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A lot has been happening at the AIC.

First, 0ur application for IRS Section 501(c)(3) public charity has been approved. We are categorized as “Religious Media & Communications.” This classification better suits our actual operation since we do not offer in-person worship in a fixed location. Nothing changes as a result of this new classification. In fact, we’ll be doing even more to provide access to theologically-reliable teaching material.

Second, the previously-announced Podcast Homilies for Morning Prayer series is progressing very rapidly. With the help of several libraries in the United States, England and continental Europe I have searched for examples of illuminated Psalters, Books of Hours and other print vehicles with “historiated” first letters and representations of scenes in or associated with each Psalm. I have selected one or more examples, which will be posted weekly in this Blog as each Podcast is released, for all the Sundays, plus Christmas Day, Epiphany Day and Ascension Day. The series will include a reading of the text of each Psalm and a brief reference to the First and Second Lessons in the Lectionary. The Podcasts for First, Second and Third Sunday in Advent have been recorded. The scripts for Fourth Sunday in Advent through Sunday After Ascension have been written and edited.

Third, I’ve started work on a companion Video program in which I will display some of the most outstanding examples of Scriptural illumination associated with the Psalms. The video also will include examples from Psalms that are not read in Morning Prayer. I have not yet selected the music for the series, or for the Podcast Homilies. Suggestions are welcome. Send them to me at frron.aic@earthlink.net. I am hopeful that the video can be completed before Nov. 27, the first day of Advent, but, if not, early in the month of December. At left is an example of an illumination for Psalm 96 from the Book of Hours of Maria of Burgundy, produced in 1477, for which I am seeking from the Austrian National Library a higher-resolution image. The image is from Wikipedia Commons and is a copy of an illustration in a book about said Psalter.

Psalm 96 Book of Hours of Maria of Burgundy, circa 1477
Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria
copy from Wikipedia Commons:
(Stundenbuch der Maria von Burgund Wien cod. 1857 Engel.jpg ). Maria (also called Mary) married the Hapsburg Emperor Maximillian I in the year the book was completed.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Donations to the Anglican Internet Church are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, Our mailing address is 7162 Soft Wind Ln, Mechanicsville, VA 23111-5623..

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

The Podcast Homilies Project Update

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I’ve been very busy assembling material for the planned Podast Homilies for Morning Prayer series. So far, I have material for the first four Podcasts, all for the Sundays in Advent. Since the Podcasts are audio files, I’ve decided to prepare visual material as companions to the MP3 podcasts. For each Podcast Homily I will post a Blog entry with illustrations/illuminations based on the actual Psalm that is read in the Podcast or closely-related material. For this blog, I thought to provide readers with a glimpse of the quality of material I have assembled.

God the Father and Christ Enthroned, Howard Psalter and Hours, circa 1310-1320, East Anglia, Ms. Arundel 83, Folio 72, British Library, London, England, with grotesques in the border, placed before the start of Psalm 110 (Ps. 109 in the Vulgate version).

In the illuminated Psalters that were popular in continental Europe and England beginning around the second half of the 9th C., most of the illuminations were focused on events in only a select, small number of Psalms. Among the most common were Psalms 1, 23, 27, 39, 44, 52, 69, 80, 97, 110, 138 and 145. Many of these mark the traditional start of each of the five books of the Psalms. The numbers can be very confusing. The Vulgate Bible, the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church since the Council of Trent, merged Psalms 8 and 9 into a single Psalm, which has the effect of making Psalms 10 t0 150 be off by one number compared to the Book of Common Prayer version. Some libraries mark the pages with Vulgate numbers but others use the English system, and one can only be certain by comparing the opening words in Latin in the BCP with the document.

It’s early days for the project but I expect to publish the Homily for First Sunday in Advent, which in 2022 is Nov. 27th, about a week before the official start of Advent and then publish one per week through the season, hopefully always being one month ahead of need!

The AIC Bookstore’s publication for this Fall and early Winter, Christmas: The Nativity of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition is now available in paperback (8.5 x 8.5″ 112 illustrations in 172 pages) using the link to my Amazon Author Central page: https://amazon.com/author/ronald-e-shibley. Royalties from all AIC publications are contributed to the AIC.

Thank you for you continuing interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!