It is easy for liturgists to criticize the Daily Office that was reformed by Thomas Cranmer and more or less retained in our liturgies until the second half of the twentieth century. Such critics will argue that Cranmer’s Daily Office, along with its many descendants, is too penitential in focus and is characterized by a lack of variety, long sections of psalmody with no particular relation to the time of day or season of the church year, and lengthy scripture readings. And all of it based on a faulty sixteenth-century reconstruction of early Christian prayer practices, which incorrectly u ..read more

In the early part of 1930, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Cosmo Lang, was preparing to host around 300 hundred bishops from across the Anglican Communion at the seventh Lambeth Conference. The last Conference, in 1920, had proven to be a milestone for the ecumenical movement and controversial in its treatment of the issue of contraception. The challenge of Christian unity and the question of the Church’s acceptance of contraception had not gone away. However there was another issue of utmost importance brewing. In late 1929 or early 1930 the prominent author and spiritual director ..read more

It has been a while since our last issue. For this we do most sincerely apologize. It has happened because Reasons. But there is something brewing for which it might be a good idea to read chapter 1 of Vida Dutton Scudder's magnum opus, Socialism and Character. There are physical copies that can be found, but the book is long out of print. So here we upload a pdf for your reading needs. Solidarity in Christ ..read more

In order to pay for a website, to compensate writers, and to make use of design programs, this magazine needs support. And we get it! In order to thank supporters last year we made some prayer cards. These proved to be very popular, so in this coming year you can expect more. All people who currently support us on Patreon will receive a special gift from us. And everyone who joins us after today (as well as all current supporters) on Patreon, in any amount, will get a new set of cards over the coming year. Here are a few of them to look forward to ..read more

We are all talking about socialism today. We discuss its abstract principles. We question, emphatically, whether it is practicable with such being as men, in a world like the present. Granting it to be practicable, we discuss methods of approach. Finally, we debate, ad infinitum, the machinery which, were socialism accomplished, would regulate human life. But there is just one thing we do not talk much about, and that is, supposing the scholastic state a fact, supposing we arrive, what sort of men and women shall we be when we get there? Concerning this phrase of the subject, even one of the ..read more

I was recently reading the beautiful book Nearness of God: Parish Ministry as Spiritual Practice by Mother Julia Gatta. As I expected, it is a rich, wise reflection on the priestly vocation, connecting aspects of Christian spirituality to the nitty gritty of the complexities of parish ministry. In a section on the necessity of geographical stability for a full communal life, Gatta draws on the Desert Monastics to encourage clergy (this book is primarily addressed to clergy) to discern what is at stake in changing parishes. Of the several temptations involved in changing cures, one to be mindfu ..read more

There is a scene in the 1991 movie “The Commitments” where the lead character, Jimmy Rabbitte (played by Robert Arkins) interviews prospective members of a new band. At each person who comes to his door he flings the question: “Who are your influences?” He judges the musicians on their split-second response. Were I to be asked this same question, Ken Leech would be among the first names on the list. ​ I first met Ken Leech when he gave a lecture in 1999 at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, a year before I was to begin seminary. Then in his early 60s, he had a rich accent from the North of England ..read more

The promise revealed to Simeon “that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” could just as easily have been fulfilled during his youth as in his old age. He would have seen the Lord’s Christ before death either way. It is telling, however, that artistic depictions of Simeon nearly always feature him as an old man. The force of the fulfillment would likely have been blunted were he not at a moment of great need for his own consolation: a moment shortly before his death. His peace had to wait for his departure, and when the peace finally arrived, departure was the only thi ..read more

Rosa Luxemburg once called the clergy and theologians who supported the working class struggle “white blackbirds” a rare species. Today, I feel she would be delighted to see that a once rare species is not so rare in the 21st century. I count myself as one of her “white blackbirds”. My own road to Socialism has always been founded by my faith. From sermons by Jesuit priests during Occupy, while I was in college, to my own questions of the political economy of the Kingdom of God, to being introduced to Marxism by an Episcopal priest, my road to socialism has always been a journey of faith. My ..read more

Marianne Stokes', Candlemas Day c.1901 In preparation for the celebration tomorrow of Candlemas we here excerpt a short chapter from Conrad Noel's 'The Life of Jesus' on what he calls the 'Redemptionist Party,' which includes Anna the Prophetess, Simeon Senex, Joseph of Arimathaea, and indeed Mary herself. Enjoy ..read more