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Lighten our darkness, we beseech you…

It’s Tuesday, and that means the Collect for Aid against Perils is appointed at Evening Prayer.  If you’ve only ever used the 1979 Prayer Book you may be unaware that the Collects in the Daily Office were not as numerous in previous books.  There were always three: the Collect of the Day, followed by two others (Morning and Evening Prayer having different pairs).  Additional collects and prayers were typically permitted or expected, but the basic three were static and unchanging.  The Collect for Aid against Perils is one of the two original Evening collects.  As the Evening Prayer rubrics of our Prayer Book now note:

It is traditional to pray the Collects for Peace and Aid against Perils daily.  Alternatively, one may pray the collects on a weekly rotation, using the suggestions in parentheses.

Whether you opt for the modern weekly rotation of Collects or stick with the traditional two every day, it is worth taking note of moments like this in which old and new practices line up with each other.

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In a rush?

In a rush today?  Not sure you’ve “got time” for the Daily Office?

One unconventional way you could shorten the Office, without sacrificing too much of its mainstay ingredients, is to shift some of the daily Psalms into the position of the Canticles.  For example, this morning you would pray Psalm 38, read the OT lesson, then pray Psalm 39 as the 1st Canticle; then read the NT lesson, then pray Psalm 40 as the 2nd Canticle.  In the evening you’d pray Psalm 41 before the lessons, and Psalms 42 and 43 as the Canticles.

The benefits of this little cheat are that that you keep up with the monthly Psalms and retain the rhythm of “read, respond; read, respond” that characterizes the center of the liturgy in the Anglican tradition.  Obviously, the downside is that you lose the usual canticles.  But if you’re praying the Office in full more often than not, then the loss of those relatively-static features is not as great as missing some of the month’s Psalms.

Don’t forget, also, in the rubrics of Texts for Common Prayer, we are permitted to skip the Confession and the Apostles’ Creed, provided they are said once per day!  So if your morning gets out of hand, take advantage of the new book’s leniency and give yourself a break in the morning; just be sure to put all the pieces back together at Evening Prayer 😉

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The Evening Before…

In Jewish accounting of time, the “day” begins and ends at sundown.  This concept survives in Christian liturgy; the “Eve of” a Holy Day is the beginning of that Holy Day.  Christmas Eve is the beginning of Christmas, All Hallow’s Eve is the beginning of All Saints’ Day, and so on.

It can be easy to forget, but Sundays are Holy Days, or feast days, too.  Therefore, as the rubrics in Calendar of the Christian Year explain:

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.

So when you pray Evening Prayer later today, make sure you read the next Collect of the Day: “Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in continual godliness…”  This isn’t just a nit-picky point to make sure you “get your prayers right”, but can also help you prepare for church tomorrow morning!  If you pray this Collect tonight and again at Morning Prayer before the Communion service tomorrow, then by the time you hear it (or say it yourself) in church it’ll be fresh on your mind already.  Just like with music or preaching, a prayer that is prepared is easier to share!

 

Note: this blog will not be updated tomorrow, or on subsequent Sunday mornings.  I’m rather assuming that you, like me, have got enough to do already at that time!

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Forgot the Great Litany?

Don’t forget it’s Friday, one of the traditional days of the week for saying the Great Litany after the Collects in Morning Prayer!

Did you already say Morning Prayer without the Litany?  That’s alright, consider praying the Litany at the end of Midday Prayer instead!  There’s a handy spot near the end of that Office which says “other intercessions and thanksgivings may be offered.”  Why not pray the entire Litany and Supplication at that point?  It could be a great spiritual boost and refocus for the middle of your day.

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Looking Ahead: Sts. Simon & Jude

While you’re out flinging holy water at your friends’ animals for a Saint Francis Day blessing, let’s take a moment to look ahead towards the end of this month. Specifically, let’s look at October 28th.

The last Sunday of this month, the 28th, is Saints Simon and Jude Day. Chances are you’ve already got a sermon topic in mind by now, but give this some consideration…

The Prayer Books before 1979 had a different approach to Major Feast Days: whenever one landed on a Sunday, it was celebrated on that Sunday in place of the regular Collect and Lessons. Advent, Lent, Eastertide, Ascensiontide, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday were exempt from this, but that leaves Epiphanytide, Trinitytide, and Christmastide fair game for the celebration of Major Saints’ Days on Sundays. Only in the ’79 book, with the introduction of a completely new Sunday lectionary and radically revised calendar system, did this rule get relegated to the status of “rare exception.” Today, many Anglicans are completely unfamiliar with the idea of celebrating Major Feast Days on Sundays.

Although the Calendar and Sunday lectionary of our up-and-coming Prayer Book remains in the modernist form akin to that of 1979, the rubrics have changed, allowing for this piece of the Anglican tradition to make a return. Specifically, the Calendar of the Christian Year says:

Any of these feasts that fall on a Sunday, other than in Advent, Lent and Easter, may be observed on that Sunday or transferred to the nearest following weekday.

Here two choices are given: observe it on Sunday or on the next free weekday (usually Monday). One can understand this rubric either to be posing both options as equal recommendations or the first option as primary and the second option as secondary. The Saint Aelfric Customary opts for the traditional choice – if it isn’t too late for your worship planning, consider giving Saints Simon and Jude a try that Sunday!

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Tomorrow: Saint Francis Day!

October 4th is the commemoration of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, and beloved medieval Saint.  One of the popular traditions that accompanies his (minor) feast day is the blessing of animals.

Naturally, such a specific tradition is not mandated, nor even mentioned, in the Prayer Books.  But many parishes have preserved forms of this old practice.  If you want to take this opportunity to bless your pets or other animals, or visit those of your friends or neighbors, here is a sample prayer you could use:

Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures.  You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air, and animals on the land.  You inspired Saint Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters.  [We ask you to] bless this A.  By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan.  May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation.  Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures.  Amen.

If you’re a priest or bishop, you may omit the words “We ask you to” and gesture the sign of the Cross over the animal at that point.  Sprinkling with holy water is optional – be considerate of animals that might spook!

Just for fun: Can you bless the water in a fish tank?  What happens if you do?  Leave a note in the comments! 😉

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Grant thy faithful people pardon and peace

The Collect of the Day from Sunday September 30th, which is to be repeated in the Daily Office throughout the week, is as follows:

Merciful Lord, grant to your faithful people pardon and peace; that by your grace we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever  Amen.

If you’re a regular pray-er of the Daily Office, you may already be intimately familiar with this prayer; it is the “Collect for Forgiveness” that is read by a lay person in the absence of a priest or bishop after the Confession.  (Even if you are a priest or bishop, if you’re paying the Office by yourself it might make more sense to read this prayer after the Confession, as you have nobody else to pronounce pardon and absolution to!)

Unless you’re using the Sunday Propers again for a mid-week service in the next couple days, it’s probably too late to point out this Collect’s double function to others in your congregation.  But you can, at least on your own, take some time this week to reflect on the Gospel of Christ’s forgiveness.  The blessed state of pardon and peace, of cleansed souls such that we can serve Christ with a “quiet” (or peaceful, unfettered, un-distracted) mind… this is the great work and gift of God.

May we all seek pardon and peace from God first, and await his consummate blessings that flow from that divine starting point.

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Beginning of the month

It’s the 1st of October, the beginning of a new month!  The traditional pattern in the Prayer Books before the 20th century is to pray through the Psalms in 30 days, beginning on the 1st of each month.  In the 1928 and 1979 American Prayer Books, new cycles were introduced for those who wanted a shorter Daily Office by praying fewer Psalms at a time.  The 2019 Prayer Book is also drafted to present a 60-day Psalter option.

If you don’t normally, consider taking this month to rise to the challenge of the original plan of Psalm prayer.  This is really the bread & butter of the Daily Office, and was once the backbone of Western spirituality, especially before the proliferation of hymns and songs a couple centuries after the Reformation.

At Morning Prayer today pray Psalms 1-5, and at Evening Prayer pray Psalms 6-8.
Tomorrow it’ll be Psalms 9-11 in the morning and Psalms 12-14 in the evening.
Wednesday’s Psalms are 15-17 in the morning, and Psalm 18 in the evening.

The full 30-day table of Psalms is here.

Whatever you undertake, endeavor to stick to it until you’ve gotten through the whole cycle.  And be sure to pray them out loud, pausing at the line breaks, so you have time to take in what you’re saying!

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The tea is brewing…

First shared social media post!

But seriously, the launch date for this “liturgical insight & advice” ministry is October 1st. The plan will be to put out one substantial post about the liturgy six days a week (Monday through Saturday). The post will be scheduled for early in the morning and also sent out via email to whoever subscribes* in order that those who want to receive these notes before saying Morning Prayer will not have to wait.

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* Email subscription will be entirely voluntary; liking or following this Page will not automatically sign you up for anything. I care about your inbox!

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Welcome

The Saint Aelfric Customary is a work in progress, compiling notes and insights into the use of the Book of Common Prayer (2019) as authorized by the Anglican Church in North America. This project has a three-fold focus: conformity to the authorized liturgical texts, commitment to to the fullest possible execution of the liturgy, and concern for the established traditions of Anglican liturgy before our time. You can read more about that here.

What this ministry is about, however, is not quite so grandiose. Rather than a brute force method like dropping a giant book on people’s heads to “improve” their use of the Prayer Book, this site exists to share snippets of advice and insight into how the liturgy might be implemented that day, or in the near future. We might share preaching aids, reminders of Holy Days or other unusual features of a given day, hymn suggestions, or any number of other liturgical bits and bobs.

It is my prayer that this ministry, and god-willing in the fullness of time, book, will be a blessing and an encouragement in your daily, weekly, seasonal, and annual observances of worship in our beloved Prayer Book tradition.

the Rev. Matthew Brench
Vicar of Fitchburg