Anglican Prayers in Time of Pestilence

The liturgical and spiritual patrimony possessed by those former Anglicans who have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church is, as Pope Benedict XVI stated (would that he were still gloriously reigning!), a gift to be shared with the whole Church. 

For this reason, during the current coronavirus pandemic, it is appropriate to suggest the use of some of the more suitable Anglican prayers long ago drawn up for use “In the time of any common Plague or Sickness”.

The Scottish Book of Common Prayer of 1929 supplies a short collect, as follows:

O ALMIGHTY and merciful God, with whom are the issues of life and death: Grant us, we beseech thee, help and deliverance in this time of grievous sickness and mortality, and sanctify to us this affliction, that in our sore distress we may turn our hearts unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The English Book of Common Prayer of 1552 contained another suitable prayer, revised and enlarged for the standard 1662 version as follows:

O ALMIGHTY God, who in thy wrath didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness, for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also, in the time of king David, didst slay with the plague of pestilence threescore and ten thousand, and yet, remembering thy mercy, didst save the rest: Have pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are visited with great sickness and mortality; that, like as thou didst then accept of an atonement, and didst command the destroying angel to cease from punishing, so it may now please thee to withdraw from us this plague and grievous sickness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It will be evident why the main addition made at the time of the Restoration was to insert the phrase “didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness, for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also”, lest the prayer seem somewhat too anti-royalist.

The Irish Book of Common Prayer of 1926 supplies the following intercession:

O ALMIGHTY God, the Lord of life and death, of health and sickness: Have pity upon us miserable sinners, now visited with great sickness [and mortality]. Withdraw from us this grievous affliction. Sanctify to us, we beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction. Enlarge our charity to relieve those who need our help. Bless the remedies applied to assist them. Give us prudence to see, and vigour to use, those means which thy providence affords, for preventing and alleviating such calamities. And, above all, teach us to know how frail and uncertain our condition is, and so to number our days, that we may seriously apply our hearts to that holy and heavenly wisdom, whilst we live here, which may in the end bring us to life everlasting; through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thine only Son our Lord. Amen. 

Finally, from the special prayers appointed to be said at the time of the Great Plague of London in 1665 comes this magnificently lengthy and Scripture-laden effusion:

O Most gratious God, Father of Mercies, and of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down upon us, we beseech thee, in much pity, and compassion, and behold our great misery, and trouble. For there is wrath gone out against us, and the Plague is begun. That dreadful Arrow of thine sticks fast in our flesh, and the Venime thereof fires our bloud, and drinks up our spirits; And shouldst thou suffer it to bring us all to the dust of Death, yet must we still acknowledge, that Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy judgements. For our Transgressions multiplied against thee, as the sand on the Sea-shore, might justly bring over us a Deluge of thy Wrath. The cry of our sins, that hath pierc’t the very Heavens, might well return with showers of Vengeance upon our Heads. While our Earth is defiled under the Inhabitants thereof, what wonder; if thou commandest an evil Angel to pour out his Vial into our Air, to fill it with Infection, and the noisome Pestilence, and so to turn the vary breath of our Life into the savour of Death unto us all! But yet we beseech thee, O our God, forget not thou to be gracious: neither shut thou up thy loving kindnesse in Displeasure. For his sake, who himselfe took our Infirmities, and bare our Sicknesses, have mercy upon us; and say to the destroying Angel, It is enough. O let that bloud of sprinkling, which speaks better things then that of Abel, be upon the Lintel, and the two side posts in all our Dwellings, that the Destroyer may passe by. Let the sweet Odour of thy blessed Son’s all-sufficient Sacrifice, and Intercession (infinitely more prevalent then the typicall Incense of Aaron) interpose between the living and the dead, and be our full, and perfect Atonement, ever acceptable with thee, that the Plague may be stayed. O let us live and we will praise thy Name; and these thy judgments shall teach us to look every Man into the plague of his own heart: that being cleansed from all our sins, we may serve thee with pure hearts all our dayes, perfecting holinesse in thy fear, till we come at last, where there is no more Sicknesse, nor Death, through thy tender Mercies in him alone, who is our Life, and our Health, and our Salvation, Jesus Christ, our ever blessed Saviour, and Redeemer. Amen[.]

UPDATE: And here is another prayer from the same order of service, perhaps less well-put but still pertinent:

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, whose Judgments are most severe, and terrible against obstinate offenders; but thy Mercies infinite to all, that with hearty Repentance, and true Faith turn unto thee: We, the sinful people of this land, whom for our iniquities, and manifold transgressions thou hast in many places most justly visited with the noisom Plague, and Pestilence, come now before the Throne of thy grace in the Name of thy dear Son, in whom thou art well pleased; and in confidence of that Atonement which he hath made for us, most humbly beseech thee to pardon, & forgive us all our sins in thought, word, or deed committed against thy Divine Majesty; to work in us dayly more and more a true, hearty, and unfeigned Sorrow, and Repentance for the same; to plant in our hearts a sincere and setled Resolution, by the assistance of thy Grace, to lead the rest of our lives in careful Obedience to thy holy Will in all things; and so to remove from us this Plague, and grievous Sickness, that we be not utterly consumed by means of thy heavy hand. To this end, grant us, good Lord of thy grace & mercy, all things conducing hereunto; Seasonable Weather, and good Air, and wholsom Food, & powerful Medicines, and whatever else thou seest to be good, and profitable for us; together with a due Care, and Conscience in using of the same; that we neither presume, nor tempt thy Majesty by neglecting the Means, which thou hast appointed, nor yet despair of thy Blessing in the diligent use of them, nor in any event repine, or murmure at thy Providence, what portion soever it allots us: But that submitting our selves to thy good pleasure in all things, we may commit the keeping of our Souls to thee in well-doing, as unto a faithfull Creatour; with compassionate pity, and charity (as we are able) succouring the sick, and preserving the whole, and praying fervently for All: and finally, that depending entirely upon thy Goodness, we may wait the hour of thy gracious Deliverance in Faith and Hope, and constant Patience, with perfect Resignation to thy wise, and just Appointment in all things; To the which we betake our selves, and the whole Nation, and what ever concerns us. Be mercifull unto us, O God be mercifull unto us, for our souls trust only in thee, and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be our refuge, till this Calamity be overpast [cf. Ps. 57. 1.]; which we beseech thee speedily to remove, if it be thy will, O Lord God of Mercies, and Father of Compassions, and to restore the voice of Joy, and Health once more into our Dwellings, for the alone Merits sake of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, our only Mediatour, and Advocate. Amen.

