Beyond the 10 Commandments: Practical Aids for the Spiritual Life

During Lent and Holy Week we are exposed to some of the most fundamental statements of our faith: The 10 Commandments (also known as the 10 Words or Decalogue) and the Baptismal Covenant. In the spirit of these foundational texts, and as resource for living them out, here are some other time-tested tools for living the Christian faith in daily life.

The Seven Capital Virtues

Humility: To live in right relationship with God and others; to be grounded in reality

Charity: Generosity through knowledge that all we have is a gift from God

Chastity: practicing a life of purity, free from corruption of self or others

Patience: a life of peacefulness and actions promoting peace

Temperance: practicing self-control and moderation, judging prudently

Kindness: charity, compassion, and friendship with an unselfish heart

Diligence: fortitude and steadfastness in work and service with personal integrity

The Seven Capital Sins

Pride: The lack of humility befitting a creature of God

Greed: too great a desire for money or worldly goods

Lust: impure and unworthy desire for some created thing or experience

Anger: unworthy irritation and lack of self-control

Gluttony: the habit of eating or drinking too much

Envy: jealousy of some other person’s perceived happiness

Sloth/Accidie: the choice to avoid God’s claim on our life to worship God and serve others.

Nine Ways of Participating in Another’s Sin

At the Great Vigil of Easter we definitively renounced “Satan, all evil powers, and all sinful desires.” The Christian must struggle in an unseen inner battle with these forces throughout life, as well as with the sinfulness around us. The following is a list of tools Christians may use to bring this wider struggle to consciousness. Each of these actions or omissions is a form of direct participation in what we have renounced before God:

By counsel (encouraging others to sin)

By command (using one’s position or authority to make others sin)

By consent (agreeing to the initiation of sinful action)

By provocation (egging another on to sin or making conditions right for sin)

By praise or flattery (encouraging another’s sin through emotional manipulation)

By concealment (hiding a sin so it may be committed freely)

By partaking (sharing in the sin, thus giving license and approval)

By silence (not speaking or acting in appropriate ways against sin)

By defense of the sin committed (actively trying to turn sin into a blessing)

The Chief Aids to Penitence

These are the elements of living the Gospel life (based on Christ’s own teaching in the Sermon on the Mount):

Prayer

Fasting

Performance of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy

The Chief Spiritual Works of Mercy

Those actions tend the spiritual needs of others; the first three may require special instruction; the final four are the obligation of all Christian faithful.

To instruct those without spiritual knowledge

To counsel those afflicted by doubt

To admonish those committing sin

To comfort the sorrowful

To suffer wrongs patiently

To forgive injuries

To pray for the living and the dead

The Chief Corporal Works of Mercy

Those actions that tend to the bodily needs of others, expressing God’s love and the justice of the Kingdom

To feed the hungry

To give drink to the thirsty

To clothe the naked

To ransom captives

To shelter the homeless

To visit the sick

To bury the dead

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

These gifts are given in Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation.

Wisdom

Understanding

Counsel

Fortitude

Knowledge

Piety

Fear of God

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

These are the characteristics (derived from Sacred Scripture) of people who are living in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. If one experiences growth in these areas—however small—one is truly showing forth the fruits of the Kingdom. If these characteristics are diminishing or absent, it means we are living according to the “spirit of the world.”

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Long-suffering

Mildness

Fidelity

Modesty

Continence

Chastity

The Theological Virtues

These three virtues are provided by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 as the bedrock characteristics of all true Christian theology and practice.

Faith

Hope

Charity (Love)

The Principal Feasts

To be observed by participation by a Christian in the Holy Eucharist (all parishes should make every effort to observe each of these); if your parish does not observe a Principal Feast, you should encourage the priest in charge to do so, or attend a neighboring parish that does.

Easter Day

Ascension Day

The Day of Pentecost

Trinity Sunday

All Saints’ Day—Nov. 1 (or the Sunday following)

Christmas Day—Dec. 25

The Epiphany—Jan. 6

The Sunday Obligation

Each Sunday is a Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian should observe each Sunday by participation in the Holy Eucharist whenever possible, the exception being an absence worthy of a blessing (sickness, travel, performance of a work of mercy, &c.). When unable to attend the Sunday Eucharist, it is advised that a person make a Spiritual Communion.

Fast Days (BCP p. 17)

The Church recognizes the following days of absolute fast (excepting for health reasons):

Ash Wednesday

Good Friday

Days of Special Devotion

The following days are observed by special acts of discipline and

self-denial:

Ash Wednesday and the other weekdays of Lent and of Holy Week,

except the feast of the Annunciation.

Good Friday and all other Fridays of the year, in commemoration of the

Lord’s crucifixion, except for Fridays in the Christmas and Easter

seasons, and any Feasts of our Lord which occur on a Friday.

What is in a Collect?

