'Touched and revived with comfort of forgiveness': the Comfortable Words and the gift of the Eucharist
The Comfortable Words are back. Well, perhaps I somewhat overstate. I have, however, noticed that both Ben Crosby (an Episcopal priest-theologian serving in the Anglican Church of Canada) and Justin Holcomb (Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida) have both been writing on the significance of the Comfortable Words. Mindful that the Comfortable Words were dismissed by the liturgical reforms of the late 20th century, and have no place in contemporary Anglican eucharistic rites, it is not without interest that they continue to attract serious theological reflection in 2024. Ben Crosby notes the significance of the Comfortable Words deriving from the Reformed eucharistic liturgies of Strasbourg and Cologne: The next time that you say or hear the Comfortable Words, remember that this well-loved text shows the clear connection between the Church of England and the Reformation on the Continent. This use of Comfortable Words as part of the absolution come to us from Cologne, from ...