Wednesday, October 25, 2017

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA — Where do Catholic Anglicans Go from Here?

“We have a wide range in the ACNA… We are a very diverse group… We have a smorgasbord of perspectives”  — Archbishop Foley Beach 


On Saturday, October 21st, Quad Cities Anglican Radio posted a podcast of an interview with ACNA Primate Archbishop Foley Beach discussing Holy Orders among other things.

The words of the ACNA Primate will be shocking to the remaining Catholic-minded Anglicans in the Anglican Church in North America, but they really should not be surprising. What a growing number of faithful have long suspected has become clear: the Anglican Church in North America is not really a Church at all. At best, it is a very diverse coalition of divergent groups who like the Anglican label and remain together for the sake of numbers. 

Archbishop Foley Beach also makes clear in his interview that this diversity, this smorgasbord of perspectives, is found throughout the Anglican Communion, including the GAFCON provinces. There is no longer anything that can be called normative Anglicanism today. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. 

It is vital for faithful Catholic Anglicans and those who love them to listen to this interview with the ACNA Primate. It is only about eight minutes long. Please listen, and then share it with others. You can find the interview here:

QUAD CITIES ANGLICAN RADIO INTERVIEW WITH ARCHBISHOP FOLEY BEACH


THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY

As Archbishop Foley Beach makes clear in his interview with Quad Cities Anglican Radio, the Apostolic priesthood is not a “first order” issue in the Anglican Church in North America.

Think about that for a moment. Christ established the priesthood with His apostles. From its inception the Apostolic Ministry has universally consisted of male deacons, priests and bishops in Apostolic Succession. From the beginning it has been universally believed and taught that to have valid sacraments you must have a validly ordained Catholic priest or bishop. Now, nearly 2,000 years later, we are told that the Apostolic Ministry is not a “first order” issue. Really?

In the night in which He was betrayed, our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and taught that unless we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood we have no life in us. That sounds like a “salvation issue” to me, as it has to all Catholic  Christians over the last 2,000 years; and we know that only Catholic priests can confect the Sacrament of Holy Communion, so the Apostolic Ministry is undoubtedly a first order issue, a salvation issue — but not in the ACNA. 

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, APOSTOLIC TRADITION AND CATHOLIC ORDER

Are the Holy Scriptures, Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order first order issues in the ACNA? Apparently not.

On September 7, 2017, a Statement from the College of Bishops of the ACNA on the Ordination of Women was formally issued.

“Having gratefully received and thoroughly considered,” a five-year study by the Theological Task Force on Holy Orders, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) unanimously stated that the “practice [of women’s ordination] is a recent innovation to Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order. We agree that there is insufficient scriptural warrant to accept women’s ordination to the priesthood as standard practice throughout the Province.” 

HOWEVER, it was also unanimously acknowledged, “that there are differing principles of ecclesiology and hermeneutics that are acceptable within Anglicanism” — that smorgasbord of perspectives that Archbishop Foley Beach spoke about in his interview with Quad Cities Anglican Radio — “that may lead to divergent conclusions regarding women’s ordination to the priesthood.”

THEREFORE, “it was agreed that each Diocese and Jurisdiction has the freedom, responsibility, and authority… in determining its own convictions and practices concerning the ordination of women to the diaconate and the priesthood.” What?

By allowing women’s ordination to continue, despite the fact that it is unanimously acknowledged by the ACNA College of Bishops that it is “a recent innovation to Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order” and “that there is insufficient scriptural warrant”, it seems clear that the teachings of Holy Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and historic Catholic Order are not first order issues in the ACNA either. So what is?

PRIVATE OPINION AND INTERPRETATION

So what trumps the Holy Scriptures, Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order in the ACNA? The Provincial Constitution — a thoroughly human construct — which was born in tragic, heretical and sinful compromise that allows for the ordination of women; coupled with a Protestant notion of the private interpretation of the Scripture and an equally Protestant indifference to Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order. In the ACNA, as in all Protestant groups, private opinion outweighs Holy Scripture as witnessed to by Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order. 
BACK TO THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

So how is the ACNA really any different from The Episcopal Church? It isn’t. 

The ACNA was founded after the election of the first openly practicing homosexual bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC) and in opposition to normalization of homosexual practice. The ACNA is a single issue Church. 

Other than the homosexual issue, members of the ACNA can believe just about anything they want, and practice their faith in just about anyway they want, with priestesses or without priestesses, with lady deacons or without lady deacons, and with a broad range of liturgical uses that can stretch from the Anglican Missal through the 1979 Prayer Book, the 1928 Prayer Book, the 1662 Prayer Book, the REC Prayer Book, and ACNA trial liturgies, all the way to a large and growing segment that could at best be described as semi-liturgical. 

The ACNA is indeed “a very diverse group” with “a smorgasbord of perspectives.” Just like with the Episcopal Church, no one can really be sure who is and who isn’t an Anglican. The ACNA has become so comprehensive that it seems that anyone can believe just about anything,  — except in the normalization of homosexuality.

The tragedy is that so many Catholic-minded churchmen suffered so much, made so many sacrifices, suffered through so many lawsuits — with many still involved in lawsuits — only to find themselves back in the Episcopal Church of the year 2002. Yet, that is the reality.

