The New Year 2006

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The Parish Messenger

June 1998

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

With these words, the Easter Season was begun 50 days ago. At the beginning of the Great Vigil of
Easter, the Paschal Candle was solemnly blessed and lit from the new fire kindled at that vigil
service. The Paschal Candle was borne in procession from the back of the Church where it was lit
to its stand in the Sanctuary where it has burned throughout the Great Fifty Days.

In years past, the Paschal Candle was extinguished after the Gospel on Ascension Day. The new
Prayerbook directs that it burn through the entire season of Easter to Pentecost. This seems to be a
sensible move as previously the time between the Ascension and Pentecost was left in a sort of
liturgical limbo. It was a rather dramatic effect to see the Light extinguished after the Gospel of
Christ’s Ascension, but it did seem rather odd to have the Church still decorated for the season of
Easter without it’s main symbol of the Paschal Candle.

As the Easter Season was begun by the solemn entrance of the Paschal Candle, it seems to make
sense to close it in like fashion. Thus, the Paschal Candle will be carried out in procession at the
close of the Pentecost Mass. It will return to its place by the Baptismal font where it will be used to
mark the “Easter” liturgies of Baptism and Burial of the Dead.

Towards a Theology of The Solemn Mass

I’m sure many of you have noticed that throughout the Easter Season we have had more personnel
at the Altar. Some of these were dressed in vesture other than the usual cassock and surplice. That
is because these ministers were fulfilling the roles of Deacon and Sub-deacon in the Mass. The Holy
Eucharist celebrated in this fashion is called a Solemn, or Solemn High Mass. Although it is seen
less and less in these latter days, it is still the normative way of celebrating the Holy Communion.
Perhaps an explanation of the thinking, or better yet, the theology behind the Eucharist celebrated in
this fashion will help to make it, not only better understood, but more appreciated.

Anglicans are not confessional Christians. That means that we do not have a certain “mission
statement” or “confession” that defines us and what we believe. It is often said, that to find out what
we believe, look at how we pray. How we pray is given order and form by the Book of Common
Prayer. It is the Prayerbook which gives flesh to our beliefs. It is the Prayerbook in which we find
the Order for the Holy Eucharist and thus we begin from there to define a theology of the Mass
through the prayers, instructions and commentary found therein.

The first instruction, preliminary to the Order for the Holy Eucharist, pertains to the Bishop. It
states that his is the prerogative to be principal celebrant when present. This is most appropriate for
it is within the office of the Bishop that the fullness of ministry resides within the community. All
other ministries take their authority from his - just as he takes his authority from his standing in
direct line of descent from the Apostles. It is the different ministries found within the Bishop that
will be active in the community, even if he is not present. If he is celebrant of the Mass, we have a
special opportunity to see the fullness of the Church present. But, even in his absence, the unique
ministries which take their authority from him are present and active. It is these unique miniatures
which we will examine in the act of the Holy Eucharist. Seeing how these ministries play out in the
Mass will help us to understand the theology behind them - achieving a deeper understanding of the
relationship of Almighty God to us and us to Him.

The first thing to notice is the interplay of the different Orders in the Solemn Mass. The Prayerbook
makes it explicit in the Catechism that there are four Orders active in the Church at the present time:
Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and the Faithful themselves. The Solemn Mass was developed at a time
when several “Minor Orders” filled in the gap between Deacons and the Laity. These minor orders
included Sub-deacons, porters, lectors, exorcists and acolytes. For some time now the roles of the
minor orders have been fulfilled by the laity. Lectors (readers), Porters (greeters) and Acolytes all
come from the ranks of the Faithful who have performed their role within the Anglican liturgy for
hundreds of years. The Roman Church made some of these changes at the time of Vatican II.

Within the action of the Solemn Mass, the participants represented are the Orders of Priest, Deacon
and Sub-deacon, of course, along with the Order of the Faithful themselves. Each order has a set
role. By examining these roles we can come to an understanding of the theology expressed in the
Solemn Mass.

The role of the priest, be he Catholic or pagan is to offer sacrifice. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the
Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross - offered once for all. The Mass is not a recreation of the Sacrifice
of Calvary, but the Eucharistic action transcends time and space and puts us there at the foot of
Calvary’s tree. On Calvary, Christ was the priest of the Sacrifice. In the Mass, Christ, through the
action of the Priest, is once again the offerer of the Sacrifice.

Contemporary liturgical parlance has come to refer to the priest as the “president of the assembly.”
While this helps us to understand the role of the priest as the one who gathers the community for
worship, it falls short in its symbolism. If one were to use a governmental analogy for the role of
the priest, perhaps a better one would be that of “Prime Minister.” Literally translated, this means
“first servant.” The priest stands in the community as the “servant of the servants of God” - offering
prayer and sacrifice for them. In the Solemn Mass, it is the Priest who stands before the community,
calls them to pray, feeds them with the Bread of Life, blesses them for their labor, is the channel
through which their sins are forgiven. The priest, standing in the place of the Bishop, representing
the Bishop in the local congregation, is the vicar of Christ in the assembly. He is not greater than
any other member of the assembly, but is great in that he stands in the place of the assembly:
approaching the throne of God in their stead. The priest stands facing the altar at the head of the
assembly, addressing the Throne of Godhead in the name of and for the People of God.

This is why the priest is reverenced with incense at the Solemn Mass; why he is greeted with a bow
of the head in passing. Not because of any greatness on his part, but because by offering the Body
of Christ, he stands in the place of the Body of Christ, both the Body Risen and Ascended and the
Body which is the Church.

Lectionary Readings

June 7         Trinity Sunday
    Isaiah 6:1-8
    Revelation 4:1-11
    John 16:12-15

June 11    St. Barnabas
    Isaiah 42:5-12
    Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3
    Matthew 10:7-16

June 14    Corpus Christ (transferred)
    Deuteronomy 8:2-3
    1 Corinthians 10:1-4, 16-17
    John 6:47-58

June 21    III Pentecost
    Zechariah 12:8-10, 13:1
    Galatians 3:23-29
    Luke 9:18-24

June 24 Nativity of St. John the Baptist
    Isaiah 40:1-11
    Acts 13:14-26
    Luke 1:57-80

June 28    IV Pentecost
    I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
    Galatians 5:1, 13-25
    Luke 9:51-62

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