"The inhabitants of glory are always praying for us": A Laudian Hallowtide sermon

From Laudian Mark Frank's second sermon for All Saints' Day, an example of how Laudianism provided a Reformed Catholic account of why the liturgical calendar should rejoice in the Saints and why All Saints' Day should be celebrated. They pray for us, but prayer should not be directed to them. And in honouring them, we give honour to God who has sanctified them:

Such honour have all his Saints.

So the Text; So the day; a day dedicated to God in honour of all his Saints. Such honour has God allowed them, such honour has the holy Church bestow'd upon them. Because they are his, and as his here they are had in honour, because his holy ones, as his Saints or holy ones honour'd with a holy day, or, if you will, God honoured in them on the day. For this honour also have all the Saints, that all the honour done to them, all the honour done by them, by the Saints in earth to the Saints in heaven, all the virtues of the one, all the praises of the other are to the honour and praise and glory of God in all the Congregations of the Saints, whether in heaven or earth ...

'Tis not fit therefore any of them should be forgotten, from whose memories God receives so much; not reasonable to deny them any honour that so redounds to Gods. The Psalm gives them it, and the Day gives them it; God says they shall have this honour, and the Church this day pays it, and we must pay it, if we honour either him or her, God or the Church, or Father, or mother; pay it to them all, to all to whom 'tis due, all honour that is due. This is a day for us to meet all together to pay it in, for them altogether to receive it in. We cannot do it to all severally, they are too many, we may do it to all together. We profess a great Article of our faith, the Communion of Saints, by doing it; are therefore surely not too blame for doing it, having so good authority, so good a ground, so good a profession for it ...

To Honour then, as it may relate to them, is to give them a respect above other men, to look upon them as the Courtiers of Heaven, as persons in highest place, as the Inhabitants of glory, as such as are always praying for us, Rev. vi. 9. such as are following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, Rev. vii. 14, 15 ...

The Primitive Church was not behind in this duty neither, but in the Prayer for the holy Catholick Church recited the names of the most famous Saints and Martyrs, and gave God thanks for their good examples even at the Altar itself; nay, brought in the command of the Apostle, 1 Tim. ii. 1. for intercessions and giving thanks for all men for the Preface of it, as a Text to authorize their so doing.

Evidences these sufficient to honour the Saints with all our praises. With our Praises, I say, but not our Prayers; our Praises of them, not our Prayers unto them; that's a piece of honour God has no where in Scripture any way allowed them. Prayers I find not that they are to have, Praises I find they may ...

If we will therefore honour the Saints indeed, we must honour them by following their virtues and examples. This is that the Church principally intends by all the Saints it sets before us, by all its Festivals and Holidays, to put us in mind of the Patience of St. Stephen, of the Repentance of St. Paul, of the Faith of St. Peter, of the Purity of St. John, of the holy Chastity and Humility of the Virgin Mary, of the ready following of our Saviour in St. Andrew, of the leaving and forsaking all for Christ in St. Matthew, of a holy boldness to profess the truth in St. John Baptist, and so of the rest; and of the love, and charity, and communion the Saints ought to hold together in this day's Feast; where they are all, as it were, joyn'd together, that we might learn never to make a separation from this communion, never to break off from the doctrine once delivered to the Saints, nor leave one single virtue unpractised which we find in any of them. This is truly honour to them to have a multitude of followers, the honour of all his Saints.

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

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