Michaelmas is over for another year ... right?

The feast of St Michael and All Angels is over for another year, yes. Day by day, however, Mattins and Evensong echo this feast throughout the year, daily drawing us into a renewed participation in the "wonderful order" that is our communion with the angelic hosts. Mattins and Evensong do so in praise, through a focus on the Christological centre, and in the petitions of the second and third collects.

The daily sanctus of the Te Deum joins our morning praise with that of the angels and archangels:

To thee all Angels cry aloud : the heavens, and all the powers therein.

To thee Cherubin and Seraphin : continually do cry,

Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory.

The use of the Benedicite does not lose this emphasis, for it begins with 'O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord'. The fact that each month's recitation of the Psalter also ends at evening of the 30th day (repeated in those months with 31 days) with Psalm 148's call 'Praise him, all ye angels of his: praise him, all his host', fittingly illustrates how the praises offered at Mattins and Evensong join those of the angelic hosts.

The Benedictus and Magnificat, as Hooker reminds us, are expressions of the Christological centre:

They are the first gratulations wherewith our Lord and Saviour was joyfully received at his entrance in the world by such as in there hearts, arms, and bowels embraced him (LEP V.40.2).

Both canticles are caught up with the angelic encounters which heralded the Incarnation, the annunciations to Zechariah and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is also the case with the Apostles' Creed, for its rehearsal of salvation history - Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension - recalls that the holy angels are signs of and witnesses to our redemption.

Like the unfolding of the liturgical year, Benedictus, Magnificat, and Creed point to this ministry of the angels calling the Church afresh to the Christological centre. The presence of the angelic witnesses is part of the drama of the great festivals of Christmas, Easter Day, and Ascension Day. Angels feature in the Advent proclamation of the end of the ages, on the feast of Epiphany, and in the Passion of the Lord. When Mattins and Evensong set before us the Christological centre, the mystery of our salvation in the Incarnate, Crucified, Risen, and Ascended Lord, the angelic witnesses are close by, pointing to the Redeemer of humanity.

The petitions of the unchanging collects at Mattins and Evensong call to remembrance the Michaelmas collect: "so by thy appointment may succour and defend us on earth". In the ministrations of the holy angels to us, God answers our prayers:

Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies ...

grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger ...

that we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in quietness ...

Light our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord ...

Such daily petitions, morning and evening, are answered through the gift of the ministry of angels: in the words of the Michaelmas collect, "by thy appointment". As Calvin puts it:

angels are the ministers and dispensers of the divine bounty towards us. Accordingly, we are told how they watch for our safety, how they undertake our defence, direct our path, and take heed that no evil befall us (Institutes I.14.6).

Yes, Michaelmas has passed for another year. But the ministry and presence of the holy angels has not. In Mattins and Evensong, day by day, we share in their praises, recall their witness to our redemption, and petition our Heavenly Father that they would minister to our needs in body and soul. Mattins and Evensong ensure that the glorious echoes of Michaelmas are heard throughout the year.

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...

Pride, progressive sectarianism, and TEC on Facebook

Let me begin this post with an assumption that will be rejected by some readers of laudable Practice , but affirmed by other readers. Observing Pride is an understandable aspect of the public ministry of TEC. On previous occasions , I have rather robustly called for TEC to be much more aware and respectful of the social conservatism of the Red states and regions in which it ministers. A failure to do so risks TEC declining yet further into the irrelevance of progressive sectarianism. At the same time, TEC also obviously ministers in deep Blue states and metropolitan areas - and is the only Mainline Protestant tradition in which a majority of its members vote Democrat .* With Pride now an established civic commemoration, particularly in such contexts, there is a case for TEC affirming those aspects of Pride - the dignity of gay men and lesbian women, their contribution to civic life, and their place in the church's life - which cohere with a Christian moral vision. (I will n...

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