With Angels and Archangels: Michaelmas and Prayer Book Communion

On this feast of Michaelmas, as we rejoice in the "wonderful order" uniting angels and mortals, our thoughts can turn to a particular focus for that union and communion, the holy Sacrament.  This has been the cause for rich reflection in classical Anglican sources, two of which we might especially note, Anthony Sparrow's A Rationale on the Book of Common Prayer (1655) and Thomas Comber's A Companion to the Altar (1675). Both works would be reprinted on numerous occasions throughout the 'long 18th century', becoming staple sources of an influential sacramental piety.

For both writers, it is the Sanctus and the Gloria in excelsis which give expression in the eucharistic liturgy to the "wonderful order" embracing the mortals and the angelic host.  As Sparrow says of the Sanctus:

Here we do, as it were, invite the heavenly host to help bear a part in our thanks to make them full ... And in this hymn we hold communion with the Church triumphant.

Comber invokes the words of Chrysostom to similarly expound the meaning of the Sanctus:

That the Angels were present at the performance of divine mysteries hath been the opinion of both Heathens and of Christians; but that they are especially present at the Lords Supper, is generally received. Flesh and blood (saith St. Chrysostom) is here made a part of the Angelick Choir: And again. Consider O man near whom thou standest in these terrible mysteries, with whom thou art about to worship God, with Cherubins and Seraphins, and all the Heavenly Powers. 

Drawn into the presence of angels and archangels, the congregation are stirred to share in the praises of the company of heaven for the saving Passion of the Lord:

And surely it will mightily exalt our affections, and stir us up to the most vigorous devotion, to consider with whom we are to bear a part, not only with the Priest but with Angels and with Archangels, and all the Company of Heaven: for Jesus by his Death hath united Heaven and Earth, and designed all his redeemed ones, to sing Hallelujahs with the blessed spirits above for ever. Wherefore it is fit that in this Commemoration of his Passion we should begin to unite our Voices to them, with whom we hope to praise God to all Eternity. 

As the Sanctus draws us into the praises of the angelic host before reception of the holy Sacrament, so Gloria in excelsis does so after partaking of the heavenly food. For both Sparrow and Comber, the Gloria at this point of the eucharistic liturgy echoes the praises of the angelic host at the Nativity, the mystery of the Incarnation reflected in the sacramental mysteries. As Sparrow puts it:

Then we say or sing the Angelical Hymn, Glory be to God on high &c. wherein the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy does admirably imitate the Heavenly, singing this at the Sacrament of his Body which the Angels did at the Birth of his Body.

Likewise Comber:

This blessed Hymn the Church hath learned from that Heavenly Choir which came to Celebrate our Lords Nativity. And since we have tasted the Celestial Manna, and fed upon Angels food, it is fit we should join with them in singing the Praises of their Lord and ours.

This then leads to profoundly rich theological accounts of the meaning of the Gloria in relation to reception of the Sacrament. For Sparrow, using words from Chrysostom, it speaks of our how our participation in Christ through the Eucharist flows from the Lord's participation in our humanity through the Incarnation:

And good reason there is to sing this for Christs being made One with us in the Sacrament, as for his being made One of us at his Birth. And if ever we be fit to sing this Angels song, it is then, when we draw nearest to the estate of Angels, namely, at the receiving of the Sacrament ... [continuing with words from Chrysostom] 'And when can a Psalm or Hymn of thanksgiving be more seasonable and necessary, than after we have received this heavenly nourishment? Is it possible to hear these words, This is my Body, take and eat it; Drink ye all of this, This is my Blood: and not be filled, as with a kind of fearful admiration, so with a sea of joy and comfort for the Heaven which they see in themselves? Can any man receive this Cup of Salvation, and not praise and bless God with his utmost strength of soul and body?'

According to Comber, the praises of the angels for the grace and mercy of the Incarnation are to be repeated by us who receive this grace and mercy in the Sacrament:

It was first endited to set forth the happy effects of that Redemption, which Jesus did undertake at his Birth, and it doth declare that it caused Glory to be given to God in Heaven, and made Peace for poor Sinners on Earth, because it did engage the good will of the Almighty towards Men; But all this was but expected and prophesied of then, whereas now when the Merits of this Redemption are really and effectually communicated to Penitent Souls in this Sacrament, those things are all performed and accomplished, so that the worthy Receivers, have juster cause now than ever, to sing Glory to God, in the highest note, who dwelleth in the highest place, for he hath now done us the highest favour, in making such Peace on Earth, and giving such testimonies of his good will toward us; No doubt the blessed Spirits above, who sing at the Conversion of one Sinner, do give glory to God in the highest now, when he hath sealed his Covenant of Peace with so many; and when they behold us all at peace one with another, and rejoicing in these pledges of the divine favour.

What is perhaps most striking about this rich liturgical vision and sacramental piety is how the words of the Sanctus and Gloria in excelsis in the Prayer Book Communion, for Sparrow and Comber, would have been said - sung only in cathedrals - in a context which most contemporary Anglicans would regard as plain and bare. Surplice only, no vestments. North end. No lit candles on the holy Table. The church building very far from ornate. Little music. 

In most contemporary Anglican contexts, of course, the Prayer Book Communion will be celebrated in a rather different fashion: vestments, or stole at least; lit candles on the Holy Table; and church buildings that witness to the influence of the Ecclesiologists. That said, the 1662 Holy Communion itself (or equivalent) remains rather plain and bare - as its critics routinely state - compared to many alternative eucharistic rites now used by Anglicans. It also is often the case that 1662 Holy Communion will be the early Communion in many parishes: quieter and less ornate, without music, a considerably smaller congregation.

Michaelmas, however, suggests to us how fitting all this is. 

The holy angels "succour and defend us on earth" amidst the ordinary, routine circumstances of everyday life. The angels appeared to Jacob in an unremarkable landscape, where he had but a stone for a pillow. They appeared to a lowly Maiden in an ordinary residence in Nazareth. They appeared in order to proclaim a "babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger". And they appeared at the Tomb, there declaring - an ordinary place in the human experience - Resurrection and Life.

Sparrow and Comber perceived rightly: in the plain, ordinary Prayer Book Communion liturgy of their era and beyond, in churches plain and almost bare, with words said, not sung, angels and archangels were present at the Holy Mysteries, for such is the way of revelation and salvation, of Incarnation and sacrament. This continues to be the case with the rather plain 1662 Holy Communion. It is a part of that wonderful order celebrated by the Sanctus and Gloria in excelsis in the Prayer Book Communion