Month: March 2023

Greetings! Earlier this morning I uploaded the Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent in our new Psalter Series. The Psalm reading for Fifth Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday) is Psalm 51 (Vulgate Psalm 50), David’s earnest confession of his sins. The illustration for this episode is a page from the Psalter of Henry VIII, produced circa 1540 but possibly a decade earlier. It is Ms. Royal 2 A xVI, Folio 61v, British Library, London, England. The text is in a Carolingian-style of lettering with upper and lower case letters made popular by Alcuin of York, spiriual advisor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus). The enlarged capital M marks the start of Psalm 51.

In other news, the AIC Bookstore’s newest publication, Easter: The Resurrection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition has been released and is available through my Amazon Author Central page (use the link at the bottom of the Welcome page. Work continues on the next volume: Angels: the Book. I am trying to complete work on Part 1, the Preface (a Primer on Angels), and Part 2, Angels in the Old Testament. Just this week I received two illuminations from books produced at the Reichenau Monastery, Reichenau, Germany, around 1000 A.D. during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and another from a volume produced at Cologne/Aachen in the same time frame. I also posted a spectacular image of mosaic created during the reign of Charlemagne in the 1st Qtr., 10th C.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

The Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday in Lent, based on Psalm 147, is now available for listening and/or downloading. Not only is this posting a day late but the companion Weekly Update, which went out early, includes in incorrect reference to the Psalm reading. Apologies for the error.

The image is a literal interpretation of BCP Verses 5 and 6. The ungodly man is on the ground, with a heavenly hand pointing in his direction, while the humble, righteous man plays a cithara, singing praise to the Lord. The image is from the Stuttgart Psalter (Cod. Bibl. Fol.23, Folio 161r, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany, and was used in its full size in the companion book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition.

There is other news this week. Our Easter book is now available using the Virtual Bookstore link at the bottom of Welcome page. The volume has 168 pages with 117 illustrations. All book royalities are contributed to the AIC. The retail price is $35.00.

As always, I thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

At the AIC we suggest that those who cannont attend a Sunday service read the traditional hours offices at home

The AIC Bookstore offers Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity for those who need access to Anglican versions of the traditional “Hours” of First, Third, Sixth, Ninth hours plus Vespers and Compline. As a special favor to our readers, if you would like to receive the text of just the hours, please send a request by email and we will send you a pdf file.

This week’s post is about the new Podcast Homily for Third Sunday in Lent in our Psalter series of Podcasts. This week’s reading is Psalm 34, a Psalm of David with many memoreable/often-quoted verses, including verse 11, the subject of the illumination from the Stuttgart Psalter. The homily is a little longer than usual, over 15 minutes. The illumination offers detail for verse 11: “Come ye children, and harken unto me * I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (1928 BCP text). A holy man, symbolizing Christ, is seated in front of an altar with children at his feet and four men and three women looking on. The color palate includes blues, greens and reds that would later be featured by the Impressionist school.. The facial expression of each character is unique and very untypical of other works from the same time period. I thank the Wurttemberghische Landesbibliothek for providing access to the image. This add almost 200 other images are featured in The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition now on sale (March 2023) through my Amazon Author Central page.

Thanks for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

The Second Sunday in Lent brings around another Podcast Homily for Morning Prayer in the new Psalter-based series. This week’s Psalm readings are Psalm 30 and Psalm 32, both attributed to David. In the homily I offer some insight and opinions on the meaning of the verses and, in the case of Psalm 30, cross-reference to a version with fewer archaic words that may not be properly understood in the 21st C.

In the companion book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, both Psalms are illustrated with illuminations from the spectacular Stuttgart Psalter. Here I’ve included the illumination for Psalm 30, which is a Christological Psalm. Here a centurion and a king are doing what the Psalm commands of the saints in verse 4: “Sing praises unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, * and give thanks unto him for a remembrance of his holiness.”

A revised proof of the newest AIC Bookstore Publication, Easter: The Resurrection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition, is due back from our printer on Monday, 3/6. If we do not discover anything else that needs changing, we could have the book in print within the next couple of weeks. The finished book has 168 pages and 117 illustrations, including the oldest known illumination of the Resurrection produced in 586 A.D.

Work continues on Angels: the Book. More in a later Blog posting. Meanwhile, attend a church near you tomorrow. If you cannot do so, please consider reading the Hours offices for First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours, plus Vespers and Compline. You can find all these offices in the AIC Bookstore Publication: Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity, available using the Virtual Bookstore link on the Welcome page.

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