The battle over Britain’s Orthodox Church

Read it all.

For several reasons, theological, political and topical, I find my sympathies lie with the group who have followed Bishop Basil in a vicariate under the Ecumenical Patriarch. The oddly nationalist caesaropapism of the Moscow patriarchate, in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution and nearly 70 years of officially atheistic Soviet control, is truly puzzling to this Western catholic.

The article also stimulated some interesting reflections for me on the Western enculturation of Orthodoxy. On an aesthetic (and affective) level, I find the Orthodox liturgical accoutrements in a restrained classical Anglican architectural setting, like that of St Andrew’s, Holborn, very appealing.

The homepage for the Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland of the Exarchate of Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe is here.

Tip of the catercap to Dr William Tighe.

Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977

On 6 January 1948 a young school teacher, Janani Luwum, was converted to the charismatic Christianity of the East African Revival, in his own village in Acholiland, Uganda. At once he turned evangelist, warning against the dangers of drink and tobacco, and, in the eyes of local authorities, disturbing the peace.

But Luwum was undeterred by official censure. He was determined to confront all who needed, in his eyes, to change their ways before God.

In January 1949 Luwum went to a theological college at Buwalasi, in eastern Uganda. A year later he came back a catechist. In 1953 he returned to train for ordination. He was ordained deacon on St Thomas’s Day, 21 December 1955, and priest a year later. His progress was impressive: after two periods of study in England, he became principal of Buwalasi. Then, in September 1966, he was appointed Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. It was a difficult position to occupy, and these were anxious days. But Luwum won a reputation for creative and active leadership, promoting a new vision with energy and commitment. Only three years later he was consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda, on 25 January 1969. The congregation at the open-air services included the prime minister of Uganda, Milton Obote, and the Chief of Staff of the army, Idi Amin.

Amin sought power for himself. Two years later he deposed Obote in a coup. In government he ruled by intimidation, violence and corruption. Atrocities, against the Acholi and Langi people in particular, were perpetrated time and again. The Asian population was expelled in 1972. It was in the midst of such a society, in 1974, that Luwum was elected Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. He pressed ahead with the reform of his church in time to mark the centenary of the creation of the Anglican province. But he also warned that the Church should not conform to ‘the powers of darkness’. Amin cultivated a relationship with the archbishop, arguably to acquire credibility. For his part, Luwum sought to mitigate the effects of his rule, and to plead for its victims.

The Anglican and Roman Catholic churches increasingly worked together to frame a response to the political questions of the day. On 12 February 1976 Luwum delivered a protest to Amin against all acts of violence that were allegedly the work of the security Services. Church leaders were summoned to Kampala and then ordered to leave, one by one. Luwum turned to Bishop Festo Kivengere and said, ‘They are going to kill me. I am not afraid’. Finally alone, he was taken away, tried by a kangaroo court, and executed on February 17, 1977. His body was buried later near St Paul’s Church, Mucwini.

Adapted from the Westminster Abbey website

Collect

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of Janini Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda and Martyr, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Archbishop Janani Luwum is commemorated on February 16 in the calendar of the Church of Uganda; and on February 17 in the calendar of the Church of England and of The Episcopal Church.

Absalom Jones, Presbyter, 1818

Born a house slave in 1746 in Delaware, Absalom Jones taught himself to read out of the New Testament and other books. When sixteen, he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia. There he attended a night school for African Americans, operated by Quakers. At twenty, he married another slave, and purchased her freedom with his earnings. Jones bought his own freedom in 1784.

At St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, he served as lay minister for its black membership. The active evangelism of Jones and that of his friend, Richard Allen, greatly increased black membership at St. George’s.

The alarmed vestry decided to segregate blacks into an upstairs gallery, without notifying them. During a Sunday service when ushers attempted to remove them, the black membership of the church walked out as a body.

In 1787, a group of Christians organized the Free African Society, the first organized African American society, and Absalom Jones and Richard Allen were elected overseers. Members of the Society paid monthly dues for the benefit of those in need. The Society received communications with similar African American groups in other cities. In 1792, the Society began to build a church, which was dedicated on July 17, 1794.

The African Church applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania on the following conditions: 1, that they be received as an organized body; 2, that they have control over their local affairs; 3, that Absalom Jones be licensed as layreader, and, if qualified, be ordained as minister. In October, 1794 the Church was admitted as St. Thomas African Episcopal Church. Bishop White ordained Jones as deacon in 1795, and as priest in 1804.

