Why do you do that?!

The Ember Days

Well, as promised in my earlier post on Rogation Days, I owe you an explanation of the Ember Days.  There are four sets of Ember Days, corresponding to the four seasons of the year.  The winter Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the 3rd Week of Advent.  The Spring Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the First (full) Week of Lent, the summer Ember Days, begin tomorrow as the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (are you seeing  the pattern here) of the first week in Pentecost.  And the Fall Ember Days will be (you guessed it) the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following September 14th (The Feast of the Holy Cross).

The specific origin of the Ember Days is not exactly known.  They were never observed in the Eastern Orthodox churches so they are strictly associated with the Christian West.  Sources are fairly clear that in England the observance of these days originated with Augustine the first Archbishop of Canterbury. So it doesn't get much more Anglican than that!

The Ember Days were set aside as special days of prayer and fasting.  According to Pope Leo (ca. 400) the idea was to carry spiritual discipline and the Law of Abstinence into every season of the year.  The Days have also been deemed particularly appropriate for scheduling ordinations.  As such they have traditionally carried a particular significance for the ordained ministers of the Church and those in the formation process.  It is not unusual for bishops to require their ordination candidates and sometimes even their clergy to write them an Ember Day letter to share their growth, struggles and overall progress in the formation process.

As with all of the observances of the Christian Calendar, the root idea is to remind ourselves, and proclaim to the world, that our God is a God who is sovereign over time.  Our days, weeks, months and years are all under the watchful care of the Eternal One.  And as always, days of prayer and fasting are set to remind us that we are not controlled by our need to produce wealth or feed our stomachs.  "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well."

Why do you do that?!

Rogation what?! 

So, what are the Rogation Days?  These are the three days leading up to the Feast of the Ascension (always Thursday in the 6th Week of Easter).  The name comes from the Latin rogate (long o, short a, short e) which means, "ask ye" or in contemporary English, "y'all ask."  Traditionally these are days of prayer and even fasting making supplication to God for seasonable weather, rain and a bountiful harvest during the Spring season of planting.  

That these days remain a part of our liturgical calendar (despite the fact that a good number of us no longer live our lives tied to the agrarian cycles of planting and harvest) is a reminder that the Church still takes very seriously the mission of all believers as a Kingdom of Priests unto God.  To pray for planting and harvest reminds us that it is our priestly duty to make intercession for all spheres of society.  Often we can get caught up in focusing our prayers narrowly on our own needs and the needs of those immediately around us.  But through myriad ways, the Rogation Days being only one example, the Church calls us to participate with Christ in making intercession for every aspect of our society and our world.

We'll talk about the Ember Days some other time.

You Believe What?!

In light of my recent sermon from Revelation 5 I thought I would re-post this on an Anglican approach and understanding of the role of the Saints.

Lex Orandi Lex Credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief)

One of Anglicanisms favorite sayings is that as we pray so we believe. If you want to understand the Anglican theology of baptism or Eucharist, start by reading through the baptismal and eucharistic liturgies. This principle is also seen in Anglicanism's approach toward the Saints.

Do you venerate the saints?

There is another good question that I get all the time. Anglicanism recognizes a lot of the "official" saints of the Church and even marks their feast days. We celebrate All Saints Day in November as one of the principle feasts of the Christian year. Yet, you claim to be Protestant?! Explain yourself. And so to answer lets take a look at the following prayer and see what it teaches us about Anglicanism's balanced approach toward the Saints.

"Leader: The righteous live forever more;

Response: Their reward also is with the Lord.

Leader: O God the King of Saints, we praise and magnify thy holy Name for all thy servants  who have finished their course in thy faith and fear, for the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the  holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs, and for all other thy righteous servants;  and we beseech thee that, encouraged by their example, strengthened by their fellowship,  and aided by their prayers, we may attain unto everlasting life; through the merits of thy  Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." ~ From the Scottish Book of Common Prayer

Note a couple things right off: First, this prayer begins with Scripture, reminding us of the promises of Psalm 37 and the words of Jesus about our reward in Heaven. As always, Anglicanism holds Scripture as THE final authority in questions of belief. Note also that the prayer is not addressed directly to any saint, but rather to God the King of Saints. God is glorified in his people both living and dead and it is ultimately to Him that all our praise is due and to Him all our prayers addressed. He is the source of all good things and so we give Him all thanks for the gift of godly examples.

But then note how the prayer goes on from this foundation, it recognizes the reality of that very first statement, the righteous do live forevermore. They are in fact still living in the very Presence of God before his throne. And as such, we can look to their example of godly living. How many of us benefit from reading the writings and biographies of these great men and women of faith. We can also recognize that the Church is one Church comprised of both those who are here now as well as those who have gone before, one Church in Heaven and Earth. As such we know that when we bow our heads in prayer or when we join together in the words of a hymn or the liturgy, we are praying with all of the "Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven" (ie the Saints) who forever sing their hymns and pray their prayers before the Father. We really do have fellowship with these and that thought should inspire joy and hope in us. And finally we recognize that they are always praying and worshipping around the throne, so why should we not expect that the members of the Church at rest should not be praying for us the members who are still fighting the good fight here? I have often heard it said, if you go ahead and ask your brother or sister at church to pray for you, why wouldn't you want a brother or sister who has been fully sanctified and who stands face to face with the Father praying for you? In the Revelation we see the prayers of the saints going up from under the altar of God just like incense. Who are they praying for? Certainly not themselves. They have no needs. I believe it is more than reasonable to assert that they are in fact praying for the faithful who have not yet departed - you and me. And that is a very encouraging thought indeed. One which we should pray and thank God for.

And finally, we note once again that all this is done through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. All prayer is offered in Jesus' name because he is our Great High Priest. All the work of salvation that we and the saints in Glory have experienced comes to us because of him. Our prayers, and theirs are only acceptable because of Him. Even the saints themselves are only acceptable because of the work of Christ that has made them so.

So, there you have it. The Anglican approach toward the saints. They are there. They encourage us through example and through prayer. And their lives are lived only to the Glory of God the Father and His only Son Jesus Christ our Lord, through the Power of the Holy Spirit.