Sydney Ordinariate Parish UPDATE

I received the following kind email to-day:

Kevin said… 

I ran into this site by chance and am totally astounded at the detail, and capture of what we are about.  It is very good indeed. 

I have been with the Anglican Catholic movement since it hit Australia in the 1980s, and am the acolyte who served the Ordinariate Mass on that fourth Sunday of Lent – Simnel-cake disaster and all. 

For any visitor to this site, please note that, for good reasons, we have now moved to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at 76 Fiddens Wharf Road, Killara with the new style of Holy Cross Parish and celebrate Holy Mass at 11.00am on Sundays. 

Regretfully, for architectural reasons, we are forced to celebrate the Mass versus populum, but it is the same Anglican Use liturgy as at North Turramurra.  We are Catholics, former Anglicans, adjusting to a new environment and full of thanks for the hospitality of the Lindfield-Killara Catholic parish. 

We should now have quite a deal going for us, an unswerving devotion to Anglican usage, a comfortable Church, a convenient time of day - we are with friends, and no longer in the boondocks. We would very much like people to find us and help us grow.

Of your charity, dear reader, pray for the new Holy Cross Parish, and – if in Sydney – do pay them a visit, and "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness".

Liturgical Ethos of the Ordinariate

The Mater et caput of all the Personal Ordinariates is surely that of Our Lady of Walsingham for England and Wales (and Scotland): its Ordinary, Monsignor Keith Newton, has recently issued Guidelines for the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which, inasmuch as they well promote the liturgical ethos of the groups of Anglicans that have come into full communion with the Catholic Church, may with profit be studied and emulated, not just in the other two Ordinariates, mutatis mutandis, but throughout the wider Latin Rite of the Universal Church.

Some of the more notable points in the Introduction and Norms of these Guidelines are:

1. Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Book of Divine Worship [Rite One only – cf. 2.] are the current liturgical texts, for the Office and for Holy Mass, proper to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, as indicated by the faculty given (cf. AC III). 

3. Liturgical celebrations should always take into account the desire of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, for the maintenance of the traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church (cf. AC III). This should be evident in all aspects of liturgical celebration, whether according to the Book of Divine Worship or the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, not least in the choice of sacred music and vesture. 

5. Where the dynamic of the building allows it, the ancient practice of ad orientem celebration is commended. 

6. Where versus populum celebration of the sacred liturgy is necessary, the placing of a standing crucifix with the corpus turned towards the celebrant, in the centre of the altar, is commended. 

9. Where it is possible, Sundays, solemnities, and some feasts (e.g. Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, Annunciation, Visitation, Transfiguration, Holy Cross, Blessed John Henry Newman, All Souls) should be celebrated in a more solemn form, with the use of incense and music. 

10. The Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) is highly commended for use, not simply on Sundays or solemnities. This prayer is a particular sign of continuity with the Uses in force in the Church in England before the Reformation.

Whether, at Mass, either the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, or the Book of Divine Worship is used, the Anglican Patrimony, that treasure to be preserved and indeed shared with the wider Church (as Benedict XVI put it), ought be evident in the liturgical ethos and atmosphere, in all aspects, "not least in the choice of sacred music and vesture": and by "vesture" I daresay the use of beautiful and dignified vestments, not cheap polyester ponchos, but those of a higher quality, as favoured by Benedict XVI of happy memory, is suggested, as also the use of cassock and surplice by servers, not sacklike albs for all and sundry.

Furthermore, on all Sundays, solemnities and some feasts, incense and music ought be employed where possible. The eastward position is recommended to be used, if the physical layout of the church building allow it; however, as happens, if this is not possible (here in Australia, the church of the Ordinariate parish in Melbourne has an altar that has been moved forward, so that it is impossible to say Mass ad orientem), then the so-called Benedictine arrangement ought be used.  The use of the Roman Canon is highly encouraged, not merely on Sundays and solemnities, but on all occasions.

Quite frankly, if only ordinary Masses across the wider Roman Rite were conducted in such a manner! There would indeed be a hermeneutic of continuity employed. The Roman canon, incense, music, celebration ad orientem... this would gladden the hearts of the New Liturgical Movement.

The Guidelines then detail recommendations about Sacred Music:

15. The use of sacred music is integral to the celebration of the sacred liturgy. As such priority should be given to the liturgical texts as found in the liturgical books (cf. GIRM §48) and to the use of plainchant (cf. GIRM §41). 

16. The priest or deacon should sing those parts of the rite indicated by the rubrics to a varying degree dependent on the solemnity of the occasion. 

17. Well-chosen hymns have a particular role in Anglican liturgical patrimony and in recent years have almost displaced the singing of the Propers. The Anglican Use Gradual, successor to the English Gradual, is a simple tool for the recovery of the singing of the Propers and is highly commended. 

18. The sung proclamation of the gospel is commended when the prayers of the Mass are sung and especially at celebrations of particular solemnity. 

19. It is desirable that the faithful know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, as a sign of our unity with the wider Church (cf. GIRM §41). 

20. Each Ordinariate Group should be well-versed with the plainchant setting of the Ordinary of the Mass found in the English translation of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. Where this is employed in celebrations according to the Book of Divine Worship, the Greek/Latin is used. 

21. Mass VIII (Missa de Angelis) in Latin, Credo I and Credo III, and the Lord’s Prayer set by John Merbecke are highly commended for use. In celebrations according to the Book of Divine Worship where a congregational setting of the Ordinary of the Mass is used, John Merbecke’s setting and the Anglican Folk Mass by Martin Shaw are highly commended. 

22. Certain plainchant hymns, proses, and anthems in English should be known by the faithful of the Personal Ordinariate (e.g. the seasonal Office Hymns, Advent and Lent Prose). It is good that the seasonal Marian antiphons are known in Latin as well as to vernacular, metrical settings (e.g. Joy to thee, O Queen of Heaven).

Aside from a few references particular to the Anglican Patrimony, if only the standard of sacred music aimed at here were the norm throughout the Western Church! Note particularly the encouragement of the singing of the Gospel at sung Mass (once the norm, now exceedingly rare), the singing of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin as well as English, and the use of sung Propers.

As for the readings from Scripture, only the Revised Standard Version (Catholic, 2nd edition) is permitted for use at Mass (n. 23) – but, when members of the Ordinariate worship with a congregation made up mainly of diocesan Catholics, for "pastoral reasons" the Jerusalem Bible may be used, lest a change cause wonderment. (As an aside, be it noted that, sometime in the next decade, the Lectionary will be brought out in a new version, employing the English Standard Version.)

When the Book of Divine Worship – the preferred form of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Ordinariate – is to be used for Mass, further rules apply:

27. The Propers are taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal if they are to be used. If they are to be sung, the equivalent texts (together with the accompanying chant) from the Graduale Romanum, Graduale Simplex, or the Anglican Use Gradual are used. 

28. The Collect for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist may be taken from either the Book of Divine Worship or the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal in English. If the latter is used, it should not be adapted (i.e. by the adopting the conventions of ‘traditional language’). 

29. The Traditional [BCP] Psalter as found in the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Psalter as found in the RSV Lectionary may be used for the psalm in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. 

30. The Psalter as found in the Book of Divine Worship [being the Episcopalian revision of the original BCP Psalter] is not permitted for use. 

31. Penitential Rite B [after the Intercession and before the Preparation of the Offerings] is to be preferred. 

32. The Preparation of the Offerings is taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. 

33. The Prayer over the Offerings is taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. 

34. The Roman Canon as found in the Book of Divine Worship is used with the following words of consecration inserted in place of those found in the Book of Divine Worship: 

Who, the day before he suffered, took bread into his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes lifted up to heaven, unto thee, God, his almighty Father, giving thanks to thee, he blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: 

TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY,

WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. 

Likewise, after supper taking also this goodly chalice into his holy and venerable hands, again giving thanks to thee, he blessed, and gave it to his disciples, saying: 

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,

THE BLOOD OF THE NEW

AND ETERNAL COVENANT,

WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. 

35. The response to ‘Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith’, is one of the acclamations taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal.

These modifications fall into two categories: firstly, updating the Book of Divine Worship to conform to the latest edition of the Roman Missal (in other words, removing the obsolete ICEL paraphrases and inserting the far more acceptable new ICEL translations – the sudden change from Cranmerian prose to ICEL vernacular and back again for the Offertory and Consecration was one of the most jarring aspects of the Book of Divine Worship); and secondly giving directions for the use of the sung Propers, even in Latin – so Graduals and the like may be sung.

Finally, the Guidelines provide very pertinent directions about "The Distribution of Holy Communion" in conformity with the restoration of Catholic tradition (as exemplified by the practice of Benedict XVI) and the maintenance of the orthodox Anglican Patrimony:

36. In keeping with the Anglican tradition, it is highly commended that Holy Communion be distributed at a communion rail (or in a similar manner) to kneeling communicants. 

37. Where Holy Communion is received in the hand, due reverence and the patristic and Anglican practice of ‘making a throne’ and taking the Sacred Host to the mouth are highly commended, as is the practice of receiving Holy Communion directly on the tongue. 

38. In keeping with the Anglican tradition, it is highly commended that the chalice is always retained by the Minister of Holy Communion, whether Ordinary or Extraordinary, and not passed into the hands of the communicant. Holy Communion under both kinds is part of the patrimony and remains normal practice in the Personal Ordinariate.

Anglicans of whatever variety have always knelt for communion, and when I have occasionally glanced into Anglican churches I have very often noted the altar rail and kneeler still in place for regular use, whether the locals be High or Low in their churchmanship. The near-universal rejection of kneeling in favour of standing is a Catholic innovation of the last fifty years, after centuries of kneeling. As to reception on the hand, it seems more reverent to convey the Host to one's mouth in that manner, by bearing It gently to the mouth upon the "throne" of the hands, rather than to seize It with the fingers as if It were a potato crisp! But of course to receive directly upon the tongue is also most commended, as the normative Catholic practice even today, whatever of widespread contrary custom.

(I would guess that the employment of extraordinary ministers of holy communion is not so common in the Ordinariate, and that any such are male servers, vested in cassock and surplice, as is most fitting.)

In sum, these Guidelines are a marvellous programme for noble and dignified Eucharistic worship (and also when the Divine Office is celebrated, though I have omitted to comment on that in this post). Aside from the particular use of elements proper to the Anglican Patrimony (the Customary, the Anglican Use Gradual, the Book of Divine Worship), if these Guidelines were widely disseminated and employed, how greatly would worship, liturgy and true piety profit throughout the wider Church!

Imagine, for a moment, how this would look in a parish, and not one part of the Ordinariate, but where these sane principles were embraced by priest and people as a timely reminder of the true Catholic ethos, "which I have loved long since and lost a while":

• worship ad orientem (n. 5);
• incense and sacred music used on all Sundays and solemnities, and on many feasts (n. 9);
• the Roman Canon employed not merely on Sundays and solemnities, but more often (n. 10);
• "silence and due reverence before the tabernacle, and in the Church before and after liturgical worship" (n. 11);
• "public and sung celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours" (n. 12) – e.g. Vespers, which ought to be celebrated in all parish churches at least on Sundays;
• "The celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation... before Mass... as a means of bringing the sacrament to the renewed awareness of the faithful" (n. 13);
• priority given to singing the liturgical texts and to plainchant (n. 15), to the singing by the priest or deacon of their parts of the Mass (n. 16) – e.g. the Preface and even the Gospel (n. 18) – to the singing of the Propers (n. 17), and to the singing by all of well-known settings of the Mass in both English and Latin (nn. 19-21);
• Holy Communion distributed to kneeling communicants at the altar rail, where they may receive either on the tongue or in the hand in a reverent manner; and the administration of the chalice in a like and seemly manner (nn. 36-38).

These remind me of the famous "six points" of Anglo-Catholic or ritualist worship: the mixed chalice, wafer bread (unleavened hosts), lights (candles),  Eucharistic vestments, the eastward position, incense – the first four of these are and have always been universal Roman Catholic practices, but the last two have sadly dropped away, and ought be restored.

I pray that we have here, not one last fruit "out of season" of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, but the first blossoming of the ongoing rediscovery and repristination of divine worship which is the fundamental duty of the whole Church.

My only regret is that Monsignor Newton did not see fit to employ that famously witty Anglican sense of humour, and give us thirty-nine of these Guidelines!

He Shall Come Again

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe, O glorified love, that from thy throne at God’s right hand, where thou now sittest, thou wilt come again, to judge the world, attended with thy holy angels. All glory be to thee.

I believe, O thou adorable Judge, that all mankind shall be summoned before thy awful tribunal. All the dead, who shall be waked out of their graves when the angel shall blow the last trump, and all that are then quick, and alive, shall then appear before thee. All glory be to thee.

I believe, Lord, that I and all the world shall give a strict account of all our thoughts, and words, and actions; that the books will then be opened; that out of those dreadful registers we shall be judged; that Satan and our own consciences will be our accusers. O let the last trump be ever sounding in my ears, that I may ever be mindful of my great accounts, and that I may neither speak, nor do, nor think anything that may wound my own conscience, or provoke thy anger, or make me tremble at the awful day.

I know, O thou adorable Judge, that love only shall then endure that terrible test, that love only shall be acquitted, that love only shall be eternally blest; and therefore I will ever praise and love thee.

Glory be to thee, O thou beloved Son of God, to whom the Father has committed all judgment.

How can they that love thee, O Jesu, ever despond, though their love in this life is always imperfect, when at last they shall have love for their judge, love that hath felt and will compassionate all their infirmities? and therefore all love, all glory be to thee.

— Thomas Ken's Devotions on the Apostles' Creed, entitled "The Motives of  Love"

Upon consulting my copy of Nelson's Festivals and Fasts (1841 reprint of his original, dated 1703), I find that its Chapter II concerns Advent Sundays, and is almost wholly given over to a consideration of Christ's Second Coming to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire. He concludes his reflections with four prayers, three from the BCP and the last from Bp Ken, with the title For preparation for judgement. As I have a copy to hand of Ken's Devotions on the Apostles' Creed, I have given it above from that source. 

(Nelson gives the text with a few minor differences, presumably to turn this excerpt from Ken's long confession into a prayer – he omits "All glory be to thee" in the first and second paragraphs, and "I believe, Lord" in the third, while substituting "blessed Jesus" for glorified love" in the first, and "Lord" for "thou adorable Judge" in the fourth; he has "awaked" for "waked" and "be then" for "then be" in the second and third, and omits "and" before "words" in the third, but such variants are of no matter.)

My Favourite Advent Antiphon

On my mind and lips during Advent is the Magnificat antiphon from first Vespers of this, the Second Sunday of Advent: Veni, Domine, visitare nos in pace, ut lætemur coram te corde perfecto – "Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart."

This antiphon above all others – yes, for the moment, even the O Antiphons, and the Marian anthem of the season, Alma Redemptoris Mater – is my choice, and why? because in sundry Uses it was not a Magnificat antiphon, but the Advent Nunc dimittis antiphon.  Several forms of Compline (such as the Dominican) have variant hymns, antiphons, responsories and the like to be employed at certain times and seasons; in the Sarum Rite, though not that of the Black Friars, Veni, Domine, visitare was sung during Advent in place of the usual antiphon Salva nos Domine.

Consider the wording, unfamiliar as it may seem, of the Nunc dimittis with this antiphon:

Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart. 

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen. 

Come, O Lord, and visit us in peace, that we may joy before thee with a perfect heart.

I take the English wording of this from a curious little volume in my possession, The Hours of Prayer from Lauds to Compline inclusive compiled from the Sarum Breviary and other rites (3rd ed., revised), originally drawn up in 1910, but reprinted in 1946; my copy has a preface by Edward C. Trenholme, S.S.J.E., dated 1928.  This is, in other words, one of the many Sarum-ish or Roman Diurnals drawn up by Anglo-Catholics over the course of their history – Patrimony!

While many such manuals exist, I only have one other here, which also contains the "Come, O Lord": The Priest's Book of Private Devotion, originally compiled in the late 19th C. by Oldknow and Crake, revised in 1929 by Briscoe, and published in a new edition in 1952; unlike The Hours of Prayer, it contains a vast collection of prayers, meditations, and all manner of devotions – but of its 593 numbered pages, the first third, pages 3 to 221, contains "Divine Service for the Lesser Hours of the Day", that is, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and Compline,  with full Propers of the Temporal and Sanctoral cycle, and the relevant Commons, plus Vespers of the Dead and the Penitential Psalms. These Hours are evidently meant to be said alongside daily recitation of Mattins and Evensong from the BCP.

An interesting point about both these unofficial forms of the Office is that they stick to the pre-1912 psalm cursus: Lauds has its daily Laudate psalms (Pss 148-150); during the Little Hours, each and every day, Psalm 118(119) is read through; and Compline has daily Pss 4, 30(31):1-6, 90(91) and 133(134).

The Advent Prose's Authorship

It seems unlikely that Prudentius (348-after 405, possibly c.413) compiled the Advent Prose Rorate cæli desuper, not least because St Jerome (c. 347-420) had only finished translating the Vulgate in 405, and the Advent Prose quotes the Vulgate (almost) word-for-word, while the Vulgate itself took some time in becoming accepted in the West; furthermore, the fourth stanza of the Prose, beginning Consolamini, quotes word-for-word from the first Responsory of Matins of the Second Sunday of Advent (omitting only Jerusalem and et liberabo te), and it is implausible that what became the Roman Breviary was already substantially in existence at the start of the fourth century.

Another candidate author for the Advent Prose is Pierre Cardinal de Berulle (1575-1629), founder of both the French Oratory (in 1611) and the so-called 'French School' of spirituality, a noted mystic.  However, I have yet to locate the Rorate cæli among his works. Instead, the third, less well-known candidate, seems the most likely: Father Bourget of the French Oratory, to whom are attributed both text and music. Some sources date his work to 1634, but others – especially the Franciscan Processional used at the Holy Sepulchre – to the year 1615.

If indeed the good Oratorian Père Bourget produced this plaintive composition in or about 1615, but shortly after the establishment of the Oratory of France by de Berulle, it is entirely possible that the latter's spiritual doctrine inspired the former. While I am more familiar with French Baroque music of the generations after this early date, I am aware that long Scriptural compilations set to music were quite rightly esteemed and produced at this period, and thus the sensibility of the Prose seems to fit this timeframe.

While at Paris at that time the old Parisian Breviary was still in use (not to be confused with the Neo-Gallican Paris Breviary later imposed in the early eighteenth century), this I expect would have been comparable, and indeed was increasingly being comformed, to the model of the Breviary, that is, the Roman, then newly reformed by order of the Council of Trent. I have therefore noted below not merely the Scriptural sources of the Prose, but also the passages of the Roman Breviary that if anything even more closely match to it:

THE ADVENT PROSE

R/. Rorate cæli desuper, et nubes pluant justum.

[Is 45:8ab (versicle at Adv. Vespers, & Lauds Aña. 1, Tue. before Christmas Vigil, Brev. Rom.)] 

1. Ne irascaris Domine, ne ultra memineris iniquitatis: ecce civitas Sancti facta est deserta: Sion deserta facta est: Jerusalem desolata est: domus sanctificationis tuæ et gloriæ tuæ, ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri.

[Is 64:9a,b,10,11ab – abbrev. of Lectio iii, 4th Adv. Thu. (Brev. Rom.), except tuæ for nostræ in both places] 

2. Peccavimus, et facti sumus tamquam immundus nos, et cecidimus quasi folium universi: et iniquitates nostræ quasi ventus abstulerunt nos: abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostræ.

[Is 64:5c; Is 64:6a,cd,7cd – abbrev. of Lectio ii, 4th Adv. Thu. (Brev. Rom.), except tamquam for ut] 

3. Vide Domine afflictionem populi tui, et mitte quem missurus es: emitte Agnum dominatorem terræ, de petra deserti ad montem filiæ Sion ut auferat ipse jugum captivitatis nostræ. 

[Abbrev. of R/. iii. 1st Adv. Fri., Brev. Rom. (cf. Ex 3:7a; Ex 4:13b); Is 16:1 (Lauds Aña. 2, Tue. before Christmas Vigil, Brev. Rom.); cf. 14:25d; cf. var.] 

4. Consolamini, consolamini, popule meus: cito veniet salus tua: quare mœrore consumeris, quia innovavit te dolor? Salvabo te, noli timere, ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus, Sanctus Israël, Redemptor tuus. 

[Is 40:1a (abbrev. of Bened. Aña, 4th Adv. Thu.); abbrev. of R/. i of 2nd Sun. of Adv. (cf. var.; cf. Micah 4:9a,d; cf. var.; cf. Is 43:3ab)]

It is amusing that the English version adapted for Anglican use replaces the third verse with another, taken directly from the King James version of Isaiah 43:10a,11,13b (verses not read at all during Advent in the Roman Breviary) —

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know me and believe me: I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour: and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

This variant has now been accepted into Catholic communion, as it is given in the new Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham. For amusement's sake, I have rendered this into Latin, using the Vulgate:

Vos testes mei, dicit Dominus, et servus meus quem elegi: ut sciatis, et credatis mihi, Ego sum, ego sum Dominus, et non est absque me salvator: et non est qui de manu mea eruat.

Quasi-Collects

While "Recitation of Morning and Evening Prayer, with the prescribed psalms and readings, as set out in [the] Customary, is a complete celebration of the daily cycle of the Office", yet "Prayer During the Day and Compline are provided for additional use, as required." (Customary, 23) I have detailed Compline according to the Customary already; now, for some discussion of Prayer During the Day.

Firstly, and quite traditionally, Prayer During the Day (that is, any or all of Terce, Sext and None) is provided with psalmody drawn from both the twenty-two portions of Psalm 119 (118 in the Vulgate numbering), that great Psalm of the Law sung daily in the Roman Office down to 1912, and also with Psalms 120 to 128 (Vulg. 119 to 127), the first seven of the Gradual Psalms, used five days a week in the Monastic Office. 

Psalm 119's parts are spread over a week, with the first four sections on Sunday and three each for successive weekdays; if all three Little Hours are read, then just one section is read at each Hour (two at Sunday Terce). It is suggested that Psalm 119 be thus employed on Weeks 1 and 3 (corresponding to those weeks in the modern Roman Office), but not when Psalm 119 is read at Mattins and Evensong (that is, on the 24th to the 26th days of the month, when the Psalter is used in course).  Especially in Weeks 2 and 4 (except on the 27th day of the month, when they are read at Mattins and Evensong), the Gradual Psalms or "Songs of Ascent" are to be used instead: at Terce, or Prayer During the Day on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, Psalms 120 to 122; at Sext, or Prayer During the Day on Tuesdays and Fridays, Psalms 123 to 125; and at None, or Prayer During the Day on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Psalms 126 to 128.

A rubric notes that the Psalmody is as set out, or as prescribed by the Ordinary (presumably for special occasions and greater feasts, or if some other arrangement of the Psalms is proposed for his approval).

It begins naturally enough with "O God, make speed to save us" (the Anglican version of Deus in adjutorium meum intende), followed by the Lesser Doxology (Gloria Patri) and "Alleluia" (outside Lent). The Office Hymn is then used: at Terce, "Come, Holy Spirit, live in us" (Nunc, Sancte, nobis, Spiritus); at Sext, "O God of truth and Lord of power" (Rector potens, verax Deus); and at None, "Eternal Father, loving God" (Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor). There is a note to the effect that these "or some other" (translation? version?) ought be used.

The Psalms are then sung, with "Glory be" afterward, but without antiphon – as is Anglican practice, and as St Benedict provided in the case of less musically adept groups of monks.

After the psalmody, a short reading follows: through the year, distinct readings are provided for Terce, Sext and None over a two-week cycle; for the seasons, a one-week cycle of readings are given, with one reading per day. Unlike the Roman Office, there is no short responsory (Cranmer famously having purged out all such responds); instead, the "collect or prayer" follows at once, and the Hour concludes with the versicles "The Lord be with you" (if read by one in holy orders) and "Let us bless the Lord" (Benedicamus Domino), with the final blessing "May the divine assistance remain with us always" (Divinum auxilium).

The "collect or prayer" is the most liturgically noteworthy part of Prayer During the Day: either the Collect of the Day may be used, or instead what I term a "quasi-collect" may be read. During the year (outside of the liturgical seasons such as Advent), there are seven such prayers proposed for use on each succeeding day of the week.  They sometimes end "through Jesus Christ our Lord", and sometimes not, which is why, together with their more poetic character, I term them "quasi-collects". Unsurprisingly, they are at least in the main drawn from the Anglican Patrimony – for example, the Saturday prayer is taken from the Sarum Primer, "God be in my head, and in my understanding...".

Herewith, a list of all these prayers, with the page number upon which they occur in the Customary (those marked with an asterisk * end with "through Jesus Christ our Lord" or a like ending):

Quasi-Collects for Prayer during the Day

Sunday: "Christ be with me, Christ within me" (from St Patrick’s Breastplate) 80

Monday: "Eternal Light, shine into our hearts" (Alcuin of York)* 83

Tuesday: "O Eternal God" (cf. St Augustine of Hippo)* 86

Wednesday: "O Lord our God" (St Anselm)* 89

Thursday: "O gracious and holy Father" (St Benedict of Nursia)* 92

Friday: "Thanks be to thee, Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. St Richard of Chichester) 95

Saturday: "God be in my head, and in my understanding" (Sarum Primer) 98

Advent: "Keep us, O Lord" (Richard Baxter)* 177

Christmastide: "Almighty and everlasting God" (cf. Missale Romanum)* 211

Epiphanytide: "O good Jesu" (cf. St Gregory the Great)* 231

Lent: "Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest" (St Ignatius Loyola) 270

Passiontide: "Soul of Christ, sanctify me" (Anima Christi, 14th C.) 293

Eastertide: "Christ yesterday and today" (from the Easter Vigil) 341

Ascensiontide & Pentecost: "O King enthroned on high"  (Byzantine Rite, Pentecost Troparion) 356

All Saints until Advent: "Bring us, O Lord God" (Eric Milner White, cf. John Donne) 448

This system of "quasi-collects" appears to me the most experimental of the various liturgical options within the new Customary.

******

This new form found in the Customary may be compared to "An Order of Service for Noonday" (or "Noonday Prayer") as found in the Book of Divine Worship. Noonday Prayer begins in the same way; a hymn may be sung just as given above; one or more of Psalms 19, 67, 119 parts I to XXII, and 120 to 133 may be sung (note that this list, not further divided up and ordered, includes several Psalms not used in the Customary's Prayer During the Day – Psalm 19 would if anything be better at Prime if that were used, and Psalm 67 is an alternative Invitatory Psalm for Mattins in the Customary).

By contrast to the Customary's abundant selection of readings, in the BDW but three passages of Scripture are provided for use at Noonday Prayer, albeit with a rubric allowing choice of any other suitable passage; similarly, the BDW simply provides four general collects from which one may be chosen, or else the Collect of the Day ought be used. The BDW does, however, insert before the Collect both the threefold Kyrie and the Lord's Prayer, with "Lord, hear our prayer" (Domine, exaudi) rather strangely inserted between them – this (but for the versicle) could profitably be adopted in the Customary – and ends simply with "Let us bless the Lord". Rubrics note that a silent or spoken meditation may follow the short reading, and that after the Collect, "free intercessions may be offered".

Customary Pros and Cons

Apparently, the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham is very much a volume published ad experimentum (shades of the nineteen sixties, when roneo’d bits of paper replaced leatherbound Missals on the altars), without official status beyond approval of the Ordinary.  This is actually a good thing, because it means that the evaluations made of it – by persons far more immediately concerned and more authoritative than myself, of course – will help result in the production of a still better form of Office book drawn from the Anglican Patrimony.

On the positive side, the collection of readings assembled in the Customary, whether mediæval or from Anglican writers (some, like Newman, become Catholics, others, like Beveridge, lifelong Anglicans), is a very fine manifestation of the riches of the Patrimony, and one hopes it will but be edited and enlarged as time passes. (That said, the passage from William Laud provided for yesterday, the 23^rd Sunday after Trinity, was a bit odd, and I would have preferred another!) Similarly, the provision of forms of Mattins, Evensong, and Litany that follow as closely as possible the classical Anglican services cannot but be applauded.

There is an important parallel here with the Eastern Catholic Rites, whose liturgy is specifically required to resile from Romanizations, however well-intended, and instead to maintain as much closeness as possible to the liturgies of their Orthodox brethren – the only caveat being that Anglican bodies, not being true sister churches as the Orthodox churches are, have doctrinal errors (even found expressed in their services) stemming from the Reformation that must be carefully weeded out ere their forms of worship be employed by Catholics.  However, rather than a hermeneutic of suspicion, somewhat in the mode of the Spanish Inquisition, a hermeneutic of continuity ought be employed, interpreting texts fairly and in a Catholic light, that only words and phrases clearly expressive of a non-Catholic doctrine be omitted or amended.

In the case of Mattins and Evensong, a phrase or two in the general Confession (above all “there is no health in us”, which seems expressive of the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity) may usefully be omitted; the prayer of absolution following must be carefully phrased so as not to appear to be the sacramental absolution proper to the confessional; the salutation “The Lord be with you” must be restricted to the ordained alone; and, to avoid Erastianism, the prayers for the Queen and Royal Family should be reworded and moved after the prayer for the Bishops and Clergy, and a prayer for the Pope inserted first.  All these slight and reasonable alterations have indeed been done in the new Customary.  Similarly, the Litany has had one or two petitions altered, and above all invocations of Our Lady and the Saints restored to their original position, just as they were intially retained in a compressed but perfectly acceptable form by Cramner himself, when he produced his first English Litany in 1544.

As to the negatives, these may be separated into three categories: the layout; omissions; and concerns regarding the Psalter and Lectionary.

Some of the complaints about the new Customary are quite sensible criticisms of the difficulty of using it – I have specified these before, and so have others. There are too many turnings of the book required, and too few ribbons! But it is a simple business to redesign the layout to make it more user-friendly, and to insert some more ribbons. For instance, the collect of the day should in every case be printed with the post-biblical reading (if there is one); the hymns should all be collected into one section; the opening sentences should all be printed together immediately before the Penitential Rite (which should also be available for use at Mattins, not just at Evensong).

There are strange omissions: where are the many prayers of intercession and thanksgiving that successive BCP’s have provided for optional use “after the Third Collect”? Some of them are real gems. Similarly, as mentioned above, why is there no provision for a Penitential Rite at Mattins?

But to my mind the worst feature of the new Customary is the strange Lectionary, and also certain features of the Psalter – or rather, the requirement that Sundays use various combinations of fixed Psalms, following the Roman Rite (old and new), instead of simply going through the Psalter in course, day by day.  The Lectionary is an awkward combination of the one-year and two-year cycles of readings for the modern Roman Liturgy of the Hours, with gaps filled by taking short readings from those volumes. This has the bizarre result of providing lessons for use at Mattins and Evensong that may be as short as two verses.  Now, one of the principal virtues of the  various Anglican Lectionaries were their provision of twice-daily long readings from the Old and New Testaments, such that a true and valuable lectio continua was provided. The novel arrangement provided in the Customary jumps about in disconcerting fashion, and I regard it as the very worst feature, deserving to be substantially improved: surely, instead of having either a very short First or Second Lesson, the short passages could be lengthened materially? Better still would be to have the courage to differ from the Roman Lectionary: after all, surely reading more rather than less of the Scriptures is hardly scandalous but rather praiseworthy.  I see that one Canadian Ordinariate member has already expressed her hope that she may retain the lectionaries for Mattins and Evensong which she used with profit in her Anglican days.

I understand that the commission Anglicanæ traditiones was not consulted when the Customary was compiled: I applaud the efforts of Mgr Andrew Burnham and Fr Aidan Nichols – particularly the latter’s assemblage of so pleasing a collection of readings from Anglican sources – and very much hope that the commission will rely on the Customary to eventually issue a still better Office for all in the Ordinariates.

Compline according to the Customary

Compline has always been my favourite Hour of the Daily Office.  Of course, as the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham points out, the recitation of daily Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer according to the Anglican tradition suffices (since these two Offices were specifically drawn up to gather together the older plethora of Hours); but forms of Compline have been drawn up, first for private use in various pious vade-mecums issued in the later nineteenth century, and later for official Anglican use, since the early twentieth century (e.g. the 1914 U.S Episcopalian Order for Compline, or the forms found in the 1926 Irish, 1928 Proposed English, 1929 Scottish and 1962 Canadian Prayer Books), since this Hour has a peculiarly affecting quality, whose elements, drawn quite directly from the Roman Rite (whether modern or mediæval), are most conducive to prayer.

The Customary provides an order for Compline that is, in fact, more traditional than that found in the modern Roman Liturgy of the Hours, and even in some respects more traditional than that found in the liturgical books of 1962 – since it maintains the immemorial Western tradition of using four fixed psalms at Compline (abandoned in 1912 at St Pius X’s revision of the Breviary), and even retains the preces or suffrages (removed at Roman Compline in the 1950’s).

It is much to be applauded that Compline in the Customary is adorned with chant notation so it may be sung to the ancient melodies proper thereto.  Herewith, an outline of the order of service:

  “The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night… (the blessing Noctem quietam)
·      “Brethren, be sober, be vigilant…” (the traditional short lesson, 1 Peter 5:8-9)
·      “But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. Thanks be to God.” (the traditional conclusion Tu autem, with response Deo gratias)
·      “Our help is in the name of the Lord…” (the versicle Adjutorium nostrum)
·      (Pause for examination of conscience)
·      “I confess to God…” (the Sarum Confiteor, but put in the Roman position at the start of Compline, rather than in the Sarum, where it was placed among the preces)
·      “May almighty God have mercy…” (the Sarum Misereatur; there is no Indulgentiam, just as at Dominican Compline, which is similar to the Sarum)
·      “O God, make speed to save us…” (the versicle Deus in adjutorium)
·      “Glory be to the Father…” (the lesser doxology)
·      “Alleluia” (but in Lent, the Anglican versicle “Praise ye the Lord…”)
·      “Before the ending of the day…” (Neale’s Englishing of the ancient Compline Hymn Te lucis; or another ad lib. – the hymn is placed before the psalmody, following the modern Roman Liturgy of the Hours, but also Ambrosian custom)
·      Psalms 4, 31:1-6, 91, 134 (the traditional Compline psalms, every day one or more, ad lib.)
·      “Thou, O Lord, art in the midst…” (Jer 14:9) or “Now the God of peace…” (Heb 13:20-21) (or another, ad lib.)
·      “Into thy hands…” (traditional responsory In manus tuas)
·      “Keep me as the apple…” (traditional versicle Custodi me Domine)
·      “Preserve us, O Lord…” (antiphon Salva nos – or, ad lib., various seasonal alternatives as in the Sarum Rite and other mediæval uses, such as the Dominican with which I am more familiar)
·      “Lord, now lettest thou…” (the Nunc dimittis)
·      “Lord, have mercy…” (the threefold Kyrie or Lesser Litany)
·      “Our Father…” (the Lord’s Prayer, but said aloud by all, rather than mainly secretly, as in the traditional Latin preces)
·      “Blessed art thou… Let us bless… Blessed art thou… The almighty… Wilt thou not… O Lord, shew… Vouchsafe, O Lord… O Lord, hear…” (preces or suffrages – all traditional, drawn from Daniel chapter 3 and the Te Deum; for more expediency, the latter four may be omitted)
·      “Let us pray” (Oremus)
·      “Visit, we beseech thee…” (the Roman collect Visita quæsumus Domine) and/or “Lighten our darkness” (the Sarum Compline collect Illumina quæsumus Domine, famous from Evensong), and/or “O Lord Jesus Christ…” (another mediæval collect, commemorating the Lord’s burial in the sepulchre), and/or “Look down, O Lord…” (Respice, Domine, de excelsa, oft found in Anglican forms of Compline, but curiously enough from the Ambrosian Rite), and/or “Be present, O merciful God…” (another ancient collect)
·      “We will lay us down in peace…” (the traditional Sarum versicle In pace in idipsum)
·      “Abide with us… As the watchmen… Come with the dawning…” (three further versicles, drawn from the Gospels and Psalm 130, following the form of Compline given in modern Church of England publications)
·      “The Lord be with you…” (Dominus vobiscum – to be used only if there be one in holy orders)
·      “Let us bless the Lord…” (Benedicamus Domino)
·      “The almighty and merciful Lord…” (the blessing Benedicat et custodiat)
·      An Anthem to the Blessed Virgin, with (optionally) a versicle and collect (all Roman, these, for the seasons of the year: after Pentecost until Advent, the “Hail Holy Queen…”, with “Pray for us…” and collect “Almighty everlasting God…” exactly render the Salve Regina, Ora pro nobis and Omnipotens sempiterne Deus)
·      “May the divine assistance remain with us always…” (the concluding formula, Divinum auxilium)

