The final Sunday of the church year is the Feast of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI established the feast in 1925, seeking to counter the rise of secularism and atheism by reasserting the sovereignty of Christ. Though the named feast is a 20th-century innovation, the theme of Christ’s kingship is central to scripture and…
The Gloria Patri: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Gloria Patri (Latin for “glory to the Father”) is that small but mighty doxology in Anglican worship where we proclaim: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. The Gloria Patri is used most…
Palm Sunday: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Palm Sunday is a day of palm fronds, outdoor processions, and loud praises to Christ. With these practices, we mimic the crowds that went with Jesus on his way into Jerusalem. Like them, we celebrate Christ as the returning King, the son of David, and the long-awaited messiah. However, when we remember what Jesus went…
The Presentation of Our Lord: The Message of Candlemas
Why does the Church return to Jesus’ infancy every February 2 for the Feast of the Presentation, also called Candlemas? The reason is both chronological and theological.
The Formularies: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Anglican Formularies are the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal (the service for ordaining clergy). A strong case can be made that the Books of Homilies also serve this function. The Formularies provide both cohesiveness and clarity to the Church’s doctrine.
A Brief History of Anglicanism, Part 1
The Anglican tradition traces its roots back to the time of the Roman Empire when a Christian church first came to exist in the British Isles.
The Baptism of Our Lord: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Jesus began his public ministry with his baptism, administered by John the Baptist at the Jordan River. All four gospels narrate the baptism, which reveals Jesus as the Son of God and points to his work of new creation.
Halloween and the Victory of Christ
Halloween assures us of the ultimate comfort in our times of darkness. Taken together with the rest of Allhallowtide, it tells us that, though Satan’s forces still rage against us and this world’s ills plague our frail bodies and minds, Christ preserves his people from generation to generation.
What is Lectio Divina?
How do we read Scripture? What happens when we sit down with our Bibles and begin to pore over the wisdom God has given us through its ancient authors? In our rationalistic world, we often find it easy to study the Bible but not as easy to meditate upon and absorb it. We’re tempted to…
A Rule of Life: What It Is and How to Make One
What is a Rule of Life? Monks living in community live by a common Rule. Benedictine monks, for instance, live by the Rule of St. Benedict. The Rule governs every element of a monk’s life: when they sleep, work, pray, and eat, as well as how they work out community issues, etc. Oblates of monasteries—lay…
