Issue 08

SEPTEMBER 2012

IN TOUCH St Edmund’s Parish Church Downham Market

Fri-Sat-Sun 7th-8th-9th September

FLOWER FESTIVAL

Theme: Music! Music! Music!

Flowers Over 35 stunning floral displays

Raffle Prizes generously donated by local

businesses. To be drawn on Sunday afternoon.

Live Music Our Organ Scholar & Organist will play:

Fri. 2pm-4pm Sat. 12-2pm Sun. from 11.15am

Saturday 8th September

HERITAGE and CRAFT FAIR

Church Tower - £2 entry, accompanied children free

(Because of the nature of a mediaeval building, unfortunately

the Church Tower is not suitable for those with restricted

mobility, or who suffer from claustrophobia or vertigo.)

Live Music Downham Mkt. Swing Orchestra 2-4pm

Refreshments All day in the Church Hall

Vintage Tractor from the collection of Peter Bates

StallsStandsGames Heritage and Community

Stands Craft Stalls Vintage Tractor Tombola

Plant Stall Hand-crafted Crosses Book Stall

Splat the Rat Hook a Duck Coconut Shy Rector

in the Stocks (11.45am)…

Sunday 9th September 6.00pm

‘SONGS OF PRAISE’ SERVICE

AND

On Sunday 26th August at St Edmund’s we

celebrated a well-received Prayer Book Mass to

mark the 350th anniversary of The Book of

Common Prayer 1662 which was first used on St

Bartholomew’s Day, 24th August 1662.

I felt that this was an appropriate and important

thing to do so because the Prayer Book has a

particular place within Anglicanism:

a. It helps us to understand our history and

where we’ve come from.

b. It pioneered in the Western Church the use

of the vernacular tongue in the liturgy rather than

Latin. (A principle found in the early Church in

Rome which commissioned St. Jerome to

translate the Bible from Greek to Latin, so that

people could understand more clearly the

Gospel's message.)

c. Together with the Authorized (or King

James) Version of the Bible -which marked its

400th anniversary last year- as well as shaping the

common prayer of generations of CofE

worshippers over 3½ centuries, the BCP1662 has

also hugely influenced the development of the

English language itself. Cranmer's memorable

cadences retain a strong resonance still.

ORIGINS

The origins of the Prayer Book go back over a

century before the year 1662. The first Prayer

Book was published in 1549, during the reign of

Edward VI. In many ways this book may be

considered revolutionary, and not only politically.

It was the first ‘modern’ service book, containing

Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Litany, and

Holy Communion “commonly called the Masse”

and details of the lectionary (set Bible readings);

together with the other occasional offices in full :

Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, 'prayers to be

said with the sick' and the Burial of the Dead.

However, with the quick succession of Edward

VI and his half-sisters Mary I and Elizabeth I and

resulting ding-dong of politicking in Church and

State, the Prayer Book went through two further

editions within a decade – 1552 (unused) and

1559, a compromise version for the Elizabethan

Settlement (the plan for peace in the English

Church of the Reformation), which was basically

1552 amended with some material from 1549.

This third edition, of 1559, actually managed to

last for almost a century, right up until the

tumultuous events leading up to and including the

English Civil War in the 1640s.

The burning at the stake of Thomas Cranmer, principal

architect of the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552

THE CHURCH SUPPRESSED

Following the victory of the Parliamentarians in

1645 and consequent beheading of Charles I in

1649, the suppression of the Church was high on

the agenda for the radical Dissenters, and thus

the Prayer Book too. It may be strange to think of

the CofE being an underground Church, but it

was!

This period of totalitarian regime under the

tyrant Cromwell - known as the Commonwealth -

lasted for about half a generation, but its influence

on English Christian outlook remains to this day.

Out went the characteristic joy for which English

Christianity was known throughout Europe.

Cromwell has ensured that the English now find it

difficult to openly enjoy themselves in Church,

and for many, laughing or even smiling in Church

sadly remains an uncomfortable thing to do.

MONARCHY & CHURCH RESTORED

The death of Cromwell paved the way to the

restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the

coronation of the ‘merrie monarch’ Charles II

(though it wasn’t as easy and straightforward as

I’m making it sound in the space available here!!)

Alongside the restoration of monarchy came

the restoration of the Church of England as an

episcopal church – a national Church ministering

openly with its 3-fold Order of Bishops, Priests &

Deacons and the celebration of the Sacraments.

For this a new Prayer Book had to be made,

a fourth edition. And it is this edition, introduced

in 1662, that has remained the official prayer book

of the Church of England for past 350 years.

FROM THEN TILL NOW

In a broad sweep article like this it would be

easy to pretend that all was rosy between then

and now, but of course it was not. Please, no

‘golden ageism’! The CofE over the intervening

centuries has had a chequered history.

Just think about how the clergy are portrayed

in the novels of Jane Austen or Anthony Trollope;

the widespread pastoral failure that led to

Wesley’s Methodist movement in the C18th; the

national apostasy that led to the Oxford

Movement and Catholic Revival in the Church of

England in the C19th; the 1928 Prayer Book

which was accepted by the Church but not by

Parliament; two World Wars, and all the

succeeding years.

A 16th Century Prayer Book

SO WHAT IS MY OWN VIEW ON THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER?

When it comes to my own personal

relationship with the Prayer Book I have to be

honest (an honesty which led me to be described

by one person in a previous parish as a

“dangerous liberal”!).

I fully recognise the history and literary quality

in the language of 1662 (with a particular

fondness for Evensong); its importance in our

Anglican heritage; and that yes, there should

always be a place for it. But I am not sure I would

wish to see a wholesale return to the Prayer Book

for the Church of England’s worship.

Although style of language may seem the

obvious criterion for using (or not using) the

Prayer Book, in fact a whole range of reasons

need to be taken into consideration:

a. Scholarship. Theological and liturgical

insights gained over the last 350 years mean that

the modern liturgy has a closer resemblance to

the classical Eucharist of the early Church, as

celeb-rated by the Apostles and early martyrs and

saints, than does the Prayer Book.

b. The BCP is fond of wickedness and sin, but

the theology of the resurrection is pretty weak.

c. The BCP was at the cutting edge of

technology in its day, printing. But that was still

limited. Provision for the Church year is very thin.

Also, where is the Old Testament at the

Eucharist? It has Epistle and Gospel only. If we

exclude the OT we’ll end up like the Marcionites!

(look it up!)

d. But perhaps the most important

consideration is what the Prayer Book itself says

about circumstances and language changing over

time. The book was compiled against the

particular setting of the 16th and 17th Centuries

with all the concerns and assumptions of that

time. And over time even common words can

come to mean something different, even the

opposite. Revisiting liturgical texts is a thoroughly

Prayer Book principle, as its Preface puts it:

“for the more proper expressing of some words

or phrases of ancient usage in terms more

suitable to the language of the present times”.

ONE POSSIBLE CONCLUSION?

If Cranmer’s original aim was that the Church

should have a comprehensive and well-ordered

provision for liturgy “understanded of the people”,

could it not be argued (and quite strongly) that it is

the Church’s most current liturgical provision

which best meets this original aim with regard to

today’s needs?

A POSTSCRIPT…

After our Service on 26th August, several

people said how much they appreciated being

able to make a directly personal affirmation of

faith: “I believe in One God…” rather than “We

believe…” “I believe…” is in fact strictly correct as

a translation of the original Latin liturgy from

which our English liturgy ultimately derives.

When it comes to modern liturgical texts

there’s a huge irony here (some would say

hilarious irony). The Prayer Book grew out of the

English Reformation, but nowadays it is the

English version of the Roman Missal that more

closely resembles the Prayer Book texts than do

the modern English texts of Common Worship!

Missal anyone…?

Fr. James Mather SSC

Rector

PRAYER CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER 2012

Sa 1 – Feria (of 21st week)

Pray for: Those preparing for Baptism

SU 2 – 22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Pray for: Our Churches and People

Mo 3 – St Gregory the Great, ‘The Apostle of the English’, pope & doctor Pray for: The evangelization of our Country

Tu 4 – St Cuthbert, bishop Pray for: God’s blessing on the new school year

We 5 – Feria (of 22nd

week) Pray for: The Mothers’ Union

Th 6 – Feria (of 22nd

week) Pray for: Preps. for our Heritage Open Weekend

Fr 7 – Feria (of 22nd

week) Pray for: Our Heritage Open Weekend

Sa 8 – Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary Pray for: Our Heritage Open Weekend

SU 9 – 23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Pray for: Our Churches and People; and for our Heritage Open Weekend

Mo 10 - Feria (of 23rd

week) - Monthly Requiem Pray for: The departed of the month, RIP

Tu 11 - Feria (of 23rd

week) Pray for: The ministry of all lay people

We 12 – The most holy name of Mary Pray for: All youth groups and organisations

Th 13 – St John Chrysostom, bishop & doctor Pray for: Theological seminaries (esp. SSH)

Fr 14 – The Exaltation of the Cross Pray for: The Society of the Holy Cross (SSC)

Sa 15 – Our Lady of Sorrows Pray for: The bereaved

SU 16 – 24th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Pray for: Our Churches and People

Mo 17 – St Robert Bellarmine, bishop & doctor Pray for: (Fr Mather’s personal intention)

Tu 18 – Feria (of 24th week) – Mass for healing

Pray for: The sick and their carers

We 19 – St Theodore of Canterbury, bishop pray for: The Archbishop of Canterbury

Th 20 - St Andrew Kim Taegon and co., martyrs Pray for: The Church and people of Korea

Fr 21 – St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist Pray for: Edward deT.W. Longford, priest, RIP

Sa 22 – Feria (of 24th week – votive of the BVM)

Pray for:

SU 23 – 25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Pray for: Our Churches and People

Mo 24 – Our Lady of Walsingham Pray for: The Shrine and Society of O.L.W.

Tu 25 – Feria (of 25th week)

Pray for: Our Churchwardens, Sec and Treasurer

We 26 – SS. Cosmas and Damian, martyrs Pray for: Our Parochial Church Council (PCC)

Th 27 – St. Vincent de Paul, priest Pray for: The socially & materially disadvantaged

Fr 28 – St. Wenceslaus, martyr Pray for: HM the Queen & HRH Duke of Edinburgh

Sa 29 – SS. Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels Pray for: The protection against all evil of those who dabble in the occult unaware of the dangers

SU 30 – *HARVEST FESTIVAL* (26th SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME) Pray for: Our Churches and People; and in thanksgiving for the harvest

INFORMATION SUNDAYS 10:00 THE PARISH EUCHARIST

WEEKDAYS The Eucharist (also known as Mass)

Monday-Friday Normally at 09:30.

CLERGY Fr. James Mather SSC (Rector) The Rectory, King’s Walk, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9LF.

(01366) 382187 james.mather@ely.anglican.org

Fr. Alan Davies (Assistant Priest) The Lodge, Wallington Hall, Runcton Holme, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE33 0EP.

(01553) 810675 julieandalan@hotmail.co.uk

CHURCHWARDENS Mrs. Patricia (Pat) Barton

(01366) 384500 p.barton25@btinternet.com

Mrs. Patricia (Tricia) Potter

(01366) 385092 tricia.potter@ymail.com

Parish WEBSITE www.saintedmund.org.uk