Two Poems

As we approach Lent, two of my old poems in very different styles have come to mind this week, and I would like to share them with you, dear Reader. May God bless your reading of them.

Ash Wednesday

Harsh is the judgement I deserve
But I for mercy plead.
(No merit, grace do I preserve
Should I deny my need.)

I need thee Jesus as my breath,
My water, and my food.
I need thee, Lord. Save me from death
From bitter solitude.

My sins like mountains bury me.
My cowardice is real.
I cast off help you mean for me
And other’s joy I steal.

Forgive me, Lord, sweet Jesus King.
Your subject I would be.
Behold my tears, my cries and grief,
My broken agony.

What can I give but pain and sin,
My empty heart and hand?
With these I give thee all within
Though none may understand.

To ashes let my sins fall now –
Thrust them in deepest seas.
Brand me with thee upon my brow
While I fall on my knees.

Copyright © 2000 by Vincent Wm Uher III

Looming


sins and virtues
weave
but not together

one sculpts tatting
for a wedding dress

one braids
a hangman’s noose

you decide
which is which

which is yours

Copyright © 2000 by Vincent Wm Uher III

+Laus Deo.

Lenten Prayers

I have deferred repentance,
and Thou hast prolonged patience,
O Thou that art mercy,
Thou that art a fountain inexhaustible.

Lancelot Andrewes

Lord, who hast died for us, beside whose awful mercy we confess that he who is not burned with love needeth to be purged with tears: Grant us such penitence as may be no reproach to us before Thine angels, and such love as shall carry us into their choirs; which praise Thee with the Father and the Holy Ghost, God most glorious, for ever.

Eric Milner-White
A Cambridge Bede Book

A Recent Anglican Prayer of Confession in Simple Language

Merciful God,
we have sinned
in what we have thought and said,
in the wrong we have done
and in the good we have not done.
We have sinned in ignorance:
we have sinned in weakness:
we have sinned through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry.
We repent and turn to you.
Forgive us, for our Saviour Christ's sake,
and renew our lives to the glory of your name.

A New Zealand Prayer Book

O Holy Jesus Christ,
grant us so to perfect our repentance
that our sins may be buried in Thy Grave;
and our hearts be prepared to greet Thee
with loving joy on the morning of Thy resurrection,
Who didst die and wast buried
and didst rise again for us,
our only Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Author unknown

A Prayer of Humiliation

For the Church or Nation

Dan. ix.

O LORD, the great and dreadful GOD,
which keepest covenant and mercy
with them that love Thee
and keep Thy commandments :
We have sinned and have dealt perversely,
and have done wickedly and have rebelled,
even turning aside from Thy precepts
and from Thy judgements.
O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto Thee,
but unto us confusion of face as at this day,
because we have sinned against Thee.

To the LORD our GOD
belong mercies and forgivenesses,
but we have rebelled against Him :
neither have we obeyed
the voice of the LORD our GOD,
to walk in His laws which He set before us.
O LORD, according to all Thy righteousness,
let Thine anger and Thy fury, I pray Thee,
be turned away ;
because for our sins
and for the iniquities of our fathers
Thy people are become a reproach
to all that are round about us.

Now therefore, O our GOD,
hearken unto the prayer
of Thy servant, and to his supplications,
and cause Thy face to shine
upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate.
O my GOD, incline Thine ear and hear :
open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations,
and the city, which is called by Thy name.
For we do not present our supplications
before Thee for our righteousnesses,
but for Thy great mercies.

O LORD, hear : O LORD, forgive :
O LORD, hearken and do : defer not :
For Thine own sake, O my GOD ;
Because Thy city and Thy people are called
by Thy name.

from Sursum Corda
A Handbook of Intercession and Thanksgiving
W.H. Frere & A. A. Illingworth
October 1898

Hymn for Lent 2: O Christ the King

O Christ the King, the royal banners rise.
Thy Cross, thy standard we raise to the skies,
And hail thee, “Lord!” and bow before thine eyes.
Praise_ to Jesus! All praise and glory!

