Let us pray (in silence) [that we may persevere in our growth into God’s life]
pause
God of inspiration,
you caused all holy scriptures to be written for our instruction,
grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of your holy Word,
we may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.
One of the best-known English phrases must, surely, be “…read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest…” It was heard every year in church in the lead-up to Christmas in the collect for Advent 2. Surprisingly Shockingly, in A New Zealand Prayer Book, where nearly all of Cranmer’s collects are retained, this one was excised from that book. I would love to know why.
So, although the above prayer is not an ancient one shared by Roman Catholics, I see it as significant enough to add to my Book of Prayers in Common. You will find my commentary and reflection below or here: Ordinary 33.
Resources off this site:
Textweek
Resourcing Preaching Down Under
Girardian Reflection on the Lectionary
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
This collect is an original by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for Advent 2 in the Book of Common Prayer 1549:
BLESSED lord, which hast caused all holy Scriptures to bee written for our learnyng; graunte us that we maye in suche wise heare them, read, marke, learne, and inwardly digeste them; that by pacience, and coumfort of thy holy woorde, we may embrace, and ever holde fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast geven us in our saviour Jesus Christe.
The collect picked up the language of the epistle, Romans 15: 4-13 (the Sarum and Roman selection for Advent 2. It continues to be the second reading in Year A).
The address made to the Father as ‘Blessed Lord’ is unique in that Prayer Book. The word “all” alludes to the pre-Reformation limiting of scriptures read – a practice that was remedied by the annual reading of “all holy Scriptures”.
For they so ordred the matter, that all the whole Bible (or the greatest parte thereof) should be read over once in the yeare, intendyng thereby, that the Cleargie, and specially suche as were Ministers of the congregacion, should (by often readyng and meditacion of Gods worde) be stirred up to godlines themselfes, and be more able also to exhorte other by wholsome doctrine, and to confute them that were adversaries to the trueth. And further, that the people (by daily hearyng of holy scripture read in the Churche) should continuallye profite more and more in the knowledge of God, and bee the more inflamed with the love of his true religion. But these many yeares passed this Godly and decent ordre of the auncient fathers, hath bee so altered, broken, and neglected, [Preface BCP 1549]
The words ‘patience and comfort’ are used in their archaic meanings of steadfastness and encouragement. I have altered the “pacience, and coumfort” to the NRSV rendition of Romans 15:4 διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως τῶν γραφῶν. I have also followed this approach for translating διδασκαλίαν ἐγράφη.
This collect is prayed at the end of October in the Church of England, Ordinary 32 in Canada, Australia, and other places, and will be prayed Ordinary 33 (Proper 28) in The Episcopal Church and elsewhere.
This is not merely a collect for one day; it is a prayer we can use far more regularly than that. Lectio Divina is one way to hear the holy scriptures, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.
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