The Daily Office: Readings from the Early Church

One spiritual practice that I adopted some time ago, is to read a passage from Saint Benedict's Rule prior to saying Compline.  This gives me a time of reflection from something grounded in tradition, non-Biblical of course.  Recently, I accidently left my copy of The Rule at my brother's house whilst on a family trip and so I turned to my book shelf to find something suitable as a replacement.

I quickly located my copy of Bob Wright's classic, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church (New York: Church Publishing, 1991) and his supplemental They Still Speak:  Readings for the Lesser Feasts (New York: Church Publishing, 1993).

Those who know this giant scholar, priest, and historian in The Episcopal Church know that these two volumes represent sound research, a faithful translation of the texts, and shaped according to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer Daily Office calendar.

J. Robert Wright is the Saint Mark's Church in the Bowery Professor of Ecclesiastical History at The General Theological Seminary in New York.  He was awarded the St. Augustine's Cross by the Archbishop of Canterbury for his contributions to the wider Anglican Communion.  Friends of mine who have had him as a teacher in seminary speak reverently about him.

While the publishing date may seem old to some, these texts still "speak."  The readings are arranged daily and contain sermons and writings from the early Church Mothers and Fathers.  He has included works from Dame Julian of Norwich as a move to be broader.  Wright offers in the preface his task of compiling the readings and dealing with issues of sexual inclusion in language.

A good example of how these two texts bear relevancy with the Daily Office. The Old Testaments readings for Morning Prayer, recently, have been covering the Jacob v. Esau story.  Wright paired these with a sermon by Irenaeus who brought a Christian interpretation to these texts from Genesis.  It was fascinating, for me, to have incorporated this insight from the Patristic era into my daily prayer life.  It was then that I was sold on using these texts with my Daily Office readings.

Those of my brothers and sisters who fancy The Anglican Breviary will already know of a similar incorporation of Patristic sermons and texts which are combined in the breviary.

I commend any practice of incorporating these additional non-Biblical readings from the early Church into our corporate opus dei.

Remember! Blessed Charles, King and Martyr Part 2

Upon further investigation, I wanted to confirm that Blessed Charles was added to the Kalendar in the 1980 Alternative Service Book in the Church of England as well as the Anglican Church of Canada's The Book of Alternative Services (1985).  No collect contained in either.  However, a new collect was added in the CoE's Common Worship and is cited below.

King of kings and Lord of lords,

whose faithful servant Charles

prayed for those who persecuted him

and died in the living hope of your eternal kingdom:

grant us by your grace so to follow his example

that we may love and bless our enemies,

through the intercession of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Remember! Blessed Charles, King and Martyr

It is as natural that the Church of England should keep this day as it is that Christ's universal Church should keep Saint Stephen's martyrdom.

John Keble, in a sermon on the Feast of Blessed Charles 

On January 30, 1649, the "White King," Charles I of England was led to a scaffold outside of the palace of Whitehall in London to be executed.  He was later buried inside St. George's Chapel within the grounds of Windsor where he rests in peace to this day.

One cannot boast membership in the Society of King Charles the Martyr and neglect his feast day in the blogosphere.  Sadly, I'm away from Sewanee this weekend and unable to attend the Commemoration Mass for Charles.  Perhaps an elucidation of Charles may serve as my penance...

Charles I, the martyred King of England, is remembered today in some parts of the Anglican Communion--depending on one's slant towards monarchy and high churchmanship.  When the monarchy was restored under Charles II, the martyred king was added to the Kalendar for commemoration and stood firm on January 30th until the reign of Queen Victoria, when the Commons had petitioned the Queen for his removal.

Charles has never been officially canonized, at least in the Roman sense, in the Anglican Communion simply because there is no known process of creating saints--a relic of the Reformation for sure.  Thus, Charles receives the title, "Blessed Charles."  According to John Moorman in his work, A History of the Church of England, Charles stood, "as a symbol of the patient sufferer who lays down his life for his creed and for his Church."  Charles was a firm believer in the Divine Right of Kings and could be accredited, if for nothing else, for the appointment of William Laud to be Archbishop of Canterbury.  Charles was not a savvy politician, his policies of enforcing the Prayer Book on the Scots proved disastrous.  The effects could be easily sensed even in 2009 when I stepped inside St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh!  

Whether or not you agree with Charles and the succeeding history surrounding his cause for inclusion on the Kalendar, he died a martyr's death, and certainly won the hearts of many of his countrymen.

Today, the Society of King Charles the Martyr exists 1) to pray for the Anglican Communion; 2) to promote a wide observance of 30th of January as the Feast day for this martyr; and 3) to work towards the reinstatement of Blessed Charles on the Kalendar of the Book of Common Prayer throughout the Anglican Communion.

According to the scholarly source, Wiki-pedia, The Church of England added Charles in the 1980 Alternative Service Book as well as a collect included in Common Worship.  He is not contained in the Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

~   ~  ~

Icon of Charles, King and Martyr, 2009.  

Acrylic on Wood.  Author's private collection.

On Being a Monk: The First Week

The day was spent in a flurry of preparation.  Many last minute things had to be addressed:  liturgy, music, reception food, and so forth.  I was busy finishing my latest icon project, a large image of our patron, St. Anthony which needed to be dry in time to be blessed during the earlier Eucharist.  The day came on the heels of a busy weekend and the opening of the Easter term.  But the air was filled with excitement rather than anxiety and worry, for this day was to be the beginning of a new chapter in my life and I had set aside ample time beforehand to prayerfully reflect on the sacramental profession of monastic vows.

Once everything was in place, people arriving in the night's crisp air, it was truly going to happen.  The organ burst forth and began the hymn, my abbot leaned towards me with, "are you ready?"  There was no turning back now.   

I had thought long before that the "moment" for me would come when I was to be prostrate on the seminary chapel's cold stone floor--lying vulnerable at the foot the cross.  The music that I chose for this moment was something very dear to me, the Taize chant, "Jesus, Remember Me."  A favorite of mine, I had incorporated it into the healing services that I led at St. Matthew's Homeless Shelter just two short years ago.  That place was a deep mark in my heart and an important time for my formation.  There I came face-to-face with the wounded Christ in so many people hungry for wholeness.  I can still recall their faces, the smell of the annointing oil, and the repetitious chorus of the chant.  All of those memories flashed before me as I laid on the floor with tears. 

But to my surprise, that was not the moment.  It came when my abbot placed the black habit of our Order over me.  Trying to find my way through the dark, hooded garment was the moment--I distinctly recall a feeling of being lost and alone.  I remember saying to myself, "this isn't supposed to be the moment!"  But alas, it was.  Inside the clothing was my journey, my journey from death to life, from darkness to light.  It all happened in the space of a minute or so, but inside it felt as though time stood still.  It all became clear when I peaked my head through the hood, it was true. 

Ending one chapter and beginning a new one was the deep emotional stuff inside of me that day.  I never thought that by entering seminary I would stumble upon the catalyst to discern a contemplative call that has really been there in my soul for a long, long time.  It went unanswered for too long, and for too long it struggled to find its authentic voice inside of me.  That changed and so did I.

I can truly say that professing vows is indeed a sacrament.  Grace came when I unexpected it, inside the darkness of a habit.  That moment will forever stay with me, most likely because I was not ready for it.  God does indeed have a sense of humor.  I wish I could sometimes understand it.  Perhaps in silence, perhaps one day.   I stand ready to begin this new chapter and to see what new unexpected graces will happen.  Silentio Coram Deo.       

World Without End

The 30,000 foot view of creation (taken from an airplane). By the author.

