Days of fasting and prayer amid a feast season seem counterintuitive. However, Rogation Days remind us that our lives and seasons are in God’s hands. “Rogation” comes from the Latin noun rogatio, meaning “asking” (the verb is rogare, “to ask”). The Rogation Days are also known as Rogationtide. When are the Rogation Days? The Sixth…
Should We Pray Written Prayers? Didn’t Jesus Tell Us Not to Repeat Prayers?
Jesus teaches us how to pray by example and by explicit teaching. Embedded within the Sermon on the Mount written in the Gospel according to Matthew, there is an instruction from Jesus that seems to speak directly against repeating our prayers to God. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For…
What Do Anglicans Believe about the Sacraments? (Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Absolution, Anointing of the Sick)
From The ACNA Catechism The following is an excerpt from the Anglican Church in North America’s catechism, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020), pp. 55–63. You can download a PDF of the entire catechism here. Concerning Sacraments 121. What is a sacrament? A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an…
The Sign of the Cross: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Why do Anglicans make the Sign of the Cross? When do they do it? How do they do it? I am often asked: “Why do you cross yourselves?” Often this is followed by “Isn’t that superstitious, like the baseball players who sign themselves before batting? Isn’t it a dead, rote ritual?” Sometimes, people don’t feel…
Anglican Vestments: A Rookie Anglican Guide
You walk into an Anglican church and see many people wearing a wide array of odd clothing. You notice ministers wearing white robes with colorful scarf-like items around their necks, some vertical and some diagonal. If the parish has a verger (typically the person who appears to know what everyone is supposed to do), they…
