I have been requested to produce badges through the liturgical seasons. You will find badges for Ordinary Time, and the HTML to add to your website or blog on the home page. OK – you’ve twisted my arm and I’ve made “After Pentecost” and “After Trinity” badges for you as well…
Monthly Archive for May, 2009
orans posture - Catacombs of Priscilla, 3rd century AD
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[Aside: Not all Roman Catholic Eucharistic Prayers have a "consecration" (in the sense of Last Supper story). The Roman Catholic Church recognises the Eucharistic Prayer of Addai and Mari as a valid, consecrating eucharistic prayer even though it does not even contain the Last Supper story, nor the words “this is my body”, nor "this is my blood." These last two quotes from the Last Supper at that event were words, not of consecration, but of administration/distribution.]
The article NZ Catholic highlights the Vatican’s General Instruction of the Roman Missal has “they should kneel at the consecration, except when prevented on occasion by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason.” Even there, however, this appears in the Errata of that document. The article goes on to point to Cardinal Ratzinger’s (aka Pope Benedict XVI) writing on kneeling in The Spirit of the Liturgy.
The bishops at the first ecumenical council of Nicaea (325) were horrified to discover that Christians were kneeling on Sundays and in the Great Easter Season of 50 days (which they termed Pentecost) and ruled in canon 20:
Since there are some who kneel on Sunday and during the season of Pentecost, this holy synod decrees that, so that the same observances may be maintained in every diocese, one should offer one’s prayers to the Lord standing.
Bishop Cullinane in the NZ Catholic article highlights that “the ancient tradition regarded standing as the posture of the Easter people.”
Other denominations may not have a moment-of-consecration theology, and wonder what the rationale for the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer is if its purpose is effected by a small section within it. These may see the whole Eucharistic Prayer as consecrating – or in fact the whole eucharistic action (from taking bread and wine, giving thanks, breaking bread and distributing bread and wine) as consecrating. Anglican eucharistic theology was sent off on a tangent after the discontinuity of the Commonwealth Period when the 1662 Book of Common Prayer added an “Amen” after the Last Supper story, put the fraction (breaking of the bread) as an action into the Last Supper story, and referred to what followed the Sanctus as the “consecration” – implying that the preface was not part of the “consecration”.
As with the NZ Catholic article, in which the new National Liturgy Advisory Group are reported as asking the bishops to review their decision and be stronger for standing, so the NZ Prayer Book commission presented to the Anglican General Synod (1987) a rubric at the start of the Eucharistic Prayer:
It is recommended that the people stand throughout the following prayer.
This not only preserves the unity of the Eucharistic Prayer, but also has the same posture for the presiding priest as well as all others participating. I well remember the debate about this in General Synod as some misunderstood the meaning of the word “recommend” and argued that the “traditional” posture of kneeling be added, so that the rubric now reads “It is recommended that the people stand or kneel throughout the following prayer.” (Note the posture does not change from “The Lord is here…” to the Great Amen). There was much muttering of “what about people in a hospital bed… wheelchair…” I note that the Book of Worship of the United Church of Christ precedes every rubric with “All who are able may…” Each of their Eucharistic Prayers (called there “Communion Prayer”) has the rubric, “All who are able may stand.”
I know that this Sunday, the Day of Pentecost, some communities will celebrate using the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. They are doing this to commemorate the anniversary of its introduction. It was a very catholic prayer book. In 1552 a more reformed prayer book ensued, but this did not come into use because, on the death of Edward VI, his half-sister Mary I re-introduced Latin worship, re-establishing the link with Rome. Contemporary prayer book reforms have moved from the revised 1552 position (1559, 1662) in the direction of 1549 – from Lambeth east, beyond Geneva, and even further Eastwards than Rome, drawing on Eastern Orthodox liturgical insights and traditions in contemporary Anglican liturgy.
There had been a month of debate in the English parliament about this Prayer Book. Then on 21 January 1549 they passed the first Act of Uniformity. This included a draft of a new “convenient and meet order, rite, and fashion of common and open prayer and administration of the sacraments.” It had been prepared by a committee of “the most learned and discreet bishops, and other learned men of this realm.” On the Day of Pentecost (called “Whitsunday”) of 1549 (June 9), all clergy were required to follow this Prayer Book. If you used something else, or didn’t use this, or disparaged the Prayer Book there were penalties from £10 to life imprisonment and losing all your property.
And where heretofore, there hath been great diversitie in saying and synging in churches within this realme: some folowyng Salsbury use, some Herford use, same the use of Bangor, some of Yorke, and some of Lincolne: Now from hencefurth, all the whole realme shall have but one use. And if any would judge this waye more painfull, because that all thynges must be read upon the boke, whereas before, by the reason of so often repeticion, they could saye many thinges by heart: if those men will waye their labor, with the profite in knowlege, whiche dayely they shal obtein by readyng upon the boke, they will not refuse the payn, in consideracion of the greate profite that shall ensue therof.