John Donne, in his Christmas sermon delivered at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1626, opens with a rather pointed message:

The whole life of Christ was a continual Passion; others die martyrs but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at the first as his cross at last.  His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas day and his Good Friday are but the evening and morning of one and the same day.[1]

I have always appreciated the reminder that Donne points towards—the connection of Bethlehem and Golgotha, that Christmas cannot be separated out from Good Friday.  In fact it is an even more appropriate statement of the whole of salvation history, that God as author purposes creation to move towards its ultimate fulfillment in the Kingdom.  This imagery is even reflected in the collect from the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord:

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly expectation of our redemption: vouchsafe; that as we joyfully receive thine Only-begotten Son for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when shall come to our Judge, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord: Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.[2]

So we come to the title, “World Without End,” a traditional ending for prayers in the catholic tradition.  Christmas, the birth of God’s Eternal Word born into our very midst, is the ultimate beginning of our salvation.  It is God’s most sacred action in loving God’s creation.  The powers and principalities of this world, even from the tender birth of a babe in the manger, see this Jesus as a threat to their world.  Recall Herod’s quest to quash this new king and resulting slaughtering of the innocents throughout the land.  This is also a sign of the threat to the Kingdom that has also endured throughout time.  And yet, the Kingdom, and the visible Body of Christ on earth the Church, stands as the judgment upon it.  Christians in every time and place work assiduously for justice, peace, and love to bring to fulfillment God’s eternal purpose.

The whole of creation sings out, “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven.”  We join with the angels’ song to add our hearts and voices in proclaiming God’s redeeming love to the world.  While so much of this has been lost in the commercialization of our culture today, remember that there is no Christmas without a Good Friday.  Easter is around the corner and it is more glorious than any Wal-Mart super sale.  Thanks be to God! 

---

[1] The Showing of Christ, Sermons of John Donne.  Edmund Fuller, ed.  (New York: Harper and Row, 1964), 76.

[2] Missale Anglicanum, The English Missal, 3^rd altar ed. (London: W. Knott & Son, 1934), 12. 

Chapel of the Apostles

Nothing, perhaps, causes more angst among seminarians than settling in to their new worshipping space. At The School of Theology, the Chapel of the Apostles (affectionately known simply as "COTA") is the rather awkward worship space for the seminary.  Consecrated in 2001, COTA is a wonderful place for meditative prayer and reflection.  Liturgically, it can be a challenging space.  It's also a challenge to take photographs inside...

About a year and half ago, we moved the space to be oriented in a "collegiate" style, with the congregation facing inwards with the altar and ambo on a direct plane--which actually goes baptismal font, ambo, and then altar.  Any hints as to where we stand with the proposition of an open table?  Alas, the seminary does not see itself as the laboratory for defying the canons of the Church.

Once inside, the narthex is centered around a large copper baptismal font.  And as a Sacristan of the Chapel, I can assure that this water gets changed religiously--pun intended (corny I know).

I am willing to go out on a limb and say that Sewanee and most likely Nashotah House are the only Episcopal Seminaries with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady.  Here we have what I believe to be Our Lady of Guadeloupe, given the horns on the base.  It is in the Lady Chapel where we reserve the Sacrament and have a side reconciliation room as well.  We do boast the world's smallest seminary sacristy, getting vested in there with all the altar party can be a challenge too!

So call me nostalgic, I just wanted to have some posts of the places where I've been worshipping and building community lo these past three years.

All Saints' Chapel

All Saints' Chapel stands in the very heart of the University of the South, a.k.a. "Sewanee."  Located high atop the Cumberland Plateau in Sewanee, Tennessee, the University of the South is home to The School of Theology, a seminary of The Episcopal Church.  It's also been home to me for the past two years.  The University claims ownership by the Episcopal Church, and its board is comprised of twenty-eight southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, with each bishop serving along with clergy and laity.

All Saints' is the University Chapel, where all our major festivities take place, complete with all the pomp and circumstance.  It's a great place to attend a well executed Rite II service.

All Saints' is something of a "royal peculiar" of sorts, an ecclesiological phenomenon.  The University sits in the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee and in the bounds of Otey Parish--the local Episcopal parish in Sewanee.  Yet, the Chancellor of the University is a bishop of one of the owning dioceses.  The newly elected Chancellor is the Bishop of Atlanta (formerly the liturgy professor at The School of Theology).  The Chaplain of All Saints' is thus canonically resident in the Diocese of Tennessee and is answerable to the bishop of said diocese, but also has the Chancellor of the University as a boss!  Moreover, all sacramental acts of baptism and confirmation are recorded at Otey Parish because the University Chapel is not a regular worshipping parish.  To add more confusion, the Dean of the School of Theology acts as the Ordinary of the seminary chapel, but is somewhat under the Chaplain of the University.  Sadly, there are too many restrictions in order to have a child baptized in the seminary chapel and weddings in either chapel are even more complicated.

The University Choir hosts monthly services of Evensong and sing at the main 11:00 a.m. Sunday liturgy.  During the first weekend in December, the Chapel celebrates a locally famous Advent service of Lessons and Carols which can sometimes be standing room only (an Advent service because all the students have gone home during the Christmas break).

The font in the Chapel is amazing.  Complete with eight sides, carved statues of saints, and "living" water flowing, it harkens any liturgist back to the early days of Hippolytus.  My son was baptized here during the Easter Vigil in 2008 by the retired Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi.  Around the ambulatories, banners with the seals of the twenty-eight owning dioceses hang.

The High Altar is equally stunning.  Only used for Rite I services, sadly, the altar boasts statues of both historically Anglican saints as well as some peculiar to Sewanee, such as William Porcher DuBose.  The windows surrounding the Chapel can keep your eyes busy for hours.  I plan to take some photos of those windows soon.  The window above the High Altar depicts Christ the King, in all his kingly and imperial splendor.  Flanking the altar in this space are carved stalls for each owning bishop of the University, with carved seals of those dioceses atop each chair.

Always open for private prayer or simply a space for quiet reflection, All Saints' is a very special place for thousands of Sewanee Alumni and friends.  If you are ever in the area, stop in for a few minutes, it is well worth the pilgrimage.

St. Hugh of Lincoln

Today on the Church's Kalendar, we remember Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop and Confessor.  Hugh is a favorite of mine and I want to share with you my journey to his shrine.

I made my way on pilgrimage to Lincoln Cathedral this summer so that I may venerate Hugh's relics housed there at the cathedral.  The cathedral itself is massive, plainly understating its historic beauty which towers above the city of Lincoln.  I think, I cannot recall, that I had to pay to get inside the cathedral.  Against my own aversion to such practices, I was willing to pay whatever, since the trip down to Lincoln from Mirfield was already costing me more than I had imagined for such an expedition.  Plus, with two small children in tow, I was going to see the inside of this cathedral!

Hugh met my expectations.  The shrine is housed in the far eastern end of the cathedral, behind the high altar and surrounded by several small chapels.  I was simply humbled to be in the midst of this great saint, bishop, and confessor of the catholic faith.

I first learned about Hugh early in my seminary formation and my interest grew even more thanks to a BBC series on the cathedrals of England which devoted an entire episode to Lincoln Cathedral.

Double-click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to see more detail.

The western facade, currently undergoing renovation.

Inside the nave, facing eastwards.

The Shrine itself.  There is a rather hideous modern structure towering above it, a good try but rather odd and out of place.

Now you can see the spire of sorts.  Why?!?

The reliquary of St. Hugh.

The cathedra of the Bishop of Lincoln.

Painting of Hugh with his swan next to the Shrine.

My family braving the uphill expedition to the Cathedral.  I owed them big time.

The Icon of Hugh that I wrote in 2008 with words from the

American Collect on the scroll.

I put him in his Chartusian monastic habit.

Here is a Collect for Hugh, Bishop and Confessor from my newly acquired altar missal, The English Missal, Third Edition. (London: W. Knott and Sons, 1934).  More on the English Missal later.

O God, who didst wonderously adorn blessed Hugh, thy Confessor and Bishop, with pre-eminent merits and glorious miracles:  mercifully grant; that we may be stirred up by his example and enlightened by his virtues.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

But, I may add that it does not even hold a candle to Hugh's Collect found in The Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O holy God, you endowed your servant and bishop Hugh of Lincoln with wise and cheerful boldness, and taught him to commend the discipline of holy life to kings and princes: Grant that we also, rejoicing in the Good News of your mercy, and fearing nothing but the loss of you, may be bold to speak the truth in love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

May we all be inspired by Hugh's example and so be led to work with cheerfulness and boldness for the Kingdom of God.  Remember and keep St. Hugh in your prayers today.

