.
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
You may notice that the church seems a little plainer, a little less decorated than usual. You’re not imagining things—it is, and the reason, of course, is because we’re in Lent. Specifically, what you’re not seeing includes: flowers on the altar, and the Paschal Candle in its accustomed position near the baptismal font. In many places there are distinctive altar vestments (purple or unbleached linen) that denote the penitential character of the season, and sometimes different candlesticks are used. The liturgy itself also has a peculiarly Lenten feel: the Christian expletive of praise—Alleluia—is retired until the Easter Vigil, the General Confession is often moved to the beginning of the service. The service music is more restrained in tone. Instead of a blessing at the conclusion of the service, there is usually a “solemn prayer over the people.”
Nonetheless, please note that this is the second Sunday in Lent—the preposition is important, for Sundays in the season are manifestly not of Lent. Lent is a time of penitence and fasting; all Sundays are, by definition, feasts of the resurrection, “little Easters,” whenever they occur. For those observing dietary abstinence as a Lenten discipline, it would not be inappropriate to relax such measures on Sundays in Lent.
The word “Lent” is related to the same Old English root from which we get “lengthen,” alluding to the fact that, in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting longer at this time of year. Christians in the early centuries of the church put a great deal of energy into the annual observance of our Lord’s death and resurrection. Baptisms were saved up to be performed at the Great Vigil of Easter (Easter eve into Easter morning). Those who were under penitential discipline were restored to full fellowship with the church in time to make their communion at the vigil liturgy. It seemed appropriate that there be a time of focused preparation for these observances, a time in which all the Faithful could live in solidarity with those who were going to be baptized or restored. This period of preparation eventually evolved into Lent.
There are two lesser commemorations in our calendar:
Tuesday—St Gregory of Nyssa was one of the bright lights of eastern Christianity as a bishop, philosopher, and theologian in the last fourth century.
Friday—St Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome. Pope Gregory served in the late sixth century and briefly into the seventh. Through his administrative skill and pastoral aptitude, he did a great deal to consolidate the leading position of the Roman church in western Christianity. The plainsong musical idiom known as Gregorian Chant is named for him, as is the Gregorian Calendar. As Anglicans, our particular inheritance from Gregory flows from his sending the monk Augustine on a mission to the English kingdom of Kent (597), where the See of Canterbury was established.
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Channel: Wall Street Journal Author: Charlotte Hays
On a recent evening, about 60 people — ex-Episcopalians, curious Catholics and a smattering of earnest Episcopal priests in clerical collars — gathered [in downtown Washington] for an unusual liturgy: It was Evensong and Benediction, sung according to the Book of Divine Worship, an Anglican Use liturgical book still being prepared in Rome.
… One former Episcopalian present confessed to having to choke back tears as the first plainsong strains of “Humbly I Adore Thee,” the Anglican version of a hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas, floated down from the organ in the balcony. A convert to Catholicism, she could not believe she was sitting in a Catholic Church, hearing the words of her Anglican girlhood — and as part of an authorized, Roman Catholic liturgy. Read full post >> Go to the originating news channel for this excerpt to read the full article >>
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Channel: America Author: Austen Ivereigh
It has been a week of movement in the often arcane world of Anglican traditionalists seeking a home in Rome.
The Australian branch of Forward in Faith — the main association of Anglo-Catholic priests — has become the first group within the Anglican Church to vote to accept the Pope’s ordinariate offer (their 15 February statement is here). FiF Australia, which has 200 members and 16 parishes, will join the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) — which is not in communion with Canterbury, and has already voted to accept the ordinariate proposal — in a working party set up by the Australian Catholic bishops to negotiate terms.
This means that Australia will become, in effect, the test centre for the new ordinariates envisaged by Pope Benedict’s Anglicanorum coetibus.
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Channel: Catholic Herald Author: Damian Thompson
As it happens, there are prominent Catholics talking down the Ordinariate scheme, and they should be ashamed of themselves; but they certainly do not include Archbishop Bernard Longley, Bishop Malcolm McMahon and Bishop Alan Hopes, the three bishops on the Commission working out the details of the English scheme. This seems to me to be an ideal trio of English bishops for the task, combining holiness, humour, intellect and, in the case of Bishop Hopes, the specialist knowledge that comes from having once been a leading Anglo-Catholic.
No: what is slowing things down is the fact that a divided, demoralised and confused Anglo-Catholic constituency is under pressure to make decisions about an offer that is not yet on the table. How could it be, when so much hangs on the attitude and decisions of the Church of England?
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Channel: Catholic News Service Author: Mark Pattison
Although the 1995 encyclical “Ut Unum Sint” by Pope John Paul II helped with Catholic-Orthodox relations, more progress could be made with a nudge from the man currently occupying the chair of Peter, according to an Orthodox bishop who has been part of Catholic-Orthodox dialogues for more than a decade.
“Ut Unum Sint” “was certainly helpful,” said Metropolitan Kallistos. “As an Orthodox, I was surprised and moved at Pope John Paul II when he openly asked for the help of others to understand his role and his primacy as bishop of Rome to the universal church.”
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