From at least the fourteenth century in the West and thus within the Ecclesia Anglicana the Feast of Corpus Christi was held on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. Usually there were processions through the streets headed by the Blessed Sacrament.
In the middle of the 16th century, the reformed Catholic Church of England ceased to keep the Feast because of doctrinal considerations; but the Roman Catholic Church has continued to keep it to this day and recently has given it the new name, Corpus et Sanguis Christi (Body & Blood of Christ). And, somewhat surprisingly, the Church of England has set in motion the revival of the Feast by making it a part of the Christian Year/Calendar in Common Worship 2000 (her new Directory of worship which is an alternative to The Book of Common Prayer of 1662) and providing a Collect and readings for it.
In origin Corpus Christi was inextricably associated with the doctrine of transubstantiation, the view that the whole bread is changed in the act of consecration in the Mass into the true Body of Christ. Thus, this Body is not only to be consumed as Bread from heaven but also adored as Christ present amongst his people. Because of their rejection of the medieval doctrine of the Mass, it was inevitable that the Reformers should also reject this Feast. Thus there is no sign of it within The Book of Common Prayer.
Common Worship (volume 1) informs us on page 407 that “the Thursday after Trinity Sunday may be observed as ‘The Day of Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi)’.” The liturgical colour is white, the Collect is addressed to “Lord Jesus Christ” and the Post Communion Prayer to “our God and Father”. The Epistle is 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 and the Gospel is John 6:51-58.
In a Reformed Catholic Church, one wonders why this celebration is necessary since if Holy Week is kept there is a suitable recognition of the institution of this Sacrament on Maundy Thursday. It is true that some Anglo-Catholics have long kept this day but this is because they are committed to the doctrine of transubstantiation, which they freely accept has never been the doctrine of the reformed Church of England.
Apparently the liturgists responsible for Common Worship thought it would be good to follow the modern Roman Catholic festival of “The Body and Blood of Christ” but to soften it by giving it a generalised and apparently harmless title. However, the Collect (though based on an original said to be by St Thomas Aquinas) is somewhat vague and may be taken as either validating the doctrine of transubstantiation or simply stating a very high view of this Sacrament in terms of the value of the consecrated elements.
“Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that in this wonderful sacrament you have given us the memorial of your passion: grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we may know within ourselves and show forth in our lives the fruits of your redemption;…”
The opening declaration is fine. The petition introduces the idea of reverencing the consecrated elements as “the sacred mysteries of your body and blood”. To reverence the elements is presumably to attribute to them divine content or quality or character. But on the basis of which C of E doctrine is this done?
This Collect is a revised form of the Latin Collect for the medieval festival of Corpus Christi. In 1929 the Scottish Episcopal Church provided a similar Collect as an additional Collect for Maundy Thursday and in 1979 the American Episcopal Church did the same, stating that it was especially suitable for use on any Thursday. More recently several Provinces of the Anglican Communion have included “Thanksgiving for Holy Communion” in their Calendars for the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
In origin the doctrine of transubstantiation led to the festival of Corpus Christi. Now it seems a love of festivals and a desire to imitate Rome by liturgists are causing the revival of the festival under a new name and without the doctrine of transubstantiation to support it. Thus it hangs in vague space to be blown by any wind that touches it.
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.)
No comments:
Post a Comment