Anglican Use

If there is to be any corporate future for catholic Anglicans, there will need to be a precedent. There are many misunderstandings about the Provision made by the Holy See for former Anglicans which began in the USA. So it might be good to get to know a little more about the Anglican Use from within. Their website is at http://www.anglicanuse.org/ . Besides this, here is the account of a celebration of the Anglican Use liturgy:- http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=33840id=33840id=33840

In case the very idea of using yet another version of the Book of Common Prayer horrifies you, you might be reassured by Fr Allan Hawkins . Although an Anglican to his fingertips, the liturgy which he celebrates is sometimesthat from the Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship and sometimes from the Roman Missal.

[see below: *]

The two photos in this blog are courtesy of Fr Allan at St Mary's Church in Arlington, Texas.

*Fr Allan has seen a draft of this blog, and hopes to send more photographs and to comment more fully later; meanwhile, this is what he says about his present liturgical use: sounds good to me!

We use Rite One (the traditional, Cranmerian style) at the early Mass on Sundays, and for the daily Office. For the other Sunday Masses, including the Solemn Mass, and for all weekday Masses, we use Rite Two. We use -- and cherish (whether in 16th century or modern English) the Collects of the Book of Divine Worship, which are those of the BCP. Notwithstanding the fact that we use Rite Two for the Solemn Mass, we do use traditional Anglican music -- which means that Gloria, Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus are most often in the traditional language of the BCP. We sing the credo and the Pater Noster in Latin -- in large part because we were encouraged by Cardinal Law, the former Ecclesiastical Delegate, to do so, in order to help our folk to feel more integrally part of the Latin Church. I celebrate all Masses ad orientem. We use Rite Two, wherever its rubrics allow, in a way that is consistent with the Novus Ordo -- and I imagine that we will use the new translation of the Roman Missal, when it arrives, in the same way.