Blessed John Henry Newman and the Ordinariate

The other group in England that especially celebrates the memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman is the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which is under his spiritual patronage:

The Feast of the Blessed John Henry Newman is on Friday 9th October when there will be a Solemn Mass in the Ordinariate Use at 6.30pm in Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B 5LZ.

The Celebrant will be the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Rt Rev Mgr Keith Newton, and the Preacher will be the Rev Dr Stephen Morgan, a leading authority on Newman.

The current issue of The Portal, the Ordinariate's monthly review, features on its cover Emmeline Deane's portrait of Newman painted after he was named a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII.

A Novena for the Ordinariate

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham begins its "Called to Be Holy" novena of prayers and spiritual writings from the English tradition tomorrow:

For the nine days of the Called to be Holy Novena, we have made a selection from the many holy men and women who form part of the heritage of English Christianity. The fact that they are all 'English' does not, we hope, exclude those in Wales and Scotland who will be praying this Novena. Indeed we intend by means of this website to explore the spirituality (the genuine Celtic stuff) from the northern and western parts of the British Isles at some future date.

The daily provision of this booklet may be used in many different ways. Some will pray it formally, using the Short Office provided on the inside front and back covers. Others may wish to incorporate the material into their own daily prayers, or at the end of the Divine Office. Some will carry the booklet with them, to read on the bus to work or during their lunch break. We hope that we shall all be inspired by our great tradition of English spiritual writers across the centuries.

If you wish--as I do--to join in on the prayers, you could download or even print the novena booklet from the Ordinariate website. Among those English writers chosen you'll find Blessed John Henry Newman, the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich, and Anglicans Launcelot Andrewes, Thomas Ken, and Evelyn Underhill.

You could also follow the Novena each day on the website here.

The Ordinariate at Our Lady of Walsingham

I have not posted much on Ordinariate news lately, but there are some great updates at the website of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham this month. The Ordinariate held its Called to be One event reaching out to Anglicans on September 7 and now they have an Ordinariate Festival coming up this weekend.

Here's a new opportunity for the Ordinariate that seems so perfectly fitting: the Marist order priests who have been at the Catholic shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (remember that there are two, one Anglican and one Catholic) are leaving. Who better to take over than the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham? Monsignor Andrew Burnham made the proposal in a post on The Tablet blog, mentioning that it would benefit both the shrine and the Ordinariate:

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, in these early years, is looked upon with nervousness from outside.  Fellow Catholics have not all learnt yet that Ordinariate Catholics are no more different from them than Catholics of a different diocese.  Some Anglicans remain to be convinced that the ordinariate is the new ecumenical instrument for all they most value to be brought into the full communion of the Catholic Church.  The ordinariate is intrinsically a matter of congregations and groups, rather than individual priests, and it is not immediately obvious how a group would generate itself in the right part of East Anglia to focus day-by-day on Walsingham.   There are plenty of reasons, therefore, why the vision might grow pale and become a dream.   And yet there is certainly a window of opportunity and, as devotees of the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Walsingham, all attest, “He that is mighty” has magnified her.  All generations shall call her blessed.  This then is a time for imagination and boldness and for love to conquer fear. 

The Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham is next week on September 24!

The Ordinariate Restart

The Ordinary of the Our Lady of Walsingham Personal Ordinariate has called for a restart of the Ordinariate. The Tablet reports on his comments at the Chrism Mass this past Holy Week:

The leader of the ordinariate has lamented the lack of growth of the group, set up in 2011 to allow former Anglicans to enter Communion with the Catholic Church.

Mgr Keith Newton, the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, said more must be done to boost the numbers in the canonical structure, established under Pope Benedict XVI to allow Anglicans become Catholics while preserving their “Anglican patrimony”.

In a Chrism Mass homily on Monday, Mgr Newton conceded: “We must be honest and say the ordinariate has not grown as much as we hoped it might. The vision has not been caught … We must communicate our message much more widely and with more vigour and enthusiasm.”

The group, which has around 85 priests and 1,500 lay members, is preparing an “exploration day” on 6 September named “Called to be One”. Each “cluster” of ordinariate branches should “organise an event and invite those who might be interested to learn more about that vision for unity and truth in communion with the successor of Peter,” Mgr Newton said.

Those who led the Ordinariate in formation must have had an idea of how many from the Anglican Church could be coming, and know that many of those haven't come in to what Blessed John Henry Newman called "the one true fold of Christ". Therefore, in spite of all the excellent work achieved to date (the liturgy formation, a central church in London, various programs like the annual pilgrimage to Walsingham, The Portal newsletter, etc.), the Ordinariate needs to sustain growth to remain alive.

