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The Epiphany Season (modern)

Yesterday we looked at the historic Anglican calendar for the Epiphany season.  Now let’s take a look at what the ACNA calendar has for us this year.  There are six parts to this summary: the First Sunday, the Second Sunday, the Epistles throughout the season, the Gospels throughout the season, Mission Sunday, and the Last Sunday.

#1: The First Sunday after the Epiphany

Since the post-Vatican-2 revisions to the liturgical calendar, the first Sunday is about the Baptism of Christ.  All three years of the cycle recount the story to us, taken from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, year by year.  This year (Year C) is Luke’s Gospel’s year.  The Collect and all the lessons revolve around the Baptism of Christ, and is rich with teaching and preaching and devotional material: insight into the Trinity, revealing the divinity of Christ, insight into the Old/New Covenants, contemplation on the origins of Christian Baptism, considering the call to Christian mission.

#2: The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

The Gospel lesson on the 2nd Sunday is taken from John chapters 1 and 2.  Years A and B are from chapter 1, dealing with the gathering of Jesus’ first disciples from John the Baptist.  Year C is the story of the Wedding at Cana, which was also the traditional Gospel lesson for this Sunday.  The first two years, therefore, play into the “mission” orientation of the modern Epiphany season, while the third year (this year) reflects more of the original epiphany-as-revealing theme for the season.

#3: The Epistles throughout the Season

From the 2nd Sunday through the 8th, in all three years, the Epistle lessons highlight much of 1 Corinthians and a little of 2 Corinthians.  This is done brilliantly, breaking the book into three logical sections: chapters 1-4 in Year A, chapters 6-9 (with a little of 2 Corinthians) in Year B, and chapters 12-15 in Year C.  As far as I’m aware, this has nothing to do with the Epiphany season as such.  Rather, it is functioning like the modern Trinitytide season by focusing on mostly-sequential readings week by week through the epistles and gospels.  The book of 1 Corinthians is long enough and rich enough that it takes up the Epiphanytide Sundays in all three years.  The downside of this is that if your preacher decides to preach through this epistle, people are not likely to remember where they left off the year before.

#4: The Gospels throughout the Season

As mentioned above, the bulk of the modern Epiphany season simply walks through the early part of the Gospel books: Matthew 4-6 in Year A, Mark 1-2 in Year B, and Luke 4-6 in Year C.  The lectionary is carefully designed such that where you leave off at the end of the Epiphany season is where you’ll pick up after Trinity Sunday.  In that spirit, the Roman Catholics refer to Epiphanytide and Trinitytide both as “Ordinary Time”… the latter is merely the continuation of the former.  In other words, the two green seasons have no thematic or theological character of their own in the modern calendar, but are instead devoted to the sequential and systematic reading of the New Testament Epistles and Gospels.  This is where the Revised Common Lectionary (in its several versions) is basically trying to act like the Daily Office lectionary, for better or worse.

#5: The Second-Last Sunday

New to the ACNA Prayer Book is the invention of “Mission Sunday” or “World Mission Sunday”.  Technically, the rubrics admit that this is an optional observance, and may actually be placed on any Sunday in Epiphanytide excluding the First and Last.  The Collect for (World) Mission Sunday is actually the same one as Epiphany III, and the Gospel lessons are all evangelism themed: Matthew 9:35-38 in Year A, Matthew 28:16-20 in Year B, and John 20:19-31 in Year C.  All of these Gospel lessons, as well as most (if not all?) of the other lessons, can be found elsewhere in the lectionary.  Therefore, with neither a unique collect nor unique lessons, it is my opinion that Mission Sunday is redundant in the liturgical calendar, and thus it is the recommendation of this Customary that Mission Sunday be left unused, unless the second-last Sunday happens to be Epiphany III, in which case you might as well go for it because the Collect is the same either way.  Instead, consider using Mission Sunday on a weekday?

#6: The Last Sunday

The length of the Epiphany season varies from year to year because its beginning is fixed by the simple calendar (January 6th) while its ending is determined by the lunar calendar (how the date of Easter is determined, and therefore the seasons before and after Easter).  When Easter is later, as is the case this year, Epiphanytide is longer and Trinitytide is shorter.  The traditional calendar had a three-Sunday buffer zone between Epiphanytide and Lent, but the modern calendar just has one Sunday: the Last Sunday before Lent.  Despite the fact that the bulk of the Epiphany season is based on sequential readings and not on any epiphany theme, the Last Sunday sees a return to the epiphany theme by focusing on the Transfiguration of Christ.  Although the Transfiguration already has its own holiday (August 6th), the Last Sunday between Epiphany and Lent takes that event and gives it a different spin, noting it as a final revealing of Christ’s divine glory before he descends the mountain and heads for Jerusalem where he will soon suffer and die.  For all the complaints one might raise against the modern calendar and lectionary, the function of this last Sunday is brilliantly devised.  Simply comparing its Collect with that for Transfiguration Day is a fruitful devotional study in itself.

 

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The Epiphany Season (Traditional)

From the traditional calendar to the modern, the Epiphany season is the one that probably has undergone the largest transformation.  Although the majority of us are using the modern calendar, it’s helpful sometimes to look at how things used to be.  It may be that some echoes can be found of the old in the new.

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After the three-fold Epiphany Day followed a series of Sundays each with their own epiphany, or showing, of Jesus to be God.

  1. Luke 2:41 (The Finding of Jesus in the Temple) with Romans 12:1-5
  2. John 2 (Wedding at Cana) with Romans 12:6-16
  3. Matthew 8 (Healing of the Leper and the Centurion’s Servant) with Romans 12:16-21
  4. Matthew 8:23-34 (Calming the Storm and Exorcising Legion) with Romans 13:1-7
  5. Matthew 13:24 (Parable of the Wheat and the Tares) with Colossians 3:12-17
  6. Matthew 24:23 (Sign of the Coming of the Son of Man) with 1 John 3:1-8

There were fewer Epiphany Sundays in the old calendar because there was a three-week transition period between Epiphanytide and Lent… we’ll explore that when we get there.  Suffice it to observe here that the theme of the Epiphany – revealing Jesus to be God – continues for three to six weeks after the Epiphany Day itself.  Although the modern calendar does not intentionally pursue this theme in its lectionary, it is still a theme that preacher and reader alike can watch for throughout this season of the church year, allowing the “principle feast” of the Epiphany to light our way through this section of the calendar before moving on to the penitential pastures of Lent.

If you have a regular weekday Communion service, pulling up these traditional Epiphany Sundays might be a great idea.  With the exception of the 2nd Sunday this year (Year C of the 3-year cycle), there’ll be no overlap between the old and new at all.

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The Evening Epistles

This evening, the ACNA daily lectionary begins reading through 1 Thessalonians.  It just completed the Epistle to the Galatians, which could be said to have some thematic links to the Circumcision / Holy Name on January 1st and the Epiphany on the 6th.  But 1 Thessalonians, often known for its attention to the subject of the return of Christ, doesn’t really have much connection with the Epiphany season.  So what’s the logic here?

It must be remembered, first of all, that this is a simple lectionary; its purpose is to take us through the Bible with as little interruption and skipping around as possible.  Normally, this would mean going through the Epistles in canonical order (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, etc.).  But for this lectionary it seems the designers decided to bring us through chronologically, starting with the Epistles of St. Paul.  Galatians is thought to be his earliest, followed by those to the Thessalonians, then the Corinthians, and so on.  When the Pauline Epistles are finished in early April, the General Epistles are covered (Hebrews, James, Peter, Jude, John) into late May.  Then the cycle will be ready to repeat soon after.

Some readers may lament the decision to use the ‘secular calendar’ for our lectionary, rather than the liturgical calendar.  But 1) the daily lectionaries in the Prayer Books followed the secular calendar for centuries before switching over to the liturgical one, 2) this way is simpler and more accessible to more people, and 3) with our version of the Revised Common Lectionary at the Sunday Eucharist, we already get a lot of seasonally-appropriate Scripture readings.  The Daily Office Lectionary doesn’t need to pick up that task in addition.

So as you pick up 1 Thessalonians tonight, keep in mind that you’re walking through the written legacy of Saint Paul, and don’t try to force connections with the Epiphany season.

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Epiphany: A Crowded Holiday

If you’re following this blog or its Facebook page, chances are you know what Epiphany’s about.  After the twelve days of Christmas comes this holiday in which we celebrate the arrival of the magi, or wise men, bearing gifts for the Christ Child.  It is the beginning of the inclusion of the Gentiles in the worship of Jesus, the first fruits of “the wealth of the nations” flowing into the land of Israel.

But what fewer of you may realize is that this day has traditionally had three different points of focus, making it unusually “crowded” as a holy day.

Story #1: the adoration of the magi

The Communion service, being the primary liturgy in a given day, centers us on the story of Matthew 2:1-12.  This is what we normally think of when we look at The Day of the Epiphany.

Story #2: The Baptism of Jesus

At Morning Prayer, the New Testament lesson was traditionally from Luke 3, relating the ministry of John the Baptist, particularly highlighting his role in baptizing our Lord Jesus.  In the 1928 Prayer Book, this came to occupy the Communion Gospel for the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany.

