laudable Practice

There are eleven penitential sentences at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer in BCP 1662 . It is not without interest that eight of these eleven sentences are from the scriptures of the Old Testament. This can have an important significance during the season of Advent, placing the Church alongside ancient Israel in hearing the call to repentance, acknowledging that our sins are those of faithless Israel. Three of the sentences particularly demonstrate this. The first sentence, Ezekiel 18:27, is part of the prophetic discourse which concludes, "Therefore will I judge you, O house of Israel". Similarly, Joel 2:13 follows the prophet's call, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion". Daniel 9:9-10 is from Daniel's confession, acknowledging of Israel, "we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and done wickedly, and rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgements".  These sentences, therefore, in a particular way place the Church ...

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Deus Misereatur at Evensong. Shepherd emphasises that rather than being a poor alternative for the Nunc Dimittis, and so to be avoided, Deus Misereatur's significant similarities with the Song of Simeon point to the unity of the covenants and the Gospel as the fulfillment of the hope of Israel: Admitting this psalm to be prophetical of the Gospel dispensation, we shall discover a close affinity between it, and the preceding hymn. The psalm prays for that "saving health," which Simeon rejoiced to see; for the conversion of the nations, and for evangelical blessings. It likewise foretells the joy and gladness that shall accompany the more general diffusion of the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ. What is more, the use of this psalm in Christian prayer also gives expression to the Apostle's vision of th...

We came on foot to a certain place where the mountains, through which we were journeying, opened out and formed an infinitely great valley, quite flat and extraordinarily beautiful, and across the valley appeared Sinai, the holy mountain of God ... Now on reaching that spot, the holy guides who were with us told us, saying: "The custom is that prayer should be made by those who arrive here, when from this place the mount of God is first seen." And this we did. So opens the account we have of Egeria's pilgrimage. Recently re-reading Egeria for the first time in some decades, I was struck by her reverence for and joy in the holy sites associated with "holy Moses": The spot is also shown hard by where holy Moses stood when God said to him: Loose the latchet of thy shoe, and the rest. Now it was about the tenth hour when we had arrived at the place ... prayer was made in the church and also at the bush in the garden, and the passage from the book of Moses was read ...

Continuing with extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we turn to the Jubilate, the alternative to the Benedictus after the second lesson. Locating this psalm in the Temple liturgy, Shepherd points us to how use of the Jubilate is a sign that the Church "wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree": It is said to have been composed by David upon occasion of a public thanksgiving, and was sung by the Jewish church at the oblation of the peace offering, as the priest was entering into the temple. The appropriateness of the Jubilate following the reading of the New Testament lesson, particularly from the Gospels, is noted.  Significantly, this also emphasises the unity of the covenants, that the God of Israel is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: And immediately after hearing the Gospel of peace, it is a form of praise perfectly suitable to every Christian ass...

With the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions allowing for a restoration of the normal parish worship schedule, I have been preparing for the return of parish Mattins by reading Mant's Notes (1820).  The Notes assembled commentary on the Prayer Book services from Old High Church sources of the 17th to early 19th centuries.  Reading the commentary on the Te Deum, it is interesting to note how the various sources point to this canticle as as providing an answer to Tertullian's jibe.  To begin with, we might consider how the Te Deum - with its Trinitarian and Christological emphasis - is an appropriate response to the First Lesson from the Old Testament: The propriety of singing or reading the Te Deum after the first lesson must be evident to every observer. The Scriptures of the Old Testament set before us God's exceeding great and precious promises, the rectitude of his moral government, and his wonderful dealings with his church and people from the earliest times. If we ...