CALLED TO BE CATHOLIC Ascensiontide Novena
reflecting on the Seven Sacraments

God, unto whom all hearts be open,
and unto whom all will speaketh,
and unto whom no privy thing is hid.
I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart
with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace,
that I may perfectly love Thee,
and worthily praise Thee.     Amen.

Once again we invite you to join us in prayer in the nine days between Ascension and Pentecost. Last year we heard how the Novena was prayed in prisons, on hillsides, by commuters on their way to work and in quiet moments in an extraordinary variety of places. We hope that this will be repeated this year as we bring you our electronic version which can be prayed on laptop, tablet, mobile phone or other devices.

This time we have chosen nine readings from among those offered as handouts for 24 Hours with the Lord earlier this year, for a chance to reflect again on words from English spiritual writers on the themes of Eucharist and mercy. Our sources range from translations of Old English to writers of the twentieth century: all part of that 'treasure to be shared' which Pope Benedict invited us to offer to the wider Church in Anglicanorum cœtibus. Each one is accompanied by a psalm, a collect by another writer from the English spiritual tradition and an illustration to lead the reader into prayer: from an Anglo-Saxon carving to an engraving by Eric Gill. As before, our hope is that we shall all be inspired by our great tradition of English spiritual writers and artists across the centuries.

 Mass For The Consecration Of A Church,
in the Anderson Pontifical,
Canterbury or Winchester, c 1000. British Library

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who by thy Passion and Resurrection
hast opened to all the doors of an infinite mercy:
Bring us, by thine own gifts of repentance and pardon,
into thy household, while yet it is day;
and to the rest that remaineth for the people of God,
henceforth and evermore. Amen.
                                          Eric Milner-White, 1884 - 1963

with John Macquarrie

A SHORT OFFICE

V/. O God, make speed to save us.
R/. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Amen.   Alleluia.

In ordinary usage, we seem to talk of presence in three main ways. First, there is temporal presence, or presence now.  This kind of presence is opposed both to the past, which is no longer, and to the future, which is not yet.  The presence of a pain, for instance, means that I am feeling it now, though perhaps I was not feeling it yesterday and will not be feeling it tomorrow. Next, there is spatial or local presence. This is presence here, as opposed to distance.  That which is locally or spatially present is near me or beside me. The presence of butterflies in my garden means that they are congregated in this spot. Thirdly, there is personal presence. When one person is present to another, there is more than their congruity in space. Latin has a special preposition to express the notion of personal presence: coram. To be coram vobis is to be in your presence;  to be coram Deo is to be in the presence of God… Christ is present par excellence in the consecrated bread and wine.   This is the centre of Eucharistic presence…  But what about the reservation of the sacrament in churches, as a focus of devotion, a centre of real presence?  I would venture to say that these devotions have a special place at the present time, namely, that they teach us that sometimes there is the need for passivity before God. Here one has to stand against the trend of the times and not conform to the fashion. That fashion is activism, but there are occasions when our action has to be suspended before Christ. Activists are in constant danger of becoming too intense, too politicised, too polarised, too self-righteous. I hope it does not sound frivolous to say:  ‘Relax a little in the presence of Christ!’

John Macquarrie (1919 - 2007) Paths in Spirituality
Anglican theologian and philosopher

The Ascension, in a Book of Offices and Prayers,
decorated in England 1405. British Library

Silent Reflection

PSALM
Note: The number according to Coverdale's psalter is given first, with the Breviary numbering in (brackets).

Psalm 127 (126)

Except the Lord build the house, * their labour is but lost that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city, * the watchman waketh but in vain.
It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness; * for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Lo, children, and the fruit of the womb, * are an heritage and gift that cometh of the LORD.
Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant, * even so are the young children.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; * they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:* and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:* world without end. Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER
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 them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

COLLECT
O Blessed Jesu Christ,
who didst bid all who carry heavy burdens to come to thee,
refresh us with thy presence and thy power.
Quiet our understandings and give ease to our hearts,
by bringing us close to things infinite and eternal.
Open to us the mind of God, that in his light we may see light.
And crown thy choice of us to be thy servants,
by making us springs of strength and joy to all whom we serve.
Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.    Amen.