THAT SINKING FEELING

After hearing Archbishop Foley Beach’s interview with Quad Cities Anglican Radio, one listener commented, “The size of the iceberg is immense...clearly this captain is aware and unafraid of the course he has set for those souls he is responsible for.”

Most Catholic Anglicans in the ACNA are so focused on the error of women’s ordination that they see it as the root of their problems. They think, “If only we can end women’s ordination all would be well in the ACNA, and Orthodoxy and Rome would finally recognize us as a Catholic Church.” Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. Women’s ordination is not the root of the problem, it is merely one of its most obvious fruits.

The Anglican Church in North America is a mainline Protestant denomination. Nothing more. It is not a Catholic Church, although it does contain an impotent and frustrated Catholic-minded remnant. 

Fr. Charles Nalls, an Anglican Cathedral Dean and one of Continuing Anglicanism’s theologically best educated priests, explains this in an article titled, Sailing Off Foley Beach..er…Folly Beach.

The article was written  ahead of the International Anglo-Catholic Congress  sponsored by Forward in Faith North America (FIFNA) that met in Fort Worth, Texas in 2015. In the article, Fr. Nalls is critical of ACNA participation in the Congress and of the participation of Archbishop Foley Beach in particular. He writes,

“The conveners of the pan-Catholic Anglican Congress, or whatever name will be adopted, are mobbed up with ACNA. ACNA will be presided over by Abp. Foley Beach. A look at his declared stands on key issues proves that he is no catholic. Indeed, quite the opposite.”

Fr. Nalls continues, “First, there is the pronouncement on the website [Foley Beach’s Cathedral website], ‘We are an Evangelical church in the Protestant tradition.’ http://www.hcanglican.org/what-to-expect. Not an Anglican Church in the Catholic tradition, mind you, or anything close. … ‘The Anglican Church began as the state church of England.’ Apart from the fact that even Cranmer might disagree with this, it is simply not the case historically, certainly from an Anglo-catholic perspective… And, so the website continues, ‘We are an Evangelical Church in the Protestant tradition.’

The sacramental perspective, or rather the lack thereof, is even more disturbing. Archbishop Foley Beach’s Cathedral church sure has an informative website, but I couldn’t find a single mention about the sacraments on it. They don’t speak of the sacraments. Their doctrine seems to be thoroughly Protestant. Indeed, there is nothing about the Eucharist except a small, yet thoroughly off-putting, bit:

‘At most of our services, we celebrate Holy Communion, and if you are a baptized Christian you are welcome to receive the bread and wine. You may take the bread and then drink from the common cup, or you may dip the bread into the wine (called “intinction”).’

So it is at the Eucharist, the source and summit of the faith, all baptized Christians ‘are welcome to receive the bread and wine.’ Forget about Confirmation, no need of that. Never mind ‘real presence’ which is nowhere mentioned. Just ‘bread and wine’, not Body and Blood. It looks like receptionism to this reader. At best, this is nothing more than Zwinglianism, which represents the absolute worst of Protestant theology. As Flannery O’Conner once said, ‘If its just a symbol then to hell with it.’

Finally, let’s look at the treatment of Holy Orders down at the Beach. For Anglo-Catholics who do not believe Orders are divisible, there is a problem. There is a female deacon (not a deaconess) on staff at the cathedral. He will ‘ordain’ female deacons. It doesn’t really matter though. As a self-identified Evangelical Protestant (with a Zwinglian sacramental theology), clearly, Foley does not intend to ordain Catholic clergy anyway.

So, how does FiFNA, while it is tied up in an unnecessary ‘study’ of ‘women’s ordination’ with ‘ordained’ women on the study panel explain this? How does it explain being mobbed up with an archbishop who, to be perfectly blunt, is a Presbyterian in drag?”

Foley Beach is the Primate of the ACNA. His Cathedral website is crystal clear about how he sees the Church which he leads:

“We are an Evangelical church in the Protestant tradition.”

“The Anglican Church began as the state church of England.”

“At most of our services, we celebrate Holy Communion, and if you are a baptized Christian you are welcome to receive the bread and wine. You may take the bread and then drink from the common cup, or you may dip the bread into the wine (called ‘intinction’).”

Regarding this sacramental theology, Fr. Charles Nalls writes, “At best, this is nothing more than Zwinglianism, which represents the absolute worst of Protestant theology.”

As we can see, women’s ordination really doesn’t matter all that much in the ACNA, because, as the Archbishop’s cathedral website says, “We are an Evangelical church in the Protestant tradition.” And, “The Anglican Church began as the state church of England.”  

In other words, the Apostolic Ministry really doesn’t matter because the Anglican Church is just another Protestant denomination formed in the 16th century.  The same can be said for Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order — those concepts are, after all, for Catholics and are of little interest to Evangelical Protestants. As Fr. Nalls has written, “As a self-identified Evangelical Protestant (with a Zwinglian sacramental theology), clearly, Foley does not intend to ordain Catholic clergy anyway.”

Fr. Nalls closes his article by saying, “I am sure there will be howls that I lack charity…  Surely I am a weak man and, unlike St. Paul, I don’t think I can stand being shipwrecked yet again. And surely, shipwreck will result for Anglo-Catholics on the rocks and shoals of Foley…er…Folly Beach.”

