Continuities and the dark days before Christmas

Having earlier this week praised Victorian Anglicanism, today's post is an example of how earlier Georgian norms could continue to be found in the Victorian era. In a Stir-up Sunday sermon, John Keble favourably refers to the practice of Ante-Communion:

If any go on profanely rejecting the Holy Communion altogether, the Church, he would perceive, is not to blame for it, who has not only enjoined all her children to communicate at least three times a year, but also encourages, wherever it may be, Communion on every Lord's day; and to put us in mind of that sacred duty, appoints certain portions of the holy service to be said at the Lord's Table, even when the Sacrament is not administered.

Mindful that this collection of Keble's sermons was published in 1878, this reference certainly suggests that the practice of Ante-Communion was known past the mid-19th century. What is more, not only does Keble not criticise the practice, he actively praises it: Ante-Communion "put[s] us in mind of that sacred duty" of partaking of the holy Sacrament.

It is a reminder of deep continuities, not only between the Old High and Tractarian traditions, but also between the Georgian and Victorian Church, between parsons Woodforde and Keble, continuities felt and experienced in Anglican parishes across the 19th century, amidst many changes. There is something appropriate about reflecting on this as we prepare to enter into Advent, thinking of how parishioners of both Woodforde and Keble would be hearing the Ante-Communion on the Sunday next before Advent and during Advent, the same liturgy, collect, and readings preparing them to receive the holy Sacrament at Christmas.

As we say the Collect for Purity on Advent Sunday, hear the Commandments (or Summary of the Law), pray the Collect of the day, listen to the Epistle and Gospel, and pray for the Church Militant, may we also be aware of those continuities, cherishing them, as we prepare to partake of the holy Sacrament in the days of Advent, sharing in the same hope which held the parishioners of parsons Woodforde and Keble in the dark days before Christmas.

(The first picture is of Weston Longville All Saints, the church of which Woodforde was rector, 1776-1803. The second is of All Saints, Hursley, Hampshire, where Keble was rector, 1835-66.)

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