Alongside the enjoyment, there have been a lot of reflections on don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover Susan Boyle.
We can now add to that, after her performance on Sunday, Simon Cowell apologising to Susan,
You know what, I just want to apologise because of the way we treated you before you sang the first time. You made me and everyone else look very stupid and I’m very happy for you, very proud for you.
Apologising is (too) often seen as a sign of weakness. Actually it is a sign of inner strength. As is accepting an apology without diminishing the person who apologises. Many (most?) services include saying “sorry” – it may be in a confession and absolution, it may be in the form of the Lord’s Prayer, where “forgive us” is said with the confidence of a preciously loved child.
My good e-friend Fran Szpylczyn has honoured me with the Lemonade Stand Award. At her Parish Blog of St Edward the Confessor she generously writes
Liturgy is the blog of Anglican priest Bosco Peters. Fr. Bosco is tireless in his efforts to engage and inform people of faith. I do not think that he has an equal in how he uses the internet as a pulpit and as a source of community, catechesis and of prayer.
As is the nature of such internet memes, one can trace the “apostolic succession” back quite a way: Fran received it from three bloggers, including Catholic Sensibility and Between the ‘Burgh and the City, these two had both received it from Fr. Austin, a Concord Pastor, who received it from Deacon Greg who received it from Deacon Scott Drudge who received it from A Roman Catholic Convert who received it from okie-booklady who received it from Book Bird Dog – are we back at St. Paul yet? 
So that this apostolic succession is not broken, I want to pass this honour on to:
Seven whole days Scott Gun is humorous and thought-provoking.
Bishop Alan’s Blog Bishop Alan is thought-provoking and a… bishop. We need more blogging bishops.
Santos Woodcarving Popsicles The name says it all! It just needed the lemonade stand to complete the image.
3 minute theologian for the attention-deficit generation – what was I giving to him again… Oh yes…
The Cartoon Blog by Dave Walker What might Jesus have been drawing in the sand in John 8?
A Jewish Rabbi and a Catholic Priest met at the town’s annual 4th of July picnic. Old friends, they began their usual banter.
“This baked ham is really delicious,” the priest teased the rabbi. “You really ought to try it. I know it’s against your religion, but I can’t understand why such a wonderful food should be forbidden! You don’t know what you’re missing. You just haven’t lived until you’ve tried Mrs. Hall’s prized Virginia Baked Ham. Tell me, Rabbi, when are you going to break down and try it?”
The rabbi looked at the priest with a big grin, and said, “At your wedding.”
Joan of Arc - Feast Day May 30
In response to someone viewing my video on the Liturgy of the Notices, they emailed me a genuine notice from their parish bulletin. I have permission to quote it here – I have removed locations to keep anonymity:
Joan of Arc/Pentecost BBQ– Sun., May 31st after the 5:45 p.m. Mass (Parish of St Ann O’Nymous) Come out to Ann O’Nymous location after Mass to celebrate the feasts of Joan of Arc and Pentecost with a bonfire and BBQ!
On a more serious note, what about, on the Day of Pentecost, processing out with lit candles:
Everyone carried a candle lit from the Paschal Candle during the Easter vigil, symbolically sharing the light of the risen Christ. Perhaps on the Day of Pentecost, during the period of reflection after receiving communion, these candles could be relit from the Paschal Candle. The Pentecostal fire is thereby visibly divided and shared by everyone (cf. Acts 2:1-4; first reading for the Day of Pentecost, Three Year Series). The Paschal Candle can then be extinguished, vividly concluding the Fifty Days. The risen and ascended Christ, gone from our sight, is still present by the Spirit and we are commissioned to go out into the world to spread the light of Christ. (This might be symbolised by all processing out with the lit candles).
OTHER RESOURCES
A reflection on the Day of Pentecost collect/opening prayer
As the Day of Pentecost concludes a season, this collect would not be used during the week following. Instead, the Ordinary Sunday that this day replaces (9th Ordinary Sunday of the Year – Sunday closest to June 1 - Sunday between 29 May and 4 June) is the collect that is used if required during this week.
An outline for a vigil for the Day of Pentecost
Whilst in the Northern Hemisphere Christians pray during a Week of prayer for Christian Unity from 18 to 25 January, in the Southern Hemisphere that period of prayer extends from Ascension Day to the Day of Pentecost. This year the resources for this period have been provided from Korea.
This divided country points to the words from Ezekiel 37:17 “That they may become one in your hand.” The prophet Ezekiel also lived in a tragically divided nation and longed for the unity of his people.
2008 marked the centenary of this week of prayer, having begun in 1908, by the Rev. Paul Wattson, a North American Anglican priest, who founded the “Octave for unity”. The Faith and Order movement began publishing “Suggestions for an octave of prayer for Christian unity” in 1926 and in 1966, the WCC Commission on Faith and Order and the Roman Catholic Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (now known as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity-PCPCU) began official joint preparation of materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
You can download here a PDF of this 2009 resources or follow this link to the Vatican website with the same material.
