On the Saints

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth: We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 It seems to be a near universal aspect of humanity that throughout the course of our lives we face challenges, obstacles, suffering and all other sorts of adverse situations and circumstances, and often times we seem to convince ourselves that these situations are utterly unique, that no one else has ever gone through these situations or circumstances before. This often leads to feelings of isolation as we express to others that they couldn’t possibly understand what we are enduring, and that their advice is therefore worthless.

The reality is that the challenges we face in our earthly lives are rarely unique. In most cases, there are acquaintances in our own lives who have endured pertinently similar circumstances and challenges. Throughout the course of recorded human history, it is unlikely that any great challenge in our own lives has never affected someone else.

And yet, the common refrain remains to say that no one else understands, no one else has suffered through these circumstances.

The same reaction can often hold true in our Christian lives. The challenges to our faith are many, and sometimes we feel as if we are the only ones to endure these trials and challenges. First and foremost, we never endure alone, as God always supports us in adversity when we turn to him. Our Christian friends can similarly be a great source of comfort, both in prayer and in relating their own experiences with similar challenges in their own faith journeys.

More than simply meeting with current friends, as Anglicans, we have a repository of the recorded lives of great Christians we can turn to: the saints, more specifically referred to as the Church Triumphant.

The veneration of saints is a practice which is variously viewed as beneficial, superstitious, pious or confusing. Protestants in particular seem the most likely to be baffled by the Saints, as it is not often the case that they are venerated, or their lives even observed.

In the catholic tradition, whether Eastern or Western, the saints play a prominent role in the life of the Church, and often in the lives of individual Christians.

The saints are Christians who have lived lives of faith, and who, to the best of the understanding of Christians today, have been reunited with Christ in heaven, hence the particular reference to them as the Church Triumphant, as opposed to the Church Militant, those Christians, also saints, who continue to struggle in their earthly life of faith.

It would not be correct to say that all of the saints lived flawless lives, or lives of the utmost piety. While some did, others are remembered due to acts of martyrdom, or otherwise for coming to Christ later in their lives after youths of indulgence. Saint Ambrose of Milan did not become a Christian until well into his adulthood, and his youth had been spent on non-Christian pursuits. Saint Augustine of Hippo similarly came to Christ as an adult after leading a vice-filled youth which he later commented on.

Historically, the saints were viewed as fellow intercessors. Christians would pray to the saints, asking for their prayers just as they might ask any other fellow Christian to pray for them. During the medieval period, particularly in the West, this changed somewhat. Saints were viewed as mediators between Christians and Christ our judge. The saints were viewed as having particular portfolios and you would pray for a particular saint to intercede on your behalf with Christ the judge on a particular issue.

This led in some cases to excesses in which the saints were not merely venerated, but worshipped. In the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, this practice was condemned by Article XXII, along with a number of other particular practices of the Roman Church which had developed during the medieval period, which were influenced in particular by superstition and syncretism with existing pagan religions in the West. It should be noted, however, that Article XXII did not in any way condemn the original practice of intercession through the saints.

In Anglicanism, therefore, the veneration of the saints and their intercession remains a matter of personal pious devotion. Permitted, but not required. Its practice tends to reflect personal theological preferences and often-times one’s churchmanship.

In evangelical Anglicans, the emphasis tends to be on the personal relationship between man and God, and thus the intercession of others and of the saints in particular is less important and emphasized. The lives of saints tend to similarly be less frequently emphasized because evangelical Anglican ecclesiology doesn’t tend to have as much emphasis on traditions of the Church, and instead focuses more on the Church as the visible body of believers under the authority of Scripture.

For those maintaining a more Anglo-Catholic outlook, their ecclesiology places a higher value on the Communion of Saints as a whole, including those saints in heaven that have been referred to in this post. Their value is emphasized significantly in their instructive value, and in their teaching of doctrine. Similarly, Anglo-Catholics would be far less likely to draw a distinction between asking a living Christian friend for their prayers versus asking a saint in heaven for their intercessory prayers.

The practice of studying the lives of the saints and asking for their intercessory prayers is ancient. It is something that unites all Christians, East and West, both in terms of the common practice, and also in that the saints we commemorate and celebrate come from outside our own tradition. In the Anglican Church of Canada’s calendar of Saints, there are saints from England, Western Roman Christendom and Eastern Christendom.

