First Sunday after Easter & Bookstore Preview #20

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For First Sunday after Easter the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (American edition, 1943 revisions) the Collect, one of two original compositions by Archbishop Cranmer in Eastertide, is based upon John 3:16, Romans 4:25 and 1st Corinthians 5:7-8. The emphasis is upon St. Paul’s teachings on concepts concerning Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and, indirectly, the Christian virtues and their opposites. The Gospel lesson, John 20:19-23, records Jesus’ visit post-Resurrection appearance on the Monday after His Resurrection in which the Lord Jesus “breathed” the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and taught a lesson concerning the proper path to forgiveness.

The Three Marys at the Empty Tomb, illumination in colors on parchment, Alheide Psalter, 4th Qtr, 12th C-1st Qtr., 13th C., Thuringia, Germany, Ms. Additional 11847, Folio 13v, British Library, London, England. The manuscript is named after the woman who identifies herself as the scribe at the end of the volume.

These topics are discussed and illustrated in Episode Two of our video series, Eastertide: From Resurrection to Ascension. The audio-only version of Episode Two is linked from the Podcast Archive page. My Podcast Homily for First Sunday after Easter is linked from the Podcast Homilies page. A related Podcast Homily based on the Psalm reading in Morning Prayer for First Sunday after Easter, Psalm 103, is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page. The Gospel reading is discussed and illustrated in our Bookstore Publication, The Gospel of John: Annotated & Illustrated. The volume is available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional details about the book are found on the AIC Bookstore page.

We are nearing the end of the comments and images from the AIC Bookstore Publications, now numbering twenty-two volumes. Today, the focus is on The St. Chrysostom Hymnal, a project which grew out of my own local congregation’s effort to find hymns and songs which could easily be sung by people not trained in music. I researched hundreds of hymnals of many denominations at a local seminary’s library. Potential music was presented to the committee. Each proposed addition to our local hymnal was voted on by the members. Anything that did not pass muster was left out. One of the objectives was to find more music for Advent, Christmas and Easter and more hymns and songs suitable for opening and closing hymns. Yet another objective was to include hymns attributed to St. Ambrose of Milan and others discovered by, or written by, hymnologist John Mason Neale. The local publication was printed on letter-sized paper and placed in a spiral binding. After my retirement from pulpit ministry, I reworked the volume into the 5.5″ x 8.5″ format. Originally published in two volumes, it was later reformatted into a single book. Like all AIC Bookstore Publications, the volume is available exclusively though my Amazon Author Central page. Complete information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page.

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

Easter Even

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For Easter Even, which is the Saturday before Easter, the appointed Gospel reading, Matthew 27:57-66, includes the evangelist’s account of Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus, the presence of two of the three Marys (Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary), at the tomb and the order of Pilate, at the urging of the “chief priests and Pharisees,” to guard the tomb (against Jesus’ prophecy of rising in three days. In the AIC Bookstore’s publication, Easter: the Resurrection of Our Lord in Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition, Chapter Three includes many images of the Harrowing of Hades and Chapter Four includes images relating to Jesus’ prophecies of Resurrection three days. The volume is available through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information is found on the AIC Bookstore page.

The Harrowing of Hell, illumination in colors and gold leaf on parchment, German Homilary, circa 1320, W.148, Folio 21r, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD. CC0 license.

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

Good Friday

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For Good Friday, the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (American edition, 1943) the Gospel reading is John 19:1-37, which is the source of many important details concerning the Crucifixion and events in the hours and day that followed. For this occasion, I offer viewers the oldest surviving image of the Crucifixion.

The Crucifixion, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Rabula Gospels, Syria, 586 A.D. The document is held at Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence, Italy. The Yorck Project: 10,000 Masterworks. Public domain.

Other AIC resources for Good Friday include both video and audio-only versions of In the Cross of Christ I Glory, which I used at my former parish between Noon and Ninth Hour (3:00 P.M.). Episodes are also linked from the Digital Library and Podcast Archive pages. The readings were derived from a post-World War II office for Good Friday to which I added many quotations and prayers from the early Fathers of the Church Universal, including both Eastern Church and Roman Catholic saints and prominent figures.

For Good Friday (117 slides; nearly four dozen illustrations from the 6th to the 19th C.)

Part 1 – Opening Remarks, First to Fourth Word
Part 2 – Fifth to Seventh Word, plus Closing Remarks

The audio-only version (MP3 format) of this presentation is linked from the Podcast Archive page.

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

Thursday before Easter

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For Thursday before Easter, commonly known as Maundy Thursday the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (American Edition, 1943) provides two choices for the Gospel reading: Luke 23, which continues from the reading for Wednesday before Easter, and John 13:1-15, which is St. John’s unique (both in content and style) account of Jesus’ model for the humble act of footwashing. There are few examples of how this event was depicted in Christian. Among the best of them is this mosaic at the Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Boeotia, Greece, circa 10th C.

Christ Washes the Apostles’ Feet, with St. Peter at center, mosaic, Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Boeotia, Greece, 10th C. Photo by Edbb. CC-by-SA 3.0. Perspective correction applied to the original image.

I used this image as Illustration No. 66 in The Gospel of John: Annotated & Illustrated, which is available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page. In the book, a second image of footwashing, from the Codex Bruchsal, made for use at Speyer Cathedral, Speyer, Germany around 1220 A.D. is Illustration No. 67. The volume was highlighted in my Blog post for 2/17/26 in association with celebration of First Sunday in Lent. The post is linked from the Archives column at right.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Wednesday before Easter

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The Gospel reading for Wednesday in Holy Week is the entirety of Luke 22. Among the topics is the evangelist’s account of Christ’s prophecy of the betrayal of St, Peter (Luke 22:31-34) and its fulfillment (Luke 22:54-62). I have chosen a Western Church visual interpretation, in this case one of several watercolors by James Tissot. Tissot conducted extensive research in the Holy Land, focusing on clothing, architectural detail, visiting the locations where the events described took place. The Brooklyn Museum purchased the entire collection in the late 19th C. and later entered the images into the public domain. This particular image is: 00.159.246_PS2.jpg.

The Second Denial of St. Peter, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, James Tissot, circa 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum. Public domain.

Tuesday before Easter

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For Tuesday in Holy Week, the Gospel reading, Mark 15:1-39, is another long citation from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (American edition, 1943 version) which begins with the trial of Jesus before Pilate and ends with His death upon the cross. The illustration for today is another outstanding example of Christian art that was produced at Reichenau Monastery, Reichenau, Germany. The source is the Pericope Book of Henry II. Henry II was the last of the Ottonian Holy Roman Emperors in Europe. The Christ before Pilate scene appears as Illustration No. 76 in our bookstore publication, The Gospel of Mark: Annotated & Illustrated. The volume is available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page. The Gospel of Mark volume was featured in my Blog post for February 5, A.D. 2026, which is linked from the Archives column at right.

Christ Before Pilate and Crucifixion of Christ, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Pericope Book of Henry II, circa 1007-1012, Clm 4452, Folio 107v, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany. CC-by NC-SA 4.0.

For tomorrow, Wednesday before Easter, the Gospel reading is Luke 22.

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

The lower portion

Monday before Easter

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This year I have chosen interesting and sometime unique visual interpretations of the Gospel readings for Holy Week. For Monday before Easter the Gospel reading, Mark 14:1-72, is the longest during the cycle from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, covers four line on the opening page, plus four full pages, ending with two lines on the final page (1928 Book of Common Prayer, US Edition, 1943).

Upper panel: Jesus & His Disciples on the Mount of Olives; Lower panel: Arrest of Jesus, Peter Cutting Off the Ear of Malchus, illumination in egg tempera and gold on parchment, Gospels of Otto III, circa 998, Clm 4452, Image 96, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany. CC-by-NC-SA 4.0.

The bottom panel in the illustration appears as Illustration No. 73 in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Gospel of Mark: Annotated & Illustrated. The volume was discussed in the Blog post for February 5, A.D. 2026, linked from the Archives column at right. The book is one the twenty-two volumes available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information is found on the AIC Bookstore page. St. Peter’s action against Malchus, a servant of the High Priest, is mentioned only in Mark 14:47 and John 18:10. The Golden Gospels of Otto III was produced at the Reichenau Monastery, Reichenau, Germany, for the third of four Ottonian successors to Charlemagne as Holy Roman emperors. The team of artists at Reichenau were locally trained by other artists brought from Constantinople under the supervision of the monk Liuthar. Just a few years later they began a two decade-long effort to produce a fully illuminated edition of Revelation (details about the AIC Bookstore version are found on the AIC Bookstore page.

A scene from the Gospel reading for Tuesday before Easter, Mark 15:1-39, will be the subject of the next Blog post. Thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Sixth Sunday in Lent (Palm Sunday) and AIC Bookstore 19

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For the Sixth Sunday in Lent, officially called Sunday next before Easter but commonly called Palm Sunday, Archbishop Cranmer modified a collect from the Gregorian Sacramentary (10th C.) by adding the phrase “partakers of his resurrection” to the last line. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer instructs that the Collect is to be said daily following collect appointed for each day during the week (Monday before Easter, Tuesday before Easter, Wednesday before Easter, Thursday before Easter (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and Easter Even). The Epistle reading, Philippians 2:5-11, includes the instruction that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” The Gospel reading, Matthew 27:1-54, is the evangelist’s long account of the trial of Jesus and His crucifixion and death upon the Cross and the earthquake which followed it, according to the oral tradition known by the Greek word, kerygma. The image is a watercolor by James Tissot depicting events in the reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel. In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the actual entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is read on First Sunday in Lent, also based upon St. Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 21:1-11.

The events described in the Gospel reading are discussed and illustrated in Episode Three in AIC Christian Education Video series, Lent: the Season of Penitence, is linked from the Digital Library page. The audio-only version for Palm Sunday is linked from the Podcast Archive page. The Podcast Homily for Palm Sunday is linked from the Podcast Homilies page. A related podcast homily, based upon the Morning Prayer Psalm reading for the day, Psalm 22, is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page. The word kerygma is discussed in the AIC Bookstore Publication, Layman’s Lexicon on page. ????. The book. which was featured in my blog post for October 18, A.D. 2025 in conjunction with the entry for Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (linked from the Archive column), is available through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page.

This week’s focus from the AIC Bookstore is The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament, another volume published in the 8.5″ x 8.5″ format.

Cover illustrations, from left to right, are a 10th C. mosaic of Isaiah’s virgin birth prophecy, Neo-Moni Monastery, Chios, Greece; 18th C. Russian Orthodox icons of Ezekiel & Jeremiah, Kishi Monastery, Karelia, Russia; and exterior mosaic of Daniel, Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, Italy. Images of Isaiah, Ezekiel & Jeremiah are public domain; mosaic of Daniel © Can Stock Photo, Inc./Alessandro0070.

The volume, written for a lay audience of readers, is focused on the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, supported by documents from both the Eastern and Western Church understandings. It includes five parts of the Septuagint Old Testament not included in the King James Version (Prayer of Azariah; Song of the Three Children; Susanna; Bel & the Dragon; and Daniel and Habakkuk in the Lion’s Den. Sixty-three illustrations from the Third through the Twentieth Century. Includes special text boxes (What is a Prophet?; Isaiah in Christian Liturgies; Jeremiah in Christian Liturgies; Ezekiel in Christian Worship, Scripture & Teaching; Daniel in Christian Worship; Theophanies: Images of Christ and God the Father; Joel in Scripture & Christian Literature; Amos in the Anglican Prayer Book; Micah on Right Worship; Zechariah in Scripture and Christian Literature; Malachi in Christian Liturgy; Old Testament/New Testament Parallels. 144 pages. $35.00. The book is available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. More information about the book is included on the AIC Bookstore page.

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

Thank You!

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To all our viewers and followers of Fr. Ron’s Blog, please accept our thanks for your continued interest and support. I constantly receive offers from potential vendors proposing changes to our site. The AIC exists solely to provide access, on demand, to traditional teaching and study materials, most augmented by examples of Christian art across the centuries. We strive to keep the site available 24/7 with content available consistent with our WATCH/LISTEN/READ initiative. If you have not already done so, we invite you to “follow” the Blog by clicking the box in the right hand column. You will then receive notification of each new posting.

Again, thank you.

Fifth Sunday in Lent & AIC Bookstore 18

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For Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly known as Passion Sunday, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer composed a Collect based upon the Gregorian Sacramentary (10th C.), affirming that by His “great goodness” mankind may be “governed and preserved.” The Epistle reading, Hebrews 9:11-15, includes a rare reference to the “high priest of good things to come” who is “not made with hands.” The allusion is to the mysterious Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20; Ps. 110:4; Hebrews 5:6-11 & 6:20-7:28), who is considered as a type of Christ. The Gospel reading, the second of two in Lent from the Gospel of John, John 8:46-58, includes Jesus’ bold “I AM” declaration.

Byzantine Mosaic, illustrating Genesis 16:18-20, 6th C, Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. Ravenna, on the northeast coast of Italy, was under the control of Byzantine Empire. The Basilica is contemporary to the rule of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who sponsored the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. © Dmitry Chulov|Dreamstime.com.

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings are discussed and illustrated in Episode Three in the AIC Christian Education Video series, Lent: the Season of Penitence, which is linked from the Digital Library page. The audio-only version of Episode Three is linked from the Podcast Archive page. My Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent is linked from the Podcast Homilies page. A separate Podcast Homily for Fifth Sunday in Lent, based on Psalm 51, the Morning Prayer reading for Fifth Sunday in Lent is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page.

Three scenes from Revelation, Bamberg Apocalypse, 1000-1020 A.D., Bamberg State Library, Bamberg, Germany. © Staatsbibliothek, Bamberg, Germany. Used with permission.

The focus of this week’s AIC Bookstore Preview is Revelation: An Idealist Interpretation, another volume produced in the large page, 8.5″ x 8.5″ paperback format designed to enhance the illustrations and allow their placement fully in the context of book text. The book, patterned after the AIC Bible Study Video series of the same name, was made possible by the generous support of the Bamberg State Library, which provided high-resolution images from the original volume, The Bamberg Apocalypse, produced between 1000 and 1020 A.D., during the reigns of the Ottonian Holy Roman Emperors Otto III and Henry II. One of the Ottonian royal family was linked by marriage to a Byzantine princess. Artists working at the Reichenau monastery on Reichenau Island on Lake Constantine produced some of the finest expressions of traditional Christian teachings ever produced in the Western Church tradition. Their art drew upon earlier works produced in and around Constantinople. The volume includes A Brief History of Revelation and A Primer on Numerology in Revelation, the latter important in understanding St. John’s many uses of numbers. The companion video series of the same name is linked from the Bible Study-New Testament page. The volume is available exclusively through our Virtual Bookstore, which is my Amazon Author Central page. Additional information about the book is found on the AIC Bookstore page. 220 pages. 52 illustrations. $49.95.

A tip for understanding the Revelation and the four Gospels: when reading the Gospels, start with the Gospel of John and read it slowly, as if listening yourself to the Evangelist dictate the words to his scribe, Prochorus. Likewise with Revelation, especially noting the many allusions to 1st C. understandings about the Old Testament, from which St. John derived many of his allusions to important numbers (explained in A Primer on Numerology in Revelation, pages 7 to 11.

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