We have added the Prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to our Current Schedule and Worship Aids page. You can also download it by clicking here.
A Prayer in Time of Great Sickness and Mortality
April 3, 2020 by
O MOST mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This prayer is taken from the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. According to Massey Shepherd’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book (Oxford, 1944), p. 45, “This prayer is the substitute of the 1928 Revision Commission for the one on this subject in the 1789 Book. The latter form was in its turn a replacement of a prayer introduced at the end of the Litany in the 1552 Book as a consequence of the dread experience in England in 1551 of the ‘Sweating Sickness’ and of dearth. The final clause of the prayer is taken from Psalm xc, 12.”
When Testimony Is Forbidden – A review of Hitchcock’s “I Confess” by Judge Bob McGahey
September 20, 2016 by
We invite you to read the review of Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess written by our very own Judge Bob McGahey for his Judicial District newsletter. The movie plays on the tensions that can arise between law and faith.
When Testimony Is Forbidden
Colorado Rule of Evidence 501 tells us that everyone can be called as a witness – except when they can’t be called, either by Constitution, statute, rules set out by the Colorado Supreme Court “or by the principles of the common law as they may be interpreted by the courts of the State of Colorado in light of reason and experience…” That’s pretty broad, isn’t it? We’re all familiar with the United States Constitution’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self- incrimination.[1] But there are other evidentiary privileges that impact trials and hearing every day. The one that made me think of this month’s movie is what was originally known as the priest-penitent privilege, whereby anything told to a priest as part of a religious confession cannot be testified to without the permission of the penitent.[2]
That privilege is at the heart of I Confess (Warner Brothers, 1953), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Montgomery Clift[3], Karl Malden, and Anne Baxter. The film is based on a 1902 French play that Hitchcock saw as a much younger man. Hitchcock was raised as a Roman Catholic but had long lapsed from the faith by the time he made I Confess.[4] It is very clear that in spite of his lapsed status, Hitchcock’s upbringing informed much of I Confess. The film was filmed in Quebec City, but that Canadian setting has little to do with the actual action of this movie, although it does provide some wonderfully evocative atmosphere and mood to the film.[5]
Clift pays Father Logan, a Roman Catholic priest. Father Logan employs a German gardener, Keller, and his wife. Keller (O.E. Hasse) also works for a crooked lawyer named Villette. Villette is murdered and two girls see someone wearing a priest’s cassock leaving Villette’s house. In the confessional, Keller confesses to Father Logan that he, Keller, committed the murder, knowing that the priest cannot reveal that information. Inspector Larue (Malden) calls Father Logan in for questioning because of what the two girls saw and discovers a connection between Villette and Father Logan through the priest’s long-ago pre-seminary girlfriend (Baxter). Father Logan adamantly refuses to discuss anything with Larue, who has the priest arrested and charged with murder. Father Logan, staunchly remaining silent, goes to trial in front of a jury. Because this is Hollywood, you can probably figure out how the trial ends, although Father Logan has one more priestly interaction with Keller in the film’s closing moments.[6]
I Confess does not rank with Hitchcock’s greatest films; it doesn’t come close to Vertigo, Rear Window, or North by Northwest. But the interplay between religious dogma, evidentiary privilege, and the law’s stated quest for truth make it a fascinating movie to watch.
And we know that evidentiary privileges can have substantial impact on real-life cases. Recall the case from several years ago where two public defenders in Chicago, believing themselves bound by the attorney-client privilege, didn’t disclose that they knew who the actual killer was when another man was accused and convicted of murder. That wrongly convicted man served twenty-eight years in prison.
Make you think? I hope so.
[1]The same right is guaranteed in Article II, Section 18 of the Colorado Constitution.
[2]This privilege is codified in C.R.S. 1973, section 13-90-107(1)(c) and is broader than the “traditional” idea of Roman Catholic confession. That section reads: “(c) A clergy member, minister, priest, or rabbi shall not be examined without both his or her consent and also the consent of the person making the confidential communication as to any confidential communication made to him or her in his or her professional capacity in the course of discipline expected by the religious body to which he or she belongs.”
[3]Among many other great roles, Clift played the mentally challenged Rudolph Peterson in Judgement at Nuremberg.
[4]There is some evidence that Hitchcock had mass celebrated at his home, made a confession and received last rites near the time of his death in 1980. A funeral mass was celebrated after his death.
[5]Fr. Trent Fraser, my pastor at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, is a big fan if I Confess, not just because of the theological aspects of the film, but also because he’s Canadian.
[6]In the original French play, the priest remains silent at trial and is convicted of murder – and executed!
A Palm Sunday Reading from St. Andrew of Crete
March 29, 2015 by
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel.
Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives. Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation. He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem. He comes without pomp or ostentation. As the psalmist says: He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.
Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.
In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens – the proof, surely, of his power and godhead – his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.
So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.
-From a sermon by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop
The New Façade
March 13, 2014 by
This renewal of the building front is just an indication of the vibrancy of the parish and how we as a parish continue to be devoted to our Anglican traditions. Please see our Facebook page for more pictures.
We journey inside the building during this Season of Lent through Worship for our own Renewal that will come when we celebrate Easter. Join us in this new garden on April 19th for the Easter Vigil and to celebrate Easter Sunday, April 20th.
Also, check the calendar for the daily services at St. Michael’s offered during Lent.
The Lenten Prayer of Righteous Ephrem the Syrian
March 5, 2014 by
O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, meddling, lust for power and idle talk.
But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity (integrity), humility, patience and love.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brother. For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen
– Saint Ephrem the Syrian
An Advent Reading from St. Gregory of Nyssa
December 22, 2013 by
The Great Little King
Just as a craftsman in ordinary life makes a thing in a shape suitable for its intended use, so the Master Craftsman has fashioned our nature to be a fitting instrument for the exercise of sovereignty over the universe, by providing it with spiritual gifts and a bodily shape for a king.
The soul’s exalted and royal nature is shown to be far removed from submissiveness by the fact that it is free and independent and acknowledges no master – it has been provided with its own unchallenged power of choice. What is more characteristic of a king than this?
Those who paint portraits of rulers in ordinary life copy the details of their form and underline their kingly importance by dressing them in purple so that the portrait is as that of a king by it composition. In the same way, human nature by virtue of its likeness to the King of All, who created it to rule others, is seen to be a living portrait of him – the portrait has a part in the title and importance of its Master.
It is not dressed up in purple nor does it show its importance by a scepter or a crown – the Original does not have these either – but it is clothed in virtue, which is in truth the most royal of all garments, instead of a purple robe. It relies on the blessedness of immortality instead of a scepter. In place of a kingly crown it is adorned with the garland of righteousness.
Thus the accoutrements of kingship show it to be in all respects an accurate copy of the form of the Original.
An Advent Reading from St. Eusebius of Caesarea
December 16, 2013 by
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
From the Commentary on Isaiah by Eusebius of Caesarea, 260-340 A.D.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God’. This makes clear that the events spoken of in the prophecy are to take place not in Jerusalem, but in the wilderness. By this is meant that the glory of the Lord will appear, and the salvation of God will be made known to all flesh.
This prophecy was fulfilled historically and literally, when John the Baptist preached the saving advent of God, in the wilderness by the Jordan, where the salvation of God was in fact seen. For Christ and his glory became known to all when, after he had been baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit came down under the appearance of a dove, and rested upon him. This was the Father’s voice heard in testimony to the Son: ‘This is my Son, my Beloved; listen to him!’
These things were said because God was about to come to the wilderness which had been impenetrable and inaccessible for a whole age. For all the nations were empty of the knowledge of God: access to them had been prohibited to all the men of God and the prophets.
That was why that voice ordered a way to be prepared for the Word of God, and the pathless and rugged wastelands leveled, so that at his coming, our God might find the road clear for his advance. ‘Prepare the way of he Lord’: this is the Gospel preaching, the new consolation, the ardent desire that the salvation of god come to the knowledge of all men.
