Pray! Pray! Pray!

I posted this at the Pinoy Episcopalians Facebook group


"I would like to know if my Episcopalian friends here would be willing to join three Anglican Roman Catholics and Roman Catholics for Evening Prayer in the Anglican Use at the University of the Philippines. With our country and people facing very trying times in the coming months, we have a strong reason to pray together! May God bless us all here in this FB group."




It was 1:45 PM when I posted this. At 1:46 PM, the Japan earthquake struck.


Please pray for Japan and our country and the world.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent. This year it falls on my birthday, March 9!  In the Western Church it is the Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday or the Sunday fifty days before Easter day. The ashes used in the rite comes from the burning of the palms from last Palm Sunday. Thus the continuity of the remembrance of Jesus' passion.

Now with the loss of Latinity in the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, the meaning of Quinquagesima will be met by an unexpressed but polite "duh" among most Catholics. However the last generation of Filipino Catholics to know what that means were your grandparents, who knew what the Latin Mass was all about. During Quinquagesima Sunday, the priest wore violet vestments as the liturgical colour was violet.

In the earliest Catholic tradition, this Sunday marks the beginning of the Lenten fast. In Medieval England, the pious English trooped to the churches to say their confessions to the priest. The English being not that rowdy compared to the Latins, called that Sunday "Shrove Sunday" and the following Tuesday, "Shrove Tuesday", Shrove is a old English word meaning "repent". Now on these days, it was customary to make pancakes and in the USA the day is called "pancake Tuesday". Among the Latins, it is known as "Fat Tuesday" and this is day of the Mardi Gras, which means the same thing! The consumption of animal products is prohibited in Lent and this included pancakes which have eggs!

All these are almost lost to a secular world except perhaps in New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. In many cities Mardi Gras has taken a "gay" reputation as sort of coming out, when the original idea was to get inside one's conscience, examine it for sins and make a confession!

Fortunately the Anglican Church for the benefit of the whole Catholic Church (which has almost lost its sense of Latin!) has preserved much of the original meanings of these days. The Book of Common Prayer still emphasizes the fasting and penitence aspect. Thus the collect for the day is

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou has made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The 1928 BCP readings and Gospel are identical to that in the old Roman Missal for Ash Wednesday ( Joel 2:12 and St Matthew 7: 16). The collect's meaning is really taken from the Gospels and the Epistle for the day.

The ashes are imposed by the priest as the Sign of the Cross saying the traditional Genesis 3: 19 "Remember man, that thou art dust and into dust shall you return". The Roman Rite reforms give the priest an option taken from St Mark 1:15 "Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel" In the Philippines, a properly deputized extraordinary minister of Holy Communion ofter administers the ashes. But this is contrary to the old tradition even if the ashes are not a sacrament but a sacramental. The Anglican Church still uses the traditional Genesis verse which is a strong reminder of a man's mortality.

The question is how long must one wear the ashes. While the Gospel of the day suggests that one must wash it after leaving the church, Christ's directive must be taken in its proper context for he was really referring about the hypocritical wearing of signs of devotion.  While the Church does not have a rule about it, it is sensible to wear it until it fades away on that Wednesday. This is the only time the Christian is to wear the Sign of the Cross visible to all. People have died for the Sign of the Cross, in ancient Rome and even to this day! The wearing of "dirt" on the head is a minor inconvenience!

As it falls on my birthday, Ash Wednesday is an apt reminder that only God knows the length of my days and I must live these days in charity and service for others.

Also this Ash Wednesday is when our good friend Fr Joe Frary has a date with the surgeon. I will pray for him too.

Religious things you can do with a tablet computer

PC World says that laptops are on the way out and tablet computers are in. In fact this year expect the market to be flooded with all sorts of tablets.

Part of the marketing strategy to ensure more people get tablets are the downloadable applet freebies. The freebies especially on Android range from GPS navigation, teach yourself partial differential equations to  Bible and Mass readings.

The Bible is now available via an applet. For Catholics the Mass Reading applet is of supreme practicality since you can download

1) the Mass readings for the day
2) the traditional Catholic prayers
3) the Stations of the Cross
4) the Liturgy of the Hours.
5) the Order of the Mass
6) the Bible in its Catholic edition
7) facts about the day's Patron Saint

Since a tablet is incongruous compared to a laptop, you can bring it to Mass instead of a thick prayer book tome.

I did try to use my tablet during Sunday Mass (not to play frivolous games, but to use the Mass Readings applet) but people thought I was playing PSP 2!

So I had to turn it off. Nonetheless, the time will come when this would be more acceptable to a lot of people.  Parish priests complain of people using cell phones at Mass but will they complain about tablets? It depends on what the tablets are used for during Mass!

If you need an Icon for religious reflection, you can also download it together with the prayers! I haven't found the applet for the Book of Common Prayer but I suppose it is out there in cyberspace.

The age of religious applets has arrived! There are even ecumenical prayer applets which cater not only to Catholics but to non-Catholics as well. Non Christians have their own applets. Muslims have an applet about the Quran and Buddhists too about their prayer cycles. Now who was the one who said that the Singularity will erase faith?

A prayer request

The Rev. Father Joseph Frary of St Andrews Theological Seminary,  Episcopal Church in the Philippines is presently in St Luke's Hospital for surgery. May we ask readers of this blog to say a prayer for his quick and complete recovery?

Please remember him in your daily prayers.

Thank you.

Filipino Anglicanism

Mike Tan wrote something about a little known church in the Philippines. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) is THE Anglican Church in the Philippines. There are at least 3 other churches that carry the Anglican name, but the ECP has the original franchise. The Episcopalians ("Piskies" is a term of endearment) run one of the best hospitals in the country (St Luke's), the best weaving school (Easter's in Baguio), a college now a university with a good track record (Trinity), and the oldest international school (Brent).

For a church with just about 200K members, the ECP has influenced education and ecumenism far beyond its size. Its reason for existence in the Philippines is the key. The first  Episcopal bishop in the Philippines, Charles Henry Brent declared that the church won't build an "altar over another altar".This was during an unecumenical time. When the Americans came, Protestant missionaries divided the country for their mission to preach "the true Christian religion" to a country that is majority Roman Catholic. Brent gave the Philippine Church very prophetic witness. Brent limited his mission to the expat community, the non-Catholic Chinese and the non-Christian tribes. Thus the Cordilleras and parts of Binondo and Sta Cruz Manila are Episcopal Church territories. Perhaps the best known Episcopal church in the region is St Mary's in Sagada. Filipino Unlike its neighbouring South East Asian province, Filipino Anglicanism is historically Anglo-Catholic even if there are Evangelical parishes.

My grandmonther was  of the High Church kind who said the Roman Rosary after Anglican Evening Prayer. The Anglican church can be divided into three streams, the low or evangelical kind, the broad church and the High Church kind. The Low church emphasizes traditionally Protestant positions, the Broad church accomodates elements of both Protestant and Catholic traditions and the High church emphasizes ritual and Catholic tradition. Some high churches are even more Catholic than the St Peter's Basilica! (in terms of ritual). In these high churches, you have to ask the priest if this is really an Anglican church.

We see the same in the Roman Church. Some Catholic churches are as or even more Protestant like than an Anglican low church. The Jesuit Church of the Gesu in the Ateneo campus is my best example!

With diverse views of what the church is or ought to be, Anglicanism has preserved a tradition of tolerance and comprehensiveness. It is not that this is lacking in the Catholic Church (the Roman Catholics are as comprehensive as the Anglicans despite the noise conservatives make), Anglicans don't have a Pope that says that one doctrinal view is unacceptable. The church has to come to a consensus. Since the Elizabethan settlement, this via media has held until very recently.

This via media is almost in tatters with differing views on sexuality and the ordination of women. The debate on contraception which the Anglicans settled in 1938 Lambeth and is still a point of contention among Benedict XVI's flock, is a cakewalk compared to what is tearing at the Anglican Communion today.

The Roman Church in a Vatican II document on ecumenism has very special regard to the Anglican Church. This is because the Anglicans have preserved many Catholic traditions (episcopacy for instance) while maintaining distinctively Protestant ones. This is Anglicanism's greatest gift to the Universal Church.

Some of the Catholic traditions of Anglicanism like parish morning, midday and evening prayer are all but lost in the Post-Vatican II Catholic Church. Pope Benedict's agenda is to recover these in Catholicism. The Novus Ordo in English isn't comparable to Cranmer's English, which is Latinate and shows the inheritance of the English language from the Latin. The New translation of the Missal into English tries to recover some traditional BCP like language but into more modern usage. It is no surpise that Cardinal Kasper paid tribute to these treasures as"Marvellous Evensongs" while giving a frank assessment of Anglicanism's troubles and how these would affect reunion with the Catholic Church in the recently concluded Lambeth Conference.

Anglicanism's troubles I believe stem from it losing its Catholic and Protestant charism in exchange for secular ones. Perhaps this is the reason why Kasper prayed for a new Oxford Movement. The Oxford Movement of the 19th century recovered the Catholic in Anglicanism. Kasper is praying that the Anglicans recover the Christian in Anglicanism!

Anglicanism has its gifts that will make Roman Catholicism less Roman but more Catholic. The Catholic Church can offer the Anglicans the charism of being more universal while recognizing the gifts of authority. The old Catholic bogey that the Anglican Church is a product of Bluff King Hal's lust will have to be laid to rest. Anglicanism is a reflection too of Roman Catholicism and the troubles that afflict it. Kasper's friendly and frank assessment and Pope Benedict's great concern is evidence of that. What really faces the Anglican and Roman Churches is essentially the same. The two churches have to recover that lost catholicity. The Anglicans have lost it due to lack of authority and doctrinal ambiguity while the Roman Catholics have lost it due to over centralized authority and doctrinal praxis inflexibility.

Observers may note that Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams have much common theologically than what was assumed. This leads many to say that Benedict is an "Anglican" Pope while Rowan is a "Roman" Archbishop of Canterbury.

Now about Evensong and Common Prayer. This is expressing my Anglican spirituality as a Catholic. It is unfortunate that unlike in English speaking countries, Catholic churches are not across the street from Anglican ones in our country.Whenever I am in an English speaking country, I make it a point to attend Mass in the morning and Evensong in the evening. Sometimes we have to cross the street to really recover what it means to be Catholic.

How does one recover catholicity? St Paul gives the famous answer. Charity.

Rowan Cantuar finally nails his true colours

The guy in red is the only one on earth that understands him!

The Anglo-Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, of whom I much admire, has finally nailed his true colours to the fence, by vowing not to allow same sex unions in Anglican churches. He finally admitted that he will stick to what the Bible says about marriage, and that is marriage is between a man and a woman full stop!

However Rowan's critics have said that it is little too late. After years of waffling on homosexual issues and unions and "The Body's Grace", it has been hard to convince them, most of them Anglicans, about this latest waffle. Rowan belongs to another church, the Rowan Catholic Church!

But as a Catholic, I do detect that despite the trademark Rowan and Anglican ambiguity, something faithful to the Magisterium is coming out of Rowan lately. I started looking more into Rowan's theology after he gave that magnificent Catholic homily at a Mass in Lourdes. Not many Catholics are aware that Rowan is resolutely anti-abortion, saying "It is impossible to view abortion other than a deliberate attempt to end a human life". He is against euthanasia and voluntary suicide.

Even "The Body's Grace" admits what faithful Roman Catholics have known all along that if a church admits the legitimacy of contraception, then it follows that it will admit other faith positions inconsistent with the Bible and tradition.

Now what do we make of Rowan Cantuar? Anglican critics from the liberals to the conservative have all but abandoned him. In fact there is a big dose truth to the rumor that his best friend Pope Benedict XVI is the only theologian on the planet that understands in what he believes in!

