Unity in God’s Good Time

Like many of us, I love wandering around in old graveyards, a natural place for quiet contemplation and thoughtful reflection. While on a lunchtime stroll in the graveyard around St Andrews cathedral, I was moved by the gravestone of the Victorian bishop Charles Wordsworth, whose zeal for Christian unity, a cause very close to my own heart, was expressed so well in his epitaph:

These words and sentiments from the late nineteenth century were engraved at a time when church attendance was very high all across Scotland, with thriving parishes of the Church of Scotland everywhere, with those of others, like Bishop Wordsworth’s own Scottish Episcopal Church, also ministering to large flocks.

Times have changed, and the Scottish Kirk, here in the East Neck of Fife as in many other places, is now contemplating the closure of a vast number of churches, including some beautiful historic buildings that have stood at the heart of their communities for centuries. The decline of active members, decrease of clergy vocations, and the cost of maintaining old buildings, all factor in. I have to admit at times this reality gives rise to a vast melancholy in my heart.

In PIttenweem, our neighbouring village, stands a centuries-old parish church which is due for closure in the near future, on the site of what had been a medieval abbey:

PIttenweem, Parish church.

Just across the kirkyard from it is the much smaller but very lovely Episcopal church, which even has one of its walls border on the same kirkyard:

St John Scottish Episcopal church.

The symbolism of these two churches, both of them on the grounds of the same medieval abbey, and sharing but separated by a kirkyard, seems to speak for itself, a symbol of the long-divided post-reformation church in Scotland. But now, in the changed circumstances of our own day, it also presents opportunity. The growing closeness of various Christian churches in Scotland, along with declining numbers, accelerates the need to overcome old divisions and find creative ways to share buildings; such sharing can allow pooling of resources, and perhaps even lead toward the breaking down of old barriers and prejudices and new fellowships. And, just perhaps, help people realise that “God’s good time” for unity may indeed be upon us….

Classic Anglican Devotion to Mary

When one thinks of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, what normally comes to mind are the varied practices within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. And of course this is justified, given the extraordinarily rich devotional, theological, liturgical and artistic expressions of this theme in all of these traditions over the centuries.

For those familiar with Anglican developments, moreover, particularly since the later stages of the nineteenth-century Oxford Movement, one also thinks of various Anglo-Catholic expressions of Marian devotion which are derived from and share with in various ways the traditions of the traditional communions mentioned above. These could, depending upon the dispositions and goals of various authors, emphasise Medieval English forms, Baroque Catholic aesthetics, or the doctrinal and, very significantly, iconographic traditions of the Christian East.

However, there is more to the Anglican tradition of devotion to Mary than the later Anglo-Catholics and their heirs. What may come as a surprise to many is the fact that among various 17th century Anglican writers, whether from the “Calvinist” or “Arminian” schools or some combination thereof, there is a rich and robust stream of Marian devotion. Usually it does not take the form of direct requests for her intercession, although this is not always the case. More often it is a joyful consideration of her virtues, and prayers to God that it is the height of Christian piety to imitate her. And also to reflect in wondrous reverence about her unique place in the life of her Son and the whole story of salvation as reflected in the Mysteries of her life described in Scripture. A short collection of various writings in this vein was put together by Canon John Barnes, a one time canon of St Asaph Cathedral, and entitled All generations shall call me Blessed: XV Devotions of Our Lady from Anglican writers of the XVII Century.

It is my intention from time to time in this blog to share excerpts from this lovely book, with selections illustrating the fact that devotion to Mary can be seen as integral to Anglican tradition, in this case as illustrated by various 17th century authors, whether liturgists, theologians or poets. This may I hope reinforce the wisdom found in all of the ancient churches down to today, that a robust Christology ultimately must be accompanied by a rich Mariology, adapted to and expressed in the theological and cultural sensitivities of particular times and traditions. Or as the 17th century Anglican layman Anthony Stafford put it:

“…till they are good MARIANS they shall never be good CHRISTIANS; whilst they derogate from the dignity of the MOTHER, they cannot truly honour the SON.”

17th century statue on the entrance to the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford.