Anglican Use Choral Eucharist for Corpus Christi

This Sunday for the Feast of Corpus Christi, the regular weekly Mass of the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality will once again be a Choral Eucharist (our weekly service is usually a Missa Cantata Sung Eucharist, with hymns and English plainsong). 

A professional choral ensemble has been assembled to lead the congregation in the music of the sacred liturgy, which will feature Healey Willan’s Missa Brevis I and Durufle’s Tantum Ergo, as well as the usual complement of Anglican hymns and English plainsong.

There will be free parking at the Green P parking lot just north of the church on the east side of Sherbourne St (it’s about four doors north of the church). This is a special arrangement for this Sunday only. Because this weekend is the anniversary of Sacré-Coeur parish, the parish parking lot is going to be in use for the afternoon, so the Green P lot has been reserved for our use this Sunday afternoon.

As usual, Mass is at 1:45pm at Sacré-Coeur (the Church of the Sacred Heart) at 381 Sherbourne St in downtown Toronto. There is a children’s program downstairs during the liturgy of the Liturgy of the Word, and afterwards we have been invited to join the Sacré-Coeur parishioners outside for their BBQ.

As always, our Masses fulfill the Sunday obligation for all Catholics, regardless of whether or not they are of an Anglican background. Everyone is welcome to attend.

May - The Month of Mary

To honour Blessed Mary, the mother of Our Lord, the month of May is traditionally acknowledged as the month of Mary in  the Church's calendar. She is also honoured especially on Saturdays throughout the year and on her several solemnities and feast days e.g. Immaculate Conception, Assumption, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Victory, etc.

No other saint is accorded such devotion. It is the source of great spiritual strength for the majority of Christians who understand and accept that an appropriate, biblical and thoroughgoing Mariology is the most important support for understanding the role of Christ (Christology) upon which the entire Christian enterprise rests.

"You are either Marian or you are Arian." This a blunt but not inaccurate way of stating the case. What does it mean?

To be Marian is to believe that the mother of Jesus is truly the Theotokos (as defined by the Council of Ephesus, AD 431) or mother of God in that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine and so his mother is the God-bearer or the mother who brought the incarnate God into this world. Nothing less really does justice to who Jesus is as the second person of God the Holy Trinity.

The Arian heresy (which had and has many variations including semi-Arianism, etc.) is stuck to one degree or another on the idea that the humanity of Jesus cannot co-exist with the divine nature in the single person of Jesus. The doctrine that Christ has two natures was and continues to be a problem for many who want, to some degree, to claim Jesus and a limited 'Christianity' without what they consider the troublesome baggage of dogma.

              

The Council of Ephesus, AD 431

In other words, Arians and many modern so-called 'liberal Christians' want a good Jesus, a human Jesus, a blessed Jesus, a spirit-led Jesus, a prophetic Jesus, a holy Jesus, even a sinless Jesus but not a divine Jesus.

Catholic Christianity teaches that it is really Mary that they should be looking for in this regard: a good woman, a blessed woman, a holy woman, a sinless woman. Yes, the doctrine of Immaculate Conception (often confused with the Virgin Birth of Jesus) applies to Mary and means that though she had an earthly mother and father she is immaculate i.e. preserved from the taint of sin so that she was prepared to be the mother of the divine Jesus Christ. Nothing less than a sinless immaculate vessel would do for the unique entry of God into our humanity.

If Mary does not occupy this position as the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculate, the first Christian of the human family (i.e. Catholic Mariology) then Jesus will logically and likely be forced into this category in the minds of many well-meaning but doctrinally misled people.

Blessed Mary is not divine; she is sinless. She is not worshipped she is the object of our love and devotion. She is honoured in order to direct all worship, praise and adoration to her divine Son.

 Coronation of the Virgin - Fra Angelico

We do not pray to her as a god; rather the Catholic Church teaches that in a real sense she is our mother as well -- the Mother of Christians and Queen of Heaven -- and just as we ask our own earthly mothers to pray for us so we ask Mary's prayers. As the universal invocation goes: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee . . .  pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

Has devotion to Mary been exaggerated and has she sometimes been seen as a substitute for prayer to God in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, just as with any good thing or any good idea, devotion to Mary has been and can be abused. However, the abuses associated with the lack of a proper understanding of Mary's role in the history of salvation are arguably far more dangerous because they undermine a proper understanding of the divine nature of Jesus and his saving action and mission as the incarnate God.