You can read the entire article here:

Sailing Off Foley..er…Folly Beach


BISHOP SAMUEL SEAMANS

If any of my readers think that I am being inaccurate or exaggerating in what I am writing, or that Fr. Charles Nalls was being uncharitable in what he has written, I invite you to contact Fr. Samuel Seamans, rector of St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

You may remember Fr. Samuel Seamans as Bishop Samuel Seamans. Before entering the Orthodox Church as a Western Rite priest, Fr. Samuel was an ACNA bishop and a member of the ACNA College of Bishops. He was part of the inner workings of the ACNA, knows the diverse theological perspectives of its bishops, and all about the smorgasbord of incompatible perspectives found in the ACNA. You can listen to an interview of Fr. Samuel with Quad Cities Anglican Radio here:


You can also contact him directly. Fr. Samuel welcomes direct contacts from concerned traditional Anglicans. You can reach him by phone at: (870) 421-2986, or by email at: samseamans@hotmail.com

SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

Catholic Anglicans need to quit kidding themselves.  The ACNA is nothing more than a mainline Protestant denomination. Archbishop Foley Beach’s cathedral website describes the Church as “an Evangelical church in the Protestant tradition.” As far as its roots are concerned, his website points to a genesis in the 16th century: “The Anglican Church began as the state church of England.” 

The Orthodox Church considers the ACNA to be a Protestant ecclesial community. Rome has exactly the same perspective. When one’s own primate identifies his church as, “an Evangelical church in the Protestant tradition” and both Orthodoxy and Rome concur, it seems impossible to seriously argue that it is a “branch” of the Catholic Church.

For many, the answer will be to hunker down and do nothing while quietly grumbling, out of the fear of risking salary, benefits and housing, or perhaps an unwillingness to lay aside a purple shirt. After all, Catholic-minded clergy can still wear copes, swing censors and claim to be Catholic priests in the ACNA — but then again they could also do that in the Episcopal Church. Their perspective is welcome in the “smorgasbord of perspectives” in this “very diverse group," but then again, there are also priestesses in the ACNA wearing copes, swinging censers and claiming to be priests, just as there are in the Episcopal Church, and their perspective is equally welcome. It really doesn’t matter though, it will all be an illusion. It is impossible to be a Catholic in a Protestant Church. Being a Catholic is not a matter of personal belief, church party, diocese, vestments or ritual, it is a matter of being a member of the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church built by Jesus Christ Himself.

For some, the solution seems to be yet another split and a new “reconfiguration.” For others, it may be the Anglican Continuum. Another split will only add to the alphabet soup of traditional Anglicanism and will in the end solve nothing. Many of the same problems will haunt any new and much smaller body. The Church is much more than a host of small, struggling, and unrecognized splinter groups. The Catholic Church cannot be denominated. A new configuration will still be a man-made organization, and will not be recognized as a Catholic Church by anyone.

The Anglican Continuum is not the answer either. Many joined the ACNA to escape the divisions, petty rivalries, personal fiefdoms and marginalization of the Anglican Continuum. The Continuum today is badly divided, graying, and is much smaller and myopic than it was in the early 1980s. It has zero influence in American society and few Americans even know that it exists. 

Playing jurisdictional musical chairs while the Titanic slips away into the sea will not solve the problems faced by Catholic Anglicans. The Anglican Continuum is going the way of the Non-jurors, and will one day be just an interesting footnote in Church history. 

There is and can only be, “One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” according to the Nicene Creed. One means one. It cannot mean three, and it certainly cannot mean a bevy of splinter groups. Catholic means Catholic. It does not mean a smorgasbord of perspectives. Faith and Order matters. The Church must be Orthodox, possessing both Correct Doctrine and Correct Worship.

The Church of which Christ is the Head cannot be divided any more than Christ Himself can be divided. A new Church cobbled together by even the most well-meaning of men will never be anything more than a human institution, a human organization. Only Christ could build His Church, and He promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Isn’t it time we took Him at His word? Catholic Anglicans need to rediscover and embrace that Church.

There are but two choices for Catholic-minded Anglicans: the Orthodox Catholic Church and the Roman Church. For Anglo-papalists there is the Ordinariate. For those Catholic Anglicans who seek to hold the Faith of the “undivided” Church there is the Western Rite of the Orthodox Church. Those are the choices, the only real choices. 

With the restoration of the Western Rite in the Orthodox Church and the establishment of the Anglican Ordinariate in the Roman Church, there is no longer any place for an independent Anglican Church. There is no longer any reason for its existence. Therefore, it should be obvious why God is not preserving it.

While there are two choices for Catholic Anglicans, there is really only one solution. The solution is to complete the circle.

COMPLETING THE CIRCLE

There is a place for Catholic-minded traditional Anglicans, and that is in the Orthodox Catholic Church. It was the home of their Celtic and English forebears in the Faith and it is their natural home.

Anglicans now make up the largest single group of converts to the Orthodox Church, and there are hundreds of Orthodox clergy who are former Anglicans in America alone. They are everywhere, and serve in both the Eastern and Western Rites. I am one of them. In my own community there are nine Orthodox priests. Of the nine, six are converts, and of the six converts, five are former Anglicans. When I am asked, “Where have all the traditional Anglicans gone?” My answer is always the same: To the Orthodox Church!

