Posted on 04/29/2011 7:36:38 AM PDT by marshmallow
Fr. Hunwicke is a former Anglican priest who recently became a member of the Ordinariate.
It seems to me that in him, the Catholic Church has just gained a most thoughtful observer of liturgical history and a rather good and orthodox priest.
Thought this might be of some interest.......the author seems to be saying that the present Pope is an admirer of the Eastern approach to liturgy.
"the author seems to be saying that the present Pope is an admirer of the Eastern approach to liturgy.
Not just the approach to liturgy, but, it would seem to ecclesiology generally and the papacy in particular. This is why the MP was so taken with Summorum pontificum.
"It seems to me that Cardinal Ratzinger's concerns are less with Canon Law than with an unwritten law inscribed in the very nature of the Church (the embodiment of authentic tradition), which trumps the law embodied in transient canonical codes and enactments. He is not concerned to join in the scrimmage of canonists as they examine their manuals and gather their precedents in order to discover exactly how a particular decree of Paul VI might or might not be glossed. What he is writing is Theology. His subject is the Spirit-filled life of the Catholic Church.
Yup....
Orthodox Ping
“”the author seems to be saying that the present Pope is an admirer of the Eastern approach to liturgy.””
I have his book called Spirit of The Liturgy. I recommend it highly
Here is an excerpt speaking of Orthodox...
“”Unspontaneity is of their essence. In these rites I discover that something is approaching me here that I did not produce myself, that I am entering into something greater than myself, which ultimately derives from divine revelation. This is why the Christian East calls the liturgy the “Divine Liturgy”, expressing thereby the liturgy’s independence from human control.””
And speaking about certain authority..
“”The pope’s authority is bound to the Tradition of faith, and that also applies to the liturgy. It is not “manufactured” by the authorities. Even the pope can only be a humble servant of its lawful development and abiding integrity and identity. . . . The authority of the pope is not unlimited; it is at the service of Sacred Tradition. . . . The greatness of the liturgy depends - we shall have to repeat this frequently - on its unspontaneity””
True Anglicans, of the High Church variety, like “High Church” Lutherans, are surprisingly Orthodox in many areas but with a sort of Western gloss on things. I expect that’s why Anglicans and Lutherans seem to have such an easy time “getting it” when they are chrismated as Orthodox Christians, far easier, in my experience, than Roman Catholics have.
Interesting observations. I guess I wouldn’t have used a variant of the word un-spontaneous to describe the Divine Liturgy, though it certainly isn’t “spontaneous”. The author’s fuller description is on the money,though. The Divine Liturgy is in fact where we as a community come together in the presence of our Triune God, the Divinity. It occurs off the time line and is “not here”. It is our entrance into eternity and a welcome into the communion of saints, if only for a couple of hours.
Here is an image from the Liturgy which explains this:
“Priest (in a low voice): It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us into being out of nothing, and when we fell, You raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until You led us to heaven and granted us Your kingdom to come. For all these things we thank You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit; for all things that we know and do not know, for blessings seen and unseen that have been bestowed upon us. We also thank You for this liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings,
Priest: Singing the victory hymn, proclaiming, crying out, and saying:
People: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to God in the highest.
Priest (in a low voice): Together with these blessed powers, merciful Master, we also proclaim and say: You are holy and most holy, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You are holy and most holy, and sublime is Your glory.”
Wonderful article — thanks for posting it!
Has Fr. Hunwicke actually made his submission? I am fairly certain he means to, but didn’t know he had done so. Thanks for this post.
“the liturgical and moral anarchists, the homosexual ideologues and the feminists, will continue their frenzied denigrations of the old Bavarian gentleman; that in a few years he will be dead and his vision forgotten as the vaticanologists feverishly speculate on the ‘policies’ of his successor.”
I’ve brought this very point up to some of my Orthodox brethren when we’ve discussed the Catholic/Orthodox dialogues. I’m afraid that he won’t have enough time to make the momentum of his efforts permanent. I feel bad for my Catholic friends who tell me about the issues happening in their parish’s. My friend’s wife recently abandoned their old parish to drive an hour to a Latin Liturgy. He’s now torn about his loyalty to his local parish.
Aye, Fr. John Wesley was a strong advocate of certain "useages" in the liturgy, including the mixed (wine and water) Chalice and the use of an [i]epiclesis[/i].
Many of his Methodist descendants have forgotten the faith of their father!
Richard Neuhaus, of First Things fame, has a story that he used to relate in artilces.
As a former Luthern, he had friends in the Roman Catholic Church that, like him, had spent time in other denominations. As the Second Vatican had changed the Catholic Mass in ways that many traditionalists resented, Neuhaus would relate to story of a former Anglican, now in the RC Church with him, who, while they were listening to the Mass, would sometimes murmur, “Oh, how I miss the Mass in its native English” (or words to that effect). To him the Anglican high-church Book of Common Prayer in many ways kept the formality of the Latin Mass much more faithfully than the Second Vatican americanized versions for that fellow.
Really good article. Thanks for posting this !!
Regards
Thomas Oden in Rebirth of Orthodoxy held the key for me Neuhaus is like Oden — respectful of orthodoxy wherever it is found in our denominations.
As I recall Neuhaus was the son of a Luthern Minister and despite finding his best expression as a Roman Catholic he would always remain cognizant of the communion that he enjoyed for over half his life.
Oden, a Methodist theologian, was at a crisis of faith and was fitfully searching for his path. He had a Jewish scholar he respected who he started to query about the Jewish path. As a scholar of the prior millenniums he was thinking the prior ages might hold the answers he sought. His friend chuckled at him and asked, ‘but Tom, have you actually tried yours?’ And with that carried him through his crisis.
Within most of our traditions, when practiced in an orthodox manner, the Lord reigns. We have been assured of His victory.
The mention of Anglican liturgists in the article followed by the discussion of Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist views disqualifies this thread as a caucus. The label was removed.
Over the past several weeks there have been various cryptic references in his blog to attending Allen Hall in London, which I believe is the site where Anglican clergy who will be joining the Ordianariate are undergoing instruction.
I do know that he has resigned his previous position at St. Thomas the Martyr Church C of E church in Oxford.
The wide variety of worship styles in the Roman Catholic Church, ranging from the pagan flavor of the 3rd world to the high Orthodox, is all very befuddling.
To an outsider it seems that the unity RCs claim just isn’t there.
I had caught the references to Allen Hall, but did know know he had resigned from St. Thomas. Why is he being so cagey?
The various comments from readers in the combox confirmed my understanding that this was the farewell.
Perhaps he's trying to avoid acrimony and any appearance of triumphalism but I really don't know.
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