Holy Days: Feasts & Fasts
The Prayer Book also gives us a calendar of Holy Days that includes both Feasts and Fasts that celebrate great saints and commemorate holy occasions. In living out the Holy Days and celebrating the Feasts and Fasts of the church, the Christian again learns to live out the life of Christ and experience communal life and worship. However, the Christian also learns to celebrate and to be inspired by the lives of the hagios of God, the saints throughout the ages. We learn from them how to live the Christian life, and are moved to greater personal devotion to Christ. Each of the saints call out to us: "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Prayer Book: Part V
The Collects & the Psalter: The Prayers of the Faithful
In the Collects and the Psalter, the Prayer Book teaches us that our prayers should be in communion with the whole people of God. When we pray from the Prayer Book, we pray with the saints throughout the ages, and we learn to set the Kingdom of God and His Church above our personal desires. We learn that when the Body of Christ goes before him in communal prayer there is little else on earth to compare to it. Our prayers are in this way an expression of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith.
In the Collects and the Psalter, the Prayer Book teaches us that our prayers should be in communion with the whole people of God. When we pray from the Prayer Book, we pray with the saints throughout the ages, and we learn to set the Kingdom of God and His Church above our personal desires. We learn that when the Body of Christ goes before him in communal prayer there is little else on earth to compare to it. Our prayers are in this way an expression of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Prayer Book: Part IV
The Daily Office: Integrating the Faith
In The Daily Office, the Prayer Book teaches us to integrate the faith into our lives. We become a people of prayer, a people seeking God. We follow the same pattern of daily life, and we learn what it is to experience God through daily obedience. We live the church year daily both personally and communally, and our lives are set on a common path to God. We also learn to live our daily life in view of the pattern of Christian worship. We confess our sins to God, we praise him for forgiveness, we remember his works, we bring our petitions before him, we pray as the Savior taught us. The value of daily prayer cannot be overstated, and the wisdom and power of communal prayer cannot be adequately expressed.
In The Daily Office, the Prayer Book teaches us to integrate the faith into our lives. We become a people of prayer, a people seeking God. We follow the same pattern of daily life, and we learn what it is to experience God through daily obedience. We live the church year daily both personally and communally, and our lives are set on a common path to God. We also learn to live our daily life in view of the pattern of Christian worship. We confess our sins to God, we praise him for forgiveness, we remember his works, we bring our petitions before him, we pray as the Savior taught us. The value of daily prayer cannot be overstated, and the wisdom and power of communal prayer cannot be adequately expressed.
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Prayer Book: Part III
Sacred Time: The Christian Year
The Book of Common Prayer also sets the Christian life within the experience of the life of Christ. The Christian learns to experience the faith more than momentarily; rather than repentance as a result of a sudden sense of guilt, the Christian learns through the season of Lent that repentance is continual before a Holy God, and learns to view the death of Christ in the light of their own guilt, thus bringing awe of the sacrifice of Christ. Through Easter the Christian learns to live within the light of the resurrection of Christ. In short, the life of the faithful become immersed in experiencing the life of Christ and thus gives a richer understanding of the Gospel as an event in history, the message of God in the Flesh, the Good news Incarnate - Jesus Christ is the Gospel, his life is the message; the liturgical seasons teach us this, and teach us that Christ has made time sacred by entering into it himself.
The Book of Common Prayer also sets the Christian life within the experience of the life of Christ. The Christian learns to experience the faith more than momentarily; rather than repentance as a result of a sudden sense of guilt, the Christian learns through the season of Lent that repentance is continual before a Holy God, and learns to view the death of Christ in the light of their own guilt, thus bringing awe of the sacrifice of Christ. Through Easter the Christian learns to live within the light of the resurrection of Christ. In short, the life of the faithful become immersed in experiencing the life of Christ and thus gives a richer understanding of the Gospel as an event in history, the message of God in the Flesh, the Good news Incarnate - Jesus Christ is the Gospel, his life is the message; the liturgical seasons teach us this, and teach us that Christ has made time sacred by entering into it himself.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Prayer Book: Part II
The Service of the Church: Living with the Church
The Prayer Book is all about the services of the church. It is the Common Prayer and Common Worship of God's people - together, as the Body of Christ, in Communion with one another. The Prayer Book thus begins by addressing the Service of the Church. In the Service of the Church, the Anglican is reminded that the Christian life is never a solitary life. We have been called to be the Body of Christ, and therefore, the faith is never solitary, and though it is necessarily personal, it is never merely personal. By setting forth the service of the Church and the variations of the service, the Christian is called to live his faith in communion with the Church.
The Prayer Book is all about the services of the church. It is the Common Prayer and Common Worship of God's people - together, as the Body of Christ, in Communion with one another. The Prayer Book thus begins by addressing the Service of the Church. In the Service of the Church, the Anglican is reminded that the Christian life is never a solitary life. We have been called to be the Body of Christ, and therefore, the faith is never solitary, and though it is necessarily personal, it is never merely personal. By setting forth the service of the Church and the variations of the service, the Christian is called to live his faith in communion with the Church.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Prayer Book: A People of Prayer & Worship
If anything has shaped the life of Anglicans and the faith of Anglicanism, it is the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer is a text that expresses the faith of the Church. It gives the Anglican Church much of its identity, and has made them a people of prayer and worship. Anglicanism is the embodiment of lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), for as we pray, so also we believe. the next several entries of this blog will serve as a brief introduction to some of the elements of the Book of Common Prayer. To check out the Book of Common Prayer, see the link to the right or go to: www.bcponline.org
Monday, June 1, 2009
One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic
One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic
The Anglican Church is a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. There can be no question that the Ekklesia Anglicana is a continuation of the one true faith; not a new church and not merely a reformation church, but a true expression of the early church.
One. The Anglican Church is a member of the one true church of God. The Anglican Church is not "one" in the sense that it is part of the one Anglican Communion, but it is one in the sense that it is a part of the one true people of God, a people from throughout that ages that make up the one Body of Christ.
Holy. The Anglican Church is Holy. She is a member of the Body of Christ, and a glorious manifestation of the bride of Christ. She consists of the hagios of God, a people set apart unto himself as holy, "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (1 Pet. 2:9).
Catholic. The Anglican Church is a member of the catholic church (not "catholic" in the Roman Catholic sense, but "catholic" in the literal sense of the term, meaning "universal"). Anglicanism is an expression of the universal faith of the early church: "...quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est" (that which is believed always, everywhere, and by all). The church must be, and Anglicanism is, a catholic church; the universal and perpetual expression of the faith by the Body of Christ.
Apostolic. The Anglican Church is Apostolic. Anglicanism maintains both the faith of and the episcopal succession from the Apostles of Christ. The Anglican church can claim both the doctrinal apostolic witness of Protestantism and the episcopal apostolic succession of Roman Catholicism, making it a manifestation of the Apostolic Church in our day.
The Anglican Church is a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. There can be no question that the Ekklesia Anglicana is a continuation of the one true faith; not a new church and not merely a reformation church, but a true expression of the early church.
One. The Anglican Church is a member of the one true church of God. The Anglican Church is not "one" in the sense that it is part of the one Anglican Communion, but it is one in the sense that it is a part of the one true people of God, a people from throughout that ages that make up the one Body of Christ.
Holy. The Anglican Church is Holy. She is a member of the Body of Christ, and a glorious manifestation of the bride of Christ. She consists of the hagios of God, a people set apart unto himself as holy, "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (1 Pet. 2:9).
Catholic. The Anglican Church is a member of the catholic church (not "catholic" in the Roman Catholic sense, but "catholic" in the literal sense of the term, meaning "universal"). Anglicanism is an expression of the universal faith of the early church: "...quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est" (that which is believed always, everywhere, and by all). The church must be, and Anglicanism is, a catholic church; the universal and perpetual expression of the faith by the Body of Christ.
Apostolic. The Anglican Church is Apostolic. Anglicanism maintains both the faith of and the episcopal succession from the Apostles of Christ. The Anglican church can claim both the doctrinal apostolic witness of Protestantism and the episcopal apostolic succession of Roman Catholicism, making it a manifestation of the Apostolic Church in our day.
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