"This is Epiphany time"

Cosin ended his 1653 Epiphany sermon by noting "there are more Sundays belonging to this Epiphany of Christ than one". In a 1623 sermon at a marriage on the Second Sunday after Epiphany (the appointed Gospel being the miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee), he had expounded the meaning of "Epiphany time":

You are to know, then, that this is Epiphany time. You see they are called the Sundays of the Epiphany; and Epiphany time is the time of Manifestation, the time when Christ was pleased to manifest Himself, and make His glory known to the world. According to which, the Church hath suited her office, and fitted us with a course of service, that might help to bring into our minds in order, the things themselves, as they were done here by Christ our Saviour while He was upon the earth. Thus there were three great and prime manifestations that He made of Himself.

The Church begins with them at Twelfth Day. The first, that He made to the Gentiles; and accordingly propounds to you the Gospel of the star that appeared in the East, with the Collect, 'O God, Which didst manifest Thy only begotten Son to the Gentiles.' The next was the first manifestation we read of which He made of Himself to the Jews, while He sat with them in the Temple, and shewed them what He was, even at twelve years of age; and accordingly did the Church propound that story for the Gospel the last Sunday, which was the first after the Epiphany.

The third was the first manifestation that He made of Himself to His disciples, who had been called but a little before, and were now invited with Him to the marriage at Cana. Answerable whereunto is the Gospel propounded unto us by the Church this third day, and the third day there was a marriage in Cana,' so it begins; and at it, Jesus 'manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on Him,' so it ends. There were other miracles whereby Christ manifested Himself too, and they have their times hereafter but these were the first, in every kind, as St. John says, 'This was the beginning of miracles that He did;' and therefore hath the Church appointed the three first days after His Nativity, for the solemn memory and anniversary celebration of them.

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...

'Whether the Lutheran Churches have right Ordinations and perfect succession of Bishops': Jeremy Taylor, 'Episcopacy Asserted', and Lutheran orders

Amidst the bitter controversies over episcopacy in the Three Kingdoms during the early 1640s, controversies which had become war in Scotland in 1637 and then in England in 1642, Jeremy Taylor wrote his Laudian defence of episcopal order, The Sacred Order and Offices of Episcopacy Asserted and Maintained . He proposed in this work that the non-episcopal Reformed churches could have had episcopally-ordered clergy: Those good people might have had order from the bishops of England or the Lutheran churches, if at least they thought our churches catholic and Christian. Leaving aside the reality that, for example, French Protestants would have been placed in an invidious political position if they had done as Taylor proposed, it is the reference to "the Lutheran churches" which is significant. To begin with, a large portion of the Lutheran churches - those in the German lands - were governed by a system of superintendency. It is almost inconceivable that Taylor was not aware of th...

laudable Practice

Search This Blog