St Paul writes that, “[God] comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God,” (2 Cor 1. 4). If God is preparing us to comfort others, then so to has he prepared the saints, for generations before us, to similarly comfort us. In our suffering, then, let us always be reminded that our situation is rarely unique, and that many Christians that have gone before us have endured similar trials. We can look to their stories and be comforted, just as we are often comforted by a friend who can relate how they endured some shared challenge in their life with us.

On Judicial Review

The Day of Pentecost

GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Whitsunday

O GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon thy disciples in Jerusalem: Grant that we who celebrate before thee the Feast of Pentecost may continue thine for ever, and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit, until we come to thine eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect for the Unity of the Christian Church

O LORD Jesus Christ who didst say unto thine Apostles, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: Regard not our sins, but the faith of thy Church, and grant unto it that peace and unity which is agreeable to thy will; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

In law, the term judicial review refers to the process by which laws passed by legislatures are scrutinized by the courts against existing higher orders of law. In Canada, this generally means the Constitution Acts 1867 and 1982, with in the US this would be the US Constitution and its amendments, including the Bill of Rights.

This process creates an interaction between the governments which pass laws and the courts which interpret them, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, two prominent Canadian constitutional scholars began to debate the nature of this relationship.

First, Prof. Peter Hogg advanced Dialogue Theory. In Hogg's theory, legislatures and courts interact in a dialogue, because when the courts making a judicial review ruling, legislatures have the ability to respond to that statement in a number of ways. For instance, the legislature could appeal a ruling to a higher court, enact a change to avoid the ruling in some way, retain the legislation in question by amending it or abandon it entirely. In Canada, where a court ruling invalidates legislation on the basis of the Charter of Rights, the legislature has an over-ride clause in the Charter that allows the law to operate notwithstanding the Court's ruling.

Two years later, Prof. F.L. Morten responded with a criticism and advanced what he called Monologue Theory that said that interactions were not a dialogue as Hogg had said, but a one-sided monologue from the courts. First, there is a lack of equality when the two bodies speak, because the courts speak with greater authority than legislatures. While the legislatures can act to get around the rulings, there is a status quo created when the courts rule that cannot be avoided.

At this point, the real question is what does this have to do with a blog on Christianity? It is, however, an interesting model to use to examine how humans relate to God, and is particularly pertinent to discuss on the Day of Pentecost.

In the Old Testament, prayer and offerings were the normal part of the life of a believing Jew. The way they interacted with God was far different, however. While all prayed and might bring offerings, it was the priests who were set apart who made the sacrifices to God, and only particular priests were permitted into the temple--into the presence of God. Only the High Priest was permitted to use the name of God, and then only in the holiest place in the temple and only on Yom Kippur.

Throughout the history of the Old Testament, God spoke to many different people, but it was always particular people for particular purposes. Raising up great kings and leaders or prophets and priests.

Morten's arguments about the disparity in power between parties seems very much to apply here. And why would it not? Who could argue with the majesty and greatness of God being incomprehensibly greater than that of humanity? God interacted with humanity almost exclusively in a monologue.

In the new covenant, however, there is a significant change. God no longer speaks only to particular individuals, he speaks to all. He doesn't speak to us for particular purposes and at particular times. He does not do it to raise up prophets or kings for the chosen people. He speaks to every person and for every purpose.

The point at which this changes comes with the fulfilment of Christ's promise recorded in the Gospel of St John: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you,” (St Jn 14. 16, 17).

In this passage, Christ promises the sending of the Holy Spirit, something which is recorded in Holy Scripture as happening on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and all believers like tongues of flame, and they were empowered by the Spirit.

In the Holy Spirit, the gift of dialogue was offered. God now speaks to all people, and not just for particular purposes, but for the greater purpose of of our sanctification. Christ was sent to bring about our reconciliation and through the Spirit, sent at Pentecost, we now are given the means by which we can now not simply pray to God, but hear him and converse with him.

It is astonishing that in reflection on prayer, most Christians first and foremost think of the promises made that when prayers are offered in Christ's name, they will be answered. Instead, should we not consider with great joy first and foremost that through the these gifts, God has made all believers equal in status with the great prophets of the Old Testament? Moses and Abraham, who spoke with God and received his instructions for them? Now it is a matter for all Christians to discern God's discussions with them and his will for them.

At Pentecost, it is customary to consider gifts of the Spirit. It is only natural given that they are one of the more visible results of the Holy Spirit alive in the life of a Christian. Yet, it is the gift of relationship, of conversation, with God which is truly the distinguishing characteristic for Christians, and which is not nearly celebrated enough. Everyone recognizes that one of the central tenets of Christianity is that personal relationship with God, which is enabled by Christ's passion on the cross, but it must also be recognized that once we are reconciled to God in Christ, it is by the Holy Spirit that our relationship with God is built. The opportunity for dialogue exists, and any Christian that ignores that, sticking to the monologues of the Old Testament, will be missing out on the full joy of a true, personal relationship with God the Father.

On the Use of the Prayer Book

The Fourth Sunday in Advent

RAISE up, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

Advent

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

For most people familiar with the Prayer Book, they will have used it for the service of Holy Communion which begins on page 67 and runs about twenty pages long. The Prayer Book itself is over 700 pages long, though, so what is contained in the remainder of the Book, and what use is it outside of Sunday services?

The Prayer Book, unsurprisingly, contains some related elements. The section immediately following the service of Holy Communion is titled The Christian Year and contains the collects and readings appointed for every Sunday throughout the Christian calendar and also contains a number of supplementary collects for Holy Days. Following this is the Psalter which contains the Book of Psalms, arranged to be read or sung responsively and ordered for use in the Daily Offices throughout the calendar month. There are sections for private prayers and suitable for family prayer, and finally there are the Daily Offices themselves.

The Daily Offices evolved over the centuries as a practice of regular daily prayer. There are many instructions on prayer in the Bible, perhaps most famously in Lk 11. 2-4 where Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer. In other places there are exhortations to pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5. 17) and in all circumstances (Phil 4. 6). Some advice to the early Christians advised a practice of praying the Lord’s Prayer three times a day, once in the morning, once in the evening and once at night. This practice would have been familiar to many of the early Christians as there was a similar Jewish practice of prayer at particular hours. The Psalms were often used during these prayers, in addition to the Lord’s Prayer. There were references to the office of Morning and Evening prayer as early as the second and third centuries, but these would ultimately be expanded by the monastic traditions who added new times for prayer, and particularly to St Benedict of Nursia who strongly encouraged the praying of the Daily Offices for those of the Benedictine orders. Compline, Night Prayer, is also attributed to the creation of St Benedict.

When Archbishop Thomas Cranmer began to assemble the first Book of Common Prayer in the early 16th century, he sought to simplify the offices (of which there were at eight). For many people, it would be impossible to pray many of the daily offices because they were working in the fields. Cranmer simplified these to Matins (Morning Prayer) and Vespers (Evening Prayer, also known as Evensong). In the Canadian Book of Common Prayer, an order for Compline was ultimately separated from Vespers and included as its own liturgy for use later at night than Vespers. Despite its inclusion, and the fact that it is technically a Daily Office, usually when this term is used it still is only meant to refer to Morning and Evening Prayer, which are located at the very start of the Book of Common Prayer.

The Daily Offices may be led by laity or clergy, and as their history shows they often were engaged in by laity as a form of daily devotional prayer. Given their historical origins, they offer a link to the Christian past. They offer a way of praying through the Psalms regularly as well as additional readings. As the services are short, they are simple to, with regular practice, memorize.

Morning Prayer follows a simple format of exhortation to confession and confession and absolution concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, readings and canticles concluding with the Apostle’s Creed, appointed collects and prayers of the people, interspersed with anthems if desired, the prayer of St John Chrysostom and concluded with the Grace. Evening Prayer is even simpler, with a similar penitential introduction, readings and psalms concluding with the Gloria Patri, additional Bible readings with canticles, often nunc dimittis and magnificat, and concluding again with the Apostle’s Creed. A number of prayers and responses are then read or chanted before the liturgy concludes.