Story #3: The Wedding at Cana

At Evening Prayer, the New Testament lesson was traditionally from John 2, telling the story of Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine.  In the Revised Common Lectionary (including our 2019 Prayer Book) this came to occupy the Communion Gospel for the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany in the third year of the cycle.  That means we’ll get to hear it in just under two weeks!

Holding them all together

One might wonder what these other two stories have to do with the Epiphany.  I suspect that the more modern focus on the Magi and the inclusion of the Gentiles has muddied our ability to understand the more traditional Epiphany Day.  The central theme is noted in the very word epiphany.  It’s about the “showing” or “revealing” of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  It’s a holiday (and subsequent season) that focuses on showing us that this child whose birth we just celebrated is actually God-in-the-flesh.  The adoration of the Magi, with their symbolism-heavy gifts, shows us the divinity of Christ.  The baptism of Jesus is a break-through moment for all to see the Holy Trinity, including God the Son.  The wedding at Cana included the first “sign” by which Jesus would be known as the Christ, as God himself.

In our ACNA lectionary, it seems that we double up on the story of the Magi: it’s the Gospel at the Communion service as well as the New Testament lesson at Morning Prayer.  Evening Prayer gives us the Wedding at Cana.  The Baptism of Christ has been lost from the Epiphany Day celebrations.  But considering that we now celebrate it on the following Sunday in all three years of the Communion lectionary cycle, we aren’t missing much in omitting it on January 6th.  But it’s good that we have retained the Wedding at Cana reading, since that will only be heard at the Communion service on the 2nd Sunday once every three years.

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Eve of the Epiphany

As the ACNA calendar introduction notes:

Following ancient Jewish tradition, the celebration of any Sunday begins at sundown on the Saturday that precedes it.  Therefore at Evening Prayer on Saturdays (other than Holy Days), the Collect appointed for the ensuing Sunday is used.

With today being the 5th day of January, that makes this evening the liturgical beginning of The Epiphany.  So when you settle down for Evening Prayer tonight, feel free to start using the Epiphany-specific features, such as: the Opening Sentence (Isaiah 60:30, Nations shall come…).  More definitely, the Collect of the Day this evening will be the Collect for the Epiphany:

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord…

Although the Scripture readings tonight (Jeremiah 4 and Galatians 5) are not chosen to match the feast day, one can observe the bulk of Jeremiah 4’s prophetic description of an invasion of Gentiles as a sort of pre-cursor to the Epiphany.  In that reading, the Gentiles are enemies of God’s people; in the Epiphany, Gentiles start becoming God’s people!

Happy twelfth day of Christmas, and enjoy the Epiphany starting tonight.

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What happened to the 2nd Sunday after Christmas?

As you look ahead, you see that this Sunday will not be “the 2nd Sunday after Christmas”, but the feast of the Epiphany.  Does this mean we miss the 2nd Christmas Sunday this year?

Yes.

This is not unusual; close to half the time that Sunday will be omitted.  In fact, Prayer Books before the 1928 didn’t include a 2nd Sunday at all.  In the event that such a 2nd Sunday occurred, the old way was to celebrate The Circumcision that Sunday.  The rubrics in our 2019 book, last I saw, allow for some flexibility: we’ll be able to choose precisely how to implement these Sunday and Holy Day Collects & Lessons in the latter half of the 12-day Christmas season and beginning of Epiphanytide.  Perhaps another year we can explore than in greater detail, when such a Sunday is available to us.

But this year, hopefully we should all be on the same page: this Sunday, January 6th, is the feast of the Epiphany.  Time to celebrate those magi worshiping Christ!

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How can I become a “liturgy expert”?

I do not think of myself as a liturgy expert.  I often have questions that crop up, prompting me to seek out answers from a book on my shelf or a contact on Facebook.  But I have learned that I’ve spent enough time with the liturgy of the Anglican tradition – the Prayer Books – that I know “more than the average bear” about this stuff, and am in a position to help others learn about it.

It must be admitted that liturgy became a passion of mine during my ordination discernment process.  I was somewhat interested beforehand, but as I entered into the ministry it became my most prominent area of study and inquiry.  Certainly, having a passion for something can help one to learn a lot about it.  But there are tangible ways that you, too, can build up your comfort level with and knowledge of the Anglican Prayer Book tradition.

