Month: December 2022

Yes, I know that in 2022 the First Sunday after Christmas is replaced by the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord, but that does not mean that the publication of our new Podcast Homilies – Psalter Series will not post episodes for both First Sunday after Christmas Day and Second Sunday after Christmas Day. The Psalm appointed for First Sunday after Christmas Day is Psalm 145, one the the six doxologies which end the book of Psalms. On this occasion there are two illustrations, a page from the Stuttgart Psalter, produced circa 820 A.D. in the Scriptorium at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Paris, and the Psalter of Henry VIII, which is Ms. Royal 2 A XVI, British Library, London, England, produced around 1640 but possibly a decade earlier. Both illustrations will be used in the new AIC Bookstore Publication, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition.

I am pleased to report that progress on the Psalter book has gone extremely well and much faster that I thought possible. The book will be published in a single volume with 450 pages plus color cover. The proofreading and corrections are complete, but there are some technical issues to be resolved and a higher-quality replacement image ordered from the British Library for an illustration of Psalm 81 from the Lucas Psalter, made in Belgium between 1480 and 1490. I hope we can have the book in print during Epiphany season, which begins on Friday of the coming week.

To all who follow this web site, on behalf of The Anglican Internet Church, Inc., I wish each of you a Happy New Year for A.D. 2023.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

The appointed Psalm reading for Christmas Day is Psalm 89:1-30. In the Podcast Homily I explore the traditional understanding of the Psalm, especially its Christological symbolism. I’ve attached three illustrations. The first is an illumination on Psalm 89, verses 6 to 14a, from the Stuttgart Psalter, in which Christ stands at center with King David at left and two Hebrew scholars on the right. The second is the upper portion of an 11th C. mosaic of Isaiah at Neo Moni Monastery, Chios, Greece. The third is an illumination of Luke writing his Gospel from the Ada Gospels. The Podcast Homily for the series will be posted on both the Welcome/Home page and the Podcast Homilies – Morning Prayer pages by the end of the day on Friday, Dec. 23rd.

Stuttgart Psalter, circa 820 A.D., Cod. Bibl. Fol.23, Folio 103v, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany. The image is used with Psalm 89 in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, to be published early in 2023 A.D. As it stands now the book will have 448 pages with over 200 illustrations from 820 A.D. to the 16th C.

I’m also pleased to report progress on the proposed book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition. Three proof copies are in circulation for purposes of proof-reading and general commentary. It seems it is possible to publish the book in a single volume. It is now possible that the book could be available earlier in A.D. 2023 than I thought possible.

Thank you for supporting the AIC into its second decade on the Web. On behalf of everyone associated with the AIC, I wish each of you a Merry Christmas.

The Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday in Advent, now linked from the Welcome and Podcast Homiles-Morning Prayer pages, is focused on the appointed Psalm reading for the day, Psalm 80, a lament by the sons of Asaph concerning bad things happening to the faithful and the endurance of those who maintain their faith in the Lord. This image will be used on page 232 of the new AIC Bookstore Publication, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, to be published during Epiphany season 2023 A.D. The book in its present form has 163 images from the Stuttgart Psalter plus another 49 images from twenty-two other Psalters or Books of Hours from the 10th to the 16th C.

The Podcast Homily for Second Sunday in Advent was uploaded to our Podbean site earlier today. There are links to it on the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer and Welcome pages.

The appointed Psalm is Psalm 25 and the illustration for the episode is from the Psalter of Henry VIII, made for King Henry in southeast England, probably London, between 1540 and 1541. Some scholars date the work to a decade or more earlier.

Early next year I expect to publish a companion book with about 450 pages in two volumes, with illustrations from 23 historic documents. In its present form there are illustrations of pages from eight Psalms from the Psalter of Henry VIII. For each Psalm, the opening letter will be a colored scroll and initial designed by Corkie Shibley for this publication. I’ve been busy this week inserting the Scroll/Initial letter in the book.

As always, I thank you for interest in the AIC and its web site. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!