All Saints' Day draws close

... ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints - Ephesians 2:19.

The Second Lesson, from Ephesians 2, at the First Evensong of the feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude was suggestive of how the feast prepares us for All Saints' Day, a theme also evident in the collect, with its declaration that the Church is "built ... upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets".

This was echoed in the Psalms at Mattins, for the 28th day of the month:

let thy saints sing with joyfulness ... and her saints shall rejoice and sing - Ps. 132:9 & 17.

The Epistle and Gospel at Holy Communion anticipate the celebration of the Communion of Saints. The readings unfold two aspects of our Communion with the Saints: "the faith once delivered unto the saints" (Jude), "These things I command you, that ye love one another" (John 15), drawn together in the collect of All Saints' Day with its "knit together ... in one communion and fellowship".

With the feast day drawing to a close at Evensong, the Second Lesson sets before us our hope of sharing in the beatific vision now enjoyed by the Saints:

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

The feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude thus concludes with the joyful hope of the vision glorious, those "unspeakable joys" which will be celebrated in the All Saints' Day collect.

The close of proximity of today's feast to All Saints' Day is no awkward clash of red letter days. Rather, Saint Simon and Saint Jude orients us towards the joyful glory of All Hallows, preparing us to rejoice in the high festival of that "mystical body".

Comments

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

1928 practices and the 1979 book: unthinking conservatism or popular piety?

Those responsible for Earth & Altar - a new blog emanating from a group within TEC - are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to wider Anglican discussion and debate. The commitment to "an expansively conceived credal orthodoxy as fully compatible with LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality, and racial justice" is an important part of a wider retrieval of creedal orthodoxy within what we might call the post-liberal generation. It is in this spirit that I want to respond to a recent post on the site by Andrew McGowan , Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School. Against the background of another round of "ill-defined" liturgical revision in TEC, he understandably urges that a fuller reception of the 1979 BCP should occur before further reforms. In doing so, however, he takes aim at what he describes as "clinging to the ritual structures of 1928" while using the text of 1979. We ...

laudable Practice

Search This Blog