laudable Practice

Throughout the late 18th and well into the mid-19th century, the relationship of the Church(es) of England and Ireland with the Scottish Episcopal Church was a matter of theological and political controversy.  While the Low Church tradition regarded Scottish Episcopalianism with obvious hostility - due a mixture of older Whig fears and a narrow, populist Protestant suspicion of the Scottish Liturgy - the Old High tradition had a deep and profound respect for Episcopalians in the northern part of the Kingdom, and a very high regard for the Scotch Communion Office. In 1824, the then Bishop of Down and Connor, Richard Mant - a leading Old High figure - became publicly involved in the debate when he published a letter to a Scottish Episcopalian cleric, rebuking an Irish cleric who had refused to share in the Sacrament according to the Scottish rite.  Mant had no hesitation in stating what he would do if he were in that part of the Kingdom: if I were passing through Scotland, as,...

From a sermon by John Keble for The Sunday before Advent. In this rather beautiful introduction to the sermon, we can quite clearly hear the voice of the author of The Christian Year , evoking Autumn passing into Winter, on the cusp of Advent: The time just before Advent is a very serious and thoughtful season to all who take notice of time as the Church invites them. It is just the season of decay: the last leaves are falling, and the last flowers are ceasing to blow. We naturally look back and begin to consider how the weeks and months have passed, since those leaves were fresh: how many things we meant to do then, more than we have really done, how unlike in many respects the face of things now is, to what we wished and expected then. Also, we must be very blind or very thankless, if we fail at such times to notice the many mercies, more than we could expect, and very far more than we deserve, which our gracious God has continued to us: kind friends, beloved kinsmen, peaceful times...

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Nunc Dimittis at Evensong, what Shepherd describes as "this beautiful little hymn". It is a description which both captures the deeply resonant nature of the Nunc at Evensong and which points to Cranmer's wisdom in taking the traditional canticle of Compline and placing it in Evening Prayer.   In summarising Saint Luke's account of Simeon, Shepherd ensures that we heed the Evangelist's emphasis on rooting the Nunc in the hopes and prayers of Israel: The author of this beautiful little hymn, was the aged Simeon, a just and devout man, who waited for the consolation of Israel, and to whom by the spirit of prophecy, it was revealed, that he should not see death, before he had feen the Lord's anointed. Directed by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple ; and when the parents brought in the child ...

The closing days of November. We are on the cusp of Advent. Autumn's end is visible, the bare trees of the churchyard telling us that Winter is arriving. We are expecting frost. Today the sun will set a few minutes after 4pm. The month began in Lutheran Scandinavia on All Saints' Day, and in Catholic central and eastern Europe on All Souls' Day, with candles lit at the graves of loved ones. There is no such custom amongst Anglicans in these Islands. As the festive season approaches, however, churchyards will see Christmas wreaths being placed on many a grave. Visiting my father's grave on the days leading to Christmas each year, I am always touched by the number of wreaths placed on graves in the cemetery.  The words of the carol always come to mind:  For lo! the days are hastening on By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever circling years Comes round the age of gold; When Peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the...

We came on foot to a certain place where the mountains, through which we were journeying, opened out and formed an infinitely great valley, quite flat and extraordinarily beautiful, and across the valley appeared Sinai, the holy mountain of God ... Now on reaching that spot, the holy guides who were with us told us, saying: "The custom is that prayer should be made by those who arrive here, when from this place the mount of God is first seen." And this we did. So opens the account we have of Egeria's pilgrimage. Recently re-reading Egeria for the first time in some decades, I was struck by her reverence for and joy in the holy sites associated with "holy Moses": The spot is also shown hard by where holy Moses stood when God said to him: Loose the latchet of thy shoe, and the rest. Now it was about the tenth hour when we had arrived at the place ... prayer was made in the church and also at the bush in the garden, and the passage from the book of Moses was read ...

Each Thanksgiving for some years past, laudable Practice has given thanks for aspects of the life and witness of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. This year, my attention turns to Old Narragansett Church in Rhode Island , regarded as the oldest Anglican and Episcopalian church building in New England. Built in 1707 in the style of a New England meeting house, Old Narragansett Church combines two expressions of modesty: New England charm and Prayer Book piety.  A sermon preached by a former rector of the successor church at the two hundredth anniversary of the erection of the Old Church quite beautifully evokes both these aspects of the building: For ten scores of years has it braved the storms, which have beaten upon it from the Atlantic, and stood as a landmark in southern Rhode Island. In all New England, there remains no other church structure of our Faith, so ancient. Well worthy of our honour and affection is the sturdy old edifice, with which are involve...

