Podcast Homily – Morning Prayer – Trinity Sunday

My Podcast Homily for Morning Prayer on Trinity Sunday in our new Psalter Series is now online. The Psalm reading is Psalm 150, the final Psalm in Book Five and the last of six doxologies which close the Book of Psalms. The illustration is an edited version of the illumination for Psalm 150 formatted in 100 dpi for ease of downloading. The title is All Creations Praises Three. The artists include many musical instruments of the 9th C. The range of colors is unlike anything ever seen before and unlikely to be repeated in the 21st C. There are blues, reds and yellows not seen again until the late 19th C. . Readers will want to know that, as far as I know, there is only one surviving copy of the book.

Illumination in colors and gold on parchment, Stuttgart Psalter, produced in the Abbey of Saint-German-des-Pres, Paris, circa 820 A.D. It is one of the finest examples of the Christian art of the Carolingian era under H.R.E. Charlemagne. Cod.Bibl.Fol.23, Folio 163v, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany.

In other news, work continues on Angels: the Book. As of 6/1/2023, the book has 141 illustrations from the early 3rd C. to the 20th C. I am currently working of the final two chapters. Many libraries in Europe, the United States and England have provided high-resolution images, most of which are not often seen. The final version likely will end up with about 150 images.

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

Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday after Easter – Psalter Series for Morning Prayer

This week’s Podcast Homily for Morning Prayer in our new Psalter series is focused on Psalm 118, a Psalm of David. Psalm 118, one of the most-qu0ted Psalms is a highly-Christological Psalm with many phrases understood as references to Jesus Christ. The illumination used. in the companion book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, is Psalm 118, below trimmed and formatted at 150 dpi for easier transmission on the Internet. The illustration is from the Stuttgart Psalter (Cod. Bibl. Fol.23-F0lio 131r, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany).

Work continues on Angels: the Book, with all images selected through the chapter on Revelation.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things1 Amen!

Morning Prayer Series – Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday after Easter

The new Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday after Easter in the new Psalter Series is now online, linked from the Welcome and Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer pages. The focus is on Psalm 116, a Psalm of David. For this episode the illustration is detail Folio 130r from the Stuttgart Psalter, produced at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Paris, circa 820. The artist offers a literal intepretation of Psalm 116:2 (Because he hath inclined his ear unto me…).

Illumination of Psalm 116:2, Stuttgart Psalter (Cod. Bibl. Fol.23, Folio 130r, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany. Used with permission.

Work continues on the newest book project: Angels: the Book. At this time, with most of the text completed up to the “Angels in Revelation” chapter, there are 226 pages with over 120 illustrations. I’m working on the final selection of images for Revelation, choosing among five sources from the 8th to the 14th C.

I remain thankful for our followers of AIC videos, podcasts and books and remind viewers that we offer ways to WATCH-READ-LISTEN to teaching materials for lay audiences in whatever format they prefer.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Podcast Homily-Psalter Series-First Sunday after Easter

My Podcast Homily for First Sunday after Easter in our new Podcast Homilies for Morning Prayer-Psalter Series is now available. The Psalm reading is Psalm 103, a Psalm of David. The illustration for this Psalm is a page from the Stuttgart Psalter, produced circa 820 at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Paris, from Cod. Bibl. Fol.23, Folio 115v, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany. The illustration is used on the first full page of Psalm 103 and is a visual interpretation of verse 5: “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, * making thee young and lusty as an eagle.” (1928 B.C.P. text). The image is reproduced on page 294 in the AIC Bookstore Publication: The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition. The book is available using the Virtual Bookstore link to my Amazon Author Central page at the bottom of the Welcome page. When there click at top right to see all books with the “Most Recent” tag at the top of the list.

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

Podcast Homily for MP – Lent 6

My Podcast Homily in our Morning Prayer-Psalter Series is now linked from both the Welcome and Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer pages. The focus is on Psalm 22, widely-regarded as the most Christological of all the Psalms. The illustration is an illumination of Psalm 22, verses 1-6, from the St. Albans Psalter.

The St. Albans Psalter was produced at the Abbey of St. Albans near London in the 12th C. Copies of the Psalter are rare, with this one at Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim (lower Saxony), Germany. In the image a hand reaches down from heaven in the upper right center. Animals gaze at a man who pleads for help, claiming that he has been abandoned by God. The image is Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons). The image is used on page 56 in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition. Like all our books, it is available through my Amazon Author Central page using the Virtual Bookstore link at the bottom of the Welcome page.

Meanwhile, work continues on

Podcast Homily-Fifth Sunday in Lent – Morning Prayer Series

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!

Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday in Lent – Morning Prayer/Psalter Series

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!

Hours Offices as Pdf Document

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.

Podcast Homily for Third Sunday in Lent

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!

Stuttgart Psalter, circa 820 A.D., Cod. Bibl. Fol.23, Folio 41v (detail), Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany.