'To express veneration for the words of our Lord': the reading of the Epistle and Gospel at the Holy Communion

When John Shepherd - in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer, Volume II (1801) - turns to the reading of the Epistle and Gospel in the Communion Office, he not insignificantly notes that this practice is grounded in both ancient Jewish and Christian tradition:

After one of the two Collects for the King, in which we prayed for the external prosperity of the Church, this Rubric directs, that the Collect for the day shall follow, which is commonly a prayer for internal grace; and that immediately after the Collect, the priest shall read the Epistle, the Gospel, and the Creed.

Before the celebration of the Passover the Jews read the history of their deliverance from Egypt, and the voice of antiquity uniformly proclaims, that at the celebration of the Eucharist, the Christians have always read select portions from the New Testament. The practice is mentioned by Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, Chrysostom, Austin, Origen, Leo, and others, delivered Homilies, or Sermons, which still appear among their respective works, upon the portions of Scripture, that in their times were appointed to be read ...

Why do we read the Scriptures in divine service? Because it is what Christians do and what Christians have always done, inheriting the practice from the Jewish people.

The priority given to the reading of the Gospel - the "most honourable" of the readings - is also rightly recognised by Shepherd as significant. This, as he points out, is given liturgical expression in the 1662 rite:

It is remarkable that the reading of the Epistle, should have always preceded the reading of the Gospel. The Epistle appears to have been regarded as a kind of harbinger, or messenger to the Gospel. It was considered as the words of the servant, and the Gospel as the words of the master, for whom the last, or most honourable place was reserved ...

During the reading of the Epistle, the people are permitted to sit; but when the Gospel is read we all stand up, to express our veneration for the words of our Lord, to shew our readiness to execute his Commands, and to denote our determination to follow whithersoever he may call ...

That these four texts, written after many of the canonical epistles, should have a priority expressed by a particular veneration is witness to the Church's Christological centre: these four accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have priority over the epistles because it is His person and these saving events which constitute the Church's confession, the confession proclaimed by the epistles. The simple practice, therefore, of the people standing for the Gospel reading carries with it significant weight, in terms of both doctrine and piety.

It is, of course, the case that the 1662 rite has no liturgical veneration for the Gospel reading apart from the people standing. This provision itself, however, should not be overlooked, as Shepherd states. Interestingly, however, he also makes mention of a practice which was not provided for in 1662:

In ancient Liturgies, and in our first book of Common Prayer, when the passage to be read out of the Gospel was announced by the minister, the people, to evince the joy with which they received it, were directed to say, "Glory be to thee, O Lord." Though in all the subsequent editions of our book this direction has been omitted; yet the practice is very generally retained. It was likewise customary in the ancient Church, after the ending of the Gospel, to say, "Thanks be to God for his Holy Gospel;" a practice in some places still continued.

That such an acclamation could be described in 1801 as "very generally retained" is noteworthy. It does, perhaps, explain the re-introduction of the Gospel acclamation by the American 1789 and Irish 1878 revisions, the former pre-dating Tractarianism and the latter firmly against Tractarian influences. In other words, both revisions were accepting a "very generally retained" and uncontroversial practice in pre-1833 Anglicanism.

If the practice was as widespread as implied by Shepherd (and by the American and Irish revisions), it illustrates an enduring Anglican piety regarding the Gospel reading, of what it means to be addressed by the words of our Lord, particularly as we prepare to approach to the Holy Sacrament; of how the words of our Lord in the Gospels define it means to "Draw near with faith ... in love and charity with your neighbours".

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...

'Whether the Lutheran Churches have right Ordinations and perfect succession of Bishops': Jeremy Taylor, 'Episcopacy Asserted', and Lutheran orders

Amidst the bitter controversies over episcopacy in the Three Kingdoms during the early 1640s, controversies which had become war in Scotland in 1637 and then in England in 1642, Jeremy Taylor wrote his Laudian defence of episcopal order, The Sacred Order and Offices of Episcopacy Asserted and Maintained . He proposed in this work that the non-episcopal Reformed churches could have had episcopally-ordered clergy: Those good people might have had order from the bishops of England or the Lutheran churches, if at least they thought our churches catholic and Christian. Leaving aside the reality that, for example, French Protestants would have been placed in an invidious political position if they had done as Taylor proposed, it is the reference to "the Lutheran churches" which is significant. To begin with, a large portion of the Lutheran churches - those in the German lands - were governed by a system of superintendency. It is almost inconceivable that Taylor was not aware of th...

laudable Practice

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