Life has sucked the past few weeks and I’ve mostly been off-line. Please keep M in your prayers

The class is going well, at least. I’m running it fairly fast and loose and encouraging lots of participation from the students to drive our conversations. I think there were some fears from some quarters (myself included) that it’d be too…medieval/Ritual Notes or something. I think we’re doing a good job of both displaying the wealth of the tradition and keeping it applicable to people’s local congregational settings.

Haven’t read the bio of ++Akinola described by Thinking Anglicans and don’t intend to. What strikes me odd–yet again–about what TA reported are the comments attributed to +Ackerman. What about this situation do Anglo-Catholics not get?? From what I understand, ++Akinola is about as protestant as it gets…why laud him as a savior figure?

Check this out: CanticaNova Publications.

I commend to you Fr. Gerth’s comments in the last communique from Smokey Mary on inclusive language and the proliferation of trial liturgies. For those unfamiliar with him, he knows the liturgy backwards and forwards, reveres the tradition without being an antiquarian, and stands solidly within the tradition of orthodox Christianity. I particularly appreciate his take on how the traditional language can provide solace for those damaged by abuse, patriarchy, et al. I’d even wager that seeing Christ as the true high priest may also be a way to call into question and relativize the power-hungry in purple shirts and the harm our political wranglings are inflicting on the Body of Christ.

I had my first class today. I only got through half the stuff I planned to cover but that’s ok since I budgeted time at the beginning of next class for spill-over. It was great; I had fun–I think they had fun. The test is how many come back for the next class session… :-D

St. Francis today. Yay, Francis! M is big for him–I’ll still take Benedict anyday…

Cool liturgical mp3’s at bls’s place.

Speaking of music–let’s see: drugs, depression, failing/ed relationships, driving guitar work, religious overtones…sounds like some goth rock to me! M got me the new Evanescence album. Which got left at work due to meetings all day and no chance to go back to the office before heading home. I may give a quick review of it later–so far I like it.

Life is short. We only have so much time to appreciate its richness in all its varieties. Life is too short to drink perfumed rice water that is foisted upon the American consumers (who really ought to know better) as “beer”–particularly the mispelled variant known as “‘lite’ beer.”

Mini-rant inspired by Lee at Ipsum Verbum…

The on-going soap opera that is the Anglican Communion continues. Shortly
after exoneration for abandonment of communion, +Schofield turns right
around draws up plans to do just that. The Archbishop of South Africa
preached a great sermon on what sums up for me being an Anglican. Catch all
this over at Simon’s (Thinking Anglicans)–I’m trying to ignore it all best
I can…

My class starts tomorrow so I have liturgical cycles on the brain. Oh–and
the 25th is the equinox in the *Julian* calendar. I doubt this needs to be
said in this company, but the church year–like all good liturgy–is not
just about what happens on Sunday; it’s a comprehenesive way of life life
entangled in the mystery of Christ. That’s what I’d rather focus on today…

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The Daily Office Rant is coming but this has been on my mind a while and I thought I’d just throw it out there. The expression “Prayer book
Anglo-Catholic” or even “Prayer book Anglican” is, I believe, English in
origin. It’s not American. That makes a pretty big difference. Remember
that the *official* English BCP is none other than the 662—especially since the 1928 attempt was kicked back by Parliament. As a result, England has always had more leniency concerning supplemental and other books. Even the new “official” book is not technically “official”… To be a “Prayer book Anglo-Catholic”, then, was to be one who followed the 1662 rather than the English Missal or other texts (a la the Directorium Anglicana…).

For someone on this side of the pond to call themselves a “Prayer book Anglican” or whatever—what does that really mean? It seems after the ’79 BCP that the original and current meanings of the term are somewhat at odds. The ’79 follows the mainstream of ecumenical liturgical thought in the halcyon days after Vatican II and the attempt to re-enthrone the 4th century—but in doing so it makes some changes distinctly out of line from the classical Anglican tradition represented by the 1662 and the 1549 books.

So—where are we in this? If you’re a “Prayer book” person, what sort are you
and why??

Can one of my more Catholic readers offer a suitable distinction between doctrine and discipline? Specifically, I’m thinking about the development of doctrine issue. The faith of the Church never changes, never has–and so when Catholics are confronted with the contradiction between clerical celibacy and Paul’s prescription in the Pastorals (husbands of one wife…) they tell me that that’s a matter of *discipline* not doctrine. Discipline can change but doctrine can’t. So–where’s the line?

So I was all excited to figure out last night’s collect for Evening Prayer. Why? Well, it’s a Saturday night. Generally Saturday nights are the First Vespers of the Sunday following which is why even the ’79 BCP instructs that the Sunday collect be used (p. 158). However, it being the Saturday falling after the first Wednesday after the 14, yesterday was also the Fall Ember Day which is a fairly significant event. Not only that, it was the 23rd which means it’s the eve of a 24th.

Caelius can explain this better than I, but the date of the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes have drifted a bit over the centuries. They’re currently on the 21st where they used to be on the 24th. Early on, the church appropriated the natural theology of the increase and decrease of the sun and positioned incarnational feasts at each of them. Thus, Christmas–the rebirth of the light–was Dec 24th; nine months early was the vernal equinox and the equality and increase of the light and thus the Annunciation of the BVM. The Birth of St John Baptist was at the summer solstice (nb: it’s really rare to celebrate the *birth* of a saint rather than his death…it’s a signal there’s something deeper going on…). Since the sun decreases at that point it was linked to the words of JB in John’s Gospel, “I must decrease so he [Jesus] may increase.” Nine months before that, then, is the Conception of JB. Which is today. So yesterday was the eve.

What then should be observed? The 1st Vespers of the Sunday or the Feast or the 2nd Vespers of the Ember Day?

When I went to check the tables of precedence in the Anglican Breviary–what do you know, they had the nerve to take out the Conception of JB!

Final answer–The Ember Day as the second vespers of a feria of the second class takes it; the Conception would have to be a 1st class feast for a first verspers to knock out a second vespers.

Hey–I said it was the height of geekiness…

I’m still here–just really busy with little time for blogging these days. A few things:

* Talked to my best friend from college the other day. He’s at Falls Church. I said, “C’mon, is this really a forty day period of discernment? Is there any doubt about what’s going to be discerned?” He just laughed.

* Church politics. It’s a serious pain in the ass. I heartily agree with bls when she says that often the Church and its politics are often the biggest stumbling block to the gospel [paraphrase…]. I’m really tempted–especially at times like these–to say, screw ’em all and stick my head back in my prayer book. Unfortuantely, though, that’s what got us to this situation…

* Prayers for *Christopher and C. They went ahead and did what they needed to do even though it was against the rules. Now, it seems, the rules are going to be enforced.

* Prayers for Anastasia. Dissertation directors can, as a class, be Evil Spawn at times. They literally hold power over their students’ careers. It’s great if they want to play petty games with their peers but screwing with their students is wrong.

More later.