THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT December 2018— February 2019

BISHOP ROGER WRITES Once again, the Confraternity held its Council-General this year on 8th October at the offices of CCLA Investment Management in Queen Victoria Street in London following a Mass at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe just along the road. CBS has the bulk of its funds invested with CCLA and we are fortunate that it is pleased to offer us hospitality on what is really our AGM. Our thanks go to the staff there for their warm welcome. Regrettably, the Council-General was poorly supported this year and so, I believe, it falls to me during the remaining four years of my time as Superior-General to re-awaken the interest of our District Superiors and Lay Representatives in attending. I am aware, of course, that there are vacancies in some of our Districts and so my first task is to do what I can to address this.

At the Council-General we needed to appoint a new Trustee as Fr Luke Irvine-Capel had come to the end of his tenure and had asked not to be re-appointed because he felt unable to give the trusteeship the commitment and time it demands. Our thanks were expressed to him for his support and interest at the meeting and which I wish to reiterate here on behalf of the Trustees. The Council-General appointed as a new Trustee Fr Peter Edwards. Fr Peter has been the Parish of the parishes of St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist, Bathwick, Bath since 2013. He trained for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House before serving his title at Ss Peter & Paul, Uppingham, followed by five years as Team Vicar in the Bridport Team Ministry. He originates from South London and St Peter’s, Streatham was his home parish. It is heartening to know that he remembers the CBS Ward being active there, as well as at Uppingham during his curacy. The Bathwick Ward was re-founded in September 2016 under the patronage of St Michael & All Angels, the patronage of the former ward which originally met at Holy Trinity, Queen Square, Bath. This Ward now meets every six

to eight weeks for Evensong & Benediction or for a devotional Mass of the Blessed Sacrament. Before ordination Fr Peter lived in Wantage and worked as a Human Resources consultant for two of the large accountancy firms in central London. He is married to Clare and has three sons – two of whom are at university and the youngest currently studying for A levels. I know that Fr Peter is looking forward to making a positive contribution to the work of the Confraternity over these next three years, and so it is encouraging to welcome him as a new Trustee, and I commend him to your prayers, as well as the on-going work and mission of the CBS officers in the advancement of the catholic faith in the Anglican tra- dition and, particularly, promoting the honour due to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

This is, of course, the work and mission of all members of the CBS. And so it is good to share with you in this respect a particular catholic catechetical project upon which the Trustees have recently embarked in collaboration with SPCK, about which the Council-General heard at its recent meeting. As well as being the leading publisher of Christian books in the UK, SPCK is the oldest Anglican mission organization. And CBS is the oldest Anglican devotional society for both and laity. This, therefore, is likely to be a fruitful partnership as we work to put together an exciting new initiative: an innovative catechetical resource, based around the structure of the celebration of the Mass, and designed specifically for Anglo-Catholic parishes, especially those of The Society. It is intended that this resource will be well financed by both parties (CBS has already committed a bequest of some £50,000) thus enabling us to deliver high-quality, beautifully designed, multimedia course materials. We hope priests in particular will find the course a powerful tool for a variety of needs such as preparation for confirmation and as a Lent or other study course. Fr Matthew Cashmore, one of SPCK’s Trustees, is heading the Editorial Board which is already at work in designing and, eventually, commissioning material. We very much hope that this will be available from Lent 2020. It is right that I conclude this piece of news with offering our thanks both to Fr Matthew and to Sam Richardson, the CEO of SPCK, both of whom have shown great enthusiasm for this idea which the Trustees have been mulling over for the last year or two. And we must not forget to signal our thanks to Bishop Philip North, a member of CBS, who first interested Sam in what the Trustees had in mind. So, please, I encourage you all to add this project to your prayers as we seek to deepen CBS engagement in another of our objects, the promotion of catholic theological teaching, learning and development.

HOLY TRINITY AND ST CADOC WARD (SOUTH WALES)

St Mary’s Church, Barry, was the venue for our recent Ward meeting, held on 8th September, the Feast of the Birthday of Our Lady. CBS members were joined by local parishioners keeping their patronal festival on this day. A Concelebrated Mass at noon was followed by a buffet lunch, generously prepared for us by the people of the parish. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament followed at 2.00pm

The principal celebrant, Father Ben Andrews, Team Rector of Barry, was joined by five other concelebrants. The homily was given by Canon Steven Kirk, Vicar of Ystrad Mynach and Ward Superior.

We are a new Ward of the Confraternity, formed just over three years ago. We come from parishes in a large area, from Mid Wales and along the South Wales valleys to the coast. Ward meetings take place every two months and are held in different parishes from within the Ward. We have now got to know one another and we look forward to meeting. Our fellowship supports those from parishes without a Catholic tradition.

The photos show the altar of Our Lady and the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Saint Mary’s Barry.

