Heaven & Earth in Little Space: the Re-enchantment of Liturgy – Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet

Heaven & Earth in Little Space: the Re-enchantment of Liturgy – Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet

In his newly published book, the Rt Rev’d Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, asks whether the declining appeal of religious worship is connected with the simplification of liturgical practice in recent decades. Has a well-meant policy of making worship more accessible resulted in a loss of the sense of mystery - and has this accelerated the decline?

To answer this question, Andrew Burnham surveys five centuries of change in the Anglican church, as well as the wider Catholic and Orthodox traditions. He suggests what renewal of the liturgy for today’s church might look like and how re-enchantment would work in practice.

It is published by Canterbury Press with a Foreword by Fr Aidan Nichols OP and an introduction by Fr Jonathan Baker SSC, Principal of Pusey House, Oxford and also a member of the Council of Forward in Faith. Full details of how to order it, and how to take advantage of a generous discount on the recommended price, can be found here.

(Otherwise, to order at the full price of £16.99, Tel: 01603 612914, Fax: 01603 624483, Post: Norwich Books and Music, St Mary’s Works, St Mary’s Plain, Norwich NR3 3BH (please make cheques payable to
Norwich Books and Music), Email: orders@norwichbooksandmusic.co.uk
Web: www.canterburypress.co.uk. UK orders: Please add £2.50 for orders under £25 or £3.50 for orders under £75 to cover p&p. For details of overseas carriage, please contact our Norwich office or email admin@norwichbooksandmusic.co.uk.)

The Feast of the Annunciation

The Angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O most Holy Mother of God,

that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Preparation Prayer for Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK

Preparation Prayer for Pope Benedict’s September 2010 visit to the UK

God of truth and love,
your Son, Jesus Christ, stands as the light
to all who seek you with a sincere heart.
As we strive with your grace
to be faithful in word and deed,
may we reflect the kindly light of Christ
and offer a witness of hope and peace to all.
We pray for Pope Benedict
and look forward with joy
to his forthcoming visit to our countries.
May he be a witness to the unity and hope
which is your will for all people.
We make our prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

ACA enters Ordinariate

The Anglican Church in America (ACA) will now enter the Catholic Church as a block, bringing in thousands of converts

They have voted to take up the offer made by Pope Benedict XVI in November that permits vicars and their entire congregations to defect to Rome while keeping many of their Anglican traditions, including married priests.

By issuing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus (on groups of Anglicans) the Pope was accused of attempting to poach Anglicans unhappy about decisions taken in their Church to ordain women and sexually-active homosexuals as priests and bishops.

But the Vatican insisted that the move to create self-governing "personal ordinariates", which resemble dioceses in structure, came as a result of requests from at least 30 disaffected Anglican bishops around the world for "corporate reunion" with the Catholic Church...

TAC and the Ordinariate - things moving!!

The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America, the American Province of the Traditional Anglican Communion, have issued the following press release.
Released by the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America, Traditional Anglican Communion 3 March 2010

We, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion have met in Orlando, Florida, together with our Primate and the Reverend Christopher Phillips of the “Anglican Use” Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) and others.

At this meeting, the decision was made formally to request the implementation of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum cœtibus in the United States of America by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.