THE P
RTAL
Celebrate the Seasons !
A plea from Joanna Bogle
December 2017 Page 4
Auntie
Joanna
One of the most important things that the Ordinariate must do is to celebrate the Church ’ s glorious round of feasts and seasons – and celebrate in a way that will evangelise . When Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the “ Anglican patrimony ” he gave voice to something that is deeply embedded in Britain ’ s self-understanding . People , including of course a great many non-churchgoers , feel comfortable with things they associate with the annual cycle of the Church ’ s calendar , celebrated and cherished over the past couple of centuries by the Anglican Church .
writes
I say “ the past couple of centuries ” because a good many things that we now regard as typically Anglican were part of the great revival in the 19th century – Harvest Thanksgiving , midnight Christmas services , celebrations of patronal feasts in parish churches . The CofE of Jane Austen ’ s day would not have seen Jane and Elizabeth Bennett celebrating the feast-day of the parish church in Meryton , or gathering the local children in a robed choir to sing “ We plough the fields and scatter ” at Michaelmas . The revival of a sense of the Church ’ s authentic traditions in England in the Victorian era was a great achievement : and the Ordinariate is a child of that development .
The 19th century movement , calling the Anglican communion back into a sense of continuity with the centuries of Christianity in England , drew on a renewed interest in all sorts of folk traditions and music : the Victorians researched and wrote on this , and also popularised all sorts of customs for Christmas ( Tree , Santa Claus , candlelit carols ) and Easter ( chocolate eggs etc ) that we now take for granted .
This heritage is something to which the Ordinariate must pay great attention . A village hall packed for a glorious St George ’ s Day dinner , Sunday School children leading a street procession , a parish picnic in a sunny public garden – these are all Ordinariate celebrations of various feasts . Anglican friends who see , hear about , or attend Ordinariate events need to feel that here they are at home – celebrating traditional things in a traditional way .
Discussing ideas for Ordinariate groups in The Portal recently , a suggestion was made that the liturgy should be “ high – as high as possible ”. No . The Ordinariate was not created with a plan of attempting to squeeze the Ordinariate liturgy into a straitjacket to make it look like
the Extraordinary Form . Rather , the whole Ordinariate project was centred on an understanding that Anglicans who yearned for truth and unity and recognised that these were only to be found in full communion with the Catholic Church , could feel at home there because they could have their own style of liturgy – in English , with a particular English “ feel ”, with music and hymns cherished by generations of Anglicans .
The revival of interest in authentic traditions in the 19th century was instrumental in “ re-Christianising ” some traditions that had become detached from the Church . Thus Harvest Thanksgiving ( ought this to be Lammas Day ?) – a major part of pre-Reformation life – by the 18th century had either been abandoned or had no religious focus whatever and was just a meal for farm workers : the Victorian CofE revival changed that .
The story of the Catholic Church in Britain is all bound up with years of persecution and then revival , Irish famine , immigration , and more . In the 20th century , Catholicism in Britain had an often urban feel to it , and many traditions linked to old rural ways seemed marginal , being replaced with a St Patrick ’ s day dance , or a celebration for Our Lady of Lourdes . But the understanding of the glories of the calendar was never forgotten , and now the Ordinariate can make its own contribution to the mix … and in doing so can help with the re-Christianising of popular culture .
And , while you are doing it , please keep me in the loop . I am always researching – my “ Book of Seasons and Celebrations ” ( now in its 5th edition , and counting ) and associated booklets , TV programmes , and so on , is always nourished by new material . Is your Ordinariate group going to rediscover and foster some local tradition that will bring Christ into the community in a way that echoes deep into the culture ?