Monday, September 30, 2013

Michaelmas and the Renewal of Religious Imagination



Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’   
Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:

‘You are worthy to take the scroll

   and to open its seals,

for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God

   saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; 

you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,

   and they will reign on earth.’   
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!’ 
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
for ever and ever!’ 
And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.  
 Revelation 5:1-14 


A good friend of mine was telling me recently about growing up in a different form of Christianity, where the emphasis was on a very literal interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. He remarked on a phrase occasionally heard in those years: the Bible is the textbook for Christian life.

What seemed puzzling to him was how much of the Bible was not like any textbook he had ever before encountered. In fact, he began to think—rather secretly—that God could have written a far better form of textbook for Christians, if that was the Bible’s purpose. He kept such thoughts to himself, but they lurked there, unspoken, until he entered Anglican Christianity and developed a different appreciation for Holy Writ.

This little story came to mind as I was offering the first Evensong (evening prayers) for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (a.k.a. Michaelmas) last night. The lessons, antiphons, and prayers all combined to create a glorious, mysterious, beautiful-but-also-somewhat-frightening-in-the-way-holy-things-are sort of picture. I found my imagination engaged in ways that stretch my mind, as well as deepen my experience of God and the Creation. They also deepen my sense of the purpose and significance of all human life, including my own.

Take the passage from Revelation found above. It calls us to visualize complex things and experiences: a throne-room, a scroll with seals, a lamb who has been slain yet lives, golden bowls of incense, heavenly worship outside of the confines of chronological time, and a cosmological song of victory at once ancient and yet eternally new—among other things! It touches our emotions and our hopes; it takes us out of anything familiar and sets us in the midst of a mystery not only to be viewed, but perceived, unwrapped, contemplated.

This is not textbook material.

This is visionary, imaginative language for realities straining our minds, let alone our words. It is a revelation of an encounter with Truth and Reality beyond what those words normally mean. It cannot be reduced to a formula or a step-by-step guide to anything. This is about being, much more than doing.

When I think seriously about it, my life as an Anglican-Catholic is profoundly subversive: a subversion of all the systems and techniques used by institutions (including the Institutional Church) to domesticate and control the often wild and always mysterious encounter with God the Holy Trinity.

Someone outside of my tradition might be tempted to say that the daily round of prayers and study in which I engage is itself a conformist, deadening routine. This would be true if the point was to turn the materials I work with into dead texts, meant only for use as tools for control or intellectual mastery. But this is not what my life as a Christian is about at all.

I read once that the mission of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican tradition was to help in the “re-enchantment of the world.” In other words, that the Western mind has become so disconnected from its spiritual self that it has sought to destroy the world as an icon of God. We are literally in the process of demonizing the earth through our economic, political, moral, and environmental efforts. Anglo-Catholics, by our insistence on sacramentality—the intrinsic holiness of Creation and its pointing to a restored and renewed Creation of which the risen life of Christ in the Church is the first-fruits—are laboring with God, the angels and the saints to reveal the truth about nature and humanity.

Part of this great ministry is the restoration of our religious imagination. Imagination here does not mean “making things up,” or escaping reality. It means the capacity to live in God’s presence and holiness, to allow the Divine Life to lift us up from mere materialism into the fullness of being itself. It means living in a state of wonder and humility, beyond any institutional objectives or controls.

Michaelmas is one of the better expressions of this sort of Christianity. The ministry of angels is both within and beyond the boundaries of this world. The psalms and readings from Sacred Scripture point us to a reality that is completely other, and yet also directly infused and pervasive in the Christian’s life. We live in a holy tension between the now and the “not-yet.” It is this productive, enchanted place that allows for God’s will to be manifested, grown into, and acted upon…not by ideologues (those who, self-sufficiently, know what is right) but by disciples (those who learn).

There are, sadly, many even in the Church who find this sort of religious imagination unappealing or unacceptable.

Some seem constitutionally challenged by this concept, and joining the culture's equation of imagination with entertainment, they tend to enforce their own limitations on the rest of us. They feast on textbooks while we crave poems. They deny access to anything before their era so as to clip off any wayward roots that might press into the mystery they themselves do not understand or like.

Others know all too well the power of a restored religious imagination; they also know that they are unable to completely control such imaginative persons. This they find intolerable (and this is true of  either the “conservative” or the “liberal” ends of the ideological spectrum). So, they marginalize the sacramental, replacing it with us/them politics and policies, “metrics for growth," "objectives," and “proven techniques.” Discussions of the deeper things of the spirit are threats; lectures on the law or what is currently in vogue are not only encouraged—but enforced. A deadening lethargy hangs above such religious communities.

But the human being has an inbuilt thirst for an imaginative encounter with God and Creation. While it is being suppressed and drowned out in us by the educational and economic clamor currently prevailing, it cannot be eradicated. Those of us who know the beautiful, complex-yet-simple truth of a living faith in a loving but utterly holy God may be marginalized by institutional objectives and obsessions, but like the holy angels who worship at the Throne of the Lamb in heaven, we will never be cut off from the source of our hope and joy.

It is this powerful and imaginative reality that I know to be reaffirmed on this Holy Day.

May the angels protect and defend all of us, and by their leading, may we all enter into the Divine Worship both on earth and—at the end of the ages—in heaven itself.


The Collect for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Of Angels and Mortals: The Litany of the Angels



Litany of the Holy Angels
Especially for prayers in times of great need, on Monday or Tuesday (traditional days associated with the creation of the Angels), or on the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. This litany may be used after the Collects at the Daily Office, or as a separate devotion.

God the Father, Creator of the Angels,
Have mercy on us
God the Son, Lord of the Angels,
Have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit, Life of the Angels,
Have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, delight of all the Angels,
Have mercy on us
Holy Mary,   
Pray for us
All you Choirs of Blessed Spirits,
Pray for us
Holy Seraphim, Angels of Love,
Pray for us
Holy Cherubim, Angels of the Word,
Pray for us
Holy Thrones, Angels of Life,
Pray for us
Holy Angels of Adoration,
Pray for us
Holy Dominions,
Pray for us
Holy Powers,
Pray for us
Holy Principalities,
Pray for us
Holy Virtues,
Pray for us
Holy Archangel Michael,
Pray for us
Conqueror of Lucifer,
Pray for us
Angel of Faith and Humility,
Pray for us
Guardian of the Anointing of the Sick,
Pray for us
Patron of the Dying,
Pray for us
Prince of the Heavenly Hosts,
Pray for us
Guide of souls to the judgment seat of God,
Pray for us
Holy Archangel Gabriel,
Pray for us
Angel of the Incarnation,
Pray for us
Faithful Messenger of God,
Pray for us
Angel of Hope and Peace,
Pray for us
Protector of all servants and handmaids of God,
Pray for us
Guardian of Baptism,
Pray for us
Patron of Priests,
Pray for us
Holy Archangel Raphael,
Pray for us
Angel of Divine Love,
Pray for us
Conqueror of the hellish fiend,
Pray for us
Helper in great distress,
Pray for us
Angel of suffering and of healing,
Pray for us
Patron of physicians, wanderers and travelers,
Pray for us
All Holy Archangels,
Pray for us
Angels of service before the throne of God,
Pray for us
Angels of service for mankind,
Pray for us
Holy Guardian Angels,
Pray for us
Helpers in all our needs,
Pray for us
Light in all darkness,
Pray for us
Support in all danger,
Pray for us
Admonishers of our conscience,
Pray for us
Intercessors before the throne of God,
Pray for us
Shield of defense against evil spirits,
Pray for us
Our constant companions,
Pray for us
Our safest Guides,
Pray for us
Our truest Friends,
Pray for us
Our wisest Counselors,
Pray for us
Our models of prompt obedience,
Pray for us
Mirrors of humility and sincerity,
Pray for us
All you Holy Angels,
Assist us
During Life,
Assist us
In Death,
Assist us
In heaven, we shall be grateful to you!

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us
O Christ, hear us,       
Christ graciously hear us.

Lord, have mercy
    Christ, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.

V. God has given his charge over you
R. To guard you in all your ways

Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

In the Daily Office: St. Michael-and-All-Angels (September 29)


A ruined chapel of St. Michael in England;
such chapels were often built on the top
of a hill, being in the aerial domain.
A fine practice, where possible, is to make a journey
to a local summit on or around Michaelmas and offer
prayers, the Eucharist, or the Litany of the Angels.

Below are the Psalms, Antiphons, Lessons, Collect and other resources for keeping the annual Feast of the Angels in the Episcopal Calendar. When offered as a complete cycle, the Anglican Daily Office allows those of us who are not monastics to engage in a rich life of prayer—based in the Sacred Scriptures and the ongoing tradition of the Ancient & Undivided Church. By using the Prayer Book’s observance of the Calendar fully, along with a few additions from the Anglican tradition (especially the currently-out-of-print “Prayer Book Office” by Howard Galley), the Church graciously invites us into a balanced and holy Rule of Prayer suitable for a lifetime’s growth in the knowledge and love of the Lord.

