Prayers and Hardship (Trinitarian article)

S.E. Daagbo Hounon Houna 

 S.E. Sossa Guedehoungue

Fr. Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians

June 2016

Prayers and Hardship

When I lived in West Africa (1993-96), I had the unusual experience of hosting lunch in my home for the traditional religious figure known popularly as the Pope of Voodoo.  Not only that, but two weeks later, we hosted the Antipope!  Daagbo Hounon Houna, whose calling card described him as the “Supreme Chief of the Grand Council of the Vodoun Religion of Benin” was a specialist in ritual and divination who had inherited his position as high priest of Ouidah and Supreme Chief.  After Marxist-Leninism fell in Benin in 1990, the newly elected democratic government established a government office to coordinate the very diverse and independent traditional religious communities in the country.  An herbalist and faith-healer, Sossa Guedehoungue, was elected as president of the official “National Community of Voodoo.”  Hounon was pope; Guedehoungue, anti-pope.  As director of the American Cultural Center, I was charged by the U.S. Ambassador, Ruth Davis, to establish friendly links to the leaders of these communities, who exerted a great deal of cultural and political influence in the country.  But these two guys were known to hate each other, and the word on the street was that it was dangerous to let one of them know that you were even talking to the other.  So to avoid the risk of bones being pointed across the table with attendant curses and poisons, we invited each one, with their immediate entourage, to separate lunches about two weeks apart. 

Hounon came first.  At one point in the conversation, he asked about my parents.  I told him sadly about my father’s Alzheimer’s Disease and how we had had to institutionalize him over the summer.  He replied, with appropriate concern and sagacity, “When you visit him next time, get something of him—his nail clippings, or hair trimming—and bring it back to me.  I will make the proper sacrifices and prayers and prepare for you an amulet.  Place it around his neck.  It will bring his memory back and cure him.”  “I’ll see what I can do,” I demurely replied. 

When Sossa came, we had an eerily similar conversation, right down to the request for nail clippings and hair.  But Sossa ended his request with, “I will prepare the right herbs and potions, and say the prayers.  I will make an amulet.  Place it around your neck, and you will always know what to do for your father’s well being.  It will help you deal gracefully with such a hard illness in someone you love.”

These two faith leaders had two very different approaches to the pain of human life. 

I have thought from time to time about my voodoo friends and their different ways of trying to help me and my father.   We often have an approach to prayer and faith like that of Daagbo:  say the right prayers, do the right things, and God will turn back the clock and heal what appears to be without remedy.  Occasionally we experience or hear of stories where it looks very much like God has heard our prayer and miraculously intervened.  And we are very thankful, rightly so. 

But much more often we find that our prayers seem to go unheeded, unanswered.  And we blame God for it, and find ourselves alienated from God, or denying God’s existence, whether we let ourselves admit this to others or even to ourselves. 

And so some of us have come to an approach closer to that of Sossa: pray for strength to keep on giving the right care, saying the right words of comfort and support, and to have the tranquility and peace to accept things we cannot change.

God is the one “in whom we live and move, and have our being” (Acts  17:28).  Rather than being “out there” somewhere, God is beneath and behind all things.  His ultimate purpose is love and health and joy for all his creatures.  And he is constantly working beneath and behind all things to bring this to pass.  That’s why Jesus used healing as his main sign showing the coming of the Kingdom of God, and why he taught us to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.”

To summarize Rowan Williams on this:  God the All-encompassing is always at work, but that work is not always visible. God the All-loving is always at work, but sometimes the world’s processes go with the grain of God’s final purpose and sometimes they resist.   But things can come together in the world at this or that moment, and the ‘flow’ of this created world can be eased and more directly linked with God’s final purposes.  On occasion, perhaps a really fervent prayer or a particularly holy life can help the world can open up a bit more to God’s final good purpose so that unexpected things happen, making his good purposes absolutely clear here and now.  That’s what we call a miracle.  We’re never going to have a complete picture on how that works.   We don’t see things as God sees them.  But we owe it to God, to God’s creation, and to each other, to think, say and do those things that might give God, as it were, additional room to maneuver. 

