Nativity of S. John Baptist. June 24, 2018. Saint Andrew & Saint Margaret of Scotland, Alexandria, VA Isaiah xl, verse 1 - Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Father Roddy and I when planning today…
Liturgical change is mostly a hobby of the clergy or of that small set of laymen, sometimes called the clerisy, who are closely attuned to clerical interests and concerns. Laymen tend to be conservative in matters liturgical, as any parish priest knows who tries to alter the immemorial traditions begun by his immediate predecessor.[i] More…
Trinity Sunday. May 27, 2018. Holy Trinity, Greenville, South Carolina Revelation iv, verse 8 - Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. A separate feast of the Most Holy Trinity began in…
Conscience: 4. Objective norms for a good conscience In subjective terms conscience has a kind of infallibility, since we are obliged to do what we believe to be right, and conscience is the subjective authority that judges acts under consideration as right or wrong, as something to be done or not done. Nonetheless, people make…
Conscience: 3. Respect for its authority contrasted with tolerationism In my last post on conscience I noted the high subjective authority possessed by conscience, while noting the possibility that conscience objectively may err. Before considering the various ways in which a moral agent should act and might err, I would like to note again that…
Easter V, Rogation Sunday. May 6, 2018. All Saints’, Aiken, SC Saint John xvi, verse 33 - These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The Common Prayer Book calls today ‘The Fifth…
O ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true…
Bishop’s Charge to Synod Diocese of the South. April 26, 2018 The late Poet Laureate of England, Sir John Betjeman, wrote many years ago a biographical poem called Summoned by Bells, with which some of you will be familiar. In this poem Betjeman writes, of his conversion to the Anglo-Catholic faith during his university…
The most basic thing to say about gambling is that it is a luxury. Luxuries, for Christians, are not intrinsically immoral but often are morally questionable. It is intrinsically immoral to spend money and time and effort pursuing luxuries before we have secured the necessities of life for ourselves and for those for whom we…
CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH-YARD OR CEMETERY [The following form is mainly taken from The Canadian Book of Occasional Offices, 1964.] ¶ Before the Consecration of a Church-yard or Cemetery takes place, the Bishop shall make certain that the ground is sufficiently enclosed and that reasonable provision has been made for its maintenance. On the day…
