"EVEN SO IS TIME"

ADVENT ONE
from The Crown of the Year: Weekly Paragraphs for the Holy Sacrament
by Austin Farrer

"Our journey sets out from God in our creation, and returns to God at the final judgement. As the bird rises from the earth to fly, and must some time return to the earth from which it rose; so God sends us forth to fly, and we must fall back into the hands of God at last. But God does not wait for the failure of our power and the expiry of our days to drop us back into his lap. He goes himself to meet us and everywhere confronts us. Where is the countenance which we must finally look in the eyes, and not be able to turn away our head?

[That countenance] smiles up at Mary from the cradle, it calls Peter from the nets, it looks on him with grief when he has denied his Master. Our judge meets us at every step of our way, with forgivenness on his lips and succour in his hands. He offers us these things while there is yet time. Every day opportunity shortens, our scope for learning our Redeemer's love is narrowed by twenty-four hours, and we come nearer to the end of our journey, when we shall fall into the hands of the living God, and touch the heart of the devouring fire."

Austin Farrer

ADVENT TWO
from The Crown of the Year: Weekly Paragraphs for the Holy Sacrament
by Austin Farrer

"ADVENT brings Christmas, judgement runs out into mercy. For the God who saves us and the God who judges us is one God. We are not, even, condemned by his severity and redeemed by his compassion; what judges us is what redeems us, the love of God. What is it that will break our hearts on judgement day? Is it not the vision, suddenly unrolled, of how he has loved the friends we have neglected, of how he has loved us, and we have not loved him in return ; how, when we came (as now) before his altar, he gave us himself, and we gave him half-penitences, or resolutions too weak to commit our wills? But while love thus judges us by being what it is, the same love redeems us by effecting what it does. Love shares flesh and blood with us in this present world, that the eyes which look us through at last may find in us a better substance than our vanity."

Austin Farrer

ADVENT THREE
from The Crown of the Year: Weekly Paragraphs for the Holy Sacrament
by Austin Farrer

"JESUS gave his body and blood to his disciples in bread and wine. Amazed at such a token, and little understanding what they did, Peter, John, and the rest reached out their hands and took their master and their God. Whatever else they knew or did not know, they knew they were committed to him, body and soul; they were consenting that he should die for them, and that they, somehow, should live it out. The cock had not crowed twice that night before Peter thrice denied, but still he knew he was committed to Christ, for Christ had given him his body and his blood. Christ's body and blood lived in him, and Christ forgave him; there was no breaking of the sacramental tie. We are not worthy of Christ, but we are bound to Christ. With all the sincerity of our minds let us renew the bond, and pray to live for him who has died for us."

Austin Farrer

ADVENT FOUR
from The Crown of the Year: Weekly Paragraphs for the Holy Sacrament
by Austin Farrer

"ADVENT is a coming, not our coming to God, but his to us. We cannot come to God, he is beyond our reach; but he can come to us, for we are not beneath his mercy. Even in another life, as St John sees it in his vision, we do not rise to God, but he descends to us, and dwells humanly among human creatures, in the glorious man, Jesus Christ. And that will be his last coming; so we shall be his people, and he everlastingly our God, our God-with-us, our Emmanuel. He will so come, but he is come already, he comes always: in our fellow Christian (even in a child, says Christ), in his word, invisibly in our souls, more visibly in this Sacrament. Opening ourselves to him, we call him in: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; O come, Emmanuel."

Austin Farrer

CHRISTMAS
from The Crown of the Year: Weekly Paragraphs for the Holy Sacrament
by Austin Farrer

"WHEN Mary laid Jesus Christ upon her knees, when she searched him with her eyes, when she fed him at the breast, she did not study to love him because she ought, she loved him because he was dear: he was her Son. His conception had been supernatural, perplexing, affrighting; it had called for faith in the incomprehensible, and obedience beyond the limit of human power. His nativity was human and sweet, and the love with which she embraced it was a natural growth, inseparable from the thing she loved. She was blessed above all creatures, because she loved her Maker inevitably and by simple nature; even though it needed the sword-wounds of the Passion to teach her fully that it was her Maker whom she loved. The Son of Mary is the Son of all human kind, that we may be ledup with Mary to a love beyond kind, a selfless love for the supreme Goodness, when we too shall have climbed the ladder of the Cross."