INTERCESSIONS

DECEMBER JANUARY 1. The Ward of All Saints & S Saviour, 1. Mary, Mother of God – Pilgrims to Weston-super Mare Marian Shrines 2. Advent 1 – Your liberation is near 2. The Ward of S Cedd & The Saints of 3. S Gregory, & S Augustine, Bristol Ward Essex, Colchester 4. The Ward of The Holy Family, Swindon 3. The Ward of The Sacred Passion, Ilford 5. The Ward of S Thomas, Birmingham 4. Christ the King, Leigh-on-Sea Ward 6. The Holy Family, Leamington Spa Ward 5. The Ward of The Epiphany, Leytonstone 7. The Ward of S Faith, Bradford 6. Epiphany of the Lord – 8. Immaculate Conception – We saw his star as it rose Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham 7. S Anthony, Woodford Green Ward 9. Advent 2 The kingdom is close at hand 8. The Sacred Heart, Hammerfield Ward 10. The Ward of S Wilfrid, Leeds. 9. The Ward of Our Lady, Letchworth 11. The Ward of S Herbert, Carlisle 10. The Ward of Christ in Glory, Aldwick 12. The Precious Blood, Durham Ward 11. Corpus & Sanguis Christi, Bexhill Ward 13. The Ward of S Benedict, Blyth 12. Baptism of the Lord – 14. The Ward of Our Lady, Deal He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit 15. The Annunciation, Chislehurst Ward 13. The Annunciation, Brighton Ward 16. Advent 3 – He will baptize you with 14. The Precious Blood, Horsham Ward the Holy Spirit 15. The Ward of S Anne, Hove 17. The Transfiguration Ward Sevenoaks 16. SS Mary & Nicholas, Lancing College Ward 18. S. Michel du Valle, Guernsey 17. The Ward of Our Lady of Littlehampton 19. The Ward of Christ the King & Stella 18. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Maris, Blackpool begins For unity within the 20. The Protomartyr Ward Blackpool Body of Christ 21. The Ward of S. Margaret, Montreal 19. The Ward of Bl Mary McKillop & 22. The Ward of Ss Werberg & Winifred, S Benedict, Melbourne Wirral & N Wales 20. 2nd Sunday of the Year / Epiphany 2 – 23. The Ward of S Agnes, Liverpool Do whatever he tells you 24. The Ward of The Precious Blood, 21. The Ward of S Peter, Streatham Southport 22. The Ward of The Sacred Heart, Bude 25. Advent 4 – The child leapt in her 23. S Mary Star of the Sea, Penzance Ward womb 24. The Ward of S Martin, Roath 26. The Ward of The Precious Blood, 25. Conversion of St Paul – Go into all the Swinton & Pendlebury world and proclaim the Gospel 27. The Nativity of our Lord – Glory to God 26. The Corpus Christi Ward, Portsmouth in the highest! 27. 3rd Sunday of the Year/Epiphany 3 26. St Stephen – St Stephen’s House The spirit of the Lord has been 27. St John the Evangelist – Biblical scholars given to me 28. Holy Innocents – Diocesan Safeguard- 28. The Stigmata, Bournemouth ing Officers 29. The Ward of S Brigid, Sweden 29. St Thomas Becket – Justin, Archbishop 30. Blessed Charles Stuart – of Canterbury The Society of Charles, King and Martyr 30. The Holy Family / 1st Sunday of Christ- 31. The Ward of S Michael & All Angels, mas – They found him in the Temple Bathwick 31. The Ward of The Holy Angels, Brent- wood

INTERCESSIONS R.I.P. FEBRUARY We commend to God the souls of all Departed Associates of the 1. S Edmund, Downham Market, Ward 2. The Presentation of the Lord – Confraternity especially the following My eyes have seen the salvation who have died recently: 3. 4th Sunday of the Year /5th before Lent 4. Trustees’ Meeting – CBS Trustees Priest Associate 5. The Ward of S Mary, Great Yarmouth Father Colin Gray 6. The Ward of The Little Flower, Longton 7. The Ward of Our Lady, Walsingham Lay Associate 8. The Ward of S Gabriel, Worthing Pauline O’Grady 9. The American CBS 10. 5th Sunday of the Year / 4th before Lent Please also pray for our new members He won the approval of all 11. Our Lady of Lourdes – For those who are sick or in special need New Priest Associates 12. The Ward of Ss Peter & Paul, Uppingham Father Nigel Palmer 13. The Ward of S Clement, Exeter Father Edward Backhouse 14. The Ward of S Michael, Paignton 15. Ss Cyril and Methodius – Father Adam Edwards CBS members in Europe Father David Addington 16. The Ward of S Laurence, Long Eaton Father Ian McCormack 17. 6th Sunday of the Year / 3rd before Lent Father Nick Debney Christ is the first fruits 18. The Ward of The Holy Cross, Nottingham 19 The Ward of S Martin, Salisbury New Lay Associates 20 The Ward of S Peter, Plymouth Christopher Henson 21. The Ward of S Margaret-Mary Alacoque, Franco Basso Cheltenham Paul Corrigan 22. Chair of St Peter – Relations with the Holy See Donald Lewin 23. The Ward of Our Lady & S Andrew, Susan Lewin Newcastle-u-Tyne Brenda Robinson 24. 7th Sunday of the Year / 2nd before Lent The amount you measure out will be given back In your kindness please also pray for 25. The Ward of Ss Mary & Dominic, Father Anthony Hyde Wednesbury who is seriously ill 26. The Ward of The Holy Grail, Wolverhampton 27. The Ward of S Magnus, City of London Would you like to contribute to the 28. The Ward The Sacred Heart with Quarterly passing on S Andrew, E Finchley your news to others, sharing events? Then please forward any contributions to [email protected] Material for the next edition must be received by 4th February 2019 Registered Charity No 1082897

