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It’s Saint Aelfric’s Day!

November 16th is the traditional date of the feast of Saint Aelfric!
Trouble is, he’s not in the ACNA calendar, so you kind of have to add this day in.  Double trouble: today is already occupied by St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland.  Solution: move her aside, to the 15th, to make room for Aelfric today.  Is this allowed?  Yes, because….

  1. at the official level, all of these commemorations are optional anyway;
  2. moving Minor Saints Days around to make room for more days of higher rank (including other Saints’ Days) is already part of Western tradition;
  3. if you’re a fan of this ministry, then celebrating its patron saint is actually quite appropriate.

Let’s say you even want to commemorate him at the daily Eucharist today, or just in an Antecommunion liturgy on your own.  There are about nine sets of Propers (that is, collects & lessons) for commemorations like these, and Aelfric fits the bill for Monastic, for Pastor, and for Teacher of the Faith.  I haven’t made my own final decision on which Collect to choose for him, but these are the lessons I prefer for his commemoration:

  • Proverbs 3:13-26 & Psalm 119:89-106 (from for a Teacher of the Faith)
  • Acts 2:42-47 (from for a Monastic)
  • Matthew 24:42-50 (from for a Pastor)

Now it should be noted that these Propers are not meant to be mixed and matched like this.  For the optional commemorations, we are meant to pick one, wholesale.  Each set is ordered such that they speak to a common theme, or type of Saint, and if you mix them up you run the risk of creating an incoherent scattering of liturgical bits and bobs.  The reason I’m breaking this rule for the commemoration of St. Aelfric is because I aim to treat this day as if it were a Major Feast Day with a unique set of Propers.

Finally, whether you celebrate Aelfric in the liturgy today or not, you can still read more about him.  I’ve prepared a brief biography of him over at leorningcnihtes boc, and you can also read about why he is the patron of this Customary on this page.

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A Minor Saint: Alfred the Great

The Prayer Book tradition has always included “black letter days”, that is, commemorations listed in a calendar of various saints of old.  They are distinct from the Major Feast Days: those each have their own Collect and Lessons in the Prayer Book, at least one special reading in the Daily Office, and are expected to be observed by all.  The commemorations in the calendar, variously called “lesser feasts” or “minor saints days”, however, are optional.  The early Prayer Books didn’t even contain resources by which these days could be observed in the liturgy, they were simply points of reference and remembrance.

As time has passed, standard resources for the observance of these lesser feasts have come together.  Typically, the idea is to have a small selection of Collects and Lessons for different types or categories of saints (one for Bishops, one for Martyrs, one for Monastics, etc.).  Over time, however, more and more of the minor saints received unique sets of Collects and Lessons.  The Episcopal Church, USA, ended up with many of these in its volume, Lesser Feasts and Fasts.  So far, it seems that the ACNA is moving back toward the simpler approach by providing 9 thematic Collects and Lessons for these minor saints days.

Let’s say you want to observe today’s commemoration, King Alfred the Great, at a Friday Eucharist service.  He is known for his work in fixing up the church in his realm, and renewing Anglo-Saxon society, so the categories Reformer of the Church and Renewer of Society both fit, as well as the generic “Of Any Commemoration” options.  The Collects are the end of this document, and the Lessons at the end of this.

As an aside, if you want the new Prayer Book to print the Collects and Lessons together to cut down on unnecessary page-flipping, please join my cause and send them an email! liturgytaskforce@anglicanchurch.net

Or, if you want to make use of what the Episcopalians came up with a little over ten years ago:

O Sovereign Lord, you brought your servant Alfred to a troubled throne that he might establish peace in a ravaged land and revive learning and the arts among the people: Awake in us also a keen desire to increase our understanding while we are in this world, and an eager longing to reach that endless life where all will be made clear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wisdom 6:1–3,9–12,24–25 (wisdom literature about wise kings and rulers)

Psalm 21:1–7 (a king who trusts in God) or 112:1–9 (the blessedness of the righteous)

Luke 6:43–49 (good and evil fruit; wise and foolish builders)

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Kings & Chronicles mixed together

The Daily Lectionary of the Anglican Church in North America is nearing its final form.  It has gone through two extremely different editions in the past couple years, and has seen two or three version of its third incarnation this year.  You can tell from the nature of its revisions that the committee and the bishops are getting very close to finalizing it.

