I know that some of my readers use the Roman sanctoral kalendar with the BCP offices. I’m curious to know what you use for collects and to get the thoughts of others… (And I’ve been dying to try a poll!)
According to the BCP rubrics, it’s fine to add in saints/occasions from other sources provided that they “be observed with the Collects…duly authorized by this Church” (p. 18).
Formerly, Episcopalian Tiber-gazers could use the handy chart on pp. 106-8 in Michno’s A Priest’s Handbook which just happens to list which of the Common of Saints best fit various folks found in the Roman kalendar. For instance, Elizabeth Ann Seton gets “Of a Teacher II” and would be:
O Almighty God who didst give to thy servant Elizabeth Ann special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant, we beseech thee, that by this teaching we may know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
However, those following along will note that Elizabeth Ann Seton has been included in Holy Women, Holy Men and has another “duly authorized collect”:
Holy God, who didst bless Elizabeth Seton with thy grace as wife, mother, educator and founder, that she might spend her life in service to thy people: Help us, by her example, to express our love for thee in love of others; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Likewise, St John of the Cross. There’s the Common option:
O God, who by thy Holy Spirit dost give to some the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of faith: We praise thy name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant John of the Cross, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of such gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, on God, for ever and ever.
Then the HWHM option:
Judge eternal, throned in splendor, who gavest Juan de la Cruz strength of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark night of the soul: Shed thy light on all who love thee, in unity with Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
So—what do you use/prefer? The specificity of the HWHM option or the more general and arguably better crafted collects of the Common option?
Wow—the proposed collect for Fabian (pope and martyr) is actually really good! (How’d that get in there…?):
Almighty God, who didst call Fabian to be a faithful pastor and servant of thy people, and to lay down his life in witness to thy Son: Grant that we, strengthened by his example and aided by his prayers, may in times of trial and persecution remain steadfast in faith and endurance, for the sake of him who laid down his life for us all, Jesus Christ our Savior; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
So is this what most of the very few (and understandably becoming fewer) American Anglo-Papalists do? (S. Clement’s, which is 1951 Roman Rite, is of course an exception.)
An outsider’s view of that HWHM sample:
First, not HMHW (cue Mr Van Driessen of ‘Beavis’: ‘Women are better than men…’), and second, Juan de la Cruz. My, aren’t we PC? Like those people 20 years ago who put on Spanish accents every time they said Nicaragua. Third, the allergy to the word Lord. Not formally heretical but still cause to pause.
I like the reference to the dark night of the soul in it but prefer the collect from your Common: more generic but fine prose in the best Anglican tradition.
I’ll sit down and shut up now.
Yes, sometimes the emphasis on the non-Western gets a little precious. Too, if you’re going to use foreign language names in collects and such, be sure to spell them correctly. I.e., the collect for Paul Shinji Sasaki, Bishop of Mid-Japan, and of Tokyo on Oct 31: unless I very much miss my guess it should be Nippon Sei Kyo Kai.
Of course Spain is part of the West but yes. I think Nippon Sei Ko Kai is correct.
Actually, the “dark night of the soul,” according to Juan dlC, does not have the connotations given it by that collect.
The Dark Night is considered a necessary (although perhaps painful at the time) passage towards full union with God. It is merely one of numerous stages on this path; it has nothing to do with ordinary life at all, or with depression (which seems to be the inference here, although perhaps I’m reading it wrongly).
It is something to work towards, in fact – a good thing – and it only occurs after the “dark night of the senses” has already been passed through.
That’s all true of the dark night of the soul but I didn’t see a misreading (reference to ordinary life or depression) in the collect.
I think some weight ought to be given to the newly-appointed Collects (and Propers) even when they are less perfect than they might be — because they have, after all, come from “the Church”. (How’s that for an old Anglo-Catholic parameter?)
At least that’s what we are trying to do at OJN – and it isn’t easy! Only really good thing about it (for me) is that local usage has been clearly legitimized — so we have clear ecclesial authority to pick and choose (thank God!).
Yes, I’ve been picking and choosing and am solidifying a kalendar now. It’s adapted from HWHM, the Roman, and the Anglican Missal; I jokingly refer to it as the triple M kalendar—martyrs, mystics, and Mary.
And yes, I’m still wrestling with which collects to use… Fr. John-Julian does raise a good point. I have decided, though, that the collect for Fabian has become my new Common for any classified P.M. lacking a proper! (Maybe some of the B.M.’s as well…)
I have been using the HWHM collects, although I will probably use the one from the Carmelite Missal for JoC as the one provided for makes me gag, for the reasons that bls points out.
The GC did ask that there be feed back on this beasty and I’m all for using them in order to give the requested opionion. Not, mind you, that I’m all that certain that a procedure or anything like thta is in place for such feed back.