Transfigured thou upon the mountain’s height
Revealed the glory of the Bridegroom’s face
And showed to them thy purpose and thy Light.
Praise_ to Jesus! All praise and glory!

The Cross, thy throne where thou wast lifted high
Embracing all the broken world’s dark heart
Till blood and water gushed when pierced was thine.
Praise_ to Jesus! All praise and glory!

Death could not hold thee, nor a tomb contain,
O Love and Life, who now from heav’n dost reign,
The King of kings, the Lord who healeth pain.
Praise_ to Jesus! All praise and glory!

____________________________
Copyright © 2006 by Vincent Uher,
Lenten version Copyright © 2007 by Vincent Uher
This text is sung to the tune Sine Nomine

St. Leo the Great, pray for us.

From the Office of Readings, Second Sunday in Lent, Pope St. Leo the Great on the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ:

The Lord reveals his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind, but he makes it shine with such splendour that his face becomes like the sun in glory, and his garments as white as snow.

The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.

With no less forethought he was also providing a firm foundation for the hope of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. the members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head.

The Lord had himself spoken of this when he foretold the splendour of his coming: Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Saint Paul the apostle bore witness to this same truth when he said: I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not to be compared to the future glory that is to be revealed in us. In another place he says: You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

This marvel of the transfiguration contains another lesson for the apostles, to strengthen them and lead them into the fullness of knowledge. Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, appeared with the Lord in conversation with him. This was in order to fulfil exactly, through the presence of these five men, the text which says: Before two or three witnesses every word is ratified. What word could be more firmly established, more securely based, than the word which is proclaimed by the trumpets of both old and new testaments, sounding in harmony, and by the utterances of ancient prophecy and the teaching of the Gospel, in full agreement with each other?

The writings of the two testaments support each other. The radiance of the transfiguration reveals clearly and unmistakably the one who had been promised by signs foretelling him under the veils of mystery. As Saint John says: The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of the prophecy through his presence, and makes obedience to the commandments possible through grace.

In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No one should be ashamed of the cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed.
No one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice; no one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in him and in our love for him, we win the victory that he has won, we receive what he has promised.

When it comes to obeying the commandments or enduring adversity, the words uttered by the Father should always echo in our ears: This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.

Mille grazie a Papa Z.
for reminding me of how glorious
the Latin of Pope St. Leo the Great is!

Behold our Lord transfigured

A beautiful post and original hymn by the beloved pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church (Anglican Use) in San Antonio, Texas, Fr. Christopher G. Phillips:

On a mountaintop in Lent

Click on the link above and treat yourself to something wonderful for the week of the Second Sunday in Lent!

Traditional Anglican Collects for the Second Sunday in Lent

ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


This Collect is to be read every day in Lent after the Collect appointed for the Day.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer
1662

Lamenting our sins, Acknowledging our brokenness

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made,
and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins,
and acknowledging our brokenness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Alternative Collect for Ash Wednesday
Anglican Church of Australia

Richard Rolle of Hampole, d. 1349

Lord Jesus, when I think of Thee,
And look upon Thy cross aright,
Thy body stained with blood I see,
Lord, pierce my heart with that sad sight!

Jesus, true love I owe to Thee
Who on the cross didst show, that tide,
The crown of thorns, the sharp nails three,
The cruel spear that pierced Thy side.

Jesus, love made Thy tears to fall,
'Twas love that made Thy blood to flow,
For love wast scourged and smitten all,
For love Thy life Thou didst forego.

Mary, I pray, as thou art free,
A part of this thy grief I'll bear,
That I may sorrow here with thee,
And bliss with thee here after share!

Cross and Crown: The Patience of the Cross

HOLY FATHER, who hast shewn us that the brave bearing of the Cross is the earnest of wearing thy Crown : Help us by thy grace to bear patiently our pains and disappointments, as thy beloved Son bore his ; and to offer them as a faithful and pure gift to our crucified Lord ; who now reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, GOD, for ever and ever.

