'Wrapped around the body of Christ in the Eucharist': covering the remaining consecrated elements in the Prayer Book Holy Communion

When all have communicated, the minister shall return to the Lord's table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth. This Rubric, taken from the Scottish Liturgy, was likewise added in 1661; the ceremony which it prescribes, was probably observed before.

When John Shepherd, in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer, Volume II (1801), turns to the rubric following the administration of the holy Sacrament, we yet again see a significant example of how a rich eucharistic piety is found in the pre-1833 Church of England. Shepherd - again - turns to patristic sources to explore the meaning of a provision of the Prayer Book rite:

This cloth, by the Latin ecclesiastical writers is called the corporal, because it was wrapped round the body of Christ in the Eucharist. It was in use in the time of Isidore Peleusiota, who wrote A.D. 412, and says, "the fine linen cloth, which is stretched over the holy gifts, represents the good office of Joseph of Arimathea." Durandus, in his Rationale, delivers the same opinion: "The corporal represents the fine linen cloth in which the body of Christ was wound up in the sepulchre." The corporal was likewise called palla, or pall, because it vailed the sacramental elements. The institution of the corporal or pall is ascribed to Eusebius, who was Bishop of Rome about the year 300. But it was probably in use before, for he ordered that " it should be made, not of silk, or purple, or died cloth, but of fine white linen, like that in which our Lord was buried." In the colour, manufacture, and use of the corporal, the old liturgical writers have discovered many mystical significations.

It is striking how Shepherd has no awkwardness or embarrassment in invoking these patristic "mystical significations" and is entirely content to apply them to this Prayer Book rubric. He does so, as we have previously seen, while holding the traditionally Reformed understanding of 18th century Church of England divines regarding the presence of the Lord in the Sacrament. Shepherd quite clearly sees no contradiction whatsoever between the two. In fact, the patristic interpretations of the corporal point to the truth that "the Body and Blood of Christ ... are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper".

What is more, the "mystical" interpretation of the corporal placed over the remaining consecrated elements - that it evokes the linen cloth in which Joseph of Arimathea placed the body of the Crucified - is a reminder that the Holy Communion was ordained, in the words of the Catechism, "For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby". Similarly, the Prayer of Consecration proclaiming that the Sacrament is "a perpetual memory of that his precious death ... in remembrance of his death and passion". In other words, to see in the corporal placed over the remaining consecrated elements a representation of the actions of Joseph of Arimathea at the Lord's Burial, is a reminder that the Holy Communion is, in the words of Article XXVIII, the "Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death".

Once again, Shepherd is demonstrating the vitality and richness of eucharistic piety in the pre-1833 Church of England, drawing on patristic theologies and practices to illustrate the meaning of the Prayer Book Holy Communion. Whatever the reasons given for the Movement of 1833, it was not necessary as a means of renewing the eucharistic theology and piety of Anglicanism, nor to encourage a greater awareness of patristic teaching and spirituality.

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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