The previous extract from the 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, was an example of the rich natural theology to be found in Anglican preaching during the 'long 18th century'. Immediately after invoking and expounding such natural theology, however, Wordsworth immediately turned to 'revealed religion'.   Two things may be noted about this extract. Firstly, Wordsworth - reflecting the well-established conviction of 18th century Anglicanism - confirmed that natural theology and revealed religion, rather than being contradictory, cohere, witnessing to the unity of creation and redemption. Secondly, when he turns to "contemplate the Almighty in the kingdom of his grace", Wordsworth yet again demonstrates how 18th century Old High preaching could sound like the Welseys , in calling hearers to a vibrant, lively faith. Learn, secondly, to contemplate the Almighty in the kingdom of his grace. He...

In the series 'contours of conformity', exploring the nature of Anglican coherence and accord during the 'long 18th century', laudable Practice   recently pointed to the "primitive piety" celebrated by William Beveridge in his sermon ' Steadfastness to the Established Church Recommended '. The sermon exemplified what Eamon Duffy described as "the new assurance" seen in the Church of the 1662 Settlement seeing in itself "primitive Christianity revived". At the close of the 'long 18th century' the same lively confidence in Anglicanism as an expression of patristic faith was also evident in words from John Jebb , the Irish High Church theologian who became Bishop of Limerick in 1822 (until his death in 1833).  Jebb words were published in 1815 and republished, in a challenge to trends within Tractarianism (invoking patristic authorities against the Old High tradition), in 1839. Set alongside Beveridge's sermon, we see a p...

When they come to the grave, while the corpse is made ready to be laid into the earth, the Priest shall say, or the Priest and Clerks shall sing: Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow ... To walk in a churchyard during a dark, cold November day is to walk upon ground sanctified by a liturgy offered numerous times over the years, in some cases over centuries. What is more, it is a liturgy offered in the very face of mortality and death, as Comber describes in his commentary on the occasional office s:  Being come to the grave, which is by the Jews called "the long habitation,” and by Christians "the bed of rest;" whilst the corpse is made ready to be put into it ... our Church hath drawn up a most pious meditation for the blessing and sanctifying of our own souls, and the application of this example to our spiritual advantage. And it is there, in the ve...

In a recent post , laudable Practice drew attention to the Hookerian reverence for mystery and gift in Jeremy Taylor's understanding of the holy Eucharist in The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament (1654). Today's extract from The Worthy Communicant (1660) provides another example of Taylor's emphasis on the mystery of the Sacrament.   Taylor evokes Eastern piety and liturgy, particularly the Liturgy of Saint James . This is one of the most significant and beautiful aspects of the passage, seeing the eucharistic mystery as celebrated in the ancient liturgies of the great Churches of the East in the Prayer Book Holy Communion and the eucharistic theology of the Articles. Whatever propositions any man shall entertain in his manner of discoursing of these mysteries, let him be sure to take into his notice and memory those great appellatives with which the purest ages of the church, the most ancient liturgies, and the most eminent saints of God use...

In the seventh of his 1807 Bampton Lectures, On the Nature and Guilt of Schism , Le Mesurier points to the success of the 1662 Settlement: Indeed it was the very moderation of our church which indisposed the puritans to her communion. Their alleged ground of complaint against her was that she still retained the trappings of popery, that she used many ceremonies and kept up many practices which they considered as superstitious. On these objections which they thus entertained to the doctrine or rather to the discipline of the established religion, I need not, I trust, dwell at any length. For who is there in these days that will seriously maintain that the wearing of a surplice, the making of the sign of the cross in baptism, the observance of a few festivals in commemoration of those particular acts in which our Lord's mercy and goodness towards us were most signally displayed, or in honour of his immediate followers and acknowledged saints, or, lastly, a few expressions in our litu...

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Jubilate, the alternative to the Benedictus after the second lesson. Locating this psalm in the Temple liturgy, Shepherd points us to how use of the Jubilate is a sign that the Church "wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree": It is said to have been composed by David upon occasion of a public thanksgiving, and was sung by the Jewish church at the oblation of the peace offering, as the priest was entering into the temple. The appropriateness of the Jubilate following the reading of the New Testament lesson, particularly from the Gospels, is noted.  Significantly, this also emphasises the unity of the covenants, that the God of Israel is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: And immediately after hearing the Gospel of peace, it is a form of praise perfectly suitable to every Christian ass...

That some Anglicans invoked Article XIII of the Thirty-nine to criticise the Archbishop of Canterbury's Diwali statement is an excellent example of exactly how not to use the Articles of Religion.  In sending greetings to Hindu communities in the United Kingdom celebrating Diwali, the festival of light, the Archbishop praised the "example of care and kindness in Hindu communities". Such "acts of community of family love and kindness", he said, "can bring light into these moments of darkness". And so, "Hindu communities are so often being the light we need". The usual suspects, of course, were immediately attacking on Twitter/X: this was "contrary to the gospel ... there is only one light of the world who is Jesus Christ our Lord"; "praising an entirely different religion, without any reference to God, the incarnation or salvation"; "no Archbishop Welby, Jesus is the light we need. Why not point people to Christ rat...

