Sunday after Ascension

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Anglican worship for the Sunday after Ascension marks the close of the prayer cycle focused on historical events, beginning with First Sunday in Advent and including the seasons of Advent, Christmas/Nativity of Our Lod, Epiphany, and Eastertide/Ascension. Next Sunday, Whitsunday/Pentecost, marks the start of what the AIC refers to as the “Teaching Season.” During this second half of the year, the collects and readings are focused on elements of doctrine rather than events.

For Sunday after Ascension, instead of another prayer adapted from one of three primary sources in the Western Church tradition, that is, the Leonine, Gregorian or Gelasian sacramentaries, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer turned to the traditions of the English Church. His Collect for Sunday after Ascension was adapted from a song which was sung for The Venerable Bede during Bede’s final illness in 735 A.D. In the English Church, the words of the song had been incorporated into a prayer in the Vespers office, usually celebrated around 5 P.M. or local sunset. The words of the Collect, very much like the Gospel reading from John 16 for Fourth Sunday after Easter, were intended to prepare worshippers for the transition from the celebration of Christ’s Ascension, celebrated on Ascension Day, the Thursday following Fifth Sunday after Easter, into the recognition of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost/Whitsunday. In the King James Version and the Book of Common Prayer, the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is referred to as “Comforter.” In the New King James Version He is called the “Helper.” Bede is also venerated in the Roman Catholic tradition, although he was not canonized by the Roman Church until the reign of Pope Leo XIII in 1899 A.D. The Venerable Bede was the author of the earliest history of the Church in England, Ecclesiastical History of England, covering the period up to 731 A.D., the year the book was published. An online version is available through CCEL.org.

The Ascension, the left panel of a triptych in tempera on wood, Andrea Mantegna, 1463-1464 A.D., Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. Image from The Yorck Project: 10,000 Masterworks. Public Domain.

O GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph
into thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost
to comfort us, and exalt us into the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who liveth and reigneth with thee and same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle reading, 1 Peter 4:7-11, begins with St. Peter’s advice concerning preparation for final judgment (verse 7), goes on to extol the Christian virtue of love (Verse 8, translated as “charity” in the King James Version and the Book of Common Prayer) and acknowledges that virtues come to mankind as a sovereign gift from God. The final verse (verse 11) includes words which have been incorporated into many Christian liturgies and prayers, here printed in the Prayer Book translation:

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;
If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth:
that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel reading, John 15:26 to John 16:4a, the fifth of five selections from the Gospel of John in the Sundays after Easter and Sunday after Ascension, includes a warning about the earthly dangers for followers of Jesus Christ, not only for those immediately within His hearing but also for those who would follow Him in the generations to come. Perhaps that is why the reading is presented in the Book of Common Prayer out of chronological order, with reference in verse 26 to an event already celebrated on Ascension Day.

But these things I have told you, that when the time comes,
you may remember that I told you of them.

The Ascension, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Rabbula Gospels, produced in the region of present-day Syria, then known as Mesopotamia, at the monastery of St. John of Zagba, 586 A.D. Codex Pluteus 1, 56, Folio 13v, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenzina, Florence, Italy. The document has been in Florence since the 16th C. The volume also includes the oldest surviving image of the Crucifixion. This version is from The Yorck Project: 10,000 Masterworks, published on a DVD and released into the Public Domain in 2002 A.D.

The actual descent of the Holy Spirit is celebrated annually on the Church Calendar on Whitsunday/Pentecost. The descent is described vividly by St. Luke in Acts 2:1-11, which is the Epistle reading for Whitsunday. The illustration displayed above the Collect for the Day represents the Western style of literalist interpretation of Christ’s Ascension. The illustration above this paragraph represents a more spiritual style. Both illustrations and twelve others were used in our publication, Easter: The Resurection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition, available through my Amazon Author Central page, with details of the volume found on the AIC Bookstore page. The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings for Sunday after Ascension are discussed and illustrated in Episode Three in the AIC Christian Education Video series, Eastertide: From Resurrection to Ascension, linked from the Digital Library page and, in MP3 audio format, from the Podcast Archive page.

Next week I plan to begin a new series of topical Blog postings. Readers are reminded that Blog entries for the other Sundays on the Church Calendar are linked from the Fr. Ron’s Blog tab for the years from 2023 through 2025. The page includes links to all posts going back to the opening of this site in August 2014. The Blog includes topical links following the actual blog entries.

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

Fifth Sunday after Easter

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For Fifth Sunday after Easter, also known as Rogation Sunday, Archbishop Cranmer again turned to the Gelasian Sacramentary as the source for the Collect for the Day. The first line in the Collect is a paraphrase of James 1:17, which was part of the Epistle reading for Fourth Sunday after Easter. The Christian tradition of praying for bountiful harvests is traced to practices endorsed by Pope Leo the Great in the late 5th C. Rogation comes from the Latin verb rogare, meaning to ask. In the English Church the first Rogation liturgy was used in the late 12th-early 13th C. in the Sarum Rite. Sarum is modern Salisbury in Wiltshire in southwest England.

O LORD, from whom all good things do come;
Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration
we may think those things that are good, and by thy
merciful guidance, may perform the same, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle reading, James 1:22-27, another example of Christian “wisdom” writings during the Sundays after Easter, opens with the famous advice to Christians to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only and ends with other sage advice, to “keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Christ Pantokrator, apse mosaic, Cathedral of Cefalu, Sicily, 11th C. with inscriptions in Greek and Latin. Christ offers a blessing with his right hand and hold the Gospel of John, open to the “I Am the Light of the world” (John 8:12) in his left hand. © Can Stock Photo, Inc./VLADJ55

The Gospel reading, John 16:23-33, is the third and last reading from the unique Gospel of John in Eastertide. Like the earlier readings for the Sundays after Easter, the words were spoken by Jesus after the Last Supper on the evening of Maundy Thursday. In verse 26, Jesus grants to the faithful the right to pray to the Father in HIs name and acknowledges that He came forth from the Father. Jesus closes with words that are both a forewarning and a comfort: “In Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (NKJV text). These readings along with the readings for Fourth Sunday after Easter, Ascension Day and Sunday after Ascension are discussed and illustrated in Episode Three in our video series, Eastertide: From Resurrection to Ascension, linked from the Bible Study: New Testament page. The audio version in MP3 format is linked from the Podcast Archive page. The readings from John 16, although unique to the Gospel of John, are not easily illustrated and therefore were not commonly represented in Christian art across the centuries. Instead, for this fifth and final of the numbered Sundays after Easter, I have used another Christ Pantokrator image, an Apse mosaic at the Cathedral at Cefalu on the northern coast of Sicily east of Palermo, created under commission from Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily. These Byzantine-style mosaics in the Cathedral were commissioned in the 11th C. but were not completed until the 13th C., with the Christ Pantokrator image completed around 1150 A.D. Under the Christ Pantokrator image is the Blessed Virgin Mary flanked by the Archangels Gabriel (left) and Michael (right). In a wider view of the area under the Apse mosaic, the Archangels Raphael and Uriel are shown.

During the Sundays after Easter there have been a number of new subscribers to these blog postings. I thank each of you, as well as earlier subscribers, and invite other viewers to “follow” this blog by clicking the “Follow Fr. Ron’s Blog” and the WordPress logo. You will receive an email from WordPress for each future posting. Next Sunday, Sunday after Ascension, will be the last in this series of postings based upon the Collect and appointed readings. All the other Sundays on the Church Calendar already have appropriate postings during the last two years. My focus in Fr. Ron’s Blog will shift to theme-based commentaries, some based on appointed readings, others based on interesting topics currently under-represented in earlier posts, and anything else that I believer would help site visitors better understand the Anglican worship tradition and Christian art over the centuries.

As always, thank you for your interest and support.

Fourth Sunday after Easter

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For Fourth Sunday after Easter Archbishop Cranmer adapted another prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary, one of the three most important prayers sources in the Roman Catholic tradition. The Collect affirms the sovereignty of God and His only-begotten Son over all things, including the wide range of human emotions.

ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men;
Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and
desire that which thou dost promise, that so, among the sundry and manifold changes
of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

James the Just, tempera and gold on panel Russian Orthodox icon in the Novgorod style, 1560 A.D. James holds a book, representing his epistle, in his left hand. Public Domain.

The Epistle reading, James 1:17-21, is one of foremost examples of New Testament “wisdom.” It illustrates concepts found in the “wisdom” books of the Septuagint Old Testament, which include the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon (also known as the Song of Songs). The selection is the first of two consecutive readings from the Book of James during Easter season, the other being the reading for Fifth Sunday after Easter. The author, traditionally said to have been the first “Bishop” of Jerusalem, includes themes from the Collect. St. James affirms the importance of the virtue of self-control: “…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (verses 19 and 20a). The great early Church Bishop, first of Antioch, then of Constantinople, John Chrysostom often used his homilies to counsel his listeners on the concept of the tongue as a weapon and the obligation of all men to “give it a rest,” especially during penitential seasons on the Church Calendar. A modern reproduction of the icon shown above is available online from the web site www.iconsofsaints.com. James is commonly called Brother of the Lord, based on the tradition that Joseph of Nazareth was his father from a marriage prior to his marriage to the Blessed Virgin Mary. James is traditionally thought to have been a “healer.”

The Gospel reading, John 16:5-11, is the fifth of six readings from the Gospel of John for the Sundays from Easter Day through Fifth Sunday after Easter. The account is unique to the Gospel of John and offers a link between the events of Easter Day and the coming of the Holy Spirit, or “Comforter” and “Spirit of truth” (King James Version) and “Helper”(New King James Version). Details of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is dramatically and uniquely told by St. Luke in Acts 2:1-4. The words of Jesus Christ in John 16 were spoken to the Apostles on the evening of Maundy Thursday after the Last Supper. Jesus offers words of comfort to His followers concerning His departure from them and the benefits to themselves of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus offered them assurance that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come” (verse 13). The Descent of the Holy Spirit is described and illustrated in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Acts of the Apostles: Annotated & Illustrated, available through my Amazon Author Central page, with details found on the AIC Bookstore page. The volume includes 77 illustrations and seven “special text” pages. In historic Christian art, at least in the surviving examples, The Acts of the Apostles was very rarely illustrated and even then included only one or two examples, usually of the scene in Acts 2:1-4. The volume also includes an 1888 map of the Mediterranean Sea with annotation concerning the origin of those present for the event and five examples of historic illustrations for Acts from circa 1100 A.D. to the late 19th C.

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

Third Sunday after Easter

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For Third Sunday after Easter the Collect was adapted by Archbishop Cranmer from the Leonine Sacramentary, one of the three primary sources in the Roman Catholic tradition. It is the oldest Collect in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Instead of the more commonly used phrase, Church Universal, the collect refers to “Christ’s Religion.” It reflects the Christian belief concerning the merciful nature of God the Father in offering His creation a path to return to “the way of righteousness.” This understanding was incorporated into the Sacrament of Confession.

ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that are in error the light of truth,
that they may return unto the way of righteousness: Grant unto all those
who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion, that they may avoid
those things which are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things
as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle reading, 1 Peter 2:11-17, actually comes before the reading for last week’s reading for the Second Sunday after Easter. In the closing verse, St. Peter urges Christians to “love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King.” The phrase is part of the basis for the Prayer for the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority in the Anglican Evening Prayer office.

The Last Supper, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, upper scene of two scenes on Maundy Thursday, Codex Bruchsal, circa 1220 A.D., which was produced for use at Speyer Cathedral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, Germany. Ms. Codex Bruchsal 1, Folio 28r, Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe, Germany. CC by NC 3.0.

The Gospel reading, John 16:16-22, is one of six readings in Easter from the Gospel of John. It is the first of three readings from Chapter 16. The three readings are not presented in sequence. Verses 16-22 are presented before verses 5-11 (Fourth Sunday after Easter), with verses 23-33 presented on Fifth Sunday after Easter. The verses, which were spoken on the evening of Maundy Thursday, include one of Jesus’ several references to concepts of time. Here it is based on the Greek word, mikron (Strong’s Greek word # 3397), translated in the King James Version as “in a little while.” I discussed these verses and Jesus’ other uses of words focused on unique details in the Gospel of John, on this occasion concerning concepts of time, in Episode Forty-four in our Bible Study video series, New Testament: Gospels. The episode is linked from the Digital Library page, with the Podcast version linked from the Podcast Archive page. St. John records in verse 17 that his fellow Disciples were puzzled: “What is this that He says: ‘a little while?’ We do now know what He is saying” (NKJV text). In the reading for Fifth Sunday after Easter from John 16:23-33, Jesus uses another Greek word referring to time: “hora,” meaning “hour” (Strong’s Greek word # 5610), which refers to a specific amount of time or occasion when something will happen. The image above is part of Illustration No. 67 in our Bookstore publication, The Gospel of John: Annotated & Illustrated, available through my Amazon Author Central page, with summary information on the AIC Bookstore page.

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