From the Ordinariate website:

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has announced the details of a major evangelisation initiative planned for September this year. Saturday, 6 September has been set aside as an "exploration day" when Ordinariate groups will organise local activities designed for people who are not currently part of the Ordinariate, but who wish to learn more about it. Among those invited to the events, which will be widely publicised, will be Anglicans - both lapsed and practising - who might be interested in the vision for truth and unity in communion with the successor of Peter which the Ordinariate offers. Typically, local events might include an address, a question and answer session with input from local lay members of the Ordinariate, refreshments and Evensong and/or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Speaking at the Ordinariate's Chrism Mass on 14 April, the Ordinary of the Ordinariate, Mgr Keith Newton, said the exploration day, which has been named "Called to be One", was part of renewed efforts on the Ordinariate's part to communicate its message "much more widely and with more vigour and enthusiasm".

Mgr Newton went on to remind the congregation of the vision that was set out in the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus. He said: "It is to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared. It is this vision which we need to foster within our own communities and which we need to communicate, both with our fellow Catholics... but also with our friends and former colleagues in the Church of England and equally Anglicans who have lapsed from the practice of the Faith. It is an important work of ecumenism".

For the success of this program: Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us! Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!

The Unknown Purcell

Daniel Purcell, who is either Henry Purcell's younger brother or a cousin, died on November 26, 1717. According to this site,

Daniel Purcell (c.1663-1717) was a musician, composer, socialite and punster. He was a child in the choir of the Chapel Royal, organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, and composer-in-residence at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. His output was prolific, consisting of music for some fifty plays, as well as many anthems, cantatas, songs, odes, and instrumental sonatas.

Whilst in Oxford, Daniel Purcell was also a member of an Oxford Music Club, which also counted Richard Goodson, the organist of Christ Church, and James Brydges, Duke of Chandos and later famously patron to Handel, amongst its membership.

Of Daniel's works, it is probably the theatre music which is most of interest, ranging from single songs for sometimes ill-fated productions to whole 'Purcellian' Dramatick Operas such as The Island Princess (Motteux, 1699), and The Grove, or Love's Paradise (Oldmixon, 1700). His cantatas 'after the Italian Manner' (1713) were some of the first examples of their style in the English language, and, whilst he held no official appointment, his composition of odes for Princess (later Queen) Anne, and various other members of the Royal family, show his close connections with court life.

The wikipedia article also cites Purcell's music for Choral Evensong as being the most performed of his music today. Here is a performance of his Magnificat, by a group called Novi Cantores. Presto Classical offers this CD from Priory which includes his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from Chicester Cathedral and also have this CD from Chandos (cover pictured above): The Unknown Purcell:

On this recording we have a selection of works for solo harpsichord and for violin and continuo by Daniel Purcell, most of which are premiere recordings. Traditionally, Daniel Purcell has been known primarily as the younger brother of Henry Purcell (though a strong argument can be made that they were cousins), and it has been said that it was from this family connection only that he derived ‘what little reputation which as a musician he possessed’ (Sir John Hawkins). It is not true, however, that Daniel’s legacy was based entirely on the fame of Henry. Daniel lived for over twenty years after Henry’s death in 1695, adopting styles and forms that only became popular in England around 1700, including the da capo aria, the Italianate cantata and – most relevant to this recording – the solo sonata.
 
Nearly all of Daniel Purcell’s surviving solo harpsichord music consists of arrangements, the only clear exception being the short Toccata, a brief essay in the style of the preludes from Henry Purcell’s harpsichord suites. The Suite is a simple but effective arrangement of movements from the composer’s own suite, for four-part strings, for Farquhar’s play The Inconstant. The expressive Rondeau is also likely an arrangement of a piece for four-part strings. The other three harpsichord pieces are simple arrangements of Daniel’s songs, derived from Oxford manuscripts, and reflecting Daniel’s links with the city.

Choral Evensong is part of the "Anglican Patrimony" the Ordinariate brings to the Catholic Church, and this blog has a post that demonstrates even how its celebration is an outreach to those Anglo-Catholics remaining in the Church of England (pray it is not too long before they join the "old true flock of Christ" as Blessed John Henry Newman proclaimed!).

St. Augustine of Canterbury

In honor of St. Augustine of Canterbury today. My husband and I visited the Cathedral in Canterbury several years ago. Here are some pics from that visit.







Also, here's a link to an interesting site on sacred (Anglican) destinations in England. St. Augustine's in Ramsgate, designed and built by Augustus Pugin, is Catholic England's national shrine. More about it here and some pictures of the very recent Ordinariate pilgrimage to Ramsgate.

Religious Freedom, Here and There

Here's a big event coming up in London, hosted by the Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The title of Charles Moore's talk comes from the poem by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice. Gustav Holst adapted the music from the "Jupiter" section of The Planets:

I vow to thee, my country—all earthly things above—
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago—
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

Obviously, the poem and the patriotic hymn (as sung at Princess Diana's funeral) hold loyalty to two kingdoms in balance. There's love of the earthly country, patriotism and sacrifice for England, but ultimately, the greater loyalty has to be to Heaven and Heaven's King, God the Father.

