Remembering the Magdalene of Scripture, Not Fiction

I often feel rather sorry for St. Mary Magdalene. No, not in her eternal joy in heaven as one of God’s Elect, but rather for what we have done (and keep doing) with her.

After successfully shucking the false conflation of the Magdalene with the Woman Taken in Adultery (John 8: 1-11) via the woman described as a “sinner” (Luke 7:50), many moderns almost immediately fell victim to the prejudices of our own era (with special thanks to the imagination and profit-drive of Dan Brown) and were conned (or conned ourselves) into seeing her has Jesus’ wife. It seems that we in the West have a hard time seeing St. Mary Magdalene outside of sexual relationships.

To this is added the plethora of modern studies, books, classes, lectures, and sermons which build upon what evidence there is in the Bible about St. Mary, often turning her into a sort of first-century CEO or Power-Broker. This, too, seems suspiciously like the projection of our own era’s obsessions rather than entering into Scripture’s message about God through Mary’s witness.

The Collect for this Feast expresses well what the Sacred Scriptures want us to know about the Magdalene: she was healed by Christ of a serious case of spiritual oppression (the “seven demons”) and she was the first witness of Christ’s resurrection. These two points stand out as enormously significant for her and for us.

Mary is a sign of the objective and personal reality of healing in the Christian faith. No matter how we want to describe it (using spiritual, medical, or experiential terminology), Christians have always been given healing by their Lord. For some it is sudden and instantly recognizable (exorcism and so-called “miraculous” healings). For others, it is a long, slow, drawn-out process of the healing of our wills…with all that follows from this. There is no sin, no state of illness or alienation God cannot overcome in the vastness of his love: that love was made flesh in Christ. The point is that Christ heals, and those who experience healing in Christ in whatever form it takes respond with a loyalty and love that puts them near him for the rest of life.

This nearness to Christ was evident in Mary Magdalene’s life: she stayed by him from her healing through his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. In fact, she was unique in the degree to which she stayed faithful to her friend, teacher, and healer.

Because of this, she experienced the risen Christ in a more personal, more emotionally-profound manner (as described in John 20) than anyone else in the Gospel. This, in itself, is a solemn reminder that only those who have come to love Christ personally, as One with whom they have a holy relationship beyond mere intellectualism (in whatever way that may be) are able to experience the beauty and power of the Resurrection as a mystery of God’s love and victory. Such persons join St. Mary Magdalene in becoming messengers—apostles— of the Gospel to the world.

And this second point (Mary as witness to the Resurrection) brings us back to the first (divine healing): it is a gift from God, not a result of human investigation or effort. We receive from God what God gives, and that alone. 

Faith is not a bargain with God: it is a relationship initiated by God and to which we respond. If we are interested in becoming a saint (one of God’s holy ones, in permanent relationship with the Trinity), then we will join St. Mary Magdalene in giving the cream of our life (time, talent, treasure, will) to God. If not, we will likely simply make up stories about this most blessed woman, focusing on the wrong things that suit our diminished love, rather than the vastness of what God has done—and continues to do—in the lives of his people.

Pray for us, St. Mary Magdalene! (And pray that God heal our misuse of your witness...)

Collect of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

An Act of Thanksgiving in the War on Entitlement

A sense of entitlement is one of the greatest enemies to the spiritual life. When we cease to give thanks for everything as a gift from God, we cease to be truly Eucharistic. The priestly flow of offering-receiving-thanking is interrupted when we come to think of ourselves as in any way entitled.

It is precisely this entitlement mentality that sits at the heart of many of the world’s injustices. Those who have great riches, power, and privilege are unlikely ever to share these gifts or use them for the Gospel’s sake if they think of them as personal possessions. Those who seek what they do not have are tempted to grasp them by right, rather than affirm them as gifts offered to all people by God.

What is needed is a regular practice of humility and gratitude in prayer, restoring the Eucharistic and priestly dimension to our daily life through intentional acts of regular gratitude to God.

Unfortunately, our era is not particularly adept in this sort of prayer. We are often far more focused on rights and demands than on humility and gratitude. Perhaps this is why contemporary church life seems so mired in ideological battles rather than gripping the imaginations and hopes of many people. Yet, this can easily change when faithful Christians began to pray humbly.

As is so often the case, we are well served here to cast our hearts and eyes over the treasury of Christian experience. Here, we meet forms of prayer that at first seem odd, even uncomfortable, but (when given time to speak to us) reveal a wisdom our own era lacks. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, writing in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, did exactly this.

Andrewes combined passages from the Sacred Scriptures, the writings of the Early and Medieval Church, as well as his own experience as a Christian and a pastor in order to create rich prayers contemplating the deeper mysteries of our faith. He also reflected on his own struggles with pride, covetousness, lust, anger, &c., so that his work tells of a truly lived Christianity…not a “theoretical” faith.

Below is an adaptation of one of Andrewes’ Acts of Thanksgiving. Try praying it deeply. Don’t get “hung up” on the language of being a sinner—so uncomfortable to those schooled in self-esteem—but allow the truth of one’s complete lack of entitlement to speak to your soul. Be freed by accepting all as a gift. Come before God without any sense of deserving anything, so that you may embrace the absolute, the extraordinary gift of your life, your knowledge of God, your salvation in Christ, and all God’s blessings (known and unknown, desired and unwanted, remembered and forgotten).

Make this a regular part of prayer, so that gradually—and by God’s grace alone—all sense of entitlement in your life may be exposed and eradicated. Then, the Gospel will shine through you as it does the glass of a window…giving light to all who encounter you, and illuminating your soul with received joy.

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An Act of Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings

My soul praises the Lord for the good things he has done

   [here, add specific thanksgivings].

Day by day, for these your mercies unto me, which I remember,

   and for others, exceedingly numerous,

   forgotten by reason of their multitude and by reason of my forgetfulness

Those given when I am willing, knowing, asking;

   those given when I am not asking, unaware, unwilling:

I confess and give thanks to you,

I bless and praise you as is due every day,

   and with all my soul and mind I vow:

Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you,

Glory to you and glory to your all-holy Name

For all your divine perfections:

For your inexpressible and unimaginable goodness and mercy

   to sinners and the unworthy,

And to me, of all sinners altogether the most unworthy:

   yes, O Lord, for these and for the rest

Glory and praise and blessing and thanksgiving

   by the voices and concert of voices,

   both of angels and humans and

   of all your saints in heaven and of

   all your creation whether in heaven or on earth,

      or under their feet,

Of me, the unworthy and miserable sinner,

   your lowly creature,

Both now, in this day and hour,

   and every day unto my last breath,

   and unto the end of the world

   and for ever and ever. Amen

-- adapted from “A Particular Thanksgiving” by Bp. Andrewes

Noonday Prayer, Expanded

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer makes provision for four specific times of liturgical prayer each day: Morning, Noon, Evening, and at the Close of the Day (called "Compline" from an old English word meaning completion). By “liturgical” forms of prayer, I mean that the Church provides set forms for these times, at which Christians may gather in community, or through the use of which individuals may participate in the ongoing Prayer of the Church around the world.

For a variety of reasons, probably the least used of these forms is the Noonday (prayers at Noon) liturgy. Yet, this time of prayer is both widely attested to in Sacred Scripture (both the Old and New Testaments) and in Christian Tradition. It is also true that many people have the opportunity to utilize these prayers in their daily life…either in the very simple form found on page 138 of the BCP, or in the fuller form on page 103. This service may be found online many places, including here.

For regular use over the long term, however, either of these forms can become a bit repetitive. The BCP itself invites additions/variation/enrichment in the rubrics (directions to offering the service, found in italics).  Let’s take a look at this service in a bit more detail, and think about ways it could be enriched for regular use.

Preface: Opening Prayers

Each of the Offices in the Prayer Book may be prefaced by various prayers, settling our minds and hearts in the presence of God as we do this sacred work. Such prayers might include the classical sequence of

In the Name, &c. (“In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”)  This is a way to begin any pre-Office prayers, a sort of “consecration of the time and place” in prayerful intention. This is said accompanied by making the Sign of the Cross.

Our Father, &c. – The Lord’s Prayer forms the context for all Christian prayer and study.

Hail, Mary, &c. – This prayer honors the Blessed Virgin and opens our hearts to the intercession of the saints, recalling our own synergistic participation in God’s work through the Holy Spirit given at Baptism. It also holds our mortality before us in prayer.

And these two prayers…

Open my mouth, O Lord, to bless your holy Name; cleanse my heart from all vain, evil, and wandering thoughts; enlighten my understanding and kindle my affections, that I may fittingly recite this Office with attention and devotion and so may be fit to be heard before the presence of your divine Majesty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, in union with that divine intention wherewith you yourself offered your praises to God while upon the earth, I now recite this Office to you [with the special intention for _____________ (here insert any person or concern you wish to offer before God during this Office)]. Amen.

The Opening Prayers

The Noonday Office begins wonderfully simply, and that should be retained. Its opening words (“O God, make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us!”) are nothing less than an urgent  cry to God. Much of the earth lives in precisely this condition each day, and if we are not in that sense of need, we need to rekindle our absolute dependence on God for love, humility, energy, wisdom, insight, and guidance as we start these prayers, associating ourselves with the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ and all humanity before God.

The opening words of this Office are traditionally accompanied by making the Sign of the Cross as a physical statement of our complete reliance upon the love of God found in Christ.

“A suitable hymn may be sung”

Each service of the Daily Office traditionally has hymns appropriate to the hour of the day or the particular season/feast associated with it. At Noonday that hymn comes just after the beginning of the service. For regular daily use one might learn one of the simpler Noonday hymns in the Hymnal 1982 (numbers 12-23).

Several of these are variations on St. Ambrose of Milan’s (AD 340-397) hymns for the Hours of prayer; others are from more modern periods of the Church’s devotional writing. All of them present Scripturally-grounded and sound theology in practical terms for this moment of the day. Learning some of these poems by heart (with or without music, depending on your ability) is a real asset in making the Noonday Office richer in content as well as beauty.

I am particularly fond of the setting (Hymn 21) of St. Ambrose’s Rector potens, verax Deus to 17^th century Anglican master Orlando Gibbons’ Song 34—surely one of the masterstrokes of Anglican hymnody.

Psalms

The BCP makes provision for several Psalm readings (the heart of each Daily Office service) at Noonday: Psalm 119:105-112, Psalm 121, and Psalm 126. However, the rubrics invite other options, too. This provides an opportunity for variation, focusing on the themes traditional to the various days of the week as well as the different seasons of the Church Year.

Howard Galley’s The Prayer Book Office (formerly available through Church Publishing, but now apparently languishing in publishing limbo for reasons of economy and perceived demand) provided a much richer array of Psalmody for Noonday—complete with Antiphons and seasonal alternates—arranged by weekday. Below is Galley’s schema (minus antiphons):

Sundays: Psalms. 23 & 67 or Psalm 118 (the latter during Eastertide, as well as when the previous Psalms are otherwise appointed)

Mondays: Psalm 119:1-8, 17-24

Tuesdays: Psalm 119:89-96, 105-112

Wednesday: Psalms 121 & 122

Thursdays: Psalms 124 & 126

Fridays (except in the seasons of Christmas and Easter): Psalms 119:81-88 & 130

Fridays of Christmas and Easter: Psalms 23 & 67

Saturdays (except in the season of Lent): Psalm 132

Saturdays of Lent: Psalm 119:137-144, 169-176

All of us are free to develop some other schema for reading Psalms at the Noon Hour (indeed, the Prayer Book provides two ways to pray the Psalms in the Daily Office at Morning and Evening Prayer—a monthly or a six-week cycle, with provision for special selections of Psalms on Major Holy Days).

One other pattern might be to read all of Psalm 119 over the course of the week, in praise of the Law of Christ’s love (anciently, this Psalm was often said in the course of each day!).

Readings from Scripture

The BCP provides three readings for the Noon hour, but also makes allowance for “other suitable passages” of Scripture to be used. Old manuals of prayer developed elaborate selections according to various Holy Days and seasons. This can be very useful, but it can also become cumbersome for most people. Keeping a short rota of readings might be a better pattern. Here is Galley’s rotation of lessons through the week:

Sundays and Wednesdays: 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation

Mondays and Thursdays: Romans 5:5

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Tuesdays and Saturdays: Malachi 1:11

From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

Fridays: 2 Timothy 2:11b-12a

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 
if we endure, we will also reign with him.

Galley goes on to give special readings (as well as Psalms and antiphons) through the Liturgical Year for the Noonday Office. This is one of the real gifts of this publication, making it all the more lamentable that this splendid work is currently lost to the wider Church.

The point of these lessons is, obviously, not to provide a long reading for content, but to re-focus our attention on raising our daily life and ministry to God’s presence and guidance. Any sustainable schema of Scripture readings for this Office will likely do the same.

It is also important to be clear that only one reading from Scripture is to be provided at this service. Noonday and Compline are not meant to be used as settings for long, in-course readings from Scripture. That is the work in Morning and Evening Prayer, where the Office’s structure is specifically fashioned to bear this weight and interpret it within a liturgical context.

“A Meditation, Silent or Spoken”

The BCP follows the Noonday Scripture reading with an opportunity for a meditation. This may take myriad forms both in group and individual settings. One thing is clear: it is not to be “spiritual busy-work.” In other words, this is not a time for lots of information to be imparted (to God or anyone else).

This meditation could be a time for a short address (really short by a speaker or the officiant) followed by silence. This is also a good time for a short reading from the Ancient Church or a classical Anglican source, with some time for reflection following. Finally, it is a perfectly acceptable simple to observe a good, long period of simple silence. Heaven knows the Church could use more of that.

The Prayers

The Prayer Book’s Noonday Office concludes simply with a short series of prayers: the Kyrie eleison (3-, 6-, or 9-fold varieties are always acceptable, the local community choosing), the Lord’s Prayer, and a concluding collect (the BCP provides four options). The 1979 BCP does not mean to encourage using the Collect of the Day at this Office, desiring simplicity by setting out these four options (the second one of which is particularly appropriate to Friday).  However, on Major Feasts, the use of the Collect of the Day is perfectly suitable at Noonday.

The rubrics allow for intercessions (and, presumably, petitions and thanksgivings) to follow the collect. This can be a good time to raise the concerns from the morning—or those of events expected in the afternoon—to God in prayer. Some people carry a small booklet or list of intercessions with them to work, or have such a resource near where they pray, and this is where that tool comes in handy in this service.

Finally, the service concludes with the Benedicamus Domino (“Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.”), in which we very clearly place our prayers within the larger prayer of the whole Church as we go back to the World and its concern…now renewed in the presence of God. Some people add the Memorial for the Departed (“May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”), accompanied by making the Sign of the Cross, after this.

Concluding Prayer

Noonday Prayers—and any Daily Office—may be followed by this prayer of praise and petition to God:

“To the holy and undivided Trinity, to the crucified humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the fruitful virginity of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, and to the whole company of the saints, be everlasting praise, honor, power, and glory from every creature, unto us the remission of all our sins for ever and ever. Amen.”

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The gift of the Noonday Office in our time is that it provides a simple (but versatile) way for prayer to enter into the midst of our daily work or other activities. In a society completely dominated by work, this in itself may be an act of subversion, one referencing the Kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdom of this world.

Noonday Office —with different Psalm and short reading selections—may also be used at 9 AM and 3 PM. These are the other traditional hours of prayer between Morning and Evening Prayer, and typically are kept very short.

All of this is yet another way that the catholic tradition of prayer makes possible a state of continual prayer—a life wherein the Kingdom of God is always near, always somehow already within us even as we await it fullness at the end of the ages.

Praying for our Nation from the Book of Common Prayer

The Propers

for

Independence Day (July 4)

Below are the appointed Psalms, Lessons, and Collect(s) for the commemoration of our nation’s Independence (a recognized Holy Day in the Church’s Calendar). In addition, appropriate antiphons and prayers are appended, allowing for a fuller observance of this commemoration.

At Morning Prayer

Invitatory: Use the antiphon appointed for Trinity Sunday

Antiphon

Let the earth fear the Lord; let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him.

Psalm 33

First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 10:1-8, 12-18

Antiphon on the First Canticle

Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, O  King of all the ages.

Canticle 19 (Magna et mirabilia)

Second Reading: James 5:7-10

Te Deum laudamus

Collect

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

or

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

At the Eucharist

Hymn of Praise: Gloria in excelsis

Collect as at Morning Prayer

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 10:17-21

Psalm: 145 or 145:1-9

Second Lesson: Hebrews 11:8-16

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 5:43-48

Preface of Trinity Sunday

[Trinity Sunday Blessing]

At Noonday

Antiphon

Your kingdom, O Lord, is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages.

Psalm 145

Short Reading

Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I perceive that God shown no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10:34-35

Collect as at Morning Prayer

At Evening Prayer

Antiphon

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy, and the wonders he does for his children.

Psalm 107:1-32

First Reading: Micah 4:1-5

Antiphon on Magnifact

The Lord has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-7

Antiphon on Nunc dimittis

My eyes, O Lord, have seen your salvation

Collect as at Morning Prayer

Additional Prayers:

A Litany for our Nation

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.

Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in States, Cities, and Towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

Teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

We thank you, Lord, for the natural majesty and beauty of this land.  They restore us, though we often destroy them.

Heal us.

We thank you for the great resources of this nation. They make us rich, though we often exploit them.

Forgive us.

We thank you for the men and women who have made this country strong. They are models for us, though we often fall short of them.

Inspire us.

We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in this land. It has drawn people from every nation, though we have often hidden from its light.

Enlighten us.

We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety. It sustains our life, though we have been faithless again and again.

Renew us.

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun. Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name. Amen.

For our Country

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners.  Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world:  We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace.  Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen.

For Congress or a State Legislature

O God, the fountain of wisdom, whose will is good and gracious, and whose law is truth: We beseech thee so to guide and bless our Senators and Representatives in Congress assembled (or in the Legislature of this State, or Commonwealth), that they may enact such laws as shall please thee, to the glory of thy Name and the welfare of this people; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

For Courts of Justice

Almighty God, who sittest in the throne judging right: We humbly beseech thee to bless the courts of justice and the magistrates in all this land; and give unto them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, that they may discern the truth, and impartially administer the law in the fear of thee alone; through him who shall come to be our Judge, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.