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+

Uh, where did you say you came from?

From drinkers to divorcees

So, as I mentioned in my earlier post, most people only know one thing about the English Reformation - Henry VIII wanted a divorce. In that earlier post I made a case for a more complex view of history than that and introduced some of the Reformers who worked hard around Cambridge and Oxford to persuade the academics and clergy of their day to embrace the changes of the Reformation. But, truth be told Henry did have a significant role in making the actual break with Rome that allowed Anglicanism to emerge as a Protestant Church.

Henry didn’t start out as a bad guy. Neither did he ever imagine himself a reformer. In fact Henry remained a devout Catholic in his theology and personal piety to his dying day. So earnest was Henry’s defense of the Catholic faith that he wrote a tract against the proposed reforms of Martin Luther. This pamphlet earned Henry the accolades of the Pope who declared him the Defensor Fidei, Defender of the Faith.

Henry started out not only as a devoted Catholic but also a devoted king. He took his role as the defender not only of the Catholic faith but also defender of the English people very seriously. Unfortunately though, in his zeal for protecting the political clout of the English monarchy he made an error in judgment. Henry married Catherine of Aragon, his brother Arthur’s wife. This he did for political reasons, as a marriage arrangement with the Spanish royal line was expedient to protect the interests of England. But when they could not, thereafter conceive a male heir he had an even bigger political problem on his hands – no one to pass the kingdom to.

Now, as a God fearing devout Catholic, Henry believed that his problem stemmed from the fact that God cursed his marriage as it was unlawfully entered into it in the first place. That was Henry’s grounds for seeking an annulment – the marriage was unlawful and in his mind clearly displeasing to God therefore it should be annulled. Even this was not quite as terrible as historians often paint it. (Though it must be confessed that Henry did not do himself any favors – after his move for divorce worked once he employed it a few too many times to be considered legitimate or necessary). Of course, legitimacy of Henry's claim aside, the Pope denied it mostly based on his own political reasons.

So, in 1534 Henry decides, why does the Pope get to tell me what to do in my own country anyway? The Pope himself declared Henry Defensor Fidei. There was still a strong medieval emphasis on the divine appointing of Kings. Therefore, Henry reasoned, we don’t need the imprimatur of the Pope for decisions regarding the church in England. So it was that Henry moved through Parliament, managing to get them to pronounce the Act of Supremacy. This Parliamentary act declared Henry not only as Defensor Fide but now also the “only supreme head on earth of the Church of England.” This decision was supported by Archbishop Cranmer (the highest ranking English clergyman of the time) and thus Henry’s move to power was complete.

Henry got his divorce. He also sanctioned the distribution of the English translation of the Scriptures (based on Tyndayle’s Bible) and the further translation of the liturgies of the Church into English. Thus the Book of Common Prayer was born at the hand of Archbishop Cranmer. But, as noted earlier, Henry was in most ways, theologically and in terms of his personal piety, a devout Catholic. He still stood by his criticisms of Luther. So he essentially told Cranmer to Reform the Church but only enough to make it distinctly English. Henry wasn’t interested in the Reformed doctrines per se. Nevertheless, the leaders in the Church seized on the opportunity and reformed as much as they could.

The English Reformation took about 3 more generations of leadership before it emerged as we know it today. In future posts we will explore each of these steps. But for now, there you have the straight story on the profligate king who listened to his carousing clergy enough to break the English church's ties with Rome.

You Believe What?!

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.

Why do you do that?

What's with all the crosses?

You may notice that Anglicans tend to like crosses! The cross behind the altar reminds us that as we are coming into the presence of Almighty God to worship Him, we can only do so as we gather at the foot of the cross, relying on the work that Jesus did there for us to take our sins away and make us worthy to stand in His Presence.

A processional cross is often used in many Anglican churches. This is a representation to us of the Presence of Christ who leads us first into the Father’s presence as we gather to worship. The cross may also process out before the reading of the gospel, representing Christ’s presence made manifest through His words to instruct His followers. In churches where a processional cross is used it also precedes the procession back out of the sanctuary reminding us that Christ has preceded us in going back out into the world to call other men and women to Himself. It is a symbol of our mission as Christ followers. As we go out and disperse we are going in His name, as His representatives to the world to bring others back with us to the foot of the cross next week!