Good Words for the Anglican Ordinariate Mass
08/25/2015
I can't remember how I happened across this piece, but it describes very well what I consider most important and most appealing about the Ordinariate Mass, and also what I had hoped might come of it: that it would have broad appeal outside the Ordinariate, and perhaps in time be part of the liturgical renewal that...well, I don't want to beat that horse, but suffice to say it fell short of its promise.
Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be happening. The writer thinks the Ordinariate liturgy could "draw thousands of Anglicans to convert to Catholicism, and provide a haven for Catholics desiring more traditional liturgy."
That sounds very plausible, but it doesn't look that way. The Ordinariate is not exactly thriving, though it is surviving. Conversions from Anglicanism are few; as someone said, "That pond seems to be fished out." And the number of Catholics who are interested doesn't seem to be very great. I think the Ordinariate came thirty years too late. If, instead of the very limited Pastoral Provision of 1980, there had been something like the Ordinariate, it might have been more successful.
My own little group is barely surviving. That's partly due to external circumstances, but in any case we are actually fewer now than we were in the first year. But the article I linked to makes me want to carry on. As long as it's alive, there is the possibility that it will bear more fruit in time.
I feel like it came too late for me. I really hoped something like the Ordinariate would happen in the mid 1980a and it looked like it might. No such luck. I will look and see if there is one in Manhattan.
Posted by: Grumpy in Manhatten | 08/26/2015 at 06:42 AM
Is the Mass at St Joan of Arc always Anglican Ordinariate, Mac?
Posted by: El Gaucho | 08/26/2015 at 02:00 PM
Read Judges 7.
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 08/26/2015 at 02:16 PM
Grumpy. Are you on sabbatical? My son, Nate, lives in Queens and works in Manhattan.I think he goes to Holy Innocents.
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 08/26/2015 at 02:20 PM
I love that scripture, Robert. It's so encouraging when your side seems outnumbered--which is most of the time. ;-)
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 08/26/2015 at 03:20 PM
Yes, I'm in Manhatten. I looked up Anglican Ordinariate on the web and I cannot see any of their Masses in NYC. I have only been here one Sunday so far and went with one of the interns to Saint Nicholas Ferrar. Yes I am on sabbatical for one year.
Posted by: grumpy in Manhattan | 08/26/2015 at 03:49 PM
While looking around for the text of the Anglican Ordinariate liturgy, I came upon this article asking why the Catholic Church was cannibalising (sic) the Book of Common Prayer. I started thinking about this and wondering if there is any liturgy in any Catholic rite that wasn't written by Catholics. This isn't to say I'm criticizing the liturgy; I'm just curious.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 08/27/2015 at 06:24 AM
I think that you are right to stick with it, Maclin. Who knows what may happen.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 08/27/2015 at 06:25 AM
Interesting article. When the use of a liturgy incorporating a lot of the BCP first appeared as a real possibility, I felt a bit of misgiving along the lines of "poaching." Then I thought about that for a minute, and I laughed.
Posted by: Mac | 08/27/2015 at 07:38 AM
Well, Cranmer's source had to be Catholic. ;-)
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 08/27/2015 at 08:03 AM
Exactly.
To say nothing of hundreds (thousands?) of church buildings, etc.
Posted by: Mac | 08/27/2015 at 08:50 AM
I would say to the Church of England "Give us back our buildings" but then we'd have to pay for their upkeep. :)
Posted by: Louise | 08/27/2015 at 12:37 PM
~~I would say to the Church of England "Give us back our buildings"~~
I think we Orthodox probably have a better chance of getting the Hagia Sophia back from the Muslims, unfortunately!
Posted by: Rob G | 08/29/2015 at 10:44 AM
I would agree, but I read somewhere that the CofE may just die out.
Posted by: Louise | 08/29/2015 at 11:52 AM
I hear it's not unusual for churches to be sold and turned into bars and condos and whatnot. Possibly a harbinger of the future of Christianity in general in the West.
Posted by: Mac | 08/29/2015 at 01:13 PM
Yes, Maclin. There was rather a lot of this kind of thing going on in Adelaide, "The City of churches" (in South Australia). One I remember was turned into a boutique.
Posted by: Louise | 08/29/2015 at 05:32 PM
I sit in my car at a stoplight next to this old Baptist church a few times every week. It was most recently a nightclub named "the monkey bar". It's closed now and the building is empty, but the signs remain.
Never fails to depress me.
Posted by: Marianne | 08/30/2015 at 06:40 PM
Sorry -- I thought that link would take you directly to a photo. Instead you'll need to scroll down a bit on the page to find it.
Posted by: Marianne | 08/30/2015 at 06:43 PM
We're probably going to be seeing more of that. A fair amount has already happened just as a result of people moving out of cities etc.
Posted by: Mac | 08/30/2015 at 11:10 PM