  1. Get to know one Prayer Book really well.  Before you branch out and examine the history and compare & contrast different books, settle in with one volume and edition.  I found that having a strong anchor first enables more fruitful exploration of other Prayer Books later on.  In my case it was the 1979 book (traditionalists, please don’t grimace too much!).  I dug around its pages, read its rubrics, physically used it at regular Communion services and in the Daily Office both alone and with others.  When someone died, I prayed and read the burial rites.  When someone was planning a wedding, I studied the marriage rite.  I used its psalter and lectionaries.  I tried out the different rites and options for the Office; and when I became a priest, I tried out most of the Communion rites too.  This familiarity with a particular Prayer Book gave me a place to stand from which to explore other liturgies.
  2. Physically use a Prayer Book on a regular basis.  This is part of point one, but needs to be mentioned separately.  If you’re mainly using an online version of the Daily Office like Mission St. Clare or legereme, then there’s a lot you’re missing.  You’re not necessarily seeing all the rubrics. The options and choices within the liturgy are being made for you.  The Psalms and lessons are provided to you without any page-flipping or book-switching.  If you only ever use a printed bulletin at the Communion service, same deal: you may be getting used to some Prayer Book content, but not the Prayer Book itself.  A missal (or reusable booklet for multiple worship services) can alleviate this loss a little bit, but not completely.  Physically bring the appropriate Prayer Book to church, and follow along in its pages.
  3. Choose an historic Prayer Book as your “second choice”.  Once you’re well-grounded in one book (which for most of my readers will either be the 1979 book or the still-finishing 2019 book), then it’s time to put a second foot in our history.  Obviously there are multiple choices, but I would recommend two possibilities: the American 1928 or the English 1662.  Between the two, I most recommend the 1662, as it is said to be the “standard” of Anglican liturgy worldwide.  All national variants trace their history back to (and through) the 1662.  It may not be perfect, but it’s a sure and certain standard.
    Follow its Sunday lectionary – read those Collects & lessons before or after church each week.  Try out its Daily Office from time to time, perhaps even take a year to use its daily lectionary.  Study its Communion service and trace the different shape that results from the prayers in their unique arrangement.  Consider (and ask others) what the significance is of the many variances between its order and the American order we’re familiar with today.
  4. Check out lots of books!  With one foot in a contemporary book that you regularly and actively use, and the other foot firmly planted in the historical tradition of Anglican liturgy, you’ll then be ready to wade into the surprisingly-deep river of Anglican liturgical texts out there.  Perhaps now the differences between 1549 and 1552 will stand out more than what you “heard about” in a seminary class somewhere.  The English proposed book from the 1920’s, their Alternative Service Book from 1980, and Common Worship from 2000 may now provide a more coherent thread of liturgical experimentation and exploration.  The African liturgy books will have more context, as will the myriads of proposed Prayer Books by the various American churches before GAFCON called for the creation of the ACNA.

This will also benefit your ministry too.

Sometimes people accuse us “liturgy nerds” of having our heads too buried in books.  We spend more time obsessing over the forms of worship than we do caring for the flock, supposedly.  But in truth, someone who is truly invested in the liturgy is actually strengthening his ability to minister to others.  Just as familiarity with the Bible helps us to bring the Word of God into the lives of others, so too does familiarity with the Prayer Book help us to bring the prayers of the church into the lives of others.  A well-seasoned Bible verse can be a real help to a person in spiritual need, and the ability to give them the reference so they look it up again later is a real gift to them!  Similarly, the right Collect, Canticle, or Psalm can be a real comfort or inspiration, and the ability to show them where to find it in the Prayer Book for revisiting will also be a valuable gift.

Sure, being a liturgy nerd just for the sake of being a liturgy nerd isn’t going to be of much use to anyone.  No passion, when undirected, is of any good, really.  But if you want to grow in the Anglican spiritual and pastoral tradition, deepening your understanding of and appreciation for the liturgy is one of the best things you can do.

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The January 1st Feast

Happy feast of the Holy Name and Circumcision of Christ!
(What, did you expect to see “happy new year”?  This is a liturgy blog, not a social calendar!)

For many people, today’s commemoration might seem a bit strange.  Why are celebrating the “holy name” of Jesus?  Is this day like those over-emotive worship songs that repeat endlessly about how precious is it to say the name “Jeezus” over and over again for five minutes?  Is this something more “catholicky”, where we silently meditate on the sacred name of Jesus in a mood of affected piety?

First of all, it’s probably helpful to observe that this feast day might better be termed the Naming of Jesus.  The Gospel lesson at today’s Communion service is Luke 2:15-21, in which Jesus is circumcised and given the name Jesus.  This takes place on the eighth day, according to the Law of Moses, which (in case you haven’t noticed yet) is literally today.  On the 8th day of Christmas, Jesus got circumcised and named.