At the time of the Great Schism in AD 1054, the Church in the British Isles remained Orthodox. That is a fact of history. This stand for the Orthodox Faith led to the papal sanctioned Norman Invasion in 1066. The Norman Invasion was promoted as a crusade to bring an “erring” [meaning Orthodox] English Church under Roman authority. With the Norman Conquest, all but one of the English bishops were imprisoned and replaced by Norman usurpers, and the Church was forced into an uneasy and often stormy relationship with Rome that lasted nearly five centuries. 

The English Reformation which began in 1534, was very different from the Protestant Reformation on the Continent. In England the bishops themselves led the reform, with the goal of restoring the Faith and Order of the “undivided” Church. After five centuries of separation mistakes and missteps were bound to be made and they were, but also progress. The goal of restoring the Faith and Order of the undivided Church was advanced by the Caroline Divines of the 17th century, the Non-Jurors of the 18 century, the Oxford movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Continuing Anglican Movement of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries. Today, many traditional Anglicans stand at the very door of the Orthodox Church. The good news is that the goal of the English Reformation and the Vision Glorious of the Oxford movement have been fulfilled. The circle can be completed. You can come home again.

My former ACNA parish and I celebrated our fifth Easter as a Western Rite Orthodox parish this year and we could not be happier. We have preserved the fullness of our Celtic and English cultural, liturgical and spiritual heritage and patrimony in full sacramental communion and visible unity with the 300 million-member Orthodox Church. We have lost nothing and gained everything.

Today there are Western Rite parishes and monastic communities in the Patriarchates of Moscow (the world’s largest with 164,000,000 members), Antioch (where the disciples were first called Christians), and in Europe in the Patriarchates of Romania and Serbia, with the Western Rite Communities of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) being the largest, most wide-spread and fastest growing. Eastern Rite or Western Rite, the Orthodox Church speaks with one voice in Faith and Morals. We are unchanged and unchanging. 

Unlike with Rome, traditional Anglicans are not seen as wayward children by the Orthodox Church. They are seen as long lost brethren. Remember, the Church in the British Isles remained Orthodox in 1054, and was forcibly separated from the East by the Norman Conquest in 1066. But you do not have to remain separated. You can complete the circle. You can be restored to the family. You are wanted, and will be welcomed with love and open arms. 

AN IMPORTANT VIDEO DOCUMENTARY

In July of this year an excellent, professionally produced, half hour documentary on Western Rite Orthodoxy was released. It is called The Orthodox West. It follows a Continuing Anglican bishop and two priests on their journey to becoming Western Rite priests in the Orthodox Church. It is informative, heartwarming and inspiring. I hope that you will view it and share it with others.  Perhaps their journey will become yours. We love being Orthodox. This documentary will explain why.


In October of this year the 2017 ROCOR Western Rite Conference was held in Wappinger Falls, New York. It was a wonderful Conference, full of blessings and hope for the future. You can read my personal report about the Conference here:


AN INVITATION

The doors of the Orthodox Church are wide open and the welcome mat is out for traditional Anglican clergy, laity, congregations and monastic communities who are committed to the fullness of the Apostolic Faith. The Western Rite has been restored, the Western Church is being rebuilt, and you can have a part in it. Instead of being the last of yesterday you can be the first of tomorrow. Instead of being marginalized and merely tolerated, you can be mainstream. Instead of struggling to merely keep the Faith alive and the pilot light burning, you can be part of a great revival and renaissance, a New Springtime for the Church. All you need do is complete the circle. 

I would be happy to help. Our Vicar General, Fr. Mark Rowe, is a former Anglican Archdeacon, and he would be happy to help. You are not alone. We care, and are here for you.

For more information visit the website of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities: https://www.rocor-wr.org


Call me at (402) 573-6558, or email me at venovak@hughes.net.


Thursday, October 19, 2017

2017 ROCOR WESTERN RITE CONFERENCE — A Personal Report

My wife and I, accompanied by our parish deacon, Fr. Deacon Kevin Kirwan took off from Eppley Airport in Omaha, for Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York, just after 6:00 AM on Monday, October 9th. 

We coordinated our travel with Fr. Samuel Seamans, rector of St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Mountain Home, Arkansas, who met us in Detroit, Michigan where we boarded our connecting flight. Fr. Samuel was a bishop in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) before entering the Orthodox Church and we had served together in the same diocese.

While we were still in the air that morning, Fr. Deacon Abraham Fortier of Holy Archangels Orthodox Church in Waterville, Maine was ordained to the presbyterate and Subdeacon Michael Hoernschemeyer of St. Genevieve of Paris Orthodox Church in St. Charles, Missouri was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), First Hierarch (Primate) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia at the Synod headquarters in Manhattan.

A former traditional Roman Catholic and a seminary graduate of the traditionalist  Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Fr. Deacon Michael had visited our parish and we played a small part in his reception into the ROCOR Western Rite Communities. It was a tremendous blessing to see him serve as a deacon at his first Mass on Tuesday morning, October 10th.

