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.

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Icon of Charles, King and Martyr, 2009.  

Acrylic on Wood.  Author's private collection.

Retreat Prayers

Silence.  The deserted wilderness.  The furnace of transformation.  Abiding love.  Wooing of the Spirit.  These were some of the many themes that kept surfacing during my vigil retreat in preparation for taking vows.  To synthesize these themes, I wrote several prayers dedicated to our patron, Abba Anthony the Great.  You'll most likely see the repetition of the themes throughout, but I wanted to share these with you.

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O Christ, draw near me.  Woo my soul to the desert where I may be transformed in the furnace of silence.  Abba Anthony guide me; your life to Christ is my daystar and your faith is my hope.  Help me learn to stand before God in silence, to be still, and listen with the ear of my heart.  Amen.

A More Typical Prayer Book Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, instill in my heart your transforming silence; whereby your servant Anthony the Great witnessed the solitary life of faith to show the abundance of your grace and love; bid us in quietude to be still and to know that you are our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Come Holy Spirit and woo me to the deep, fiery wellsprings of your love.
Lead me through the desert and into your light, never leave me.
Come breathe in me the strength and courage to stand and walk
today, so that I may witness your love and truth.
Come, may I abide in your peace.  Amen.

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.       

Got Fog?

We are no strangers to fog here in Sewanee.  There's even the annual Fog Festival in nearby Monteagle to celebrate the haze.  High atop the Cumberland Plateau, the University sits quietly surrounded by misty, billowing clouds.  Some days it can really get to you; the fog can sometimes appear so thick that you can almost cut it.  Fog lights on your car fail even to provide visibility.

I wanted to capture the ghostly essence of the fog surrounding the main quad on campus--All Saints' Chapel and Breslin Tower.  Here are few of my photographs.

Breslin Tower

The Quad

All Saints' Chapel