A Canadian Anglican Use? – I

Now that the Canadian Ordinariate is all but established, it is interesting to speculate, purely as an amateur exercise, as to how the current liturgy used by the T.A.C. there -– from the 1962 Canadian B.C.P. – may be adapted so as to be adopted, as it were, by Rome for Catholic use.

I invite Canadian Anglican readers and others in the know to firmly correct and enlighten me, as in this area I am but a fool rushing in, yet (I hope) a friendly one!

(From what I understand, the Canadians and Americans who are soon to enter full communion under provisions of Anglicanorum cœtibus do prefer to use their last, local, "classic" editions of the Book of Common Prayer, albeit tricked out with solemn ceremonial and extra prayers to make their rites more catholic.)

How to make such a comparison?  Well, I have before me the 1962 Canadian Anglican form for the Holy Eucharist, and also the Book of Divine Worship's equivalent rite, which is a current Catholic version of the form found in the U.S. 1979 B.C.P.  Of course, both the Ordinary and especially the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite must be kept ever in mind – the latter, because it (in its local Sarum variant) is the ultimate form from which the classic Anglican rites for "Holy Communion" derive. 

To start with, the Canadian liturgy begins with the Lord's Prayer and Collect for Purity, both of which are remnants of the preparatory prayers used in the old Sarum Rite.  Following this comes either the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Summary of the Law, with responses, then the Kyrie, "The Lord be with you", "Let us pray" and the Collect.  This is all very similar to the B.D.W.; the differences are minor (the B.D.W., paralleling more modern Anglican forms, omits the opening Pater noster, replacing it with a versicle).

A first issue: the Canadian 1962 has the Gloria in excelsis at the end of the service, as a thanksgiving hymn after communion; now, to use it thus seems quite decent, but I wonder if Rome would prefer it back in its original Catholic position, after the Kyrie and before the Collect?

A second issue: the Canadian book provides that a Collect for the Queen may be used before the Collect of the Day; now, it would seem better to allow such a votive prayer after the Collect of the Day (which after all is more important than prayer for Her Majesty the Sovereign of Canada), and it would be best to omit the words "and Governor" after "our Queen", because the word "Governor" used in this context suggests Henry VIII's heretical presumption in arrogating to himself the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

The Canadians would, it appears, hope to retain their traditional lectionary (which derives from the Sarum Rite, and parallels the traditional Roman Rite), rather than, like the B.D.W., adopt the Novus Ordo Lectionary – these days, such seems unobjectionable, whereas back in the eighties, when the Pastoral Provision for ex-Anglicans was set up in the U.S., any attempt to get Tridentine bits and pieces in the new Anglican Use was taboo.

Next, the Creed, then the Offertory (with apposite sentences from Scripture to be read), plus the prayer (deriving ultimately from II Chronicles xxix, via the Scottish Episcopalian liturgy) "Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, for ever and ever.  All that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.  All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." Now, this is equivalent to the words used in the modern Roman liturgy when the bread and wine are offered up, so it seems to fulfil their function.

A third issue: apart from this, and one more slight mention, that's all the Offertory there is.  At a minimum, it would seem necessary to insert some Roman prayers here: perhaps the prayer at the mixing of the chalice; definitely the In spiritu humilitatis, the Lavabo at the washing of hands, the Orate fratres, and above all the "Secret" or Prayer over the Oblations from the Roman Rite.  It would seem best to take these from the Extraordinary Form, since the Canadian B.C.P. broadly follows the same arrangement of Sundays, being derived from the old Sarum Use.  I wonder if inserting the Sarum form of the Suscipe sancta Trinitas would be possible?  In other words, the Canadian Anglican Offertory would be supplemented by Roman (even Sarum) offertory prayers – as Anglo-Catholics have long been accustomed to doing!

The Canadian B.C.P. next has the Intercession (the B.D.W., following the U.S. 1979 B.C.P., has it before the Offertory, but I think this position, within the sequence Offertory-Consecration-Communion, is actually better, as emphasising that the Mass is an impetratory Sacrifice, an Oblation offered up for all needs).  

This Intercession is fine as it stands, but of course as well as praying for "N. our Bishop" there should be mention of interceding for "N. our Pope"; similarly, the prayer for the dead "We remember before thee, O Lord, all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear" should be expanded upon (following the Roman Canon) with words such as "beseeching thee to grant them everlasting life and peace"; and likewise when blessing "thy holy Name for all who in life and death have glorified thee", an extra phrase, perhaps "especially the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God, and Saint(s) N. (N.)" would do nicely, to emphasise that here the Saints are venerated, that "rejoicing in their fellowship, we may follow their good examples" – and again adding something like "benefit by their prayers".  These few additional phrases, adding up to no more than a sentence, would fully catholicize this already excellent prayer, and parallel the slight modifications made to the parallel intercession in the B.D.W.

Next comes the Penitential Rite (Invitation, Confession, Absolution, Comfortable Words); the only change would to follow the one made in the B.D.W., changing the Absolution from "you/your" to "us/our".

The Sursum corda at once follows, leading into the Preface and Sanctus – to which the Benedictus must always be added.

Discussion of the Canon I postpone to a following post... the great question is, would the current Anglican Prayer of Consecration be adopted once adapted, or would the Roman Canon be inserted in its place?  After all, these Anglicans are going enter full communion, and that soon, God willing, as a privileged part of the Roman Rite, not as a new Rite of the Church (at least initially).

The Canadian rite for the Eucharist very strangely follows the more Protestant Anglican tradition in praying the Lord's Prayer after Communion!  This would have to be changed.  Similarly, the Agnus Dei, rather than being an optional Communion chant, should precede Communion.  Hence, after the Canon, one would expect to find the Lord's Prayer, then "The peace of the Lord be always with you", the Agnus Dei and the Prayer of Humble Access.

The B.D.W. mandates what most High Church Anglicans would already do: to here interpolate the Ecce Agnus Dei and Domine non sum dignus.

At Communion time, the double formula deriving from a conflation of the 1549 and 1552 B.C.P.'s would have to be amended, utterly removing the Zwinglian second sentence from each, as was quite deliberately done in the B.D.W., changing the 1979 U.S. B.C.P. form.

Mass following the suitably adapted Canadian B.C.P. would then conclude with the Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion, the Gloria in excelsis (if not moved back to the start as noted above), and the Blessing.  I expect that the T.A.C. already by custom follow that with the Ite missa est, which Cranmer strangely omitted from his new rite (I think because he simply tacked his 1548 Order of the Communion onto the revision he subsequently made of the Mass). 

Of course, in all this I've merely suggested more or less a minimum of change, based upon such precedents as there are for all this: if such incoming Anglicans prefer to have the Traditional Latin Mass done into quaint English, good on them, I hope they get permission for it!

A Basic Difference in Attitude

In my experience, all but the most way-out and scarcely Catholic priests wouldn't dream of interpolating extra prayers into the Mass, or materially changing its structure by omitting items holus-bolus; the most they do is change a word here or there, which is annoying but hardly earth-shattering... and of course this only applies to the Ordinary Form - anyone offering the Traditional Mass wouldn't dare make changes (apart perhaps from following older rubricks, such as singing Benedicamus Domino not Ite missa est in Advent).  The only 'mainstream' addition I can think of is the happy one – an innovation due to the piety of an English bishop shortly after the Council – of having the people say a Hail Mary at the end of the bidding prayers, before the collect that concludes them.

Compare and contrast this with what prevails among our separated brethren of the Anglican sort: some very estranged indeed, some not to be separated for much longer...