E. Milner-White
A Procession of Passion Prayers

Catholic Collects from the Anglican Heritage: Lent I

God who, by this yearly fast of Lent, dost purify thy Church ; grant unto thy family, that whatsoever good they strive to win by abstinence, may be followed consistently by goodness in their deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The People's Missal
after the Sarum Collect for Lent I

O Lord, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights : give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness and true holiness, to thy honour and glory. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost; one God, world without end. Amen.

The People's
Anglican Missal

Collects for Lent I from the Anglican Tradition

O Lord, which for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, 1549

Lord Jesus Christ, who wast in all points tempted as we are : Strengthen us, we pray thee, in our manifold temptations; and as thou knowest our weaknesses, so may we know thee mighty to save; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit art one God for ever and ever.

JLG

Holy Father, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the desert: Give us grace to discipline ourselves in humble submission to your Spirit that we may lead upright and holy lives to your honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Modern Collects

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan : come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord; who live s and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The Book of Common Prayer 1979 USA
Based upon a prayer of William Bright "For the Tempted"

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet did not sin : give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your saving power; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

APB, Ireland

Almighty God, your Son fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert : give us grace to use such discipline, that our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may always obey your will in righteousness and holiness, to your honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

An Anglican Prayer Book, South Africa

Merciful Father, your Son was tempted as we are yet without sin : be with us in our weakness that we may know your power to save; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

An Anglican Prayer Book, South Africa

Ash Wednesday

On this Ash Wednesday when we are put in mind of our own mortality and the transitory nature of our days, I am put in mind of those things upon which we labour so as to leave a legacy. We can think of philanthropists who give their money to good causes as well as philanthropists who give their money to Dr. Mengele's abusive and murderous step-children. Legacies are left whether we make sure our name is on a monument or not, and just off in the wings is Ozymandias warning us about such things.

Scripture tells us to lay up treasures in heaven where nothing can destroy them. And those treasures all flow from our love of Jesus and knowing that what we do to one another we have also done to him. There are many traditions in the Church showing us how our worship adorns the place the Lord has gone on to prepare for us. And many a soul knows the benefits of interceding for souls who have left this life and remain on a journey of cleansing until they see Jesus face to face that is, the souls in Purgatory. We are always being moved to the furthest edge of care for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, oh yes, and our enemies too, and even souls we have never met.

This reminds me of the Anglican spiritual legacy. It would be very easy to forget it all and just become a "regular" Latin rite Catholic. However, there are elements of that legacy that led me here to the Catholic Church, and they continue to speak with a Catholic voice for those of Anglican heritage who have entered the Catholic Church. As one born from the Anglican legacy into the Catholic Church, I can no more turn my back on it than to turn my back on my own family. Of course, the Church never intends this sort of categorical rejection and denunciation of one's previous denomination, and Holy Mother Church has made ample provision for such traditions to be judged, vetted, and then employed within the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the truth is that there are many in the Roman rite who do not wish it to be so. They would rather see things Anglican die a permanent death because of its Englishness and because of the Catholic martyrs of England and Wales.

I find that this feeling against all things Anglican is very understandable but also dangerously misguided. It is through the prayers of the same Martyrs that Anglicans are coming home to the Church. As Cardinal Newman once noted, the Anglican Church was never entirely de-Catholicised. Many of the most beautiful prayers and hymns in the world have their origin in the Anglican Church -- but only because the Anglican authors and translators turned to the ancient traditions of the Church, the ancient texts, and looking toward Constantinople found a new appreciation for their Latin Sarum legacy.

