Mass

Homily: “On the Transfiguration of Jesus”

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Offered by Father Matthew Dallman, Obl.S.B., for the Parish of Tazewell County, on the Last Sunday after The Epiphany, 2018.

God’s glory has been revealed on the holy mountain. To Saint Peter, Saint James, and Saint John, the beloved Son of the Father was transfigured before them, His garments glistening, intensely white. Indeed He showed Himself forth as Light from Light. They thought it was the culmination of their lives on earth. They were in awe that this was the end time, that this was God’s final kingdom. “Exceedingly afraid” means filled with awe and wonder, filled with holy fear. “Master, it is well that we are here,” Peter said. They were not frightened, not incapacitated, nor struck mute: they were being stretched: stretched in their thinking, their perception, their entire reality, and they would never return to their former consciousness. When you encounter God, you can never return to who you used to be.

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The Anglican Spiritual Tradition, parts 1 and 2

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By Martin Thornton

PART ONE
There is good reason for dividing this lecture into two unequal parts. I must first offer a brief resumé of what I take the Anglican spiritual tradition to be; then I should like to look rather more fully at the contemporary impact of our tradition, concluding with a somewhat dangerous game of attempting to read the signs of its future unfolding.

Pedantic haggling over the meaning of words is not the most exciting exercise, but it is apparent already that some attention must be given to that most ambiguous and abused term “Tradition”; paradosis, traditio, literally a giving-over, or handing-over. Handing-over be it noted and not handing-down.

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A Prologue Office of Praise: Antelogium laudis

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For the praise and glory of his Name, for our good, and the good of all his holy Church. PDFs: noted version | said version. [display_podcast] Preces Officiant    O Lord, open thou our lips. People     And our mouth shall show forth thy praise. Officiant    O God, make speed to save us. People … Read more

The Divine Office, “Devotionalized”

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It is my sense, based on wide observation, that the Divine Office, through well-intentioned use, has in fact become “devotionalized.” It has become optional, and it has become overly burdened by the dozens of variations through the Church. This, owing more to social and technological upheaval than to anything else, I suspect is true in … Read more

What does ‘Regula’ mean?

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Note: An earlier form of this essay was published originally by Saint Paul’s, Riverside. For more, also see the online slideshow: The Prayer Book as Regula. “Prayer must be seen as a theological complex of life, a spiritual and recollective continuum made up of a totality of prayers, offices, meditations, liturgical actions and the rest. It is … Read more

The Daily Office of Readings

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Concerning the Daily Office of Readings The threefold Regula—Divine Office, Mass, personal Devotion—is the ascetical application of the doctrine of Holy Trinity. In plain terms, the Divine Office praises God transcendent, the Mass communicates with God incarnate, and personal Devotion recollects God immanent. Included in personal Devotion is a the Daily Office of Readings to invite the Holy Spirit, who … Read more

Martin Thornton and the Divine Office

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Martin Thornton had many insights in the purpose, nature, and practice of the Divine Office. Of all the topics of corporate spiritual life/journey—broadly speaking, what how Thornton defined “ascetic”—it is the topic of Divine Office, more broadly the threefold Regula, that received the most attention in his work, which was always the fruit of tremendous erudition, insight, and reflection. … Read more

To Be Called by Jesus

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Homily delivered on the Solemnity of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, 2014 at Saint Paul’s, Riverside, Illinois. [display_podcast] “Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him.” Immediately we should ask, “What does it mean to follow Jesus?” And furthermore, … Read more

Why pray the Office?

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One of the primary reasons to pray the Divine Office is because it works. Many Christians report just that, and they go further and call the daily Office one of the most important aspects of their spiritual life. It is the core of what “being religious” actually means, in terms of behavior. But what are we saying … Read more

The Case for a Prologue Office of Praise

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“It is not sufficient to participate regularly in the Eucharist, with its unequal stress on individuality and formalism; rather we have to be eucharistic people. We have to live perpetually in the eucharistic context and this means preparation in the form of constant attempts to resolve the underlying paradoxes involved. The cosmic and the local, … Read more