Skip to main content

'Now is the time, to Fast more strictly': Simon Patrick, the Restoration Church, and the Lenten Fast

From Simon Patrick's A treatise of repentance and of fasting especially of the Lent-fast (1686), an indication of the seriousness with which the observance of Lent was regarded by the Restoration Church, and not just within High Church circles:

And now who sees not the reasonableness of this Observance, and the great benefit we may receive thereby? If instead of contending about it (for which, thus understood, I can see no ground) we would all set our selves to make the best use we can, of what the Church hath piously ordained, and for many Ages profitably practised ... 

And now who sees not the reasonableness of this Observance, and the great benefit we may receive thereby? If instead of contending about it (for which, thus understood, I can see no ground) we would all set our selves to make the best use we can, of what the Church hath piously ordained, and for many Ages profitably practised.

You see, how every one of us should show in all things, the reverence and the honour, which is becoming those Days, which were the procurers of so many and such good things. And therefore now, if ever, let me entreat you to expel all Worldly thoughts; and to keep the Eye of your Mind clear, and vigilant. Now is the time, to Fast more strictly; to make more earnest Prayers; to be more exact and large in confession of Sins; to be diligent in all the actions of Piety; to give Alms more liberally; to exercise the strictest Patience, Forbearance, Meekness, and all other Virtue: That coming with these accomplishments unto Easter-day, we may partake of the bounty of the Lord.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...
25 comments
Read more

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...
19 comments
Read more

'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...
Post a Comment
Read more