Second of all, it should be further noted that until 1979, the Anglican tradition called this day the Circumcision of Christ – making that rite the primary feature of the day, and his name/naming secondary.  Unlike the 1979 Prayer Book, though, our Collect still acknowledges the old emphasis alongside the new:

Almighty God, your blessed Son fulfilled the covenant of circumcision for our sake, and was given the Name that is above every name: Give us grace faithfully to bear his Name, and to worship him with pure hearts according to the New Covenant; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This double focus, as you can see, is expressed well in our Collect.  To honor and bear the name of Jesus, and to join with Christ in the New Covenant because he has fulfilled the Old, are both concepts close to the heart of the Christian faith.  But it’s also worth looking back at what used to be…. this is the original Prayer Book Collect for today:

Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man: Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Notice, free to be more specific, how this Collect draws us to covenant faithfulness, or obedience.  To worship God “with pure hearts” in the new Collect is an accurate summary, but when you take the time to pray about “being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts”, you get a better picture of what such “pure hearts” actually look like.

All this besides, Jesus’ keeping of the Law is what proves his innocence, his sinlessness, and thus what sets the rest of the Gospel in motion.  If he wasn’t bound to the Law, his obedience to it would not have the significance that it had.

Along those lines, if you deign to pray the Great Litany today, perhaps this is a good opportunity to re-write one phrase back to its original form.  Near the beginning when it says “by your holy nativity and submission to the Law” feel free to pray what this petition originally said: “by your holy nativity and circumcision“.  This may not be the most popular part of the Gospel and Nativity story, but it’s one of the many moments of key importance, hence its place among the great feasts of the church year.

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All those extra Christmas Carols

If you’ve got an Anglican hymn book such the Episcopalian 1940 hymnal or the Book of Common Praise 2017, you may have noticed that there are about sixteen gajillion Christmas songs in there.  Okay, between 50 and 60.  Still, that’s too many to sing in 12 short days, unlike most seasons in which the number of hymns are easily confined to the Sundays of their time of year.  On top of that, many churches have a tendency to stick with the seasonal songs their members know best, and repeat a core repertoire every year… not to mention those who who add in contemporary songs.

But hymnals exist for a very good reason: analogous to the Prayer Book, they serve to provide us with a set of authorized-and-approved words by which we may worship God and ourselves be edified in return.  With scores of Christmas songs available to us but untouched, who knows what we might be missing out on!

To that end I would suggest that one way to explore the lengthy Christmas section of a hymnal would be to appoint one or two hymns each day to the Daily Office or other regular devotions on your own.  With over fifty songs for this little season, and accounting for an Epiphany section beginning on January 6th, you can stretch Christmas an entire 40 days to its final wrap-up holy day of the year: The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple and the Purification of Mary (February 2nd).

Eventually this Customary will have a sample “hymnal in a year” plan but for now feel free to try out some of these principles on your own!

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Christmas Day versus Sunday

Imagine if Easter wasn’t always a Sunday, but sometimes a weekday.  What would we do in church on that following Sunday?  Well, given that the resurrection of our Lord is rather a big deal, it would make sense that we would continue to celebrate that holiday on Sunday, perhaps with slightly different lessons so as not to make Sunday a total re-run for those who showed up on Easter Day itself.  That’s how it is with Christmas Day and the First Sunday after Christmas: the Gospel is the same (John 1:1-18) but the other Scripture readings are different.

The Collect is changed, too.  On Christmas Day it’s much more direct to the event:

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen

Whereas for the Sunday it’s a bit more general:

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

This is consistent with the analogy I began with.  The “primary” Christmas celebration is on the day itself (December 25th), but the Sunday after is a second pass at the holiday so that those who missed Christmas in church will still get the holiday covered, and that those who attend both will have an enriched experience of the season, not simply repeats.

However….  Something that is often overlooked is the fact that the First Sunday after Christmas is expendable.

If that First Sunday is December 26th, 27th, or 28th, then the Major Feast of that particular day is to be observed that Sunday.  That is the traditional way to handle this Sunday and our Calendar for the Christian permits (if sadly doesn’t mandate) this method.

Furthermore, if Christmas Day is itself Sunday, the “First Sunday after Christmas” is to be omitted.  Traditionally, what you do on that Sunday instead is celebrate the major feast of the Circumcision of Christ (now “the Holy Name”) (January 1st).  Our Prayer Book also authorizes use of the Second Sunday after Christmas on that Sunday, but don’t.  Just celebrate the major feast days in our calendar when they land on Sundays like that… most folks in our congregations have sadly lacked such experiences for the majority of their lives!

Anyway, tomorrow is the First Sunday after Christmas.  Enjoy it!