Second Sunday in Advent

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For Second Sunday in Advent Archbishop Thomas Cranmer created a new Collect in which he stressed themes of the new English Church, which had endorsed the effort to create a complete English language Bible. The “Great Bible of 1539,” commonly called the Coverdale Bible, printed in Europe under the authority of the Church of England, made the Old and New Testaments available in the common language of the English people. Whether the pr0ject ever achieved the stated and lofty objective of putting a copy in every Church in England is debatable. Cranmer’s new Collect begins with the only reference in the Book of Common Prayer to God the Father by the title Blessed Lord. In it the Archbishop imposes upon every Christian a duty, against all the forces allied against them, to read and study and contemplate internally the meaning of the words of the Bible and the true message of the new season of Advent. His phrase, “patience and comfort” is an adaptation of Romans 15:4, which is part of the Epistle reading for the day.

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning;
Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them,
that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast,
the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

God the Father and God the Son, miniature illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Oxford Psalter, 1st Qtr., 13th C. before 1200 A.D., Ms. Royal 1 D X, f. 98, British Library, London, England. This represents an interesting way of avoiding the early Church prohibition against images of God the Father by showing them together as duplicate images of Jesus Christ (“He who has seen me has seen the Father”). John 14:9 NKJV.


The Archbishop’s selection for the Epistle, Romans 15:4-13, especially verses 5, 6 and 7 (“Now the God of patience and consolation” through “even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” was part of St. Paul’s plea to both Jewish and Gentile Christians for unity in the common faith. Bible scholars have noted that in verses 9-12 St. Paul quotes from the four “pillars” of Judaism: the Law (the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament), the Histories, the Psalms and the Prophets. This system of organizing the Old Testament into four parts is discussed and illustrated in Part One, The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament, available at my Amazon Author Central page.

Christ in Majesty, illumination in colors and gold on parchment, Codex Amiatinus, folio 796v, made at the Benedictine monastery, Wearmouth-Barrow, Northumbria, England, circa 700 A.D. for an edition of the Vulgate Bible. The Codex has been held at the Laurentian Library, Florence, Italy, since 1786. The four evangelists are depicted in the corners of the image. The central image shows Christ seated between two archangels, likely Gabriel and Michael. Christ in Majesty is rendered in Latin as Maiestas Domini 

The Gospel reading, Luke 21:25-33, includes reference to details of the promised Second Coming and the Parable of the Fig Tree. The concept of Christ coming in clouds of power and glory is the basis for the images known in the Western Church as “Christ in Majesty.” In the Byzantine/Eastern Church tradition, a related concept, expressed in art depicting Christ enthroned, is known as “Christ Pantokrator,” literally, Ruler of the Universe. Both versions often depict visual understandings of “signs” (verses 25-26) and “in a cloud” (verses 27-28). I discuss the reading in the context on my Second Sunday in Advent homily theme of “Fire of Judgment” in my Podcast Homily for Second Sunday in Advent. In the AIC Christian Education Video on Advent season, the readings are discussed in the episode for First and Second Sundays in Advent. The “fire of judgment” is a common theme in both the Old and New Testaments. The word “fire” is referred to 53 times in the New King James text. Two excellent examples are Psalm 97:3 in which “fire” goes before the Lord and Ps. 104:4 in which His ministers are called a “holy fire.”

In addition to these seasonal Blog posts I have been working on improvements to several parts of this site. My objective is to improve site navigation by providing internal links. The changes start at the bottom of the Home/Welcome page in the LEARN YOUR WAY section. In addition to these adjustments I call your attention to additional upcoming seasonal videos. For the final seven days of Advent (Dec. 18th to Dec. 24th) we will provide Home page links to The Great “O” Antiphons series and Lessons and Carols for Christmas Eve. Just before Christmas Day I will provide active links to our Christmas season series (3 episodes) and the Twelve Days of Christmas series for Dec. 25th through Jan. 5th.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. We do appreciate those of you who have become followers/subscribers to Fr. Ron’s Blog. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

