laudable Practice

...  thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree - Romans 11:24. On Monday coming, Holocaust Memorial Day, I will open my Book of Common Prayer to say Morning Prayer, as we recollect the deep horror and vile evil of the Shoah. After the first lesson, I will say the Benedicite, from the text in the Apocrypha now appropriately known as 'The Song of the Three Jews' - the praises uttered by Ananias, Azarias, and Misael in the fiery furnace: O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever ... O let Israel bless the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. It brings to mind those who repeated the Shema Yisrael and declared the praises of Adonai even in the face of the unspeakable evil of the death camps. The God of Abraham is to be ever praised, even when thick darkness gathers, when deep injustice appears to reign, when death approaches. To pray the Benedi...

On this Christmas Eve, we turn to Bishop Bull's sermon ' The blessed Virgin's low and exalted Condition ' on the text Luke 1:48-49 - "For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done for me great things; and holy is His name". Bull declares "that both it [i.e. the text] and the whole Magnificat, or song of the blessed Virgin, is applicable to, and may be made use of by, all true Christians".  There is something of an echo here of Bede's statement that the use of the Magnificat at Evening Prayer is a "meditating upon the incarnation". Even more significantly, Bull is also following Augustine : it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ's disciple than to have been Christ's mother. There is, then, s...

Continuing with extracts from a sermon by Bishop Bull (d.1710) entitled ' The Blessed Virgin's low and exalted condition ', on the text Luke 1:48-49, we see how Bull defends the use of the Magnificat at Evening Prayer - a practice Hooker also had to defend against the same objections - by emphasising that the canticle rejoices in "our common salvation", the salvation we share with the Blessed Virgin. This is a particularly significant emphasis, rather beautifully expounding what it means to say or sing the Magnificat at Evening Prayer and powerfully reminding us that Our Lord's Mother does not stand apart from that "common salvation": In a word, the Son of God, therefore, honoured the blessed Virgin so far, as in and from her to become man, that He might advance human nature, by assuming it into the unity of His divine Person; and that being born of her, He might procure, not only hers, but our common salvation. So that every one of us may sing the M...

Quiet, empty churches relax after strenuous attempts to define the Trinity. Ronald Blythe's words - from a wonderful collection of his writings, Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside - speak of these Sundays after Trinity in late June, stretching into July and August. In the parish, Sunday congregations begin to decrease from mid-June, as the holiday season starts. Empty spaces in the pews are noticeable. The choir departs, returning in September. Sunday services are now said rather than sung, with a few hymns. When Choral Evensong resumes, we will be well into September. Parishioners wish each other well for travels.  It is a good time for the parish. A fallow time. A time to enjoy the quieter, simpler rhythms of these Sundays in Summer.  On those Summer Sundays when I am without clerical duties, I enjoy slipping into the back pews of nearby parish churches, hearing the words of Matins, decent hymns, and thoughtful sermons. Sunday Matins is, I think, particul...

We now reach John Shepherd's thoughts, in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), on the closing prayer at Matins and Evensong, The Grace. It is, of course, a slightly amended form of the Apostle's closing words in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians:  In consequence of turning the words addressed by Paul to men, into an address to God, you was necessarily changed into us, and the word evermore was added. That the Apostolic words are amended to become "an address to God" indicates that The Grace is indeed a prayer: It is not strictly a Benediction, or blessing. It is rather an intercessionary prayer, wherein the priest implores a blessing for himself, as well as for the congregation. Though it is pronounced by the minister alone, the congregation ought mentally to address it to God. The church has made it, and calls it a prayer, and therefore the minister is directed to kneel.  There is some signif...

When he reflects on the closing collect at Matins and Evensong in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), John Shepherd's delight in the prayer is obvious: This is called the prayer of St. Chrysostom, because it is almost literally taken out of a Greek Liturgy, commonly ascribed to him. The Church of England adopted it, and placed it here, not knowing where to find a prayer, or persons able to compose a prayer, more excellent, or better adapted to the conclusion of a daily service. He points to how the Prayer of Saint Chrysostom grounds the efficacy of our prayers in the evangelical promises of Matthew 6:8 and 18:20, thus gathering up all our petitions at Matins and Evensong into these evangelical promises: The preface contains two grounds and reasons for hoping, that our prayers will be accepted: Our present experience of God's grace, which has enabled us unanimously and devoutly to make our common, that is, ...