This isn’t something we can manipulate; miracles aren’t magic.  The Lord’s Book of Blessings is not a mere Book of Spells. 

Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis

Colleagues of C.S. Lewis asked him after his wife Joy Davidman died of cancer what good any of his prayers had done.  Had they changed anything?  Lewis’ reply is famous, if only for its heart-felt nature, “They changed me.” 

To hope for such a thing is enough.  For it is very good. 

Grace and peace,

Fr. Tony+

Wowing Jesus (Proper 4C)

 

 

“Wowing Jesus”
Second Sunday After Pentecost; Proper 4 (Year C)
29 May 2016
Homily at 8 a.m. said and 10:00 a.m. sung Eucharist
Parish Church of Trinity, Ashland

The Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D.

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43; Psalm 96:1-9; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10

God, take away our hearts of stone
 and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

Again and again in the gospel stories of Jesus, Jesus says or does something that astounds his disciples or even the crowds following him.  He wows them by healing someone, calming the sea, multiplying loaves or fish, or replying to an aggressive question in a particularly unexpected way.  Again and again Jesus tries to get them to understand what these signs mean, to no avail. “If I cast out evil spirits, know that God’s kingdom is here.  If I heal, God is already in charge of things.  I give the blind their sight, the deaf their hearing, the lame their mobility.   This shows God’s reign is already breaking into our day to day world.”   But they fail to recognize what is right before their eyes.  

Throughout these stories and in his parables, Jesus teaches that God is good and loving.  “God gives the blessing of rain and sunshine both on the righteous and the wicked.”  “If your children ask you for bread, do you give them a stone?  If they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?  You may be rotten parents, but you at least get this much right.  And God is so much a better parent than you!”  “Trust in him, and act like you know he is in charge!”  But they continue talking about God as a petty tyrant and judge, stingy with blessing and fixated on purity and boundaries, and acting as if they doubt that God’s kingdom will ever come.   And Jesus continues to shock them with his unexpected acts and words because he doesn’t.

In today’s Gospel reading, it is Jesus’ turn to be wowed, to be surprised.   

Luke says a Roman centurion has a slave “who was dear to him, and who was ill and close to death.”   It is almost as if he said, “A Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant.” Centurions were the business end of the Roman Imperium. They made the Roman Army work: training, discipline, loyalty, chain of command, logistics, and fighting skills.  They were terse, powerful men of action.  Order and discipline ruled their lives.  They and their soldiers were forbidden by law to marry while in active service.  As a result, brothels teemed near their encampments, and did the practice of men turning to other men.  The Romans had at first resisted what they called “Greek love” as effeminate and undermining of old Republican virtues, but by the time of the Empire, it was common enough to be the subject of banter and jokes. 

So a centurion sending Jewish intermediaries to Jesus is a striking image.  This officer has been doing a good job of fostering local goodwill toward the empire, part of an effective rural pacification strategy.  Though a Gentile, he has built the local Synagogue.   He leans on its leaders, in his debt, to convince Jesus to heal the servant.  They hurry to say what a great guy he is, and how Jesus should help him. 

Jesus goes with them, but before he gets to the house, the centurion sends the message: “Sir, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.”  A centurion indeed:  “sir” and a short, terse message from a man of action and not of words. 

“I’m not worthy.”  What is it that the he has in mind?   He is a gentile, and a military man.  That means he makes pagan oaths and has blood on his hands.   There may also be a hint at the reason in the phrase found in Matthew’s version of this story, “Sir, my boy is lying paralyzed at home, in distress.” The Greek word for boy, pais, can mean a younger house servant or slave, and even a son as the story appears in John.  But in pagan Greek and Roman literature, it often describes a younger male pair-bonded with an older man.  If this is what it originally meant here, the centurion knows how profoundly troubling such an arrangement is to devout Jews, and thus his unease at having Jesus enter his home.

Whatever is meant by “I’m not worthy,” the centurion adds, “You mustn’t come under my roof.  But only speak the word, and he will be healed.”

These words are a profound expression of humility.  They have been taken up in the  Roman tradition as a kind of Prayer of Humble Access for the people before taking Holy Communion:  “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only speak the word and my soul shall be healed.” 

He then explains, as a good gunnery-sergeant:  “For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this, and the slave does it.”

This bit of logic is what amazes Jesus, what wows him.  He turns to the crowd and says, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 

The crowds and disciples throughout the gospels have a hard time hearing Jesus’ teaching that God is at work in the world about them, that the reign of God is already here where we least expect it, and that we must act as if we trust God’s love.   Jesus’ coreligionists, who ought to understand, fail to see this basic truth: God is at work in the world about us and we must act in accordance with this truth.  We must be generous.  We must not fear.  We must have confidence that in the end, all will be right.   Jesus’ followers and countrymen don’t get this. 

But this “unclean” gentile, this man of blood, this “unworthy” keeper of a slave boy, he understands.  He gets it.  And he acts on his understanding.

And so it is Jesus’ turn to be wowed. Jesus has come to expect that people won’t understand, just won’t recognize the Kingdom breaking out in front of them.   And yet here, where Jesus least expects, God has reached out and this improbable gentile soldier has recognized it. 

The centurion has a simple faith, one based in his own experience.  “I may be unworthy, but you, Jesus can help me.  God working grace in this world has to be at least as efficient as the Empire working its control.  A commander doesn’t have to be present for his orders to be carried out.  You don’t need to come into my house in order to heal my boy.”

So Jesus gives the centurion what he asks for: he heals the man’s servant without going in.   “I haven’t seen such faith among my own people.”  He says the same thing in the story with the Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman:  she says, please heal my daughter, let us little dogs under the table at least eat some of the crumbs that fall, and he replies, “Wow.  You amaze me.  I haven’t seen such faith even among my own people!”   And he heals the girl. 

We are a sorry lot, constantly doubting, and failing to see God at work about us.  When we don’t get exactly what we ask for in our prayers, in our heart of hearts we wonder if anyone is out there listening.  Or we start thinking that maybe God has judged us unworthy of blessing.   We forget that Jesus welcomed and served drunks, traitors, and whores, casting out their illness and demons.  He blessed them because of their need, not because of their worthiness.   We begin to think that maybe God has sneaked us a snake when we asked for a fish, or a stone instead of bread.  We begin to think that God sends rain and sunshine only to the righteous, not us.  

Sisters and brothers at Trinity—we need to wow Jesus, just as the centurion did, just as that woman did.  We need to trust God’s goodness regardless of the bad stuff life throws at us.  We need to have confidence in God’s care. We need to see God’s hand at work even now in our lives, in the world about us. 

Let’s surprise Jesus.  And let’s surprise ourselves.    

In the name of Christ,  Amen.

Open Our Eyes (Mid-week Message)

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

Open our eyes

May 25, 2016

Psalm 119:18 reads:  “Open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of your Law.” 

The first of the Prayers and Thanksgivings in the Prayer Book takes this image up as follows:

“O Heavenly Father, you have filled the world with beauty:  Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works, that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our lord.  Amen”  (p. 814.)

It echoes a prayer used on Wednesday in Easter week:  “O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work” (p 223.)   

The phrase also shows up in the Prayer for the whole state of Christ’s Church and the world:  “Open, O Lord, the eyes of all people to behold your gracious hand in all your works, that, rejoicing in your whole creation, they may honor you with their substance, and be faithful stewards of your bounty” (p. 329).

When we are confronting problems—be they illness, the death of loved ones, old age, making ends meet, or just plain sadness and depression—it is easy to focus on life’s nasty bits and not see the good stuff.  And focusing on the nasty bits has an inevitable effect:  we lose our connection with God, our trust and faith.    All of these prayers recognize the essential truth that in order to serve with gladness, rejoice in creation, be generous in service and giving, and find joy in the Eucharist, we need to have eyes open to the grace of the hand of God in our lives.   Praying that God open our eyes helps.  Looking at the beauty of creation helps.  Then intentionally going out to look for the beauty about us changes our perceptions. 

The old gospel tune “Count your blessings,” a favorite of my father, puts it in this simple way: 

“When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done…

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.” 