Researchers have found evidence that small brained hominins buried their dead and carved engravings into cave walls associated with the deceased - behaviours thought to be unique to large-brained humans and their ancestors ... Engravings on the wall of the cave system could be between 241,000 and 335,000 years-old, and consist of geometric shapes on surfaces that appear to have been smoothed in preparation for a pointed or sharp object to make the markings. Intentional designs of this kind that communicate a ‘message’ are considered to be a significant cognitive leap in human evolution, and it is seen here for the first time in small-brained human relatives. The recent discovery of such burial customs amongst our distant ancestors is suggestive of how care for the dead is 'natural' to our species. Indeed, it is such natural duties which Hooker first emphasises in his discussion of the Prayer Book burial rite: The end of funerall duties is first to show that love towardes the p...

As the leaves fall, as the mid-November days grow shorter and colder, we observe Remembrance Sunday. The season is befitting for the observance.  There is nothing brash, loud, or glorious about late Autumn: it has an air of melancholy, of gentle decline. Intimations of mortality surround us. We will gather in the parish church, wearing our poppies. If one was seeking a symbol of nationalistic fervour, the poppy would - to say the least - be a very odd choice.  A delicate little flower, bearing no national colours. A delicate little flower which grew in foreign fields, fields which saw loss and sacrifice, not shock and awe triumphs. Names will be read out at the parish war memorial.  Sons of the parish, and one daughter, killed in the Great War and the Second World War. We still recognise some of the surnames. Whether we recognise the names or not, these are are sons and a daughter of our parish. Some will have been baptised at our font and received the holy Sacrament at o...

While some recent extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, demonstrated how a lively call to vibrant faith was present in Hackney and Old High preaching, the most recent extract reasserted the necessity of good works (in line, of course, with the clear teaching of Scripture). Today we turn to another bogeyman in revivalist views of Old High preaching - natural theology.  Here Wordsworth demonstrates how a rich vision of natural theology was evident in Old High preaching, rooted in the coherence of nature and grace. To quote the Cambridge Platonist Benjamin Whichcote, "God, as the author of Nature and Grace, does agree perfectly with himself".  Such is the challenge of 18th century Anglican preaching to the revivalists, then and now: why on earth would Christian preaching not have a rich natural theology? Consider him first as the God of nature. There learn to listen to his awful voice in ...

In the seventh of his 1807 Bampton Lectures, On the Nature and Guilt of Schism , Le Mesurier presents an understanding of the English Reformation that is now deeply unfashionable: Both the mode and progress of the Reformation, it may first be observed, were very different in this country from what happened with other nations. In the first place, with us it began at the head. It was not a comparatively obscure and unauthorised individual who first questioned, and put down the usurped dominion of the pope; but it was the actually existing government, the king himself, who, with the concurrence of the legislature, and of his subjects at large, resumed those rights of which his predecessors had been stripped, and which had from himself been withheld.  Secondly, the work begun did not go on without interruption. On the contrary, it received very material checks, as well from the capricious humour of Henry, as from that dispensation of Providence which suffered the kingdom, after being ...

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Benedictus, used after the second lesson. Shepherd provides a richly Christological explanation of its placing after the New Testament reading, echoing Hooker's defence of the Gospel canticles: For the redemption of the world by the incarnation of the Son of God, of whom John was the forerunner, it breathes the warmest language of gratitude and praise. It is therefore properly placed after the second Lesson, which being always selected either from the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles, necessarily exhibits some portion of the history of our redemption. That said, Shepherd - like Secker in the mid-18th century - defends the more common usage of the Jubilate, regarding the Benedictus (as did Hooker's opponents!) as addressing particular circumstances and therefore not entirely appropriate for general use: The ...

November is a month for churchyards. As Autumn declines, the days shorten, and the splendour of the leaves falls, the season's intimations of mortality are a reflection of the churchyard, the place where "In the midst of life we are in death" is spoken at the graveside. It is also the month of the dead: beginning with All Saintstide and the commemoration of the faithful departed; moving into the sombre observances of Remembrancetide; and ending on the cusp of Advent, when the great collect will again proclaim "he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead". It is indeed a month for walking around churchyards, reflecting on the hour of death and the life of the world to come. The meaning of the churchyard finds liturgical expression in a prayer approved by the Lower House of Convocation in 1712, from a form for the consecration of churches : O God, Who hast taught us in Thy holy word that there is a difference between the spirit...