Among Anglo-Catholics, it appears a sort of liturgical anarchy reigns.  Whatever of the official liturgical books, at the least these are tricked out with all manner of pomp and ceremony, and supplemented with all manner of extra prayers: some from modern and some from olden Roman books, some from mediæval Uses, and some from who knows where.  It is common, and in fact a clichéd joke, for folk to say "we're strictly Prayer Book Anglicans" when the sights and words of their liturgies would suggest otherwise!

(Don't get me wrong: as one bishop put it, Anglicans believe in salvation by good taste alone!  The High tend to be very careful about worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and in this are a blessed relief for Catholics too often experiencing philistine and minimalist worship.  Take the use of good music, of the eastward position at the altar, of incense - apart from Traditional Latin Mass circles and rare Reform of the Reform liturgies, and to a lesser extent some cathedrals, Catholics these days tend to be deprived of all three.  One could say they've the form and we've the substance...)

But back to my topic, via a concrete example: I have never heard of a Catholic priest using the old Offertory prayers at the modern form of Mass; at most, I've seen priests mix the chalice first, rather than after offering the host, or even offering both host and chalice together, which are strictly incorrect but actually quite well-precedented little changes; but I have seen with my own eyes an Anglican service, where both the Tridentine and the Novus Ordo Offertory prayers were used, sandwiched in between the BCP Prayer for the Church Militant and the Preface leading into an "Interim Rite" Prayer of Consecration and Oblation.

Do-it-yourself liturgy on such a scale (and I don't say it's unorthodox, rather the contrary, given that it is done to catholicize the rite) is to Catholic eyes rather surprising to say the least.  More seriously, it has to be said that it appears rather like a continual reinvention of the wheel.

As is well-known, Forward in Faith Anglicans in the C. of E. (who may or may not cross the Tiber in who knows what numbers come February the 22nd) tend to use the modern Roman Rite of Mass: it must be for them that Anglicanorum cœtibus mentions that the use of the Roman Rite is not excluded in the forthcoming Ordinariates.

Then there is the Anglican Use of the Catholic Church, Mark I - the Book of Divine Worship – which even those involved in drawing it up have described openly as not what they would have wanted, presumably because it follows the 1979 U.S. B.C.P. rather than the more classically Anglican 1928 U.S. B.C.P., and also because it has large inserts from the Novus Ordo (above all, the modern Roman three-year lectionary, and the modern "Preparation of the Gifts"), rather than following the Ritualist tradition of taking as much as possible from the older Roman liturgy done into hieratic English.

The Anglican Use Mark II, which is supposedly under final development, would I assume be a mixture of the best of the classic B.C.P.'s (the last of which was the Canadian book of 1962) and enrichments from the Roman Rite, largely if not wholly from its pre-Conciliar form, and even taking elements from the Sarum Rite.

But whatever options are given, Rome will intend that liturgical anarchy cease, and that the rites so thoughtfully provided be used as appointed.

Options already semi-officially available via the B.D.W. are the use of the so-called "Minor Propers", which are in fact the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Offertory and Communion – the classical Roman Rite's liturgical chants, done into English.  They are provided for by the innocuous rubricks at the start of the Rite of the Holy Eucharist, between its readings, at its offertory and at communion: "Here may be sung a Psalm, Hymn or Anthem".  This is elastic enough to permit of the use of a modern Responsorial Psalm or of a Sarum Sequence...

Personally, I would prefer that an Anglican Use be "Anglican", not just a strange hybrid of all the nicest bits of B.C.P. and Roman Missal (old and new) thrown together.  Here would be my very tentative suggestion, taking as its base the most Catholic of the family of B.C.P. rites – the Scottish – and supplementing it where necessary, but nearly always from Anglican sources:

• Psalm, Hymn or Anthem / Introit Psalm with Glory Be
• ["The Lord be with you..., Let us pray" & Threefold Kyrie (Nonjurors' 1718)]
• [Lord's Prayer]
• Collect for Purity
• Decalogue / Summary of the Law, with Responses; &/or Kyrie eleison
• [Collect for Grace and Strength to keep the Commandments (Scottish & U.S.)]
• "The Lord be with you..." & "Let us pray"
• Collect of the Day
• [Lesson (for those who use three lessons at Mass, following more modern Lectionaries)]
• Epistle with Title and Conclusion
• Psalm, Hymn or Anthem
• Gospel with Title and Responses
• Creed
• Notices & Sermon & Exhortation (if used)
• Bidding Prayer (used here because the Prayer for the Church is used after the Consecration, as the form of intercession during the Eucharistic Prayer; the 1928 U.S. Bidding Prayer is admirable)
• "Let us present our offerings to the Lord..." (Scottish)
• Offertory Sentence / Psalm, Hymn or Anthem
• [Mixing the chalice with wine and water; washing hands – nihil dicens]
• "Blessed be thou..." (the Scottish Offertory prayer – see below, †)
• [Would the Orate fratres and Secret be necessary importations from the Roman Rite?]
• Sursum corda &c.
• Preface
• Sanctus & Benedictus
• Prayer of Consecration (with a pre-consecratory Epiclesis, praying that the elements "become the Body and Blood", as in the 1764 Scottish formula)
• Prayer of Memorial and Oblation (incl. "which we now offer unto thee" - Scottish & American, but removing the post-consecratory epiclesis)
• Prayer for the Church (incl. "to accept our oblations and to receive these our prayers which we offer", so expressing the Sacrifice as impetratory; inserting the name of the Pope; and commemorating the Saints by name)
• "As our Saviour Christ... we are bold to say:"
• Lord's Prayer with Doxology
• The Peace of the Lord be with you...
• Invitation, General Confession, Declaration of Absolution (non-Sacramental, so changing "you" to "us", etc.), Comfortable Words [this could be put before the Offertory as in most other Anglican forms, and as the B.D.W. already does]
• Prayer of Humble Access
• Agnus Dei
• [Ecce Agnus Dei &c.? - Roman but apparently much used; perhaps the 1549 "Christ our Paschal Lamb..." could be used also; the B.D.W. deleted the 1979 U.S. B.C.P. "Take them in remembrance..." formula presumably as altogether too Zwinglian]
• Psalm, Hymn or Anthem
• "The Body / Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ..."
• ["Having now received..." / versicles (optional Scottish forms)]
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Gloria in excelsis (in most modern Anglican forms moved back to its original place, but quite decent here as a thanksgiving; the B.D.W. has it at the start, but I don't think this would be absolutely necessary)
• [Collect before the Blessing (vide infra, *)]
• "The Peace..."
• [Dismissal?]

This liturgy would almost wholly use elements common to the Anglican Prayer Book tradition, while being made perfectly orthodox, by reason of careful bolstering of its epiclesis and its expression of the offering of the Sacrifice for all ends.

My personal view is that, if one wants the Traditional Latin Mass, have a Traditional Latin Mass; if one wants the Novus Ordo, do it but do it properly; and if one wants an Anglican Use Mass, have one that is proud of itself, not a mish-mash of a few Anglican bits floating in a Roman sea.

(I would of course have no objections to, say, the Sarum Rite being revived, whether in Latin or done into decent English, but such a multiplicity of rites for a relatively small group of incomers, however welcome, may seem excessive.)

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* Note that the South African 1954 B.C.P. (and its forerunners earlier in the century) proposed a very full-blooded reference to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, being transparently based on the Placeat sancta Trinitas, to use before the Blessing; apparently it excited quite some controversy among the Protestants:

LOOK with favour, most Holy Trinity, on this our act of worship and service; and may this sacrifice set forth before thine eyes be acceptable to thy Divine Majesty, and avail for us and all for whom we have offered it; who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

What a nice prayer to use at the end of an Anglican Use Mass!

(As it is, I often use this as a private prayer at the end of the Masses I attend.)

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† The Scottish offertory prayer, based on King David's prayer at the people's giving gifts for the building of the Temple (I Chronicles xxix, 10b-12a,14b), deserves to be better known; it is certainly more splendid than that tired pair of anæmic berakhoth used in the Novus Ordo ("Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation..."):

BLESSED be thou, O Lord God, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all: both riches and honour come of thee, and of thine own do we give unto thee. Amen.

This prayer is intended to be recited when the host and mixed chalice are readied: the priest "shall then offer up, and place the bread and wine prepared for the Sacrament upon the Lord's Table" – custom was to hold the paten and chalice a little above the altar, and at the final phrase to lift them up a little, as a gesture of oblation.

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While writing of ideal liturgies, the Nonjurors' 1718 Communion Office included the following prayer at the end of the offertory directly before the Sursum corda, being abridged from St Basil's Liturgy; while too exotically oriental and too long to really fit in a Western rite, it is noteworthy for what it says about their understanding of what the priestly ministry is:

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast created us, and placed us in this ministry by the power of thy Holy Spirit; may it please thee, O Lord, as we are ministers of the New Testament, and dispensers of thy holy mysteries, to receive us who are approaching thy Holy Altar, according to the multitude of thy mercies, that we may be worthy to offer unto thee this reasonable and unbloody Sacrifice for our Sins and the Sins of the People. Receive it, O God, as a sweet smelling savour, and send down the grace of thy Holy Spirit upon us. And as thou didst accept this worship and service from thy Holy Apostles: so of thy goodness, O Lord, vouchsafe to receive these Offerings from the hands of us sinners, that being made worthy to minister at thy Holy Altar without blame, we may have the reward of good and faithful servants at that great and terrible day of account and just retribution; through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Could not this serve as a suitable prayer of preparation before Mass for a priest?

Which We Now Offer Unto Thee

The Nonjuror and Scottish Episcopalian liturgies of the eighteenth century, together with their daughter the U.S. Episcopalian, are noteworthy because, alone of all Protestant liturgies, they dared to use the words "we offer" in reference to the consecrated elements.

Amusingly enough, it was neither the Nonjurors (in their 1718 Communion Office, using the phraseology of the Apostolic Constitutions), nor the Scottish Episcopalians (first in their 1735 Communion Office using the key phrase "which we now offer unto thee"), but an eighteenth century Arian, William Whiston, who in his 1713 suggested liturgy first used the phrase "we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, these thy gifts".

All of these relied upon what, in their uncritical naivete, they accepted as the most primitive and ancient, and therefore the most reliable and uncorrupt liturgy - the Apostolic Constitutions, now considered pseudonymous and tainted by Arianism.

While the theory of those Enlightenment divines, based upon the phrase in St Basil's Liturgy, was that the proposited gifts (prokeimena dôra) were offered as antitypes of Christ's Body and Blood, having been initially made such by the rehearsal of the Lord's words, and subsequently confirmed as such "in power and effect", sans transsubstantiation (that Roman notion), by the ensuing epiclesis or invocation of the Holy Ghost, in practice this acceptance of the Eucharist as a sacrificial rite of oblation - going far beyond what Lutherans would accept or permit, be it noted - opened the way for more advanced and Catholic notions to take hold.

In the Byzantine Rite, at least in its Slavic version, at the words "Thine own of Thine own do we offer unto Thee", the deacon - not the priest - elevates the paten and chalice, crossing his hands while doing so.

Most suggestively, in manuscripts and old printed copies of the various Scottish Episcopalian editions of their liturgy can be seen marginal notes such as eleva (lift up), and one old custom of theirs, the reverse of the Eastern (and mediæval Western) was to set the paten on the right and the chalice on the left - thus it appears that they perhaps copied but simplified this liturgical elevation as a gesture of offering, though keeping it for the celebrant to perform.

(This did not parallel the Latin Rite elevation at the words of consecration, but rather the little elevation at the Per ipsum ending the Canon, a rite of oblation that continues, somewhat simplified, in the modern Roman Rite to-day).

The Nonjurors, and their friends north of the border, thought that by observing the Eastern sequence of institution narrative, oblation and invocation, they avoided the Roman doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass, since the elements were offered before they were 'completely' consecrated, whatever that means. Yet, by subjoining the Prayer for the Church as a series of intercessions made while the fully consecrated gifts lay upon the altar, especially as the prayer (until 1912) said explicitly "accept our... oblations [the Nonjurors even capitalizing Oblations], and [thereby?]... receive these our prayers", it appears very much as if sacrifice were being offered up for determinate ends, as a sacrifice not merely of worship and thanksgiving, but of expiation for all faults and impetration for all ends.

In this, they were in a sense paralleling the well-known Eastern words of the oblation, coming at the end of the anamnesis: "Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee, on account of (kata) all and for (dia) all".

Kucharek, in his commentary upon The Byzantine-Slav Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, notes that this extremely concise phrase may be said to mean God's holy gifts of Christ's Body and Blood are offered up "on account of all that Thou hast done for us and through all that Thou hast done for us", where the things done are the magnalia mirabilia Dei enumerated in the immediately preceding words of the liturgical memorial:

Remembering therefore this command of our Saviour and all that He had endured for us: the Cross, the Grave, the Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into heaven, the Session at the Right Hand of the Father, and the Second and glorious Coming again.

But this "for all" may also be taken as looking forward to the many petitions soon to be made while "Again we offer thee this reasonable worship for (hyper)...".

This is well phrased in a very similar way (though dating back to Cranmer, deriving from the Roman Canon's Unde et memores) in the Scottish recension of the Anglican Prayer of Oblation, including the crucial words:

Wherefore, O Lord, and heavenly Father, according to the institution of thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we thy humble servants do celebrate and make here before thy Divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy Son hath commanded us to make; having in remembrance his blessed passion, and precious death, his mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension; rendering unto thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same [, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory - added in 1912].

By offering the holy gifts set forth, they believed themselves fulfilling Christ's command to do this in His memory, as the memorial of His saving works - and they were scholars diligent enough to know that "do" in this phrase, as shown by its usage in the Septuagint Greek and the underlying Hebrew, can have a sacrificial, oblationary connotation. Thus they considered they rendered thanks to the Lord for the great works of His Christ and the benefits gained thereby.

Next, as in the Eastern rites they reverenced, they placed the Invocation or epiclesis, and directly afterward prayed:

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness, mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion.

This may very well be seen as foreshadowing the intercessions to come, praying that this sacrifice commemorative of Christ's precious death, will be not merely one of "praise and thanksgiving", but worthy to "obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of his passion" for "all thy whole Church".

In the explanatory Preface to their 1718 Communion Office the Nonjuror compilers wrote:

THE Eucharistick Sacrifice being the most efficacious Means for Pardon and Graces ought to be perform'd with proportionable Care and Solemnity.

…

The Prayer for the whole State of Christ’s Church is much the same with that in the First Reform’d English Liturgy. But the Order is changed, by putting it after the Prayer for Consecration : For when the Sacrifice, commemorative of that upon the Cross, is finish'd, and God the Father propitiated by this Memorial; 'tis then the most proper Time to declare the Ends of the Oblation, and recommend the Church tb the Divine Protection.

