Introit : Praise ye the Lord, ye children (Ps 113:1-4) -- Christopher Tye (1500-1572) Preces and Responses*: Wlliam Smith of Durham (1603-1645) Psalm 23: Dominus regit me -- Sir John Goss (1800-1880), The Lord is my shepherd; * therefore can I lack nothing. 2 He shall feed me in a green pasture, * and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. Magnificat sexti toni -- Adrian Willaert (1490-1562) Nunc dimittis tertii toni -- Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) Reflection on St … [Read more...]
Fr. Gavin Dunbar reflects on Michelangelo and the Conversion of Saint Paul
The Conversion of St Paul, Michelangelo, The Pauline Chapel, The Vatican (public domain) Scripture narratives are not just narratives. They don’t just tell us about persons and events: they are also reflections on the meaning of those events for faith; and this significance is conveyed by the way the story is told, by the selection of details, and the choice of words to describe them. A good preacher will bring out the significance of these stories for faith; and some of the best preachers … [Read more...]
Choral Evensong with Reflection for the Commemoration of St Thomas Aquinas
Image above taken from the upper tier of a polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece) painted by Carlo Crivelli in 1476 for the high altar of the church of San Domenico, in Ascoli Piceno in the Italian Marche, now in the National Gallery, London, originally placed with Saint Francis at the opposite end of the altarpiece with both looking up at the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, which was originally in the centre panel of the upper tier (now in New … [Read more...]
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – Address and Vigil service
The sisters of the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland were invited by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity to produce the liturgical material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year. The link below may be used to access the Audio of a webcast from the 2nd of three Vigils held over the course of the week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in this case held jointly (online) by the congregations of The Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair and the … [Read more...]
New Archbishop of Dublin makes waves – on women Deacons, Priests, same-sex unions and clerical celibacy
Considerable interest has been generated far beyond the shores of Ireland by the recently announced appointment of Dermot Farrell as the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, in succession to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin a former Vatican diplomat. The Archbishop elect gave a long interview to the Irish Times that has occasioned alarm among traditional Roman Catholics who understood him to have stated that he is "in favor of women deacons and married priests. He does not find in … [Read more...]
The Revd. Dr. Robert Crouse remembered
The Rt. Revd Anthony Burton, of the Parish of the Incarnation in Dallas, yesterday noted the tenth anniversary of the death of the Revd. Dr Crouse with this tribute on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bishopburton The Rev. Dr. Robert Crouse, one of the most influential Canadian theologians of his generation, died ten years ago tonight in his rural childhood home on Crouse Road, Crousetown, Nova Scotia, where his family had lived for more than 200 years. He was 80. He … [Read more...]
Choral Evensong upon the occasion of the Feast of St Aelred of Rievaulx
Illumination from a manuscript of St Aelred's Life of Edward the Confessor Showing St Aelred in monastic habit kneeling before King Henry II To hear the Audio please click on the link below: https://soundcloud.com/user-140188366/evensong-upon-the-feast-of-st-aelred-of-rievaulx Opening Anthem: Memento mei Paweł Łukaszewski (born 1968), Mark Dwyer, conductor Memento mei, Domine, dum veneris in regnum tuum. Remember me O Lord, when thou comest into thy kingdom. (cf … [Read more...]
Why follow the Anglican Way? A question answered in the writings of Dr Peter Toon
The Revd. Dr. Peter Toon (1939-2009) A long serving President of the Prayer Book Society and Editor of its Magazine WHY FOLLOW THE ANGLICAN WAY? The Anglican Way is both Ancient and Modern In religion what has been believed, taught and confessed for centuries and what has been prayed, tested and performed during two millennia is more likely to be a sound guide in our quests to find God than modern insights which pay no attention to “ancient wisdom.” In the Anglican Way, … [Read more...]
Reflection for the Season of Epiphany (with particular reference to Giotto’s Scrovegni Frescoes)
To hear the audio please use this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-140188366/epiphanytide-reflection-with-music Organ voluntary: Toccata del secondo tono, (Anon.), played by Alessandro Bianchi, on the organ of the Basilica di S. Paolo Cantù, Como.. Anthem: For unto us a child is born, (The Messiah), Handel Reflection, part 1, Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff The Shepherd’s Carol, Robert Chilcott Reflection, … [Read more...]
Eggnog — and how to use it all up
On a more seasonal note and from the (very) occasional series "Cooking with Cranmer" Society President Fr. Gavin Dunbar has some practical tips when he writes: Eggnog is on my mind, -- the home-made authentic stuff that makes my cat come begging when I pour a glass. (I dip my fingertip and he licks it off). Fortunately my parishioners believe in this culinary tradition and keep me well-stocked in season. But with ample stocks there are opportunities for experiment and these are … [Read more...]
Church & Culture the true Covid Crisis of 2020
The role of Christianity in shaping the culture, laws and ultimate identity of both the United States and United Kingdom specifically and more widely of western civilization has been central to the emergent intellectual and cultural crisis that may well prove for history the most enduring legacy of the COVID virus. It sets a powerful context and agenda which the Society will be addressing in the pages of its new look Anglican Way magazine - set for relaunch in January 2021 … [Read more...]
“A Prize Charlie” – A. N. Wilson on the Archbishop of Canterbury
The Crisis in the Episcopate “I do not suppose there is a single person in the country who finds Justin Welby an inspiring figure. Whether we think of his egotistical gesture of celebrating the Easter liturgy from the kitchen of a dismal flat in Lambeth Palace, or his recent suggestion that centuries-old church monuments, many of great beauty, should be gouged out in order tosatisfy his judgmental reading of history, the Archbishop of Canterbury seems like a prize Charlie.” So wrote the … [Read more...]
Reflection On The Last Great O Antiphon Of Advent, with Choral Music for Christmas Eve
Above: Mary Greets Elizabeth after the Annunciation, Fresco attributed to Isidoro Bianchi, Il Santuario di Santa Maria de Ghirli, Campione D'Italia To hear the Audio please click on the link below https://soundcloud.com/user-140188366/reflection-on-the-last-great-o-antiphon-of-advent-choral-music-for-christmas-eve Organ Voluntary: Cathedral Suite – Sarabande Played by Alessandro Bianchi The Organist and Director of Music at the Church of St Edward … [Read more...]
Of Alcuin and Antiphons…..
Raban Maur (left), supported by Alcuin (middle), dedicates his work to Archbishop Otgar of Mainz (Right) From the 9th Century Fulda - Manuscript: Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod.652, fol. 2v A reflection with Advent Choral Music including two settings of the O Antiphon: O Sapientia Organ Voluntary: Prelude on Rhosymedre -- Ralph Vaughan Williams Hymn: On Jordan’s bank (Winchester New) O Sapientia (the first of the “O Antiphons”) as set by Paweł Łukaszewski … [Read more...]
Advent Hope
BLESSED HOPE By The Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar (Rector St. John’s Episcopal Church, Savannah President of the Prayer Book Society, USA) I once listened to a clergyman speaking on the theme of hope: a great theme, and he knew how to talk. It became apparent, however, that the more he spoke the less he was saying. In particular I was struck by what he managed not to say: what we might hope for, and what we should hope in. His was a vague, generic hope, without any actual … [Read more...]
Governor Cuomo’s defeat on limiting church attendance
PBS Board Member William Murchison rebuts the impudent secularism of our time and reflects on the legal defeat of Governor Cuomo of New York in the Supreme Court in an article just published William Murchison argues that unjust treatment of churches in lockdowns shows just how disordered our priorities are when now of all times we should turn to God, in community. The most striking aspect for Murchison of the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision, disallowing New York Governor … [Read more...]
