Taking communion like Judas: the end of the pandemic and the restoration of the common cup

This year has seen the removal of obligatory covid restrictions in churches, and congregations have, at varying speeds, been returning to old practices. I have seen much concern for those who still feel anxious and for those who are vulnerable or suffer from long covid. It is interesting to see which parts of the ‘new …

Teaching about the Eucharist

While preparing our new website for Holy Cross, Davidson's Mains, it became clear that it had three main functions. One was to provide easily accessible up-to-date information about us and what we are doing, for example if you were visting Edinburgh and wanted to come to Mass in an Anglican Church you should find all …

Real Presence? Theological Reflection on Online Eucharists

This paper was prepared for an online conference on Saturday 25 September 2021 organised by the Scottish Episcopal Institute. Four Scottish Episcopal priests in pastoral ministry discussed the theological implications of celebrating the Eucharist online during a pandemic. It was a good, collegial discussion, with many people joining us, and all four papers will be …

Holy Communion for Babies, or what it means to be Human

Canon 25 of the Scottish Episcopal Church begins ‘The sacrament of baptism is the full rite of initiation into the Church, and no further sacramental rite shall be required of any person seeking admission to holy communion’. The ‘further sacramental rite’ not required is confirmation, which has traditionally been required for admission to holy communion …

The Scotish Liturgy in Latin for the Feast of Charles, King and Martyr

https://youtu.be/3cw-2K285oE

The Priest’s Praying Body, continued.

Manual Acts 2: Benedictus to Institution Narrative This post picks up from that published here on 12 December. Responses to the previous post confirmed that a simple guide to what the priest might do with their body during the Eucharistic Prayer is needed and that it is helpful to know the reasons for the different …

Lest Music Perish Utterly: Church Music and the Pandemic

Margaret Attwood invited Richard Holloway to present ‘Thought for the Day’ on Radio 4 this morning. Starting with the image of children dancing to school in Morningside, he presented a powerful plea for the arts in this current crisis: ‘this horrid year which is grinding to a close has put our creativity, our art and …

THE PRIEST’S PRAYING BODY

Manual Acts 1: Eucharistic Prayer to the Sanctus The 'Order for Holy Communion' in the various forms of the Book of Common Prayer, which defined Anglican and Episcopalian worship for four centuries, specified certain ‘manual acts’ that the priest should do with the bread and wine when celebrating Holy Communion. In a Church like the …

Vestments – the Basics

In my last Church I ran a session with the children of our ‘Friday Fun Club’ called ‘Why Father Stephen wears unusual clothes’. We went to the Vestry in the Church and they tried on various vestments while I explained their meaning and answered questions. The various sacred things in traditional Churches are a great …

The Assumption for Anglicans

There is some confusion among Episcopalians about the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated on 15th August and often transferred to the nearest Sunday. On social media recently I saw clergy colleagues comment on the Feast, “she died; get over it; God still loves you” and “the Assumption/Dormition is simply a feast day to …