Austin Farrer

R. Somerset Ward: Anglican Patrimony

"Holy Communion"

To Jerusalem

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R. Somerset Ward and Bede Griffiths, Guildford Cathedral, England

Of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ we may well say with the Patriarch Jacob, “This is none other than the Gate of heaven,” for assuredly at the consecration a door is opened into Heaven and through it comes the Lord of Love bearing His Life to men.  

Nevertheless this sight is not for all eyes to see, and it is with Christians at the Eucharist as it was with the blind man healed by our Lord ; at first they see nothing but hear a voice ; then they see but dimly “men as trees walking” ‘ and lastly they see the Glory that is there.  Let us, therefore, set down in poor words that which happens in the Blessed Sacrament, and then the way to know it.

It is hard for us who live in this world, manifest to our senses, to know that it is a prison ; that we are bound by earthly bodies in a circular prison while all round the outside of our prison is freedom and the other and true world : the world of eternal life.   Nevertheless so it is, nor are there any ways by which we may escape from prison into the true life save three : prayer, the Blessed Sacrament, and death.  in all these ways a soul may leave the body and pass through a door opened in the shell of the prison into the world of eternal life.  In the first two ways the soul must return from its excursion, but in the third it remains.  We may not compare these ways, for in order to make comparison we need to know the whole extent of each and no human being may do this.  Nevertheless we may say that each in its order is more universal than the one before it.

So in the Blessed Sacrament there is opened, before each Christian, a door.  Through this door our Lord Himself enters this world. I beseech you to consider this a moment.  We know that our Lord is in all things our perfect example.  Here daily He sets before us an example of perfect humility.  In all the glory of His Ascended Majesty, the Judge of all the world comes to us, not as in Bethlehem for all the race, but for a few poor dazed and blind souls gathered together to meet Him.  While they wait there, battling with distracting thoughts, cold and with little love, He lowers Himself in exquisite pity to come to their prison for love of them.  Truly He does, Himself, that which He requires of us in the Day of Judgement, for we are sick and He visits us, we are in prison and He comes unto us. 

Nor is this all, for He Himself brings with Him the food of life.  All life is in Him, and from this overflowing store He feeds the sick prisoners, giving them life and strength for their bodies in His Body and for their souls in His blood.  It is this Eternal Life, from the world of eternal life, which keeps alive the soul of the world ; which glows and vibrates in each soul, lighting something in other souls, and feeding the spiritual life of the world.  Daily is the prison of the world of our senses broken into by the victorious Lord, daily are the souls therein filled with the life which will enable them to break out of it into their true home, the world of eternal life.

It would, however, be a narrow view of this great means of grace which limited its purpose to this world of ours.  For the life which proceeds from the other world is like a wave which, passing through the door, floods those who receive it, and then like a wave recedes, drawing them with it through the gate.

Many are they who know these things to be true yet long to experience them.. It were well that they should remember in the first place that in general the approach to any spiritual experience is by a long and slow growth ; that, above all, long training and practice are needed.  This seems to be especially true of the Blessed Sacrament : for it is usually only by slowly learning devotion and concentration, by a long desire, and by the constant frequenting of this Holy Communion that the soul comes to the experience.  First comes the conviction, the certainty, that there is a Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.  Then perchance the soul is aware on certain occasions of a direct message at the time of Communion and this may happen frequently.  Then very dimly the Presence becomes more real, bringing a new sense of awe.  While, finally, for those happy few whom God brings to this state, comes the frequent entry into the world of eternal life, the overpowering sense of the entering Lord, and the moment of blissful Communion.

There is no royal way for those who seek the full revelation of this Sacrament.  It is only by patient discipline and long practice that clear sight comes.  I held as more important than they are, but I append a few maxims which may assist the soul.

I.  It is Desire which is they key to the door of experience.

2.  True desire manifests itself in patience and perseverance.

3.  Perseverance is chiefly shown in maintaining constant standard in preparation for Holy Communion, and thanksgiving after it.

4.  Distracting thoughts are not sins unless they are consciously persisted in.

5.  It is as well to have certain places in the service at which the attention is always specially concentrated (e.g., Prayer for Church militant.  Sanctus.  Prayer of oblation) ; this serves as a safeguard against vagueness.

6.  The true experience may be known by the joy and vitality it brings.

7. There is no way to prolong experience beyond the time our Lord wills, but we can remove all hindrances to its prolongation on our part by complete and constant surrender.