The Collect for the Feast of St. James the Greater

O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This prayer is very significant. It causes one to pause, especially if one is a leader in Christ's Church. It says, simply and without apology, that true leaders in Christ's Body demonstrate self-denying service. From this alone, we are told, comes real authority amongst Christ's people.

Yet, is this what the institutional Church actually produces, admires, or encourages? Rarely. The self, instead of being denied, is normally given great significance. Our feelings, our comfort, and our ease are carefully considered, not the enormous need of humanity or the absolute refusal of the Gospel to do a deal with evil and injustice. What to do?

Some would suggest the complete demolition of the institutional Church. However, this has never worked in the past; something much the same is instantly rebuilt afterwards, and the whole cycle starts anew.

No, the answer to this collect is for those who are part of Christ's Body--but aware of the way the Body has been imprisoned by worldliness and treachery--to live lives of authentic prayer, to rebel by living selflessly and with great determination and faith, to demand more of the institution than it is prepared to deliver and so explode its grip on the true Church. 

After the institution's exposure, such faithful Christians will come forth not in hostility but in loving service, willing to live out the very qualities that were dismissed as idealistic by those so compromised and cynical before. Then, the Church will shine with a light of hope, not hide in the recesses of earthly empires.

All of this can--and will--happen when the Holy Spirit calls, and people (mostly younger, in all likelihood) respond out of a deep love for the Church as the means by which the Gospel is lived and through which Christians are nourished in the Kingdom, and not as a great programmatic or ideological bastion from which to issue orders. 

In this an every age, the Spirit moves as it will, and the call to show forth the message of Christ as a means of true liberation--at the cost of everything lesser--will be answered by those for whom the message of Christ is one of freedom in God, not enslavement to the world. This is what St. James' feast day calls us to consider, and what the Church in our day is challenged to take up anew.

In the Daily Office: St. James-the-Apostle (July 25)

The 25^th of July is the annual commemoration of St. James the Greater (an online biography of him may be found here).

Below are the Psalms, Antiphons, Lessons, Collect and other resources for keeping the feast of this important Apostle. I am putting this together in one place in order to show how rich the Prayer Book’s observance of the Calendar may be when used fully, along with a few additions from the Anglican tradition (especially the currently-out-print “Prayer Book Office” by Howard Galley).

Learning to pray the Daily Office is one of the greatest gifts in Anglicanism. It allows for a deep integration of prayer, Scripture, study, practice, and ministry. When we learn to become recollected in God, there is no false opposition of prayer v. action: all is one symphony of consecrated service to God and neighbor. Truly, God is “all in all” for the heart schooled in prayer.

The Church Year provides many ways for us to enter into the mystery of the Christian Faith. For most of the year, the Daily Office follows a simple rhythm of “in-course” readings from the Psalms and the other books of Sacred Scripture. For Major Feasts (such as an Apostle, like St. James), the Office allows for special lessons, Psalms, prayers, and the use of readings from the Early Church to amplify and reflect on the witness of a particular saint or Mystery of the Faith.

Using the Book of Common Prayer’s own guidelines for Feast Day prayers (admittedly, a bit of a learned art) leads one to an ever-widening experience of the Gospel in prayer and practice.

May this be so for all who read this blog!

At First Evening Prayer (Eve of the 25^th – the commemoration of a Major Feast begins in the ancient and Hebrew fashion, on the eve of the day); BCP p. 61 or 115

Psalms:

Antiphon (antiphons are said before and after a Psalm or Canticle)

Happy are the people, O Lord, whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way

Psalm 84

Antiphon

Praise God in the firmament of his power; praise him for his mighty acts, hallelujah.

Psalm 150

First Reading

Isaiah 43:10-15, or Isaiah 52:7-10

First Canticle

Antiphon

On the foundation stones of the heavenly Jerusalem are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; and the Lamb himself is the lamp of the city.

Canticle: Song of Mary (Magnificat), BCP p. 65 or 119

Second Reading

Revelation 21:1-4, 9-14 or Matthew 9:35-10:4

Second Canticle

Antiphon

My eyes, O Lord, have seen your salvation

Canticle: Song of Simeon (Nunc dimittis), BCP p. 66 or 120

Collect

(Traditional language)

O gracious God, we remember before thee this day thy servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that thou wilt pour out upon the leaders of thy Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

or

(Contemporary language)

O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

At Morning Prayer

Opening Scripture

Major Saints’ Days (BCP p. 40 or 77)

At the Invitatory

Antiphon for Major Saints’ Days (BCP p. 44 or 82)

Invitatory Psalm: Either Venite or Jubilate, BCP pages 44/45 or 82/83

Psalm

Antiphon

The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear him, and he will deliver them.

Psalm 34

First Reading

Jeremiah 16:14-21

First Canticle

Antiphon

On the foundation stones of the heavenly Jerusalem are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; and the Lamb himself is the lamp of the city.