Check-in at the retreat centre in Wappinger Falls, New York took place on Monday afternoon, with the Conference beginning at 5:00 PM with Vespers. Dinner in the refectory followed at 6:00 PM. 

Compline was prayed in at 7:00 PM, and then four confessors heard the confessions of the clergy, their wives and the lay people in attendance. Later that evening there was a reception in the refectory with wine and cheese. 

Two traditional Anglican priests (ACNA) from Quad Cities Anglican Radio, Fr. Thomas Janikowski, FSAC, and Fr. Eric Vowles, SSC, attended the entire Conference, broadcasting both presentations and interviews. I really enjoyed visiting with these men and getting to know them. Their broadcasts from the Conference are now podcasts, and can be viewed here: http://www.qcaradio.com .

On Tuesday morning the Conference began in earnest. The days began early, with a bell awakening everyone at 5:00 AM. Lauds was sung at 5:30 AM, with Holy Mass at 6:00 AM.

Breakfast in the refectory was at 8:00 AM. From 9:00 to 11:30 AM there were presentations, followed by Sext (the Mid-day Office) at 11:45 AM. Lunch was at noon, with presentations or other scheduled activities from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Vespers was at 4:15 PM, followed by dinner at 5:00 PM. From 6:00 to 7:45 PM there were more presentations, followed by Compline at 7:45 PM. 

Each evening at 8:00 PM there was a reception in the refectory with wine and cheese. These receptions were a wonderful time of fellowship with old friends and confreres, and an opportunity to meet new colleagues and build relationships. There were, as at all of our Conferences, visiting clergy who are interested in Western Orthodoxy. While I was able to meet most of the visitors, I was able to spend time with four of the visiting priests — three from traditional Anglicanism and one from traditional Roman Catholicism. We also had a number of Antiochian Western Rite clergy with us, making the Conference something of a pan-Orthodox Western Rite Conference.

It was a real pleasure for me to have had an opportunity to renew my acquaintance with His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah. I first met him in the summer of 2014, when I had the honour of concelebrating with him at St. Benedict’s Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City on that parish’s feast day. I had breakfast with His Eminence on Wednesday morning, and spoke with him at length during the reception on Wednesday evening. We spoke about the ongoing development of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities, and about Orthodox church planting in general.

The various presentations were excellent, and were made by a variety of well qualified speakers. Presentations included, Reading and Chanting Gregorian Notation, by Fr. David Kinghorn ( ROCOR Western Rite Communities); The Psalms, by Prior Theodore, OSB (Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate); Ancestral Sin vs. Original Sin — A Lecture on Orthodox Salvation Theology, by Fr. Matthew Joyner (OCA); The Three Pillars of Orthodox Spirituality, by Metropolitan Jonah (ROCOR); Orthodox Ministry to the Incarcerated, by Fr. David Straut (ROCOR); and The Gallican Liturgy, by Fr. Lev Smith (ROCOR Western Rite Communities). I presented on Church Planting and Church Growth. If anyone would like a free electronic copy of my text, A Guide to Western Rite Orthodox Church Planting, you can request it from me at venovak@hughes.net .

In addition to Holy Mass and the Divine Office, the presentations, and fellowship, there were other activities as well. On Tuesday afternoon there was a ROCOR Western Rite Clergy meeting. While the Western Rite clergy were meeting, His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah hosted an Inquirers Q & A meeting for the visiting clergy in attendance. During these clergy meetings the clergy wives enjoyed an outing together.

On Wednesday, October 11th, there was a ladies luncheon, and a ROCOR Western Rite clergy meeting with His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion and His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah. Later that evening Metropolitan Jonah and Fr. Mark Rowe made their closing remarks. I was then called upon to read aloud four Proposals for the further development of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities that had been submitted to Metropolitan Hilarion by the Western Rite Advisory Board with the blessing of Fr. Mark Rowe, and that had been approved by our Ordinary, Metropolitan Hilarion, for adoption.

Among them was a change in title for Metropolitan Hilarion’s vicar for the Western Rite, Fr. Mark Rowe. As a rapidly growing and expanding nationwide and international body, the ROCOR Western Rite Communities have far outgrown a mere Deanery and the title of Dean has become anachronistic. Therefore, Fr. Mark Rowe’s title has been changed to that of Vicar General of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities, and the position of Vicar General shall be that of a Mitred Archpriest. 

With the continuing numerical and geographical growth of the Western Rite Communities in America and abroad the Vicar General may now establish Deaneries as needed for administrative  purposes, with senior priests  presented to the Metropolitan for his approval to serve in the capacity of Deans.

In addition, Fr. David Kinghorn, rector of St. Cuthbert Orthodox Church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who has long been informally assisting Fr. Mark, has been formally appointed assistant to the Vicar General.

The organizational structure of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities has been fleshed out, positioning us to become even more effective in advancing the Work of the Great Commission, opening new local churches, and rebuilding the Western Church. 

The Ordinary of the ROCOR Western Rite Communities is Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The Vicar General is Fr. Mark Rowe, a priest of long experience and a former Anglican Archdeacon, The Vicar General is assisted by Fr. David Kinghorn, as well as by a Western Rite advisory Board — on which I serve, an Administrative Council that looks after the temporal needs of our Western Rite Communities, and an Ecclesiastical court.