If you’ve been reading along with it lately, you’ve been in the historical books for a while, currently in the middle of 2 Kings.  There has been the occasional interruption from 1 & 2 Chronicles last month and this, there’s another one coming tomorrow, and several more over the next two weeks.  Especially if you’re using a physical copy of the Bible (as opposed to reading the Office online) this might be something of a nuisance.  But the reasons for this minor inconvenience are actually quite sound.

  1. Although the overlap between the books of Samuel and Kings and the books of Chronicles is enormous, there is unique material in each of them.
  2. The books of Samuel & Kings together cover more detail than the books of Chronicles, so they get the primary coverage.
  3. The books of Chronicles, therefore, have excerpts interspersed among Kings & Chronicles in order to fill the few gaps left.

There are two simpler alternatives to this plan:

  1. Skip 1 & 2 Chronicles entirely.  This is what the original Prayer Book daily lectionaries did.
  2. Read 1 & 2 Chronicles all the way through.  This brings the lectionary’s average reading length up, as there’s more to cover in the year.

So yes, although book-skipping like this can make the narrative a little tougher to follow, and the logistics of using your bookmarkers a little more complicated, this lectionary is following a sensible plan with good reason.  If you’re the kind of person who wants a perfectly “completionist” daily lectionary, then the liturgical tradition is inevitably going to disappoint you a little bit.  However, there’s nothing stopping you from “filling in the gaps”, as it were, on your own.  Midday Prayer, for example, is an excellent daily opportunity to read from material that the daily lectionary omits.

If that’s something you’re interested in, be sure to check back in here next year, because once the daily lectionary is finalized and published I’m going to be working on a supplementary daily lectionary for Midday Prayer that inserts all the chapters from the Old Testament and Ecclesiastical Books that the daily lectionary leaves out.  It’s already outlined, I just need to see the final edition before I can build around it.  So if you’re a fan of the books of Chronicles, hang in there, I’ve got your back!

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Introducing Isaiah

Isaiah, the first of the Major Prophets, has been appointed to be read at the end of the year in every Anglican Prayer Book I’ve ever looked at.  The reason for this, I have long assumed, is that it contains many prophecies of Jesus that are well-known, well-loved, easily recognizable, and often associated with either Easter or Christmas.  And since there is so much Scripture clamoring for our attention through Holy Week and Eastertide, and those dates are not fixed anyway, the Old Testament slot of the lectionaries have always concluded the year with the book of Isaiah.  Normally this wouldn’t begin until mid or late November, but because the current draft ACNA daily lectionary appoints separate reading tracks for the Morning and Evening Offices, we end up starting the book of Isaiah today, on October 19th.

Chapter 1 is a fantastic opening chapter for such a rich book.  Many people might find it frustrating that it doesn’t introduce us to the man Isaiah himself – that doesn’t happen until his commissioning account in chapter 6.  But think of chapter 1 as the opening scene of a movie or television show: it’s action-packed, it draws you in, it gives you a taste of what’s to come and stuns you with the intensity of the book as a whole.  Then in a few chapters it’ll step back and give you a little of Isaiah’s backstory and character, once you’ve gotten the teaser at the beginning.

What does chapter 1 have that makes it so great an opening?  The first verse gives us an impressive array of kings under whom Isaiah ministered, hinting to us of his longevity and long-suffering. Verses 2-17 then launch into a blistering accusation against the kingdom of Judah, denouncing their sinfulness, discrediting the efficacy of their sacrifices, comparing them to the long-ago-destroyed city-states of Sodom and Gomorrah, and imploring them to repent, wash themselves, and act justly once again.

God offers a word of hope in verses 18-20: “let us reason together.”  If you just think about what you’re doing and come back to me, I will make you clean!  Otherwise, in the meantime, God calls the condition of his people to be akin to that of a whore in verses 21-23.

And finally verses 24-31 describe the blessing of a future restoration.  When God has finished punishing them, and they finally repent and turn to him, he will rebuild Jerusalem, restore the efficacy of the sacrifices, strengthen his people, and punish their enemies.

Isaiah is a long book to get through; but if you really soak in this chapter at the beginning, you will find its content, tone, and themes echoing throughout the next 65 chapters, all the way to Christmas!

