Sparks flying over beaten metal In the gloom of a smithy; Drops of dew upon a petal In the grandeur of a city; Strike a bell and there is music In the late-spring streets, But there is a sound of pity When the blacksmith beats; The sighs of the lovesick, The sparkling of artificial stars,…
In 1845, on a winter evening in the Church of the Holy Communion in New York City, Anne Ayres was consecrated the first Sister of the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion by the Rev. Dr. William Augustus Muhlenberg. This momentous event receives the sparsest mention by Sister Ayres herself within the 524 pages of her…
Article XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation. IT is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching, or ministering the Sacraments in the Congregation, before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen…
As I have mentioned elsewhere, whenever I am asked about the difference between the Anglican Tradition and Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, I answer that it ultimately boils down to authority. Per the Anglican Formularies, found in the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Ordinal, and the two Books of Homilies,…
In 1970 the Episcopal Church USA eliminated the canon for deaconesses and included women in the canon on deacons. In 1976 its General Convention approved the ordination of women to both the diaconate and priesthood. Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church condemned both moves, protesting that these changes were made unilaterally and against…
I You were shuttering light With your triggered eye, Locking the cool, humid light Into phosphorescent memory. “As the light gets better,” you said, And commanded the play Of peonies, white tulle, And laughter on the cusp of a cliff. The light got better. And the pines Which bristled endlessly Became something of green and…
Section II. — Scriptural Proof. I. 1. Purgatory On this subject, and indeed on all the subjects of this Article, the burden of proof evidently lies with those who maintain the affirmative side of the question. If there be a purgatory, and if saints and images be objects of adoration, there should be some evidence…
I found a vale of spring at summer’s end Before the trees had changed their green to gold. I plucked the fruit of fall and hiked the path To watch the harvest fire in the cold, To see your faces flicker with the flame Of youth that takes no thought of growing old. I loved…
How the English Reformation was Named: The Politics of History, 1400-1700. By Benjamin M. Guyer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. 240 pp. $85 (cloth). In common parlance, “the Reformation” is conceived as a unified phenomenon, the various national manifestations of which can all be causally traced to the original German reformation spearheaded by Martin…
From Knots Untied, here is a brief appeal by Ryle to teach the Thirty-Nine Articles in Anglican churches: (2) In the second place, I ask all who read this paper to teach the Thirty-nine Articles to all young people who are yet of an age to be taught. It is a burning shame that the Articles are not made an…