The Nonjuror Brett, in his 1718 A Collection of the Principal Liturgies... (page 270) wrote likewise:

The reason of the thing also pleads for the putting the prayer for all estates and conditions of men after the consecration; for as it is one general end of sacrifice, and of this eucharistical sacrifice in particular, to render our prayers more effectual, ...it is certainly most proper, that the sacrifice or oblation should be first offered, and that prayer should be made whilst it lies upon the altar, and is already dedicated to God. So that we have antiquity, universality, and consent, for praying for all estates and conditions of men whenever we offer the Christian sacrifice, which may satisfy us that such prayer is necessary at that time; and we have the more ancient and general practice of the Church, and the reason of the thing also, to satisfy us that it is most proper, at least, that this prayer should be made after the consecration, and not before it: which is sufficient to justify those, who having found it necessary to compile a new communion office for their own use, have judged it expedient so to place this prayer; though they would not have altered the old office merely for the sake of such a transposition.

Similarly, the eighteenth century Scottish Episcopalian Bishop, and learned liturgiologist, Rattray, who in 1744 made for his own use an elegant edition of the Liturgy of St James, wrote: "…Then the Priest maketh intercession in virtue of this sacrifice thus offered up in commemoration of, and union with, the one great personal Sacrifice of Christ, for the whole Catholick Church, and pleadeth the merits of this one Sacrifice in behalf of all estates and conditions of men in it, offering this memorial thereof not for the living only but for the dead also..." (quoted in Dowden & Wilson, The Scottish Communion Office, 1764... (1922), page 232).

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At this time, when according to all reports the Vatican is having compiled a new and improved version of the Anglican Use for those Anglicans desirous of entering into full communion with the Holy See, I believe it to be essential that, if any Anglican Canon or Eucharistic Prayer be edited and approved for use - as famously one was not in the Book of Divine Worship - then, unlike all but the old Scottish Episcopalian forms, it must include more than just a hint of intercession, attesting practically thereby - as do all the modern Roman Eucharistic Prayers - that the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered up for determinate ends.

Consider for instance even the maligned Eucharistic Prayer II, certainly the shortest and probably the least explicitly sacrificial of the modern Roman forms, which I will quote in its debased ICEL paraphase, soon at last to be improved upon: "In memory of his death and resurrection we offer you, Father, this life-giving bread, this saving cup" (which have previously been prayed for that "they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ... [who] said... this is my body... given up for you... this is the cup of my blood... shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven...").

The lifegiving Body and Blood of the Lord are solemnly offered to the Father; and here I note what one sometimes sees at Mass: many a priest of the less solemn kind will quite unconsciously point at the paten and chalice while saying "we offer... this... bread... this... cup". One imagines that over time the traditional gestures of making crosses - not of blessing, but of signification - over the consecrated elements will be restored, pointing to their oblation as the One Sacrifice made present.

Furthermore, even in E.P. II (the "quickie" Canon, even the "Lutheran" Canon, as some detractors call it!), intercessions are made for:

• the Church throughout the world;
• the Pope;
• the bishop;
• the clergy;
• by contrary custom, "for all your people" (as in the other longer E.P.'s);
• for the dead, to be brought into the light of God's presence;
• "for us all" to be shown mercy and to be made worthy of eternal life with the saints -

for of course the saints - "Mary the Virgin Mother of God, with the apostles and with all the saints" - are commemorated, as, be it noted, Roman decree requires any would-be Eucharistic Prayer must contain.

At a minimum, any forthcoming Anglican Canon must include these intercessions.

I note that the two variant forms of the Anglican liturgy modified and approved for Orthodox use have been thus supplemented, by inserting two paragraphs of the Roman Canon: the Memento etiam (for the dead) and the Nobis quoque (praying for "us sinners" to be granted part and parcel with a list of saints.

I would argue that, if this manner of supplementation be used, some phrase answering to the Roman Canon's In primis (praying for the Church, by name for the Pope and bishop, and for and all right-believers) would also need adding.

An Anglican Canon?

The current Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship includes all the major B.C.P. prayers for the Holy Communion, except the Prayer of Consecration and the Prayer of Oblation. With a second edition, suitably based on older B.C.P.'s and the English Missal, apparently in preparation at the Vatican, it is interesting to speculate on whether an Anglican Canon will be included, or whether, as in the B.D.W., only the Roman Canon (and the other three post-conciliar Eucharistic Prayers) will be included. I exclude discussion of the enormous number of modern Eucharistic Prayers throughout the Anglican Communion - their name is legion - since most of them are frankly too low in their doctrine, and hardly any have much intercession included. I have previously blogged on this, and have just left the following comments on Fr Hunwicke's blog:

...for any Anglican Canon to be inserted in the upcoming Roman Rite Anglican Use Missal (B.D.W. 2.0) - so far as I can see, the only way to do so would be to follow the Scottish 1764 Communion Office, and have the Prayer of Consecration immediately followed by the Prayer of Memorial and Oblation, with the Prayer for the Church tacked on at the end, rather than read at or before the Offertory. (Rome would also require, as it has for all new Eucharistic Prayers, that the Epiclesis be put back before the Consecration, as in other Anglican traditions than the Scottish and its daughter the American.) But would not having these three prayers in sequence make for a very long Canon?

...the Scottish rearrangement (which derives from the 1718 Nonjurors' liturgy) is... :

1. Prayer of Consecration;
2. Prayer of Memorial and Oblation;
3. Prayer for the Church.

By putting the Prayer for the Church last, and including the words "accept our Oblation", it makes it clear that the Eucharist is an impetratory sacrifice, not merely one of praise and thanksgiving: it is offered up for determinate ends.

As St Cyril of Jerusalem says,

"Then when the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless act of worship is complete, we beseech God, on the ground of that sacrifice of propitiation, for the common peace of the churches; for the stability of the world; for kings; for our soldiers and allies; for the sick and afflicted; in fact, we pray for all who need help, and for them we offer this sacrifice. Next, we remember those who have fallen asleep before us; first the Patriarchs, Apostles, Martyrs; that by their prayers and intercessions God may receive our supplication. After that we pray for the holy Fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep; and, in short, for all the departed, believing that it will be the greatest advantage for the souls of those for whom this supplication is offered when the holy and awful sacrifice is set before God. We offer up Christ, sacrificed for our sins, propitiating our compassionate God on their behalf, and on our own."

[Mystagogical Catecheses 5, 7-10]

The Prayer for the Church, in its more catholic recensions (1549, as returned to and reworked by the Nonjurors and the Scots, praying for the dead and fulsomely commemorating the Saints), fits this description admirably. As Bishop Thomas Brett (1667-1744) wrote:

"The Reason of the Thing also pleads for putting the Prayer for all estates and Conditions of Men after the Consecration, for as it is one general End of Sacrifice, and of this Eucharistick Sacrifice in particular, to render our Prayers more effectual...it is certainly most proper, that the Sacrifice or Oblation should first be offered, and that Prayer should be made whilst it lies upon the altar, and is already dedicated to God."

It will be observed that this order is in fact the common pattern of the post-Conciliar Roman Eucharistic Prayers:

• Proemium;
• Epiclesis;
• Consecration;
• Anamnesis/Memorial;
• Oblation;
• Prayer for Communicants;
• Intercesssion for the Living and the Dead with Commemoration of the Saints;
• Doxology.