In the coming year we plan to hold a youth camp, and to organize a pilgrimage to the Cathedral in San Francisco that contains the tomb of St. John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco (d. 1966). It was St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco who said, “Never, never, never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox you must be Eastern. The West was fully Orthodox for a thousand years.”

Thursday morning, October 12th, began as usual, with the Rising Bell at 5:00 AM, Lauds at 5:30 AM, Holy Mass at 6:00 AM, and breakfast at 8:00 AM. Around 9:00 AM we received a final blessing, and Conference attendees began to pack up and to leave for home.

I spent a lot of time with inquirers during the Conference. Each one I spent time with told me that they had never experienced such a meeting within their own ecclesial community. I can echo that. This year Holy Cross parish celebrated our fifth Pascha (Easter) as an Orthodox church. We have entered the fullness of the Faith and the fullness of grace. We are now part of the Church established by Christ Himself, rather than a splinter from it. A splinter, no matter how well intentioned and sincere, is still a splinter. We have preserved the fullness of our Western cultural, liturgical and spiritual heritage and patrimony in full sacramental communion and visible unity with the 300 million-member Orthodox Catholic Church. We are fully Orthodox and thoroughly Western. We have lost nothing, and gained everything. Who could ask for more?

80% of the visiting clergy at the ROCOR Western Rite Conference last year have entered the Orthodox Church and are now serving in the ROCOR Western Rite Communities. I suspect that we will have similar numbers this year. In just over a week since the 2017 Western Rite Conference closed two of the visiting clergy have either already submitted an application for reception or will do so this week.

The 2017 ROCOR Western Rite Conference was a tremendous success. It was an incredible spiritual event. The brethren in attendance were fully united and were renewed and energized; and, God willing, the coming year looks bright indeed. The Western Church is being rebuilt, Church history is being written, and you can have a part in it. Orthodox minded clergy and laity are welcomed home with love and open arms. We love being Orthodox. You will too. Come and see! 

Monday, October 2, 2017

HOW TO PRAY THE ORTHODOX ROSARY


INTRODUCTION

What is commonly called the Rosary was known as Our Lady’s Psalter in the ancient Christian West, and is known as The Rule of the Theotokos (Mother of God) in the East. It is an Orthodox Christian devotion based on praying the Angelic Salutation (Hail Mary) 150 times. The prayer rule consists of 150 Angelic Salutations, which are divided into 15 decades. Each decade focuses on some important event in the life of the Mother of God. 

The Orthodox Rosary is prayed on a Prayer Rope, also called a Chotki or Comboschini. The same Prayer Rope that is used to pray the Jesus Prayer is used for this devotion. To pray the Rosary, a Prayer Rope is used in which the knots are divided into groups of ten, or decades, with a beed separating each decade. 

Many people think that the Rosary originated in Roman Catholicism and that it is a Roman Catholic devotion, but that is not historically correct. “The rosary was originally an Orthodox form of prayer that was later adopted by the Roman Catholics” (1).

“The prayer rope was formed by St. Pachomius in the fourth century. From there the rosary developed, some say as early as the eighth century” (2). While the devotion originated among the monks of ancient Egypt, it was given name the Rosary by the Christians of the British Isles. 


OUR LADY’S PSALTER: THE ROSARY OR GARLAND OF ROSES

The monks of the Egyptian Thebaid were praying one hundred fifty Angelic Salutations (Hail Mary’s) grouped into fifteen decades following the pattern of the one hundred and fifty Psalms as early as the fourth century. However, while the origin of The Rule of the Theotokos, or Our Lady’s Psalter, is found in ancient Egypt, the term “Rosary” — or “garland of roses” — has its origin in the British Isles.

“It was the Western Celtic and Sarum Rites that were to develop what is today called the ‘rosary’ or ‘garland of roses.’ The Western Churches, like those of the East, had a great devotion to the Psalter of David which they divided into three parts composed of fifty psalms each. The ‘Three Fifties’ were recited for the dead and for all manner of other intentions as well by both monastics and lay-people.

“To accommodate monks and laity who could not read, little psalters were devised based on the repetition of the Lord's Prayer and the Angelical Salutation 150 times, divided into three fifties as well. Other psalters based on meditations on the life of Christ and the Most Holy Mother of God were also developed. Soon these were all fused into ‘Our Lady's Psalter’ or the ‘Rosary.’ The use of such rosaries is of a venerable age and the Western Rites of the Orthodox Church continue in its use” (3).


SOMETIMES CALLED ST. SERAPHIM’S ROSARY

The Orthodox Rosary is sometimes called St. Seraphim’s Rosary after two great Saints of the Orthodox Church — both named St. Seraphim — who were proponents of The Rule of the Theotokos: St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833) and St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky  (1883-1937).  

Fr. Zosima, one of the spiritual children of St. Seraphim of Sarov said, “In my hands I have a hand-written book from the cell of Saint Seraphim, containing a description of the many miracles which took place through praying to the Mother of God and especially through saying one hundred and fifty times the O Hail, Mother of God and Virgin [an Eastern Rite version of the Angelic salutation]. If, being unaccustomed to it, it is difficult to master one hundred and fifty repetitions daily, say it fifty times at first…Whomever he spoke to about this miracle-working Rule remained grateful to him.”

