Where thy heart is, there is thy treasure also. | The Ordinariate Charism

At the website of the Ordinariate (OLSC*) Catholic Parish of Saints Ninian and Chad, the question, 'What is the English Patrimony?' is answered as follows:

The English, or Anglican, Patrimony is the sum total of the spiritual, liturgical, pastoral, cultural and social traditions that have come down to us primarily via the experience of Christian life primarily in England, but also to an extent from the whole of the British Isles. It begins with the first unknown missionaries to England, from the protomartyr Saint Alban, and continues through the Celtic Church, the Roman-Gregorian Mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. It includes the lives and writings of great figures like Saint Bede the Venerable, Edward the Confessor, Saint Anselm, Saint Richard of Chichester, Saint Hilda of Whitby, Margery Kemp, Walter Hilton, Richard Rolle, the Lady Julian of Norwich, the author of the Cloud of Unknowing, St Aelred of Riveaux, and continues down through the era of the time of the separation between the sees of Canterbury and Rome; the era of the Book of Common Prayer, and the King James Bible; with figures like Thomas Ken, George Herbert, William Laud, Jeremy Taylor, John Donne, Lancelot Andrewes, Charles Wesley, and into the Oxford Movement of the Nineteenth Century, with Saint John Henry Newman, Dr Pusey, Fr Faber, Christina Rosetti, A.W.N. Pugin, and later via the "Ritualists" into the "Anglo-Catholic" movement of the Twentieth Century, with figures like Eric Mascall, C.S. Lewis, Michael Ramsay, Percy Dearmer, and many, many others. In this great host of people, theologies, spiritualities, writings, understandings, customs and traditions, we find a worthy patrimony in and through which we can express our prayer to God in particular kinds of ways.

The Charism of the Ordinariate

Hidden among internet briars is a another sketch of the Ordinariate charism. Mined from a site affiliated with the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (Oceania), now defunct but referenced by David Murphy at Ordinariate News (2015), that source presents an instructive sketch of the Ordinariate's unique charism, the expression of the Anglican Patrimony affirmed in the Catholic Church. That sketch is here presented, amplified and offered to readers as an introduction to the Ordinariate Roman Catholic experience.

A few salient elements of the charism of the Ordinariate, of the Patrimony, are:

1. Call to community faith and devotion
2. Evangelical charity
3. Sacral English
4. Reverence and beauty in worship
5. Music and congregational hymn singing
6. Gospel preaching
7. English theological tradition

I. Call to community faith and devotion

In the English tradition, faith and devotion are not seen just as individual pursuits, but are practised at the level of the community. One example is study groups that serve to develop faith. The communal practise of the offices of Matins and Evensong is a hallmark of English devotional practise.

II. Evangelical charity

We commit ourselves to helping those who need help through various outreach activities. We draw our inspiration from those such as the great Anglo-Catholic slum priests, who built their churches where no-one else would go because of the terrible poverty present.

III. Sacral English

The Book of Common Prayer as written by Thomas Cranmer remains a literary masterpiece. It developed a beautiful poetic way of conversing with God in the vernacular at a time when the western Church spoke only Latin. Yet Cranmer’s English was never vulgar or banal. 

We continue this tradition in the Ordinariate in the language we use in our liturgies. Since the liturgy is an encounter with God, the language we use should be appropriate to this encounter. We know from our own personal experience that we speak differently for different situations. The way we speak to our friends at a BBQ is different than how we would speak if we were giving a speech at a wedding. Put simply – when we speak to God we do not use day-to-day language, we use sacred language.

For this reason, the liturgies which have been approved for use in the Ordinariate are informed by the language of the Book of Common Prayer, either drawing directly from it, or using language in the style of it. We do this not for the sake of being old-fashioned, but as a reminder of the divine encounter we experience in the Liturgy.

IV. Reverence and beauty in Worship

Further to this idea is the way we celebrate the liturgy. We appreciate reverence and beauty as devices that draw us to the divine. Our worship here on earth is such that we too may be caught up in the heavenly worship.

We pay attention to our posture, to our manner of speaking, to the way that we carry out the actions – never in a stuffy way – but in a dignified manner. Likewise we bring beauty to our worship, by the way our churches are decorated, by the vestments the priest wears, to the worship items we use – never to the point of ostentatiousness or flamboyance – but elegant noble dignity which reminds us of the purpose of the Liturgy.

V. Music and congregational hymn singing

Music and hymn singing are integral to the English tradition. The English tradition considers music and singing to be an act of worship in its own right. This differs from the Roman tradition, which sees music as an accompaniment to the liturgical action. In the English tradition, while the liturgical action remains equally important, we also offer glory to God by music and singing.

Indeed, much of the great liturgical music of the western tradition has come from English composers. 

• The English Hymnal and Hymns Ancient and Modern are two compilations that are spoken well of among Ordinariate Catholics.
• The Healey Willan Society.

VI. Gospel preaching

Ordinariate priests have gained a reputation in the Catholic Church as superb preachers. 

We believe that the homily should draw the congregation into the Scripture readings of the day, show them an aspect of what God is saying through those readings, and challenge and empower them to apply that in their own lives.

We do not believe in patronizing or “warm and fuzzy” two minute homilies.

Priests have a divine calling to feed the flock of Christ, and this means in preaching as well as in the sacraments. For most Catholics today, the only time they will hear anything of the teaching of the Church is in the homily. This is a grave responsibility placed on the clergy of the Church.

VII. English Theological Tradition

The English theological tradition is that which began with the Celts and was heavily influenced by others such as Augustine of Canterbury, the English Mystics, (e.g., Julian of Norwich), the Caroline Divines and the Oxford Movement Fathers (Keble, Pusey and Newman), especially Saint John Henry Newman.

The English tradition has had a tremendous influence on the Catholic Church, yet it has done so without any vehicle within the Catholic Church to foster its growth and development. With the advent of the Ordinariates, there now exists a home within the Church for the English tradition.

VIII. Fellowship

By fellowship is meant the time after Mass when, sustained in the Holy Eucharist, Ordinariate Catholics reflect on the goings on in the parish and the world around us. Illuminated by the Word of God, the truth and wisdom of Holy Scripture that is Christ speaking to us, and sharing in the very Body and Blood of Christ that shapes us in holiness and transforms us for mission, the fellowship following Mass allows believers to dialogue with fellow Catholics and draw upon complementary perspectives oriented to Christ for the salvation of souls. Fellowship is communion in Christ. It is a realization of the Sign of Peace offered by Christ in the Mass, and a time when believers celebrate their shared redemption by Christ. We learn from Jesus speaking through our brothers and sisters how to listen to the Holy Spirit to grow in holiness and to live and love with authenticity.

VIX. Patrimonial Humour

Having been raised by a mother who worked as a nurse in England during the Second World War, an intelligent and down-to-earth person who possessed a deep faith and a sophisticated sense of humour, I learned that humour and faith can and should accompany each other so as to enable one to be honest about oneself and the world, and to understand one's place in the bigger picture.

Catholicism has produced some of the wittiest literary and stage comedians. Why is that? God has, for one, designed into us an ability to laugh to help us discern truth. The Catholic Faith is authentically human and divine. Jesus, true God and true man, certainly had a sense of humour (... read the parables!). Christians, except perhaps neo-puritans who like all heretics lack a sense of humour, can laugh at themselves.

Anglocatholic humour is habitually self deprecating and deft at exposing life's absurdities. Good Catholic comedians are adept at exposing the truth about man's fallen nature and the contradictions that flow from the Fall.

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam.

In response to the question why are there so many Catholics in comedy, Charles Coulombe has said:

The first has to do with the nature of comedy itself, which consists, in my opinion, of making the absurdity of life obvious to one’s audience. As with any of the other arts, this requires a certain aesthetic distance from the everyday scene – without that, one cannot depict, portray, write about (or ridicule) the passing circus. So it is that artists in general and comedians in particular tend to come from marginal tribes of one sort or another. This is why popular entertainment in the US rapidly fell into the hands of the three groups (African Americans, Jews and Catholics) previously mentioned.

Moreover, good comedy requires a great deal of conscious or unconscious reflection upon the world. I have yet to meet a comedian who was not in some sense a philosopher, and I have met many. The result, of course, is that the comic is also very much aware of human foibles, and many a laugh-master has had a thick melancholy streak.

Merrily on High by Colin Stephenson.

Widely regarded as one of the most amusing ecclesiastical memoirs of the 20th century, Colin Stephenson's autobiography is an Anglo-Catholic classic, embodying a great love for people and a relish for their eccentricities and foibles.

Note

OLSC: Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross