In the land of Saint Stephen and Saint Elizabeth: Laudian thoughts from Budapest
Ye shall pray for Christ’s holy Catholick Church; that is, for the whole Congregation of Christian People dispersed throughout the whole World ... The words from the Bidding Prayer in the Canons of 1604 came to mind last Thursday as I stood amidst the splendour of Saint Stephen's Basilica in Budapest. The Bidding Prayer echoes, of course, the Prayer for the Church Militant: beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant, that all they that do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love ... That the Christians of Hungary - Roman Catholic and Lutheran, Calvinist and Orthodox - were intended to be included in these prayers is evident from Archbishop Matthew Parker's 1566 prayers "for the preseruation of those Christians and their Countreys, that are nowe inuaded by the Turke in Hungary". These prayers were published by royal authority, to be used ...