The Portal - Australia edition April 2014 | Page 15

THE P RTAL April 2014 Page 11 Letters to the Editor From Dr Richard Lawes I confess to some dismay and sadness on reading the articles by Geoffrey Kirk and Mgr Edwin Barnes in the January and March editions of The Portal, both of which seemed to be attacking the approved Ordinariate Use, which I would see as not only extremely beautiful but an important part of our spiritual identity. I have not had Mgr Barnes’ experience of being ‘bludgeoned’ by the Prayer Book - rather I have remained enchanted by its beauty and its central place in English spirituality for generations. I find the Prayer of Humble Access an excellent preparation for Holy Communion and its emphasis on our sin and God’s mercy entirely appropriate at this point in the liturgy. Whilst entirely respecting those who adhere to the ordinary Roman Rite, I hope that The Portal will continue to do more to support our Ordinariate Use, launched by the Ordinary with so much joy and enthusiasm and in keeping with the vision of Pope Benedict. Dr Richard Lawes Oxford Ordinariate Group Lecturer in English, Regent’s Park Coll Oxford Consultant Psychiatrist OUCS From Timothy Graham Recent editions of The Portal have carried unfavourable criticism of the Ordinariate Use liturgy from Mgr Edwin Barnes and Mr Geoffrey Kirk. Picking on the Ordinariate rite’s old-fashioned language obscures the necessity of a sacral and liturgical language, which I fear not even the welcome revision of the Roman Missal has realised. To throw over its diction as antiquarian affectation will both jettison a significant part of Anglican heritage, and cut us off from the sacral and liturgical English which is instantly recognised as such by any English speaker the world over. In liturgy, as in poetry, what matters is not the intention of the author, but the meaning of the words. Cranmer’s Prayer of Humble Access, for example, carries the weight of orthodox belief, and its theology of Body and Blood has roots in medieval theology, whatever Cranmer may have intended in constructing it. And is it an unwelcome intrusion of Cranmer’s ghost to draw attention to our sins at this moment in the Mass? Does the prayer not simply expand upon Non sum dignus to which it is adjacent? The context is all important, and in the new rite the most traditionally BCP prayers are transformed, turned towards a meeting with our Lord in the Sacrament. The rite, due to its inherent flexibility, allows three quite distinct usages: (i) a rite similar to the Novus Ordo, (ii) a near Tridentine rite in English, and (iii) a BCP influenced rite, with the Decalogue, Bidding prayers, General Confession and Cranmer’s communion prayers. This latter option allows those from an evangelical or low Anglican churchmanship to find a spiritual home within the Ordinariate, broadening its potential constituency. This is a remarkable freedom of liturgical practice, another piece of Anglican patrimony that can – please God – flourish in the Ordinariate. I would not call for its exclusion. Timothy Graham Woking, Surrey From John Blyth In the article about the Northampton Ordinariate Group one of the members said “Mass being every other Saturday is a problem. It is easy to get out of synch! We cannot celebrate major feasts unless they fall on a Saturday.” I’m sure that I can’t be the only person who wonders why, when there are three priests, Mass is celebrated only every second Saturday. Also, why do they have a Vigil Mass? The church that the group uses has its Sunday Mass at 9.15 a.m. so there would appear to be no reason why they can’t have Mass around 11 or 11.30 a.m. Mass every Sunday morning would more likely to help the group to grow than a Saturday evening Mass. John Blyth 75 Magdalene Avenue, Edinburgh The views expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of the Editors Letters for publication should be sent to: The Editors, The Portal, 56 Woodlands Farm Road, Birmingham B24 0PG [email protected]