Let us pray (in silence) [to live in the freedom God gives us]
Pause
Compassionate God,
through your inexhaustible goodness,
keep us from all that may hurt us,
so that, ready in both mind and body,
we may, with free hearts, pursue your purpose;
through Jesus Christ
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The above ancient prayer is used by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians/Anglicans (but not necessarily on the same day). It has a long, shared history which you can find here with commentary and reflection: Ordinary 32 or below. The above is my rendering in my Book of Prayers in Common.
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The Liturgical Colour is Green NOT Red
I am thinking about writing a fuller post on Liturgical Colours. Within Anglicanism, there is no official requirement around liturgical colours. The Lectionary booklet indicates that
The colours suggested for each day are shown in the left hand column under the date. They are not mandatory but reflect common practice in most parishes. Traditional or local uses may be followed where established.
Barring the focus on “parishes” (and the claim that there is some sort of surveying of “most” of them resulting in what is put into this booklet!) it is correct that liturgical colours are not mandatory in Anglicanism. At the other end of the booklet language is used which can give some people a much stronger impression that colours are set and that “General Synod makes the following provisions for Liturgical Colours”: “W (White) IS [my emphasis] the colour… R (Red) IS used… V (Violet) IS the colour for… G (Green) IS used” (page 169).
Ordinary Time [ie “Counting” Time, as in the ordinal numbers, 1st, 2nd, 3rd,…] normally has Green as the liturgical colour. But the NZ Anglican Liturgical booklet suggests Red (!!!) as an alternative colour: “It may be used between All Saints’ Day and the eve of the First Sunday of Advent,” (page 165).
I speak and write of a sign-to-symbol spectrum with “signs” needing more of an explanation and “symbols” little to no explanation. Liturgical colours are towards the sign end of this continuum. Red reminds us of fire (the Holy Spirit) and blood (martyrs). Neither of those are the central focus between All Saints and Advent.
Where is this novelty coming from? Well mummy Church of England has almost identical words: “Red… may be used between All Saints’ Day and the First Sunday of Advent…” [CofE’s The Promise of His Glory 1990 had an “All Saints’ Tide” and CofE’s Celebrating Common Prayer 1992 had a “Kingdom Season”.]
Red for All Saints to Advent was first put into the NZ Lectionary booklet in 2002, where it had the same statement that this was descriptive, not prescriptive: “[Red] reflect[s] common practice in most parishes,” (2002 Lectionary booklet, page 4). Yeah right! (as the Tui Ad here would say).
Some people have told me that this is an “eschatological season” (Yeah right! There’s NOTHING more-than-usual eschatological about this coming Sunday’s Gospel: Mark 12:38-44). AND there’s nothing Red about eschatology!
Let’s just be honest: whoever thought this up was tiring of Green and thought, “let’s use the least-used liturgical colour now that I’m tiring of Green.” That was someone (I’m guessing) in CofE (do tell me when they introduced Red for these weeks). And then a CofEphile in NZ, also tiring of Green, thought: let’s do this here too. And say that this is “what is happening “common practice in most parishes”.
So here’s my 2 cents: continue to use Green for the rest of this Church Year. You can use White on the last Sunday of the Church Year (The Reign of Christ) in a couple of weeks time.
Reflection on the collect
The original is:
Omnipotens et misericors Deus, universa nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude, ut, mente et corpore pariter expediti, quae tua sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur.
Once again Episcopalians (Anglicans) and Roman Catholics pray the same prayer, even if on different days.
In the Gelasian Sacramentary, this is the first collect in the 15th of 16 Sunday Masses (#1234). In the Supplement to the Gregorian (#1186) it is for the 20th Sunday after the Pentecost octave. This is the equivalent of Trinity 20 where it is found in the Sarum Missal and all BCPs from 1549 to 1928.
misericors – compassionate; tender-hearted
universa nobis adversantia exclude – exclude all things that oppose us
propitiatus (passive) – having been rendered favourable
ut quae tua sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur – that we may carry out with free spirit things which are yours
mente et corpore pariter expediti – having been freed in mind and body [
expedire – free the feet (like from a snare); extricate, disengage, set free; to be without baggage [expeditus – a soldier lightly burdened]
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer translated this for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer (Trinity 20) as:
ALMIGHTIE and merciful God, of thy bountiful goodnes, kepe us from all thynges that maye hurte us; that we, beyng ready bothe in body and soule, maye with free heartes accomplishe those thynges that thou wouldest have doen; Through Jesus Christ our Lorde.
In 1662 this was revised to:
O ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that though wouldest have done; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
BCP (TEC) now has it for Proper 2 (Week of the Sunday closest to May 18):
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we
pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready
both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts
those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
OBSOLETE ICEL 1973 translated this for Roman Catholics (Ordinary 32) as:
God of power and mercy, protect us from all harm. Give us freedom of spirit and health in mind and body to do your work on earth.
In the failed 1998 English Missal translation:
Almighty and merciful God,
drive from us whatever things are harmful and make us ready in both body and mind to accomplish your will in perfect freedom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
CURRENT ICEL (2011):
Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1742 in the section on “Human Freedom in the Economy of Salvation”: “Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness take away from us all that is harmful, so that, made ready both in mind and body, we may freely accomplish your will.”
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