Get up to a high mountain, O herald of good tidings to Zion,
lift up your voice with strength, O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem
These words fit in very well with the meaning of our first quotation. They make an appropriate reference to the preachers of the Gospel, and announce the coming of God among men, after we have heard of the voice crying in the wilderness. It is fitting that after the prophecy about John the Baptist, the preachers of good tidings be mentioned.
Who then is this Zion, except she who earlier was called Jerusalem? For she too is a mountain, according to that passage of scripture, ‘The mountain of Zion, where you made your dwelling’, and the Apostle says, ‘You have come to Mount Zion’. Does this perhaps refer to the band of apostles, chosen from among the former people of the circumcision?
This Zion and Jerusalem is she who receives the salvation of God. She herself is placed on high on the mountain of God, that is on his Only-begotten Word. To her he gives the command to get up on a high mountain, and preach the word of salvation. But who preaches the good tidings, if not the band of those who make the Gospel known? And what is meant by making the Gospel known? Preaching to all mankind the coming of Christ on earth, and preaching it first to the cities of Judah.
An Advent Reading From St. Augustine
November 26, 2013 by
Do Not Resist the First Advent, and the Second Will Not Terrify Us
From a sermon by Augustine, bishop, 4th century.
Then all the trees of the forest will exult before the face of the Lord, for he has come, he has come to judge the earth. He has come the first time, and he will come again. At his first coming, his own voice declared in the gospel: Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds. What does he mean by hereafter? Does he not mean that the Lord will come at a future time when all the nations of the earth will be striking their breasts in grief? Previously he came through his preachers, and he filled the whole world. Let us not resist his first coming, so that we may not dread the second.
What then should the Christian do? He ought to use the world, not become its slave. And what does this mean? It means having, as though not having. So says the Apostle: My brethren, the appointed time is short: from now on let those who have wives live as though they had none; and those who mourn as though they were not mourning; and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing; and those who buy as though they had no goods; and those who deal with this world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away. But I wish you to be without anxiety. He who is without anxiety waits without fear until his Lord comes. For what sort of love of Christ is it to fear his coming? Brothers, do we not have to blush for shame? We love him, yet we fear his coming. Are we really certain that we love him? Or do we love our sins more? Therefore let us hate our sins and love him who will exact punishment for them. He will come whether we wish it or not. Do not think that because he is not coming just now, he will not come at all. He will come, you know not when; and provided he finds you prepared, your ignorance of the time of his coming will not be held against you.
All the trees of the forest will exult. He has come the first time, and he will come again to judge the earth; he will find those rejoicing who believed in his first coming, for he has come.
He will judge the world with equity and the peoples in his truth. What are equity and truth? He will gather together with him for the judgement his chosen ones, but the others he will set apart; for he will place some on his right, others on his left. What is more equitable, what more true than that they should not themselves expect mercy from the judge, who themselves were unwilling to show mercy before the judge’s coming. Those, however, who were willing to show mercy will be judged with mercy. For it will be said to those placed on his right: Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. And he reckons to their account their works of mercy: For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
What is imputed to those placed on his left side? That they refused to show mercy. And where will they go? Depart into the everlasting fire. The hearing of this condemnation will cause much wailing. But what has another psalm said? The just man will be held in everlasting remembrance; he will not fear the evil report. What is the evil report? Depart into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. Whoever rejoices to hear the good report will not fear the bad. This is equity, this is truth.
Or do you, because you are unjust, expect the judge not to be just? Or because you are a liar, will the truthful one not be true? Rather, if you wish to receive mercy, be merciful before he comes; forgive whatever has been done against you; give of your abundance. Of whose possessions do you give, if not from his? If you were to give of your own, it would be largess; but since you give of his, it is restitution. For what do you have, that you have not received? These are the sacrifices most pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise, peace, charity. Such as these, then, let us bring and, free from fear, we shall await the coming of the judge who will judge the world in equity and the peoples in his truth.