Mary is in the divine presence having been received body and soul into heaven and so intercedes unceasingly as our Blessed Mother. Why would we expect anything less. She is alive to God but united to us through her divine Son whose body we are part of by virtue of our Baptism.

As someone said to me: If you meet a person, liked them, respected them and honoured them, you would naturally want to know their mother and speak with her as well. If we know Christ, why would we not want to know and speak with his mother?

Yes, there are all sorts of historical hang-ups people have over devotion to saints as we have mentioned on this blog. These and the problems with devotion to the Blessed Virgin are largely misunderstandings of the Church's actual teachings or conclusions drawn from abuses which often have not been at issue for generations or centuries in most places. In short, misunderstanding the Church's teaching with regard to Mary and the saints is often simply a matter of prejudice not based upon fact or real practice but upon impression, rumour and ignorance.

What do we need to do? Ask Mary's prayers for her misguided children and for the rest of humanity which is fallen and needs her Son. Many approach her Son, Jesus, supported by  the maternal love which she offers. Blessed Mary's acceptance and compassion is unlimited because she is sinless and "full of grace". She dearly wants to love us in the service of her Son's mission, the salvation of humanity.

So "the merry, merry month of May" is much merrier in the truest sense of the word for those who devote themselves to the Blessed Mother and join her in giving all worship and praise in the power of the Holy Spirit through her Son to the God the Father.

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour."

Indulgences . . . a thorny issue

Amongst the most controversial topics both for those not raised in the Catholic faith as well as for many Western Catholics is the Church's teaching with regard to indulgences. 


As promised in my posting last June on Relics (see the listed postings to the right) we will have a look at this controverted topic, the historical abuses associated with indulgences and the current teaching of the Church - which many neglect to refer to when condemning a practice which has been a source of both comfort and misunderstanding since antiquity.


The very word "indulgence" can raise the hackles of those raised as Protestants or the large majority in Western culture who have been given a biased view of the history of the Christianity, the Middle Ages and the Reformation by secular historians and journalists who express a vehement and often uninformed animus towards the Church.  


Let us begin with the current definition of  'Indulgence' from the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH which links the teaching about and the practice of granting various kinds of indulgences to our Baptism, to the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation and to the Communion of Saints:

"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church . . . " (Indulgentarium Doctrina norm 1). 

This teaching has several elements which we need to explore to get at the healing intention of the doctrine. 

Dante meets Beatrice in Purgatory - Alineri

1.  Remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven

The Church teaches that the Sacrament of Penance assures and conveys forgiveness for sins both mortal and venial but, as we all know, actions have consequences and the consequences of sin may be permanent and so have implications for us as incarnate beings in time and space (temporal) even though we are forgiven.

Think of the killing of a person in an armed robbery. The criminal may truly repent and through the Sacrament of Penance receive forgiveness for a mortal sin. He may even have the forgiveness of the families affected. He might, and this has happened to those forgiven mortal sins, become a saint. The effects of the killing, however, are permanent and continue through time and beyond.

Or, if I steal something it may have an effect upon multiple people and may lead to all sorts of consequences both intended and unintended.  A good contemporary example of this concept of the interconnectedness of human sin is illustrated in the 2002 move Changing Lanes.  Two men involved in a relatively minor car accident have their lives and the lives of their families profoundly and permanently changed as a result of their actions and sins against one another. They ultimately forgive one another, but the effects of their sins continue. 

The Church holds that justice demands that there be responsibility for actions and that there is a 'punishment' or consequence due for sinful actions. This is balanced with the teaching that there is 'merit' for good and loving actions.  I hasten to add that the latter does not mean that we 'merit' salvation by our good deeds - quite the contrary, our good deeds flow from the grace we receive from  the sacrifice of Jesus for us and our incorporation into his eternal life at Baptism.

The consequence or punishment is not something applied by a vengeful God but rather the requirement of Justice which must be served by a just but merciful God.  So it is that our merciful God, who is also just, provides both forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus and a remedy for the temporal (as related to time and the created order) punishment due for sin.  As the Letter to the Hebrews has it: "the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" .(Heb. 12:6).

Physics and human experience both teach us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If sin has consequences, and it manifestly does, then how does the forgiven sinner avail himself of the means to deal with the consequences of sin?

The merit that accrues through the loving actions of saints i.e. baptized sinners who are united to the sacrifice of Christ as part of His Body manifest heroic sanctity and participate in sharing the grace available to all who seek to unite themselves in acts of devotion and service to God and others. St Paul puts it this way in the Epistle to the Colossians:

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the Church;" (Co.l 1:24)

The basic reality of this connection is clear to us from our experience of the self-sacrifice of those who love us.  We share in the benefits of what others do for us and for others in love.  The Church teaches that there is no limit to the power of this goodness which may be applied along with Christ's grace through time and into eternity.

 2.  The faithful Christian who is duly disposed

Though we are forgiven by our merciful God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross the actual consequences of our actions have a continuing effect for good or ill because we are linked to one another and to the society in which we live.  Mercifully, we are also linked, by virtue of our Baptism, to the Communion of Saints and so we share in the profound grace of the Sacrifice of Christ as manifested in the lives of the saints and their merits of grace.

This leads us to a consideration of the means that effect remission of the consequences or the penalty due for our sins. The teaching of the Church here draws us deeply into the heart of the Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints. As in a loving family, individual members benefit from the work and good actions of other members of the family. Often sacrifices are made by a parent or sibling for the benefit of others.

The Church teaches that we are intimately linked to the love and grace of others in the Body of Christ. By virtue of our Baptism we are united to all other Christians living and dead - the Communion of Saints. This is a real communion or sharing at the deepest level both spiritual and physical. Indeed the effects of our own sins can be and are mitigated by the actions of others who are united in the Body of Christ, crucified and risen. 

Contrary to the individualism of Protestantism, the Catholic teaching provides that through the ministry of the Church, the due penalty for sin is covered by Christ who has united himself to his saints in order that love may be conveyed to all as they are in need.

3.  Indulgences are granted under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church 

Properly disposed i.e. penitent and absolved, the forgiven sinner may avail himself or herself of the infinite merits of Christ and all those united in love with him. This is necessary, as we have seen, in order to balance the need for just consequences which flow from sin.  

Our experience shows us that we as individuals are clearly unable to rectify the effects of mortal or even venial sins on our own. We may be penitent and forgiven but we need the grace of the merits of Christ and his saints.

We are linked to the Communion of Saints and through the mercy of God may avail ourselves of the 'treasury of merits' not for forgiveness of our sins (as is often mistakenly assumed) but to balance the need for justice in the temporal punishment due to us. This linkage to the grace flowing through the Body of Christ means that the Church has a duty and responsibility to encourage the penitent to grow in grace by participating in the gracious sharing of the remission of the temporal consequences of our sin.

Common Misconceptions

A)  A person can buy his way out of hell with indulgences.

This charge is without foundation. Since indulgences remit only temporal penalties, they are not about forgiveness. No indulgence will ever forgive sin. That is a matter for Penance, the reconciliation of the sinner through the blood of Christ which is accomplished in this life.

B)  A person can "buy forgiveness" with indulgences.

The definition of Indulgence presupposes that forgiveness has already taken place. Indulgences in no way forgive sins. They deal only with punishments left after sins have been forgiven. 

C)  Indulgences were invented as a means for the Church to raise money.

Indulgences developed as a means of building upon the sacrament of reconciliation (Penance) and to encourage sanctification of the faithful. They are a way of shortening the penance of sacramental discipline and were in use centuries before money-related problems appeared. The Council of Trent instituted strict reforms in the practice of granting indulgences and, because of prior abuses, "in 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions" (Catholic Encyclopedia).  So, since the Council of Trent no money transactions are allowed to be directly connected with the granting of Indulgences -- that is almost 500 years ago. As the kids say "Get over it".

 D)  An indulgence will shorten your time in purgatory by a fixed number of days. A person can buy indulgences for the number of days they think are needed.

The number of days which used to be attached to indulgences were references to the period of penance one might undergo during life on earth. This was a relative measure or benchmark which is no longer used and certainly one does not buy nor obtain an indulgence to cover a period of time. The Catholic Church does not teach anything about how long or short Purgatory may be for anyone.

E)  A person used to be able to buy indulgences.

As previously stated indulgences were never sold. The financial scandal surrounding indulgences which  Martin Luther and others criticized related to the giving of alms (money for charity). Indulgences were sometimes granted for the giving of alms to some charitable fund or good work. This was at times badly abused and poorly administered. There was no outright selling of indulgences allowed or encouraged by the Church. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains how abuses occurred: "[I]t is easy to see how abuses crept in. Among the good works which might be encouraged by being made the condition of an indulgence, almsgiving would naturally hold a conspicuous place. . . . It is well to observe that in these purposes there is nothing essentially evil. To give money to God or to the poor is a praiseworthy act, and, when it is done from right motives, it will surely not go unrewarded." 

Current Church Teaching on Indulgences

The current 'Manual of Indulgences' mandates in practices to be associated with the grace of Indulgences a "greater zeal for the exercise of charity."

Prescribed prayers along with Mass and Holy Communion and pilgrimages have traditionally been part of the granting of the various types of Indulgences. A new emphasis on such volunteer activities as helping at a soup kitchen, working to resettle refugees or donations to a worthy cause are being engaged as a means for the faithful to participate in what is meant to be a sharing of grace.

Much like how many youth learn in school to fulfill a community service requirement, Catholics are urged to link their faith with action. The Church's teaching has evolved. Indulgences are devotional but are also meant to engage the whole person. Redemption involves body and soul.

By what amount are penalties lessened by an Indulgence?

Before Vatican II each indulgence was said to remove a certain number of days as a means of measuring the significance of the acts associated with obtaining the indulgence.  An act might gain '200 days’ indulgence for example. The use of the term "days" confused people, giving them the mistaken impression that in Purgatory time as we know it still exists.  

The number of days associated with indulgences actually never meant that a certain amount of time would be taken off one’s stay in purgatory. Instead, it meant that a partial (not complete) amount of remission would be granted, proportionate to what  Christians in the early centuries would have received for performing a penance for a certain number of days. So, gaining 200 days’ indulgence gained roughly what an early Christian would have received, for example, by reciting the Our Father upon waking for 200 days. 

To overcome the confusion Pope Paul VI issued a revision of the handbook (Enchiridion) of indulgences. Numbers of days are no longer associated with indulgences. They are either plenary (full) or partial depending upon the particular actions and prayers specified following confession and absolution of sin in a separate, though related, act of reconciliation.

Finally, it is important to note that this teaching along with the other related teachings of the Church with regard to relics, Purgatory and the Communion of Saints emphasizes the communal nature of the Christian faith. Baptism and its meaning for the individual as part of the Church Catholic is at the heart of all these doctrines. By virtue of our incorporation into Christ, we share in the manifold graces of his Body which aid us in our pilgrimage to the eternal city of God. It is a wonderful consolation to know that even the effects of our sins can be overcome once we have accepted the forgiveness and absolution won for us once and for all by the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

First Weekly Anglican Use Sung Mass in Toronto

With the establishment of a weekly Anglican Use Sunday Mass in Canada's largest city an important element of the New Evangelization called for by Pope Benedict begins to take shape in this city.

Anglicans, Catholics of various rites along with others not yet in communion with Rome are invited to explore the meaning of our Lord's call to unity in the Body of Christ - ut unum sint - "that they all may be one". This is the central focus of the Anglican Use Sodality of Toronto and it will be its measure of success as those seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit find a place to experience the unity and peace of full communion with the universal Church.

Amongst the roughly sixty people who attended the inaugural A.U. Mass at Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart) Parish in downtown Toronto were those from Mennonite, Presbyterian and other Protestant backgrounds as well as former Anglicans now in communion with Rome and other Anglicans seeking a way to integrate their personal experience of the patrimonial and cultural life in Anglican communities with the doctrinal order of the Catholic Church.

The Sung Mass offered some fine examples of Anglican music and liturgy in a traditional setting. A children's catechesis was offered during the Liturgy of the Word and the children joined the congregation at the offertory. Many in attendance were under 30 years of age, some with families.

People came with many questions and stayed to discuss these along with conversation about Fr. Rodrigues' enlightening homily linking Anglicanorum Coetibus to the wider mission of the Church in its recovery and renewal of liturgical tradition at the service of renewed Catholic worship which is in tandem with the new evangelization.

Excellent patrimonial music is at the heart of the A.U. Mass and the Sodality is committed to developing this important aspect of their mission in Toronto.  The hospitality of L'abbé Justin and the parish of Sacré Coeur is greatly appreciated.

L'abbé Justin

The parish has been a French-speaking cultural island in Toronto since 1887. Now they have some confreres who hope to develop this island of Catholic witness with them, adding another of Catholicism's patrimonial gems - Anglican liturgy, music and pastoral care.

Under the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and with the prayers of our patrons: Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Peter, St. John the Baptist and Blessed John Henry Newman along with the many who are coming into the Anglican Use and Ordinariate communities throughout North America we are hopeful to be used as a voice calling others to unity and as a musical voice grounded in tradition and patrimony open to the Holy Spirit and serving the New Evangelization in response to the call of our Holy Father.

laus deo

Anglican Use Sunday Mass at Sacré-Coeur Church in downtown Toronto

Anglican Use Sunday Mass

will be celebrated every Sunday beginning

May 6, 2012

1:45 p.m.

at 

Sacré-Coeur Parish Church

381 Sherbourne Street, Toronto

(east of Jarvis, at the corner of Carlton)

 

Father Eric Rodrigues will offer Sung Mass (Missa Cantata) on Sundays at 1:45 pm using the approved Anglican Use rite from the Book of Divine Worship (adapted for Canada). Anglican patrimonial music and ceremonial will be incorporated into the liturgy. 

Mass will be offered for the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality including those who were received into full communion at St. Michael's Cathedral,Toronto in December of 2011 as full membership in the Anglican Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is developed.

All Catholics, former Anglicans and those otherwise interested in Anglican Use, as well as those who are exploring the Ordinariate as a way of entering into full communion with the Holy See are most welcome. Roman and Eastern Rite Catholics of all traditions may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending this AU Mass.

A Children’s programme will be available. The church has ample parking (entrance off Sherbourne north of the church and parish house). 

For subway users, take the Yonge line to College Station and then the 506 Carlton streetcar eastbound two stops to Sherbourne (the streetcar runs every 7 minutes).

Two bishops and an Ordinary

Our congratulations to those who were received into full communion with the Holy See in Canadian cities this weekend.  It has been a long but fulfilling journey for many.

Also encouraging is the visit of Msgr. Steenson to Calgary on his first visit to a proto-Ordinariate parish in the proto-deanery of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Next Sunday in Oshawa members of another sodality will be received into full communion under the guidance of Fr. Eric Rodrigues.

They will then join with Calgary, Cambridge, Toronto, Ottawa and Victoria Anglican Use sodalities in the regular celebration of the Anglican Use Mass on Sundays beginning April 22.  Details for a regular time and place on Sunday are still being worked out for the Toronto Sodality but should be available soon.

D.V. the regular celebration of the AU Mass with patrimonial music and ceremonial will, over time, allow other Anglicans and Christians from various backgrounds to find their way to full communion in the Catholic Church.

This is a great step for those in Ottawa and region as well as Victoria, Calgary and other locations very soon. The emerging Deanery of Saint John the Baptist will soon be a reality and so we celebrate with them in patience and hope.


Our Lady Walshingham, St. Peter, St John the Baptist, Blessed John Henry Newman, orate pro nobis

Christ my Hope is Risen, Alleluia!

URBI ET ORBI GREETING OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
ST PETER'S SQUARE
EASTER SUNDAY
8 APRIL 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!

"Surrexit Christus, spes mea" – "Christ, my hope, has risen" (Easter Sequence).

May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: "I have seen the Lord!" (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: "He has risen! He has truly risen!"

Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus "my hope": he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. "Christ my hope" means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity.

But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word.

And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: "Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign". The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: "The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting".

Epiphany and the Call to Fish

This Epiphany Season, following the formation of a new Ordinariate, North American Anglicans consider how we can best preserve and develop the patrimony which God has put under our stewardship. We hear at Sunday Mass the message of Jesus' call to the fishermen.

"Leave it all behind", he says, "and come follow me" with the promise that God will show us new seas to fish.  Indeed the seas are full with so many looking within their deepest selves for meaning.

Many would find faith and meaning through what Anglican Catholic patrimony can offer -- beauty in liturgy, care and pastoral concern in small parishes, preaching based upon the heritage of Patristics with Catholic tradition and orthodox teaching, along with the best of English music, amongst other things.

It is our call to be part of this epiphany and, by God's grace, to "show forth" the treasures of the English Catholic Church which have been developed into an Anglican patrimony throughout the world.

This is the bait which will attract young people, Lutherans and other non-Catholics, a vibrant Anglican Catholicism which contains the fulness of Catholic tradition which has responded to the challenges and legitimate questions of reform.

Yes, this is an expression of Catholicism which responds to the many young and thoughtful people repulsed by the secular culture of death but also unimpressed by the banal and trite forms of liberal Protestantism or the gimmicky entertainment of the mega-church or many Latin rite parishes.

We are called to carry this patrimonial gift back into full communion with the Catholic Church. As said previously here, the Catholic Church is the only place in which Anglicans can find a true and lasting home, one where communities can be nurtured to serve future generations (see the posting : An Ordinary Anglican).

What is needed now is time and space for those crossing the Tiber to settle into communities which are secure within the Catholic Church and under the care of our Ordinary. These must be communities where those coming from Anglican and other churches to serve may be free from the endless politics of the Anglican Communion, of the alphabet soup or other Protestant sects so that they can practice the Catholic Faith, attend weekly Mass and get on with the pastoral and mission work which Jesus calls us to -- to get down to new seas fishing for the souls that God calls us to.

It is time to leave behind the old ways, bad habits, petty rivalries and yes the security of the old structures and to say with Simeon:

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
According to thy Word;
For mine eyes have seen they salvation
Which thou has prepared before the face of all people

The 12 Days of Christmas and the Ordinariate

The traditional Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas was written by English Jesuits in the 16^th Century when Catholicism had gone underground following the Reformation.  Traditionally for Catholic Christians throughout England and still today the Christmas season begins on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later on the Feast of the Epiphany (Twelfth Night).

The carol was a cryptic summary of the Catholic faith.  “My true love” refers to God and “me” refers to the individual. The “twelve lords a leaping” are the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church as outlined in the Apostles Creed.

The “eleven pipers piping” are the eleven Apostles who remained faithful after the treachery of Judas. The “ten ladies dancing” are the Ten Commandments. The “nine drummers drumming” are the nine choirs of angels which in the Middle Ages had been seen as an important element in the hierarchy of life.

Significant for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is New Year’s Day – the eighth day of Christmas and the inauguration of the Ordinariate. The song refers to the “eight maids a milking” i.e. the Eight Beatitudes. Perhaps this is a grace note as to how we should seek to conduct ourselves in the Ordinariate.

Relatedly, we have been exhorted by our Ordinary, Fr. Steenson who said recently in his initial statment:

"The Holy Father has asked us to bring this patrimony with us: “to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared.” [Anglicanorum coetibus 3].   

            

"Here is one thing I earnestly desire to share with you from the outset:  Anglican spirituality has always emphasized the need to be

gentlemanly in all of our relationships. May you see in us always the virtue of courtesy!"

To finish the carol, we see that the “seven swans a swimming” refer to the Seven Sacraments. The “six geese a laying” are the Six Commandments of the Church regarding how we are to treat others (honour parents, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't bear false witness)

or the six days of creation.

The “five golden rings” are the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah, the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament. The “four calling birds” are the Four Gospels.  “Three French hens” reflect the Catholic belief in the Trinity – the Three Persons of God or the three gifts of the Wise Men. The “two turtle doves” represent the two natures in Jesus: human and divine or the two Testaments, Old and New.

The “partridge” is, of course, Jesus himself, and the “pear tree”, his Cross.

Anglican Ordinariate Established for North America

Wonderful news for all Christians in Canada and the USA 

January 1, 2012

Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, formerly Episcopal (Anglican) Bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande (New Mexico and NW Texas), has been appointed as of January 1, 2012 Ordinary or chief pastor for the Anglican Ordinariate of The Chair of St. Peter. The Ordinariate is a body in full communion with the Holy See and so in communion with more than one billion Roman and Eastern Catholic Christians around the world, the largest unified religious body on earth. This is indeed an answer to the prayers of many for whom the unity of the Church is essential.

The Ordinariate is erected in the United States but will have oversight for Canadian groups as well so is effectively a continent-wide diocese for Catholic Anglicans in the United States and Canada allowing them to bring their Anglican heritage or patrimony into the full communion of the worldwide Catholic Church under the guidance of their own ordinary or chief pastor, Msgr. Steenson.

Like the Ordinary for the United Kingdom, Monsignor Keith Newton, who has authority for reconciled Anglicans in England, Scotland and Wales since last year, Msgr. Steenson is a married Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop who will act in every jurisdictional way as a bishop save only for ordaining. Msgr. Steenson will preside at the liturgy in episcopal mitre and vestments by the respectful provision of Pope Benedict XVI thus recognizing his previous ministry as an Anglican bishop.

Msgr. Steenson’s ordinary jurisdiction or authority is now for Anglicans, Lutherans, and others reconciled with the Holy See through the Anglican Ordinariate in North America. Initially, he will be actively involved in the formation of about 70 Anglican priests who will be preparing for Catholic ordination during the Season of Pentecost (May 2012).

Working from the seminary at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Msgr. Steenson will also co-ordinate the reception of parishes – some quite large and growing – which have been part of the Pastoral Provision for the Anglican Use dating from 1983. Including the potential candidates for priesthood and those who, like Msgr. Steenson, have already been ordained in the full communion of the Catholic Church, projections are that there may soon be over 100 priests in the North American Ordinariate, dozens of small and some large parishes made up of several thousand Catholic Anglicans.

For Canadians, this means that the first Anglican parish received into full communion this past December, St. John the Evangelist in Calgary, will look to Msgr. Steenson, for episcopal pastoral oversight and will be constituted as a parish in the Ordinariate. Other Canadian parishes and groups may seek the same oversight while co-operating with their local Latin Rite and Eastern Catholic bishops to make a concerted Catholic witness in communion with one another.

This means that, from now on, any Catholic (Latin/Roman, Ukrainian, Greek, Byzantine, Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, Syriac, Chaldean or other Catholic) may receive Holy Communion at an Anglican Ordinariate Mass and fulfill their Sunday and other obligations as Catholic Christians.

Many Anglicans, Lutherans, and other Christians who profess orthodox Christian faith will, over time, seek full communion with the universal Church through this new Anglican Ordinariate. Small at first, the attraction of beautiful English liturgy based upon The Book of Common Prayer and expressed in Anglican liturgical settings (eastward celebration and ceremonial), along with the Anglican musical, pastoral, and aesthetic traditions will attract many as regular Sunday and holy day celebrations of Mass in the Anglican Use are established in cities across Canada.

As in the UK, the Ordinary will have jurisdiction across borders. In this case, Canada will come under the US ordinary until such time as there are sufficient parishes that a Canadian Ordinary is required.

This work of the Holy Spirit is, as so often is the case, faced with many obstacles but, now established under an Apostolic Constitution, the Anglican Ordinariate in North America has been erected by the Holy See under the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). The Ordinariate is now a permanent structure of the Catholic Church in England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, and the USA and will soon be established in Australia.

The potential for Christian unity that this dramatic development will have over time is its intent and though misunderstanding, opposition, and prejudice is often an initial feature of such dramatic moves for the healing of the Body of Christ, we know that as St. Paul puts it: “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8)