In Clouds Above and on Earth Below: Feasting with the Saints

"Cloud of Witnesses iii" by Ugandan artist Eria "Sane" Nsubuga, 

Mixed Media, 2007.

"For all the saints..." began the service this morning marking the Feast of All Saints' on the Kalendar.  We named the faithful departed in 2009 during the Mass and we gave thanks for the on-going witness of all the "little S-s" saints in our daily lives.  We even had a baptism today, shocking only that this parish would opt to actually follow a rubric on this topic!  Anyways, I digress.

Feasting with the Saints.  I can just imagine that now.  My grandparents, cousins, and other friends whom have died and risen in glory with Christ above, eating their fill, celebrating the goodness of God and God's creation.  I wonder, especially today, what they are saying to themselves about me.  "Oh Lord, there goes Chad again..."

One thing that I miss with newer parish churches is the lack of a parish cemetery.  In most parish churches in England, you cannot take one step without coming in contact with a memorial stone or engraving of some kind.  There's even something commemorating whenever the Sovereign comes inside!  You cannot help but notice the great cloud of witnesses in those bastions of stone and glass.  And yet in the States, we tend to want to keep our dead as far away from us as possible.  "Why would you want to clutter up a nice church yard with grave stones?"  Now to be fair, there are plenty of churches here that have cemeteries--most tend to be historic though.  Many have adopted columbaria as a method of depositing the ashes of loved ones into hermetically sealed containers in a church wall somewhere.  But I wonder why we fear the dead so much?  We don't even like to say the word "death" or "dying."  Instead, many opt for the politeness found in "passing away," and the like.  Our culture fears death, the one certain thing that we can count on that never requires its software to be updated.

For me, I've decided, I want to be cremated and scattered.  No need for a marker or stone anywhere.  "Why clutter up the earth with something that has passed away?" I had to get that one in there.  But seriously, I'm a firm believer in being "green" on this issue.  I just see it as a waste to go through the expense and hassle of it all.  Death is certain, and yet death is not the end.  Resurrection in Christ is our hope and it is what I look forward to follow.  Nothing will be left behind, all of creation is moving towards its fulfillment in the Trinity.  You can count on that.  

Michaelmas and the Celestial Chivalry

Today the Church commemorates the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels otherwise referred to as "Michaelmas."  Today we remember those other heralds of God the Father, the angels.  The Anglican tradition maintains the three main archangels:Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.  Often there is the fourth, Uriel.  Especially in the Episcopal tradition, there seems to be a fear of discussing the angelic hand of God.  Michael is my middle name and I have always had a special place in my heart for the warrior of the Father.  While I do not count angelic theology as a particular interest of mine, I know that I do not know enough about angels in heavenly chorus.  I pray this day that I may come to a greater knowledge of angels and the celestial chivalry.

Hymn
Tibi, Christe, spledor Patris*

Thee, O Christ, the Father's splendour,
Life and virtue of the heart,
In the presence of the Angels
Sing we now with tuneful art;
Meetly in alternate chorus
Bearing our responsive part.

Thus we praise with veneration
All the armies of the sky;
Chiefly him, the warrior Primate
Of celestial chivalry,
Michael, who in princely virtue
Cast Abaddon from on high.

By whose watchful care repelling,
King of everlasting grace,
Every ghostly adversary,
All things evil, all things base,
Grant us of thine only goodness
In thy paradise a place.

Glory to the Father sing we
with resounding voices sweet,
Glory unto Christ our Saviour,
Glory to the Paraclete:
Standing forth, One God and Trinal,
Ere the ages; as is meet.
Amen.
________________

*The Monastic Diurnal (London:  Oxford University Press, 1963).