First Sunday in Advent

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In the Anglican worship tradition, First Sunday in Advent marks the start of a new Church Year, unrelated to the traditional Western calendar and the Roman Catholic tradition in which years begin on January 1. For the occasion Archbishop Thomas Cranmer composed a new Collect into which he incorporated the details based on the theology of the Pauline epistles (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 6:10-20) and the Evangelists John and Luke (John 1:1-5; Luke 2:1-20). In this new Collect, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury emphasized the dual themes of Advent season: Preparation – not just for one event, the birth of Christ our Saviour – but also for His promised coming again. In the AIC Bookstore Publication, Christian Spirituality: an Anglican Perspective, I offered several examples of St. Paul’s unique understanding of “spiritual warfare” using martial terms, such as “armor of light.” The Archbishop also chose to emphasize the humble manner in which the Son of God entered the human world. The book, like all the AIC Bookstore Publications, is available through my Amazon Author Central page. Note that in the English tradition, “quick,” a word no longer in common usage, refers to those currently alive and thus applies no matter the timing of the Second Coming.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness
and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life,
in which thy son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;
that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal,
through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost,
now and ever. Amen.

Instead of focusing on the appointed readings (Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 21:1-13) or engaging in the timeless and pointless debate over the decision of the Prayer Books authors to use the Gospel account of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on First Sunday in Advent instead of Palm Sunday, the focus here is on possible homily themes for First Sunday in Advent plus details and music common in Anglican celebrations of the season of Advent.

My Podcast Homily for First Sunday in Advent is The Coming of the Light, the first of four themed Homilies for Advent Season. In other AIC rescources, the AIC Christian Education Video series on Advent, the First and Second Sunday in Advent are discussed and illustrated in Episode One.

Chi Rho and Wreath, bas relief on a lidless sarcophagus, circa 360 A.D. (excavated circa 1817-1821), Museo Pio Christiano (Vatican Museum), Rome, Italy. Public domain.

Advent is not Christmas, nor an abbreviated version of Christmas. In traditional Anglican parishes, the season is celebrated first by what is commonly known and the “greening” of the altar. This refers not only to the addition of seasonal greenery but also the avoidance of commercial products. In the most traditional parishes, the “greening” is accomplished either directly by parishioners. To avoid violating the tradition of not using Christmas decorations before Christmas Eve, many parishes use chrismons, which are symbols of Christian themes. In the illustration above one can see the Chi Rho symbol, in this case placed inside a wreath. Traditionally, Christmas-based hymns and carols are not used until Christmas Eve, when the Lessons and Carols for Christmas Eve office is read and sung This service will be discussed in association with the blog post for Fourth Sunday in Advent. The liturgical color for Advent season is the same penitential purple also used during Lent.

In the post for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, I explained that Advent is fixed feast which always begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast Day of St. Andrew, Nov. 30. This means that the earlier possible date for First Sunday in Advent is Nov. 27th and the latest possible date is Dec. 3rd. During Advent season it is traditional for Anglican parishes to display an Advent Wreath, which features five candles, four around the outer ring and a larger central candle. Three of the four in the ring are purple, with the fourth, reserved for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, is white. The late Archdeacon of the United Episcopal Church of North America, the Rev. George McClellan, composed an Advent Wreath Ceremony with themed readings and prayers for each of the four Sunday in Advent. In Fr. George’s memory, I used his text in the AIC Bookstore Publication, Occasional Services for Anglican Worship. In another AIC Bookstore Publication, The St. Chrysostom Hymnal, I included several traditional hymns suitable of use during Advent. Hymn 3 is Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates (George Weisel, 1642 A.D.), Hymn 4 is The Advent of Our King (Charles Coffin, 1786 A.D.) and Hymn 8 is O Word That Goest Forth on High (Latin hymn, 7th C.). Both books are also available through my Amazon Author Central page.

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

Sunday Next Before Advent

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First, I must apologize for last week’s error in the readings for Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, when the Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings should have been the same as the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany instead of the Fifth Sunday after Trinity.

Trinitytide, the longest season on the Anglican Church Calendar, finally comes to an end with Sunday Next before Advent. In the 1892 Book of Common Prayer the occasion was labelled Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. It is commonly known as “Stir-up Sunday,” a label based upon Archbishop Cranmer’s adaptation of a “Daily” prayer from the Gregorian Sacramentary as the Collect for the Day. Church historians suggest that the “stir up” phrase in the Gregorian prayers was inspired by the writings of the Apostles Paul (2 Timothy 1:6) and Peter (2 Peter 1:13; 3:1).

STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Sunday Next before Advent, the first reading, known as a “for the Epistle” reading, is Jeremiah 23:5-8, a prophecy of the coming of a “righteous Branch” in the line of descent from King David and under whom the people are promised “judgment and justice in the earth.” The prophecy uses all capital letters in the spelling of prophesied Messiah: THE LORD OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Verse 5 is read as the Second Chapter (of three) in the traditional Anglican prayers for Third Hour in the AIC Bookstore Publication, Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity, available through my Amazon Author Central page.

The Gospel reading, John 6:5-14, is the evangelist’s account of the miraculous Feeding of the 5,000, which in extended form (using verses 1-14) is also the reading for Fourth Sunday in Lent. It is illustrated here in one of James Tissot’s historical style watercolors in which the artist captures the enormous scale of the event with details of the audience and the local geography.

Feeding the 5,000, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, James Tissot, one of over 300 images in his Life of Christ scenes, 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.

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

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity

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The extended celebration of Trinitytide: The Teaching Season nears its end with Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. The fact that there are 25 Sundays after Trinity in A.D. 2024 owes to the variability of the calendar, which is determined by the date of Easter. Here’s a brief primer on how this works. Advent season, which marks the start of a new Church Year, always begins with First Sunday in Advent, which is always on the Sunday closest to Nov. 30, the Feast Day of St. Andrew. This means there will always be four Sundays in Advent coming before Christmas Day on December 25th. The other “signpost” which affects the Calendar is the moveable date of Easter. In the Western Church, Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox (March 21st). A different system, created at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., is used in the Eastern Church, in which the date of Easter cannot be set until the senior Rabbi at Jerusalem establishes the date of Passover. The setting of the date of Easter determines the placement of Septuagesima Sunday, which is always the ninth Sunday before Easter. The earliest possible date for Septuagesima Sunday is January 18th. The establishment of Septuagesima Sunday then determines the number of Sundays after Epiphany, which can be as few as one or as many as six. In the small type footnote on page 224 of the 1928 B.C.P., readers can find the complicated formula for adding Sundays to Trinitytide in years in those years in which Easter comes early. All that said, these rules are the reason that there are Twenty-five Sundays after Trinity in A.D. 2024. There. Doesn’t that make you feel better!

The Collect for Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity is the same collect used for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (again, see p. 244 of the B.C.P.). It is another adaptation by Archbishop Cranmer from the Gregorian Sacramentary, produced much later than his lifetime but named in honor of Pope Gregory the Great. In Archbishop Cranmer’s decidedly poetic text, retains the prayers for both the Church (institutionally) and the members of the Church (broadly) were added and also the Gregorian theme of the Almighty Lord who governs and defends the Church.

O LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion;
that they who do lean up0n the hope of thy heavenly grace
may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Opening page, Byzantine illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Epistle to the C0lossians, Greek script, with St. Paul and St. Timothy set into text of Colossians 1:1-5, early 12th C., Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, Ms. W.533, Folio 247v, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD. CC by NC-SA 3.0.

The Epistle reading, Colossians 3:12-17, includes St. Paul’s list of the Christian virtues, including, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness, and love. St. Paul was the first to list them and his understanding was expanded and interpreted by many of the monastic athers of the early Church. The first inclusive list appeared in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, written in the 6th C. by John Climacus, abbott of the new monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai under the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. In the 7th C., under Gregory the Great the list was expanded to include “contrary virtues,” a list of sins which are the opposite of the virtues. I discuss the concept of the Christian virtues in the VIRTUE(S) and SIN entries in the AIC Bookstore Publication, Layman’s Lexicon: A Handbook of Scriptural, Theological & Liturgical Terms, available through my Amazon Author Central page. Royalties from this and the other AIC Bookstore Publications are contributed as received to the AIC.

John Climacus, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, 12th C. Note tha hand of God in the upper right corner, implying the Almighty as the source of St. John’s inspired writings. Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C. Public domain.

The Gospel reading, Matthew 13:24-30, is the the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. The parable was spoken in the “Kingdom Parables” in Chapter 13. I illustrated the parable with a circa 1540 illumination produced for a Lutheran church in France in The Gospel of Matthew: Annotated & Illustrated, available as noted above through my Amazon Author Central page.

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

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity

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Apologies to followers of this site for absence from Fr. Ron’s Blog last week. My wife and I were travelling to visit our son and his family, an 8+ hours trip down and 8+ more on the way back. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity is the final Sunday with a unique appointed Collect, Epistle and Gospel reading. Since this year there are more than twenty-four Sundays after Trinity it is not the last set of readings. The 1928 B.C.P. has provisions for transferring readings from the final Sundays after Epiphany in years when the calendar has fewer Sundays leading up to Easter. I discuss the complicated rules in Episode Nine in the AIC video series, Trinitytide: The Teaching Season. These will be discussed next week.

The Collect for Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity was adapted Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for the first Anglican Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549 A.D. in time for Whitsunday and Trinitytide. The collect was assembled from the collection of prayers for Morning and Evening prayers in the Leonine and Gregorian Sacramentaries, two of the three primary Sacramentaries of the Roman Catholic Church. The common theme continues to be the merciful nature of God the Father and the need for his continual presence in the lives of sinful mankind. A similar prayer was used as the Sixth Prayer in the office of Sixth Hour in our publication. Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity, available through my Amazon Author Central page.

LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences;
that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins,
which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this O heavenly Father,
for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

The Epistle reading, Colossians 1:3-12, an advance to the next in the canonical epistles of St. Paul, is a letter to the congregation at Colossae in Asia Minor. The church at Colossae was founded not by St. Paul himself but by his associate, Epaphras. There is no record of St. Paul having visited Colossae. The Apostle to the Gentiles uses spiritual-minded language to both congratulate the Christians at Colossae for their confession of faith and reminds them always of “giving thanks to the Father who has qualifed us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

Raising the Daughter of Jairus, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, part of a series of Scenes in the Life of Christ, James Tissot, 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Tissot’s historical-style visualizations of Scriptural scenes followed several years of research into clothing styles of the 1st C. and his many visits to the Holy Land.

The Gospel reading, Matthew 9:18-26, the final reading from the Gospel of Matthew, is a record of the Raising of the Daughter of Jairus and the healing of a woman with a blood disorder, also recounted, with different detail, in Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-50. The scene was one of the favorite Gospel accounts for use in illuminated Gospels and pericope books (which contain only verses used in a liturgy) in the 8th to 12th C. and later in stained glass windows and, even later, in a famous late 19th C. watercolor by James Tissot. The Tissot watercolor was used as Illustration No. 60 in our publication, The Gospel of Matthew: Annotated & Illustrated. A 12th C. illumination and a 20th C. stained glass window by Franz Mayer of Munich, both based on St. Luke’s account are, respestively, Illustration N0. 33 and Illustration No. 34 in The Gospel of Luke: Annotated & Illustrated. The stained glass window is also used in Paintings on Light: the Stained Glass Windows of St. Joseph’s Villa Chapel. As noted above, all AIC Bookstore Publications are available through my Amazon Author Central page.

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


Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

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For the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity the Collect was adapted by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer from a late edition of the Gregorian Sacramentary. The Gregorian Sacramentary was named in honor of Roman Catholic Pope Gregory the Great, who presided at Rome from 590 to 6o4 A.D. Based on 10th C. document at the Vatican Library, it is one of the three great sacramentaries of the Roman Catholic tradition (Gregorian, Gelasian & Leonine). Scholars argue that the content of the work reflects the influence of Charlemagne, implying a contribution by Alcuin of York, who was the Emperor’s spiritual advisor and teacher. For more on the relationship between Charlemagne and Alcuin, see the blog posting for March 16, A.D. 2024. The design of the volume reflects the style of the sacramentaries produced in Germany during the period of the Ottonian successors to the throne of Charlesmagne. The collect is one of three used in Trinity season in which there are prayers for the Church Universal. The other two are the Collects for the Fifth and the Sixteenth Sundays after Trinity. A similar Collect, also based on the Gregorian Sacramentary, is read on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, a Sunday which can be transferred to Trinitytide in years with more than twenty-four Sundays after Trinity. The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany and the complex rules through which select Sundays in Epiphany can be transferred to Trinitytide is discussed in Episode Three of our video series, Epiphany: the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness;
that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities,
and devoutly given to serve thee in good works,
to the glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle reading for Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity, Philippians 1:3-11, advances to the next epistle in the canonical list of the epistles of St. Paul. In the older Latin plan of readings, the selection began with verse 5. Verses 3 and 4 were added in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. St. Luke described Philippi as the “foremost city” in the Greek region of Macedonia (Acts 16:12). . A modern Greek Orthodox baptistery at Philippi, traditionally described as being on the remains of the site visited at the time of St. Paul’s baptism of Lydia (Acts 16:11-15), appears in Illustration No. 57 in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Acts of the Apostles: Annotated & Illustrated, available through my Amazon Author Central page. Additional details and pricing are found on the AIC Bookstore page. When St. Paul writes about “fellowship” in the Gospel, he relies upon the Greek koinonia [Strong’s Greek word # 2842, related to # 2844), which has the same meaning as “thy household the Church” in the Collect. St. Paul refers twice (verses 6 and 10) to a “day of Jesus Christ/day of Christ), when means the promised Second Coming, from the Greek parousia [Strong’s Greek word # 3952]. The Apostle to the Gentiles assures the Philippians of “the fruits of righteousness” that come only from Jesus Christ. I discuss the meaning of “fellowship” (verse 5), “discernment” (verse 9) and “righteous/righteousness” (verse 119) and nearly 350 other commonly used words and terms, in Layman’s Lexicon: A Handbook of Scriptural, Theological & Liturgical Terms, also available using through my Amazon Author Central page. The entire reading is part of St. Paul’s prayer for the congregation at Philippi.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, oil on canvas, 1649 A.D., Claude Vignon, Musee des Beaux Arts, Tours, France.
Wikimedia Commons