As we begin to draw to a close these weekly reflections from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we consider the General Thanksgiving. Shepherd begins by reminding us of a name associated with the General Thanksgiving, Robert Sanderson: In this admirable composition, attributed to Bishop Sanderson, we address God, as the father of all mercies, and give him thanks for his goodness to us, and to all men. Sanderson was rightly famous for his 1647 Oxford lectures On Conscience and Human Law . Appointed Bishop of Lincoln at the Restoration (after having taken the Engagement during the Interregnum), he wrote the Preface to the 1662 revision . He was consistently described as 'the judicious Sanderson', bearing witness to his eirenic, moderate, peaceable commitments. Something of this character is evident in the General Thanksgiving, a prayer which rejoices in the abundant goodness and generosity o...

Turning to the Prayer for the Clergy and People in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), John Shepherd addresses "these different orders, of which the community consists", as they are referenced in the prayer. What is perhaps particularly significant about Shepherd's commentary is the pastoral, rather than sacerdotal, emphasis throughout.  Consider his description of the pastoral nature of the episcopal ministry: The Bishops are the guides and governors of the church of Christ. With the highest dignity they have the weightiest charge. By being advanced above all, they become the servants of all. They are entrusted with the power of choosing and ordaining ministers ... their arduous employment is, to promote the peace of the church, and the interests of true religion, by overseeing both the clergy and the people. On them, in their respective dioceses, lies the daily care of all the churches. It is notew...

Loyalty to her king is the boast, and the glory of the Church of England. The spirit of Christian Loyalty breathes in her devotional offices, and has ever been displayed in the lives of her sons. When, in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), John Shepherd opens his discussion of A Prayer for the King's Majesty with the comment above, we might assume that this reflection on the prayer will be a straightforward example of a stereotyped muscular Anglican High Toryism.  Shepherd, however, presents a reading of the prayer much more nuanced than the stereotype. He notes how critics of Anglicanism and the Prayer Book misinterpret A Prayer for the King's Majesty: By the enemies of the established church, this and similar passages in our Liturgy have been misrepresented, as recommending aggrandizement and conquest. He goes on to provide a cautious, reserved reading of the prayer, emphasising that it seeks the "...

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 Third Collect at Evensong, for Aid against all Perils. Strangely, and despite noting how the other daily collects are taken from ancient Latin sacramentaries, Shepherd does not refer to this Collect being found in the Gelasian Sacramentary. Instead, in a footnote, he roots it in a prayer from the Euchologion of the Greek Church, which includes the petition "dispel all darkness from our hearts, and vouchsafe to us the sun of righteousness". The quotation in the extract below is also from this prayer: Though their titles are different, the third collects at Morning and Evening Prayer bear a considerable resemblance to each other: and both of them are peculiarly well adapted for the situations they respectively hold. That for the morning, appears to be more immediately directed, against the dangers and temptatio...

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 Second Collect at Evening Prayer. As with the second and third collects at Matins, Shepherd notes the antiquity of this collect, "translated, with little change, from a prayer in the sacramentary of Gregory the Great". Again we note how each day at Cranmerian Morning and Evening Prayer we pray in ancient words, offered by churches over centuries. While accepting the similarity with the Second Collect for Peace at Matins, Shepherd points to how the Second Collect at Evensong - "The second for Peace" - is particularly suited to the evening hour, after the day's labour, with the hours of darkness before us, the passing of another day marking the passage of our mortal lives: This collect has the same title with the second for morning prayer; "A collect for peace." And though the petitions ...

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 consider his commentary on the collects for Sundays and feast days. Quoting from the Catholic humanist Cassander, Shepherd notes the antiquity of this form of prayer: "the ancient church first called these prayers Collects, from their being used when the people were come together, and collected in religious assemblies". This emphasis on the antiquity of the collects is significant in light of how Shepherd organised the Sunday and feast day collects into three groups.  There are those - 14 in total - "taken from ancient models, but considerably altered and improved by our Reformers, and the Reviewers of the Liturgy". Amongst these, however, is the replacement for the pre-Reformation Breviary collect for the Annunciation, which had referred to her intercession. It was replaced with a collect from the Gregorian Sa...

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 consider the versicles and responses after the second Lord's Prayer at Matins and Evensong. Shepherd begins by identifying the source of these versicles and responses: From the recital of the Lord's Prayer we proceed to the interlocutory petitions, all of which except two are taken out of the psalms.  These versicles, in other words, root the Church's daily prayer in the Psalter. In doing so, they also illuminate other characteristics of the Church's prayer, for - as Shepherd notes - they provide a summary of the Sunday and daily collects: Whether it be entirely the effect of design, or something must be attributed to accident, these versicles are an epitome of the collects that regularly follow. The duty of the congregation is to join in the one, and to listen with attention to the other. Shepherd then proceeds to...

