laudable Practice

When administering Holy Communion Order One (that is, the 1926/1662 rite) according the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer 2004 Order, I have almost always used the post-Communion Prayer of Thanksgiving ('Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee') rather than the Prayer of Oblation ('O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants'). It is the richness of the Prayer of Thanksgiving's description of partaking of the sacrament which I find particularly compelling, giving expression to a deep and joyful Reformed eucharistic theology.  Presiding at a recent Order One celebration, however, I was drawn to the Prayer of Oblation. Partly it was from a desire to ensure that its place in the rite was respected; partly it was an opportunity to revisit the Prayer of Oblation after a lengthy period of relying on the Prayer on Thanksgiving. Using the Prayer of Oblation that day, however, brought me to a new appreciation for this post-communion prayer, pri...

Summer is a fallow time in the parish. The choir leave for July and August. Parish activities wind down. Clergy duties ease. Sunday congregations grow smaller, parishioners enjoying holidays. It is a time to be cherished. A sabbath in the parish year. A time when the busy routines of parish life pause, and the gift of rest and recreation brings refreshment to body, mind, and spirit. The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend. - Wendell Berry, Sabbaths, 1979 II. Sunday services can take on a different character during Summer. Hymns but no choral music. Gloria, Gospel responses, and Sanctus said, not sung.  I rejoice in the gift of the Anglican choral tradition, particularly Choral Evensong. Sundays in Summer, however, can bring a different gift, something of the quietness of Early Communion. Said Evening Prayer on Sunday evenings in Summer has, for me, a particular delight. It is a time whe...