Why do you do that?!

The Triduum Sacrum (roughly meaning the 3 Holiest Days of Holy Week) are upon us, they are the apex of the liturgical year. Beginning tonight with Maundy Thursday and continuing through Holy Saturday (when the traditional Vigil of Easter is normally held) we prepare for the greatest of all celebrations, Easter Sunday. On Maundy Thursday (from the Latin mandatum, meaning mandate) we remember Christ’s final instructions to the 12, his demonstration of love and humility in the washing of their feet and the institution of the Sacrament of the Kingdom in the last supper. In this service we will take time to wash one another’s feet in obedience to Christ’s words, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.” After the service proper is complete we fade into silence and observe the stripping of the altar. This practice (like many in the Church) serves 2 purposes: first, it allows us to take down the Holy Week decorations in order to make way for those of the Feast which will soon follow. But secondly, it serves a symbolic purpose to strip away any vestige of a celebration and prepare for the starkness and desolation of Good Friday. The altar stands in the church as a symbol of God’s presence (this by the way is why the priest and servers bow in reverence when they approach it). As a symbol of Christ then it reminds us of his stripping and beating that occurred in the night watches between Thursday and Friday. Accompanying the stripping of the altar is the setting of the watch. After departing the upper room Jesus went out to the Garden to pray and begged his companions to watch and pray with him. Thus on Maundy Thursday we end in silence with the opportunity for those who wish to remain and pray a while, watching with the Savior. Good Friday is one of only two prescribed fasts within the Anglican calendar (Ash Wednesday being the other). On this day we remember all of the events that accompanied the sacrifice of the Son of God for the sins of the whole world. On Good Friday everything is done in solemnity, a symbol of the mourning each of us should have over the death of our friend and Savior, as it was our sins that drove him to this dramatic act of Atonement. The service begins with prayer as people and clergy alike enter in silence. As we focus on the Passion through the readings and the sermon, we also bring to the foot of the Cross all the needs of the world in prayer through the solemn collects. After this we have the opportunity to focus with reverence upon the symbol of Christ’s suffering and death, the symbol which brings us life – the Cross. A cross is brought in and processed to the front of the church while the people sing anthems and hymns extolling the greatness of the Sacrifice. We receive Communion on Good Friday, but since a celebration seems inappropriate, we receive from elements that are consecrated the night before and held in reserve for this occasion. As we come forward to receive Communion there is opportunity to pause (for as long as is necessary) before the cross, reverencing it and praying before it. Concluding with a prayer, the service ends as it began as we leave in silence. Holy Saturday is the fulfillment of the ancient Jewish Sabbath. This is the day God once again rested from His Labor as our Lord’s body rested in the grave – his earthly work now complete. It should be for us therefore a day of rest and a day of anticipation. In stricter observances (such as the Eastern Orthodox) it is a day for continuing the Good Friday fast which is usually broken at sundown with the beginning of the Easter Vigil. The Vigil itself begins with the service of light, where we symbolically welcome the Light of Christ which was inextinguishable even by death and which shines anew eternally through His resurrection life.

.In many ways Easter Sunday seems self explanatory. This should be the greatest celebration of the entire year. The church is decorated with color as a joyful contrast to the blackness of Friday and as a symbol of the new life that the resurrection of Christ has breathed into the world. This is the day that changed all of history! The death of Christ is fulfilled in His Resurrection as the Orthodox hymn proclaims, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death!”

Why do you do that?!

The Color Red.

Or, why my favorite liturgical color is the least used.

For those who were paying attention you may have noticed that this past Sunday, Palm Sunday, the liturgical colors changed from the purple of Lent to the red of Holy Week. I personally love the red hangings, altar frontals and stoles. And as I was thinking about it this week it occurred to me, maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is that red is used less than any of the other liturgical colors. Purple is used for all of Advent and all of Lent, 9 weeks out of the year total. White is used during the 12 days of Christmas, all 7 weeks of Easter season and on other various feast days such as the Epiphany, Transfiguration, Holy Trinity, All Saints and Christ the King. Green is of course the most used color since it covers all of ordinary time, nearly 6 months of green! But red in its glorious humility is used only for Holy Week, Pentecost, ordinations, confirmations and the observance of a martyr's feast day.

Red is used of course on Pentecost and those other episcopal (meaning conducted by an episcopos - ie bishop) services like confirmation, as a symbol of the tongues of holy fire that came down and were visible on the heads of the apostles on that first Pentecost. But during Holy Week red takes on a whole different, and perhaps more obvious symbolic meaning. In some older priestly manuals they distinguished that a darker red, referred to as Ox Blood, should be used during Holy Week. This is of course to remind the worshipper of shed blood.

This week is, as gruesome as it may sound, a celebration of blood. The shed blood that is God's righteous requirement as punishment for sin. The blood of bulls and goats that the ancient Israelites were required to sacrifice to atone for their sins. The blood of the Passover Lamb that was shed to redeem the first born sons of Israel. And supremely the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ whose sacrifice upon the cross fulfilled all of these other, prefiguring sacrifices as he atoned once and for all for sin. And all of these we see expressed in the celebration of the Cup which is poured out for us in the institution of the Lord's Supper, the token of a new covenant sealed in His blood.

Red may just be the richest of our liturgical colors.

Uh, where did you say you came from?

The Reformation's Shortest Chapter

In 1547 Henry VIII died as all kings do. And his son Edward (yes he did finally sire a son after all that hard work of swapping wives around) ascended to the throne at the age of 9. If Henry’s Reformation had mostly to do with power, Edward’s reign saw the cause of Reformation theology gain the most ground. The Reformers had done themselves a real service and made sure that Edward’s tutor was a card carrying Protestant. So it was that under Edward the Protestant cause advanced. The English Church was reformed even further. Yet, one serious problem emerged. Edward was sickly.

Sadly, Edward only reigned 6 years, and the fact of the matter is, that wasn’t enough time to overturn a thousand years of deterioration. A more Reformed prayer book had been published that same year but it was never put into use before Edward died. Unfortunately, no substantial changes really lasted beyond 1553. That is the year Edward died and Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary as she became known) ascended to the throne.

Mary was a staunch Roman Catholic and so she sought to systematically overturn every reform that had been accomplished under Henry and Edward. Mercifully Mary's reign was shorter than Edward's and when Elizabeth I succeeded her on the throne the Protestant cause was enabled to resume its course and firmly take root in English soil.

You Believe What?!

The Reconciliation of a Penitent (aka Private Confession)

One of the subjects that make many people want to check the "other" box when trying to figure out whether Anglicans are Protestant or Catholic is the Anglican approach to private confession. Confession to a priest is offered in many Anglican churches and therefore may need a bit of explanation.

In short the Anglican approach to private confession is: always, sometimes, never.

Confession is ALWAYS available. If there is a burden of sin that you are carrying and you wish to confess to a trusted confidant - seek out your priest and make an appointment! He will listen, without judgment. He may offer spiritual direction and make recommendation about making restitution or simply a first step in walking again in the path of righteousness.

Confession is SOMETIMES a REALLY good idea. For those who have gotten stuck in that cycle of sin, confess to God, sin again, confess to God again...sin again, confess to God again... It may be helpful to confront your sin by having to name it out loud. Further, for those who have confessed their sin in the past but are still haunted by feelings of guilt - hearing a priest proclaim Christ's absolution may be an incredibly healing moment.

Confession, privately to a priest is NEVER required to participate in the sacramental life of the Church. This is where Anglicans differ from both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and where we show our true Protestant colors. Both of those other Communions require sacramental confession as a prerequisite to being considered eligible to receive communion. In Anglicanism we adopted the Reformation practice of including a General Confession in the liturgy whereby all the faithful can confess their sins directly to God and still receive a declaration of absolution from the priest in preparation of celebrating the sacraments.

Here are a few other notes about confession from the preface to the office for the reconciliation of a penitent in the Book of Common Prayer.

"The ministry of reconciliation, which has been committed by Christ to his

Church, is exercised through the care each Christian has for others,

through the common prayer of Christians assembled for public worship,

and through the priesthood of the Church and its ministers declaring

absolution...

The Reconciliation of a Penitent is available for all who desire it. It is not

restricted to times of sickness. Confessions may be heard anytime and

anywhere...

When the penitent has confessed all serious sins troubling the conscience

and has given evidence of due contrition, the priest gives such counsel

and encouragement as are needed and pronounces absolution. Before

giving absolution, the priest may assign to the penitent a psalm, prayer,

or hymn to be said, or something to be done, as a sign of penitence and

act of thanksgiving.

The content of a confession is not normally a matter of subsequent

discussion. The secrecy of a confession is morally absolute for the

confessor, and must under no circumstances be broken."

More on Lent

For those who are interested in learning more about the season of Lent and its observance. You may wish to read this essay which I have posted on my parish blog in years past.

Why do you do that?!

Dear Readers, sorry again for my forced hiatus. It is good to be back up and running. Since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent I thought this post should be about Lent and why (following the Catholic Tradition) we celebrate this season and why we begin it with Ash Wednesday. As I contemplated these questions I came once again to that helpful phrase:

Lex Orandi Lex Credendi (The rule of prayer is the rule of belief)

What better way to explain the season and the day than to begin with what the Book of Common Prayer itself says in its "Invitation to a Holy Lent." Consider,

"Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self- examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Lent is primarily about preparation. Preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of Easter. It is a season of preparation for those about to be baptized. It is a season of reconciliation for those who have been in broken communion with the Church to repent and be restored. And, as the invitation says, the way we do all of these things is through self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, self-denial and studying the Scriptures.

As the final sentence of the invitations states: Ash Wednesday as it is commonly called is the Church's gift to the believer to help her start out on the right foot. Just as a Ranger might point you down the correct path to reach the mountain you are hiking toward, the Church helpfully starts us on the right foot down this path of self-reflection, repentance, prayer and fasting. And the beginning act is a reminder, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is the perspective that motivates all our Lenten preparations. Not unlike the season of Advent, we are reminded that we are not only preparing to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter, but we are also preparing to greet the day when we too will be resurrected with him, to stand before him as he sits on his throne of judgment.

Sorry for the Silence

To those who have been awaiting the next Angliwhaat?! post with bated breath I apologize. I have had no less than three bouts with illness in the last two weeks so life has been a bit disrupted. I hope to post again soon.

Pax,

Steve+