The Gospel reading, Matthew 18:21-35, is the seventh of nine readings in Trinitytide from the Gospel of Matthew. The reading includes two parts. Prayer Book scholar Massey Shepherd noted that verses 21 and 22, including Peter’s question and Jesus’ answer, were added to the traditional Latin pericope (meaning a collection of quotes from Scripture used in a liturgy) for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The addition placed the reading in the broader context of the forgiveness which Jesus announced in the Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Following the two-verse dialogue on forgiveness is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (also commonly known as the Parable of the Ten Thousand Talents), revealing a king who practiced forgiveness of one of his servants, which servant then failed to heed the lesson and failed to forgive one of his own servants. In the final verse (verse 35), St. Matthew returned to the theme of St. Peter’s question in verse 1 with Jesus’ final pronouncement: “So my heavenly father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” The historical style image above was used as Illustration No. 105 in The Gospel of Matthew: Annotated & Illustrated, available through my Amazon Author Central page. F.Y.I.: the AIC sells these publications solely through Amazon so that we do not have to stock any inventory or report retail sales since the seller is Amazon and not the AIC. All author royalties from the sale of these publications are contributed to the AIC.

My Podcast Homily for the Communion service on the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity is available in MP3 format. Another Podcast Homily, this one paired to the readings for Morning Prayer, is linked from the Podcast Homilies-Morning Prayer page. The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings for Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity are one of the subjects in Episode Eight in our Christian Education Video series, Trinitytide: the Teaching Season. Interesting images of the remains of basilicas, mosaics and a map of Philippi are available in the Philippi entry at Wikipedia.

Next week I will begin adjusting the Home/Welcome page of this site by modifying links to entries for Trinity season, which this year has 25 days after Trinity. The changes will include links to materials related to Advent season. Advent, a season of penitence and preparation (for Christmas), which heralds the start of a new Church Year on the Anglican Calendar. Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30). In A.D. 2024, the First Sunday in Advent is December 1st.

As always, thank you for your interest and support.

Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

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For the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity the Collect is another adaptation by Archbishop Cranmer from the Gelasian Sacramentary (Rome, circa 750 A.D.) for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. It is also the last Gelasian Sacramentary collect for the season. The collect includes an iconic phrase, “pardon and peace,” in which pardon was substituted for the medieval Latin phrase “indulgence.” The word “indulgence” was, in Cranmer’s view, too closely allied to the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences to those with appropriate financial resources. The word “quiet” in the final phrase replaced the Latin “secure.” Quiet in mind implies unshakeable faith in the face of adversity, a concept which remains essential in the anti-Christian political and cultural environment of the 21st C. The Collect is often used by non-ordained Church leadership as a closing prayer in Morning Prayer, since it offers the hope of forgiveness without the official sanction of Absolution which only an ordained clergyman can dispense.

GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle reading, Ephesians 6:10-20, advances one chapter in St. Paul’s epistles from the reading for Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. The lesson includes some of the most important and boldest statements of the traditional teachings of the Apostle Paul concerning, in the broadest sense, the concept of “Spiritual Warfare.” The verses include several iconic martial phrases used in the context of the battle against “the wiles of the devil” (verse 11) and the “spiritual hosts of wickenedness in the heavenly places” (verse 12). These include “the whole armour of God” (twice, verses 11 and 13), “the breastplate of righteousness” (verse 14), “the shield of faith” (verse 16), “the helmet of salvation” (verse 17) and “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (verse 18). Less military-sounding defenses include “the gospel of peace” (verse 15) in the concept of appropriate footware for spiritual conflict. “Principalities and powers” in verse twelve refers to the traditional understanding of the ranks or orders of angels and heavenly powers. I discuss this interpretation in Ninth Day (Jan 2nd) in our video series, The Twelve Day of Christmas and also in our Bookstore Publication, Angels: In Scripture, Prayer and Christian Tradition, available through my Amazon Author Central page. Paul refers to the importance of prayer and to his own boldness in defense of Christian doctrine in the closing verses (verse 18, 19 & 20).

Paul, miniature illumination in colors and gold on parchment inside the letter “P,” placed before the start of 2 Corinthians, Gloss on the Pauline Epistles, Peter Lombard, France, 4th Qtr. 12th C.-1st Qtr., 13th C., Ms. Royal 4 E IX, Folio 64, British Library, London, England. Perspective correction applied.

The Peter Lombard illumination was used as Illustration No. 74 in The Act of the Apostles: Annotated & Illustrated, available using the link to my Amazon Author Central page. Although the image was used in association with the 2nd letter to the Corinthians, it is used here owing to St. Paul’s fierce facial expression. My personal favorite image of a militant St. Paul was used in the blog post for Seventh Sunday after Trinity, linked from July 2024 entry in the right hand column.

The Gospel reading, John 4:46-54, is the fifth of six readings from the Gospel of John during the period between Whitsunday and Sunday Next before Advent. The subject of the reading is the second “sign” of Jesus’ divinity cited in the Gospel of John, being John’s record of Jesus’ remote healing of a nobleman’s son. According to John’s account, only Jesus, the Nobleman and His Disciples were present in Cana of Galilee, which was also the site of the first miracle recorded by John in Chapter Two. The Nobleman’s son was ill at Capernaum. This record by John near the start of Jesus’ public ministry, traditionally understood to have been in 27 A.D., is unusual in two important ways. In his unique style, John sets the mood of the scene with an account of Jesus having left Judea and gone into the Galilee. In verse 48, John records Jesus, knowing the Nobleman’s thoughts, declaring: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” In verse 49a, the worried man begs Jesus to come with him and heal his sick son in Capernaum, to which plea Jesus responds: “Go your way; your son lives.” John confidently states in the same verse that the Nobleman “believed the word that Jesus spoke.” In the remaing verses, John records the details of how the man learned that his son recovered “at the same hour” which Jesus spoke (7th hour, or 1 PM). John records that not only did the man believe but his household also (verse 51). The historical sytle image below, from the Bowyer Bible, was used as Illustration No. 33 in The Gospel of John: Annotated & Illustrated, available through my Amazon Author Central page. It also appears in Slides 1215-1233 in Episode Thirty-six, the first of four episodes focused on the miracles (or “signs” from the Greek Semeion) of Jesus in our Bible Study video series, The New Testament.

Healing the Nobleman’s Son, etching/engraving, Jan Luyken, 1840, Bowyer Bible, Bolton Library, Bolton, Lancashire, England. From PHOTO by Harry Kossuth; TEXT by Phillip Medhurst. From the 2018 A.D. digital edition, Early Scenes in the Life of Christ, Harry Kossuth (photographs) and Phillip Medhurst (text).

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings for Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity are discussed and illustrated in Episode Eight in our video series, Trinitytide: the Teaching Season.

As always, thank you for your interest and support.

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

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For Twentieth Sunday after Trinity the Collect is another of Archbishop Cranmer’s adaptations from the Gelasian Sacramentary (Paris, c. 750 A.D.). In this case the original Cranmer collect has been modified twice, first for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in which the Latin phrase “being propitiated” was replaced with “of thy bountiful goodness,” and, in 1789 A.D., in the first American Book of Common Prayer, the collect getting a new ending (“which thou commandest”). The word “cheerfully,” which replaced “with free hearts,” means willingly. For this change and more on the many changes made in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, consult Massey Shepherd, Jr.’s landmark volume, The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary, available online for download in pdf format. Shepherd comments upon the history and other details of each Collect, Epistle and Gospel reading.

O ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee,
from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul,
may cheerfully accomplish those things which thou commandest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle reading, Ephesians 5:15-21, is from the next chapter in the canonical order of the Pauline epistles, once again to the congregation at Ephesus which the “Apostle to the Gentiles” established on his Second Missionary Journey. These seven verses offer St. Paul’s advice to Christians to let themselves be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” rather than being “drunk with wine” and include one his most memorable phrases describing the joy of the Christian faith: “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” In the same vein, one of the greatest saints of the early Church, Athanasius of Alexandria, wrote in the 4th C. that “the art of singing effects harmony in the soul.” Many Anglican organizations include an appointed Psalm reading and Old Testament lesson placed just before the Epistle reading in Holy Communion. The participatory, that is, verse and response, reading of the Psalm should be part of every Anglican service and not just the Morning and Evening Prayer services.

St. Matthew, illumination in colors and gold on parchment, produced in Ireland or England, circa 800 A.D., The Book of Kells, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The image reflects the traditional interpretation of the vision in Ezekiel 1:4-12, with Matthew shown as Man/Angel. The volume is one of the finest examples of Christian art in the Western Church tradition.
Parable of the Great Supper, etching/engraving, Jan Luyken, Bowyer Bible, published 1840, Bolton Library, Bolton, England. This image depicting verses 11-13, with image by Phillip Medhurst and text by Harry Kossuth, is from a 2018 digital edition of their Early Scenes in the Life of Christ.

The Gospel reading, Matthew 22:1-14, records another event in the week before the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ, being St. Matthew’s record of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, also known as the Parable of the Great Supper. The event, also recorded in Luke 14:15-24 took place just two days before Maundy Thursday. This is the sixth of eight readings from St. Matthew’s Gospel in the Whitsunday/Trinitytide cycle. There have been many explanations of the meaning of the phrases “highways,” which are searched for those who are worthy. Jesus provided an explanation in the final verse. Perhaps lost in the modern world is the tradition that the host provided the Wedding Garment which the guest in question was not wearing. The guest was confronted by the “king,” who pronounced “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus closed the address with a warning, putting these words into the mouth of the offended king: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (verse 14). The image of St. Matthew from the Book of Kells was used in Episode Eight in the AIC Christian Education Video series, Trinitytide: the Teaching Season. Another image by Jan Luyken from the Bowyer Bible, illustrating the opening verses in the Gospel reading, appeared as Illustration No. 80 in the AIC Bookstore Publication, The Gospel of Luke: Annotated & Illustrated. The book is available in paperback at my Amazon Author Central page.

As noted many times in earlier posts, the AIC web site offers teaching materials in all three categories as part of our WATCH | LISTEN | READ initiative. Curiously, the subject of individual learning preferences, that is, whether one prefers the written or spoken word or a visual version came up during a conversation with a nurse during my doctor’s visit this month. The offering of all three media is made possible by donations and by the book royalties for AIC Bookstore Publications which are contributed to the AIC. To enhance ease of use, all three media are linked from tabs at the top and bottom of all pages on this site. Please note that, depending upon the subject matter, videos are linked from either the Digital Library page (for the seasonal and topical videos) and the Bible Study/New Testament pages (for the Gospel and Revelation series).

One final note. Be of good cheer and do not let the bias of the corporate world and the media affect your confidence in, and reliance upon, traditional Church teachings. Your best defense against their c0mbined assault on Christianity — remembering that the Church has been under attack since the 1st C.– is to attend a local church where you can, receive Holy Communion regularly, and, when neither is possible, read Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer or the daily “Hours” offices (First, Third, Sixth, Ninth hours plus Vespers and Compline), available in our publication, Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity.

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

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

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Unlike the Epistle and Gospel reading for Sixth Sunday after Trinity, the Gospel reading for Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Mark 8:1-9) was a favorite subject for Christian artists, clergy, theologians and illustrators. The reading is Mark’s account of the second miraculous feeding of a multitude, commonly known as the Feeding of the 4,000. The location was somewhere along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis (Ten Cities in Greek) that is southeast of Bethsaida (near where the Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee) and north of the region of Gergasa (the setting of the encounter with the Gadarene Demonic which Mark described in Mark 5:1-20). In the verses just before this week’s reading, Mark records Jesus healing the deaf man with a speech impediment (Mark 7:31-37, the famous incident in which Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, spat and touched the man’s tongue) and, in the verses just afterward, he records an encounter with disbelieving Pharisees demanding a “sign from heaven.” In that account Jesus scolds the Pharisees for their obsession with signs and wonders and denial of His divine origin and identity.

Mark’s account is the second and final reading from his Gospel during Trinitytide. The third and final example does not occur until the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Mark 7:31-37, mentioned above). Mark’s account gives readers no names of the Disciples he quotes in verses 4 and 5 and describes a compassionate Jesus concerned for the many who had been following him for three days and who had “nothing to eat.” (verse 2). The account includes three examples of Hebrew and early Christian numerology: 3 (# of days following Jesus in verse 2), 4 (# of men present in thousands in verse 9) and 7 (# of loaves of bread, # of large baskets holding the remaining bread in verses 6 & 8). The illustration is from the Codex Egberti, the first illustrated Gospel to contain scenes in the Life of Christ. Trier is located on the banks of the Moselle River in the Rhineland-Palatine state of Germany near its western border with the tiny state of Luxembourg. It is near the heart of the empire of Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, who was crowned at Rome on Christmas Day, 800 A.D. (more in the blog postings about Alcuin and Charlemagne, posted on March 16th, and Fourth Sunday after Trinity). The example is small because the AIC does not have it in high enough resolution for a full page view.

Feeding the Multitude, illumination in tempera and gold on parchment, Codex Egberti, circa 967-984, produced for Egbert, Archbishop of Trier, Trier, Germany. Codex 24, Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek der Stadt Trier, Trier, Germany. Public domain.

Early Christians, especially those in the Byzantine tradition, interpreted the disciples’ skeptical question in verse 4 (“How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”) as a reference to a messianic prophecy and its fulfillment in Psalm 78: 20b and 21b: “Shall God prepare a table in the wilderness?” and “can he give bread also? The answers were given in Psalm 79:24 and 25: “…he commanded the clouds above * and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna also upon them for to eat, * and gave them food from heaven.”

Last week I shared with you my personal favorite image of Paul. Since again this week, the Epistle reading is from the writings of Paul, I offer a different portrait of the “Apostle to the Gentiles,” In this oil on panel painted by a Dutch artist, we see an image of Paul that is softer, both in color and tone, and, perhaps, suggestive of a more thoughtful, contemplative Paul than last week’s rather fierce image by Bartholomeo Mantagna.

St. Paul, oil on panel, Lucas van Leyden, circa 1520, Yale University Gallery of Art, New Haven, CT. Public domain.

For more about St. Paul and St. Mark, watch the AIC Christian Education Video series, The Lives of the Saints, First Series, episodes 5 & 7 respectively. both linked from the Digital Library page. The readings are discussed in the Podcast Homily for Seventh Sunday after Trinity, linked from the Podcast Homilies page, and in Episode 4 in the video series Trinitytide: the Teaching Season, linked from the Digital Library page. You can find many more illustrations of St. Mark in our publication, The Gospel of Mark: In Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition, available through my Amazon Author Central page.

As always, thank you for your interest and support for this site, which has been bringing traditional interpretations and understandings to the web sincc our first live Internet broadcast of Sunday morning Holy Communion in the summer of A.D. 2010. We get offers from many vendors for a different format, but this current one, focused on our WATCH-LISTEN-READ formula still manages to find an audience.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!


Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

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Earlier this morningl I uploaded the Podcast Homily for Trinity 16 in our Morning Prayer Homilies-Psalter Series, based on Psalm 126 and Psalm 128. The episode is linked from both the Welcome page and the Morning Prayer Homilies pages.

Yesterday I completed revisions to Angels: In Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition and sent a new document to KDP Publishing. The revised version has 242 pages with 152 illustrations. The printed proofs are expected on Tuesday, 9/26. In this revision I added two pages, added five images, deleted one image and re-wrote the Preface and Part One-Chapter 1, which is my Primer on Angels. Also included in the revision were some changes in image sizes, placement and general editing throughout the book. The changes are intended to improve consistency of style and content and update all the internal and external cross-references.

I also decided to push publication of the Angels volume into early in 2024 during Epiphany season. Also pushed into 2024 are the planned updates to almost all our AIC Bookstore Publications. These updates will also incorporate new pricing for all our books. Our publisher, KDP Publishing, increased all prices for printing our books earlier this year. The new pricing affects any books that are not standard book page sizes. This means that our prices for our 8.5″ x 8.5″ format books will have to go up. I think the enhanced opportunities the format offers for illustrated books are worth the additional cost. I will also be working toward improved royalty payments in order to assure the future of the AIC.

I have also had to push back publication of my planned series of Blog posts. The change will give me more time to organize the content of the series. I’m exploring adding this new content from the Fr. Ron’s Blog page into an older video series: The War on Christianity. The series was published in seven episodes starting in 2021.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Please consider becoming a Follower using the link on this Blog page and the appropriate links on the Podbean host page and our Home page with WordPress.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!