Remember you can also go to the virtual chapel to pray on this site – including the possibility of lighting a candle there for Christian Unity.
Here is a link to is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer for the seventh Sunday of Easter, May 24.
Here is a link to is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer from BCP (TEC) Common Worship etc. for the seventh Sunday of Easter, May 24.
This is the week when the 40-day Easter Seasoners part company from the 50-day Easter Seasoners. Many of us, I’m sure, know of communities still adding Alleluias to responses and still using Easter greetings. Enthusiasm may be waning. On Thursday is Ascension Day, when the temptation for many is to snuff out the Easter Candle and start a new, brief season. Here are a couple of places to help think through if this is really a good idea or not:
The Easter Season
Ascension Day reflection based on the collect/opening prayer.
Let us play
I have written previously about (children’s) play as a model for liturgy. “As children we play at what may one day become a reality.” (Celebrating Eucharist Chapter 1). These videos bring in another dimension of “play” – playing music together. In this case a mobile recording studio recorded the same song in many different places with the belief that “music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.” As churches bicker with each other over obscure differences, and fight internally about comparatively minor issues, these videos remind me of some of the things that are really important, and give the challenge and hope that liturgy, “playing together,” might also have the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.
I am only sorry I did not discover this illustration for you for the fourth Sunday of Easter – but you can always store it away for next year! Meanwhile enjoy
Twitter is a fast-growing “micro-blogging” site. A person places a post, a “tweet”, of up to 140 characters in length. This is displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). This very simple idea has developed with a plethora of online tools and applications. After playing around with it a little, I soon realised it is ideal for sharing short quotes from the liturgy as well as pointing to liturgical resources as well as picking up some of the other interactive conversations that ensue – even non-liturgical
So you can follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/liturgy or in twitter parlance @liturgy
I am not alone in the realisation that twitter is ideal for “tweeting” short prayers and other church use. It has even been recommended by a cardinal. During Holy Week the Episcopalian church, Trinity Wall Street, realised the potential of twittering the passion from various twitter accounts.
One, fairly obvious, aside: within non-virtual communities there is always the danger of intercession degenerating into gossip. That is clearly magnified online.
There are a number of others who use twitter primarily for sharing liturgy or prayers. I note the following who fit this liturgical use of twitter, and if you are on twitter and fit this category or know others who do – please add this in a comment:
@liturgy
@TheUrbanAbbey
@TrinityWallSt
@twiturgy
@twitturgies
@prayinghours
@YourPrayerChain
@prayer4u
@chrysostominter
@prayingpsalms
@prayingpotp
@TrinityPrincetn
@EasternOrthodox
@kindlejoy
Finally, there is “Tweetgrid” of different twitter prayer feeds found at http://www.prayerontwitter.net this Prayer on Twitter is “where an ancient Christian practice meets a new technology.”
We all, from time to time, encounter individuals (even online or elsewhere) who claim to follow the Bible literally in every detail – but a little pressing shows them to be selective in what they actually adhere to and what they ignore or sidestep.
Bart Ehrman was such a person. Raised in the Episcopal Church (Fr. Matthew’s), he had a conversion experience as a high school sophomore and was “born again”. He attended Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton, and Princeton Theological Seminary. He held and taught and wrote about that the Bible was completely without error in the original texts. However, spending more time with those original texts resulted in his realisation that those texts themselves showed the glaring weaknesses of an inerrant approach and, as in Father Matthew’s video, Ehrman’s faith came tumbling down. And he now has a new book.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Bart Ehrman | ||||
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There are other models for treating the Bible with appropriate reverence through which the Spirit continues to speak to the church. And which do not need us to leave our brains at the church door as we enter.
One model is the Bible as the memory of God’s people. My memory is very tied in with my identity – the Bible is tied in with the identity of God’s people. Memory is not a film of the events of my life – it is the essence of those events as interpreted by me and how they are significant to me. Memory collects similarities together. Memory distorts and rearranges in order to make sense of my life and interpret the events to myself. In the library of the Bible, with its variety of genres, of literary styles, God interprets events and makes sense of them for us. We are generally agile at recognising what literary style we are dealing with – but occasionally we do get it wrong, even with contemporary material – misjudging an ironic piece and reading it straight, or not recognising something is actually an advertisement and judging it to be an article. With ancient texts we are far less agile at recognising the literary style. We need to have the humility to acknowledge we may be incorrect in judging whether a text is history or allegory, fable, parable, or poetry. The Bible may be moving in a general direction, and we may misjudge its trajectory. Reverence for scripture need not be opposed to humility about our understanding and interpretation of it.
Hat tip to Andrew plus
Here is a link to is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer for the sixth Sunday of Easter, May 17.
[Whilst the formulary, the NZPrayer Book p704 surprisingly has the "Stir up..." collect we usually associate with the Sunday before Advent, the 2009 lectionary points to the above collect instead]
Here is a link to is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer vrom BCP (TEC) for the sixth Sunday of Easter, May 17.
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