A Feast Day Collect

Everlasting God, who have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Deo Soli Gloria: An Appreciation

Icon of Saint Gregory the Great

The Brotherhood of Saint Gregory (BSG)

Deo Soli Gloria, or "to God alone the glory," is the motto of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory the Great (BSG).  BSG is a religious order in The Episcopal Church and is celebrating this year the fortieth anniversary of their founding.  The following is from their website:

The Brotherhood of Saint Gregory is a Christian Community of the Episcopal Church, whose members follow a common rule and serve the church on parochial, diocesan, and national levels. Members--clergy and lay, without regard to marital status--live individually, in small groups, or with their families. They support themselves and the community through their secular or church-related work, making use of their God-given talents inthe world while not being of the world. The trust that all labor and life can be sanctified is summed up in the community's motto: Soli Deo Gloria, To God Alone the Glory.

The Brotherhood was founded on Holy Cross Day 1969, by Richard Thomas Biernacki, the present Minister General, after consultation with many Episcopal and Roman Catholic religious. Among the latter the Sisters of the Visitation were particularly helpful and encouraging. It was in their Riverdale, New York, monastery chapel that the first members made profession of vows to the Brotherhood's chaplain, the Rev Thomas F Pike.

Later that year, Bishop Horace W B Donegan of New York recognized the Brotherhood as a Religious Community of the Episcopal Church. Upon his retirement, his successor, Bishop Paul Moore jr, became Visitor to the brothers, whom he came to call the "Flexible Friars." He was succeeded by Bishop Walter D. Dennis, Suffragan of New York. The present Visitor is Bishop Rodney R. Michel, Suffragan of Long Island.

The icon is currently on display at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee where one brother, Br. Ron Fender, BSG worships.  He is something of a local saint, though he would tell you that he isn't!  He is deeply engaged with the work of the homeless in Chattanooga and he is supported by our parish.  We also are blessed to have a BSG brother here at the School of Theology this year as he completes his studies for ordination.

The icon is painted on a bread board worn down over the years by working hands (double-click on the icon to enlarge it).  It was written by the founder and Minister General of the Order.  Pope Gregory the Great is shown on his cathedra as a dove of the Holy Spirit flies near his right ear for inspiration consistent with the traditional accounts of these visits of the Spirit during Gregory's sermon-writing.  The four evangelist gospel writers are depicted by their animal metaphors in the corners.

I give thanks for the Brothers of Saint Gregory for their growing witness to our world and for their labor and prayers to further the Kingdom of God.

Little Eucharists

Thank God for little eucharists. They come at unexpected times and usually in unexpected ways. It's so easy for me to bury myself into the work of the day to forget these thanksgivings, these God-given and Spirit-filled moments of pure joy. It's like a pinprick of light bursting through the grayness, or like a drop of water flooding your soul. Refreshing and invigorating, no doubt; they pick you up when you really need the warm hug of love.

It doesn't have to be big, in fact sometimes it's the smaller ones that really hit home. Whether it's a friendly smile, a short e-mail from a friend, or even just the ability to breathe a little, I thank God for little eucharists.

The Feast of the Exultation of the Cross

The Calvary Garden, The Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

"Don't romance the tragic," screamed my moral theology professor to us in class. The very thing that we have turned into jewelry, stickers, car magnets, and generally anything else that consumers will buy has not only romanced the tragic but anesthetized us from the real horror of the cross. The cross was a Roman torture device used for traitors and rebels of the Empire. I can envision hillsides littered with corpses and fallen crosses. It was the supreme statement of Rome to anyone who dared to defy her imperial power: we will hang you by the tree in the most humiliating death possible! The cross was cruel, the very shape intended to pull the body apart by means of a slow and certain death.

Today marks the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross (September 14th) and I cannot help but think of these things every year that we remember this day. I am afraid that so many of us Christians have softened the cross too much, glorifying it to the point of taking away its power.My doctrine professor says it quite succinctly, "there is only one cross that we glorify." Have we taken away it's efficacy? Has the meaning of the cross been dulled over time and by capitalism?

The versicle/response at the beginning is used at the start of each station during the Stations of the Cross. It is a clear reminder that by one cross and one Lord, the whole world was redeemed. Jesus the Son of God came into the world to teach us how to live, love, and forgive. His gospel was too radical for the established powers and principalities, overturning the balance of power in favor of the least, the lost, and the last. And we nailed him to the cross because of it, thereby God showing us the extremity and depths of true forgiveness and love.

A prayer from Saint Francis [paraphrased by BOB]:

"O Lord, may I feel in my body as much as possible the pain and suffering you endured on the cross. But even more, Lord, may I feel and know in my heart the love that brought you there." Amen.

Missale Anglicanum

I've blown my book budget this semester! But, I'm also now the proud owner of the Missale Anglicanum, The English Missal. This is a faithful translation of the Missale Romanum and tends to be popular amongst Anglo-Papists. Known as the "Knott Missal," the book has undergone several editions and now through Canterbury Press, one can order the most recent. Knott and Sons was the original publisher of the Missal.

I snagged a Third Edition of the Altar Missal published in 1934, complete in leather binding and with gilt-edged pages. It was sleeping in a small bookshop in England and will hopefully be airlifted to Sewanee in due time.

The Old Catholic Church has a comparison of the Ordinary of the Mass from two missals (Anglicanum and Romanum) on their website.

Didn't someone say blessed are the poor? I am now in that category...

Missale Romanum

Last night I ordered an old copy of the Missale Romanum, the Altar Missal for use with the Tridentine Rite Mass. No, I'm not swimming the Tiber--I've already done that and washed back up in the Thames. My fascination with Altar Missals began this summer whilst perusing the bookshops in Walsingham. It was in a smallish, but fantastic theological bookshop, where I came across a magnificent copy of the "Altar Missal," which was published in the late 1800s by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Complete with old leather tabs and gilded pages, the missal includes the Sarum Rite, the South African Rite, and parts of the Roman Canon. You should have seen how I traveled with it back to the States from England!

Now, I've added a few more altar missals to my collection: the 1928 Altar Services (The BCP), the 1979 Altar Book (current edition), and the Anglican Service Book Altar Missal (which I believe has since gone out of print).

So now, I'm adding one of the famous Benzinger Brothers edition, Pre-Vatican II Altar Missal to my collection. The etching above is one of the many illustrations to be found within the Missal. I cannot wait.......I'm a liturgy geek.

Why I Chose the Episcopal Church

The challenge: in 150 words or less, describe why you chose the Episcopal Church. This was the challenge that The Forward Movement gave to seminarians in anticipation of publishing a new booklet. Below is what I wrote and submitted.

Heralds and Prophets

Submitted by Chad M. Krouse

“No other church heralds the Kingdom of God quite like the Episcopal Church. Our Church lives on the margins, where our Lord’s ministry heralds us and where the Kingdom stirs. I am an Episcopalian to stand among other prophets calling for the freedom of the Kingdom today, living an open Gospel witnessing Christ’s love to every one, everywhere. We struggle openly with the dangers of prophecy in our contemporary world, yet always honoring our history of truth and justice. I cannot sit idly by and ignore the pain and brokenness walking about; I am an Episcopalian to live as both herald and prophet of this Kingdom, working to bring about equality, healing, and peace.”

Windows Into Heaven

These are photographs that I took at Manchester Cathedral this summer. The windows were absolutely amazing and strikingly modern.

The "Fond du lac Circus"

At the consecration of R.H. Weller,

Bishop Coadjutor of Fond du Lac, 1900

I was in need of some light Anglo-Catholic humour. Interestingly enough, St. Tikhon of Russian later adapted the 1928 Book of Common Prayer to "Orthodox standards" and ushered in the Western Rite for the Orthodox Church.

From the Diocese of Fond du lac's Website:

"In 1900, Bishop Grafton found himself at the center of controversy when he presided at the consecration of R.H. Weller as Bishop Coadjutor of Fond du Lac. A number of bishops from neighboring dioceses took part in the service. Also in attendance, at Grafton’s invitation, was Tikhon, the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. After the service, the bishops went outside to pose for a picture. For the first time ever, bishops of the Episcopal Church were photographed wearing copes and mitres. The picture, which became known as "the Fond du Lac Circus," and was widely published in church publications and became a heated controversy.