Taken together, both offer an opportunity for regular prayer and reading at the start and end of the day, helping to restore a rhythmic prayer life like that of the early Church, while also helping to read regularly through the Bible be it the Psalms or the lessons.

While not a daily office, the Forms of Prayer to be used in Families which begins on Page 728 provides prayers suitable for many common family occasions. There are prayers for the morning and evening, in the event that the full Morning or Evening Prayer cannot be said, grace at meals, prayers for family members and other occasions.

Finally pages 37 – 61 have thematically labelled collects suitable for diverse occasions.

Many Christians find prayer difficult. Spontaneous prayer can be challenging at first; figuring out what to say and how to say it. This is particularly true for some Christians who may fear they are saying things the wrong way or are simply unfamiliar with Christian prayer. There are many diverse and sundry forms of prayer, but the Prayer Book offers a resource that can be a model and guide, starting with the formal offices or even just offering collect prayers for specific circumstances or occasions, on which we can ultimately develop our own prayers.

The language and use of the Prayer Book helps us to build a prayer life with God which is intimate and sound, and helps us to pray God’s will. The prayers it offers are theologically sound, and as we use them it helps to instruct us in how we ought to pray in order to pray God’s will, something which can also be a struggle for the new Christian.

The Prayer Book is a resource that carries with it countless uses outside of a Sunday mass, and it is one with which all Anglicans ought to familiarize themselves.

On Lectio Divina

The Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity

LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This post is an excerpt of a talk given on lectio divina at a Parish Retreat held the weekend of the 14th and 15th of November 2014.

We began today with an historic request. Christ’s disciples, as recorded in the gospel of St Luke, ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We engaged in a meditation on the nature of Christ’s response to their request, and since then we have explored teachings and witnesses on private and corporate prayer life. Prayer has been described as a gemstone with many facets. In becoming familiar with them all, we can help to prevent our prayer life from losing depth or becoming a boring monotone. More simply, our goal has always been to show how we can each, simply, enhance our prayer lives and relationships with God through an active and spirited life of prayer which St Teresa of Avila once said was, “nothing else… than being on terms of friendship with God.”

For most of us, our prayer life likely began through the recitation of memorized prayers like the Lord’s Prayer. Over time, we begin introducing more personal elements to our prayers, moving off script. This is the beginning of the transformation of our relationship from one that is impersonal and is about sending messages to God to a more personal relationship with God in which our prayers are conversations between good friends.

Conversation requires not just speaking, but listening as well.  The same holds true in prayerful conversation with God: there must be time for God to speak, and we need to listen when He does. It isn’t wrong to simply bring our petitions to God, in fact we are instructed to do so (Phil 4. 6). It is a start. But to develop a true and deep relationship with God, we need to leave times of silence for God to speak, and train ourselves to listen. In his book The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis presents an imagined demon giving instruction to a pupil on ways to corrupt the souls of a human. In one of his letters, the demon Screwtape notes that the world is, “occupied by Noise...the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile…We will make the whole universe a noise in the end…The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end.”

In the early church, listening to God was considered to be an extremely important and natural part of our spiritual lives. Our spiritual activity in relation to God was a rhythm, a gentle oscillation, between activity towards God and receptivity from God. The activity was pray to God, while receptivity was prayer through listening to God.

While there were many different ways early Christians would make themselves receptive to God, one that received something of a revival and remains extremely commonplace today is lectio divina. It was strongly encouraged in the medieval monastic traditions, and particularly in the Rule of St Benedict from the early 6th century, where the very first sentence of the prologue instructs the reader to, “incline the ear of thy heart,” in order to hear, “thy loving Father.” Michael Casey, a Cistercian monk who has written extensively on the subject, describes it as, “more than the pious perusal of ‘spiritual books.’ Lectio divina is a technique of prayer and a guide to living. It is a means of descending to the level of the heart and finding God.”

Lectio divina is Latin for ‘divine reading’ but it might more easily be understood, at least initially, as ‘divine listening’ because it is a practice which helps us to hear God. Lectio divina is a personal prayer, though it can also be practiced corporately, in which we read Scripture not to see what God has revealed to Christians through the ages, but to listen to His will for us personally in the moment.

