Hello, I mentioned this in my intro post, but is it common for parishes to have Eucharistic Adoration? I am a lapsed Catholic and this is something that I found to be a great blessing. If they are not to be found in my area, which it seems not, then is it OK to attend the Adoration at a RCC? What are the odds of a local parish being interested in having set Adoration times? Obviously this is something that would need to be talked about with the parish, but if it is just not something Anglicans do then there likely is not a reason to bother.
I guess I want to ask: why? What does it do? What do you believe the sacred host to be? I don't believe there is any reasonable perspective that will show that it is the Sacrament of the Body of our Lord, if it is outside of the context of the liturgy, and reception. The idea that the Priest speaks the words of institution in any whatever context, be it in a lavatory, or in a joking manner to someone, or in a liturgy, and his words supernaturally transform the sacred host into the Body, that's a medieval invention. In reality, he can say the Words of Institution in a lavatory, and nothing will happen. He can speak them in a joking manner, and yet nothing will happen. He needs to speak them in the context of the divine service of holy communion, with the intent of giving the Sacrament, and the Body, to feed the flock, and then if they rightly receive it (on their end), they receive the Body. Consecrating a sacred host just for the sake of putting it up on a stand... So that all of us can look at the wafer together... That doesn't seem all that pious to me. Which is why none of the Church Fathers had ever done it, or deemed it pious.
Hi, and welcome to one of the kindest and friendliest places on the internet. I had a quick look at Florida and found St Mary's. http://www.stmarysacc.org/ I am guessing that is a possibility of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In Anglican practice it is not a big thing, though there are those who do. I know that many Anglican Parishes will reserve the sacrament in a tabernacle or aumbry, and be aware that a red light in the sanctuary is a reminder of God's presence, where as a white light in the vicinity of the aumbry is normally an indication that the sacrament is reserved. XXVIII. Of the Lord’s Supper. The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ’s death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ. Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped. Article 28 will have some of my brothers and sisters arguing that Veneration of the Blessed Sacrament is not on, whilst I have heard erudite arguments to the contrary based on the same article. If it is a key part of your faith journey at this stage, you may find that there is a catholic parish which does, and you might find a home among the Anglicans and have a rcc excursion every now and again. I notice that there is a blessed sacrament fathers Church in Florida which has exposition on weekdays. http://www.svdpfl.com/. I guess the answer to your question is that it is something that some Anglicans do, but it is a very long way from universal, and indeed many will run a mile. To encounter Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is to be equipped to encounter Christ in the street, in the face of friend and stranger. Be aware I am an Aussie, so I have no idea how big Florida is, or where you are in Florida, but I wish you well on the journey and welcome here.
Personally I subscribe to article 28 and our parish priest was given a monstrance as a present and it bothered me greatly that he might want to start adoration, I would be interested in reading what has been written regarding the position of adoration if you could help?
Foe @Dave Kemp and @JoeLaughon The argument as expressed to me was that given the statement in Article 28 The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped. The inference must be taken that the practice was acknowledged as part of the life of the church , as was the theological truth acknowledged that it was not the stated aims and purpose of the sacrament as delivered at the hands of the Lord, it's practice is not specifically forbidden. I don't as a general rule make the argument myself, and whilst in general I am happy enough with Benediction and Adoration, they do not form a part of my staple liturgical diet, but neither do I criticise nor deride. Please not I have no desire to reignite the arguments of the 1830's + . I will restate what I said earlier. It is something that some Anglicans do, but it is a very long way from universal, and indeed many will run a mile. To encounter Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is to be equipped to encounter Christ in the street, in the face of friend and stranger.
I don't see this as a matter for the 1830s. This is a pretty standard fare in traditional Anglican spirituality, to have an opinion on Roman spirituality since they have so many more people that their devotions often permeate and overwhelm the airwaves. We are called to be clear on where we stand, and what we believe. In traditional Anglican spirituality, in concord with the Articles and the Prayer Book, the practice of Adoration is not merely disallowed by some sort of arbitrary unreasonable fiat, but logically doesn't makes sense by the nature of what a Sacrament is. As John Jewel (and S. Augustine) had said, adoring the host in order to adore the Body is like honoring the wedding ring, when we are trying to honor the marriage. We confuse the sign for the thing signified. The host is the Sacrament, which signifies the blessed and spiritual Body. We take the Host, just as we take the wedding ring, and we truly receive the Body, just as we are truly married. But the sign is not identical with the thing signified.
I know of one Anglo-Catholic church where something like the Adoration is practised, but it is called Exposition & Silent Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament concluding with Compline https://www.beauchampstleonard.org/church-chapel-services Could it be seen as a representation of something more spiritual? Something like what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, that the physical becomes a bearer of spiritual reality? Perhaps Contemplation might be a better word in that case. Not that I would want to go against the Articles or the Prayer Book!
