Christ Church

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Bernard (1090-1153), Abbot of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, Poet (source):

O merciful redeemer,
who, by the life and preaching of thy servant Bernard,
didst rekindle the radiant light of thy Church:
grant that we in our generation
may be inflamed with the same spirit of discipline and love
and ever walk before thee as children of light;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:1-8
The Gospel: St. John 15:7-11

Artwork: Pietro Perugino, The Vision of St. Bernard, 1493. Oil on wood, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

The collect for today, the Ninth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
The Gospel: St. Luke 16:1-9

Artwork: Eugène Burnand, The Dishonest Steward, Illustration for “Les Paraboles”, published 1908.

The collect for today, the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD Most High, who didst endue with wonderful virtue and grace the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord: Grant that we, who now call her blessed, may be made very members of the heavenly family of him who was pleased to be called the first-born among many brethren; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 1:12-14
The Gospel: St. Luke 1:39-49

Artwork: Conrad van Soest, The Death of Mary, 1420. Tempera on panel, Marienalter, Marienkirche, Dortmund.

The collect for today, the commemoration of Jeremy Taylor (1613-67), Bishop of Down and Connor, Teacher of the Faith (source):

O holy and loving God,
who dwellest in the human heart
and makest us partakers of the divine nature
in Christ our great high priest:
grant that we,
having in remembrance thy servant Jeremy Taylor,
may put our trust in thy heavenly promises,
and follow a holy life in virtue and true godliness;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: Romans 14:7-9,10b-12
The Gospel: St. Matthew 24:42-47

Born and educated at Cambridge, Jeremy Taylor was ordained to the Anglican priesthood at the age of 20. His eloquent preaching brought him to the attention of Archbishop William Laud, who enabled him to be elected fellow of All Souls’ College, Oxford. Taylor also became chaplain to the archbishop and to King Charles I.

A chaplain to royalist troops during the Civil War, Taylor was captured and imprisoned three times by Cromwell’s men. After the Restoration in 1660, Charles II appointed him Bishop of Down and Connor, Northern Ireland.

Taylor was a prolific writer of theological and devotional works. Among his many books are The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651), generally known as Holy Living and Holy Dying.

A prayer of Jeremy Taylor:

O almighty and eternal God, there is no number of thy days or of thy mercies: thou hast sent us into this world to serve thee, and to live according to thy laws; but we by our sins have provoked thee to wrath, and we have planted thorns and sorrows round about our dwellings: and our life is but a span long, and yet very tedious, because of the calamities that enclose us on every side; the days of our pilgrimage are few and evil; we have frail and sickly bodies, violent and distempered passions, long designs and but a short stay, weak understandings and strong enemies, abused fancies, perverse wills, O dear God, look upon us in mercy and pity: let not our weaknesses make us to sin against thee, nor our fear cause us to betray our duty, nor our former follies provoke thy eternal anger, nor the calamities of this world vex us into tediousness of spirit and impatience: but let thy Holy Spirit lead us through this valley of misery with safety and peace, with holiness and religion, with spiritual comforts and joy in the Holy Ghost; that when we have served thee in our generations, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a holy conscience; in the communion of the catholic church; in the confidence of a certain faith; and the comforts of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; and perfect charity with thee our God, and all the world; that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, may be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: “Prayers at the Visitation of the Sick”, Holy Dying, cited in Give Us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayer, compiled by Christopher L. Webber (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 2004), p. 83.

Artwork: Frontispiece to Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, 1651, British Museum.

The collect for today, the commemoration of Hippolytus (d. c. 235), Doctor, Bishop in Rome, Martyr (source):

O God, who hast enlightened thy Church by the teaching of thy servant Hippolytus: Enrich us evermore, we beseech thee, with thy heavenly grace, and raise up faithful witnesses who by their life and doctrine will set forth the truth of thy salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Martyr, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-27

Artwork: St. Hippolytus, 6th-century mosaic, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

The collect for a Bishop or Archbishop, in commemoration of The Right Rev. Charles Inglis (1734-1816), first Church of England bishop of Nova Scotia, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who didst raise up thy faithful servant Charles Inglis to be a Bishop in thy Church and to feed thy flock: We beseech thee to send down upon all thy Bishops, the Pastors of thy Church, the abundant gift of thy Holy Spirit, that they, being endued with power from on high, and ever walking in the footsteps of thy holy Apostles, may minister before thee in thy household as true servants of Christ and stewards of thy divine mysteries; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-44

Born in Ireland, Charles Inglis became in 1787 the first Bishop of Nova Scotia—the first bishop consecrated for any English colony.

Charles Inglis travelled to North America in 1759 as a Church of England missionary to Dover, Delaware. In 1765 he went to Trinity Church, New York, as assistant to the rector, and was chosen rector in 1777. His ministry proved extremely controversial when he emerged as an outspoken Loyalist during the American Revolution. His life was threatened because he refused to omit prayers for the King and the Royal Family from the liturgy.

In 1783, Rev. Inglis and his family left the newly independent nation and returned to England, where he was consecrated the first Bishop of the Diocese of Nova Scotia, which at that time included Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Prince Edward’s Island, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. He immediately sailed to Halifax and began his work of furthering the progress and unity of the Church of England in Canada.

Bishop Inglis undertook an ambitious programme of church construction across Atlantic Canada; in 1789, he himself laid the cornerstone for the original Christ Church in Windsor. He also played a leading role in the establishment in Windsor of King’s Collegiate School (1788, now King’s-Edgehill School) and King’s College (1789, now University of King’s College, Halifax).

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The collect for today, the Eighth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth: We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 8:12-17
The Gospel: St. Matthew 7:15-21

Artwork: Joseph Chaumet, Sermon on the Mount (detail of Via Vita), 1894-1904. Sculpture, Musée eucharistique du Hiéron, Paray-le-Monial, France (via).

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Laurence (d. 258), Archdeacon of Rome, Martyr (source):

Almighty God,
who didst make Laurence
a loving servant of thy people
and a wise steward of the treasures of thy Church:
inflame us, by his example, to love as he loved
and to walk in the way that leads to everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10
The Gospel: St. John 12:24-26

Artwork: Bartholomeus Breenbergh, The Martyrdom of Saint Laurence, 1647. Oil on canvas, Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main.

The collect for today, the Feast of the Name of Jesus, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Apostle hast taught us that there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved, but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may ever glory in this Name, and strive to make thy salvation known unto all mankind; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 4:8-12
The Gospel: St. Matthew 1:20-23

Artwork: Christ, late 4th-century fresco, Catacombs of Commodilla, Rome.

The Collect for today, the Holy Day of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who on the holy mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thy well-beloved Son wonderfully transfigured: Mercifully grant unto us such a vision of his divine majesty, that we, being purified and strengthened by thy grace, may be transformed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 St. Peter 1:16-21
The Gospel: St. Matthew 17:1-9

Artwork: Giambettino Cignaroli, Transfiguration of Christ, 1741. Oil on canvas, Cathedrale Santa Maria Matricolare, Verona, Italy.