Clergy poll: offertory prayers

The 1928 Prayer Book explicitly states in the offertory rubrics, "And the Priest shall then offer, and shall place upon the Holy Table, the Bread and the Wine." The 1979 Prayer Book just assumes this is done and directs the congregation to "stand while the offerings are presented and placed on the Altar."

Neither book provides a form for doing so. It is presumed in the Prayer Book tradition that this is something that falls under the domain of custom. And that is understandable since the Roman offertory prayers were a late addition and varied greatly from place to place at the time of the first Prayer Book.

The offertory is an occasion that naturally invites prayer. Some celebrants simply raise the gifts slightly as a gesture of oblation and place them on the altar without any words, letting the ceremonial serve as a prayer. Others naturally turn to the offertory prayer of the Roman rite--either the old rite, or more recently the new rite of Pope Paul VI. The latter has even been included in various new eucharistic rites around the Anglican Communion.

For those who make use of the former, and use an English translation rather than the Latin originals, which translation do you prefer? There have been two main altar books with these offertory prayers printed in them--the Anglican/English Missal published by Knott & Sons and the American edition of the Anglican Missal, sometimes just called the American Missal. The Missal of the Western Rite Orthodox parishes uses another translation (see below).

I have a hard time choosing myself; my preference goes back and forth. Which do you favor for use at the altar?

From the (Knott) English Missal:

At the offering of bread
Receive, O holy Father, almighty everlasting God, this spotless host, which I, thine unworthy servant, offer unto thee, my living and true God, for my numberless sins, offences and negligences; and for all who stand here around, as also for all faithful christians, both living and departed, that to me and to them it may avail for salvation unto life eternal. Amen.

At the blessing of water
O God, who didst wondrously create, and yet more wondrously renew the dignity of human nature: grant that by the mystery of this water and wine we may be made co-heirs of his divinity, who vouchsafed to be made partaker of our humanity, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord: Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God: world without end. Amen.

At the offering of wine
We offer unto thee, O Lord, the cup of salvation, humbly beseeching thy mercy: that in the sight of thy divine majesty it may ascend as a sweet-smelling savour for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen.

Over the Holy Gifts
In a humble spirit, and with a contrite heart, may we be accepted of thee, O Lord: and so let our sacrifice be offered in thy sight this day, that it may be pleasing unto thee, O Lord God.
Come, O thou Fount of holiness, almighty, eternal God: He blesses the Oblations, proceeding: and bless this sacrifice, made ready for thy holy name.


From the (American) Anglican Missal:

At the offering of bread
Receive, O Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God, this spotless Host, which I thine unworthy servant now offer unto thee, my God, the living and true, for all my countless sins, wickedness and neglect; and for all those here present; as also for all the faithful in Christ, both the quick and the dead; that it may set forward their salvation and mine, unto life everlasting. Amen.

At the blessing of water
O God, who didst lay the foundation of man's being in wonder and honour, and in greater wonder and honour didst renew the same: grant by the mystery of this water and wine, that he who was partaker of our humanity may make us joint-heirs of his very Godhead, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

At the offering of wine
We offer unto thee, O Lord, the Cup of Salvation; beseeching thy mercy that it may ascend in the sight of thy Divine Majesty as a sweet-smelling savour for our salvation, and that of the whole world. Amen.

Over the Holy Gifts
In a contrite heart and an humble spirit let us be accepted of thee, O Lord, and so let our sacrifice be in thy sight this day that it may be well pleasing unto thee, O Lord our God.
Come, O thou Sanctifier, Almighty and Everlasting God, and bless this sacrifice made ready for thy Holy Name.


From the Western Rite Orthodox Missal:

At the offering of bread
Accept, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this unspotted host which I, unworthy servant, offer unto thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offences and negligences, as also for those here present and for all faithful Christians, both living and dead, that it may avail me and them unto life everlasting. Amen.

At the blessing of water
O God, who in creating human nature hast wonderfully dignified it and still more wonderfully reformed it, grant that by the mystery of this water and wine, we may become partakers of his divine nature who deigned to partake of our human nature, thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God; throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

At the offering of wine
We offer unto thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching thy mercy, that it may ascend before thy divine majesty as a sweet odor for our salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen.

Over the Holy Gifts
Accept us, O Lord, in the spirit of humility and contrition of heart: and grant that the sacrifice we offer this day in thy sight may be pleasing to thee, O Lord God.
Come, O almighty and eternal God the Sanctifier, bless this sacrifice prepared for the glory of thy holy Name.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Usually a picture says a thousand words. This one says five: "Turn your head and cough." It will be interesting to see what happens this holiday with so many people headed to Grandma's house. Will these new enhanced screening techniques continue? Or will there be some push-back from the public? One US senator called them "love pats" while one former judge said, "What you are looking at in these pictures is a crime. It's called sexual assault." I'm just glad I'm not set to get on a plane anytime soon.

Someone who recently went through a pat-down described it to me yesterday as being "extremely thorough." I think he used the phrase about four times, saying it slower each time. He said that he had a cough drop in one pocket. When the agent noticed it, he backed up, rested his hand on his sidearm and said, "Please empty your pocket, sir." When it turned out to be a Hall's, he said, "Move along."

On the lighter side of things, this cartoon from New Orleans gets it just about right.

New Advent wreath

This week, I finished constructing a new Advent wreath for Trinity Church in Dublin, one of the mission congregations I serve. I am grateful to the women of the church who donated the funds. It came out to less than $300 for the supplies (candles, sockets, followers, wood, paint, garland, chains and hooks). If that sounds steep, just consider that the same thing from a church supply company would be $600 to $1,2000!

It was not too complicated. I basically cut a ring out of wood, painted it green, wrapped it in garland, and attached candle sockets and chains to it. A white candle will hang in the center at Christmas. This wreath is a little over 30" in diameter. It replaces a home Advent wreath (about 6" diameter) that was set on a little table in the church in previous years.

Lost in translation

At the opening Mass for the 2010 Fort Worth diocesan convention, the gospel text was John 21:15-19. It is a powerful passage, but one whose meaning is hidden in translation.

Jesus repeatedly asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Peter responds that he does love Jesus. In turn, Jesus calls him anew as a pastor to the church. Many people see a threefold opportunity for Peter to repent of his threefold denial of Jesus. "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." That is said to explain why Peter was grieved when asked the third time if he loves Jesus; he remembered his threefold denial. While that may be true, the original language gives us more detail, because there are three Greek words for "love" in the New Testament, and two different ones are used in this passage.

The two words for love used here are philo and agape. Philo means to love as a friend or like a brother (hence Philadelphia is the "city of brotherly love"). Agape means to love unconditionally, as God loves. Agape took on a renewed importance with the spread of Christianity. Here is the text with the two different words noted:

John 21:15-19 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me unconditionally [agape] more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you as a friend [philo]." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me unconditionally [agape]?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you as a friend [philo]." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me as a friend [philo]?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me as a friend [philo]?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you as a friend [philo]." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

Peter was grieved the third time because Jesus acknowledged that Peter was not yet willing to say that he loves Jesus unconditionally the way Jesus loves him. The context fits in with the dialogue here. Peter has reverted to the life of a fisherman, neglecting the sheep of his vocation. Jesus calls Peter to come learn unconditional love by living out his vocation.

Finally, Jesus implies that one day Peter will learn to love unconditionally, as he partakes intimately in that sign of God's unconditional love--the cross. By the time Peter is old, he will be crucified, having tended God's flock and learned to love the way God loves. It is no wonder that according to tradition, Peter said that he was not worthy to die in the same way as the Savior, and so he was crucified upside down.