IN BROKEN BREAD AND WINE OUTPOURED

In broken bread and wine outpoured the meaning of my life is given; the sacrifice of love for me, God’s Living Bread come down from heaven.

The CBS recently sponsored a conference in Walsingham for clergy of The Society in the . I was honoured to be invited to be guest speaker at this conference and delivered two lectures on the nature of Catholic identity in the in the twenty-first century, focussing on the themes of liturgy and sacramental life, moral theology, Church and State and church unity. I am hoping that a summary of these will be published in the Church Times in the early part of this year, with a link to the full text of the lectures.

It has become easy for Catholics in the Church of England to see ourselves as occupying a small corner of territory, regarded by many in our church as slightly eccentric. I believe we need to say more assertively that this is not the case: Catholic Christianity is the mainstream of the great tradition that comes down to us from the Scriptures and the Church Fathers. It is alternative versions of Christianity that are in fact eccentric. In that spirit, I offer below some intentionally unoriginal thoughts on the centrality of the Eucharist.

Anglo-Catholics have always wanted to emphasise the importance of worship that is Christ-centred, sincere, whole-hearted, and in line with the Church’s deepest traditions. Such worship is given colour and life by appropriate vesture and ceremonial, and given depth by music and silence. We have wanted to say that worship is offered not primarily to entertain, inform or even necessarily to inspire the worshipper, but to give glory to God and to reflect his life as it touch- es our own. It is not, as is sometimes said,‘ the Church’s shop window’: it is the Church, in its fullest and deepest reality.

Because of the fundamental importance of worship, emphasis on the centrality of the Christian liturgy is not just an eccentric add-on for those who like this sort of thing. The worshipping life of the early Christian communities was both filled with the Holy Spirit that had been poured out at Pentecost, but it was also struc- tured: modelled both on the liturgy of the Jewish synagogue and, as such diverse writers as Pope Benedict XVI and Methodist biblical scholar Margaret Barker have recently reminded us, on that of the temple in Jerusalem – just as in John’s Gospel Jesus identifies the temple with his body the Church (cf. Jn 2.21). As such, it was not just an opportunity for teaching and reflection on the word– important though this has always been – but the place of a direct encounter with the living God: in the liturgy, as in the temple, ‘we see who God is and what he is like. Heaven is no longer locked up. God has stepped out of his hidden- ness.’ The surviving liturgical texts remind us that the worship of the earliest Christians did not, as is often assumed, consist of services of the word with the occasional shared meal in an informal setting. Rather, reflecting the worship of the temple, close attention was given from the very beginning to ritual, the or- der of ministers, appropriate vesture, set prayers, and sacred space. Similarly, the fitting celebration of the liturgy was not a later- add on, but from the earliest days of the Church intertwined with Scripture, the Rule of Faith (what later be- came the Creeds), and the Apostolic Ministry as integral parts of a single Chris- tian reality.

The need for a renewed emphasis on the importance of the liturgy is no- where more apparent than in the celebration of the Eucharist,‘ the sacra- ment which from the beginning Christians regarded as the expression of the whole fullness of their faith.’ The witness of the New Testament and of the early Church is very clear: the Eucharist is not simply an option for those who enjoy ‘inherited’ as opposed to ‘contemporary’ forms of worship – a distinction that in any case we question. Rather, the Eucharist is fundamen- tal to the life of the Church, indeed it could almost be said that the Eucha- rist is the life of the Church: ‘in the Eucharist the Church is most compactly herself.’ This is the service that Jesus uniquely gave us, and which, in faithful continuity with our Christian origins, the vast majority of Christians through history have celebrated as their central act of worship every Sunday: ‘the Lord’s own service on the Lord’s own day.’ It is the plain teaching of Scrip- ture that in the Eucharist we do not just talk or sing about Jesus, but en- counter him directly, as the disciples in Emmaus did when they recognised the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread (Lk 24.35); that the Eucharist uniquely makes present in the Church not only Jesus’s Last Supper, but his offering of himself on the cross until he comes again (1 Cor 11.26); and that this service is a unique foretaste of life we hope one day to enjoy in the Kingdom of God (Mt 26.29).

The Ven Dr Edward Dowler is in the Diocese of Chichester. He was formerly a parish priest in north London and, prior to that, Vice-Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford.

BISHOP ROGER JUPP INSTALLS MEMBERS AT THE NEW WARD OF OUR LADY OF THE ISLE, WILMCOTE