According to the website for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham:

Charles Moore, the former editor of The Daily Telegraph, whose authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher has recently been published, is to give a talk on the future of Christianity in Britain at an event in London being organised by the Friends of the Ordinariate. The event will take place in the Little Oratory, Brompton Road, London, on Tuesday 13 June 2013. It will begin with Solemn Evensong & Benediction, celebrated by Mgr Newton and the renowned Oratory choir at 6pm. For more information, visit the website of the Friends of the Ordinariate, www.friendsoftheordinariate.org.uk. Tickets £10 on the door. All welcome.

I'm sure that freedom of religion in England, including the freedom of Christians to practice their faith even when it contradicts the secular government's positions, will be part of the discussion. R.R. Reno, editor of First Things, surveys the current situation of religious freedom in the United States in this month's Imprimis from Hillsdale College:

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY is being redefined in America, or at least many would like it to be. Our secular establishment wants to reduce the autonomy of religious institutions and limit the influence of faith in the public square. The reason is not hard to grasp. In America, “religion” largely means Christianity, and today our secular culture views orthodox Christian churches as troublesome, retrograde, and reactionary forces. They’re seen as anti-science, anti-gay, and anti-women—which is to say anti-progress as the Left defines progress. Not surprisingly, then, the Left believes society will be best served if Christians are limited in their influence on public life. And in the short run this view is likely to succeed. There will be many arguments urging Christians to keep their religion strictly religious rather than “political.” And there won’t just be arguments; there will be laws as well. We’re in the midst of climate change—one that’s getting colder and colder toward religion. . . .

Read the rest here, including the conclusion:

In conclusion, I want to focus not on fury but on the remarkable capacity for communities of faith to endure. My wife’s ancestors lived for generations in the contested borderlands of Poland and Russia. As Jews they were tremendously vulnerable, and yet through their children and their children’s children they endured in spite of discrimination, violence, and attempted genocide. Where now, I ask, are the Russian and Polish aristocrats who dominated them for centuries? Where now is the Thousand Year Reich? Where now is the Soviet worker’s paradise? They have gone to dust. The Torah is still read in the synagogue.

The same holds for Christianity. The Church did not need constitutional protections in order to take root in a hostile pagan culture two thousand years ago.

Holy Week and the Ordinariate

I interrupt my self-imposed absence from blogging during Holy Week because I want to comment briefly on the most providentially serendipitous historical context of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham's Holy Week in London.

Taking over Our Lady of the Assumption and Saint Gregory on Warwick Street, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham this Lent, began Holy Week services in the Anglican Use, of course, with Palm Sunday. But it is the homily of Monsignor Keith Newton for the Chrism Mass that I draw your attention to, as he begins with a quotation from Blessed John Henry Newman, citing a letter Newman wrote to A.J. Hammer in 1845: "To my mind the overbearingly convincing proof is this--were St Athanasius or St Ambrose in London now, they would go to worship, not at St Paul’s Cathedral, but to Warwick Street".

You might remember that Newman later recalled in the Apologia pro vita sua: "I had once been into Warwick Street Chapel, with my father, who, I believe, wanted to hear some piece of music; all that I bore away from it was the recollection of a pulpit and a preacher, and a boy swinging a censer."

The Ordinariate and Pope Francis

As the National Catholic Register published a great tribute to the achievements of Pope Emeritus Benedict, the Personal Ordinariate for former Anglicans received its due attention:

In 2011, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was founded in England and Wales for the reception of Anglicans into full communion with the Catholic Church, while maintaining their distinctive Anglican patrimony. A year ago, the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established in the U.S., while the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross was established in Australia last June.

Having made the accommodation of former Anglicans with their patrimony his personal project by enacting his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, Pope Benedict’s actions in creating these foundations could prove to be a major lasting legacy of his pontificate.

 

This is a fact particularly recognized by the ordinary of the U.S. ordinariate, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson. In a Feb. 11 statement, he commented that "members of the ordinariate are in a particular way the spiritual children of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI."

 

Msgr. Steenson noted that ever since Pope Benedict’s time as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "the reconciliation of Anglicans to the Catholic Church has been one of his principal tasks."

 

Despite expressing sadness at the Pope’s abdication, Msgr. Steenson said there is also "a deeper joy, knowing that we are the fruit of his vision for Catholic unity."