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Extra readings for St. Luke

Happy Saint Luke’s Day!
If you’re following the current ACNA liturgy, the Morning Prayer readings include Luke 1:1-4, which is a break from the usual pattern of lessons inserted to celebrate the holy day.  There, you’ll be introduced to Luke’s intention as a writer of Scripture.  If you attend Holy Communion today you’ll hear other readings pertaining to the feast day.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 38:1-14 is a passage of Jewish wisdom literature extolling the virtues of the role of a physician in society.  It addresses both the worldly function of healing and wellness as well as the spiritual aspects of prayer for healing and care for the soul.  Luke, being known as a physician as well as an Evangelist, is an excellent embodiment of this wisdom text.

2 Timothy 4:1-13 serves a dual purpose on this feast day.  On the more basic level, it mentions Luke toward the end of the reading.  We learn that Luke was among St. Paul’s final companions during his incarceration in Rome.  But the larger part of the reading is a sort of “last charge” to Paul’s son-in-the-faith, Timothy, who himself was at that point a local bishop elsewhere.  The instructions to preach and teach the faith without wavering, for the benefit of his hearers’ souls, are not unlike the role of a spiritual physician, tending to the spiritual health of the flock.  The Collect of the Day is largely informed by this dynamic:

Almighty God, you called Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul: We pray that we, by the wholesome medicine of the doctrine which he taught, may have all the diseases of our souls be healed; through Jesus Christ our Lord…

Finally, Luke 4:14-21 brings this back to Jesus.  In these verses, Jesus reads an Old Testament prophecy concerning himself: that he would minister to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.  Those who need healing will find their health in him.  Saint Luke was a great physician of body and soul, but Jesus is the great physician, through whom all who come to him find wholeness and strength.

But if you want to sit with this holy day in greater depth and search the scriptures further, here are some other passages you could read on your own time (or perhaps at Midday Prayer or Compline).

  • Isaiah 55 (various pictures of life and healing that God offers)
  • Isaiah 61:1-6 (the text Jesus quoted from, with more context)
  • Colossians 4:7-end (a “greetings” passage that identifies Luke as a physician)
  • 2 Timothy 3:10-end (more of St. Paul’s “last charge”, leading up to the epistle lesson at Holy Communion)
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Reading Pace

A major feature of any liturgy is reading.  Appointed readers read Scripture lessons, a Deacon (or Priest) reads a Gospel lesson at the Communion service, everyone reads prayers and Creeds together.  Sometimes it’s like a dialogue, going back and forth between the minister and the people; sometimes it’s a block reading, like everyone reading a Confession together.  One of the issues that can crop up is the pacing of these readings.

On his or her own, sometimes a reader gets nervous.  This is perfectly understandable, and experience and practice works wonders here.  But it must be cautioned that a nervous or inexperienced reader can rush through the words, tripping over or slurring them together.  Or sometimes the opposite – the gravity of reading the Word of God overwhelms them such that they end up reading it very slowly.  Public readings ought to be read at a natural pace, such that the commas, semicolons, and periods are all clear and distinct.  We want the reading to have some dramatic weight, but we don’t want to overdo it, William Shatner style:

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The same applies to congregation readings.  Be it a Psalm, a Collect, Creed, or other prayer or reading, the people need to go at a natural pace.

If we read too fast together, the issues are many:

  • people could run out of breath
  • there’s no time to think about or process what you’re actually saying
  • it communicates a lack of care, value, or import to the words
  • visitors unfamiliar with the liturgy will feel swamped and overwhelmed

Similarly, reading too slowly can mask the overall coherence of the reading or prayer.

If your congregation has a pacing problem, it’s really upon the leaders to fix it.  The clergy or other ministers who lead the various services need to set the pace, even instruct the congregation to speed up or slow down.  Reading and praying together is a spiritual exercise requiring practice and intentionality.  Western culture sometimes makes this difficult for us – we don’t want to end up like the Borg from Star Trek, we don’t want to lose our individuality, we easily mistrust corporate liturgical action and prefer “personal” and “relational” things.  So for many people these acts of common prayer and common reading is a lost art that has to be re-learned.  Let’s not beat people over the head with this, but we do need to be aware that actual training, practice, and learning is involved!