It is painful to write words on this subject knowing their poverty and how little they touch even the fringe of that which is in this Sacrament. Nevertheless I pray that all who read them may be aware of the open door, and of the Lord Who enters, of the life He brings, and, if it be His will, of the world from which He comes.

+Panis Angelicus

Jeremy Taylor and the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Part One

Those who know me well know that Jeremy Taylor's Eucharistic and Baptismal theologies profoundly shaped my own theological understanding in my anglo-catholic youth. I continue to believe that his liturgical language is too easily dismissed and represents a significant part of the Anglican patrimony worthy of use within the worship of anglo-catholics and Catholics of Anglican Heritage. Fortunately one of his collects has entered the Book of Common Prayer tradition and is much loved as an expression of faith and an aspiration for a holy death:

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 human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days: 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.

I will always be grateful to the late Anglican bishop the Right Reverend Roger Cilley who, as my parish priest as a youth, first introduced me to Jeremy Taylor and to William Law. May his memory be eternal and may he rest in peace and rise in glory.

The following are some of my favourite excerpts from the Eucharistic Liturgy Jeremy Taylor authored for his community's use when the Book of Common Prayer and the Anglican Church were banned in England. It is fairly easy to see how the Eastern and early Latin liturgies of the Church formed the palette from which Taylor constructed his Eucharistic language and theology.

Selections from the Ante-Communion

THE COLLECT

O King of Glory, Lord and Maker of the World,
.....thou art a God knowing all things and all thoughts
.....even long before they are,
be thou present with us in this religious solemnity calling upon thee.
Deliver us from the shame of our sins,
.....from the corruption and evil inclinations that attend them,
.....and from all evils that may justly follow them.
Cleanse our wills and our misunderstandings
.....from all evil lusts and concupiscence,
.....from the deceits of the world,
.....from the violence and snares of the devil,
.....from all guild and hypocrisy,
.....from every evil word and work,
.....that we may serve thee faithfully,
.....worship thee religiously,
.....and pray unto thee acceptably,
.....through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then shall the Presbyter humbly say this Prayer of Preparation, first in behalf of himself, then of the Congregation.

O Lord God who in mercy and great compassion dost consider thy people and hast given unto us thy unworthy servants, miserable sinners, confidence and commandment to present ourselves before thee at thy holy table to represent a holy, venerable and unbloody Sacrifice for our sins, and for the errors and ignorances of all thy people, look upon me the meanest and most polluted of all them that approach to thy sacred presence. Pity me, O God, and wash away all my sins. Cleanse my heart and my hands, my head and my lips from all impurities of the flesh and spirit : and remove far from me all irreverence and undecency, all foolish imaginations and vain reasonings, and by the power of the Holy Ghost make me worthy for this ministry, accepting this service for his sake whose sacrifice I represent, and by whose commandment I minister, even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have mercy upon this thy people
.....who with hungry and thirsty souls
.....come to be refreshed and comforted
.....by the divine Nutriment of thy Holy Body and Blood.
Pity our infirmities,
.....despise not our unworthiness,
.....curse not our follies,
.....and take not from thy servants
.....thy grace and the light of the divine Countenance,
but according to the multitude of thy great mercies
.....do away all our offences,
that without self-condemnation we may appear before thy glory,
.....covered with the veil of Jesus,
.....adorned with the robe of his righteousness,
.....and illustrated with the brightness of thy divine Spirit ;
that we may live by thy grace,
.....and feel thy mercy and pardon in this world and in the world to come,
.....through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then follows the rehearsal of the Eight Beatitudes of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ.

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The Address to the Holy Mysteries, to be said before the Sursum Corda

Let us pray.

O God who by thy unspeakable mercy hast sent thy only begotten Son into the world, that he might bring the wandering sheep into his fold, turn not away from us miserable sinners, who worship and invocate thee in these Holy Mysteries. For we do not approach to thee in our own righteousness, but in the hope and confidence of that glorious mercy by which thou hast sent thy holy Son to redeem miserable and lost Mankind. We humbly beseech thee to grant that these mysteries which thou hast ordained to be ministries of salvation to us, may not become an occasion of our condemnation, but of pardon of our sins, of the renovation of our souls, of the sanctification and preservation of our bodies, that we may become well pleasing to thee our God, in the obedience of our Lord Jesus, with thom, and with thy holy Spirit, thou reignest over all, one God, Blessed for evermore. Amen.