Some regard Anglo-Catholicism as merely an invention of something that had never existed before. They fail to see the operation of the Holy Ghost in the organic development of the Anglo-Catholic traditions from a once lost but reclaimed heritage. And while this Catholic Renewal in the Anglican Communion may reference Cardinal Newman or the great John Mason Neale, it is first and foremost a motion of grace and a movement of the Holy Spirit himself. Through the many years since the Oxford Movement many generations of Anglicans grew up as I did believing themselves to be Catholic and intending to live a Catholic life. Again, one must look at the organic development of these things and then watch whilst praising God for His work in bringing the Catholic elements of this Anglican spiritual legacy back into the Catholic Church through the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Now I find myself occupied with efforts to carry forward this Catholic-minded Anglican spiritual legacy of prayer, music, art, and theological reflexion within the Roman Catholic Church. All of my little anglo-Catholic prayer manuals still speak truly of the Catholic life of the faithful. They contain treasures from Heaven which when employed become part of that treasury of good things we store up in heaven where nothing corrupts or destroys it. I know that many a former Anglican and Episcopalian feel betrayed by their denomination, by its continual and ongoing corruption, but no feeling gives us permission to disown the beautiful things the Holy Spirit did in that denomination for the greater glory of the Blessed Trinity and for the building up of the Catholic Church throughout the world.

This Lent I will be posting prayers and litanies from various books, wee bookies, and manuals that I pray may be useful to you, gentle Reader, and will outline more clearly just what I have in mind in trying to preserve this Anglican legacy -- Anglican heritage and tradition -- where it is in accord with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

The Shriving Bell

Our parish of Our Lady of Walsingham has three blessed bells made in France that call to the faithful for Holy Mass and for the Angelus. There are different sorts of peals with the three indicating what is at hand. I am convinced that churches need real baptised bells -- and not electrified speakers playing hymns recordings of tubular bells. Later I shall post more on bells and their Catholic purpose, but today I have in mind the Shriving Bell.

Being a 21st century and a 14th century man myself, I believe my priest needs a Shriving Bell beyond the blessing of the 3 French bells in the Tower. We have been blessed with priests who are marvellous confessors, and I would like to hear the tolling of that special Shriving Bell calling one to Confession. To hear such a bell reminds the faithful of their need to shrive, to confess. We all need reminders, and the sounding of a bell that is blessed has a special call to the souls of the Catholic faithful. Those already shriven can hear the tolling of the Shriving Bell as a call to pray for the penitents and to pray for their Father Confessor.

Today I find myself confined to home because of infirmity. So there will be the eating of pancakes using up all the butter, eggs, and fat here in the Cottage. At Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston there will be a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, and Fr. Bruce Noble will be in the Confessional at noon and in the evening. A Tower Bell will toll as the Shriving Bell today. At the Pancake Supper three members of the laity will be honoured for their faithful service to the parish. They are extraordinary individuals -- Margaret Pichon who was Fr. Moore's administrative assistant, a brilliant photographer, and the soul who keeps the Parish website going -- Ron Thorp, a genius of a business manager and a spiritual Encourager to all -- and Elliott Goulas who has been responsible for buildings and grounds for many faithful years.

Most Anglicans remember the pancakes part but have forgotten what "Shrove" means and do not have Confession anywhere on their radar screens. Having lost Shrovetide and the 'Gesimas we become lost in a secular, diabolical Mardi Gras, and then we fall into Ash Wednesday exhausted, overfed, and uprepared for the sacred fast of the Great and Holy Season of Lent. Some day I hope our bishops in the Catholic Church will attend to this part of the liturgical year and offer the faithful the guidance that we need. One must prepare for Lent, and pre-Lent was just such a time. Shrovetide made it even clearer how one was to get ready for Lent -- all for the purpose of undertaking a holy fast unto the Lord.

Although I will not make it into the Confessional at Our Lady of Walsingham this day -- and although my body cannot engage in any exercise this day, I will endeavour to engage body and soul in spiritual exercises of repentance and reparation in order to prepare for an holy Lent. All of my old anglo-Catholic manuals still come in handy at this time of year, and they will keep good company with me till evening falls.