Methinks Rowan is too good for the Anglican Communion (and I think too for the Roman Catholic communion!)  Anglicans have suggested he goes to a monastery, confess his sins and lead a cloistered life (of which Rowan has said in an interview that he had an attraction to).  But with Rowan finally showing the Catholic he is, it may be best for him if he would revert from being Archbishop of a disintegrating communion and lead the life of a simple Reverend Father. But this time in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham! I'm sure his best friend won't object!

St David, Patron of Wales

Today is the feast day of St David of Wales (500-589) and also is the National Day of Wales. Few Filipinos are aware that the United Kingdom consists of four countries, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Each country has its own national day. Scotland is on November 30, St Andrews Day, England has April 2, St George's day, Ireland has March 17, St Patrick's day and Wales on March 1. Each National day is the feast day of a Catholic saint!

St David was a monk and first bishop of Menevia, Wales and tradition states that he was ordained as bishop in Jerusalem, when he went on pilgrimage. He founded the monastery of Menevia, which became the see of the bishopric. He was a holy man and worked miracles even in his lifetime.  He founded many monasteries in England and Wales. Very few historical accounts are known about the saint but we do know he attended the council of Brevi in 545 AD and it was here by common consent of the bishops present that he was made archbishop.

St David is associated with the daffodil, the national flower of Wales.  Daffodils were believed to have grown around his monastery. The other national symbol for Wales, the leek, is said to have been eaten by St David and his monks.

Here is the BCP collect for David, Saint of Wales

"Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."


St David is venerated by the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Churches. The Orthodox preserve the tradition that he journeyed to Jerusalem to be raised to the dignity of archbishop by the Patriarch. St David's relics still are venerated at St David's Cathedral in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In the Philippines, one Episcopal Church parish in Nueva Ecija is dedicated in his honor.

It is worth noting that the national identities of the countries of the United Kingdom are strongly rooted in the undivided Catholic faith as lived by her saints. This is relevant witness in a UK that is becoming more secular in a way that Christianity is marginalized. Pope Benedict XVI reminded the British during his visit last September that the liberties that Britain enjoys today are rooted in the Christian witness of these national saints.

St David, Monk and Bishop of Wales, pray for us to God!

The End of a Filipino Schism? Catholics and Aglipayans together

Something unimaginable before. Aglipayan and Roman Catholic parish priests sharing the altar and saying the Lord's Prayer! From MannyFeastation's blog

From the Anglo Catholic blog, we read that the Anglo-Lutherans have decided to petition to join the Ordinariate. This is indeed a surprise since the Lutherans are not historically Anglican (even if they have close relationships with the Anglican Communion). The petition is also significant since it surprisingly shows the flexibility of a Roman  Apostolic Constitution. It is of immense significance for the Filipino Church since it paves a possible way to resolve a more than a century old schism between the Roman Church and the Philippine Independent Church or the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) more popularly known as the Aglipayan Church.

The history of the IFI is well narrated in the church's website. The church is the only living link with the Philippine Revolution of 1896. One reason for the Philippine Revolution is that ecclesiastical appointments were dominated by foreign clergy. The revolutionists demanded that all church appointments especially in parishes be given to Filipino priests. Filipino priests have been ordained since the 1700s and many had proven to be good pastors but they never been appointed as parish priests but just coadjutors. Notable among them is Fr Jose Burgos who had doctorates in theology and canon law but never was raised to the episcopate. In the Revolution Fr Gregorio Aglipay became Military Vicar general. He later became the first Supreme Bishop of the IFI.

With the change in sovereignty from Spanish to American, and the crushing of the nascent Philippine Republic, the curacies vacated by the Spanish friars were replaced by Anglophone priests. In 1902 Leo XIII issued the Apostolic Constitution "Quae Mari Sinico" which reorganized the Roman Church in the Philippines.  Through this constitution, Americans and Europeans filled the diocesan posts vacated by the Spanish, established new dioceses, and elevated the first Filipinos to the episcopate. However the historic sees were still occupied by foreigners  It was only much later that these sees were filled in by Filipinos and the first Filipino Archbishop of Manila was enthroned after Philippine independence in 1946. This added to the bitter acrimony between the IFI and the Roman Church for more than a century.

Quae Mari Sinico allowed the Roman Church to reform and thus meet the challenges of the IFI schism and Protestant proselytization.  The IFI proceeded to reform the Latin liturgy such as having the Mass in the vernacular. But the IFI veered towards a Unitarian direction under the first Supreme Bishop Gregorio Aglipay and this precipitated schisms among the IFI now called Aglipayans.

Thus the demand of the IFI for Filipinos to head the Filipino Church went largely unheeded until at the time of the Second Vatican Council after which the Mass was celebrated in the Filipino vernaculars. But after Vatican II most of the dioceses were headed by Filipinos. Today the Filipino Church is headed by Filipinos.

The IFI today remains resolutely nationalist but entered into a concordat with the Episcopal Church which allowed the IFI to train in Episcopal church seminaries. The PECUSA bestowed the historic succession on the IFI bishops in the late 1940s. The PECUSA also had a large influence in reforming the IFI's Mass books. The IFI Mass books have been strongly influenced by the BCP.

After Vatican II IFI ecumenical contacts with the Roman Church commenced and at a parish level there are a lot of ecumenical engagement between Roman Catholics and Aglipayans especially on social, environmental and political issues. It is not uncommon for an Aglipayan to attend Catholic Mass if he/she can't get to an Aglipayan church. Confrontations between Aglipayanos and Romanos are now much a thing of the past. In Pandacan district of Manila last January, once a site of confrontation between the Catholics and Aglipayans, we see something unimaginable a few years back, two separated communities believing in the same Catholic faith in one religious procession.

Even more unimaginable, Aglipayan and Roman clergy blessing the faithful together.

However while discussions on a reconciliation with the Roman Church started after Vatican II, there has not been much progress on this front. However some in the Roman Church especially in the Ilocano heartland of the IFI have revisited the reasons for the schism and the Aglipayans have warmly responded. Truly it is time for dialogue, prayer and theological reflection.

Will Anglicanorum Coetibus, once especially designed for Anglicans unexpectedly pave the way to end this 109 year old schism? With the Lutherans using the AC in their quest to reconcile with Rome, it is very possible that the Aglipayans and the Roman Catholics in the Philippines will eventually recognize the need to heal the schism of the past and come into communion, with AC as the way. This won't be an easy path but with common prayer, a commonality of a strong Catholic patrimony and the Filipino's ecumenical orientation, this should be an easier walk than expected. The Aglipayans and Roman Catholics have a strong devotion to the Holy Child. Will they allow the Child and His Mother to lead them?

I am beginning to believe that the Holy Spirit has more uses for Anglicanorum Coetibus than the CDF in the Vatican and Anglicans everywhere ever imagined!

LAUS DEO!

Saint Valentine's Day

Many people in the English speaking world are not aware that our present celebration of Valentine's day and its relationship with romantic and erotic love is actually due to Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Parliament of Birds" also known with the older title "The Parliament of Fowls"

Chaucer is the first writer in literature to make a link between the martyr Valentine and marriage. He really "canonized" Valentine as the Patron Saint of Lovers! Here is a modern English translation of Chaucer's love poem.

And here is the famous line

"For this was on Saint Valentine’s day,

When every fowl comes there his mate to take,

Of every species that men know, I say,"

From then on, Valentine was forever linked with Lovers.

But who is St Valentine? A Buddhist friend of mine has been enamored by the story of Valentine. She has done some reading and she told me that there are actually at least three Valentines and at most 14, all martyred for the Christian faith during Roman times. Traditionally the liturgical color for martyrs is red and so is for Valentine's day.

The Roman Church no longer has Valentine in its post 1969 calendar since the Church isn't sure of who among the 14 is to be commemorated. However there are three St Valentines we know some information about. One is the presbyter Valentine, another is a Bishop Valentine whose see is now in Terni, Italy and a soldier named Valentine who was beheaded in north Africa. These three Valentines were commemorated on Feb 14. While the  Greek Church commemorates the Valentines on July 30, Greeks often name their children as Valentine or Valentina if they were born on Feb 14!

The Anglican Communion still follows the older Roman Calendar and commemorates any of the 3 Valentines on Feb 14. The Roman Catholic Church never removed Valentine from the martyrology and thus lovers can still ask his intercession. However the feast is no longer in the general calendar but are on local calendars, especially in Italy.

 

Here is a collect for St Valentine as said by some Anglicans

"Most Gracious Heavenly Father, You gave Saint Valentine the courage to witness to the gospel of Christ, even to the point of giving his life for it. Help us to endure all suffering for love of you, and to seek you with all our hearts; for you alone are the source of life and love. Grant that we may have the courage and love to be strong witnesses of your truth to our friends and family and to the whole world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
 

In the Philippines, this saint's feast day has been so commercialized and worse objectifies people as either the dated or the dateless or just focuses on sex! Well of course some people have found true love and many are still searching for it. The truth of St Valentine's Day is none of us isn't loved! We are all challenged to return this love. And in the case of any of the 14 Valentines, they returned this love with their lives.

So All ye Holy 14 Valentines, pray for us to God!

ARCIC III

The third phase of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) will meet on May 17 to 27, 2011 at the Monastery of Bose in northern Italy. According to Vatican Radio, the theme for ARCIC III is on Church and Communion. ARCIC has been meeting since 1970 as a result of ecumenical declarations from Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Michael Ramsey.

The first ARCIC focused on the Eucharist and how Catholics and Anglicans understood this. The resulting statement was broadly Catholic but the Vatican sent its reservations. The second ARCIC came out with statements on the ministry of the Roman Pontiff as a universal primate and the role of the Virgin Mary. However the Anglican difficulties on the Marian dogmas and Anglican rejection of papal authority came to the fore.  As for the universal primacy of the Bishop of Rome, ARCIC suggested that Anglicans and Roman Catholics receive this primacy even before corporate reunion is achieved. Pope John Paul II told the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie that this primacy now exists over the Anglican Church even if the Anglicans refuse to receive it.

When Anglicans decided to ordain women as priests, this signified a departure from Apostolic order as the Eastern Churches (Orthodox and Oriental) never ordained women. The Orthodox prelates have always told the Anglicans that the ordination of women will result in an impaired communion. And in this they have been proven correct. The Roman Church strongly concurred much later in Cardinal Walter Kasper's address to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

Women's ordination as priests led to the Anglican communion considering ordaining women as bishops. This is considered by the Orthodox and Roman Catholics as even a further departure from Apostolic order and tradition. Women's ordination has effectively stopped  Orthodox theological and ecumenical discussion with the Anglicans. The Roman Church continued with ARCIC II while  recognizing that corporate reunion was impossible.  When the American Episcopal Church ordained an openly practicing homosexual as bishop, Pope John Paul II suspended ARCIC meetings. The Orthodox have stuck to their original decision.

Thus ARCIC III meets in a ecumenical landscape that is vastly changed. For instance I believe that there is no Anglican Communion to speak of but rather two Anglican Communions. The Anglican Ordinariatres remains as a talking point in ARCIC III even if the Roman Catholics and Anglicans say they won't talk about it!

These statements from the Roman Catholic side by Msgr Mark Langham tells us really the limits of institutional ecumenism

How will this work be received by the rest of the Church?
This is an important question. Ecumenical dialogues have never seen themselves as an end in themselves but part of a bigger process which involves reception at grass roots level, at leadership level and in the way the two churches work and pray together. 

How will the new Ordinariate affect your work?
We’ve always said the path of traditional ecumenical dialogue is different from that of individual or group conversion.


My take is that ecumenism at the grass roots level will be heard and that is at the root of the Ordinariate. Rome just took years to respond! The quote of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman remains loud and clear. "The voice of the faithful will be heard!"