LiturgicalCredo.com’s Blog

I’m reading Praying with Beads: Daily Prayers for the Christian Year by Nan Lewis Doerr and Virginia Stem Owens. It’s a great little book with Owens’ outstanding introductory essay, in which something about Martin Luther caught my attention:

Though the rosary was widely used by the late Middle Ages, it was not officially sanctioned by the pope until 1520.

During the Reformation, Luther did not abandon the rosary, though he shortened the Ave Maria to this form: “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou and the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” In this way he eliminated the plea for Mary to pray for the supplicant. He advised his followers to use the rosary as an aid to meditation.

The more iconoclastic Reformers, including Calvin, forbade the use of prayer beads altogether. They concentrated their attention on scriptural texts and devotional printed matter….Thus prayer beads, along with other sensory aids to devotion like religious statuary, paintings, and stained-glass windows, were condemned as “popish.”

In the Church of England, however, the rosary survived, though its practice faded over the next few centuries. England’s Catholic minority continued to support the practice, and some Anglicans today still pray the rosary instead of or in addition to Anglican prayer beads.

For more information on the book, see Praying With Beads: Daily Prayers for the Christian Year.

I reviewed the book at http://www.liturgicalcredo.com/BookReviewPrayingWithBeads.html 

-Colin Foote Burch

From Christianity and Civilization, The Gifford Lectures, Part 2, delivered by Emil Brunner in 1948:

“No doubt, the Church of the Middle Ages did a tremendous work of education by its religious apparatus and by its effective endeavour to permeate the whole of life by its sacramental practices. No wonder, then, that in this epoch the conflict between Christian theology and the Socratic idea of education was covered by the actual educational work of the Church.

“This lack, however, became much more dangerous in the Churches of the Reformation. Here the sacramental training and Church habits were reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, preaching and teaching the doctrine of the Bible was pressed almost exclusively. These two facts together created an enormous educational vacuum. Whilst in theological knowledge the New Testament origins of Christianity were rediscovered, it was almost completely forgotten that the original Christian Church was before all a living community, that the Holy Spirit worked primarily by means of communal life, and that at that time the younger generation received their Christian influence and instruction not merely through preaching and teaching but through training in Church life. The educational vacuum, which became more and more obvious, is primarily due to the lack of capacity and even of endeavour on the part of the Reformation Churches to develop a Christian community life. Certainly, there exists a considerable difference between Lutheran and Calvinistic Churches. Calvinism, and even more the sects deriving from Calvinism, have paid much more attention to the formation of living communities than the Lutheran and even the Zwinglian Churches, where the identification of Church and civic community worked in the opposite direction. But the tendency toward orthodox intellectualism developed the same vacuum even within the Calvinistic Churches. The orthodox intellectuals’ emphasis on doctrine is the main cause of the educational vacuum of Protestantism.”

Today’s Scripture Rewrite for Our Times originates in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, verse 20.

“Unless your political incorrectness exceeds that of David Duke and Warren Jeffs, there is no way you will be invited to speak at Columbia University.”

Here’s a reminder that U.S. civil liberties are still unusual among billions of homo sapiens.

From the Associated Press:

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military leaders imposed a nighttime curfew and banned gatherings of more than five people Tuesday after 35,000 Buddhist monks and their supporters defied the junta’s warnings and staged another day of anti-government protests.

The country’s hard-line military rulers have not used force so far to stop the biggest anti-government demonstrations in nearly two decades, led by the monks. But soldiers in full battle gear were deployed Tuesday in the country’s largest city, setting the stage for a showdown with a determined pro-democracy protest movement.

If protesters defy the restrictions and the military responds with force, it could further alienate already isolated Myanmar from the international community. It would almost certainly put pressure on Myanmar’s top economic and diplomatic supporter, China, which is keen to burnish its international image before next year’s Olympics in Beijing.

If monks who are leading the protests are mistreated, that could outrage the predominantly Buddhist country, where clerics are revered. But if the junta backs down, it risks appearing weak and emboldening protesters, which could escalate the tension.

When faced with a similar crisis in 1988, the government harshly put down a student-led democracy uprising. Security forces fired into crowds of peaceful demonstrators and killed thousands, traumatizing the nation.

Authorities announced the ban on gatherings and a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew through loudspeakers on vehicles cruising the streets of Yangon, the country’s biggest city, and its second city, Mandalay. The announcement said the measures would be in effect for 60 days.

Read the full story at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_re_as/myanmar .

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The Right Reverend Jeffrey N. Steenson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, has asked the House of Bishop to allow him to resign, and he has said he believes the Roman Catholic church is the “true home of Anglicanism.”

The most thorough article I’ve seen so far regarding Steenson appears at SantaFeNewMexican.com, at this link: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/69148.html .

Another story from the Houston Chronical is here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5162837.html  .

The SantaFeNewMexican.com article also said, “Two other Episcopal bishops, one from Albany, N.Y., and another from Fort Worth, Texas, joined the Catholic Church this year after their retirements.”

-Colin Burch

Today’s inaugural installment of Scripture Rewrites for Our Times originates in The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, verse 37:

“Love the Lord your God with all your genetic predispositions, all your biochemical imbalances, and your entire Meyers-Briggs assessment.”

In a commentary in yesterday’s Washington Post, Rachel Zoll wrote, “On Monday, conservative Bishop Jeffrey N. Steenson of the Diocese of the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, N.M., plans to announce that he’s resigning and joining the Catholic Church.”

My good friend, The Very Reverend Mark Goodman, recently became Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint John in downtown Albuquerque. The cathedral is the bishop’s seat. I have not spoken with Mark about the news of the bishop’s decision, but after reading the Zoll commentary, my heart sank.

Assuming Zoll is correct, what will Bishop Steenson’s decision signal to his diocesan flock, the Episcopal Church U.S.A., and to the Anglican Communion? Nothing encouraging in these trying times, to be sure.

This will most likely be a difficult time for Mark and the people in the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Pray for them.

-Colin Burch

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Remarks from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams following his time with the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church U.S.A.:

http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=3822

Regarding the address of Bishop Mouneer Anis, Bishop of the Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal/Anglican province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church U.S.A in New Orleans:

Could it have been a genuinely compassionate and humble conservatism? Read the whole address here: http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/6132/

Or read the two following excerpts:

My friends, you may believe you have discovered a very different truth from that of the majority in the Anglican Communion. It is not just about sexuality, but about your views of Christ, the Gospel, and the authority of the Bible. Please forgive me when I relay that some say you are a different church, others even think that you are a different religion….

My friends, if you really believe that the truth revealed to you is different from that shown to the rest of the Communion, then you need to uphold that claim with boldness even at the risk of losing unity. If you think it is right and necessary to ordain and consecrate practicing homosexuals and that you should bless same sex partnerships or even marriages, you should be true to what you believe is right and accept the consequences.

However, if you appreciate being members of the global Anglican family, then you have to walk along side the members of your family. Those who say it is important to stay together around the table, to listen to each other and to continue our dialogue over the difficult issues that are facing us are wise.

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The links we’re watching can all be found on this page: http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/6076/#more 

Meanwhile, here are some excerpts from Boston Globe and Associated Press articles.

From The Boston Globe 

NEW ORLEANS - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, in a last-ditch effort to avoid a schism in the global Anglican Communion, spent seven hours yesterday holed up in a posh New Orleans hotel with most of the nation’s Episcopal bishops, many of whom tried to persuade him that it is a mistake to define the American church solely by its decision four years ago to approve an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.

The unusual conversation took place just days before a Sept. 30 deadline, set by leaders of Anglican provinces around the world, for the American church to back away from its support for gay rights or face some unspecified form of punishment. US bishops spent yesterday morning telling the archbishop how they see the church in the United States, and the archbishop spent the afternoon asking them questions.

The meetings, which resume today, were closed to reporters, but participants described them as cordial but pointed…..

Despite deep disagreements among the bishops over theology and increasing dissatisfaction among some Episcopalians with the Anglican Communion, none of the 159 bishops in attendance spoke in favor of walking away from the communion, which is a 77-million member global coalition of regional churches that trace their roots to the Reformation and the Church of England. …

 In remarks at the opening worship service, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori decried the increasingly hostile tone of the debate.

“We have lived in this church and in this communion for a number of years with abundant disdain, violent words, and destructive action toward those who hold positions at variance with our own,” she said. “None of us is wholly free of blame in this game, for we have all sought to judge those who oppose us.”

Schori began the meeting by offering an olive branch of sorts to conservatives, naming eight US bishops who could visit dioceses that do not approve of Schori herself, either because she is a woman or because she supported the election of Robinson. Of the 110 Episcopal dioceses in the United States, six have asked for someone other than Schori to oversee them. The bishops of all of six dioceses opposed Robinson’s consecration, and in three the bishops do not ordain women.

Conservatives rejected the Schori overture….

The only woman named by Schori as a possible alternative visitor, Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island, said in an interview that she does not expect anyone to ask her to visit because of her gender. Wolf, who supported Robinson’s consecration, said that in the interest of keeping the communion together, she believes that the bishops should issue a clear statement agreeing to the primates’ request that they approve no more noncelibate gay bishops and that they not authorize a national rite for blessing same-sex couples.

From The Associated Press:

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, suggested Thursday that Episcopalians show greater concern about the impact of their decisions on the wider Anglican Communion, according to Canon Jim Naughton, spokesman for the Diocese of Washington.

He asked Episcopal bishops “how far they were willing to go,” Naughton said, to preserve the communion, a 77-million-member group of churches with roots in the Church of England. ….

“He made it clear that he believed the Episcopal Church had acted preemptively in consecrating Bishop Robinson,” Naughton said.

Williams doesn’t have the direct authority to force concessions from the 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church, so he has been struggling to keep the communion from breaking apart. Episcopal bishops implored him to attend their meeting here so they could explain their views in person.