St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) was an Endoverie (Old Rite) Russian Orthodox bishop who had been consecrated to the episcopate by St. Tikhon of Moscow as Bishop of Dimitrov, and was martyred by the Soviet communists in 1937. He was tonsured a monk with the name of Seraphim after St. Seraphim of Sarov. He had great devotion to the Mother of God; and received from God the gift of preaching, becoming well known for his sermons. St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky also possessed the gifts of clairvoyance and healing of the sick; these gifts manifested themselves many times throughout his life.

Fr. Alexander Gumanovsky writes: “Bishop Seraphim Zvezdinsky performed the Rule of the Mother of God every day, and, when he performed it he prayed for the whole world, embracing in his Rule the whole life of the Queen of Heaven.”


HOW THE ROSARY IS PRAYED

Our Lady’s Psalter — the Rosary — usually includes introductory and closing prayers. Those following the Western liturgical tradition should follow a standard form, such as opening with the Sign of the Cross, and then saying “O Lord, open thou my [our] lips. And my [our] mouth shall show forth thy praise. O God, made make speed to save me [us]. O Lord, make haste to help me [us];” followed by “Glory be to the Father…” (Gloria Patri). 

Then, the appropriate Meditation is named followed by the Lord’s Prayer on the bead and ten Hail Mary’s on the knots. Fifteen decades, or at least five decades, are thus prayed, each preceded by naming the appropriate Meditation and then praying the Lord’s Prayer and ten Hail Marys. The Rosary, can then be concluded with a closing prayer such as the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven).

There are fifteen Meditations:

Meditation 1- The Birth of the Theotokos [Theotokos means, Mother of God]
Meditation 2- The Presentation of the Theotokos
Meditation 3- The Annunciation of the Lord's Birth
Meditation 4- The Meeting of the Theotokos and St. Elizabeth
Meditation 5- The Birth of the Lord
Meditation 6- The Prophecy of St. Simeon
Meditation 7- The Flight into Egypt
Meditation 8- The Boy-Christ among the Doctors
Meditation 9- The Wedding of Cana
Meditation 10- The Crucifixion of the Lord
Meditation 11- The Resurrection of the Lord
Meditation 12- The Ascension of the Lord into Heaven
Meditation 13- Pentecost
Meditation 14- The Dormition of the Virgin Theotokos
Meditation 15- The Crowning of the Theotokos by the Blessed Trinity

There are no set Meditations for certain days of the week. The Rosary can be begun on any day, with fifteen decades or five decades prayed. If five decades are prayed, then the Rosary is begun with the first Meditation, followed by the sixth Meditation the next day, and with the eleventh Meditation on the third day. Then, the Three Fifties begin again with the first Meditation.

St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) provides spiritual direction and beautiful prayer intentions for those praying the Rosary. Fr. Alexander Gumanovsky writes, “He [St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky] gave one of his spiritual children the task of copying a plan which included his prayer to the Ever Virgin Mary." St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky's) spiritual directions and prayer intentions are included in this guide to praying the Rosary (4).


 PRAYING THE ROSARY

To pray the Rosary, begin by making the Sign of the Cross and saying,

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Spirit). Amen.

V. O Lord, open thou my [our] lips. 
R. And my [our] mouth shall show forth thy praise. 
V. O God, made make speed to save me [us]. 
R. O Lord, make haste to help me [us].

GLORY BE to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost (Spirit).
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end (unto all ages of ages) Amen.

Each of the Meditations may be combined with the spiritual direction and prayer intentions of St. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) as is done here:

Meditation 1- The Birth of the Theotokos 

First decade: Let us remember the birth of the Mother of God. Let us pray for mothers, fathers, and children.

Each Meditation is followed by the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) on the bead, and ten Angelic Salutations (Hail Marys) on the knots.

OUR FATHER, Who art in heaven, 
Hallowed be Thy Name. 
Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses, 
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Ten Hail Marys:

HAIL MARY, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 
Blessed art thou among women, and 
blessed is the fruit of thy womb (5).

Meditation 2- The Presentation of the Theotokos

Second decade: Let us remember the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God. Let us pray for those who have lost their way and fallen away from the church.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 3- The Annunciation of the Lord's Birth

Third decade: Let us remember the Annunciation of the Blessed Mother of God—let us pray for the soothing of sorrows and the consolation of those who grieve.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 4- The Meeting of the Theotokos and St. Elizabeth

Fourth decade: Let us remember the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin with the righteous Elizabeth. Let us pray for the reunion of the separated, for those whose dear ones or children are living away from them or missing.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 5- The Birth of the Lord

Fifth decade: Let us remember the Birth of Christ. Let us pray for the rebirth of souls, for new life in Christ.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 6- The Prophecy of St. Simeon

Sixth decade: Let us remember the Feast of the [Presentation] of the Lord, and the words uttered by St. Simeon: “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also” (Luke 2:35). Let us pray that the Mother of God will meet our souls at the hour of our death, and will contrive that we receive the Holy Sacrament with our last breath, and will lead our souls through the terrible torments.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 7- The Flight into Egypt