 

There has been some concern about the future of the Ordinariate because of some comments Pope Francis made when he was Archbishop in Argentina. The Anglican bishop of Argentina, Greg Venables, reported that Archbishop Bergoglio told him the Ordinariate was unneccesary, as The Telegraph story recounts:

 

The Rt Rev Greg Venables, the Anglican Bishop of Argentina, said that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, had told him "very clearly" that he doubts about the Ordinariate and thought there was no need for Anglicans who want closer ties with their Catholic counterparts to leave their church. . . .

 

He added: "He called me to have breakfast with him one morning and told me very clearly that the Ordinariate was quite unnecessary and that the Church needs us as Anglicans."

 

The Ordinary of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the USA, Monsignor Jeffrey Stinson, responded:

 

We have received a number of inquiries from those who are concerned about what our new Pope’s attitude may be toward the Ordinariates, occasioned by an anecdotal report from an Anglican bishop in Argentina. It is important to remember that our Ordinariates were created by an apostolic constitution, thereby giving them real permanence and stability. But it is even more important to remember what it means to be Catholic, to have the full assurance that faith brings. Christ the Good Shepherd entrusted the governance of the Church to St. Peter and his successors. To be in communion with Peter brings a confidence we never knew as Anglicans. Pope Francis understands the pilgrim character of our communities and will be a wise and caring pastor to us!

 

I think this is just part of the strange competitive comparison and contrast between emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis going on in both the secular and to some extent Catholic media. The Ordinariate effort may have been a particular interest of Benedict, but Francis will certainly not interfere with its progress.

The Ordinariate and the Chair

Today is the titular feast of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United States and Canada:

Note on the Solemnity of the Chair of St. Peter

In his statement on February 11, 2013, our Ordinary, Msgr. Steenson, reminded us that “members of the Ordinariate are in a particular way the spiritual children of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI,” and Msgr. Steenson exhorts us, despite some feelings of sadness and a sense of shock, to deeper joy and special gratitude to the Holy Father “for giving us this beautiful gift of communion.”

On Friday, February 22, the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter will celebrate its Solemnity of Title, and the Ordinary commends all Ordinariate communities in North America to express their gratitude to Pope Benedict with the singing of a Solemn Te Deum of Thanksgiving (at the conclusion of Mass or Evensong, or as a separate service). After the Te Deum and its versicles, this special rite of thanksgiving may conclude with the following prayer:

Let us pray.
O God, whose mercies are without number, and the treasure of whose goodness is infinite: we render thanks unto thy most gracious majesty for the gifts which thou hast bestowed upon us (and especially for the pontificate of our Holy Father Benedict XVI, and for the gift of communion with the Chair of Peter); evermore beseeching thy mercy that, as thou dost grant the prayers of them that call upon thee, so thou wouldst not forsake them, but rather dispose their way towards the attainment of thy heavenly reward. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.

The Ordinary and the Ordinariate community is aware that the Te Deum is not usually heard during Lent. However, February 22 is the Ordinariate’s Titular Solemnity and should be kept as such according to the Particular Calendar approved by the Holy See. The Te Deum is rightly proclaimed; Friday abstinence may be dispensed; the liturgical color is white; and the Gloria and Creed are said or sung at Mass (the Alleluia is omitted, as throughout the season).

With thankful joy, let us then pray and work that Pope Benedict’s “labors in the vineyard might continue to bring forth a fruitful harvest.”

Amen!

Two Former "Anglicans" on EWTN

A couple of shows on EWTN's The Journey Home, hosted by Marcus Grodi of the Coming Home Network have an English Reformation connection:

On Monday, February 18, Marcus Grodi welcomes Fr. John Saward, a former Anglican, to discuss his conversion.

On Monday, February 25, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson [ ]the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, established for Anglicans who want to be Catholic. As a former Episcopal bishop, he discusses with Marcus what convinced him to become a Catholic.

Father John Saward is the Pastor at SS Gregory and Augustine Catholic Church in Oxford and posts this biography:

Fr John Saward was born in 1947, and first trained for the Anglican ministry, receiving Anglican orders in 1972. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1979.

After many years teaching theology in Catholic institutions, he was ordained priest in 2003 and made Priest in Charge of SS Gregory & Augustine in 2005.

Fr Saward is also a Fellow of Blackfriars, the house of studies of the Dominicans, which is a Permanent Private Hall of Oxford University.

He is the author of numerous works of theology, and the official English translator of Pope Benedict XVI's work, 'The Spirit of the Liturgy.'

Here is a link to his C.V. He is one of the editors of Firmly I Believe and Truly: The Spiritual Tradition of Catholic England 1483-1999, a lovely big book I dip into all the time. He is also the author of The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty; The Mysteries of March: Hans Urs Von Balthasar on the Incarnation and Easter, and Redeemer in the Womb, three books I have read and learned much from. Perhaps I'll re-read The Mysteries of March for Lent.

From the website of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter comes this biography of Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson:

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson as the first Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter on January 1, 2012.

Fr. Steenson teaches patristics (the study of the early church fathers) at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, TX.

He and his wife Debra were received into the Catholic Church in 2007, after 28 years of ministry in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. Fr. Steenson was ordained for the Catholic priesthood in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 2009, and was instrumental in establishing the formation program for Anglican priests applying for the Catholic priesthood as part of the ordinariate.

Ordained an Anglican priest in 1980, he served Episcopal parishes in suburban Philadelphia, Pa. (from 1983), and Fort Worth, Texas (from 1989), before becoming canon to the ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande (New Mexico and far west Texas) (in 2000). In 2004, he was elected bishop of that diocese. Fr. Steenson was educated at Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School and the University of Oxford, where he received a doctor of philosophy degree in 1983.

Fr. Steenson has been keenly interested in the question of Catholic unity for many years, drawn to this path, as so many Anglicans and others have, through the writings of the church fathers. Patristic study is one of the glories of the Anglican theological tradition, and perhaps no text better illustrates this trajectory as well as these words from St. Irenaeus of Lyon in the later 2nd century: “It is necessary that all churches be in accord with this church [Rome] on account of her more excellent apostolic foundations” (Against Heresies 3.3.2).

These should be two fascinating episodes.

UPDATE: EWTN is pre-empting the Monday, February 18 episode for the PRAYER VIGIL AND ROSARY FOR DEACON WILLIAM STELTEMEIERFr. Miguel, Celebrant and Fr. Wade Menezes, Homilist. for the repose of the soul of the Founding President and long time Chairman of EWTN, Deacon William Steltemeier. The "repeat" schedule is:

Tue. Feb. 19 at 1:00 AM ET

Fri. Feb. 22 at 1:00 PM ET
Mon. Mar. 18 at 8:00 PM ET
Tue. Mar. 19 at 1:00 AM ET
Fri. Mar. 22 at 1:00 PM ET

and I believe EWTN will post the interview on their youtube channel. 

May Deacon Bill rest in the Peace of Christ. I met him and his wife when I travelled to Irondale, Alabama for EWTN Live and EWTN Bookmark broadcasts.

The Final Episode of The English Reformation Today

Today's program is the last in the series and I plan to address some historical details about the 20th century and some very recent events:

1) More converts, following the Oxford Movement pattern: from Gerard Manley Hopkins to J.R.R. Tolkien;

2) Beatifications and Canonizations of the English Catholic Martyrs: 1935, 1970 and 1987

3) Papal Visits: Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI

4) Newman's Beatification and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

But, more importantly, I want to address the meaning and lessons of the English Reformation and what Catholics endured in its long aftermath--again, citing its relevance to us today. Why do we need to know about this story--how can we apply it to the situation of religious freedom and, even more generally, to living our Catholic lives today? In this new Year of Faith, the Catholic martyrs of the 16th and 17th centuries are great examples of giving all for the faith, but the people who lived and died in the Faith, struggling, paying fines, enduring imprisonment, etc, are great confessors of the Faith, too. That's just one example--I'll have more!

If you have comments about what the history of the English Reformation means to us today, please call in to the program at 1-866-333-6279 or submit them to me on my facebook page for Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation. Thanks for listening!

The Year of Faith

Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed a Year of Faith beginning today because October 11 is the 50th anniversary of opening of the Second Vatican Council (1962) and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Second Vatican Council is a subject far beyond the reach of this blog, but there is an important aspect of the Council, a specific document in fact, that has a connection to the whole issue of Catholicism and Anglicanism that is certainly a theme of my studies and interests.

In the Decree on Ecumenism, UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO, CHAPTER III, CHURCHES AND ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES SEPARATED FROM THE ROMAN APOSTOLIC SEE, paragraph 13, the Fathers of the Council specifically mentioned the Church of England:

We now turn our attention to the two chief types of division as they affect the seamless robe of Christ.

The first divisions occurred in the East, when the dogmatic formulae of the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon were challenged, and later when ecclesiastical communion between the Eastern Patriarchates and the Roman See was dissolved.

Other divisions arose more than four centuries later in the West, stemming from the events which are usually referred to as "The Reformation." As a result, many Communions, national or confessional, were separated from the Roman See. Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place.

These various divisions differ greatly from one another not only by reason of their origin, place and time, but especially in the nature and seriousness of questions bearing on faith and the structure of the Church. Therefore, without minimizing the differences between the various Christian bodies, and without overlooking the bonds between them which exist in spite of divisions, this holy Council decides to propose the following considerations for prudent ecumenical action. . . .

Blessed Pope John XXIII had previously established the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Vatican in 1960 (unofficially). Anglican observers were present at the Council and there was an Anglican reaction to this statement and the entire program of the Second Vatican Council.