While there can be infinite variations in the practice of lectio divina, there are almost always a few common features that unite those practices.

Before beginning, a verse of Scripture is selected as the focus of the lectio divina. The verse itself shouldn’t be too long, as it is easier to contemplate a briefer verse without having to constantly re-read the passage from your Bible. The actual meaning of the passage is not entirely relevant. Remember, lectio divina is not about coming to a deeper understanding of the meaning of a passage, but rather allowing God to speak to you through it. Having selected a passage, there are four main steps to be followed.

Lectio is the first step, reading. The selected passage must be read slowly, attentively and reverently, and through the reading we begin to listen for the, “still small voice,” (1 Kgs 19. 12) of God as he may highlight a particular word or passage within the verses being read. When reading, pause after each clause. In some practices, during certain stages of the reading you may even re-read a particular part of a passage multiple times, or even pause after every single word.

Meditatio is the second step, meditation. Following the annunciation of Christ to St Mary, St Luke records that she pondered what had been revealed to her in her heart (Lk 2. 19). Once we have heard the word or phrase God is speaking to us, we must do the same. Allow it to sit in our head and interact with our thoughts, our worries and the longings of our hearts.

Oratio is the third step, prayer. As St Ambrose of Milan put it, “And let them remember that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that God and man may talk together; for “we speak to Him when we pray; we hear Him when we read the divine saying.” While lectio divina as a whole is a form of prayer, this is a stage of particular prayer within the process. In the meditatio we personalize God’s word for us. In the oratio we pray a prayer of consecration, offering back what we have meditated upon to God with a grateful heart. This can be done wholly through intent, or if it is easier it can be done through words, spoken or unspoken. God knows the desires of our hearts, but it can be easier as a method of focusing to use words.

Contemplatio, or contemplation, is the final step in lectio divina. It is the point in which, in silence of thought and mind, we can contemplate the loving presence of God. It is a receptive stage in the rhythm of prayer that follows through the receptivity in lectio and activity in the oratio. Through lectio divina, God has invited us into His transforming embrace, revealing to us His will for us. Having had that confirmation of God’s love for us, contemplatio allows us to rest in that love. In this act we achieve closeness with God that cannot be matched purely by conversation. An example might be how at certain points in very close relationships, words are not necessary and two people can simply enjoy and communicate through their presence together. As St Pio of Pietrelcina puts it, prayer, “is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart.”

There are many different practical ways to engage in lectio divina, but each of these four stages will be present in some manner. It should be noted, however, that they themselves do not represent a linear progression through lectio divina as there will often be repetition of the reading, meditating and prayer stages throughout the process, and in particular when engaged in a group setting, the contemplation stage may be very brief, or may be engaged in privately at a separate time as a conclusion to the lectio divina. What is critical, however, is that each stage is incorporated into the structure of the prayer. Through them, the rhythm of prayer life in the early church is restored. This rhythm of the early church is also best supported through regular practice. Abbot John Chapman of Downside once said, “The only way to pray is to pray; and the only way to pray well is to pray much. If one has no time for this then they must at least pray regularly.” So it is with lectio divina.

On Remembrance

The Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Remembrance Sunday

ALMIGHTY Lord and everlasting Father, who wouldest have the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of thy Son Jesus Christ: Bestow thy blessing, we beseech thee, upon all who labour for peace and righteousness among the nations, that the day may be hastened when war shall be no more, and thou shalt take the nations for thine inheritance; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For those who serve in the Queen's Forces

O LORD of hosts, stretch forth, we pray thee, thine almighty arm to strengthen and protect the Queen’s forces in every peril of sea, and land, and air; shelter them in the day of battle, and ever keep them safe from all evil; endue them with loyalty and courage; and grant that in all things they may serve as seeing thee who art invisible; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today is Remembrance Sunday. A day coming shortly after All Souls day in which we seek to commemorate those who died specifically in the service of their country. Remembrance Sunday is an Anglican practice which emerged following the First World War in which the world was exposed to the horrors of modern total war with millions of young men dying on the muddy battlefields of Europe. It has since taken on special significance as a more general memorial to all those soldiers who have died in the service to their country in all wars and peace operations.