Seventh decade: Let us remember the flight of the Mother of God with the God-Child into Egypt. Let us pray that the Mother of God will help us avoid temptation in this life and deliver us from misfortunes.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 8- The Boy-Christ among the Doctors

Eighth decade: Let us remember the disappearance of the twelve-year old boy Jesus in Jerusalem and the sorrow of the Mother of God on this account. Let us pray, begging the Mother of God for the constant repetition of the Jesus Prayer.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 9- The Wedding of Cana

Ninth decade: Let us remember-the miracle performed in Cana of Galilee, when the Lord turned water into wine at the words of the Mother of God: “They have no wine” (John 2:3). Let us ask the Mother of God for help in our affairs and deliverance from need.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 10- The Crucifixion of the Lord

Tenth decade: Let us remember the Mother of God standing at the Cross of the Lord, when grief pierced through her heart like a sword. Let us pray to the Mother of God for the strengthening of our Souls and the banishment of despondency.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 11- The Resurrection of the Lord

Eleventh decade: Let us remember the Resurrection of Christ and ask the Mother of God in prayer to resurrect our souls and give us a new courage for spiritual feats.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 12- The Ascension of the Lord into Heaven

Twelfth decade: Let us remember the Ascension of Christ, at which the Mother of God was present. Let us pray and ask the Queen of Heaven to raise up our souls from earthly and worldly amusements and direct them to striving for higher things.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 13- Pentecost

Thirteenth decade: Let us remember the Upper Room and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the Mother of God. Let us pray: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me” (Psalm 51).

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 14- The Dormition of the Virgin Theotokos

Fourteenth decade: Let us remember the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God, and ask for a peaceful and serene end.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

Meditation 15- The Crowning of the Theotokos by the Blessed Trinity

Fifteenth decade: Let us remember the glory of the Mother of God, with which the Lord crowned her after her removal from earth to heaven. Let us pray to the Queen of Heaven not to abandon the faithful who are on earth but to defend them from every evil, covering them with her honoring and protecting veil

Pray the Lord’s Prayer, followed by ten Hail Marys.

The Rosary, is then concluded with a closing prayer such as the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven):

O QUEEN of heaven, be joyful, alleluia;
Because He whom so meetly thou barest, alleluia,
Hath arisen, as He promised, alleluia:
Pray for us to the Father, alleluia.

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. For the Lord is risen indeed, alleluia.

Let us pray.

O GOD, who by the resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ, didst vouchsafe to give gladness unto the world: grant, we beseech thee, and we, being holpen by the Virgin Mary, His Mother, may attain unto the joys of everlasting life: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.


PRAYING THE ROSARY AS A FAMILY OR GROUP

If the Rosary is prayed as a family or group, everyone makes the Sign of the cross together. The leader says the versicles (V.) and the group says the responses (R.). The words “our” and “us” replace “my” and “me” in the opening versicles and responses.

The leader then begins the Glory Be (Gloria Patri), with the words, “Glory be to the father…,” and prays the first half of the prayer. The group follows by reciting the second half, beginning, “As it was in the beginning… Amen”

Next, the leader names the Meditation and begins the Lord’s Prayer,  reciting the first half of the prayer; followed by the group which recites the second half beginning with the words, “Give us this day… Amen.”

The leader begins the Hail Mary each time it is prayed and recites the first verse; followed by the group which recites the second verse, beginning, “Blessed art thou among…” There is no need to say “Amen” after each Hail Mary.

If the longer, modern version of the Hail Mary is prayed, the leader begins the prayer and prays through the words, “of thy womb, Jesus.” The group then recites the rest of the prayer beginning with, “Holy Mary, Mother of God…”

The leader then leads in praying the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven), saying “Let us pray” and the final Collect alone. Amen is said by the group. Then everyone makes the Sign of the Cross and the devotion is concluded. 


CONCLUSION

The Rosary can be prayed as a private devotion, as a family devotion, or with a group. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


Footnotes.
1.   The Rosary, OrthodoxWiki

2.   The Rosary, OrthodoxWiki

3.   The Historical Development of the Orthodox Prayer Rope and Its Importance to our     Spiritual Life, by Dr. Alexander Roman

4.   The Walsingham Way (Vol. ii, No. 1), published by the Orthodox Christian Society of Our Lady of Walsingham

5.   The Hail Mary is a combination of Biblical texts taken from Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42, and is a prayer of praise. It is very similar to its Eastern form: 

O Hail Mother of God and Virgin, Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou has given birth to the Saviour of our souls. Amen.

Centuries later, the name of Jesus and a petition for Mary’s intercession were commonly added, giving us the Hail Mary as we have it today:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The longer version of the Hail Mary was unknown in the first millennium of Christianity, and remained unknown in the time of Thomas Aquinas as is clear from his writings. The petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen," was added later. This petition combined with the Hail Mary first appeared in print in AD 1495 in Girolamo Savonarola's "Esposizione sopra l’Ave Maria.” The early (shorter) version of the Hail Mary was still being used among the Irish at the beginning of the 20th century. Although the longer version of the Hail Mary is not ancient, it is perfectly Orthodox in content and is freely used by Orthodox Christians.