In 1966 Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey made an official visit to Pope Paul VI and then in 1967, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) was established. One of the fruits of the dialogue taking place under ARCIC's auspices was the 2005 document on the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation history and devotion, "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ".

Just as Canterbury visited Rome, Blessed John Paul II met with Robert Runcie during the former's 1982 pilgrimage to England, while Pope Benedict XVI met with Rowan Williams (set to retire at the end of 2012) during the Pope's official visit in September 2010, speaking at Lambeth Palace:

It is a pleasure for me to be able to return the courtesy of the visits you have made to me in Rome by a fraternal visit to you here in your official residence. I thank you for your invitation and for the hospitality that you have so generously provided. I greet too the Anglican Bishops gathered here from different parts of the United Kingdom, my brother Bishops from the Catholic Dioceses of England, Wales and Scotland, and the ecumenical advisers who are present.

You have spoken, Your Grace, of the historic meeting that took place, almost thirty years ago, between two of our predecessors – Pope John Paul the Second and Archbishop Robert Runcie – in Canterbury Cathedral. There, in the very place where Saint Thomas of Canterbury bore witness to Christ by the shedding of his blood, they prayed together for the gift of unity among the followers of Christ. We continue today to pray for that gift, knowing that the unity Christ willed for his disciples will only come about in answer to prayer, through the action of the Holy Spirit, who ceaselessly renews the Church and guides her into the fullness of truth.

It is not my intention today to speak of the difficulties that the ecumenical path has encountered and continues to encounter. Those difficulties are well known to everyone here. Rather, I wish to join you in giving thanks for the deep friendship that has grown between us and for the remarkable progress that has been made in so many areas of dialogue during the forty years that have elapsed since the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission began its work. Let us entrust the fruits of that work to the Lord of the harvest, confident that he will bless our friendship with further significant growth.

Pope Benedict concluded his remarks by citing Blessed John Henry Newman (before the beatification Mass):

In the figure of John Henry Newman, who is to be beatified on Sunday, we celebrate a churchman whose ecclesial vision was nurtured by his Anglican background and matured during his many years of ordained ministry in the Church of England. He can teach us the virtues that ecumenism demands: on the one hand, he was moved to follow his conscience, even at great personal cost; and on the other hand, the warmth of his continued friendship with his former colleagues, led him to explore with them, in a truly eirenical spirit, the questions on which they differed, driven by a deep longing for unity in faith. Your Grace, in that same spirit of friendship, let us renew our determination to pursue the goal of unity in faith, hope, and love, in accordance with the will of our one Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Another major development in the relationship and dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church, certainly, is the establishment of the Personal Ordinariate, founded by Pope Benedict XVI in response to "groups of Anglicans" requesting some provision for communion with the Catholic Church as communities maintaining some aspects of their Anglican heritage. The Ordinariate Portal has several posts on the effects of the Ordinariate on ARCIC, which last met in May of 2011. Major obstacles to reunion between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion remain (certainly, the ordination of women as both priests and bishops in the Anglican Communion and the infallibility of the Pope in the Catholic Church are the really big issues) and yet those obstacles become vehicles of conversion for individuals or groups of Anglicans!

Note that Rowan Williams will attend the Mass celebrating the Year of Faith and the Anniversary of the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council today in Rome. In the U.K. the Catholic Truth Society is offering a wide range of resources for the Year of Faith.

Blessed John Henry Newman: "To Be Deep In History . . ."

"To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant", wrote Blessed John Henry Newman, and that has proven true for historian Edward Norman, according to the Catholic Herald.

Dr Edward Norman, the historian and former Canon Chancellor [one of the canons of the cathedral who has a particular responsibility for matters of education and scholarship, often acting as the cathedral librarian and archivist] of York Minister, will be received into the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham on Sunday.

In an article for this newspaper, Dr Norman explains the reasons for his decision to become a Catholic.

He argues that Anglicanism has “no basis for its authority” as its confession “varies from place to place and person to person”. He says: “At the centre of Anglicanism is a great void.”

He adds: “The Church of England provides a masterclass in equivocation; it also, however, is the residence of very many good and faithful Christian people who deserve respect – for their perseverance in so many incoherent spiritual adventures.

“To leave their company is a wrench; to adhere to the Catholic faith is to join the encompassing presence of a universal body of believers in whose guardianship are the materials of authentic spiritual understanding… I have immense gratitude.”

According to a spokesman for the ordinariate, the former Reith lecturer will be received into the ordinariate on Sunday following a “profound intellectual and spiritual journey nurtured and enabled by the Anglican tradition”.

The spokesman said: “Preserving those gifts and enriching them with the peace and communion offered by union with the successor of Peter is the most natural course of action for Anglicans who have a genuine desire for Christian unity.

“We are delighted to welcome Edward Norman, whose considerable academic standing bears witness to the seriousness with which he has taken this decision.”

Please note his irenic and beautiful tone, matched by the Ordinariate spokesman: it's the founding of the Anglican Church that Dr. Norman finds lacking, not the men and women who seek to follow Christ within its structure. His comments about the variations in Anglican teaching reminded me of Newman's Loss and Gain and Charles Reding's cry, "Who wants my obedience?".

I found his book The English Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century to be a model of historical writing, and said so in this Amazon.com review:

This is a very clearly written narrative of the history of the Catholic Church in England, wearing its scholarship lightly. Norman traces the achievements (Emancipation, rebuilding, conversions, education, integration) and the conflicts (between Ultramontanists and Cisalpines, between personalities, and over important issues like university education for the laity) with balance and wisdom. He does focus on the great men who led the Church or contributed to those achievements and conflicts; I wish Norman could reissue the book with greater representation of the ordinary Catholic, lay or clerical, during the era. He begins by highlighting their anonymous and heroic contributions to the growth of the Church in England during the century, but their names should be mentioned and their stories told. 

September 24 on the Son Rise Morning Show

I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show this morning at 7:45 a.m. Eastern/6:45 a.m. Central to discuss the Feasts of Our Lady of Ransom and Our Lady of Walsingham.

Until the year 2000 when the Vatican approved the new calendar for the Dioceses of England and Wales, today was the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom. A guild was founded in 1887 with "three special intentions:

~~the conversion of England and Wales in general, and of individuals in particular;
~~the rescue of apostates and those in danger of apostasy;
~~the forgotten dead, who, owing to the Reformation, or to being isolated converts, or other causes, are without special Masses and prayers."

The origins of the feast and its connection to St. Raymond of Penyafort and the Mercedarian Order:

The Blessed Virgin appeared in 1218 in separate visions to St. Peter Nolasco, St. Raymond of Penafort and James, king of Aragon, asking them to found a religious order dedicated to freeing Christian captives from the barbarous Saracens or Moors, who at the time held a great part of Spain. On August 10, 1218, King James established the royal, military and religious Order of our Lady of Ransom (first known as the Order of St. Eulalia, now known as the Mercedarian Order), with the members granted the privilege of wearing his own arms on their breast. Most of the members were knights, and while the clerics recited the divine office in the commanderies, they guarded the coasts and delivered prisoners. This pious work spread everywhere and produced heroes of charity who collected alms for the ransom of Christians, and often gave themselves up in exchange for Christian prisoners. This feast, kept only by the Order, was extended to the whole Church by Innocent XII in the 17th century.

More here from the same site.

Since the year 2000, September 24 is the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, and last year the shrine(s) celebrated the 950th anniversary of the founding of "England's Nazareth". Today in Walsingham there are two shrines--one Catholic, one Anglican. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's vice regent in these spiritual matters, had the first (Catholic) shrine destroyed along with other shrines to the Mother of God throughout England. The statues were brought to the Chelsea area of the London and destroyed in a bonfire. Walsingham calls itself "England's Nazareth" and promotes both the Catholic and the Anglican shrines on its tourism website.

In 1893, Pope Leo XIII promised: "When England returns to Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England." Even after Pope Leo restored the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in 1897, it took some time for [Catholic] England to return to Walsingham. In 1922, the Anglo-Catholic Father Hope Patton established the Anglican shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. In 1934, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Bourne, led a major pilgrimage to the Catholic Walsingham and it became the National Marian Shrine.

With Pope Benedict XVI's foundation of the first Personal Ordinariate for groups of former Anglicans on January 15, 2011, named for Our Lady of Walsingham, Our Lady's return to England was even more firmly established. According to this CNA story, a recent pilgrimage there highlighted the upcoming Year of Faith:

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has encouraged English Catholics to prepare for the Year of Faith by embracing and proclaiming Catholicism in its entirety.

“We are invited together with Simon Peter and with his successor Benedict our Pope to profess our Catholic faith in fullness and with renewed conviction,” Bishop Davies said Aug. 26 during a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Walsingham in Norfolk.

Bishop Davies gave two homilies during his pilgrimage to England’s national Marian shrine. In a sermon to around 1,500 members of the Youth 2000 movement, he reminded the congregation of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. . . .

In his later homily to the Latin Mass Society, Bishop Davies recalled how Walsingham “was once the focus of world attention” and a center of pilgrimage “renowned alongside Jerusalem and Rome,” until it was destroyed during the 16th-century English Reformation.

“These very ruins of Walsingham towards which you will walk the last ‘Holy Mile’ of this pilgrimage serve to remind us that each successive generation must make that choice for the faith again,” he said.

The homily was delivered during a Traditional High Mass which concluded a three-day, 55-mile walking pilgrimage by the Latin Mass Society. Bishop Davies recalled the words of the 19th-century Pope Leo XIII who predicted that “when England returns to Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England.”

“In this way we will pass on the flame of faith and so leave to new generations not the ruins of a Christian past but the faith which Walsingham has represented for almost a thousand years.”

O alone of all women, Mother and Virgin, Mother most happy, Virgin most pure, now we sinful as we are, come to see thee who are all pure, we salute thee, we honour thee as how we may with our humble offerings; may thy Son grant us, that imitating thy most holy manners, we also, by the grace of the Holy Ghost may deserve spiritually to conceive the Lord Jesus in our inmost soul, and once conceived never to lose him. Amen.

All Holy and ever-living God, in giving us Jesus Christ to be our Saviour and Brother, You gave us Mary, His Mother, to be our Mother also; grant us, we pray you, to live lives worthy of so great a Brother and so dear a Mother, that we may come at last to you the Father of us all, Who lives and reigns for ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Walsingham, Pray for us.

One of Ours Now? Cranmer and the Ordinariate

Father Alexander Lucie-Smith posts on his perspective of Evensong, that Book of Common Prayer amalgamation of Vespers and Compline in his blog on The Catholic Herald:

Yesterday I was in a cathedral city in the south of England, and having time to spare, and because it was raining, I decided to visit the cathedral and stay for Evensong. I am, like so many in this country, familiar with Evensong; I find it both beautiful and alien at the same time. I both love it and hate it. I only go to Evensong to listen to it, never to take part.

Evensong’s beauties are the work of Coverdale and Cranmer, two men who led the revolt against the unity of the Church, and overthrew the great work of time, the historic faith of this country. Cranmer’s liturgical reforms were not reforms in any true sense, they were a wrecking of the monastic offices and their replacement with something superficially like yet utterly alien. The Cranmerian Prayer Book provoked rebellions in England, let us remember. The West Country rebels of 1549 protested that they found the Cranmerian service that replaced the Mass no more than “a Christmas game” . The Northern Rebels who entered Durham in 1569 tore up the Prayer Book and had the Mass celebrated in the Cathedral once more. In 1596 one of my collateral ancestors, the Blessed George Errington, was hanged, drawn and quartered at York, along with three others martyrs, because of his Catholic faith, a faith he and many others simply could not recognise in the Cranmerian Prayer Book.

Thus the experience of Cranmerian English leaves me feeling conflicted. I love it and I hate it, and I feel I ought to love it, as it is so beautiful, and because it has inspired so many of our great poets, not least among whom is T.S. Eliot.

On our trip to London years ago, we slipped in the back door at St. Martin-in-the-Fields and found a pew box , wincing a bit when the boards creaked, to hear Choral Evensong, already in progress. One of the sopranos had that sure and steady, glittering voice that carrries over all the rest of the voices, and the performance was beautiful, but of course we did not stay for their Communion service, so we snuck out the way we snuck in. So far, so good, I agree with Father Lucie-Smith--it is beautiful but we were a little uneasy.

Then he goes to say that with the Ordinariate, the Catholic Church in England can reclaim Thomas Cranmer because the Ordinariate is preparing the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham, "a daily prayer book for the Ordinariate - those former Anglicans who have recently become a distinct part of the Roman Church. In creating the Ordinariate, Pope Benedict recognised the treasures that Anglicans brought with them from their own tradition and this book is replete with the riches of Anglican patrimony. It contains material from the Anglican tradition, adapted according to the Roman rite including: * an order for morning, evening and night prayer throughout the year * an interim order of the Mass * spiritual readings for the Christian year * the minor offices * calendar and lectionary tables." Thus, Father Lucie-Smith says that the Ordinariate will "posthumously reCatholicise Cranmer and reclaim him for our tradition; it will make the Cranmerian liturgy, which I find a cause of division and conflict, into something that will bring about unity. It will mean that from now on, I need not find Evensong alien. Perhaps Dr Cranmer himself would approve. I hope so! It certainly promotes the healing of a cultural and religious wound."

I think this might be a step too far; we can't posthumously proclaim that Cranmer was a Catholic underneath it all, in spite of his rejection of the Sacrifice of the Mass, of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, etc, and all the other non-Catholic doctrines he developed in the Thirty-Nine/Forty-Two Articles of the Church of England. The Ordinariate is promoting healing in the Church by recognizing the goodness and beauty that was present in the Church of England all these hundreds of years past (and is), but it can't canonize Cranmer and ignore the real hurt and wounds--the martyrs, the persecution, procecution, fines, imprisonment, torture, and the destruction of an entire culture that Cranmer set in motion by supporting Henry VIII and Edward VI, placing the monarch in the first place, at least, as the Supreme Head and Governor of the Church. Cranmer has to be allowed his own free will (although a strict Calvinist would deny it!) and maintain his own version of integrity (although I have doubts about that!); we can't change him and claim him.