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!

[As with most other Feast Days, if St. Michael’s Day falls on a Sunday, it is normally observed on Monday; the First Evensong being said on Sunday evening. The form of the Office given here is that of Rite II].

At First Evening Prayer (Eve of the Feast); BCP p. 115

Psalms:

Antiphon (antiphons are said before and after a Psalm or Canticle)
The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear him, and he will deliver them.
Psalm 34

Antiphon
The angel stood at the altar of the temple, having in his hand a golden censer, hallelujah.
Psalm 150

First Reading
Daniel 12:1-3

First Canticle
Antiphon
Angels and Archangels Thrones and Dominions, Principalities and Powers, Virtues of the heavens, O praise the Lord of heaven, alleluia.
Canticle: 13 (A Song of Praise/Benedictus es, Domine), BCP p. 90

Second Reading
Revelation 5:1-14
followed by silence

A Third Reading – from the early Church
From a homily on the Gospels (Homily 32, 8-9: PL 76, 1250-1251) by St. Gregory the Great

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.


Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy”.


Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.


So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle.

Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

Second Canticle
Antiphon
The heavenly hosts extol the son of the Most High; to him Cherubim and Seraphim continually cry, Holy!
Canticle: Song of Mary (Magnificat), BCP p. 119

Collect

(Contemporary language)
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

At Morning Prayer

Opening Scripture
Major Saints’ Days (BCP p. 77)

At the Invitatory
Antiphon for Major Saints’ Days (BCP p. 82)
Invitatory Psalm: Either Venite or Jubilate, BCP pages 82/83

Psalm
Antiphon
You have made man but little lower than the angels; you have put all things under his feet.
Psalm 8

First Reading
Job 38: 1-7

First Canticle
Antiphon
Truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Canticle: Song of Zechariah (Benedictus), BCP 92

Second Reading
Hebrews 1:1-14

Second Canticle
Te Deum laudamus, BCP p. 95

Collect
As at First Evening Prayer

At Noonday (BCP p. 103)

Psalm
Antiphon
Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding.
Psalm 103

or the following

Antiphon
Let all the angels of God worship him.
Psalm 97

Short Reading
Revelation 8:3-4

Collect
As at First Evening Prayer

[Here, or at other offices & times of prayer, may be said the Litany of the Angels]

At Second Evening Prayer, BCP p. 115

Psalm
Antiphon
You make the winds your angels, and flames of fire your servants, hallelujah.
Psalm 104

First Reading
2 Kings 6: 8-17

First Canticle
Antiphon
In the presence of the angels, I will sing your praise, O Lord.
Canticle: Song of Mary (Magnificat), BCP p. 119

Second Reading
Mark 13: 21-27

Second Canticle
Antiphon
My eyes, O Lord, have seen your salvation
Canticle: Song of Simeon (Nunc dimittis), BCP p. 120

Collect
As at first Evening Prayer

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Litany for the Personal Life: A Modern Adaptation


Southwell Minster Chapter House in England, where the original
version of this Litany was initially used.

This litany, adapted from its 19th century original meant for clergy, is offered as a tool for spiritual self-examination by serious Christians. It assumes the user believes that our baptismal vows (and confirmation/marital vows, if applicable) are at the center of our life and the essential measures to which we are accountable in living out the Gospel. By using this litany, we are exploring some of the oft-hidden dimensions of discipleship, as well as the resistance we subtly (or not so subtly) put up to the Holy Spirit’s leading of our life.

By bringing these truths to consciousness, we are much better able to come before God in humility and reality. We are also better able to make amends with others when we are open to the truth of ourselves. Our effectiveness as reconcilers depends on it.

This litany has proven useful in a number of ways:
- As a regular devotion during the quarterly Embertides, or at other times of special reflection on ministry (e.g. a baptismal anniversary)
- As a Friday devotion
- As a preparation for making a private confession
- As a prelude to journaling on the subject of our discipleship
- As the conclusion to Morning or Evening Prayer, or as a Noon devotion

If, during your use of this litany, you become aware of significant matters needing redress, please contact your local parish and speak with the priest or other pastoral counsel. All discipleship requires grounding in a community and in the worship of Almighty God for it to be balanced, whole, and pointed toward truth and healing.