Note that, in regard to the Epiclesis, Rome has been clear that in the Roman Rite, for the avoidance of all confusion, it must be placed before the Consecration, so 1549 must be followed, not the Nonjurors, the Scots and the Americans.

So much for what I've written already; here is an example of the text of such an "Anglican Canon" - this is from the Scottish B.C.P. of 1929, except for the restoration of the most express and orthodox 1764 Epiclesis, moved back to before the Consecration (where it was found until that year), and so to fit the sense, changing "For" back to "Who" and deleting "he", and the petition for the Queen and Government moved to after that for the Church and clergy, to avoid Erastianism (I have also restored the words "to accept our Oblations" from the 1764, and inserted the Pope to signify Catholic communion):

ALL glory and thanksgiving be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who, by his own oblation of himself once offered, made 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 memorial of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again.

And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father to hear us, and of thy almighty goodness vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, that they may become the body and blood of thy most dearly beloved Son.

Who in the 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.
Wherefore, O Lord, and heavenly Father, according to the institution of thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we thy humble servants do celebrate and make here before thy Divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy Son hath commanded us to make; having in remembrance his blessed passion, and precious death, his mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension; rendering unto thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.
And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness, mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion.
And here we humbly offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee, beseeching thee that all we who shall be partakers of this Holy Communion may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him.
And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice; yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.

Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church.

ALMIGHTY and Everliving God, who by thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make intercessions and to give thanks for all men: We humbly pray thee most mercifully to accept our Oblations, and to receive these our supplications 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 thy holy word, and live in unity and godly love.
Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, [and especially to thy servants N. our Pope and N. our Bishop,] that they may both by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and living word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments: and to all thy people give thy heavenly grace, and especially to this Congregation here present, that they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life.

We beseech thee also to save and defend all Kings, Princes, and Governors, and especially thy servant Elizabeth our Queen, and all who are put in authority under her, that we may be godly and quietly governed.
We most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all those who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity.
We commend to thy gracious keeping, O Lord, all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee to grant them everlasting light and peace.
And we yield unto thee most high praise and hearty thanks, for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all thy Saints, who have been the choice vessels of thy grace, and the lights of the world in their several generations: and chiefly in the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord and God, and in the Holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, beseeching thee to give us grace to follow the example of their stedfastness in thy faith, and obedience to thy holy commandments, that * at the day of the general resurrection, we, and all they who are of the mystical body of thy Son, may be set on his right hand, and hear his most joyful voice, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

[*Add ", strengthened by their fellowship, and aided by their prayers" - from the Scottish 1929 B.C.P., Prayers and Thanksgivings, Prayer 51.]

Does this appear a sufficiently orthodox Catholic Eucharistic Prayer, or not?

A Converted Prayer

The forerunner of Anglicanorum cœtibus, and its upcoming parallel document specifically for the T.A.C., was the Pastoral Provision of 1980. To obtain quick approval of some elements of Anglican liturgy for the incoming American groups back then, selections from the 1979 U.S. B.C.P. were hastily assembled, and somehow got past the elder Marini et al. Much has changed since then, and we may hope for something more like the English Missal, with the nice bits of the various older and more classical B.C.P.'s inserted therein, to be made available as the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite.

In the meanwhile, here is one of these converted (I was going to say rebaptized) prayers now declared a part of official Catholic worship by reason of its placement at the end of the Anglicna Use Burial Service, Rite I - it is an abbreviation of a prayer of about twice the length by Jeremy Taylor, seventeenth century Anglican Divine, in his Holy Dying - which I think expresses well the urgency of all moves toward full corporate unity:

O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us “in holiness and righteousness all our days” (St Luke i, 75); that, when we shall have served thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of the Catholic Church; in the confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favour with thee our God; and in perfect charity with the world. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Anglicanorum Cœtibus - II

I find the terribly uncharitable comments posted on the Rorate Cæli blogsite really quite scandalous - surely the mean and extreme remarks found there will frighten off many potential converts? - but I found the following comment, from one P.K.T.P., very interesting:

"...the TAC choirmaster here [where?] tells me that it was announced publicly today by the dean of his cathedral.

"The news is this: the apostolic constitution was not Rome's response to the TAC's petition of October, 2007; rather, it is a general response to all the requests of differing Anglican groups to reunite with the See of St. Peter. There will now be a SECOND document issued from the C.D.F., this one to address the situation of the TAC specifically. This is coming soon, very soon, well before Christmas.

"I have no idea what is in this new document to come, but we can have some fun speculating about it. I imagine that it will grant some general dispensations for TAC priests and it might make arrangements for ordinariates, especially for the less populous TAC national churches."

Recall that other sources indicate that the Vatican will also approve before Christmas a form of liturgy for the incoming Anglicans, upgraded from the present Anglican Use of the Roman Rite given in the Book of Divine Worship, and most probably drawing upon the English Missal (that is, the Roman Missal done over into Cranmerian prose, with the nice bits of the Book of Common Prayer interwoven).

It seems Father Christmas, otherwise known as Papa Benny, has been busy at work preparing gifts for good boys and girls... I wonder what else he has hidden under the camauro?

Joy or Suspicion?

Catholic reactions - and indeed Anglican reactions - to Pope Benedict's fostering of corporate reunion may be said to fall into two types: transports of joy or murmurings of suspicion.

On the Anglican side, amongst Anglo-Catholics, especially within the Traditional Anglican Communion (which has already broken with Canterbury, and has been edging toward Rome for years), there has been rejoicing at this unprecedented invitation - but also, even amongst such people, there have been expressions of confusion and alarm: will we have to give up all we hold dear? will we perforce be driven from our churches and vicarages? will we really be welcome, or regarded with suspicion by Catholic liberals of the sort that still dominate in many if not most places? will our clergy be vetted and purged in an unfriendly way, and only maybe eventually will some be re-ordained? will these proposed Ordinariates be real dioceses, or just some sort of sop to placate those otherwise to be under firm control of some Latin rite bishop?

And amongst Catholics, while many are glad to hear of this call to unity, both Traditionalists and liberals are not entirely happy. Liberals, of course, are horrified at the idea of letting into their Church such out-and-out right-wing extremists, and are furious at the Pope (whom they loathe) upsetting their ongoing plans for taking over and dominating diocese by diocese, parish by parish. Of course, they, especially those amongst them who are bishops and priests, are precisely the reason Benedict has sought to provide a special, protected place for incoming Anglicans - because every man knows how the liberal English Roman Catholic establishment so shabbily treated many converts and would-be converts, especially Anglican clergymen, back in 1992 when the C. of E. permitted so-called women priests.

But Traditionalists - and I speak as one myself, albeit not of the wild-eyed Jansenist conspiracy theorist sort - have their own fears and suspicions. Will these Anglicans really convert? Will they embrace all Roman doctrine, or maintain black Protestant hearts? Will their Anglican-style doctrinal fuzziness end up subserving the liberal cause of watering down doctrine? Will their liturgies, too-hastily permitted to be maintained by an oversympathetic Vatican, prove to be a horde of unwelcome half-brothers and half-sisters to the dreadful Novus Ordo, full of ambiguity and even Protestant heresy? Will their married priests by their very presence be a standing insult to our celibate clergy - as Cardinal Humbert once said to the Greeks, will they run hot from bed to altar? Will these Anglican Ordinariates provide a congenial oasis for both converts and likeminded traditionalist Catholics, or will they prove a beguiling mirage, as barren and wasted as Novus Ordo Land?

Over at Sub Tuum, the Br Stephen (now a Cistercian, once an Anglican) offers sage and sane advice about these and many related issues.

