The Octave of All Saints has been a very enriching time in my life this year. Celebrating the Saints and faithful departed has in a way opened my eyes to the bigger picture—the glorious church that is on the other side of the Altar, those faithful who await the resurrection of the Dead.

The Sanctus came alive for me as well, “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name; evermore praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory: Glory be to thee, O Lord most High. Amen.” I realized it is not only us on earth praying and worshiping, but all the glorious company of the heavens.

 THE COLLECT.

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Nicene Creed (English Version from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer)

I believe in one God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

And of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,

Begotten of his Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light,

Very God of very God,

Begotten, not made,

Being of one substance with the Father,

By whom all things were made;

Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven,

And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,

And was made man,

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried,

And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures,

And ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of the Father.

And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead:

Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost,

The Lord and giver of life,

Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,

Who spake by the Prophets.

And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

And I look for the Resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the world to come.

Amen. 

As many of you are aware, a very special priest, Rev’d John Stott went on to be with the Lord on the 27th of July. The Rev’d Dr. J.I. Packer preached an excellent memorial service for our Anglican great. Here is an article from Christianity Today which features the sermon from the memorial service

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2011/08/ji_packer_on_jo.html

Though the season of Lent is already upon us and Ash Wednesday has passed, this is an excellent article. http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=17-02-021-v

I have recently discovered the beauty of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. Though I was familiar with the Classical Tradition (1662, 1928, and 1962), I always left church wondering why the liturgy of Evensong and Holy Communion I went to weekly never matched with those prayer books which I was reading at my home. I discovered that the Evensong and Eucharist service I attend comes out of the 1549BCP. Here is the Eucharist is modern spelling:

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/communion/1549/

Weekly Services in Ordinary Time (all services come from the Canadian 1962BCP unless noted)

Sunday 8AM Morning Prayer (Choral)

9AM Family Discipleship and Catechism

10AM Holy Eucharist and the Litany (Solemn)

6PM Choral Evensong and Holy Eucharist

Monday  7AM Morning Prayer (Spoken)

Tuesday  Noon Prayers at Mid-Day: A Penitential Office

Wednesday  6PM Evening Prayer and Holy Eucharist (With the Litany)

Friday 7AM Morning Prayer and the Litany (Chanted)

Saturday 8PM Compline by Candlelight

With this schedule employed, it lets the church participate in Morning Prayer thrice a week, a combined Eucharist and Evening Prayer twice, the Holy Eucharist as a separate and principle morning worship service on Sunday mornings, allows the Litany to be said on the proper days of the week, and also uses the special services A Penitential Office and Compline once weekly.

With a schedule like this, there is a time when everyone can make it to church at least once a week. It also lets the people become more familiar with the Prayer Book, rather the just having Holy Communion or Morning Prayer as some churches do…the congregation will get to experience a wide range of liturgy weekly: Eucharist, Evensong, Morning Prayer, Compline, Litany, and the beautiful Penitential Office that typically only sees the light of day on Ash Wednesday, though it can be used year round.

I came across a beautiful hymn somewhat recently, possibly one of the oldest hymns in the church: the Phos Hilaron. It was originally written in Koine and has been used in Vespers (Evening Prayer) for probably 1850 years. Phos Hilaron is widely sung in the Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran church. The Hymn was sung during the lamp lighting in the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem (The light shining showed that He was alive) and later became a song for the lighting of candles, among various other liturgical practices in the church.

Φῶς Ἱλαρόν

Φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀθανάτου Πατρός,

οὐρανίου, ἁγίου, μάκαρος, Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ,

ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλίου δύσιν, ἰδόντες φῶς ἑσπερινόν,

ὑμνοῦμεν Πατέρα, Υἱόν, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, Θεόν.

Ἄξιόν σε ἐν πᾶσι καιροῖς ὑμνεῖσθαι φωναῖς αἰσίαις,

Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ζωὴν ὁ διδούς· διὸ ὁ κόσμος σὲ δοξάζει.

And the English version “O gracious Light” (BCP1979):

O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

In the Liturgy the common man, woman, and child join together with the clergy to participate in the worship of Jesus. There is doxology, scripture, creed, repentance, absolution, prayer, the homily, Eucharist (etc.) practiced together in unison for the Lord’s pleasure.

Below are some very good liturgical sources for those who are interested in the Anglican liturgy:

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/bcp.htm

True highlightes are the:

Morning Prayer (Matins) 1662

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/daily/morning.html

Evening Prayer (Vespers) 1662/1928

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/daily/evening.html

Night Prayers (Compline) 1917

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1892/Compline_1892.htm

The Great Litany 1662

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/daily/litany.html

Holy Eucharist 1662

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/communion/index.html



Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:01 AM PST

January 11, 2011
Interfax

Science cannot explain a mystery of the cloud, that every year descends on Mount Tabor where, according to the Bible, the Transfiguration of the Lord took place.

Sergey Mirov, a participant in the research organized this summer by the working group on miraculous signs at the Synodal Theological Commission, the investigation was conducted by Russian and Israeli meteorologists, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily writes.

According to him, summing up the results, the experts concluded that fog cannot be generated in such dry air and temperature.

Mirov stressed that the “descending of the blessed cloud” takes place only in the territory of the Orthodox monastery. He said that during the festival service (the miraculous phenomenon happens on the Orthodox feast of Transfiguration) a glaring sphere rushes over believers, then the cloud appears above the cross of the Transfiguration Church, it grows in dimensions and descends on believers, covering them and pouring life-giving moisture over them.

In his turn Pavel Florensky, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences academician and head of the working group on miraculous signs, said that his team examined the appearance of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Easter eve with the help of modern highly accurate equipment.

“The conclusion is simple: the appearance of fire is accompanied with powerful piezoelectrical phenomenon in the church and adjacent territories similar to those that take place during thunderstorms, but there was no thunderstorm… Thus, it means that this event can be considered miraculous,” he believes.