THE P RTAL
June 2016 Page 10
In quires and places where they sing …
Christopher Smith reflects on one aspect of Anglican Patrimony
Much interest and publicity was generated by an event at Hampton Court Chapel in February when the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster presided at Vespers , possibly the first Roman Catholic Service in the Chapel for 450 years . The choir for the occasion , a professional recording and concert choir , sounded superb and the service was broadcast in the regular Radio 3 Choral Evensong slot .
Less spectacular , but arguably historically and ecumenically more significant , is the regular pattern of worship undertaken by Ordinariate groups up and down the country ( and in the USA , Canada and Australia ) using forms of worship familiar to generations of faithful Anglicans from the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer . This is a living tradition found in Anglican Cathedrals and Parish Churches and now also in the Catholic Church .
In a stroke of genius , Thomas Cranmer , when devising services for the “ breakaway ” Church of England , combined the Latin Evening Prayer with Night Prayer to produce a form of service which includes both the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis , psalmody , prayers , hymns and a place for an anthem . In the Prayer Book towards the end of Evensong the rubrics say “ In quires and places where they sing here followeth the anthem ”, originally the seasonal Marian anthem but in the more Protestant hands of Cranmer this meant a piece of music sung by the choir .
Pope Benedict understood that many aspects of the liturgical and musical development in the CofE postreformation were worthy of incorporation into the liturgical life of the Catholic Church , a goal achieved with Pope Francis ’ approval of “ Divine Worship : The Missal ” last year .
The “ realised ecumenism ” to be found in the Ordinariates , shows a clear route for those of the Anglican Tradition who , while attentive to their Anglican heritage , wish to be in full communion with the See of Peter . For any such Anglican bishop , priest , deacon or lay person the Ordinariate is the normative route to full communion .
To follow any other route risks severing the very roots which nourished their growth in faith and holiness as Anglicans . One can understand why some who converted post 1992 ( the year that the CofE approved the Ordination of women bishops ) perhaps wanted
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page to put clear blue water between their Anglican past and their new Catholic identity but the situation is very different now . Pope Benedict created a structure where that heritage is valued , encouraged and , dare I say , needed .
Pope Benedict also knew first-hand the tangled strands of Anglican-RC ecumenical discussion of recent decades . These began in earnest 50 years ago with a visit by the then Archbishop of Canterbury , Michael Ramsey , to Rome to meet with Pope Paul VI in 1966 . Pope Benedict also knew well the distinguished strands of spirituality , philosophy and theology which developed in the post-reformation Church of England culminating in Blessed John Henry Newman who he beatified during his visit to the UK . JHN personified the gifts that could be brought to the Catholic Church by those who , like he had done , began their pilgrimage of faith in the CofE .
I sometimes sense criticism , perhaps through ignorance , of the Ordinariate . Accusations of “ poaching ” have not gone away despite the oftrepeated explanation that the creation of the Ordinariates was a response to requests from Anglican groups from around the world for such a provision to be made . Why a special provision ? Why not ? This is both a celebration of unity and diversity ; it celebrates the liturgical and cultural experience of the people involved rather than squeezing them into an existing mould .
Pope Francis has also shown his personal support through a widening of the scope of the Ordinariates , by approving the distinctive Missal for use by Ordinariate groups and most recently by approving financial support to assist with the development of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham .
If you are a cradle Catholic , a convert or just exploring the Catholic Church , and particularly if the Ordinariate remains something of a puzzle , you can
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