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 consider  the second Lord's Prayer at Matins and Evensong: When it was repeated in the beginning of the service, it was more particularly applied for the confirmation of our pardon, and absolution. Here it has respect to the following prayers, which we have reason to presume will be more acceptable on its account. And if on the former occasion we did not offer any petition with suitable earnestness, we have now an opportunity of compensating for the omission, by asking with greater fervency, what was too slightly passed over before. The reasons Shepherd provides for this second offering of the Lord's Prayer are useful reminders of why the practice has value.  The first and second Lord's Prayer at Matins and Evensong have different functions, with this second use framing the offering of prayer and intercession at this s...

This week's extract from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796) considers the Kyries - the Lesser Litany - before the second Lord's Prayer at Matins and Evensong. Shepherd described these Kyries as "a most pathetic address to each person of the Trinity" ('pathetic' was defined by Samuel Johnson's dictionary as "affecting the passions; passionate; moving") and praised the reformers for "their wisdom in retaining this ancient form of supplication, but at the same time translating it into English". He roots their use in the daily office in a canon of the second council of Vaison (539AD) in southern Gaul, adopting the practice from Byzantine usage in the East and in the churches of Italy (which then followed Byzantine practice): The second council of Vaison observes, that in the East, and the provinces of Italy, an useful and agreeable custom prevailed of ...

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 consider another often overlooked short form of words before the prayers at Matins and Evensong: "Let us pray".  This exhortation, which is often repeated in the ancient Liturgies, as well as in our own, may be considered as an invitation to prayer in general, to ardent and intense prayer in particular. In the ancient Liturgies the assistant deacon is directed frequently to call upon the people to pray, to pray earnestly, and to pray still more earnestly [a footnote refers to this exhortation in "Greek and Oriental Liturgies"]. And the same spirit of devotion our church breathes in her Liturgy by the frequent repetition of the words, "Let us pray." They here remind the people, that as they are now solemnly entering upon the grand duty of supplication and prayer, they should not suffer their thoughts t...

Resuming 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 a quite beautiful section on the 'The Lord be you: and with thy spirit' after the Creed and before the prayers. Shepherd here expounds the deep meaning of this too-often overlooked versicle and response, and its particular significance before the offering of prayer at Matins and Evensong. In the ancient offices the words often denote a transition from one part of the service to another, and in this light they may here be considered. Our consciences absolved from sin by confession, our affections elated with praise and thanksgiving, our understandings enlightened by hearing God's word, and our faith strengthened by a solemn profession, we now enter more particularly upon the business of prayer, and proceed "to ask those things which are requisite and necessary as well for the body, as the soul."  Before we be...

Last week , we reflected on how John Shepherd, in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), expounded the meaning of the place of the Apostles' Creed at Matins and Evensong. This week, we consider Shepherd's account of the ceremonies accompanying the Creed - that it is said by the congregation, standing, facing east, with the head bowed at the Name of Jesus.  Shepherd begins by noting that there is salvific significance to the congregation joining with the minister in the saying of the Creed: It is the confession of every person present, and therefore every one ought personally to pronounce it with the minister. It should be remembered, that our Creed does not, like our prayers, run in the plural number. The minister does not say in the name of the congregation, "We believe," but he for himself, and every individual for himself, is directed to say, "I believe" ... every man must believe for h...

Having considered John Shepherd's reflections on the canticles at Matins and Evensong in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we now turn to the Apostles' Creed. Many contemporary Anglican versions of the daily office, of course, omit the Creed as unnecessary or perhaps even as a distraction from the purpose of daily prayer. Shepherd robustly demonstrates otherwise, pointing to the Creed as shaping our response to the reading of holy Scripture and providing the basis for our prayers to the Triune God: That the place in which the Creed stands in our Morning and Evening Prayer, is the most proper that could be chosen, will be evident, if we consider, what precedes, and what follows it. 1. Before it, are the Lessons taken out of the Holy Scriptures. "Faith comes by hearing," and we having heard the word of God, profess our belief of it ... We trust it will profit us, who immediately after hearing it,...

There are eleven penitential sentences at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer in BCP 1662 . It is not without interest that eight of these eleven sentences are from the scriptures of the Old Testament. This can have an important significance during the season of Advent, placing the Church alongside ancient Israel in hearing the call to repentance, acknowledging that our sins are those of faithless Israel. Three of the sentences particularly demonstrate this. The first sentence, Ezekiel 18:27, is part of the prophetic discourse which concludes, "Therefore will I judge you, O house of Israel". Similarly, Joel 2:13 follows the prophet's call, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion". Daniel 9:9-10 is from Daniel's confession, acknowledging of Israel, "we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and done wickedly, and rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgements".  These sentences, therefore, in a particular way place the Church ...