Canticle: Song of Zechariah (Benedictus), BCP 50 or 92

Second Reading

Mark 1:14-20

Third Reading (from the Early Church)

A reading from a homily of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople [407]

The sons of Zebedee press Christ: Promise that one may sit at your right side and the other at your left. What does he do? He wants to show them that it is not a spiritual gift for which they are asking, and that if they knew what their request involved, they would never dare make it. So he says: You do not know what you are asking, that is, what a great and splendid thing it is and how much beyond the reach even of the heavenly powers. Then he continues: Can you drink the cup which I must drink and be baptized with the baptism which I must undergo? He is saying: “You talk of sharing honors and rewards with me, but I must talk of struggle and toil. Now is not the time for rewards or the time for my glory to be revealed. Earthly life is the time for bloodshed, war and danger”.


Consider how by his manner of questioning he exhorts and draws them. He does not say: “Can you face being slaughtered? Can you shed your blood?” How does he put his question? Can you drink the cup? Then he makes it attractive by adding: which I must drink, so that the prospect of sharing it with him may make them more eager. He also calls his suffering a baptism, to show that it will effect a great cleansing of the entire world. The disciples answer him: We can! Fervor makes them answer promptly, though they really do not know what they are saying but still think they will receive what they ask for.


How does Christ reply? You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with my baptism. He is really prophesying a great blessing for them, since he is telling them: “You will be found worthy of martyrdom; you will suffer what I suffer and end your life with a violent death, thus sharing all with me. But seats at my right and left are not mine to give; they belong to those for whom the Father has prepared them.” Thus, after lifting their minds to higher goals and preparing them to meet and overcome all that will make them desolate, he sets them straight on their request.


Then the other ten became angry at the two brothers. See how imperfect they all are: the two who tried to get ahead of the other ten, and the ten who were jealous of the two! But, as I said before, show them to me at a later date in their lives, and you will see that all these impulses and feelings have disappeared. Read how John, the very man who here asks for the first place, will always yield to Peter when it comes to preaching and performing miracles in the Acts of the Apostles. James, for his part, was not to live very much longer; for from the beginning he was inspired by great fervor and, setting aside all purely human goals, rose to such splendid heights that he straightway suffered martyrdom.

[from Homily 65, On Matthew]

Second Canticle

Te Deum laudamus, BCP p. 52 or 95

Collect

As at First Evening Prayer

At Noonday (BCP p. 103)

Psalm

Antiphon

Precious in the sight o the Lord is the death of his servants.

Psalm 116

Short Reading

Ephesians 2:19-20

Collect

As at First Evening Prayer

At Second Evening Prayer, BCP p. 61 or 115

Psalm

Antiphon

The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, on those who wait upon his love.

Psalm 33

First Reading

Jeremiah 26:1-15

First Canticle

Antiphon

In the heavenly kingdom, the blessed have their dwelling place, and their rest for ever and ever.

Canticle: Song of Mary (Magnificat), BCP p. 65 or 119

Second Reading

Matthew 10:16-32

Second Canticle

Antiphon

My eyes, O Lord, have seen your salvation

Canticle: Song of Simeon (Nunc dimittis), BCP p. 66 or 120

Collect

As at first Evening Prayer

The shrine of St. James the Greater, Santiago, Spain.

A Prayer of Intercession, Ancient-Reformed-Modern

A Prayer of Intercession, Ancient-Reformed-Modern

Below is an adaptation of a form of intercessory prayer assembled by Bp. Lancelot Andrewes in the 17^th century, using materials from the Eastern Christian tradition.

It may be used on its own, as part of the prayers at the end of daily Morning or Evening Prayer, or at the Eucharist for the Prayers of the People (I have added responses in italics for this latter purpose, making it a litany). Time may be taken in silence between petitions for specific names to be offered to God.

This is a fine example of both concise and considered praying, firmly rooted in the ancient traditions of the catholic faith and the richness of Anglicanism:

In peace let us pray to the Lord:

For the peace that is from above and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the whole world, the stability and growth of the holy churches of God and the union of all people, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For this holy house and those who with faith and piety enter therein, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For our right-reverend bishops, the honorable presbyterate, the diaconate in Christ, and all clergy and people in their ministries, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For this nation, its government, and every city and country and those who dwell therein in faith, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For seasonable weather, plenteous bearing of fruits of the earth and peaceful seasons, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who travel, the sick, toil-worn and captives, for their safety, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who have gone to their rest in Christ before us, that they may dwell in the tabernacles of the righteous, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

Help, save, have mercy, and preserve us, O God, by your grace:

Lord, have mercy.

Commemorating the all holy, immaculate, more than blessed mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, with all saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our lives unto Christ our God:

Unto you, O Lord our God.

For unto you is due all glory, honor, and worship.

Amen.

[A suitable collect concludes the litany if used at the Eucharist]