·    

A real stickler for bringing into play every last traditional part of the ancient Latin Compline service would note in particular the following omissions:

1. The lack of the versicle Converte nos before Deus in adjutorium (retained in the 1929 Scottish BCP, where it was put at the very start of the service, and in the US 1914 Order for Compline);
2. The lack of the psalm antiphon Miserere mihi (something Anglican forms all omit, so far as I recall, but which could easily be admitted, especially given the plainchant pointing of the text in the Customary);
3. The omission of the alternative lesson “Come unto me…” (St Matthew 11:28-30), commonly provided in Anglican forms of Compline – though by the terms of the rubric governing the reading, this could well be used if desired; 
4. The omission of the Apostles’ Creed, always found in Latin Breviaries among the preces at Compline, and retained in many Anglican forms, such as the 1928 Proposed BCP, and the 1929 Scottish BCP – indeed, made a more prominent part of the service, by appointing it to be said daily, aloud, by all, prior to the Lesser Litany, Lord’s Prayer and preces (just as at Anglican Mattins and Evensong);
5. The omission of certain alternative collects provided for use at Compline, above all (as the 1929 Scottish BCP provides) that wonderful prayer derived from Blessed John Henry Newman, “O Lord, support us all the day long…”; other possible collects include that in the 1914 American version (“Give us light in the night season…”), and that – attributed to St Augustine – beginning “Keep watch, dear Lord…”, which is appointed for use at Compline in the Book of Divine Worship.

There is something intrinsically Anglican in style about the use of more than one collect at Compline, just as at the end of Mattins and Evensong (though to be fair Compline has four collects merged into one in the traditional Ambrosian Office also). It seems to me that the next edition of the Customary ought at the very least allow the use of Newman’s famous prayer as part of its order of Compline:

O LORD, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shades lengthen, and the evening cometh, and the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work done. Then, Lord, in thy mercy, grant us safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

That prayer attributed to Augustine would also be a worthy addition:

KEEP watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give thine angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for thy love’s sake. Amen.

However, these minor desiderata aside, certainly Ordinariate Compline is a worthy and most beautiful Office to pray at the close of the day, ere we enter into sleep, image of death, in the hope both of awaking to a new day, and of one day arising at the general resurrection.

Reading for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity

Sunday, being the 23rd after Pentecost, was therefore the 22nd after Trinity; and the new Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham provides, as the "post-biblical reading" of the day for use at either the Office of Readings in the modern Roman Liturgy of the Hours, or for use at either Morning or Evening Prayer as set out in the Customary, a most interesting and profitable passage from William Beveridge's sermon  ‘Christ’s Resurrection the cause of our Justification’ – which, having found online elsewhere (as Sermon LXXIV in Volume IV of his works), I subjoin below. He I had not heard of previous to reading this work; I discover that he was born in 1637 and died in 1708, which means he would be classed as one of the Caroline Divines; he was Anglican Bishop of St Asaph, in Wales.

Herewith, the sermon:

Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity

A reading from the sermons of William Beveridge.

[…]

Now, according to this the true notion of faith described by the Holy Ghost himself, as we hope for pardon and justification from Christ, according to the promises which God hath made us in him, upon our believing in him for it, we are accordingly pardoned and justified by him, because we are thereby actually stated [sic] in him, and made partakers of him, and of all that he hath merited for that purpose; as the apostle saith, ‘We are partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end’ (Heb 3:14). So that if we continue stedfastly to believe in Christ, we are thereby partakers of him; and if of him, then, be sure, of all that is in him, as he is our Mediator and Redeemer.

Hence they who truly believe in him are said to be ‘one with him’ (Jn 17:21); to be ‘joined to him’ (1 Cor 6:17); to be ‘in him’ (2 Cor 5:17, Rom. 16:7, Phil 1:1); ‘to dwell in him’ (1 Jn 4:13); to ‘abide in him’ (1 Jn 3:6); ‘as a branch abideth in the vine’ (Jn 15:4-6); and a member in the body, for ‘he is the head of the body, the church’ (Col 1:18); and believers are all members, ‘every one in particular’ (1 Cor 12:27); yea, they are ‘members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones’ (Eph 5:30); and so are united and joined to him as a wife is to her husband.

This is that mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his church, betwixt Christ and all that truly believe in him; by their believing in him they are thus united to him, and by virtue of this their union to him, they partake of all his merits: as a branch partakes of the sap and juice that is in the stock, as a member partakes of the spirit that is in the head, and as a wife partakes of all the honours, estate, and privileges of her husband, so doth a believer partake of all the merits of Christ, by reason of his being joined to him, and abiding always in him. He was crucified with him (Gal 2:20), and he rose again with him (Col 3:1). He was in him and with him in all he did or suffered, and so he in him satisfied God’s justice for his sins, he in him fulfilled all righteousness, and therefore he in him may justly be accounted righteous before God himself. He cannot but be so, upon that very account, because he is in Christ. ‘For there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.’ (Rom 8:1) And if they be not condemned, they must needs be justified, and if they be justified, or accounted righteous before God, it must be by that righteousness which they have in him, in whom they are, for they have no other which may truly be accounted so; but in him they have most absolute and perfect righteousness, because his was so; and being his in whom they are by their believing in him, it is reckoned theirs too as effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if it had been performed in their own persons. […]

But here we must observe, that all who, being thus in Christ, are justified by his merit, they are also sanctified by the Spirit that is in him. As there is ‘no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ,’ so they ‘walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Rom 8:1). And ‘if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature’ (2 Cor 5:17): therefore ‘a new creature’ because in him, who is ‘made to us wisdom and sanctification’, as well as ‘righteousness and redemption’; and all that are of him partake of all that is in him; of his wisdom to make them wise, and his grace to make them holy in themselves, as well as of his righteousness and merit to justify them before God. […]

And this is that which St James means, where he treats upon this subject, wherein some have thought he contradicts St Paul, but that is a great mistake, for St Paul saith, that ‘we are justified by faith without the works of the law’ (Rom 3:28). St James doth not say, that we are justified by the works of the law without faith, he only saith, that ‘a man is justified by works, and not by faith only’ (Jas 2:24), where he plainly asserts our justification by faith, and only denies that we are justified by faith only, or by such a faith as is alone, without good works. [...]