I’m very pleased to announce the uploading yesterday of the AIC Seasonal Video series, In the Cross of Christ I Glory just in time for Good Friday in A.D. 2018. The program is a video version of the Noon to 3 P.M. Good Friday program I presented at my former parish before my retirement from the pulpit ministry. Although the actual program was spread across a three-hour timespan, the actual spoken content ran to less than one hour. To keep the video version within reasonable time limits, the 2018 A.D, video version is presented in two parts. Part One (32 min) includes the Opening Prayers, Introduction, and the First through the Fourth words. Part Two (26 min) includes the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh words plus the Closing Remarks.
Watch Part 1. Listen to the Podcast of Part 1.
Watch Part 2. Listen to the Podcast of Part 2.
In the earlier podcast versions I read both the Verse and the Response lines and said the Amen. In the new video version, I enlisted the help of the congregation at Holy Cross Reformed Episcopal Church in North Chesterfield, VA. I thank them for their enthusiastic participation. They and I speak the opening Confession (left), repeated at the start of each section); the opening Verse and Response that includes the Lord’s Prayer; the internal transition Verse and Response (see below) in each of the seven parts; the closing Verse and Response which includes the Nicene Creed; and, throughout, the Amen for each prayer. To enhance the viewing experience and make it as much as possible like participation in the original 3-hour program, I have inserted an Intermission slide between
each of the sections, with the instruction to pause the video. Each transition slides notes the starting time of the next section.
The program is built upon the solid foundation laid in 1946 A.D. by the Most Rev. William Moody, Bishop of Lexington, KY, who built his work upon the early-20th C. Good Friday lessons by the eminent theologian, the Very Rev. George Moody, who headed the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Cambridge, MA. To this wonderful base of spiritual-minded prayers (about half of which were composed by Bp. Moody) and reflections upon the lessons of Good Friday, I added, in the mini-homilies in each section, the interpretations of the great Eastern Church fathers, including St. John Chrysostom (John the Golden Mouth); St. Gregory of Nyssa; and St. Athanasius of Alexandria.
The video version includes 117 slides, each with an illustration. There are about 48 different illustrations, ranging from the oldest known representation of the Crucifixion from around the mid-6th C. in Northern Mesopotamia (part of modern Syria), to mosaics, frescoes, watercolors, engravings, and paintings from the 6th through the 18th C. in the Western and Eastern Church artistic traditions; and, from the 19th C., stained glass windows. One of these windows, a stunningly-beautiful piece at St. Gertrude’s Church, Stockholm, Sweden, is used as the transition slide that marks the start of the Verse and Response for each part of the program. For the Confession slide, I inserted a Christ Pantokrator mosaic (top left) from the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Justininian in the 6th C. The picture credit lines are not mentioned in the narrative, both to save time and to avoid distraction from the meaning of the text and the solemn mood of the presentation.
I hope you will share links to this presentation with friends, family, business associates, and others with an interest in hearing traditional Christian teaching and interpretation.
As always, I thank you for your interest in and support for this Internet-based ministry. May the Lord bless you in all that you do in His Name. Amen. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!
Episode Three in the AIC Seasonal Video series, Lent A.D. 2018, was uploaded this morning to our You Tube and Podbean channels. The focus of the episode is Fifth Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday), Sixth Sunday in Lent (Palm Sunday), and Holy Week (Monday before Easter through Easter Even). The text includes historical background plus commentary on all the Collects, Epistle, “For the Epistle” and Gospel readings plus a selection of seasonal music from The St. Chrysostom Hymnal.
An offshoot arising out of the production of Episode Three was an idea that came to mind very, very early in the morning a few weeks ago. I pondered it carefully and when I got up and went to my Mac I tried to assemble my thoughts on how to implement the idea. When I retired from the pulpit ministry a few years ago, I had intended to make the 3-hour presentation for Good Friday, In the Cross of Christ I Glory, into an AIC Seasonal Video presentation. Other projects (podcasts, videos and books) overwhelmed me and I just never got around to it. In the Cross of Christ I Glory has been available only in the Podcast Homily versions recorded in 2014-2015 A.D. and presented in eight parts. The program was built upon the foundation of a 1946 A.D. presentation for Good Friday by Bishop William Moody, which I augmented with comments by the Very Rev. George Hodges from his Good Friday services and lectures from 1904 A.D. To this base I added material for the mini-homilies accompanying the seven words from the Cross from the homilies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nyssa.
With Episode Seven in The War on Christianity I conclude my discussion of the Te Deum Laudamus in its function as a First Line of Defense for any Christian in the world’s on-going battle with Christianity. The focus of the discussion is Part Two (“Thou art the King of Glory: though “numbered with thy saints in glory everlasting”) and Part Three (“O Lord save thy people” through “let me never be confounded”). I close the episode with an exploration of the Scriptural origin and usage of “confounded,” especially in the sense of its meaning as not letting oneself get led away from Christian Truth.
In other news, I’ve decided to produce a video version of In the Cross of Christ I Glory, the three-hour Good Friday meditations I developed and used in my former parish. The videos will be produced in however many parts are required to keep each episode to under 35 minutes. There will be Intermission slides between each of the segments so that viewers can pause the video until the appropriate hour. There will be no separate podcast versions, since Podcasts of an earlier version are already available from the Podcast Homilies page:
The first episode in the newest AIC Seasonal Video series, Lent A.D. 2018, is now available in both video and podcast version. The series will include three episode. Episode One is focused on the origin and meaning of the Feast of Lent and an examination of the two services for Ash Wednesday in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. In Episode Two I will discuss the Collect, Episode and Gospel readings, and appropriate music for the first four Sundays in Lent. In Episode Three, the focus will be on the final two Sundays plus a discussion of Maundy Thursday.
Episode Two in our newest Seasonal Video series, Gesima: the Sundays in Pre-Lent, was uploaded yesterday. The second and last episode in the series, it is focused on the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for both Sexagesima Sunday and Quinquagesima Sunday plus commentary on Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent.
I’ve been working on the slides and script for Episode One in the Lent A.D. 2018 seasonal video. which must be uploaded days before Ash Wednesday, 2/14. There will be three main areas of interest in Episode One: church meaning of the season; origin of the season; and discussion of services (Holy Communion and Penitential Office) for Ash Wednesday. The first draft of the title/masthead is at left. The image of a draped Cross is copyright Can Stock Photo, Inc./Robhainer. There will be pictures of Anglican Churches around the world, especially altars, including St. Paul’s in London. Episode Two will be focused on First, Second, Third, and Fourth Sundays in Lent. I’m still searching for pictures to use in the series. Any suggestions would be welcome. Pass them along to me via email at: front.stjohnanglican@earthlink.net.
The next teaching series in the AIC Seasonal Video category, Gesima: the Sundays of Pre-Lent, begins today with Episode One. In Episode One I discuss the origin (both the historical and language) of the name, the season’s importance for traditional Anglican worship and a discussion of the first Sunday in the season, Septuagesima Sunday, including appropriate music.
Episode Three, the final episode, in the AIC Seasonal Video series, Epiphany: the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, is now available in both video and podcast versions. Episode Three is exclusively focused on the Second Sunday after Trinity through the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, including the complicated rules for their celebration in years with both 26 and 27 Sundays after Trinity. For each Sunday there is a discussion of the theme of the day, the Epistle and Gospel readings, and appropriate music for the day or season. Includes music added for the St. Chrysostom Hymnal, complete in one volume, released earlier this year.
Yesterday I uploaded to our YouTube channel Episode One in the 2018 A.D. version of Epiphany: the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The series has been revised and expanded into three episodes. Episode One is focused on the sharp difference between the secular and Church meaning of Epiphany and the timing and manner of the development of Epiphany as its own Season in the Church Calendar. The series includes a revised script and many new illustrations and adjustments to format, including more slides, more white background per slide, and cross-references to related AIC videos, publications and podcasts.
On this the 12th and final day of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Jan. 5th, the key words are GRACE & FAITH. The music is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley (1789 A.D.), played to the tune Mendelssohn.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Jan, 4th, the key words are Glorifying God. The music for this episode in the AIC Video series, The Twelve Days of Christmas, is Good Christian Men, Rejoice, using John Mason Neal’s 1853 translation from the Latin carol, In Dulci Jubilo. It’s an arrangement frequently used in the background for street singers in movies, television and videos on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
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