Lancelot Andrewes put it more comprehensively this way: 

“Open thou mine eyes and I shall see;
Incline my heart and I shall desire;
Order my steps and I shall walk
In the ways of thy commandments.
O Lord God, be thou to me a God
And beside thee let there be none else,
No other, naught else with thee.
Vouchsafe to me to worship thee and serve thee
According to thy commandments
In truth of spirit, in reverence of body,
In blessings of lips,
In private and in public.” 

Grace and peace. 

Fr. Tony+

Elizabethan Eucharist 2016 Rite

 

 

Holy Communion

As Celebrated in the Time of

 H.R.M. Elizabeth I

Queen Regnant of England & Ireland

A Public Offering by

Trinity Episcopal Church

Ashland, Oregon

Monday June 6, 2016

7:00 p.m.

With selections from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices

+++

Holy Communion in the Age of Elizabeth

Henry VIII’s split from Rome in 1534 brought ecclesiastical autonomy for England’s Church, but was not a reformation. Henry, a conservative “Defender of the Faith,” kept the Latin rites and general doctrines of the Church.  But the Protestant Reformation taking place on the Continent was having its effect in England.  Henry acceded to the Reformation’s call for Bible study and to Renaissance Humanism’s call to a “return to the sources” by authorizing the 1539 publication of Miles Coverdale’s English language Great Bible, and requiring that a copy of the large volume be made available for public reading in all churches.  

Reform of the English liturgy came in 1549, when Henry’s son Edward VI published the first Book of Common Prayer. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was its principal author.  It included simplified forms for Daily Morning and Evening Prayer adapted from the breviary of the monastic hours as well as a Holy Communion rite simplified from the late medieval Sarum (Salisbury) Mass Rite with some adjustments taken from reformed rites from the Continent.  A second edition, published in 1552 also under Cranmer’s editorial direction, was more intentional and thoroughgoing in its Protestantism, stripping the Holy Communion rite of Roman ceremony and sacrificial Eucharistic theology.  This Second Prayer Book never came into full use because when Edward VI died in 1553, his half-sister Mary I immediately banned the Prayer Book and restored Roman Catholic worship. 

On Mary’s death in 1558, Elizabeth I came to the throne, setting the stage for the great Elizabethan Settlement of public religious practice in the British Isles.   The Latin rite of the Mass was once more banned and in its stead English language Prayer Book rites were restored.  The Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer published in 1559 was the third revision of the English prayer book.  It largely followed the “protestant” Prayer Book of 1552 but restored several key instructions and ritual passages from the “catholic” Prayer Book of 1549. Elizabeth’s Prayer Book was to remain the standard of English worship for almost 100 years, until the Puritan Long Parliament of 1645 outlawed it as part of its abolishing the monarchy of Charles I.   The 1559 Prayer Book was thus not only the Tudor Prayer Book, but the Stuart Prayer Book as well.   This was the first Prayer Book used in America, brought here by the Jamestown settlers and others in the early 1600's. 

 

Elizabeth’s Prayer Book put to a halt the movement in the previous two Prayer Books toward a more Protestant church.  Its changes include:

• Dropping the very last rubric in the Communion service (called the "Black Rubric"), which had sought to assure that kneeling during Communion did not in any way imply worship of the elements;
• Combining the two versions of the sentences used for administration of the elements during Communion from the previous two Prayer Books “The Body of Christ … take this in remembrance that Christ died for thee”;
• Dropping prayers against the Pope from the Litany; and
• Adding a rubric to Morning Prayer prescribing the use of traditional choir vestments, cassock and surplice. 

The Tudor Prayer Book included Scripture lessons for Holy Communion taken from Coverdale’s 1539 Great Bible.  Coverdale’s translation of the Psalms is the source for the Psalter for all Prayer Books from Elizabeth’s down to the U.S. 1928 Prayer Book, and remains the basis of the Psalter in the current (1979) U.S. BCP.  

The vestments for choir in the Tudor Prayer Book’s rubrics, black cassock and white surplice, were the most common vestment for clergy celebrating Holy Communion.  Tudor ruff collars and Cambridge hats were often part of this set of clothing. Genevan preaching tabs often graced the collars of those preaching sermons or reading from the Book of Homilies.

In an effort to capture the feeling of the era more than reproduce exactly its rites, and in an ecumenical effort that is more an artifact of our own age than Elizabeth’s, we have chosen to use William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices as the musical setting of this Holy Communion. Byrd was a student of Thomas Tallis and one of Elizabeth’s court composers.  He composed many liturgical pieces for the English texts of the Prayer Book but in later life became more and more a devout Roman Catholic.  He did this at great risk to himself and family since after Pope Pius V in 1570 absolved Roman Catholics of allegiance to Elizabeth such religious affiliation was taken as evidence of treason against the Tudor monarchy. He was suspended for a time from his position at the Chapel Royal and his house was placed on a search list by the Tudor secret police.   His Mass for Three Voices is a choral setting of the Latin ordinary of the Tridentine Mass, promulgated by Rome in 1570.   

While the setting and text is different from the Holy Communion rite of Elizabeth’s Prayer Book, it is one of the high points of English religious music of the Tudor era.  We have included the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus, and Agnus Dei here at places in the Elizabethan Prayer Book rite where they seem best to go, though the Elizabethan rite included no Kyrie or Agnus Dei as such, and moved the Gloria from its place at the opening of the rite to near its end as a kind of prayer of thanks. We will be chanting the Creed rectatonally with the congregation in order to give a sense how the Prayer Book texts were at times sung by congregations.  Our blending of the Elizabethan rite and the Tridentine Latin rite here is intended as a healing act, to honor the martyrs on both sides of the Tudor religious controversies:  the Protestant and later Catholic martyrs under Henry, the Protestant martyrs under Mary, and the Catholic martyrs executed for treason at Tyburn under Elizabeth.  

All Tudor clergy were male; the Tudor Prayer Book gives no explicit instruction about the role of deacons in Holy Communion.  In our service today, women clergy will participate and a deacon will read the Gospel in accordance with their traditional liturgical role in Eucharists in the Western and Eastern Church.  (AAH)

[[The reproductions of the 1559 rite here used are from a 1583 reprint of the 1559 Prayer Book now at the Schoenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania Library.  The clips were downloaded from http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=commonprayer&PagePosition=1 ]]

Holy Communion Rite

From the 1559 Book of

Common Prayer

The Table, having at the Communion-time a fair white linen cloth upon it, shall stand in the body of the Church, or in the Chancel, where Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer be appointed to be said. And the Priest standing at the North-side of the Table, shall say the Lord's Prayer [[if it is not to follow at communion, as here]] with this Collect following.  

[[ALL STAND.]] 

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[[ALL KNEEL AS ABLE.]]

 Then shall the Priest rehearse distinctly all the ten Commandments: and the people kneeling, shall after every Commandment, ask God mercy for their transgression of the same, after this sort.

Note:  [[--]] brackets indicate insertions or interpolations not present in the 1559 text.  Rubrics from the 1559 text are here printed in red italics, and spelling has been modernized. 

+++

The Minister.
GOD spake these words and said; I am the Lord thy God:
Thou shalt have none other gods but me.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them: For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments.                                              

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For  
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and  do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them  is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Thou shalt do no murder.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Thou shalt not steal.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts, &c.

Minister.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.

People.
Lord have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee.   [[ALL ARE SEATED.]]

[[Kyrie from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices]] 

[[Collect for the Second Sunday after Trinity.  ALL STAND]]

[[Priest:  The Lord be with you

People:  And with thy Spirit. ]]

Priest:  Let us Pray.

Lord, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy name, for thou never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy steadfast love.  Grant this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

[[Prayer for the Sovereign]]

ALMIGHTY God, whose kingdom is everlasting and power infinite; Have mercy upon the whole congregation; and so rule the heart of thy chosen servant Elizabeth, our Queen and governor, that she (knowing whose minister she is) may above all things seek thy honour and glory; and that we her subjects, (duly considering whose authority she hath) may faithfully serve, honour, and humbly obey her, in thee, and for thee, according to thy blessed Word and ordinance; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Immediately after the Collects, the Priest shall read the Epistle, beginning thus; The Epistle written in the ----- chapter of -----   And the Epistle ended, he [[here, the Deacon]] shall say the Gospel beginning thus; The Gospel written in the ----- chapter of ---

[[The Epistle:  1 John 3:13ff]]

“Marvel not, my brethren, though the world hate you.  We know that we are translated from death unto life, because we love the brethren.  He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death.  Whosoever hateth his brother, is a manslayer.  And ye know that no manslayer hath eternal life abiding in him.  Hereby perceive we love, because he gave his life for us, and we ought to give our lives for the brethren.  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother hath need, and  shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My babes, let us not love in word, neither in tongue: but in deed and in verity.  Hereby we know that we are part of the verity and can quiet our hearts before him.  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  Dearly beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we trust to Godward, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasant in his sight.  And this is his commandment, that we believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave commandment.  And he that keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him:  and hereby we know that he abideth in us, even by the spirit which he hath given us.” 

 [[ALL STAND AS ABLE, Deacon reads The Gospel: St. Luke 16:16ff]]

“A certain man ordained a great supper, and bade many, and sent his servant at supper time, to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.  And they all at once began to make excuse.  The first said unto him, I have bought a farm, and I must needs go and see it, I pray thee have me excused.  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them, I pray thee have me excused.  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefor I can not come.  And the servant returned, and brought his master word again thereof.  Then was the good man of the house displeased, and said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and quarters of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and feeble, and the halt, and blind.  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.  And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to  come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say unto you, that none of these men which were bidden, shall taste of my supper.” 

And the Epistle and Gospel being ended, shall be said the Creed. 

[[ALL REMAIN STANDING AS ABLE—All chant the Creed in monotone]]

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 at 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 Catholic and Apostolic 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. 

[[Note: “Holy” in the phrase “One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church” was inadvertently dropped in the first Prayer Book, and was not included again until the 1979 American Prayer Book.  The Sermon or Homily was given after the Creed and not before it in all Prayer Books before the 1979 U.S. BCP.  Due to a lack of education and the poor preaching seen all too often among Tudor clergy, standard books of homilies were published for use in Churches.  Today’s homily is an abridged one from the 1562 Book of Homilies.]] 

[[ALL ARE SEATED]]

Homily:

Of Them Which Take Offence At Certain Places Of Holy Scripture

[Bishop John Jewell;  Homily X, Second Book of Homilies (1562)]  

[[The Offertory Sentence and Prayer]]

Priest

He that soweth little shall reap little; and he that soweth plenteously shall reap plenteously. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart; not grudging, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. ix.

[[Offering baskets are distributed—the offering will go to support the music ministries at Trinity Ashland.]]

Let us pray for the whole estate of Christ's Church militant here in earth.

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, which by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks for all men; We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our alms, and to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty; beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant, that all they that do confess thy holy name may agree in the truth of they holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love. We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, princes, and governors; and specially thy servant Elizabeth our Queen; that under her we may be godly and quietly governed: and grant unto her whole Council, and to all that be put in authority under her, that they may truly and indifferently minister justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of God's true religion, and virtue. Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops, Pastors, and Curates, that they may both by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments. And to all thy people give thy heavenly grace; and specially to this congregation here present; that with meek heart and due reverence, they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all them, which in this transitory life be in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.  

 

[[The 1559 Prayer Book rubrics at the end of the Holy Communion service allow several collects to be used after the Offertory Prayer, one of which is:]]

ALMIGHTY God, the fountain of all wisdom, which knowest our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking; We beseech thee to have compassion upon our infirmities; and those things, which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us, for the worthiness of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[[The 1559 text after the Offertory provides several exhortations to a holy communion that may be used as needed, but are not used here.]]

Then shall the Priest say to them that come to receive the Holy Communion,

YOU that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and be in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways; Draw near, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort, make your humble confession to Almighty God, before this congregation here gathered together in his holy Name, meekly kneeling upon your knees.  [[ALL KNEEL AS ABLE.]]

Then shall this general Confession be made, in the name of all those that are minded to receive the holy Communion, either by one of them, or else by one of the Ministers, or by the Priest himself, all kneeling humbly upon their knees.

[[Priest, for the people:]]

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; we knowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And be heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee, In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then shall the Priest, or the Bishop (being present) stand up, and turning himself to the people, say thus.

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them which with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him; Have mercy upon you; pardon and deliver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness; and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then shall the Priest also say, 

Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith to all them that truly turn to him.

COME unto me all that travail, and be heavy laden, and I will refresh you. So God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him, should not perish, but have life everlasting.

Hear also what S. Paul saith.

This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Hear also what S. John saith.

If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins.

[[The Holy Table is set; the offerings presented.  When indicated, ALL STAND AS ABLE.]]

After which the Priest [[from the north of the Holy Table]] shall proceed, saying, 

 
         Lift up your hearts.

Answer.     We lift them up unto the Lord.            
Priest.        Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
Answer.     It is meet and right so to do.                

Priest.

It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee; O Lord, holy Father, Almighty, everlasting God.

[[Proper prefaces in the 1559 Book are limited to Christmas, Easter, and Ascension with their octaves, plus Whitsunday and six days following, and on Trinity Sunday only.]]  

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.

[[ALL ARE SEATED AS ABLE.]]

[[Sanctus and Benedictus from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices]]

Then shall the Priest, kneeling down at God's board say, in the name of all them that shall receive the Communion, this prayer following.

 

We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We be not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink the blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. 

Then the Priest standing up, shall say as followeth,

ALMIGHTY GOD, our heavenly Father, which of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death, until his coming again; Hear us, O merciful Father, we beseech thee; and grant that we, receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood; Who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body which is given for you: Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise after supper he took the cup; and, when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying: Drink ye all of this, for this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins: Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me.

Then shall the Minister first receive the Communion in both kinds himself, and next deliver it to other Ministers, (if any be there present) that they may help the chief Minister, and after to the people in their hands, kneeling.  

[[ALL WHO WISH TO COMMUNE COME FORWARD TO RAIL AND RECEIVE KNEELING OR STANDING.]]

And when he delivereth the bread, he shall say, 

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul into everlasting life: and take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thine heart by faith, with thanksgiving. 

And the Minister that delivereth the cup, shall say, 

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul into everlasting life: and drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankful. 

[[Communion Anthem:  Agnus Dei from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices]] 

[[After Communion. ALL KNEEL AS ABLE.]] 

Then shall the Priest say the Lord's Prayer, the people repeating after him every petition.

[[Congregation repeats each line after the priest]] 
Our Father which art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name 

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive them that trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.  

Amen.

[[ALL STAND AS ABLE AND PRAY TOGETHER AS FOLLOWS.]]

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, which have duly received these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness toward us; and that we be very members incorporate in thy mystical body, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and be also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and passion of thy Son. We now most humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. 

 

Then shall be said or sung: [[ALL REMAIN STANDING AS ABLE, AND CHANT ON MONOTONE.]]

GLORY be to God on high and in earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesu Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.  Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.  Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 

[[ALL ARE SEATED.]]

[[Gloria from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices]] 

[[ALL STAND AS ABLE FOR THE BLESSING.]] 

Then the Priest, or the Bishop, if he be present, shall let them depart with this blessing: 

THE peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.

[[Note:  We are using leavened bread today in accordance with the 1559 Prayer Book Rubrics:]]  And to take away the superstition which any person hath or might have, in the bread and wine, it shall suffice that the bread be such as is usually to be eaten at the table with other meats, but the best and purest wheat bread that conveniently may be gotten. 

+++

Celebrant                       the Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson

Deacon                          the Rev. Dcn. Meredith Pech

Homilist                        Mr. Geoff Ridden

Eucharistic Assistant     Mr. Allan Miles

Minister of Music          Dr. Paul French

Organist                         Ms. Jodi French

 

The Royal Seal of Elizabeth I