Why The Ordinariate?

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The official reason that the Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans (and now many, many cradle Catholics) exist is because Anglicans petitioned Rome for inclusion and Rome responded with a generous 'yes'.

In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favourably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches, could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization. - Benedict XVI

Here are a few reasons drawn from personal experience as to why the Ordinariate is a gift from God for the whole Church. Among Catholics of the Personal Ordinariates, I've found:

  1. the reverent worship of Almighty God; beautiful liturgy
  2. a confident witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a shared sense of mission firmly rooted in the Holy Gospel
  3. a love of Mary, Mother of God, under her title of Our Lady of Walsingham
  4. orthodox preaching that speaks to the heart and to the head
  5. orthodox liturgical and personal spiritual formation that engages and enlivens the whole person
  6. love for the Catholic Church
  7. love for the sacraments
  8. a lively faith, gratitude, joy, humour, hope and generosity toward others
  9. an authentic vibrant fellowship and community
  10. beautiful sacred music that enables the worshipper to dispose himself to God's grace
  11. the Divine Office: Matins and Evensong
  12. a love of sacred art
  13. a love of the saints of the Church, especially the saints of the British Isles
  14. the usual human foibles among people humbly attending to their spiritual lives by going to confession, praying the Rosary, praying the Office, and joyfully serving and supporting one another to build up the Body of Christ in love

The Church, especially the Western precincts of the Church, desperately needs what the Ordinariate has to offer, those gifts mentioned above, those gifts summarized by Pope Benedict XVI.

III. Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Ordinariate has the faculty to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical celebrations according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared. - Anglicanorum Coetibus, apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI on November 4, 2009.

It is normal for a human being created in the image and likeness of God to hunger for beauty, truth and goodness, for the life of God offered in Jesus Christ. The Ordinariate provides a rich diet of the finest cuisine. All are invited to the rich banquet of the Lord, and in the Ordinariate one finds just that - a lavish feast for the eyes, ears, heart, mind and spirit!

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