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Morning Prayer!
Thursday, 25 June 2009 06:42 pmI'm really excited about officiating at Morning Prayer on Sunday at Ascension. I'll definitely miss the Eucharistic service, but there's something I really and deeply truly love about getting in front of a bunch of people and having their attention. I know some other people would be nervous, but really, what is there to be nervous about? It's all in the prayer book.
We'll be doing Morning Prayer, the first service (of four) in the Daily Office. Those of you who were in my cell at that time might remember that my Lenten devotion, chronicled in our Lent Blog and explained in detail here, was adapted from the Daily Office, similar to what is known as the Litugy of the Hours in theRoman Catholic Church. Wikipedia tells us< that "[t]his practice is believed to have been passed down through the centuries from the Apostles, with different practices developing in different places. As monasticism spread, the practice of specified hours and liturgical formats began to develop and become standardized."
After the re-establishment of the Church of England under Elizabeth I (after Mary I went all Bloody Mary on all the non-Catholics), Morning Prayer was the main Anglican service, with the Eucharist being celebrated only monthly or even quarterly. (Note that even at that regularity lay Anglicans were still able to actually partake in the Eucharist more frequently than Roman Catholics for much of that history.) The move to weekly Eucharists is a relatively recent trend, part of the Anglo-Catholic revival of the 20th century (of which I heartily approved). So while I will sorely miss the Sacrament, it'll be interesting to immerse oneself in this part of our Anglican heritage and tradition
The service itself (like my Lenten devotion) consists of the general sets of readings--a psalm, a Hebrew Scripture reading, a New Testament reading, and a Gospel reading--interspersed with series of prayers, canticles, and formalized responses.
I'll be leading the service along with another person, but it was Tuesday I found out I'll be the sole officiant. What that means is that the other Worship Leader (because we are now licensed by the Bishop in that authorized ministry) will be reading the Gospel Reading, the Sermon (we are not licensed to preach, so Mother D. picked it out before), and the Prayers of the People, and conscripting readers (from his family) for the Hebrew Scripture and New Testament readings--and I do absolutely everything else. *is excited*
And in the places where there's a choice between two or more prayers, canticles, collects, etc., as an officiant I got to choose which one I wanted to do. We'll be celebrating the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul a day early on Sunday, so usually I either picked the prayers that fit a general "sainthood" theme or else picked the longer one(s) because I totally love to hear the sound of my own voice. I totally ran home on Tuesday and planned the entire service immediately after Worship Leader training, then sent it to the other Worship Leaders and to Mother D. for their comments.
So if you're not doing anything Sunday morning, feel free to stop down at Ascension and see me wear a cassock (my mother still insists it is a dress) and a surplice.
We'll be doing Morning Prayer, the first service (of four) in the Daily Office. Those of you who were in my cell at that time might remember that my Lenten devotion, chronicled in our Lent Blog and explained in detail here, was adapted from the Daily Office, similar to what is known as the Litugy of the Hours in theRoman Catholic Church. Wikipedia tells us< that "[t]his practice is believed to have been passed down through the centuries from the Apostles, with different practices developing in different places. As monasticism spread, the practice of specified hours and liturgical formats began to develop and become standardized."
After the re-establishment of the Church of England under Elizabeth I (after Mary I went all Bloody Mary on all the non-Catholics), Morning Prayer was the main Anglican service, with the Eucharist being celebrated only monthly or even quarterly. (Note that even at that regularity lay Anglicans were still able to actually partake in the Eucharist more frequently than Roman Catholics for much of that history.) The move to weekly Eucharists is a relatively recent trend, part of the Anglo-Catholic revival of the 20th century (of which I heartily approved). So while I will sorely miss the Sacrament, it'll be interesting to immerse oneself in this part of our Anglican heritage and tradition
The service itself (like my Lenten devotion) consists of the general sets of readings--a psalm, a Hebrew Scripture reading, a New Testament reading, and a Gospel reading--interspersed with series of prayers, canticles, and formalized responses.
I'll be leading the service along with another person, but it was Tuesday I found out I'll be the sole officiant. What that means is that the other Worship Leader (because we are now licensed by the Bishop in that authorized ministry) will be reading the Gospel Reading, the Sermon (we are not licensed to preach, so Mother D. picked it out before), and the Prayers of the People, and conscripting readers (from his family) for the Hebrew Scripture and New Testament readings--and I do absolutely everything else. *is excited*
And in the places where there's a choice between two or more prayers, canticles, collects, etc., as an officiant I got to choose which one I wanted to do. We'll be celebrating the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul a day early on Sunday, so usually I either picked the prayers that fit a general "sainthood" theme or else picked the longer one(s) because I totally love to hear the sound of my own voice. I totally ran home on Tuesday and planned the entire service immediately after Worship Leader training, then sent it to the other Worship Leaders and to Mother D. for their comments.
So if you're not doing anything Sunday morning, feel free to stop down at Ascension and see me wear a cassock (my mother still insists it is a dress) and a surplice.