He speaks of how the Anglicans are in the position of the Israelites, who, having groaned under Pharoah's bitter yoke, now rather unexpectedly have Moses tell them they can depart Egypt for some mysterious Promised Land, about which they know little. But as the Israelites long ago complained, Egypt wasn't that bad a place to live - what of its fleshpots, its garlic, onion and leeks? Traipsing forever through the desert sounds pretty dreary...

Br Stephen notes that, despite the fabulous Cecil B. de Mille moment of God's irruption into human events, the parting of the Red Sea and all that, most of the journey of the people called and chosen was marked by grumbling and nostalgia for Egypt - and, of the 600,000 on foot, only two, Joshua and Caleb, reached the Promised Land. What a glum parallel! - but to save even two souls alive is very great. While of course one wishes these new Ordinariates-to-be swell to bursting with incomers, they may not have many members.

Anglicans must needs seriously ask themselves, are they acting as the Rich Young Man, who heard the Call of Christ, Who looked at him and loved him, but instead refused and went away sad, "for he had great possessions" that he was unwilling to sacrifice even for the chance to come nigh unto the Lord as His disciple. Rather than suffer so tragic a fate, they ought, as Blind Bartimaeus, rejoice, and run after the Lord in the person of His Vicar: If to-day ye hear His Voice, harden not your hearts.

This wise monk also speaks of how staunch Catholics and converts (himself included) can have sour grapes about to-day's heretics and schismatics being given a Get-out-of-jail-free card, and access to the platinum club for superior persons, with privileges not accorded poor dumb ordinary Catholics. Some of us would far prefer to see such fastidious types, who've been hanging around the Church doors since Newman's day, forced to lick the dust and do cruel penance for their obstinacy, made to weep bitter tears and plead for mercy...

But of course this is a most repellent and unchristian revenge fantasy. Just because Anglicans historically have persecuted Catholics, and still can condescend to them, doesn't mean we should not welcome those persuaded of Anglican falsity and the fulness of Catholic truth with open arms.

Again, I was moved by what this monastic blogger wrote: we must not be as the elder brother of the Prodigal Son, affronted and miserably uncharitable, out of pure jealousy at the slaying of the fatted calf: for, after all, his wayward sibling had returned to life from the dead. Nor should we snipe like the labourers in the vineyard, angered that the johnny-come-lately's get the same coin for which we've toiled. Rather, we should remember the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep - and, I would add, recall that the angels in heaven rejoice at the conversion of anyone.

The Grace

Since the 1980 Pastoral Provision, and the subsequent drawing-up of the Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship (published only in 2003), various Anglican prayers have been admitted, along with their pray-ers, into full communion with the Catholic Church. Especially considering the impending Apostolic Constitution on corporate reunion, it is good to consider some classic Anglican Use formulæ, and by them (or by any right and proper address) to pray God for His blessing on this great, fraught undertaking.

I think first of what is usually last - "the Grace" as Anglicans call it: that adaptation of St Paul's concluding benediction in II Corinthians xiii, 14 which, first introduced (try not to grimace) to end the Anglican Litany as read in Bad Queen Bess's chapel royal in 1559, found its way into the Elizabethan Prayer Book, was always used as the last prayer of Mattins, Litany and Evensong, and even to-day is widely used amongst all Anglicans, even those far from being High Church or liturgically-minded. In a way, it plays the part the Sign of the Cross can among Catholics.

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost*, be with us all evermore. Amen.

[* "Spirit" in modern-language versions]

The only notable changes from the words of Scripture are the alteration from second person to first person plural ("you" to "us"), and the addition of "evermore". The Douay instead renders "charity" instead of "love", and "communication" instead of "fellowship", but such are verbal equivalents.

I believe that among the High it is customary to cross oneself at these words of the Grace, which so Apostolically beg the blessing of the Trinity.

Originally, it was said by the minister, all replying Amen, but it has become the practice for all to say it together.

This short prayer strikes me as excellent, and much to be commended to all.

A Pertinent Prayer

To-day is the feast of the Holy Apostles Simon and Jude; the Anglicans have a most pertinent prayer for this day (based on Eph. ii, 20-21 & iv, 3; I Pet. ii, 5 & iii, 8), which I suggest should be prayed for the coming reception of their faithful remnant into communion with the Apostolic See:

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone ; Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(This is the official Collect of the Prayer Book Society.)

In the Catholic Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship, this Collect is appointed for use on the Sunday closest to the 29th of June - for obvious reasons...

Book of Divine Worship, Rite One

As all men know, there now exists an Anglican Use of the Roman Rite, whose liturgical texts are collected in The Book of Divine Worship (Newman House Press, 2003). This volume contains the Holy Eucharist, Rites One and Two, the second being a modern-English version and the first being in Cramnerian English, more or less. Rite One is noteworthy for having the Roman Canon in what is called an "Old English Translation" (sometimes attributed to Coverdale, but apparently not actually by him).

What is more noteworthy is that it contains several very obvious omissions: it leaves out entirely the "Through the same Christ our Lord" at the end of the Communicantes (while still including this phrase after the Hanc igitur, the Supplices te and the Memento etiam, and the Nobis quoque, where it adds "Jesus"). More annoyingly and most inconsistently, it omits the Amen after each - except after the Supplices te! - but these were only included in the Missal in 1475 anyway.

It also omits any translation of the two opening words Te igitur (Thee, therefore) of the Roman Canon; and renders et beati Joseph ejusdem Virginis sponsi (inserted by Bl John XXIII) as "of Joseph her spouse" (following the old ICEL paraphrase); similarly, it omits tuorum (thy) in relation to the Apostles and Martyrs (although "the" is possibly a misprint for "thy" here); and curiously, perhaps for better effect, slightly reorders the great concluding doxology Per ipsum, putting "in the unity of the Holy Ghost" and "all hono[u]r and glory be unto thee" before "O Father Almighty" - and rendering est as "be" (subjunctive), not the indicative "is".

Because of the more tyrranical hold of the Novus Ordo mindset in the eighties and nineties, when the B.D.W. was prepared, the words of consecration are those of the modern Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, rather than a direct translation from the traditional Canon:

Take this, all of you and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you.

(In the Traditional Rite, I mean, the Extraordinary Form, the words before the colon are not part of the formula, and the words after "body" are not present, being inserted - arguably to emphasise the sacrifice of the Mass! - in 1969; similarly, the particle enim ought really be translated "for" and inserted before "this".)

Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of men.

(Here we have the notorious "for all", which makes Traddies have a fit of scruples and doubts - famously, the Vatican has now decreed, some years ago already, that this must be changed to "for many" in all translations, in continuity with all tradtion. Similarly, enim is omitted, mysterium fidei is moved to later, "Take this... drink from it" is included as part of the consecratory words, and the original Hæc quotiescumque feceritis in mei memoria facietis is replaced by the Novus Ordo Hoc facite in meam commemorationem. - a change that was allegedly made, leaving aside conspiracy theories, in order to give a more literal quotation from Scripture, though research has shewn that the older and more venerable a text, the less likely, perversely enough, it is to be literal in quoting Holy Writ.)

"Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith" (at least adjusting the weak "Let us" of old ICEL) and those annoying Memorial acclamations are next inserted, again because the B.D.W. was put together in times less enlightened than the pontificate of Benedict XVI! Of course, mysterium fidei was moved here, and some made-up responses inserted, by some liturgical do-gooder in the course of the liturgical reform. I can't wait to see it all dumped; and as liturgists have said, these acclamations would - if kept - fit far better after the anamnesis anyway...

