June 20, 2020
INDEPENDENCE DAY
July 4
The Collect.
O ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You can find this prayer in the classic, traditional 1928 Book of Common Prayer. It's on page 263, always in the same place, always accessible.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . . "
The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees our God-given right to worship as we believe.
The history of our prayer book and that of our nation have been intertwined from the beginning. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was proposed by Congress in 1789, the same year in which the Book of Common Prayer, altered minimally from Thomas Cranmer's original, was introduced in America by t...
March 18, 2019
They call it "reproductive health," but what it really amounts to is killing unborn or newborn babies. If abortion doesn't kill them, their lives now can be extinguished shortly after they take their first breath. On January 22, New York State passed a law allowing infanticide for babies who have survived abortion attempts, while Democrat Gov. Cuomo, who professes to be Catholic, chortled and grinned while state assembly members, some of whom call themselves Christian, clapped and cheered. That night, New York City buildings were bathed in pink light in ghoulish celebration.
In Orwellian newspeak, the law is called "The Reproductive Health Act." Health for whom?
Virginia's governor, democrat Ralph Northam, recently calmly discussed a proposed bill that would allow a newborn baby to die: "The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the...
February 15, 2018
'MISERABLE OFFENDERS'
AN INTERPRETATION OF PRAYER BOOK LANGUAGE
Excerpt from God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis
ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A WRITTEN AND printed service is that it enables you to see when people's feelings and thoughts have changed. When people begin to find the words of our service difficult to join in, that is of course a sign that we do not feel about those things exactly as our ancestors. Many people have, as their immediate reaction to that situation, the simple remedy — 'Well, change the words' — which would be very sensible if you knew that we are right and our ancestors were wrong. It is always at least worthwhile to find out who it is that is wrong,
The Lenten season is devoted especially to what theologians call contrition, and so every day in Lent a prayer is said in which we ask God to give us 'contrite hearts'. Contrite, as you know, is a word translated from Latin, meaning crushed or pulverized.
Are Prayer Book words all about us?
Now modern people...
February 8, 2018
Since our founding 16 years ago, The 1928 Prayer Book Alliance has been reporting and commenting on the destruction of the Episcopal Church by revisionists and their busybody sidekicks. This week, lifelong Episcopalian Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News Channel, asked The Rev. Alex Dyer of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Washington, DC if the revisionists' left-wing activism has caused the collapse of a once-great Church.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWbfcrU-pYc
LifeSite News reported last week that the Diocese of Washington D. C. had voted on a resolution proposed by Dyer to eliminate"gendered" references to God in prayer books.
This emasculation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost would presumably be presented in a new prayer book to be considered by Episcopal General Convention in July. Rites I and II, foisted in 1979 on an Episcopal laity that, according...
February 8, 2018
Have you ever wondered about the three Sundays before Lent? This current season is called Pre-Lenten Season, and consists of the Sundays Septuagesima, or the third Sunday before Lent; Sexagesima, or the Second Sunday before Lent; and Quinquagesima, the Sunday before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14 this year. Here to shed light on the subject is contributer
Georges Staelens of Belgium.
By the Waters of Babylon COPLEY FIELDING
The "Gesimas" are high seasons in the Northern Lutheran Churches; for instance, in the Church of Sweden, Sexagesima is "Reformation Sunday." The "Gesimas" are still present in most of the Old-Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, to which the author belongs.
by Georges Staelens
1928 Book of Common Prayer Includes Transitional Season
The pre-Lenten season in Western Christianity in started by the Septuagesima, the third Sunday before Lent. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) has, be...
December 28, 2017
The high-soaring eagle is the symbol of Saint John LAURA ERICKSON IMAGE
"In the beginning was the Word," begins the powerful Gospel of St. John. "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. . . . " -- The Gospel. St. John i. I -- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, page 97
The Gospel of John is distinct from those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, called the Synoptic Gospels because they recount events in similar wording and chronological order. Described as "the disciple Jesus loved," John traveled with Christ throughout his adult life, even to...
December 26, 2017
The Collect
GRANT, O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those who suffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate.
Amen.
-- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, page 99
St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. A deacon of the early Church, Stephen publicly spoke with conviction of Christ. According to Luke, leaders of the Synagogue, fearing Christ's growing influence over their followers, falsely accused Stephen of blaspheming Moses and God. The young deacon was brought before the council, sentenced to death, and stoned by a mob. Throughout his ordeal, he appealed to heaven and forgave his murderers.
This stained...
December 26, 2017
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
-- The Gospel, St. Luke ii. I.
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, page 99.
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
1928 Prayer Book Alliance
December 4, 2017
Follow Prayer Book
To Spiritual Wellness
Today, the First Sunday of Advent, marks the beginning of the Christian year. We incorporate workouts, physical therapy, and other fitness and wellness routines into our daily lives; why not set aside time starting on this Christian New Year's Day to build our religious and spiritual strength?
In adventure books and movies, The "X" on a map marks the spot where treasure hunters start digging. Likewise, page "x" in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer marks the spot where our treasure lies -- riches that are ours to claim.
The Christian Year
Part of the greatness of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer is that, In addition to providing us, in clear and magnificent language, with a map through every occasion of our lives from baptism to burial, it opens the door to the entire Bible over a year. The Lectionary, or "Psalms and Lessons for the Christian Year," which precedes the text, schedules readings from the Bible. Some lectionaries...
December 1, 2017
On November 30 we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Andrew, the first of Jesus's 12 apostles.
In "Jesus Calls Us o'er the Tumult," Hymn 566 in The Hymnal, 1940, the second verse describes how Andrew walked away from everything to follow Christ:
As of old Saint Andrew heard it
by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred,
leaving all for his dear sake.
In his Gospel, Saint Matthew recreates the scene:
"JESUS, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. . . . The Gospel. St. Matthew iv. 18. -- page 227, 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Like most of the Bible, the entire passage can be read in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
According to scripture, Andrew had been expecting this encounter. He had been a follower of John the Baptist, who had told him to s...