                                                                           Evelyn Underhill (1875 – 1941)
                                                                           English retreat conductor and writer on Christian mysticism
                                                                           and spiritual practice in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen
or
May the Lord bless us, may he keep us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

with Dom Gregory Dix OSB

A SHORT OFFICE

V/. O God, make speed to save us.
R/. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Amen.   Alleluia.

Was ever another command so obeyed?   For century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country and among every race on earth, this action has been done, in every conceivable human circumstance, for every conceivable human need from infancy and before it to extreme old age and after it, from the pinnacle of earthly greatness to the refuge of fugitives in the caves and dens of the earth.   Men have found no better thing than this to do for kings at their crowning and for criminals going to the scaffold; for armies in triumph or for a bride and bridegroom in a little country church; for the proclamation of a dogma or for a good crop of wheat; for the wisdom of the Parliament of a mighty nation or for a sick old woman afraid to die; for a schoolboy sitting an examination or for Columbus setting out to discover America; for the famine of whole provinces or for the soul of a dead lover; in thankfulness because my father did not die of pneumonia; for a village headman much tempted to return to fetich because the yams had failed; because the Turk was at the gates of Vienna; for the repentance of Margaret; for the settlement of a strike; for a son for a barren woman; for Captain so-and-so wounded and prisoner of war; while the lions roared in the nearby amphitheatre; on the beach at Dunkirk; while the hiss of scythes in the thick June grass came faintly through the windows of the church; tremulously, by an old monk on the fiftieth anniversary of his vows; furtively, by an exiled bishop who had hewn timber all day in a prison camp near Murmansk; gorgeously, for the canonisation of S. Joan of Arc  -  one could fill many pages with the reasons why men have done this, and not tell a hundredth part of them.  And best of all, week by week and month by month, on a hundred thousand successive Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly, across all the parishes of Christendom, the pastors have done this just to make the plebs sancta Dei—the holy common people of God.

Dom Gregory Dix (1901 - 1952) The Shape of the Liturgy
Anglican Benedictine monk and liturgical scholar

Chalice, English c.1500.
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Silent Reflection

PSALM
Note: The number according to Coverdale's psalter is given first, with the Breviary numbering in (brackets).

Psalm 43 (42)

Give sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people; * O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.
For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? * and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?
O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, * and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling;
And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; * and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O God, my God.
Why art thou so heavy, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me?
O put thy trust in God; * for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:* and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:* world without end. Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER
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 them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Collect
Lord, this is thy feast,
prepared by thy longing,
spread at thy command,
attended at thine invitation,
blessed by thine own word,
distributed by thine own hand,
the undying memorial of thy sacrifice upon the cross,
the full gift of thine everlasting love,
and its perpetuation till the end of time.
Lord, this is the Bread of heaven, Bread of life,
that, whoso eateth, shall never hunger more.
And this, the Cup of pardon, healing, gladness, strength,
that, whoso drinketh, thirsteth not again.
So may we come, O Lord, to thy table.
Lord Jesu, come to us.

Eric Milner-White (1884 – 1963)
Liturgiologist and writer of prayers.
During his time as Dean of King's College, Cambridge, he introduced the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
 He was Dean of York from 1941 until his death.

May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen
or
May the Lord bless us, may he keep us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

with Mother Julian of Norwich

A SHORT OFFICE

V/. O God, make speed to save us.
R/. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Amen.   Alleluia.

Then said our good Lord Jesus Christ: Art thou well pleased that I suffered for thee?   I said: Yea, good Lord, I thank Thee; Yea, good Lord, blessed mayst Thou be.   Then said Jesus, our kind Lord: If thou art pleased, I am pleased: it is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfying to me that ever suffered I Passion for thee; and if I might suffer more, I would suffer more . . .

For I saw full surely that where our Lord appeareth, peace is taken and wrath hath no place.   For I saw no manner of wrath in God, neither for short time nor for long; for in sooth, as to my sight, if God might be wroth for an instant, we should never have life nor place nor being.   For as verily as we have our being of the endless Might of God and of the endless Wisdom and of the endless Goodness, so verily we have our keeping in the endless Might of God, in the endless Wisdom, and in the endless Goodness.   For though we feel in ourselves frail wretches, debates and strifes, yet are we all-mannerful enclosed in the mildness of God and in His meekness, in His benignity and in His graciousness.   For I saw full surely that all our endless friendship, our place, our life and our being, is in God . . .