I understand that were this Book compiled now, it wouldn't have thus bowed to the Novus Ordo; perhaps we can expect a second revised edition sometime?

Overall, though, it is a good translation, and may be interestingly compared with the new ICEL version of the Roman Canon (and indeed of the whole Mass) soon to be put into place throughout the Anglosphere. For a start, here are the new ICEL words of consecration:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

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.

Note the use of "for" to express enim, and of "many" to translate multis (you wouldn't think it would take forty years to get these two right, would you?).

Quinquagesima Eve

Don't forget the beautiful Anglican Use prayer for Quinquagesima...

Is the Interim Rite Recoverable?

I earlier blogged on the so-called "Interim Rite" - the Anglo-Catholic use of the B.C.P. Prayers of Consecration and Oblation (including the 1549 anamnesis) back-to-back to create an "Anglican Canon" of the Mass.  Now, with the T.A.C. in negotiations about corporate reunion with the Holy See, and with the already-existing Anglican Use parishes in the U.S. using The Book of Divine Worship, containing many Anglican prayers but no such Anglican Canon, only the Roman Canon (and its Novus Ordo brothers), is there any possible adaptation of this quaint prayer, dear to those coming from an Anglican background, so that it would pass muster at Rome in the hallowed halls of the C.D.F. and C.D.W.?

The main concerns centre on the epiclesis and anamnesis.  However, various derivative B.C.P.'s have made sundry improvements to the exordium of the Prayer of Consecration, by adding various versions of the Eucharistic phrase "All blessing and glory and thanksgiving be to thee" before its opening address to God, both linking the Prayer to the preceding Sanctus and Benedictus, and defining the Prayer as above all worship and thankgiving of our God.  Similarly, the phrase "for that thou" replaces the relative pronoun "who", emphasising that our thanks are given because of Christ (becoming incarnate and) dying to save us - the Canadian B.C.P. of 1962 (just about the last in traditional language) added the phrase "to take our nature upon him and" precisely to emphasise Our Lord's salvific Incarnation as necessary foundation of His Sacrifice.  The Scottish Episcopalian forms of the Communion Office further highlighted the objective nature of the Eucharist by changing the subjective expression "memory of that his precious death" to "memorial of his that his precious death and sacrifice".

The epiclesis of the second B.C.P. of 1552, maintained in the 1662 is frankly not Catholic; that of 1549 would be better, but still better is the later Scottish Episcopalian formula based on the latter, which expressly prays that the elements "become" Christ's Body and Blood.  This is a change that must be made for such a prayer to be acceptable as Catholic.  (The Scots, by the way, in their eighteenth century Communion Offices, the "wee bookies" that eventually grew into the Scottish B.C.P., had moved the epiclesis until after the words of institution, because of their attention to following the Eastern liturgies, especially that which dazzled them and the Nonjurors, the Clementine Liturgy - now known as an archaizing semi-Arian forgery probably not actually used at any altar.  Rome will not accept a Western rite using a post-consecratory epiclesis, lest it cause doctrinal confusion among the faithful, while of course honouring the Eastern rites which have such epicleses since time immemorial.)

The Scots likewise substantially improved the 1549 anamnesis by inserting the phrase - which they even had printed in small capitals - "which we now offer unto thee" after mention of the "holy gifts" with which "the memorial" that the Lord "willed us to make" is made.  I would suggest, to make it utterly explicit (following Eucharistic Prayer IV), that the oblation being offered is not mere bread and wine or verbal praise and thanksgiving, but the Lord's very Flesh, that the Cranmerian phrase "his most blessed Body and Blood" from the 1552 and later B.C.P.'s should be inserted into the anamnesis after "holy gifts" and before "which we now offer", always remembering, as Jungmann (or was it Parsch?) noted, that the oblation is the principal clause to which the remembrance of what Christ hath wrought to save us is the subordinate clause: remembering, we offer.  The Scottish B.C.P. also introduced to wrap up the anamnesis an eschatological clause like unto those later included in the new Roman Eucharistic Prayers: "and looking for his coming again with power and great glory".

The portion of the Prayer of Oblation asking for the fruits of Holy Communion is best rendered in its fuller 1549 form, again as the Scottish - and its daughter the American Episcopalian - liturgy included in return to its font.  But what of the phrases in the portion of that Prayer that seem to beseech "all... benefits of his passion" "by the merits and death of... Jesus", made present in our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, being therefore the one all-availing sacrifice acceptable to God?  How to ensure that this not be interpreted in entirely subjective terms, as a mere memory of Calvary?  Yet of course the Mass and its sacrifice is precisely no other propitiation than that of the Cross made present in all its effulgent power: I remain unsure as to how to make this more explicit.  At least to insert after "thy whole Church" the words "living and dead" does make it evident that the whole Church, on earth, in purgatory and in heaven, the faithful, the faithful departed and the very saints are all sanctified, purified, honoured and glorified by this mighty offering.

There is a further consideration: the Scottish orders of service for the Holy Communion next inserted the Prayer for the Church, that is, the great intercession (which in the parent 1549 B.C.P. had been directly before the Prayer of Consecration, but in the 1552 and all subsequent B.C.P.'s had been transferred to the end of the offertory, divorcing it and its intercessions from the Eucharistic prayer), which further came to include explicit petitions for the bishop by name (expressing communion with him), for the dead, and a commemoration by name of the Blessed Virgin and saints.  By calling upon God to "accept our... oblations" this intercession can be considered as making explicit the earlier general petition, in the Prayer of Oblation, to accept the sacrifice offered up for the benefit of all.  

In the period immediately after the reform of the Roman liturgy, not just the four standard Eucharistic Prayers but also others were approved for use, and various national episcopal conferences proposed further ones - Rome in the end approved some (most notably, the Swiss prayer, albeit reedited to make it more orthodox, and christened "for various needs and occasions"), but made it a general requirement that all such prayers have amongst other things an explicit epiclesis, an anamnesis with oblation, naming of the supreme Pontiff, and commemoration of the saints - which elements are present if the Prayer for the Church is conceived of and used in the Scottish Episcopalian manner given above; or again, as in the Mozarabic Rite, it may be considered sufficient to use that prayer in close proximity to the Canon, but before it, since of course the whole Eucharistic rite forms one complex unity.

I must admit that, given the way that various phrases in these prayers are almost fatally ambiguous as to their interpretation, and how moreover these prayers need all manner of additions, omissions and alterations from the various versions of the B.C.P. used here and there in the Anglican Communion, above all from Scotland, whose special usages were unique to that country, it seems all too likely that, rather than embark upon any cutting-and-pasting to create quite literally a "dream Canon", Rome will simply prescribe the Roman Canon (either alone or in conjunction with its Novus Ordo brothers), as was done in The Book of Divine Worship. 

That said, herewith I present this dream, a Catholicized "Anglican Canon" (omitting for the moment any appending of the Prayer for the Church), with parts from 1549 highlighted, and later (mainly Scottish) or otherwise desirable additions or changes in italics:

All blessing and glory and thanksgiving be to thee, Almighty  God, our heavenly Father, for that thou of thy tender mercy didst give thine 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 memorial of that his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again; Hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee; and with thy Holy Spirit and word, vouchsafe to bl+ess and sanc+tify these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, that they may become the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ: who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took Bread; and, when he had blessed and 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. Amen. 

Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the institution of thy dearly beloved Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, we thy humble servants do celebrate, and make here before thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, his most blessed Body and Blood, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial which thy Son hath willed us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion, mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension, rendering unto thee most hearty thanks, for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same, entirely desiring thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church, living and dead, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee, that whosoever shall be partakers of this holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ: and be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly benediction and made one body with thy Son Jesu Christ, that he may dwell in them and they in him. And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.

The English Missal

Readers will have noticed that, like Toad of Toad Hall, I have passing enthusiasms for particular interests.  At present, I'm revisiting what over the years I've learnt about Anglicanism and its liturgical heritage, for various reasons, such as making contact with the Traditional Anglican Communion in the hopes of their coming into communion with Rome.

While putting the finishing touches to my previous posting, I found this site giving the Ordinary of the extremely High, or rather Ritualist Anglo-Catholic, English Missal (thoughtfully paired with the Roman Mass).  A quick survey of its contents shews that it is nearly all taken from the Roman Missal, with various tidbits from the Book of Common Prayer included as "options" only!  

For example, after the prayers at the foot of the altar, if the celebrant wishes he can read the prefatory Our Father and Collect for Purity (the collect Deus cui omne cor patet), which are in fact survivals from the Sarum Rite.  Likewise, the English Missal gives the Collect, Epistle and Gospel from the B.C.P. for all occasions when such are supplied therein, and provides any variation from these in an appendix (from what I've noted, the readings are either the same as the Roman or vary slightly, perhaps being assigned to a different Sunday, and if so generally stem from the Sarum Rite with some exceptions; and ditto for the Collects, though especially those for feast days were new compositions).  

Rather clumsily, the Anglican Prayer for the Church Militant, together with the Invitation, General Confession, Absolution and Comfortable Words, was inserted between the Orate fratres and the Secret (since in the B.C.P. these parts come directly before the Preface, though liturgically speaking, as they resemble mediæval vernacular prayers after the sermon at Mass, they would fit better before rather than after the offertory rites).  

The most important option in the English Missal is that one may use either Frere's Interim Rite (noting that, as per the B.C.P, the Prayer of Humble Access is inserted before the Prayers of Consecration and Oblation, and after the Sanctus and Benedictus), or the Roman Canon!  After communion is adminstered - in both kinds - the Anglican prayer of thanksgiving after communion may be read, either in addition to or in the stead of the (Roman) Postcommunion Collect; and either the Roman form of the blessing (Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus) or the Anglican ("The peace of God...") may be used - amusingly, the Novus Ordo now includes the latter formula as one of the optional solemn blessings at the end of Mass in Latin and English.

Parts of the service of Holy Communion in the B.C.P. are not included in the English Missal, at least in its Ordinary as given online.  No provision is made for reciting the Ten Commandments (with responses) after the Our Father and Collect for Purity at the start of the service, as this was considered by Anglo-Catholics a very shoddy Proddy idea best neglected (not so much because they neglected the Commandments, one trusts, as because it seemed very dark, puritan and ominous an opening to the liturgy), and likewise the Collect for the Queen - always to be used first, before the Collect of the day, even on Good Friday or Easter Sunday! - was left out (presumably relegated to the Votive Orations) as being a bit much even for devoted monarchists.  Similarly, the Exhortations to be read at the Holy Communion, being long and very largely omitted by just about all Anglicans for centuries now, have no provision made for their use.  The sentences of Scripture to be used at the Offertory, being more or less all about giving money for the collection, have also been retired as rather grasping and uncouth.  Finally, the words of administration of the elements hae been given only in their Roman form, as the Anglican, a combination of 1549 and 1552, were overlong.

What of all these Anglican inserts are acceptable as Catholic prayers, that is, for use at a Catholic Mass?  I have on my lap as I type my copy of The Book of Divine Worship, which is the liturgical book approved for use in Anglican Use parishes in the United States.  Its form of Mass is basically the Novus Ordo supplemented with elements from the U.S. 1979 B.C.P (and it must be noted that this stems from a combination of the English and the Scottish B.C.P.'s of the late eighteenth century, the latter having a rather higher and more catholic form of Eucharistic rite), which being granted it does shew what of the above would be usable to a first approximation if, and only if, the "Interim Rite with English Missal additions" as used locally by the T.A.C. might continue if they do come into corporate union with Rome.

• The Collect for Purity (in its American version, having one word different - "are" not "be");
  
• Many of the Collects are retained in the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite, but these are from the 1979 U.S. B.C.P., which redistributed them among the Sundays and feasts of the year, so a case by case examination would be needed to see which were used when - and likewise, the U.S. B.C.P. tradition had over time varied and changed elements of the wording of the collects, or had introduced new ones;
  
• The Book of Divine Worship states that the Anglican Use is to use the Novus Ordo lectionary - but, seeing that the Holy Father has since freed up access to the Traditional Latin Mass with its own lectionary, and as the English Missal is basically the Traditional Latin Mass in English, perhaps the use of the older Traditional lectionary would be conceded (but as to what to do about the vestiges of the Sarum order of readings, or about those lessons specific to the Anglican tradition, who knows?);
  
• The Prayer for the Church (again, in its American recension shewing more than verbal differences to the English one - with the Pope and local Bishop to be included by name, as a sign of Catholic unity, and with phrasing indicating prayer for the dead, commemoration of the Blessed Virgin and saints, and the petition for governments and rulers moved after the petition for the clergy, to cut down on Erastianism);
  
• The Invitation, that is, the admonition to kneel down and repent of sin (with verbal differences "who" instead of "that", "devoutly" instead of "meekly", and omitting "upon your knees" as tautologous, and "and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort" as perhaps implying that all who kneel to confess will receive, or that it might confuse the penitential rite following with sacramental absolution);
  
• The General Confession, analogous to the Confiteor;
  
• The Absolution (reading "those who" for "them that", and "on" for "upon" - and, notably, following the Novus Ordo by changing all mentions of "you" or "your" to "us" and "our", again to avoid giving the appearance that this prayer for forgiveness is a formula of sacramental absolution);
  
• The Comfortable Words (being quotations of St Matthew xi, 28, St John iii, 16, I Timothy i, 15 and I John ii, 1-2, in slightly modernized language, and significantly adding to the last passage "and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world", implying the universal efficacy of the oblation of Christ);
  
• The Prayer of Humble Access (omitting, as was done according to the U.S. B.C.P., the phrase "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and", which had since the beginning been questioned as seeming to imply the Blood more efficacious than the Body!);
  
• The Prayer of Thanksgiving, or fixed prayer after Communion (omitting for stylistic reasons only "vouchsafe to" and "which is", but also reading "in these holy mysteries" - the 1549 version - not "who have duly received these holy mysteries", which might possibly bear some savour of receptionism or somesuch, and omitting "by the merits of the most precious death and passion of thy dear Son", which again could carry the impression that sharing in the company of the saints as members of the Mystical Body is strengthened not by Communion but by the Cross alone: but I think that it's most probable these phrases were omitted from The Book of Divine Worship because U.S. Anglicans, I mean Episcopalians, had already omitted them as making the prayer overwordy);
  
• The Peace (which is the Anglican form of blessing, now even included in the Novus Ordo as noted above).

(The Book of Divine Worship even includes for optional use a version of the Ten Commandments, and of the Exhortation.)

What one does not find in the Anglican Use is the Anglican Canon of the Interim Rite: only the Roman Canon is provided (and, in "Rite Two", the contemporary language version, the other modern Eucharistic Prayers).  It seems that Rome judged Frere's effort wanting.