Thank you all who wrote. To be exact, I am in Tampa Fl - and there unfortunately are not many (really any) ACNA or similar (that I am aware of) churches near me. There is one mission church not too far, but it only has one service at 6pm on Sundays and that does not work for my family at this time. Florida is a large state to drive from Pensacola in the north to Miami in the south takes longer than driving from Pensacola to Indiania - for me to drive to Miami would take about 5 hours. I think what I like is the time in contemplation, the time spent in prayer in a sacred space reserved for this. Churches that have Adoration have this chapel open most of the time or even 24 hrs a day. This allows one to come and pray and be in a sacred place at a time that works for them. For me this is lunch or one evening in the week. It seems precious few Anglican churches in this area have services during the week - something I loved about the RCC as well. Basically Adoration, to me, is a time that I can set aside to go to church and dedicate to prayer and contemplation. It seems most churches are not open at just any given time to go into for prayer. I know I can do this in other places, but I find it hard to concentrate without being in a place I feel has a sacredness to it. Funny enough, the Baptist church my son goes to school at has a prayer space open 24 hrs a day if one asks for the door code.
St Alban's Cathedral (Hertfordshire) has Solemn Benediction with the monstrance, I think it is after Evensong. I wonder how many other Anglican Cathedrals do ?
Truro Cathedral (my Diocese) had Benediction on the Feast of Corpus Christi. There are also a few churches in my diocese that have Evensong with Benediction. For those who are into such devotions there is the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament: https://www.confraternity.org.uk/index.php
I would want to posit that the Church of England having (initially) allowed things like Benediction is essentially of a piece with them now moving into women bishops, condoning gay marriages, and (now) teaching transgenderism in CofE schools. In the RCC context Benediction maybe was a different story, but in the CofE context the history of "Romish" observances can be directly tied to disobedience and liberalism concerning CofE's core values and principles. Once priests thought they could reject Anglican tradition and values, oce they became so alienated from Anglican spirituality as to import practices like the Benediction, the Rosary, Marian adorations, Missals, they've unmoored themselves from the Anglican barque. And then they felt quite unrestricted in everything else. If they (or the gay mafia) pressured them to adopt gay marriages, then, hey, why not. Once you're off the reservation, then anything is possible. So quite apart from whether Benediction in itself is right or wrong to perform, its history in the Church of England is essentially one of leading to the horror show of the Church of England bastardized by modernism and heresy today, in open rejection to its historic glory and holiness.
"We deny that the Sacrament outside the use appointed by God has the nature of a Sacrament so as to make it right or possible for Christ to be reserved or carried about, since He is present only to those who communicate." -Bishop John Cosin
I took a look at their website. They are not the TEC, the official Anglican Church in the USA. They use the name 'Anglican' in their title: 'The Anglican Catholic Church'. This group is, however, outside the Anglican Communion.
The ACC is its own communion. They have a UK affiliate with a Bp. Damien Mead, who is based in Kent. It is a small group, smaller than the FCE. We Americans have tended to splinter, divide, faction and propagate new communions at a rapid rate since the 1960s. Then we find the 4 or 5 eccentric Anglo-Papalists in other Anglo countries and bring them into our fold, thus forming international communions.
Thank you for the information. I am not particularly interested in joining a splinter group. There is a splinter "Anglican" church near me, but that is not for me. FWIW I ended up going to a RCC parish for some prayer and reflection as the Adoration chapel is almost always open - none of the Episcopal or ACNA churches anywhere near here are open in the evenings for prayer generally (one TEC church has a Wednesday evening prayer service though).
If I might interject. That is one thing that I do like about the RCC, that they have daily services. So many other churches are open Sunday, and maybe Wednesday night, and that's it. I don't know why. Granted, Protestant pastors have families, but the rest of us are used to working 40+ hours a week. Having a parish open for services only 3-4 hours a week doesn't cut it.
This I was well aware of. The difficult reality is that being Anglican no longer means being 'in communion with the ABofC'. Many of those outside the Communion would argue they are more Anglican than those within. Yesterday I said to my Rector 'Unity and Truth are both viable gospel aspirations, and it seems a shame that we are unlikely to be able to hold both.' This was in relation to the matters now up for discussion in the Anglican Church of Australia. The term Anglican is probably in the current context best understood as being within the Anglican Tradition. Many of the active members here are Anglicans not in the Anglican Communion. The vast majority of Anglicans in Australia are members of the Anglican Communion - however that may not be the case in 5 or 10 years. The two most contentious issues appear to be the Ordination of Women and Single Gender Marriage. The second issue is likely to be far more divisive than the first.