communion rites (the Anglican Standard and the ‘Renewed Ancient’), and of that book there are two version (contemporary language and traditional liturgical English). Therefore there are four choices for Holy Communion. Here’s how I treat them:

To explain, the Anglican Standard Text is the first Communion Rite in the book, and should be understood to be our standard (hence the name), so I give it pride of place. The second rite, somewhat anachronistically called the Renewed Ancient Text, is a consolidation of the liturgical experimentation of the 1960’s and 70’s which became regnant in the Episcopal church, so its place in the Anglican tradition is widespread yet still very recent. I currently only use it on the Sundays from Christmas through Epiphanytide, largely on account of the fact that the eucharistic prayers mention the Virgin Mary, and that’s the time of year most suited to emphasizing the incarnation of our Lord. I also have it down for holy days commemorating relatives of Jesus (Joseph, Mary, her parents, John the Baptist, and his parents).

STEP THREE: Tastefully Dipping into our History

There’s another feature in our Prayer Book which is easily missed, but of great significance: older orders of service are permitted, using the material in the 2019 Prayer Book. The order of events in the Anglican Communion service got revamped quite a bit in the 1970’s: the Creed and Sermon switched places, the Fraction (or breaking of the bread) was given its own place between the Communion prayers and the distribution, the Gloria in excelsis Deo moved from being an anthem at the end to a hymn of praise near the beginning (as in the Roman Rite), the Offertory moved after the Prayers and Confession. And so, in deference to the majority of our history, the 2019 Prayer Brook allows us to re-order the Anglican Standard Text to match the order of a previous authorized Prayer Book. This gives a few major options:

  1. The order of the first prayer book (1549)
  2. The standard English prayer book (1662)
  3. The first & second American prayer books (1789 & 1892)
  4. The third American prayer book (1928)

There are a few other historical options from England and Canada and Scotland, but they are almost identical to others already listed here.

Would I ever want to make use of this permission? And if so, what would be the justification for such meddling? The downsides are obvious:

  • People get tripped up easily when familiar material gets rearranged
  • I, the celebrant, am much more prone to making mistakes when I do something different from the norm
  • Parents trying to manage small children during the service have a harder time keeping up when their full attention isn’t able to be on the order of service

So if we choose to utilize these other options, it needs to be for a very good reason. After all, the rubrics permitting this change exists primarily to service those parishes that are already used to a different order and want to keep it, despite switching over to the 2019 Prayer Book.

I have two main reasons for wanting to make occasional use of the historic orders.

  1. INSTRUCTION: Both in terms of personal awareness as well as historical honesty, I think it’s good for ordinary worshipers to be exposed to samples of “the way things were” on occasion. It’s good to know that the Modern Way is not the Only Way, and to appreciate at least some of the differences that have arisen in the details of our patterns of worship over the centuries.
  2. FORMATION: Despite my preference for stability over variety, there is a value to “shaking things up” a little bit from time to time. Re-arranging a little bit of the worship service according to an historic pattern forces people to pay attention in a way that they normally may not. Hearing and saying familiar prayers in a different sequence than usual can help bring out different emphases that would be missed otherwise.

To implement the inclusion of these alternative orders, though, it struck me as too arbitrary to assign certain orders to certain Sundays of the year. So instead I assigned them to certain groups of minor feast days:

  1. The 1662 Order is for British Saints
  2. The 1549 Order is for other Western Saints
  3. The 1789/1892 Order is for Eastern Saints
  4. The 1928 Order is for Angels, Eve of All Saints, the Faithful Departed

The general logic behind this is that the 1662 order is the most uniquely English liturgy, so it befits the British Saints, the 1549 Eucharistic Rite is more generically Western, the early American Prayer Books (influenced by the Scottish order) has a slight Eastern element to it, and the 1928 prayers give a little more attention to the departed than its predecessors. Plus, by tying these alternative arrangements of the service order to minor saints days, we get a special way of acknowledging these commemorations when they happen to land on a Sunday without actually directly observing them and interrupting the calendar year.

So for example earlier this year August 20th was on a Sunday, and that was the commemoration of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. So on that day we used the 1549 order of service to denote his commemoration, though the Scripture lessons and sermon remained in the regular Sunday sequence (I was preaching through Romans at the time). The next time this’ll happen for my church is on January 28th, on which day we’ll again use the 1549 order this time to celebrate St. Thomas Aquinas, a giant of Western Medieval theology. And then in March we’ll use this method to denote St. Patrick’s Day as well!

This approach gives you maybe three or four Sundays per year with historic orders, which is rare enough that it’s not destabilizing the congregation’s ability to follow the regular liturgy, but often enough that they kinda-sorta remember “I think we’ve done this before”. That way it’s a little jarring (“oh right, I have to pay careful attention to follow this”) but not overwhelming and having-to-start-from-scratch each time.

SUMMARY THOUGHT

So that’s generally how I go about trying to balance variety and stability. I’m not saying this is a perfect system that everyone should try to emulate, but I think these are sound ideas that provide just enough variation without throwing people off too much. It really matters to me that people get to know our liturgy, grow to cherish its prayers, and make them their own – and sometimes you need both familiar repetition as well as fresh encounters to make that happen.

Posted on by Fr. Brench

Days of Special Private Devotion

One of the great strengths of the liturgical tradition which I don’t often write about here is the fact that we can draw from common worship – from the shared practices of the Church – in our own private prayers and devotions.

