How High Are Anglo-Catholics?  

Posted by Joe Rawls

Anglo-Catholics get a bad rap--sometimes justified, of course--as liturgical fussbudgets, concerned only with liturgical minutiae and with replicating the way things were done in the Roman Catholic Church prior to Vatican II.   A more sensible and accurate view of Anglo-Catholicism is found in What is Anglo-Catholicism by Rev John D Alexander, SSC.  The final part of the essay lists nine ways that Anglo-Catholics are "high", all of them much more substantial than lace surplices. A hat-tip to Rev Canon Robert Hendrickson.

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1.  A High View of God.  Anglo-Catholic worship at its best cultivates a sense of reverence, awe, and mystery in the presence of the Holy One...

2.  A High View of Creation... The Anglo-Catholic view of the world is highly sacramental; in worship we gather up the best of creation--as reflected in art, craftsmanship, music, song, flowers, incense, etc--and offer it all back up to God.

3.  A High View of the Incarnation...God became man in order to transform human existence through participation in his divine life.

4.  A High View of the Atonement...The image of Jesus on the cross reminds us of the depth and horror of human sin, and of the price that God has paid for our redemption...Many Anglo-Catholics find the sacrament of Penance an indispensable aid in this process. 

5.  A High View of the Church...We regard the universal church neither as an institution of merely human origin, nor as a voluntary association of individual believers, but as a wonderful mystery...

6.  A High View of the Communion of Saints....We have fellowship with all who live in Christ.  Anglo-Catholicism thus affirms the legitimacy of praying for the dead, and of asking the saints in heaven for their prayers.

7.  A High View of the Sacraments...Holy Baptism establishes our identity once for all as children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven...And in the Holy Eucharist, Christ becomes objectively present in the Blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood...

8.  A High View of Holy Orders...Anglo-Catholicism has borne witness that the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons in apostolic succession is God-given...

9.  A High View of Anglicanism.  We affirm that the Anglican Churches are truly part of Christ's Holy Catholic Church...Since the days of the Oxford Movement, our standard has been the faith and practice of the ancient, undivided Church...



Epiphany Proclamation 2014  

Posted by Joe Rawls

A couple of days late, but still relevant, is the Epiphany Proclamation, an ancient custom in which the dates  of Easter and other important moveable feasts were solemnly announced after the reading of the Gospel on the Feast of the Epiphany. 

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Dear brothers and sisters,

The glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return.

Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation. 

Let us recall the year's culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord:  his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the seventeenth day of April and the evening of the nineteenth day of April, Easter Sunday being on the twentieth day of April.

Each Easter--as on each Sunday--the Holy Church makes present the great and saving death by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death.  From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the fifth day of March.

The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the twenty-ninth day of May.

Pentecost, joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the eighth day of June.

And, this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the thirtieth day of November.

Likewise the Pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.

To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever.

Amen.