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!

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

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. There are almost 200 other images featured in The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition now on sale through my Amazon Author Central page. All book royalties are donated to the AIC. More information about the book is available on the AIC Bookstore 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!

Just a few items of news for site followers.

First, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition is complete and available online. This is book anyone interested in the history of the Church should own. You will have in your hand historic art resources from 820 A.D. to the 16th C. Best effect in reading is achieved by placing the book on a broad, flat surface. This will allow full view of the remarkable illustations from the Stuttgart Psalter and four other Psalter or Prayer Books.

Second, Easter: The Resurrection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition will go out for proofreading this weekend. I am hopeful we can complete the review and make any changes in time to have the book ready before Easter Sunday.

Third, Angels in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition – for which my working copy is called Angels the Book – is moving along slowly. I’ve been busy placing the text of each reference in Scripture to angel, angels, angels’, messenger and “man” plus the named angels, Gabriel, Raphael & Michael plus Uriel from the non-canonical 2nd Book of Enoch. There are hundreds of these. I’ve placed them, where possible, in context. There is no timetable for this project, which will give me time to find appropriate illustrations. The format will be similar to the Prayer Book and Easter books.

This week’s Podcast Homily for Morning Prayer – Psalter Series – for Quinquagesima Sunday in now online and accessible from both the welcome and Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer pages. The readings for this week are Psalm 19 and Psalm 23. The illustration is a detail from the Bohun Psalter (3rd Qtr. 14th C., Ms.Egerton 3277, Folio 16, British Library, London, England), showing Goliath in the camp of the Philistines inside the capital letter C at the start of Psalm 19. The artists who produced the Bohun Psalter used the opening letters to take readers through the Old Testament histories. The illustration from Psalm 23 is a Christ figure from the Stuttgart Psalter.

As always, thank you for your interest in our site. Please help spread the news by sharing links with others and encouraging them to subscribe to the AIC various presences on the web, including Fr. Ron’s Blog on the Podbean site and following the site through WordPress.com.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

My Podcast Homily for Fourth Sunday after Epiphany has been posted and is now available using links on the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page and the Welcome page. The focus of the homily is on Psalm 66, Jubilate Deo, a Psalm attributed to King David. The illustration is from the Bohun Psalter and Hours, prepared in southeast England, most likely London, in the 3rd Quarter, 14th C. for Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford (Ms. Egerton 3277, Folio 44v, British Library, London, England), showing the last half of Psalm 66 at the top and the start of Psalm 67 with an illuminated capital letter at left center and the start of Psalm 78 at bottom left.

In our new book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, the Psalm is also illustrated with three illuminations from the Stuttgart Psalter, made in the Scriptorium, Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Parish, circa 820, probably under the patronage of the new Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (Latin: Carolus Magnus). Charlemagne was crowned at Rome on Christmas Day, 800 A.D. with his teacher and religious mentor Alcuin of York at his side. Charlemagne, King of the Franks since 1768, had first met Alcuin in Parma, Italy, around 781. He appointed Alcuin as Abbot of the monastery of St. Martin, Tours, France, in 1796 and placed him in charge of the religious education of the members of the king’s court at Aachen.

As always, thank you for your interest in and support of the online ministry of The Anglican Internet Church. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

The Podcast Homily in our new series of homilies for Epiphany based on the appointed Psalm reading is now available using links on the Welcome/Home and the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer pages. This week’s Psalm reading is Psalm 42 (Quemadmodum) and Psalm 43 (Judica me, Deus), which are the opening Psalms of Book Two in the Prayer Book Psalter. These two Psalms are beautifully illustrated in our upcoming book, The Prayer Book Psalter: Picture Book Edition, which sent for a final proof this week, with proof arrival anticipated for Monday, 1/23. If no glitches are found, we could have the book in print and available from my Amazon Author Central page before Fourth Sunday in Epiphany, the final Sunday in the season in A.D. 2023.

In the book, readers will find three beautiful and inspiring illustrations of Psalm 42, including a representation of the “my soul” (Vulgate Latin: anima mea. Psalm 42: 1, 2, 8). Also found in the book is an image of Psalm 43 from Les Tres Riches Heures du duc de Berry (or The Very Rich Houres of the Duke de Berry) prepared by the Limbourg brothers for John, Duke of Berry, between 1412 and 1416), which is folio 61v, Musee Conde, Chantilly, France, via Wikipedia Commons.

In additional news, our seasonal book, Easter: The Resurrection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition is almost complete with 168 pages and about 120 illustrations. It should be in print well before Easter Day.

As always, thank you for your interest in and support for this online ministry.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!