"There were a number of controversies associated with this photo. First, the Episcopal Church had always had high, low, and broad factions that emphasized different aspects of the faith. The low church faction typically identified itself as Protestant. Contrast this with the high church faction which has identified itself with other "catholic" churches, such as the Roman, Old Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This photo was the first public photo, showing Episcopal bishops dressed in catholic vestments (as opposed to the more Protestant rochet, chimere, and tippet) and was an outrage to low church members of the Episcopal Church.

"Bishop Grafton had invited St. Tikhon and his Orthodox entourage and Bishop Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church to come to the service, not merely to observe, but to participate. Ultimately, they did not, but they did vest and sit with the other bishops present. Even this was scandalous to the low church members of the Episcopal Church who held that Episcopalians had more in common with the other Protestant denominations than with the Old Catholics or "Greek Catholics" (i.e., Orthodox)."

Font of Blessing

"O font, font, font..."

++Michael Ramsey upon seeing his baptismal font.

Here at Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, located in the west end of Huntington, West Virginia, I was buried with Christ in the Spring of 1980. It was here at this old wooden font, complete with eight sides, that I rose up out of the waters of baptism to become a member of the Body of Christ.

St. Peter's is a very special church for me and my family. My brother and I were baptized there, my mother was baptized there, my parents and grandparents were married there, my grandmother was buried there, and I was married there. St. Peter's holds much of my family history--it's sort of like an ancestral church for us. It was there that I learned what church was and to appreciate the mystery and beauty of the sacraments. Since becoming a seminarian, I have preached there a number of times and have even read the Gospel at the Christmas eve Mass. Desmond Tutu allegedly preached from the pulpit here during an American tour many, many years ago.

I am a product of this parish. My whole life has been formed by the people there--past and present. As I move forward in the process towards priestly ordination, I cannot help but reflect on the foundation that was created there at St. Peter's.

St. Peter's has the first free-standing altar in the Diocese of West Virginia. I cannot tell you how many years of my life were fed from that altar. My heart will always be there.

Below is the Children's Chapel located in the Nursery. It was here that I learned to say the Lord's Prayer. I remember sitting in these miniature pews. I can still smell the wax candles burning. . .

Transfiguring Motion

Climb! Climb! Climb!

The Feast of the Transfiguration is a feast of motion and movement. Our Lord takes his chosen disciples up on the mountain to reveal His glory; and the response is quite simply this, get down the mountain and walk on the via crucis to Jerusalem. Up and down, the motion that transfigures us to be disciples and to become bread to others for the Kingdom.

Up to ascend to the heavens is our response of love to God, upwards towards God who calls us into a life of divine consumption. Flowing down from heaven is God descending into our lives, into our souls, stirring us to become what we were created to be.

Once we have climbed the heights and been blinded by the radiance of brilliant grace, we are forever changed--we are transfigured into love. All we can do, then, is feel our way down to the bottom where we must live. We cannot stay on the mountaintop forever! The motion of transfiguration is ongoing and a permanent reality in our lives. Ours is the decision to climb and to follow the call of Our Lord to the summit where we can be consumed into His heart. And so the descent is an obvious one, stay and die or get down and live and work for the Kingdom of Christ.

From the Office of Matins, Monastic Breviary.

An Ancient Hymn of Transfiguration:

Quincumque Christum

All ye who yearn the Christ to see,

Uplift your eyes exultingly,

Eternal glory's symbol there

To your astonished glaze lies bare.

Exceeding bright the mystery

To us revealed, that knows no end,

Celestial, everlasting, high,

And older far than heaven or hell.

We there the Gentiles' King behold,

And King of his own Israel;

To Abraham once promised,

And all his seed, whilst ages run.

To him, fortold by prophets old,

Again by prophets witnessed here,

The Father's greater witness bids

Us listen and with faith adore.

To thee, O Lord, be glory given,

Revealing thus thyself to-day,

With Father and with Spirit one,

For ever and for evermore. Amen.