Thursday, March 27, 2008

Corrected Holy Week

A corrected Holy Week schedule for S. Clement's, from JDTreat.com

Palm Sunday
Matins and Lauds, 7:00 a.m.
Low Mass, 8.00 a.m.
Prime & Terce, 10:00 a.m.
Palm Ceremonies & High Mass 11.00 a.m.
Sext & None, 3:30 p.m.
Solemn Vespers & Benediction, 4.00 p.m.

Wednesday in Holy Week
Low Mass, 7:00 a.m.
Vespers, 5:30 p.m.
Tenebrae (recited), 6:30 p.m.

Maundy Thursday
Hours, 11:00 a.m.
Vespers, 5:30 p.m.
High Mass, Stripping of Altars, & the Maundy, 7.00 p.m.
Compline, 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday
Tenebrae (recited), 7:00 a.m.
Hours, 11:00 a.m.
Mass of the Pre-Sanctified and Veneration of the Relic of the True Cross, 12 Noon
Compline, 2:00 p.m.

Easter Even
Tenebrae (recited), 7:00 a.m.
Hours, 11:00 a.m.
Easter Vigil & First High Mass of Easter, 4.00 p.m.
Compline, 7:00 p.m.

Easter Day
Matins and Lauds, 7:00 a.m.
Hours, 9:30 a.m.
Low Mass, 8:00 a.m.
Procession & High Mass, 11 a.m
Vespers, 1:00 p.m.

I Should Be So Lucky



This one's even better.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A few interesting liturgical (and other) links

*Rites relating to ministry, from the ELCA
*the Book of Divine Worship (The BCP Catholicized)
*Divine Liturgy of St Tikhon (the BCP Orthified)
*What bishops and clergy should know about religious life
*Quean Lutibelle's Advice to Lesbigay Aspirants for Ordination in the Episcopal Church
*People, Look East! (Br Tobias on celebration ad orientem)
*Ordinary of the Mass (English Missal and Roman 1962)
*1965 Ordo Missae (what Vatican II was supposed to look like)
*What Roman Catholics and Anglicans Don't Know About Each Other
*Episcopal Priest becomes Catholic Laywoman
*"My Mother's Funeral"
*Disordered Thinking (Br Tobias on the ordination of women)
*The Sex Articles (Br Tobias's masterful piece on the marriage and homosexual unions)
*When to Kneel, Stand, or Sit (from Una Voce)
*How to Serve the Latin Mass
*The Tridentine Missal
*Fr Fox on celebration ad orientem
*The 1662 BCP in Contemporary English
*The Divine Liturgy of St Gregory (the traditional Roman Mass Orthified)
*An Eastern Rite Lutheran Divine Liturgy
*How do the say the Office 1662-style with the 1979 BCP
*How to say 1962-style Morning Prayer with the BAS
*Order for Worship with Holy Communion (Church of Norway)
*Services in English (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland)
*The Polish National Catholic Church's recension of the Novus Ordo
*Ordination and Consecration of a Bishop (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada)
*Church of Sweden Service Book in English
*Pfatteicher on the Daily Office in the new ELCA/ELCIC and LCMS/LCC books
*Order of Service for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Prayer Book parishes in ECUSA

We think we have it bad? According to the PBS-USA site, only seven parishes in ECUSA use the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer at their principal services. (However, their listing would appear to be incomplete).

*St John's Chapel, Monterey CA
*Guardian Angels, Lantana FL (Missal interpolations)
*St John's, Savannah GA
*All Saints, Thomasville GA
*St John's, Detroit MI
*All Saints, Wynnewood PA
*The Zabriskie Memorial Church of S. John the Evangelist, Newport RI (with Missal interpolations)
*St Andrew, Fort Worth TX
*St Thomas, Houston TX

Why the popularity of St John and All Saints?

All Saints, Thomasville, uses the 1979 kalendar and lectionary.

One wonders if the folks in Wynnewood lose any of their potential customers to S. Clem's.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Brief to the Rector on the Rite of the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday

I submitted this paper to my parish priest last year during Lent. The result was that the washing of the feet was used experimentally in the children's chapel last year, and this year will be reintroduced at the Sung Mass upstairs.

*****

Brief to the Rector on the Rite of the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday

Mandate

1. This brief arose out of concerns about the appropriateness of introducing the rite of foot-washing, mandatum, or pedilavium, at the Maundy Thursday liturgy.
2. The terms of this concern have to do with whether a literal obedience to Our Lord’s mandatum in fact best fulfills the spirit of the same. In particular, does washing the feet of a largely affluent group of parishioners bear out Christ’s commandment in any meaningful way?
3. This brief is charged with reconciling these concerns with proper regard for the liturgical traditions of the Church. In other words, Can the mandatum be executed in a manner relevant to the context of our mission at ________________ and consistent with the principles of social justice and human dignity that we strive to embody?

Considerations from Scripture and Tradition

4. The Gospels themselves recount the institution of the rite of foot-washing, as well as that of the Eucharist, at the Last Supper. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” [Jn 13:14-15] The tradition of the Church has not perpetuated the mandatum as a weekly accompaniment to the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Nevertheless, it has been retained in the liturgy for Maundy Thursday.
5. The Reformers largely did away with ceremonial acts such as the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, the administration of Holy Communion from the Reserved Sacrament on Good Friday, and the pedilavium itself. However, the Catholic Revival of the nineteenth century and the more recent Liturgical Movement have seen a renewed interest in recovering liturgical practices lost during the Reformation.
6. It is taken as a given in this brief that both the preservation of the authentic liturgical heritage of the Western Church and the Gospel imperative to social justice are desirable insofar as they are reconcilable.
7. It is particularly desirable that, where possible, all who wish to do so are permitted to present themselves for the washing of the feet, rather than a representative few.

Towards a Contemporary Rationale of the Rite

8. The presenting issue is that the observance of the pedilavium in a parish of considerable means does nothing to alleviate the suffering of the poor, or to authentically fulfill Our Lord’s commandment to serve.
9. Care must be taken not to confuse symbolic and “real word” goals. There is an element of danger in seeking to accomplish missionary goals through symbolic means. The mandatum is not a corporal work of mercy, and gives no pretence of being such. Rather, it is the achieving of a symbolic goal through symbolic means. Practical goals, such as the compassionate alleviation of suffering, must be achieved through practical means.
10. The celebration of foot-washing cannot obviate the Church’s responsibility to the “least of [the] … members of [Christ’s] family”[Mt 25:40]. The Church must continue to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy—this may indeed include the washing of feet that are far less sanitised than those to be found in the parish of _______________.
11. This does not, however, preclude the celebration of the mandatum rite. The symbolism of the rite is complementary to the fulfillment of corporal works of mercy in the mission field, not opposed to it. It is certainly in the great tradition of the Tractarian Socialists to observe both the ceremonial and social-justice commandments of the Gospel.
12. The pedilavium accomplishes precisely what it sets out to do, which is a mutual humbling of the parties involved.
13. The clergy, for their part, are reminded of their position of service, of diakonia, and are provided with a safeguard against the inflated ego of an overly clericalised mindset.
14. Furthermore, even the most prominent local citizen in the parish community benefits from the grace of humility when he or she submits to the mandatum. Rather than feeling smugly proud of themselves, it must be not be forgotten that, because of the taboos in Western culture, the parishioner is likely to feel humbled—and possibly even mildly uncomfortable—upon the removal of his or her footwear. The experience of humility is therefore mutual.

Conclusion/Recommendations

15. The liturgy of the foot-washing accomplishes its symbolic aims, but does not obviate the obligation of the local church to perform corporal works of mercy. The two goals can and should coexist. Our Lord reminded us “you always have the poor with you” at the same time as his feet were anointed with oil [Mt 26:11].
16. It is legitimate to retain or to introduce the celebration of the pedilavium provided that it does not become an “escape hatch” from commitment to the poor. The work of such groups as the Outreach Committee is not impeded by the revival of this ancient practice.
17. The celebration of the mandatum could successfully be introduced to ____________, especially if accompanied by strong preaching on the importance of extending this symbolic action to our actual relations with the poor in our midst.

G. McLarney
University of Guelph
Laetare Sunday 2007

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Keeping track - Part II

There are now fifteen Canadian SoCo parishes:

*The Church of the Good Shepherd, Vancouver, BC
*Church of the Resurrection, Hope, BC
*Church of the Holy Cross, Abbotsford, BC
*St John's (Shaughnessy) Anglican Church,Vancouver, BC
*St. John's Richmond, Richmond, BC
*St Mary’s of the Incarnation (Metchosin), Victoria, BC
*St Matthew's Anglican Church, Abbotsford, BC
*St Matthias and St Luke Anglican Church, Vancouver, BC
*Church of the Resurrection, Brandon, Manitoba
*Church of the Good Shepherd, St Catharines, Ontario
*St Alban the Martyr Anglican Church, Ottawa, Ontario
*St. Chad's Anglican Church, Toronto, Ontario
*St George's Anglican Church, Lowville, Ontario
*St Hilda's Anglican Church, Oakville, Ontario
*Faith Anglican Church, Ottawa-area, Ontario

The above parishes belong to what is being styled as the Anglican Network in Canada. This name is being used for what basically amounts to Bishop Harvey's SoCo diocese in Canada. There are four other "Anglican Essentials Network" parishes, which remain in the Anglican Church of Canada.

*St Barnabas Anglican Church, Medicine Hat, Alberta
*St. John the Evangelist, Calgary, Alberta
*St Peter's Anglican Church, Okotoks, Alberta
*St Aidan’s, Windsor, Ontario

I would be very interested to see what St John's, Calgary does. They seem like they would be at home in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, with their birettas, Walsingham shrine, and BCP Masses with Anglican Missal interpolations. They are also the only Anglo-Catholic parish in the Network. Could it be because most AC parishes can't afford to take a firm stand either way on the 40th Article ("Against Poofters")?

The Diocese of Niagara has temporarily lost access to two of its parishes following an interim court judgment. Meanwhile, the Diocese of Toronto, which had been kept out of St Chad's under lock and guard, have changed the locks. Watch this space.

(An observation on St Chad's from moveable_type on Ship of Fools: he notes that "their sign refers to them being 'biblical Anglicans,' or some such thing, as if the rest of us worshipped Ra").

Triduum at S. Clement's

Maundy Thursday
7pm High Mass, Procession to the Altar of Repose, Stripping of the Altars, and the Maundy

Good Friday
7am Said Tenebrae
12noon Mass of the Pre-Sanctified and Veneration of the Relic of the True Cross

Easter Even
7am Said Tenebrae
4pm Easter Vigil and First High Mass of Easter

Easter Day
8am Low Mass
11am Procession and High Mass
No Solemn Vespers and Benediction

A couple of editorial comments: that is the earliest Easter Vigil I have ever heard of (except for when it was held the morning of Holy Saturday, but given that S. Clement's seems to adhere to the rubrics as they existed in 1958, that would predate even their practice). Also, Easter seems like an odd day to skip Solemn Vespers and Benediction. Perhaps the clergy are simply too exhausted to keep awake for an hour (sound familiar?) but one would think that, perhaps, a spiky-minded cleric (perhaps a deacon?) from a parish with a less rigorous Holy Week schedule could be borrowed. In any case, though, it looks on balance like the clergy and people of S. Clement's have a commendable plan for the Great Three Days.