Monday, September 26, 2011

A Bishop and a Bible

Today the Church remembers a scholarly Anglican and one of the translators of the King James Bible, Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, England, who was born in 1555 and died in 1626. Everyone, in all likelihood, has a copy of this translation of sacred Scripture in the Family Bible with all of the family’s history. The translation also has some of the most memorable phrases in the English language, next to the Book of Common Prayer.

James Kiefer writes:


Lancelot Andrewes was on the committee of scholars that produced the King James translation of the Bible, and probably contributed more to that work than any other single person. It is accordingly no surprise to find him not only a devout writer but a learned and eloquent one, a master of English prose, and learned in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and eighteen other languages. His sermons were popular in his own day, but are perhaps too academic for most modern readers. He prepared for his own use a manuscript notebook of Private Prayers, which was published after his death. The material was apparently intended, not to be read aloud, but to serve as a guide and stimulus to devout meditation. What follows is a brief extract from the section for Thursday Morning. The reader will note that he commemorates three events associated with Thursday: (1) the creation of air and water animals (mostly birds and fish) on the Fifth Day of Creation as described in Genesis 1; (2) the institution of the Sacrament of the Lord's supper by Our Lord Jesus Christ on the evening before He was crucified (Matthew 26); and (3) the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1):

COMMEMORATION
Blessed art Thou, O Lord
who didst bring forth of water
moving creatures that have life,
and whales,
and winged fowls:
and didst bless them,
so as to increase and multiply.

The things concerning the Ascension:
Set up Thyself, O God, above the heavens
and Thy glory above all the earth.
By thine Ascension
draw us withal unto Thee, O Lord,
so as to set our affections on things above,
and not on things on the earth.

By the awful mystery of Thy Holy Body and Precious
Blood in the evening of this day:
Lord, have mercy.

FAITH
Coming unto God,
I believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:
I know that my Redeemer liveth;
that He is the Christ the Son of the Living God;
that He is indeed the Saviour of the world;
that He came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.
Through the grace of Jesus Christ
we believe that we shall be saved
even as our fathers withal.
I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

THANKSGIVING
O my Lord, my Lord, I thank Thee
for that I am,
that I am alive,
that I am rational:
for nurture,
preservation,
governance:
for education,
citizenship,
religion:
for Thy gifts of grace,
nature,
estate:
for redemption,
regeneration,
instruction:
for calling,
recalling,
further calling manifold:
for forbearance,
longsuffering,
long longsuffering towards me,
many times,
many years,
until now:
for all good offices I have received,
good speed I have gotten:
for any good thing done:
for the use of things present,
thy promise
and my hope
touching the fruition of the good things to come:
for my parents honest and good,
teachers gentle,
benefactors always to be had in remembrance,
colleagues likeminded,
hearers attentive,
friends sincere,
retainers faithful:
for all who have stood me in good stead
by their writings,
their sermons,
conversations,
prayers,
examples,
rebukes,
wrongs:
for these things and all other,
which I wot of, which I wot not of,
open and secret,
things I remember, things I have forgotten withal,
things done to me after my will or yet against my will,
I confess to Thee and bless Thee and give thanks unto Thee,
and I will confess and bless and give thanks to Thee
all the days of my life.
What thanks can I render to God again
for all the benefits that He hath done unto me?

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
Thou are worthy, O Lord and our God, the Holy One,
to receive the glory and the honour and the power:
for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.


Let us pray: Almighty God, you gave your servant Lancelot Andrewes the gift of your Holy Spirit and made him a man of prayer and a faithful pastor of your people: Perfect in us what is lacking in your gifts, of faith, to increase it, of hope, to establish it, of love, to kindle it, that we may live in the life of your grace and glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the same Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS & UPCOMING EVENTS

THE THIRD ANNUAL ART SHOW: Please sign up to host. The annual art show allows us to share our facilities with others and to showcase the creativity of artists. Times: Sundays (25 September, 2 & 9 October: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays (1 October: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 10 October, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. during ArtWalk).

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY: Sundays at 4:00 p.m. in Sutton Hall. Please join Jillian Bain for this prayerful study of Scripture.

ECW & DOK QUIET DAY RETREAT: Saturday, 8 October starting at 9:30 a.m. with the Rev. Helen Appelberg. Please call 409.762.9676 or email judyricketts100@gmail.com to let them know you will attend.

BLESSING OF THE AMINALS: Saturday, 8 October at 9:00 a.m. on the lawn in front of Sutton Hall.

ECW ANNUAL RETREAT 14-15 OCTOBER 2011 at Camp Allen. Please sign up.

ST. AUGUSTINE IS GOING GREEN (WITH OUR COFFEE CUPS). In order to cut down on the use of Styrofoam cups, please bring a coffee cup for the Fellowship hour, and maybe even 2 or 3 to share with our visitors. We will store them in Sutton Hall and wash them in our dishwasher.

CLOTHING DRIVE FOR VICTIMS OF THE WILDFIRES: We will begin a clothing drive for the victims of the wildfires, especially the people of Bastrop and Calvary Episcopal. Please bring only CLEAN CLOTHES, SORT THEM BY SIZE, MALE/FEMALE, AND BOX THEM. Thank you in advance.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST especially all parishes with search committees as they seek new rectors, for all of those suffering from the wildfires, and in thanksgiving for all that God has done for us.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

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