What is Common Prayer – by the Revd. Dr. Peter Toon
What is Common Prayer? The word “common” is used in all kinds of ways, and so what do Anglicans mean by the word “common” when it is associated with public prayer and worship? Since we are referring to the worship of our Creator and Redeemer, Almighty God, we can dismiss quickly the popular meaning of “common” as that which is ordinary, undistinguished or even of inferior quality. The texts of the services and rites used before God to address him are surely intended to be of high not low … [Read more...]
Richard Hooker on The Book of Common Prayer:
An extract from the "judicious" Mr Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book V, There is here a notably heavy emphasis upon the priority of corporate over individual prayer, of the importance of the holy place where worship occurs and of the vocation and holiness of the minister/priest who conducts the worship. Extempore prayer in comparison with the written Common Prayer is very much deprecated Private and public prayer This holy and religious duty of service towards God … [Read more...]
The First Sunday of Advent – Reflection with Choral Music
The Three Wise Men, John La Farge (1835-1910) La Farge, whose work in stained glass was widely admired is commemorate on 16th December together with Ralph Adams Cram and Robert Upjohn The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent: ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the … [Read more...]
Reflecting on the life to come…
A Reflection on the Last Things interspersed with choral music (The image above - public domain - is part of The Last Judgment a triptych attributed to the Flemish painter Hans Memling and painted between 1467 and 1471 now in the National Museum in Gdańsk in Poland) To listen click on this link below https://soundcloud.com/user-140188366/a-reflection-on-the-last-things-for-the-grosvenor-chapel-in-the-parish-of-mayfair-london Hymn, Now is the Evening Introit: Almighty and … [Read more...]
J. I. Packer on Revaluing the Book of Common Prayer
As we recall the great work and achievements of the late Professor J I Packer (image above from Regents College, Canada) who died in July this year, it is apposite to recall from the Society's archives this article first published in 2000: For Truth, Unity, and Hope: Revaluing the Book of Common Prayer (Comprising part of a very slightly edited version of an address first given to the Canadian Prayer Book Society It references the Canadian BCP of 1962 as well as the Book of … [Read more...]
Veterans Day – Reflection
To hear the audio please use this link https://soundcloud.com/user-140188366/armistice-veterans-day-reflection Prelude and Postlude Feierlicher Einzug der Ritter des Johanniter-Ordens, TrV 224 Richard Strauss (1864-1949) arranged by Gary Olson for brass quintet & organ with Christopher Schroeder, Trumpet; Robby Marx, Trumpet; Liam Hanna, French Horn; Lauren Casey-Clyde, Trombone; Matthew Groves, Bass Trombone, Jeremy Lang, Timpani & Katelyn Emerson, … [Read more...]
The Church’s sacramental ministry is not an optional extra
CHURCH TIMES Thursday 05 November 2020 The precautions in place in churches mean that there is no justification for suspending public worship, argues Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff Original Photo in the Church TImes: The Dean of York, the Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, celebrates holy communion in York Minster, in July, after the first lockdown restrictions in England were eased ALL churches are, once again, to be shut, and all public worship … [Read more...]
Locking Down Churches in England — Again
(A locked church entrance, from geograph.org.uk) All Churches are, once again, to be shut and all public worship ended in England by Government order, as part of the latest “lockdown”. The manner of announcing this adds to the rightful shock and dismay it will cause, as Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister did not even feel it a point worth troubling to mention when announcing the overall conditions of the lockdown from Downing Street. The news was merely slipped out later on the … [Read more...]
Choral Evensong with Sermon (Feast of Ss. Simon and Jude)
St Simon whose emblem is a fish (on the left) and St Jude, with a boat (on the right) All Saints Church Carleton Rode -- Rood screen The opening anthem: "A New Song" by Sir James MacMillan the words from Psalm 96:1-2, 13: O sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the whole earth. Sing unto the Lord and praise his name, be telling of his salvation from day to day. For he cometh to judge the earth, and with righteousness to judge the world and the people with his … [Read more...]
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