"With reverence and godly fear": Old High piety and the absolution at Mattins

From an 1845 collection Practical Sermons by Dignitaries and Other Clergymen of the United Church of England and Ireland, Volume I, R.W. Jelf's sermon 'The Efficacy of Christian Repentance'. Jelf - one of those whom Nockles lists as the 'Zs', the post-1833 continuation of the Old High tradition - here provides a wonderful description of the Confession and Absolution at Mattins and Evensong. It also gives an insight into how an Old High piety regarded Sunday Mattins in general, to be approached - like the Lord's Table - "with reverence and godly fear".

How wisely then, how appropriately is the passage before us placed at the commencement of our Liturgy, on the very threshold as it were of God's House of Prayer. This exhortation, followed as it is by the General Confession and by the Absolution, is admirably calculated to place the worshippers in a due frame of mind for the remainder of the service. Repentance gives rise to confession, and confession is followed by absolution, and absolution, if duly received, imparts that quiet consciousness of pardon and peace, which is alone suitable to the heir of covenanted salvation. My beloved brethren, I would entreat you to reflect upon this use of the text, considered as an introduction to our devotions. You think that you should not approach the Holy Communion without due preparation; and you think aright. But surely the same rule applies to the daily ministrations of our Church. You ought to approach the Lord's House as you would His Table, with reverence and godly fear, with a lively faith and a sincere repentance. Come then in future to these holy services, with the humble and contrite heart, which is the wedding garment of the redeemed and sanctified children of God.

(The painting is William Teulon Blandford Fletcher, 'The Sabbath Day', 1916-17.)

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