Preface:

Seeing that we are fragile but entrusted with important work, and that this work will be hindered by our infirmities of body, soul, and spirit, let us pray God will show us our faults and  the harm of what we have not cared to control, giving us strength and wisdom to do more perfectly the work to which our lives have been consecrated in holy baptism.

Let us pray:

O Lord, open our minds to see ourselves as you see us, or as others see us and we see others; and from all unwillingness to know our weaknesses;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From moral weakness of spirit, from fear of responsibility, strengthen us with courage to speak the truth as our baptismal vows require, and to speak in love and self control; and from all moral cowardice;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From weakness of judgment, from the indecision that can make no choice, and the irresolution that carries no choice into action, strengthen our eyes to see and our will to choose the right;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From dullness of conscience, from a feeble sense of our duty, from thoughtless disregard of consequences to others and a low idea of the obligations of discipleship;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From weariness in our continuing struggles, from despondency in failure and disappointment, from an over-burdened sense of unworthiness, and from a fixation on our failings, raise us to a lively hope and trust in your presence and mercy; and from all exaggerated fears and frustrations;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From self-conceit, boasting, and delight in supposed success and superiority, raise us to the modesty and humility of honesty, and from all self-delusion;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From affectation and untruth, conscious or unconscious, from pretence and acting a part which is hypocrisy, from impulsively seeking to please persons or make circumstances easy, strengthen us to godly simplicity; and from all false appearances;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From love of flattery, from over-ready belief in praise, from dislike of criticism and resentment of reproof; from the comfort of self-deception in persuading ourselves that others think better than the truth of us;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From pride and self will, from desire to have own way in all things, from a focus on our own ideas and blindness to the value of others; enlarge the generosity of our hearts and enlighten the fairness of our judgment; and from all selfish and arbitrary temper;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From all jealousy, whether of the people we serve, of fellow disciples, or those in authority; from grudging others success, from impatience in godly obedience and eagerness for authority; give us the spirit of mutuality to share loyally with fellow workers;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From all hasty utterances of impatience, from the retort of irritation and the taunt of sarcasm; from all infirmity of temper in provoking or being provoked, and from love of unkind gossip;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   In all temptations to abandon principle for expediency, to embrace dishonesty or corruption, or to degrade our high calling and forget our holy vows; and in all times of frailty in our flesh;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   In times of ignorance and perplexity as to what is right and best to do in our ministry, O Lord, direct us with wisdom to judge rightly, and to seek and trust your will in our lives; and in our mistakes and misunderstandings;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   In times of doubts and questionings, when our belief is perplexed by new learning, new teaching, new thought, when our faith is strained by creeds, by doctrines, by mysteries beyond our understanding, give us the faithfulness of learners and the courage of believers in you; give us boldness to examine and faith to trust all truth; and in times of change, to grasp new knowledge thoroughly and to combine it loyally and honestly with the old; alike from stubborn rejection of new revelations, and from a hasty assurance that we are wiser than those who came before us;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   From strife and partisanship and division within the Body, from magnifying our certainties to condemn all differences of opinion, and from all arrogance in our dealings with others;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   Give us knowledge of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses; teach us by the standard of your Word, by the judgments of others, by examinations of ourselves; give us earnest desire to strengthen ourselves continually by study, prayer and meditation; and from all prejudices which narrow our vision of your work and will;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   Give us true knowledge of the people with whom we serve, in their differences from us and their likeness to us, that we may deal with their real selves, measuring their feelings by our own, and patiently considering their varied lives and circumstances; and from false judgments of our own, from misplaced trust and distrust, misplaced praise and rebuke;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   Chiefly, O Lord, we pray you, give us knowledge of you, to see you in all your works, always to feel your presence near, to hear and know your call.  May your Spirit by our spirit, our words your words, your will our will; be in our midst as the point of contact between ourselves and others; and throughout our lives may we have faith in you;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

   Finally, O Lord, we pray, blot out our past negligence and offenses, heal the damage done by our past ignorance, make us amend for our past mistakes; uplift our hearts to new love, new energy and devotion, that we may be unburdened from the grief and shame of past faithlessness to go forth in your strength to persevere through success and failure, through good report and evil report, even to the end; and in all time of our tribulation, and in all time of our wealth;
            Save us and help us, O Lord.

O, Christ, hear us.
O, Christ, hear us.

Lord, have mercy.
  Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, &c.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
           

The original version of this litany was composed by Dr. George Ridding,
 first Bishop of the Diocese of Southwell.