In either 1964 or 1965 when I was still a young Anglo-Catholic, already deeply interested in the liturgy, a priest friend of mine gave me a gift. It was a copy of The Ritual Reason Why by the Reverend Charles Walker, a ritualist priest of the Church of England (+1867), published at a time Church of England clerics were being prosecuted and imprisoned for being ritualists.
What was 'ritualism' you might ask? It was a facet of the Anglo-Catholic Revival which was attempting to bring back the ritual practices of the mediaeval Catholic Church in England. It was violently opposed by the predominant protestant, 'Low Church' episcopate, hence the persecution.
The little book went through the ceremonies of the CofE, giving the ritual as the Anglo-Catholics wanted it to be used and the reasons behind each practice, taken in each case from Catholic practice. It has been updated since Mr Walker died, but it's still a valuable resource for Anglican clerics of a 'Catholic' persuasion.
The edition I linked to above on Amazon is the one I was given. I even remember the cover!
So why am I relating this today? Because I still remember how it was inscribed. It was dated, 'St Lawrence Giustiniani's Day, 196?' This was a very 'Anglo-Catholic' dating, because he is not venerated in any of the churches of the Anglican Communion.
Happy St Lawrence Giustiniani's Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Leo XIV as the Vicar of Christ, the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.