This day on which we commemorate King Alfred the Great, it is important to recognize a few things about the, in so many ways, degenerate generation in which we live. We live in an age of “cheap grace” Bonhoeffer put it. What does this mean? It means that we live in an era on which the Church tends to convey the Grace of God (being an instrument and channel of His Peace in the soul) easily and without asking much of the individual or family or nation seeking it. For those who are aware of the distinction between Law and Gospel, it might be said that the only way by which we can have cheap grace is if we have easy law. But what do we mean by tough laws? What do we mean by “biblical” law?

Here we need to distinguish carefully between biblical Law and unbiblical Law. Biblical Law is what demands of us a work by which we merit God’s favor. For example, as Hans Wiersma puts it: “One common way in which law and gospel are confused is when we imagine that we can make ourselves eternally right with God by deciding to do what God wants us to do.”[1] Christian America, in a pseudo-Puritan and fundamentalist sense, wants us to reap certain Covenant Blessings by our willfully choosing to be Holy. While the Liberals fashion one Utopia along Socialist lines, Christian America attempts to fashion a Utopia along “biblical” lines. But is this really biblical?
Law and Gospel do not work in contradiction to one another but in tandem. Consider 1 Timothy 1:

"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust."

When preaching Law, Paul is also preaching Gospel. “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” The commandment brings us to charity out of a pure heart. “. . . we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully”. He then lists a bunch of wrong things that the lawless and disobedient do and then says all this is “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.” Law is not opposed to Gospel, but works in tandem with it to bring sinners to a recollection of their sin and the need for the Gospel, and even this preliminary step in receiving the Gospel is still the Gospel – a prevenient or common grace, we might even say – a preparation for the Gospel, but still the Gospel.
              
So, there we are again, easy law leads to cheap grace. So often we think that the job of the minister and of the Christian is to be “nice” and to just do a little good and walk a little humbly. While we have to check ourselves to make sure that our way of preaching the Gospel is not works-based, haughty, hypocritical or self-righteous – do this and you will be happy and God will be happy – we have to preach the Gospel of Grace, in season and out of season, and that means Law too. Grace is Peace with God, not happiness. Grace brings us safely through this vale of tears not to an earthly kingdom of Christian America, or a worldly or temporal peace. Despite that, robust Law does lead, when the heart is broken and contrite, to strong or expensive Grace – not earned, but freely given to the broken and contrite heart by God’s unmerited favor. Despite that, a godly kingdom or nation can arise from ashes.
              
The minister of reconciliation, God’s ordained priest, is often thought to preach simply Gospel, which means only mercy and grace. But, as a minister especially, the Gospel is preached in the midst of the Law, not separated from it. There are times when, just short of being a “social justice warrior”, a minister, like a local judge or officer of the peace, must call the community on the carpet for unjust business practices, shoddy workmanship, horrible landlords slum-lording it over others, corporate corruption, as well as the idle workers and lazy poverty stricken, looking for “cheap grace” in easily received handouts. Even local judges should be rebuked by the minister. Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614-1674), as in his Passion Hymns, reflecting on Christ’s Judgment Seat poeticizes.

               Laws codified and righteous
               The Jews perverted here.
               Let us all recollect this
               And shun examples base.
               Judgment belongs to God.
               What though a spiteful plaintiff
               Bring charges, pure truth twisting?
               Let men of power beware![2]
 
Pastor Pétursson was not above being in conflict from his Icelandic pulpit with his local magistrate. The minister of reconciliation is not a social worker, but has a little bit more time (or at least more flexible working hours) than the average Christian to make an extra phone call to speak to customer service when the business has not been all that it can be, to make sure that the manager is notified when a food industry worker or waiter has been rude or even offered poor service. The minister of reconciliation should tip well, as if offering alms to a beggar, when services are performed well. The minister of the Gospel of Grace, according to the Law of Moses, should not let the sun go down before giving wages to the hireling and should not delay to repay any debt, or should not be indebted at all! This is being a minister of Law as well as Grace. Should he fail, becoming cognizant of his failure, there is Grace for him too!
              
Alfred the Great is that first English King that we really point to who called Anglo-Saxon England to righteousness by Church and State, by Grace and by Law – this according to his Dom Boc – His Law Book. There was no Cheap Grace in His Kingdom. Instead, one sees Lex Talionis at work, similar to the Law of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, but, arguably with more Grace. After enumerating the Ten Commandments (while translating it in a way which could not be interpreted as iconoclast, contrary to the Seventh Ecumenical Council, i.e. as against images in the Church), Christian slavery is spoken of, but only for 7 years – then release. Female slavery is permitted, but a daughter cannot be sold further than among her own people, and if the master’s son sleeps with the female slave, she must be clothed with what “is worthy of her maidenhead, that is the dowry.” Murder requires capital punishment except “he who kills him out of necessity or unwillingly or accidentally . . . and he did not lie in wait for him, he will be worthy of life and lawful compensation” – here the weregild, man-gold, shall be paid. If it was premeditated murder, however, sanctuary will not be given, nor compensation be made; the murderer shall die.” “If one deceives an unwed virgin and sleeps with her, let him compensate her and have her thereafter as wife. However, if the virgin’s father does not wish to giver her, let him give the money according to the dowry.” Here, shotgun weddings are permitted, but the father may also protect his daughter and keep her at home and keep the dowry too!

And yet some things, witchcraft, bestiality, pagan sacrifice, are capital offences, while immigrants are protected. These are precisely according to the Law of Moses. He ends with words such as these.

"These are the laws which the almighty God himself was speaking to Moses and commanded him to hold. And after, the only begotten son of the Lord, our God, that is Healing Christ, came to earth and he said he did not come to break or suppress these commandments, but to increase them with all goodness, and he taught mild-heartedness and humbleness of spirit. Then after his suffering [passion], before his apostles traveled in different directions broadly all over the earth to teach, while they were still together, they turned many heathen peoples to God."

There is then a paraphrase concerning the Council of Jerusalem in the Book of Acts. “The apostles and the elder brothers wish you health and we make known to you that we have found out by asking that some of our companions came to you with our words and enjoined you to hold them in a heavier fashion than we enjoined.” The interpretation is that the Law of Moses is, as Alfred has done, to some extent to be held to but with grace and mercy.

"After that it came to pass that many nations accepted the faith of Christ. Then many synods were assembled all over earth, even as far as among the English, who then accepted the faith of Christ. Then the holy bishops and other excellent counselors, decided, for the mild-heartedness Christ taught, that for the great misdeeds secular lords might, with their leave and without sin, accept monetary compensation for first offenses, which they then decreed, except in the case of betrayal of a lord, which they dared not resolve for any mild-heartedness, because almighty God did not judge any for them who despised Him, nor did Christ, God’s son, judge any for him who condemned Him to death, and he commanded to love the lord himself."[3]

It is then said, “I, King Alfred, gathered together and commanded to be written many of those which our forebears held, those which pleased me; and many of those which did not please me I, with the advice of my counselors, discarded and commanded to observed in a different way.” Here is the principle enacted among the Heathens and among the Nations, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Here in Alfred’s time we see there is grace, it is neither cheap nor lawless. It is both local (English) and universal (Catholic), Jewish but adapted for a different age and culture. How can we do it better in ours, with correct biblical law and without cheap grace? 

Picture ~ An excellent icon just purchased for the author's church may be found at: https://www.uncutmountainsupply.com/icons/of-saints/by-name/a/icon-of-st-alfred-the-great-1al15/
              


[1] https://lutherantheology.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/a-brief-introduction-to-law-gospel/

[2] Hallgrímur Pétursson, “Passion Hymn 25: Jesus is Brought Out from the Praetorium.” Rise up, My Soul: The Icelandic Way of The Cross. Translated by Michael Fell (2014).

[3] https://www.heroicage.org/issues/18/gates.php

The actor Tom Hollander, no doubt, got his “Rev. Creds” as Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice (2005) starring Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen. While not holding a church candle, in my opinion, to the incomparable performance of David Bamber as Mr. Collins by in the 1995 mini-series starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, Tom Hollander does an adequate job. Yet, just 5 years later, he ascends to great heights in his performance as “Adam” the country parson become urban minister in the series Rev. (3 Seasons). I recently discovered this. Palm Sunday, despite all the stress of the coming Holy Week, all of my anxiety lifted in the first minute and a half of Season 1, Episode 1. I’m sorry I hadn’t discovered the series years before!
            Thoroughly Anglican in culture and nuance, and while modern (but not “preachy”) in the dogmatics: yes, the CofE has homosexual priests; yes, the CofE has female clergy, the depth of understanding of the complexity of applied theology and pastoral care is plummeted, with humor. The series begins with Adam welcoming folks to the “dynamic and vibrant” inner city church, and then you see sparse pews. It turns out he is contending with a parish left in disarray when the previous priest departed to become Roman Catholic. Adam is immediately dealing with the frustrating reality of folks attending your parish only so they can get a discount sending their kids to the parish school - “Be on your knees, Avoid the fees”! It ends with the church closing, three seasons later, and yet, in the final scene the “ministry team” enters into the boarded-up church, looking very much like a sepulcher, once more to hold Easter Vigil and to, finally, baptize the Vicar’s child for which they longed for so long. There is an acknowledgement of the dying Anglican church, enveloped by a Muslim neighborhood, but a hope that, while a parish here and there may close, the Church remains strong as ever because of the Risen Christ and His promise to be with the Church until the end of the ages, and with the corresponding directive from Matthew 28, that we are to Baptize, despite how hopeless the world appears to be and how short-lived our future seems to be.
            Is this not a very important part of the Easter Message? Clement of Rome writes, quite early on in the Christian era, saying:

Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which takes place in eastern lands, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as the flesh decays a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the bones of its parent, and bearing these it passes from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. And, in open day, flying in the sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and having done this, hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect the registers of the dates, and find that it has returned exactly as the five hundredth year was completed.
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Here we note a few things: Jesus was anointed for his burial, both by the Wise Men at his birth and prior to his death by a penitent sinner, washing his feet. Albeit in a new tomb, he is placed in a sepulcher and from there, according to the practice of the time, he was expected to decompose and his bones would then be “gathered to his fathers” i.e. “the bones of its parent”. Jesus was seen by thousands in public events after his resurrection and the Phoenix “in open day, flying in the sight of all men . . . places . . . on the altar of the sun” which speaks to the forty days between His “mighty resurrection and glorious ascension”.
            Beloved, we are more than hopers in the Resurrection, we set our whole store by it. If it that easy for Christ to do, to raise the dead, why do we worry about changing demographics, changing generations, and, occasionally, some closed churches? They are easy to reopen, like sealed tombs; they are easy, to resurrect, like dry bones in a dry valley.   

Picture from Phil Fisk and The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/mar/15/olivia-colman-tom-hollander-rev

It might be easily taken for granted by clergy of the Anglican church how much hard work the altar guild does - especially when a priest is serving in a fully-functioning parish. (Having a mission is a great way for a priest to understand better about how much the altar guild does do.) But this was not always so. As in the Eastern Orthodox church, there were vast periods of time when almost all of the preparation for Holy Communion was done by the priest alone in Anglicanism. In Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, the main character describes a foster parent, a clergyman, preparing the Holy Communion himself, by cutting the bread and then pressing each piece flat personally and individually. It is often noted that the Holy Communion was not celebrated often back then, but then again the preparation was far more complicated and elaborate.

Consider this description in the Scottish Episcopal Church in the late 18th into the early 19th centuries:

“At Fraserburgh, the sum total of public celebrations was only five in the course of the ecclesiastical year – i.e., three on the great Festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and two on the Sundays after Trinity, without any regard to the first of the month – generally the 10th and 21st, the last being regulated by the course of the harvest, whether early or late.”

A description is then given by his curate, Mr. Pressley, as to how the Parson of Fraserburgh, Bishop of Moray, Alexander Jolly, prepared for Holy Communion.

“Till he grew feeble, he would not allow me to take any part in covering the altar, &c., or in preparing the elements, and in the coldest Christmas morning he was to be found in the Church, at about 6 a.m., with a large lantern which he kept for the purpose, making his arrangements, and carrying from his lodgings, at two different journeys, all the necessary materials – the bread previously prepared and kept in a box for the prothesis, and the wine (port) in bottles, carefully drained when poured into the paten. The whole was concluded by an office of devotion for the purpose, and given memoriter.” (The Life of the Right Reverend Alexander Jolly, D.D., Bishop of Moray, 56)

That the Scottish Episcopal Church maintained a preparation of the elements prayerfully (and by the priest alone) is noted well in Traditional Ceremonies and Customs Connected with the Scottish Liturgy, explaining that much was made of the preparation of the bread in which “we seem to find an echo of the practice of the Eastern Church” (34) and also in the mixing of the chalice beforehand which is the primitive Celtic and English practice, but to which the Scottish church in different places added more ceremonial.

For example, one can see one prayer at the mixture of the water and wine beforehand composed by Bishop Robert Forbes, and recorded in a catechism on the Holy Eucharist also prepared by himself:

“O most gracious and merciful Lord God, as this Wine represents to us the Sacred Blood of Christ, and this Water thy people, and also the Mixing of these two together represents to us the blessed Union between Christians and their merciful Saviour and Head; so, of thy infinite mercy grant, that those thy Servants, who partake of this mixed Cup, may no more be separated from Christ their Head than this Water can no be separated from this Wine, but they may continue their unmerited Union with him by a firm and steady perseverance in that Faith once delivered to the Saints, and by the serious Practice of all virtuous and godly living, till at last they arrive at that unspeakable Bliss in the glorious Mansions above, which thou hast prepared for those who are thy faithful Servants, through the same Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, World without End. Amen.
            “Our Father, which art in heaven, etc.” (144-45)

In many parishes, it might be argued we spend more time on the bulletin, editing it and making sure that the birthday dates are correct and that there are no grammatical errors than we do prayerfully preparing the elements. So how much prayerful preparation should occur during a "Prothesis," praying that each member receiving communion might come vested in the “Wedding Garment” of Faith and Repentance? Lengthy preparation (even of the bulletin) should not be a drudgery but a prayerful preparation.

Picture is from St. Ninian's Cathedral Perth and https://www.perthcathedral.co.uk/about/history

The Seven types you might encounter in your efforts to grow a church. Good leadership requires prayerfully bringing all these elements into concert rather than allowing them to be antagonistic towards each other or catering to only one type.

Rightness: These are the folks who are concerned with Right Theology (and consequently like to be right). They have a tendency to see everything wrong with Christianity and Culture as a problem with wrong theology. Correct theology will correct most, if not all, of the problems. Folks of this sort tend to gravitate towards and convert in the direction of places like Confessional Calvinism and Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, and Fundamentalism. They also might be crossing every “T” and dotting every “I” and checking every aspect of the church finances and bylaws, if you let them.

Righteousness: Very similar to the Rightness crowd (and there might be a lot of overlap) are those who are concerned with the Culture Wars. Things wrong with the Culture need to be corrected and there is a tendency to see Political Activism as well as Right Theology as a way forward. Strictly speaking, the Rightness crowd will be ambivalent about how much Political Activism will help the culture. Political Activism also helps in establishing power in the congregation and the Righteousness type might well bring their knowledge of political science to the church-conflict table.

Religion: These individuals are very much concerned with Religion in its Devotional, Liturgical, and Pietistic elements. They see Christianity as the ultimate Religion (as in “Religion’s” etymology from the Latin to “tie things together”). The Aesthetic is important and these folks will team up with the Rightness folks, finding common ground during “Worship Wars.” They might well find common ground with those concerned with “Rigor” as well.
 
Revelation: These people are strongly interested in the claims of Revelation. They value the Prophetic and Declarative in Christianity. They want to see the impact of Scripture on people’s lives. They are evangelistic and often become fixated on Eschatology. Many times they might butt heads with the Religion element and the Rightness element as being into navel gazing and not into outreach. Other times they might be in concert with the Religion and Rightness elements. On the other hand, they find a lot in common with the Righteousness crowd and often see Political Activism as a way to bring the Church back to having power in the culture and a Prophetic impact on culture but often they are ambivalent and pessimistic about political activity since deep down they believe that the End Times are upon us.

Resurrection: These are the new Christians, the baby Christians, those who have come to Christ late in life and have not yet joined another group. It might be argued that they are susceptible to the influence of whatever group holds the most sway in the Church in which they find themselves yet it is hard to say what will happen. It isn’t that they don’t have a mind of their own, but if conflict happens, they are libel to get hurt easily when caught in the crossfire.

Rigor: This crowd can be dogmatic like the Rightness and Religion crowd. They have a tendency to do what is most hard – because it is most hard - and, while valuing the aesthetic, their hearts are drawn towards the ascetic. If they fall under the spell of those within the Revelation crowd, they might choose mission work. If they fall among the Religion crowd, they might choose communal life.

Relationship: This group values fellowship above all. The Resurrection Christian has a lot in common with them. They can be found most often in nominal Christian churches as well as in those bordering on the cultic – incidentally churches most opposed to nominal Christianity. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove in church conflict, they will, like the Resurrection Christians, be caught in the crossfire and, instead of fighting to maintain control of the church, they might well find a different fellowship without much of a fight. Once the gauntlet has been thrown down during church conflict, fellowship has gone out of the window. So they don’t see much of a reason to stick around.  

All of this being said, there is a lot of fluidity and flexibility. People are individuals. They might have aspects of one group as well as another. This outline is only there to help for purposes of reflection and contemplation. People grow and change and change is possible. Nevertheless, again, it is the job of a church leader to be able to bring all the elements prayerfully into concert with one another. This is ultimately within the realm of God’s Sovereignty and the work of His Holy Spirit.

As I was picking up the fake grass this Easter morn that my son had strewn from his Easter Basket, I began to reflect on the symbolism of this tradition. I don’t claim to have the only “right” symbolism but these were my thoughts…

Isaiah tells us that, “All flesh is grass.” And here we can reflect on the grass sitting in the bottom of the Basket as that mortality into which each man is born, by virtue of Adam’s sin. It is like that dirt into which our mortal flesh shall be committed.

On top of this grass lies the egg - colored, fertile, a sign of the Resurrection of the Body. That which is committed to the earth “in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection,” (’28 PB page 337), God shall raise. “At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies : and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting : and they that have done evil into everlasting fire” (Athanasian Creed). “New Life” is a fairly standard interpretation of the eggs themselves.

Yet, we might reflect even further on the Basket itself. It is made of dead grass as well, straw, but is fashioned into the shape of something that carries the eggs and carries the grass at the bottom of the Basket. We, as Christians, through our Baptisms are shaped into the Church, woven into the fabric of Christ’s Body.

As we go forward in the liturgical year, we will note the emphasis. The first is Witness: We are to Witnesses to the Resurrection. “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (Reading from the First Sunday after Easter). The second is Evangelism - bringing people to church, as a Basket brings those signs of the Resurrection (the eggs) to individuals on Easter morn. “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd” (Reading from the Second Sunday after Easter).

To bring people to church is to bring a gift to them, and that Easter Basket is a symbol of that gift. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights . . .” (Reading from the Fourth Sunday after Easter). And this good work, we must do if we would be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [our] own selves” (Reading from Rogation Sunday).

Finally, we can reflect on the Easter Basket as far forward as Pentecost. “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (Reading for Whitsunday). Again, we are formed as a basket, woven into the fabric of Holy Mother Church, to work together to bring men to salvation.
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The handle of the basket reaches up towards heaven. And it is God himself, in Christ Jesus, who works this work, making “you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21).

I was recommended this book by a parishioner and then found it on sale at the local Catholic goods shop. It was originally published in 1964 and then again by Ignatius Press in 1997. It relates the story of a Jesuit trained to operate “behind enemy lines,” behind what later became known as the “Iron Curtain,” Post-Soviet Russia. A Polish Catholic from Pennsylvania, who always seemed to push his physical stamina as a boy, indeed an unlikely Jesuit, he pressed forward towards the prize of the Society of Jesus almost as if it was simply the fact that they were the best, the elite, the most hard-core, that attracted him.

            He felt called to this special mission to Russia and spent years learning how to operate under the “Oriental Rite” or, as we call it today, Byzantine Rite. He couldn’t stand learning it and he doesn’t give any indication that his love for the tradition grew much over the years. Although there are Pols who use the Byzantine Rite, there is generally no love-loss between Pols and Russians and his prejudice as a Polish American showed through in this, and yet he persevered. He spent a little time in Rome after becoming a Jesuit, training at their center for Byzantine or Oriental studies. Then he ended up in Poland, serving parishes during WWII. Then he ended up in prison, rather quickly, as a “spy” for the Vatican.

            I found the book incredibly comforting as a Bi-vocational Priest. (I read it while serving as a Security Guard. I read it, often, while feeling sorry for myself.) But his way of just taking the “sacramental moment” as it comes, his taking seriously the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, “Wherever thy glory best be served, whenever, however” was inspirational. For example, he might spend a year at a prison in which he had library rights, and then he would say matter-of-factly that he spent the year reading. He didn’t say mass for years or months at a time, and then he would suddenly find himself in a camp where he was overwhelmed by pastoral duties. After being released from prison, although everybody knew he was an American, he was practically a Russian citizen and served pastorally in two different cities. His success pastorally was almost sudden, revival-like. And in both cities sudden was his invitation to leave those cities. Post-prison, after he’d been warned in a third city not to do any pastoral duties, he states again matter-of-factly that he had saved his money in the previous city and, given the fact that he’d worked hard labor for fifteen years in prison, he figured he’d let himself take a year off. When the authorities started to wonder why he wasn’t working, he simply went back to work again.

            The value of this book is not only that one can learn coping mechanisms for times of persecution and prison, one can learn coping mechanisms for how to deal with times when one gets to “be a priest” and when one doesn’t. He admits his times of depression, but his discipline as a Jesuit never ends and this carries him through. He continues to make his daily Ignatian meditations, say his prayers and, when possible, his daily mass and he even finds ways to give lectures to fellow priests or hone his sermon skills. He understands, or perhaps learns to understand, that “down time” is never “down time” but polishing, resting, honing – always waiting for the next pastoral interaction, even if years in the future.

            There are times, albeit short, that he doesn’t work because, as he puts it, the people take care of his needs. But those times are very brief. Most of the time he is doing what he trained to do, but it takes longer to get to those mountain views when he could see that he is doing what he was called to do than he would like. Many of us feel that way. Many of us struggle with the same things. I couldn’t help but feel that in this post-Christian country of America we are already operating frighteningly similarly to those priests in Soviet Russia. In fact, I think it is a good read for any minister today, in order to prepare for the persecution that is coming.

            Like reading a novel, towards the end of the book, I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to see how he got out of Russia. The parishioner who recommended this book knew some folks who would travel to see this priest somewhere in Pennsylvania after his return from Russia. These folks referred to this priest as simply “The Confessor”. So one might assume that after those years in Russia, hearing the confessions of convicted criminals and those constricted by Communism, he returned to America a very good Father Confessor indeed.

            The morning after I finished the book, I went to church and found that the parishioner who recommended this to me had already bought me the sequel, “He Leadeth Me.” And I look forward to that as well. 

I do recall a girl from a conservative Presbyterian church whom I dated a few times years ago, before I met my lovely wife, informing me that the Geneva Bible was getting republished. I thought, even then, that I would have to get my hands on one at some point. Through one of the email blasts that I get (how I got on the list I can’t remember) I found out that this Patriot’s Edition of the 1599 Geneva Bible was available buy-one-get-one-free. When it came up in conversation with an English prof colleague of mine, we decided to get in on this deal and split the cost.

The original email and the ad for this Patriot’s Edition made me so annoyed that I frankly threw together a counter-email, which I never sent. It annoyed me because it claimed that this Bible was the reason for the American Revolution and our American Republic. Now that I have gotten it in the mail, the forwards and historical backgrounds in the front of the Bible have, indeed, prompted me to respond in an academically rigorous way to this edition, but I remain generally in favor of this Bible version.

The whole edition seems perfect for the homeschooling family. It is one edition with “The Prayer of George Washington” (one of the prayers he wrote, rather), The Magna Carta, The Mayflower Compact, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and Washington’s primus opus “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation”. I certainly had to read most of these works as a homeschooler and, I must add, have already had occasion to resort to The Constitution provided in the back.

Indeed, when combined with the original Geneva Bible Morning & Evening Prayers, Prayer Against the Devil by St. Augustine, A Prayer to be said before a man begin his work, all these devotionals that stand in the back (just after the Book of Revelation), one could hardly see it as a bad volume. It has already proved quite serviceable in my life.

Rather the problem stands in the front, in the “scholarship” and innuendos that go into proclaiming this version as the catalytic converter of our American experiment in self-government. The 1599 version of the Geneva Bible which was chosen to make this edition was not the most printed version. That's odd. That the Apocrypha and Metrical Psalter were omitted is a pity. But the scholarship introducing it is in shambles.

Note this wording from “The History and Impact of the Geneva Bible”. First it says, “This edition of the Geneva Bible is the first completely new publication since the time of its first issue, and timed for release on the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown . . . The Geneva Bible surely was carried aboard their three ships that sailed from England in December of 1606. The New England Pilgrims likewise relied on the Geneva Bible for comfort and strength on their 66-day voyage . . . and were even more dependent upon it as they wrote the Mayflower Compact . . .” Note the assumption, “The Geneva Bible surely was carried” to the Jamestown colony. - Possible, probable, but not a proven fact.

 The Jamestown colony was very much made up of royalists if my knowledge of history serves, not Puritans whose loyalty to the crown was, well, less enthusiastic. To state, as is stated later, “that John Rolfe likely would have used [it] in the conversion of Pocahontas at Jamestown in 1611” is to state something quite unlikely. To talk about the Geneva Bible as “the Bible of William Shakespeare” is similarly conjecture. Everybody wants to claim Shakespeare and plenty of Roman Catholic homeschooling families likely have their children read a book which tries to prove that Shakespeare was a Roman Catholic.

Another unfair attack is the statement that this was “the first Bible to be read by the common people in English”. Is the author not aware that the Matthew’s Bible was ordered to be set up in the English churches in a convenient place where the people could go to read it? But that is not the point, I hazard. The point is in the homes, at the hearth, where the individual can read his bible and interpret in his own way without being dependent upon an institutional church. So the home and hearth, and homeschooling of Christian America is thus seen as the basis of self-government, and the homeschooling parent can rest assured that this is as it should be. But shall we thus distain the institutional church, the parochial/Christian school, even when protestant and Bible-believing? If that is what is hinted at, then I am alarmed.

The reality is that Jamestown, more than likely, used The Bishop’s Book or Matthew’s Bible, the authoritative versions, not a concoction put together by a few unauthorized persons who had fled to Geneva. Overlooking this, it is stated that this Bible “was the first Bible translation produced by a committee rather than by one individual”. Yes, but not by an authorized committee. And the Matthew’s Bible (published 1526) was put together by three individuals. How many individuals does it take to make a “committee” instead of just an individual? Do they have to be all sitting in the same room for it to be a “committee”? I would add that the King and Bishops took a vow to safeguard the spiritual welfare of the people of the realm and were endowed with power from on high for such a task. They were no self-appointed committee.

Of this institutional authority, the history written by Dr. Marshall Foster is simply dismissive, calling The Bishop’s Book an “inferior translation” just before launching into an attack upon Bishop Laud labeling him curtly “persecutor of Presbyterians” and saying that Laud “widely promoted” the 1611 Authorized Version “who outlawed the printing of the Geneva Bible in the realm”. No evidence is offered as to why The Bishop’s Book is inferior.

The final straw in this poorly-constructed thesis is the statement that “the Geneva Bible disappeared” after Laud’s lamentable foisting of the King James Version on the “people”. Yet, we might ask, how then did it come to be the influence of the Founding Fathers and of George Washington? From 1611 to 1776 is 165 years. So, if the Geneva Bible disappeared, I am rather surprised at its ability to influence our Founding Fathers when we have just now reproduced it and the copyright reads 2010.

All of that being said it is still our right to freedom of speech that allows us the opportunity to check and balance each other, through academic discourse and debate. We are blessed in this great country, developed by many different denominations, to have the ability to tweak each other as Christian brothers. It is this privilege that I am exercising in this review. If, in fact, this Bible does help bring America back to her senses and Christian foundation, then I am heartily enthusiastic about The Patriot’s Edition. Order your copy today!

In Fr. Rutler’s The Cure D’Ars Today, the author states,

So wild and rare was [Fr. Vianney’s] flair for the symmetry of nature and grace that he examined the very days of the week according to a redemptive scheme: Sundays were dedicated to meditations on the Blessed Trinity (“Whenever we pray or enter the church to pray, we please the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity”); Mondays were for the mystery of the Holy Spirit (“In heaven you will be nourished on God’s breath”); Tuesday was the day of the angels (“Good night, my guardian angel, I thank you for protecting me this day; offer to God my heartbeats while I sleep”); Wednesday was the court of heaven (“The fish swimming in the little stream is content because he is in his element, but he is even better in the sea”); Thursday the Holy Eucharist (“There is nothing so great as the Eucharist . . . if God had something more precious he would have given it to us”); Friday the Passion (“To understand that we are the work of God is easy, but that the crucifixion of God should be our work is incomprehensible”); Saturday the Immaculate Virgin (“If the sinner invokes this good Mother, she’ll find some way to get him in through the window”).

This is a fascinating idea. I remember when a priest at St. Francis Anglican Church, Dallas, the rector would have the mass intentions according to something of a redemptive progression. Saturday, too, was for Mary, as I recall. Friday makes sense as the Passion, like Good Friday, Thursday as the Eucharist, for Maundy Thursday. Thus every week is a little Holy Week, ending with the Day of Resurrection, Sunday.

Monday, as you start your workweek, works great for the Holy Spirit. Tuesday, after you’ve realized the challenges and temptations of the workweek, can elicit thoughts of one’s guardian angel. Wednesday, as “hump day”, is the day when many are back in church, either in the morning or evening. So, “Court of Heaven” as a theme works quite well, since one is back in the Court, and fellowshipping once again with believers and getting a little bit more grace to make it through it all till Sunday.

Within Classical Anglicanism, as in Lutheranism, the reformed litanies play a clear role as they did and do in Roman Catholicism. Indeed, Litanies are a classical part of the Western Church, being a part of Processions. It seems that during the days of Arianism, Arians would process around singing the catchy hymns to catchy tunes that Arius made famous. In response to this, Christians began to process. Later in Christendom, there were perambulations at planting times and times of plague and times of assault. By the time of the Reformation, litanies were an established part of the Sunday liturgy.

Even during the 19th Century in the Rite of Lyons, being an extraordinary rite like the Rite of Milan, parishes like Ars would have a long Sunday. A diary of one visiting Ars stated that mass “began at eight o’clock and lasted until eleven. There was a procession before Mass and a sermon after the Gospel.” Fr. Rutler continues to relate, “At the stroke of one in the afternoon, clad in his surplice, [Fr. Vianney] moved to a booth in the tiny nave from which he conducted the catechism. Later came Vespers, Compline, and the Rosary, with another sermon at night with bedtime prayers.”

Now, the first thing that might strike most people about this is the length of the Divine Service, being almost as long as we imagine that an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy is. (An historic fact and esoteric point that the Rite of Lyons, having an old Gallic/Celtic connection with the Celtic Galatia of Turkey – a connection evidenced or established by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who was originally from Asia Minor – that same Rite of Lyons has similarities with the Syrian Orthodox or “Jacobite” liturgy. In fact, the thurifer-acolyte wears a stole somewhat reminiscent of the stoles worn by various “deacon” acolytes of the Jacobite Liturgy.) Another esoteric point is how similar this Gallican mass is to the Reformed Liturgy of England. If one were to do all that is required by the Prayer Book tradition, Anglican mass would last about three hours, consisting of Morning Prayer, Litany, a long sermon, and the Eucharist. The Afternoon and Evening of a proper Anglican parish church would also have catechism, Vespers, and another sermon.

Of course, the Anglican and Lutheran litanies are but a reformed continuation of the litanies at Sunday mass in the Roman church, generally the “Litany of the Saints”. The Litany in the Anglican tradition is also traditional for Wednesdays and Fridays, being the old days of fasting and Eucharist, and the days that Cranmer believed every parish church should have communion or ante-communion. (Interestingly enough, this tradition of fasting communion on Wednesday and Friday was upheld by the Wesley brothers and at least the fasting part was continued by early Methodism and still today in some Wesleyan/Holiness traditions.) The Prayer Book allows for a shortened Litany or “Lesser Litany” generally for use on Wednesdays and Fridays, which can only speak to the practice of Wednesday and Friday litanies as something of a norm.

Now, when we look at our resources consistent with the Prayer Book, we can see some helpful ways to say a litany a day, using something of St. Jean Vianney’s or somebody else’s scheme. Let us turn first to the St. Augustine’s Prayer Book. It has in the very front a litany for Morning and for Night. The litany for Night is especially moving and helpful on nights when one cannot sleep. “Litany for a Good Death” or “Litany of Thanksgiving” (pages 45 & 51, respectively) would also be good at night, as we are to fear the grave as lightly as we fear our bed or because if we cannot sleep we should try counting our blessings instead of counting sheep. “Litany for a Good Death” would also work well on Friday and “Litany of Thanksgiving” on Sunday. “Litany of Penitence” on page 125 would also be good on Friday (or Wednesday).

“Litany of the Blessed Sacrament” or “Litany of Reparation to the Blessed Sacrament” (pages 154 and 157, respectively) would both work well on Thursday, as the day of commemoration of the Institution of Holy Communion. But the other way one might use these is by saying them on Sunday evening, especially when one prays for those who neglect or disdain the use of the Most Blessed Sacrament i.e. those who missed church that day.

“Litany for the Dying” or “Litany for the Faithful Departed” on pages 190 and 200, respectively, would work well on Friday or on Saturday –as Saturday is the day on which God rested from all His works. Returning again to Fr. Vianney’s redemptive order, we find a “Litany of the Holy Trinity” good for Sunday on page 229 and “Litany of the Holy Ghost” helpful for Monday on page 238. There is a “Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” on page 245. “Litany of the Blessed Virgin” is found on page 267, “Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows” on page 270, and these are good for Saturdays. There is a “Litany of St. Joseph” (page 276) which is good for workers (and therefore especially edifying on Mondays), for husbands and fathers, as well as men who are bachelors or celibates. One will find a “Litany of the Holy Angels” on page 280, which St. Jean might have said on Tuesdays. On page 283, you will find a “Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus” which is well on Sundays. Starting on page 286, you will find a “Litany of the Passion” and “Litany of the Precious Blood”, again good on Fridays. There is a “Litany of the Church” and a “Litany of the Saints” beginning on 292, which would fall under the theme “Court of Heaven” and perhaps be said on Wednesdays if St. Jean Vianney had had a St. Augustine’s Prayer Book. Finally, you will find a “Litany for Missions” and a “Litany for Social Justice” following these others.

Without belaboring the matter too greatly, I should like to point out that The Practice of Religion has several good litanies as well. A “Short Litany of Penitence” is found on page 156. “An Intercession for a Holy Death and Merciful Judgment” is on 217. A litany for the dying is found on page 221 and “A Short Litany of the Saints” on page 233.

A more esoteric devotional work that was helpfully consulted is Sabine Baring-Gould’s The Golden Gate. This has some lovely litanies: Litany for Advent; Litany for Christmas; Litany of the Holy Name (for Epiphany or any Sunday in the year); Litany of the Blessed Sacrament (for Maundy Thursday and any Thursday, or before or after reception of the Blessed Sacrament); Litany of the Passion (for Lent or any Friday); Litany of the Resurrection (for Easter Tide, or any Sunday); Rogation Litany, Litany of the Ascension (for Ascension Tide, or any Thursday); Litany of the Holy Ghost (for Whitsuntide, Preparation for Confirmation, and for Tuesdays throughout the year); Litany of Penitence, Litany of Intercession – which would work well as a Court-of-Heaven, Wednesday litany; Litany of the Faithful Departed (for All Souls’ Day, or any Saturday); Litany of a Happy Death (Saturdays). Here you can see that the intuitions are similar, but also different from St. Jean Vianney.

However you choose to do so, there are just so many litanies – why not say one everyday?

On page li of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, you will find a list of Fast days. Listed among “Other days of fasting on which the Church requires such a measure of abstinence as is more especially suited to extraordinary acts and exercises of devotion” are the Ember days. These are days that have to do with seminarians. They are in contact with their Ordinary, the bishop who will probably ordain them someday, on this day. It is also a day on which we get to participate in the ordination process… by prayer.

            So often people ask, “Where are the young priests?” Well, whatever their age when called, priests are needed for parishes. One thing that parishes who want good priests should do is pray that God would send us good priests, develop good priests at good seminaries, where good faculty teach good doctrine. First God must call these men, and we should pray that God would do so.

            There are special lessons and collects. One such collect is listed along with the Epistle and Gospel in the 1928 Prayer Book for the Eucharist for an ember day. The Missal has specific collects and epistle and gospel lessons for eucharists specific to that particular ember day. The Proposed Prayer Book of 1928, an English edition, has some extra collects that are nice as well. For example,

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who hast purchased to thyself an universal Church by the precious blood of thy dear Son: Mercifully look upon the same, and so guide and govern the minds of thy servants the Bishops and Pastors of thy flock, that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry of thy Church. And to those which shall be ordained to any holy function give thy grace and heavenly benediction; that both by their life and doctrine they may set forth thy glory, and set forward the salvation of all men; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Or,

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed divers Orders in thy Church: Give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all those who are to be called to any office and administration in the same; and so replenish them with the truth of thy doctrine, and endue them with innocency of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great name, and the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This indicates one thing that we can do on behalf of seminarians on ember days: We can go to mass if it is offered and encourage that our priests offer Holy Communion on those days.

            Another thing that can be done in saying our daily prayers is recite the Litany for Ordinations on page 560 in the Prayer Book. Pleading divine grace for this issue is a matter of prayer, fasting and humiliation. There is another good litany for Embertide that is for private recitation and is found in G. A. C. Whatton’s The Priest’s Companion: A Manual of Instructions and Prayers for Priests and Religious. It has three different collect options for the end of the Litany, which can be used consecutively if this Litany is said on the three Ember days at the four seasons. The three collects are:

O God, the Sanctifier and Preserver of thy Church, raise up in her (and most chiefly in this seminary) through thy Spirit worthy and faithful stewards of thy Mysteries: that, with thee as their protector, the Christian people may by their ministry and example be directed into the way of salvation.

O God, who didst command thy disciples, as with fasting they ministered before thee, to separate Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto thou hadst called them: be now with thy Church as she fasts and prays; and do thou, who knowest the hearts of all men, show unto her those whom thou hast chosen for the work of the ministry; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Innsbruck Seminary Manual)   

O God, who, for the glory of thy Majesty and the salvation of mankind, didst constitute thine Only-Begotten Son as the eternal High-Priest, mercifully grant; that those whom he has chosen to be the ministers and stewards of his Holy Mysteries may ever remain steadfast in the fulfilment of the ministry committed unto them; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. (Roman Missal)  

In these ways, we can utilize the Ember Days to our spiritual growth and for the welfare of God’s holy Church.