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.

A Solemn High Mass in COTA?

This year, we were able to break significant ground in the Chapel of the Apostles (COTA)--the chapel for The School of Theology.  The Senior Class is divided up by the Subdean into Liturgy Planning Groups.  Each group, then, assumes responsiblily for planning and conducting 4-5 liturgies which constitute our Thursday evening "Community Eucharists."  Typically speaking, our Thursday evening liturgies are Rite II or come from Enriching Our Worship--very standard, nothing too complex for the overloaded diet of "Senioritis."  By chance, a group of spikes were placed together and out appeared Ritual Notes!

It must be said that our Subdean is firmly planted in the reforms of the Liturgical Movement, clear symbolism rooted in simplicity.  He did, however, pull out his own copy of Ritual Notes, 9th Edition (trumping my own edition) in our planning meeting!  Moreover, he allowed us to move the altar and re-orient the worship space for the ad orientum mass.  He even showed up for the liturgy.  He's come a long way!!!

It took some careful planning and loads of practice, but we were able to have a full on Solemn High Mass, Rite I.  The ceremonial was directed by Ritual Notes, as our celebrant was sometime associate of Church of the Advent, Boston.  Yours truly was the subdeacon!

Since our Seminary does not own a full high mass set of vestments, I was able to borrow the set from my field ed. parish, St. Paul's in Chattanooga.  We even vested the thurifer in a tunicle!  Our Lady of Walsingham made two appearances:  one in the icon that I wrote and in the statue from Walsingham placed on the offering table!  Spikery at its highest level!

Two observations that struck me.  Whilst I've been worshipping in this space for the past two years, I've never felt the kind of excitement that I felt this past Thursday night.  First, I was struck by the fact that over 90 people from our community attended--with lots of kids in tow.  Getting 90 people to voluntary come out for anything in our community can be a challenge.  Many of the juniors came wearing their cassocks, hinting that there is a groundswell of support for this liturgical style.  Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of compliments that came from the congregation that was present. Many "thanked" us for doing this.  I was relived that everything went smoothly.  Many remarked as though it appeared that we have been doing this for a while!  Thanks be to God.

Morning Prayer Reflection

Proper 26,  Daily Office Year 1

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Chapel of the Apostles, Sewanee

Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47

Revelation 11:1-19

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Thomas Merton once wrote that perhaps the best view of the world is experienced from standing on its fringes, on the margins outside of the city. The readings in the Office this morning, I think, help restore the tension found in the midst of the Kingdom of God.  On one side we have the restoration or rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah, with great fanfare and processions.  In the Revelation to John, we have the utter destruction of the city with dead bodies laying waste in the streets, earthquakes, peals of thunder, and so forth.   If we take Brother Merton’s perspective, then, what do we see in the city?  Celebration?  Devastation?

            

In the midst of the paradox, I believe that we can see the need for recovering Kingdom theology.  The Kingdom is like…it’s like…well, we struggle in the pulpit to articulate exactly what the Kingdom of God is.  It goes by many names:  God’s Divine Commonwealth, the Kingdom of Christ, the Reign of God.  Our wise Lord used parables to not only stretch our minds but prevent the Kingdom from being limited to mere human vocabulary.  The Kingdom of God can only be seen from the margins, here Merton’s view is that of Our Lord’s who spent his earthly ministry deep in the heart of the edges and corners of the world. 

            

The good news of the Kingdom of God is indeed revolutionary news.  That the Kingdom of God stands in contrast to and in conflict with the powers and principalities of this world is proof that it’s origins are not of this world—the Kingdom of God stands as judgment upon it.  Kingdom theologian Kenneth Leech writes, “the Kingdom is otherworldly…a constant symbol of the other world, a sign of transcendence.  It is a source of change and transformation for this world, a vision and impulse for a new world.”[1]  Moreover, Leech warns us that for too long the Church has evacuated the good, revolutionary news of the Kingdom, loosing the essence of conflictual and world-transforming dimension.

            

So did the great processions and fanfare in Nehemiah appear utterly ridiculous to the hungry, the orphaned, and the widowed?  Does the utter ruin of the city that John reveals in his writing fill the poor with a sense of doom and gloom? Where do you choose to stand and see?

            

Make no mistake, you cannot help build the Kingdom of God.  Nay, if you’re looking for it, you may be well served to look at a tiny mustard seed.  It’s already come.  Embrace it.  Taste it.  Live it and further it’s mission in the world in your own ministry, today.  Join the revolution.  Amen.

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[1] Kenneth Leech, We Preach Christ Crucified. (New York: Church Publishing, 2005), 43.

House of All Souls: One Monk’s Heart for Building a Home

Brother Ron Fender BSG, a brother in the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory the Great (a religious order in the Episcopal Church), has been tending and washing the feet of the homeless in Chattanooga for the past seven years as his ministry.  He is a case manager at the Community Kitchen, a Chattanooga refuge for the hungry and homeless.

Inspired by such projects as the Brother Bernard Fessenden House in Yonkers and Common Ground in New York City, Brother Ron sought to build an intentional community to house homeless men in the form of a monastic community.  He discovered that many who completed recovery programs and were eventually placed into apartments as a way to rebuild their lives, quickly fell back to street life.  Fender notes that, “putting a homeless person in an isolated room or apartment without supportive services, or even furniture or household goods makes no sense whatsoever… the most successful model for ending homelessness is to create community for the homeless.”  Brother Ron is seeking to do just that.

With a grant from The Rosewood Foundation, a new house has been constructed and nearly completed in Chattanooga.  Named the ‘House of All Souls,’ this home will bring together eight homeless men along with Brother Ron, who have been screened and agree to live in this intentional community.  The men will continue in their recovery programs while offering mutual support in the form of their own community. 

At the heart of the House of All Souls is a chapel where the men will worship God and keep Christ at the center of their lives.  The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) has donated copies of The Book of Common Prayer, Hymnals, and various books on spirituality to help further this new community.  Gifts of money, liturgical goods and resources (especially an altar) are greatly needed.  Ron hopes that the Bishop of East Tennessee will be able to come and bless the new chapel.      

Brother Ron was recently featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition which is chronicling stories from Main Street America.  You can listen to the archived story at http://tinyurl.com/fendernpr2009.