Jones was an earnest preacher. He denounced slavery, and warned the oppressors to “clean their hands of slaves.” Jones believed that God the Father always acted on “behalf of the oppressed and distressed.” But it was his constant visiting and mild manner that made him beloved by his own flock and by the community. St. Thomas Church grew to over 500 members during its first year. Known as the “Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church,” Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and in the Church as God’s instrument.

Adapted from Lesser Feasts and Fasts

Collect

Set us free, heavenly Father, from every bond of prejudice and fear; that, honoring the steadfast courage of your servant Absalom Jones, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true freedom of the children of God, which you have given us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of Absalom Jones, Priest, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

A Thanksgiving Sermon, preached January 1, 1808, in St. Thomas’s, or the African Episcopal, Church, Philadelphia: On Account of the Abolition of the African slave trade, on that day, by the Congress of the United States is published on the Project Canterbury website.

Absalom Jones is commemorated on February 13 in the sanctoral of The Episcopal Church (and, one hopes, of the incipient Anglican Church in North America?). The Confessing Reader apologizes for the tardiness of the posting.

The Martyrs of Japan, 1597

Almost fifty years after Francis Xavier had arrived in Japan as its first Christian missionary, the presence of several thousand baptized Christians in the land became a subject of suspicion to the ruler Hideyoshi, who soon began a period of persecution. Twenty-six men and women, religious and lay, were first mutilated and then crucified near Nagasaki in 1597. The most famous of the martyrs of Nagasaki was Paul Miki. After their martyrdom, their blood-stained clothes were kept and held in reverence by their fellow Christians. The period of persecution continued for another thirty-five years, many new witness-martyrs being added to their number.

From Celebrating the Saints, Robert Atwell, SCM Press

Collect

O God our Father, source of strength to all your saints, you brought the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of eternal life; Grant that we, encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith we profess, even to death itself; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of the Martyrs of Japan are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Readers wishing to learn more about the history of 16th and 17th century Japanese Christianity and the effects of the persecution even to the present day will find the novels of Shusaku Endo a challenging read, particularly The Samurai, with its story of the journey of a samurai and his companions from Japan to Mexico and thence to Spain and on to Rome in the late 16th century (based on an actual historical journey that also inspired the composition of the Mass for the Japanese Princes by Andrea Gabrieli for their visit to St Mark’s Basilica in Venice in 1585).

Cornelius the Centurion

All that we know of Cornelius is contained in the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. He was the first Gentile converted to the Christian faith, along with his household. A centurion was commander of a company of one hundred men in the Roman army, responsible for their discipline, both on the field of battle and in camp. A centurion was a Roman citizen, a military career man, well-paid, and generally noted for courage and competence. Some centurions, such as Cornelius, and those whom we know about from the Gospel narratives, were men of deep religious piety.

Saint Luke the Evangelist, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, considered Cornelius’ conversion momentous for the future of Christianity. He records that it occurred as the result of divine intervention and revelation, and as a response to the preaching of Peter the chief apostle. The experience of Cornelius’ household was regarded as comparable to a new Pentecost, and it was a primary precedent for the momentous decision of the apostolic council, held in Jerusalem a few years later, to admit Gentiles to full and equal partnership with Jewish converts in the household of faith.

According to a later tradition, Cornelius was the second bishop of Caesarea, the metropolitan see of Palestine. Undoubtedly, Cornelius and his household formed the nucleus of the first Church in this important city, a Church that was gathered by Philip the Evangelist (Acts 8:40 and 21:8).

Adapted from Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

Collect

O God, by your Spirit you called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles; Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of Cornelius the Centurion are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary to Denmark and Sweden, 865

Born near Amiens of a noble family in 801, Anskar (Ansgarius) received his education at the monastic school at Corbie, where he was professed a monk at the age of thirteen. When Corbie founded a new monastery school in Saxon Germany, Anskar was chosen to be its master, but his strongest call was to be a missionary.

His biographer Rimbert writes that Anskar was stirred by a vision in which a voice said, “Go and return to me crowned with martyrdom.” Following the conversion of King Harald of Denmark to the Christian faith and Harald’s return to his country from exile, Anskar was among those who were chosen to answer the king’s call for missionaries to his people. Rimbert notes that this call to missionary work astonished Anskar’s brothers, who were astonished that he should want to leave them to deal with “unknown and barbarous folk”. Steadfast in his resolve, Anskar established a school and mission in Denmark, working indefatigably but unsuccessfully to evangelize the Danes. When he could have become discouraged, another vision appeared to him, with a voice saying, “Go and declare the work of God to the nations.” Shortly afterward, about 829, he accepted a call to Sweden, where he built a church and ordained a priest, though meager aid both from the monastery and the emperor frustrated his efforts.

He was afterward consecrated bishop of Hamburg, in 832. After the sack of Hamburg by Vikings in 845, was named archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen (whence the archiepiscopal seat was removed) by Pope Nicholas the First, who granted him legatine jurisdiction over Denmark, Norway and Sweden. An indefatigable preacher, he continued to work amongst the Danes, whose patron he is, and in northern Germany. Sweden, however, relapsed into paganism and was reevangelized by Sigfrid and others in the eleventh century.

Outstanding in his charity to the poor, Anskar was also prominent in diminishing the effects of the Viking slave trade, though he was powerless to abolish it. The seeds of his missionary work were not to bear fruit until over one hundred years later, when Viking devastation, weakness in the Frankish Church and a low ebb of missionary enthusiasm came to an end. Of him it is written said, “These shall plant the seed, but others shall reap the harvest.” The rich harvest of conversions was three generations away, but Anskar is rightly remembered by the Scandinavians as their apostle.

Anskar often wore a hair shirt, lived on bread and water when his healthy permitted, and added short personal prayers to each psalm in his psalter. He died in 865 and was buried at Bremen.

Prepared from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, and Celebrating the Saints.

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you sent your servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and enabled him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep your Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when you have begun a good work you will bring it to a fruitful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary to Denmark and Sweden, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Clerical and academic haberdasherie

And completely off any point but the catercap remark below, a website that has pictures of just about every example of clerical and academic headgear that mankind has to offer: Klerikale Kopfbedeckungen.

Believe me, the visit will be worth the time spent scrolling down. The pictures of the Canterbury cap – the proper Kopfbedeckung of the Anglican cleric, NOT the biretta – are appreciated. But the academic doctoral headgear of the University of Coimbra – well, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

Here is a photo – misfiled in the website’s photograph’s, I think – of a Anglican priest properly attired (on his way to preaching) in cassock, gown, tippet and Canterbury cap (catercap). Pity he’s not wearing bands as well.

Archbishop Kirill elected Patriarch of Moscow

Read it all.

Tip of the catercap to Dr Bill Tighe.

Muslim leaders seek to close the oldest Christian monastery in the world

Another blow for the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Read it all.

Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Friar, 1274

Thomas Aquinas is the greatest theologian of the high Middle Ages, and, next to Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity. Born into a noble Italian family, probably in 1225, he entered the new Order of Preachers founded by Dominic (the Dominicans, or Blackfriars as they were known in England). He soon became an outstanding teacher in an age of intellectual ferment. Because of his size and slowness, Thomas was called “the Ox”. His first master, Albert the Great, is said to have prophesied that although Thomas was called “the dumb ox, his lowing would soon be heard all over the world.”

Perceiving the challenges that the recent rediscovery, through Jewish and Muslim scholars in Spain, of Aristotle’s works might entail for traditional catholic doctrine, especially in its emphasis upon empirical knowledge derived from reason and sense perception, independent of faith and revelation, Thomas asserted that reason and revelation are in basic harmony. “Grace” (revelation), he said, “is not the denial of nature” (reason), “but the perfection of it.” This synthesis Thomas accomplished in his greatest works, the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles, which continue today to exercise profound influence on Christian thought and philosophy. Thomas was considered a bold thinker, even a “radical”, and certain aspects of his thought were condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. His canonization as a Doctor (Teacher) of the Church on July 18, 1323, vindicated him.

Thomas understood God’s disclosure of his Name, in Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM”, to mean that God is Being, the Ultimate Reality from which everything else derives its being. The difference between God and the world is that God’s essence is to exist, whereas all other beings derive their being from him by the act of creation. Although, for Thomas, God and the world are distinct, there is, nevertheless, an analogy of being between God and the world, since the Creator is reflect in his creation. It is possible, therefore, to have a limited knowledge of God, by analogy from the created world. On this basis, human reason can demonstrate that God exists; that he created the world; and that he contains in himself, as their cause, all the perfections which exist in his creation. The distinctive truths of the Christian faith, however, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are known only by revelation.

On December 6, 1272, after being recalled to Naples as regent of studies earlier that year, Thomas experienced a revelation of God, after which he dictated to his scribe no more. Of the experience he said that all he had written in comparison to what he had then seen was like so much straw.

Thomas died in 1274, just under fifty years of age. In 1369, on January 28, his remains were transferred to Toulouse. In addition to his many theological writings, he composed several eucharistic hymns, including Adoro te devote (“Humbly I adore thee”) and Pange lingua (“Now, my tongue, the mystery telling”).

Adapted from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, with additions from The Oxford Book of Saints

Collect

Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The propers for the commemoration of Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Friar, are published on the Lectionary Page website.