It may be that you want to study, read, or otherwise spend time with the Scriptures beyond the 4ish chapters of readings per day supplied by Morning and Evening Prayer. You could spend extra time on your own reading more of the Bible, perhaps drawing from other lectionaries or from the resources for a holy day. It may be that you want to keep praying more psalms besides the Office’s allotment, perhaps engaging in a weekly plan for praying the Psalms or at some other pace.

An idea that I wanted to describe today is the idea of observing special days for private devotion. The Church makes a big deal of Easter, Christmas, of the Epiphany and Pentecost, and a host of other holy days not to mention the Lord’s Day in general. You may well have family celebrations for some of these days too. But there may be other occasions that are relative minor in the Church’s grand scheme of things which are special or significant to you, and on your own (apart from the formal liturgy) you may want to spend a little extra time in worship.

For example, in my own private devotions there are a handful of commemorations that are significant to me for various reasons, and there are a couple devotional practices that are of special importance to me, so I like to put these together and match them up a bit.

First of all, there’s the praying of the psalms. I have come to cherish this ancient practice, and sometimes I just sit down with a psalter and read, pray, or even sing some psalms apart from the liturgy. So I figured why not, in the course of picking out a handful of days of special personal devotion, assign the Psalter across those occasions?

I also love reading the Bible in general have a particular affinity for the Old Testament. So how about grabbing some parts of the Bible to read on some of these special occasions too?

Now, for identifying some of those days for myself.

  1. King Charles the Martyr (30 January) is a significant figure both in my study of history as well as my appreciation for the Anglican identity. His martyrdom was commemorated in the 1662 Prayer Book, so there’s already precedent for such a holy day. How about around that day I pray the first seventh the psalter (1-25) and read a book like Lamentations or Ecclesiastes?
  2. Augustine of Canterbury (27 May) was the first Archbishop of Canterbury and one of the key renewers of Christianity in Britain. For that commemoration, I might want to go through the next seventh of the psalter (26-41) and read the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus) to reflect on my own ministry.
  3. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (20 August) is an important figure to a group of priests I’m in fellowship with. That’s a good opportunity to pray some psalms of desire (42-72) and read the Song of Songs, a book that was immensely special to Bernard. He also wrote a long hymn in love to Jesus which I might attempt to sing through.
  4. The Nativity of Mary (8 September) is my ordination anniversary, so I have a fondness for that commemoration. That’s a good time to read the fourth seventh of the psalms (73-89) and read a book of the Bible that’s reflective of both Mary’s love and Mary’s knowledge of Jesus, like 1 John.
  5. The Consecration of Samuel Seabury (14 November) and
  6. Saint Aelfric (16 November) are right on each other’s doorsteps, so that’s a good opportunity to take a longer book and split it in half between them, such as The Wisdom of Solomon, chapters 1-9 for one day and 10-19 for the other. Psalms 90-106 and 107-119 would also be good matchups for those days, respectively.
  7. Finally, the season of Advent one of my favorite times of year, including the subtle lead-up to it in the month of November. As the first Sunday in Advent finally arrives, that’s a good time to finish both the Psalter and the Bible, symbolically speaking, with psalms 120-150 and the book of Revelation.

There are other practices you might want to consider for highlighting your own special days of devotion. Times of silence, songs to sing, places to go, people to visit, even giving alms, showing hospitality, or providing service and aid to another… there are many ways that we can mark special days. Perhaps the anniversary of the death of a loved one will see you visiting his or her grave, or reaching out to a surviving relative. Perhaps for your baptismal birthday you may want to go to a weekday worship service at church. Perhaps you want to take up a special Lent devotional book or a pious Advent calendar to highlight a special time of the year. Perhaps on a day of sorrowful memory you might give yourself to fasting.

Sometimes it’s particularly meaningful to an individual to make personal days of memory, interest, or inspiration. Explore with possibilities – this is where we can make our own traditions!

Posted on by Fr. Brench

Introducing the Reconciliation of Penitents

The Reconciliation of a Penitent is, in one sense, an ironic inclusion in a Book of Common Prayer.  Liturgy, by nature is corporate, involving as much of the gathered church as will assemble.  The private confession of sins to a priest, however, is not public worship.  In this light it is no surprise that classical Prayer Books did not include this rite in full text, and only pointed to it in rubrics and exhortation.  However, the fully-printed inclusion of this rite in modern times speaks to another sense of what Common Prayer is.  Not only does “common” refer to what the Church does together, but also to what the Church does in common, yet separately.  Just as many individuals pray the Daily Office without a gathered congregation are nevertheless participating in the greater Prayers of the Church, so too is the use of the Reconciliation of a Penitent a participation in the Church’s liturgical ministry.

The presence of this rite in the Prayer Book itself was first enacted in 1979.  The practice of private confession to a priest, however, has always been authorized in the Prayer Book tradition.  In the Exhortation to Holy Communion (BCP 148) the congregation is invited to come to the priest to “confess your sins, that you may receive godly counsel, direction, and absolution.”  This invitation, in turn, is taken from the third Exhortation in all the classical Prayer Books.  The absolution of sins is also one of the special roles and duties of the priest, as stated in the Ordinal (both classical and modern).

Furthermore, the historic rites for the Visitation of the Sick direct the priest to ask the sick person if “he repents him truly of his sins”, and if his conscience feels troubled he should be moved to make “a special confession of sins”.  The priest’s absolution is provided, the 1662 version reading thus:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offenses: And by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

Thus the inclusion of a form for the reconciliation of penitents, apart from the context of the visitation of the sick, is entirely within the scope of historic orthodox Anglican practice regardless of party or churchmanship.