Saturday, November 7, 2009

Ut unum sint

Unity must be our great desire, as Our Lord Himself taught us by His prayer for all who would follow Him. I was reminded of this by Bp Robarts of the T.A.C., one of Hepworth's auxiliaries and their local minister here in Launceston, who very kindly had me around for afternoon tea to-day.

It was enlightening to hear from him of the dastardly goings-on among Anglican liberals here and elsewhere in their troubled Communion over past decades, evil deeds that have spread the canker of liberal tyranny and driven out those who wish to hold to the Scriptures and the Fathers; and also, I found out about the Traditional Anglican Communion's plans for duly considering and then answering the Holy Father's call to unity: to be truly united, without just being absorbed. The Ordinariates will facilitate this.

As others have said (no secret, this), it seems likely that in liturgical terms there will be both a Novus Ordo option for the few Forward In Faith types who will come over (for the English Anglo-Catholics strangely prefer the modern Roman Rite), and something based on the English Missal for the rest (rather than the Book of Divine Worship, which now looks rather provisional and dated), such as he and his people.

In parting, he gave me an interesting book to read, that I might learn more of the ethos of Anglicanism: Arthur Middleton's Restoring the Anglican Mind (Leominster: Gracewing, 2008).

[UPDATE: I've skimmed through this most disappointing little work, which calls, rather pathetically, for restoring Anglicanism, through adherence to the Scriptures, the Fathers, the BCP, the Articles and all the rest, to be a non-Papal Western Orthodoxy! Yeah, that's really going to happen once all the liberals read Middleton... More likely the few who believe such things will be forced out and fade away, like the Non-jurors of old. The only hope for continuing Anglicans is to return to the Rock whence they were hewn.]

I pray that the day may soon dawn when he and the people whom he guides in the T.A.C. Parish of the Annunciation here in Launceston, and throughout the Southern Apostolic District of Australia, together with many other continuing Anglicans, will come into full communion with the Vicar of Christ; and that, in Holy Church united, I may receive the Eucharist at his hands: God's will be done.

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