Since the beginning of the Canadian participation in the war in Afghanistan, Remembrance Sunday has taken on special significance as, for the first time in a generation, the true risks of combat operations were brought home and Remembrance Sunday was no longer simply a time to honour the dwindling numbers of the Great Generation who fought in the Second World War, but rather a time to mourn losses being incurred on those sandy battlefields and to pray for the safety of those still fighting there.

While combat operations have since ceased in Afghanistan, the Canadian military remains active abroad, confronting the threat of Russian incursions in Ukraine and the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq. We live in a dangerous world, and the reality is that Canada, as one of the best-trained modern militaries in the world, will often be looked to for support in conflict zones around the globe.

In the wake of the murders of WO Patrice Vincent of Cpl Nathan Cirillo, this year’s Remembrance Day campaigns have taken on an even greater significance for many for whom it is also a cathartic expression of their grief and incomprehension at the violence during the shooting at Parliament Hill.

As we gather before the Lord for Remembrance Sunday, the words of the Act of Remembrance are given new meaning that is not found when it is used in a secular context. “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.” In particular, we are reminded of St Paul’s words to the Corinthians:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain. (1 Cor 15. 50-58)

Through the Act of Remembrance, we bring the sacrifices of soldiers to God, much in the same way the Collect for the Sovereign is meant to bring the power structures of the civil authority before God during the Eucharist. It reminds us that, though they have fallen, their death is merely the death of the flesh, and their victory over death has been assured in Christ Jesus.

In these ways, Remembrance Sunday is a unique moment for Anglicans to reflect upon those in civil authority who act on our behalf. Yet, at the same time, it is nothing new.

Each week in the Prayers of the People, biddings and intercessions are offered. There are five categories of biddings: the universal church, those in civil authority, the faithfulness of clergy and people, for those in adversity or suffering and for the dearly departed.

In praying for the universal church, we primarily concern ourselves with unity and right-doctrine; that all Christians would fulfil Christ’s prayer for peace and unity, particularly among Christians.

In praying for those in positions of civil authority, we recall the fact the fact that the government has a significant impact on our lives; it decides both where and when soldiers are to be deployed; how laws will be administrated; conditions in prisons and penitentiaries and importantly numerous laws of a moral dimension.

Clergy receive prayers for the faithful administration of their duties as teachers of the faith and administrants of the sacraments. They hold the all important charism of teaching authority, and so we pray for their faithful interpretation of God’s word and their teaching of it.

As the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us, “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” (Heb 13. 3) In some translations, mistreated is translated simply as adversity. Recall those suffering persecution, sickness, and all other forms of adversity.

Lastly we pray for the faithful departed and those who grieve. We pray both for those who continue to live, for their comfort, and also for the departed, praying for their glory in faith.

It is clear how many of these hold a slightly more limited, but still familiar, context on Remembrance Sunday. We pray for the Government and all governments, that there would be peace among the nations and an end to the need for military forces to be deployed abroad. We pray that in zones of active conflict there would be resolution. We pray for those forces that combat injustice and persecution in the world. We in particular recall those who served and who returned home with wounds, visible and invisible, and pray for their healing and well-being. Finally, we recall St Paul’s words on the victory of Christ in death as a we remember those who have fallen in wars, and we

This year, Remembrance Day has taken on a visceral and personal meaning for many. It was already highlighted in the minds of many, being the centenary of the start of the First World War, and the attacks on Canadian Armed Forces personnel here in Canada, the shooting in Ottawa in particular being an event that captured the attention of the nation as the attack was reported over the course of several hours. We have been reminded of the dangerous responsibilities soldiers take upon themselves, on our behalf, when they take up their uniforms. Remembrance Sunday reminds us that we are not merely to remember them, but to pray for them as well, fulfilling  St Paul’s instructions to the Philippians to, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Phil 4. 6)

Simply put: it is not enough simply that we will remember them; we will remember and pray for them.

On the Law of Prayer

Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist: Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Among Anglicans, the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi is almost as popular as references to Scripture, Tradition and Reason as an explanation of the Anglican faith. The Latin expression is popularly rendered in English as, “the law of prayer is the law of faith.” Put simply it means that Christian faith finds its expression first and foremost in our prayers. Many protestant denominations have confessional statements while the Roman Catholic Church has a very comprehensive Catechism which includes all teachings that are to be believed in those denominations and members must assent to. However, it is through their prayers that their faith, and adherence or not to those doctrines, is revealed.

If prayer is so central to defining Christian faith, then, this begs the question of what constitutes prayer? St Teresa of Avila once described prayer as, “nothing else… than being on terms of friendship with God.” When at the start of a Sunday service, parishioners recite the Collect for Purity, entreating God to, “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts,” it is prayer. When we say, “Thank you!” for another supplication, it is also prayer. When in the practice of lectio divina, we simply rest in God’s presence without actively communicating that is still prayer. St Teresa’s perspective helps us to understand why we pray. The Father knows our needs better than we ourselves understand them. This leads many to question why we need to pray. The simple answer is we are commanded to. In the Epistle of St James we are reminded that we are invited by God to lift our needs before Him, and that He wants to be on terms of friendship with us as St Teresa says. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century lay Carmelite brother, put it this way:

Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near your and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you; why then must God be neglected? Do not, then, forget him but think on Him often, adore Him continually…

We develop those terms of friendship with God in the same way we would with any living person: through proximity and frequent communication.

Prayer is the primary tool of communication with God, though we also learn of God’s nature and will through Holy Scripture. Prayer itself is a multi-faceted gemstone, each face is different but all reflect the glory of God. In being familiar with all of them and their different shapes and natures, we develop depth and variety to our communications with God, preventing our conversations from becoming a repetitive monotone. In the corporate realm, our prayers are expressed through the liturgy.

In this corporate expression, however, lex orandi, lex credendi in modern times has become a somewhat nebulous concept to some, for instance the Preface to the Canadian Book of Alternative Services which states that lex orandi, lex credendi:

means that theology as the statement of the Church belief is drawn from the liturgy... The development of theology is… a reflective process in which theology may be discovered. The Church must be open to liturgical change in order to maintain sensitivity to the impact of the gospel on the world and to permit the continuous development of a living theology.

In this reasoning, any form of prayer (in this case specifically the liturgy) creates orthodox theology which ought to be acceptable, however in this case it ignores the reminder of St James that, “you ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (Jas 4. 3). Similarly our faith will be in error if it is based on prayer which does not align with the will of God.

Pope Pius XII wrote in his encyclical Mediator Dei:

We refer to the error and fallacious reasoning of those who have claimed that the sacred liturgy is a kind of proving ground for the truths to be held of faith, meaning by this that the Church is obliged to declare such a doctrine sound when it is found to have produced fruits of piety and sanctity through the sacred rites of the liturgy, and to reject it otherwise.

Here Pius rejects this line of reasoning in 1947, in a statement which at that time well could have been written by Anglicans. The Preface to the 1962 Book of Common Prayer expressed the intention that, “those who use it may become more truly what they already are: the People of God, that New Creation in Christ which finds its joy in adoration of the Creator and Redeemer of all.”

Prayer creates roots for our faith. A shallow devotional life cannot survive the turbulent storms that afflict us; without strong roots an outwardly strong looking tree can be toppled by the slightest breeze. At the same time, the roots can be strong, but they will not grow into a tree of orthodox faith if the roots themselves are not orthodox.

This reality begins to illuminate the importance of the Book of Common Prayer, commonly referred to as the Prayer Book, to Anglicans. For some, the BCP may simply be a book of liturgy, but the reality is that it is a book of Scripture and prayer that can help us to develop our faith and keep our prayers in line with God’s will. The wrong petitions, those in opposition to God’s will, display a false faith, or a faith which has been led astray.

The Book of Common Prayer helps to ensure that our prayers are illuminated by the will of God. It is steeped in Scripture; the first and last lines of the Book of Common Prayer are Scripture. It is a guidebook to a life of prayer and learning about the nature of the God who wants to hold a personal friendship with us.

The Book of Common Prayer contains not simply Scripture, but prayers, the catholic Creeds, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion and is viewed as being one of the traditional formularies of Anglicanism. It is a tool that does not simply aid in our prayer, but does so in a way that ensures that the rule of prayer by which we develop our faith is one rooted in orthodoxy.