Wouldst thou learn thy Lord’s meaning in this thing?  Learn it well: Love was His meaning.   Who shewed it thee?   Love.   What shewed He thee?   Love.   Wherefore shewed it He?   For Love.   Hold thee therein and thou shalt learn and know more in the same.   But thou shalt never know nor learn therein other thing without end.   Thus was I learned that Love was our Lord’s meaning.

Julian of Norwich (c. 1342 - c.1416) Revelations of Divine Love
English anchoress and mystic.
Her Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395,
is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman

Lily Crucifix window, 15th century,
Long Melford, Suffolk

Silent Reflection

PSALM
Note: The number according to Coverdale's psalter is given first, with the Breviary numbering in (brackets).

Psalm 103 (102)

Praise the Lord, O my soul; * and all that is within me, praise his holy Name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, * and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thy sin, * and healeth all thine infirmities;
Who saveth thy life from destruction, * and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, * making thee young and lusty as an eagle.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment * for all them that are oppressed with wrong.
He showed his ways unto Moses, * his works unto the children of Israel.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, * longsuffering, and of great goodness.
He will not alway be chiding; * neither keepeth he his anger for ever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; * nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.
For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth; * so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him.
Look how wide also the east is from the west; * so far hath he set our sins from us.
Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children; * even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him.
For he knoweth whereof we are made; * he remembereth that we are but dust.
The days of man are but as grass; * for he flourisheth as a flower of the field.
For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone; * and the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the merciful goodness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him; * and his righteousness upon children's children;
Even upon such as keep his covenant, * and think upon his commandments to do them.
The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven, * and his kingdom ruleth over all.
O praise the Lord, ye angels of his, ye that excel in strength; * ye that fulfil his commandment, and hearken unto the voice of his word.
O praise the Lord, all ye his hosts; * ye servants of his that do his pleasure.
O speak good of the Lord, all ye works of his, in all places of his dominion: * praise thou the Lord, O my soul.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:* and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:* world without end. Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER
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 them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Collect
O God, fountain of love,
pour thy love into our souls,
that we may love those whom thou lovest with the love thou givest us,
and think and speak of them tenderly, meekly, lovingly;
and so loving our brethren and sisters for thy sake, may grow in thy love,
and dwelling in love may dwell in thee;
for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800 – 1882)
English churchman, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew
at Christ Church, Oxford, and one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.

May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen
or
May the Lord bless us, may he keep us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

with George Herbert 

A SHORT OFFICE

V/. O God, make speed to save us.
R/. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.   Amen.   Alleluia.

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
                        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
                        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
                        If I lacked any thing.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
                        Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
                        I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
                        Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
                        Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
                        My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
                        So I did sit and eat.

George Herbert (1593–1633) Love III
Welsh-born English metaphysical poet, orator and Anglican priest

Image: Christ the Good Shepherd, Eric Gill (1882 – 1940)
English sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.

Silent Reflection

PSALM
Note: The number according to Coverdale's psalter is given first, with the Breviary numbering in (brackets).

Psalm 23 (22)

The Lord is my shepherd; * therefore can I lack nothing.
He shall feed me in a green pasture, * and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
He shall convert my soul, * and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; * for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou shalt prepare a table before me in the presence of them that trouble me; * thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
Surely thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; * and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:* and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:* world without end. Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER
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 them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Collect
O Lord Jesus Christ,
look upon us with those eyes of yours,
the eyes with which you looked upon Peter in the hall of judgement,
that with Peter we may repent, and by your great love be forgiven and restored;
for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

Lancelot Andrewes (1555 – 1626)
A noted linguist and preacher he was by 1601 Dean of Westminster.
 During the reign of King James I, he was successively Bishop of Chichester, Ely
and Winchester, and oversaw the compiling of the Authorised Version of the Bible.

May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen
or
May the Lord bless us, may he keep us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

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