A weekly devotional blog by the Reverend Susan Montague Koyle. Drawing on liturgical notes and the commemorations of the saints, Rev. Susan offers teaching and inspiration for Anglicans across Algoma and beyond.
A Liturgical Note for You
Your Christian New Year’s Resolution
We are about to begin a new Christian year so… Happy New Year!!!
Sunday, November 30 brings with it the start of Advent — the beginning of our Christian year.
Each year, as we once again live through the dramatic events of our great Story of Salvation, we have an opportunity to immerse ourselves more deeply into these events, to grow in our understanding of God’s love, and to discover what this love looks like in our daily lives. The great liturgical seasons of our year — like Advent — are meant to transform us as we worship together.
This is why it matters so deeply to know and understand our liturgies:
why we do what we do — and just as importantly — what we should not be doing.
Good Liturgy = Good Theology = Healthy Churches
The liturgical greats of the past decades — Alexander Schmemann, Aidan Kavanagh, Rowan Williams — and newer voices like Simon Chan and Juan Oliver, all say the same thing:
Bad liturgy = bad theology = unhealthy churches.
The opposite is also true: Our Anglican liturgies have been carefully crafted to be transformational. They are dense with the theology that forms us as disciples of Christ.
Lex orandi, lex credendi — the law of what is prayed is the law of what is believed. In other words: we are what we pray.
Richard Giles once shared a wonderful insight from one of his mentors:
Well-done liturgy “converts more people than many sermons.”
(Here I Am: Reflections on the Ordained Life, p.25)
Liturgy shapes us. Our calendar and seasons place these liturgies within the unfolding drama of God’s saving acts, forming us to live the life of God’s kingdom.
As we begin Advent, I encourage you to make a Christian New Year’s Resolution:
Engage in a group activity — a Bible study, a book group, a learning circle — that will help you enter more deeply into our great Story and open yourself more fully to the transformational power of our liturgies.
Beginning Advent — The Advent Wreath
The Advent wreath was never meant to be a mini-rite within the Sunday liturgy.
In church, the wreath is a visual reminder of the season and something on which to focus as we pray.
The appropriate number of candles should be lit before the service begins — without prayers, readings, or hymns attached.
Why?
Because the Advent wreath was introduced to the Church to encourage family devotions at home in the evenings throughout the season — not as an “extra ritual” added to the Sunday liturgy.
Everything we need to hear about the Sundays of Advent is already found in:
- the collect for the day,
- the Prayers of the People,
- the Scripture readings,
- and the hymns and songs appointed.
For more, see p. A34:
https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/OccasionalCelebrations.pdf
For Your Devotions
Monday, November 24 (transferred from Sunday) – Clement of Rome (d. ~100 AD)
Clement is one of the earliest Christian writers outside the New Testament. His letter to the Corinthians (yes, those Corinthians again!) explains early church order and apostolic succession.
Tradition says he was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.
More:
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/clement-of-rome-11629592.html
In Christ,
Rev. Susan Montague Koyle