HIGH MASS AT ALL SAINTS'

FORWARD FROM THE RECTOR

Throughout the Episcopal Church there are parishes described as Anglocatholic. They emphasize the catholic tradition, and usually celebrate the Eucharist in a traditional way, according to Rite 1 of the Prayer Book. This goes against the trend in the Episcopal Church, as most parishes use the modern Rite 2. The changes in liturgy have been common amongst all the Western churches in the last 30 years--but unlike the others, the Episcopal Church makes provision for a more traditional liturgy to be celebrated.

Visitors should not make the mistake of thinking that this is just about old language and ceremonial. There is a theological basis to the words and actions of the Eucharist, and Anglocatholic churches proclaim this by their worship. The church has always had this axiom: lex orandi, lex credendi. What we pray we believe. So the words, rituals, symbols and actions reflect the Faith we believe.

Pope Benedict said: "The Church stands and falls with the Liturgy. When the adoration of the divine Trinity declines, when the Faith no longer appears in its fullness in the Liturgy of the Church, when man's words, his thoughts, his intentions are suffocating him, then faith will have lost the place where it is expressed and where it dwells. For that reason, the true celebration of the sacred liturgy is the center of any renewal of the Church whatever."

Fr Tony Noble
All Saints' Day 2005