The Holy Pretzel

Bob, my bro-in-law, points out this fascinating article about using the humble pretzel as a traditional symbol of Lent:

The pretzel has a deep spiritual meaning for Lent. In fact, it was the ancient Christian Lenten bread as far back as the fourth century. In the old Roman Empire, the faithful kept a very strict fast all through Lent: no milk, no butter, no cheese, no eggs, no cream and no meat. They made small breads of water, flour and salt, to remind themselves that Lent was a time of prayer. They shaped these breads in the form of crossed arms for in those days they crossed their arms over the breast while praying. Therefore they called the breads "little arms" (bracellae). From this Latin word, the Germanic people later coined the term "pretzel."

Thus the pretzel is the most appropriate food symbol in Lent. It still shows the form of arms crossed in prayer, reminding us that Lent is a time of prayer. It consists only of water and flour, thus proclaiming Lent as a time of fasting. The earliest picture and description of a pretzel (from the fifth century) may be found in the manuscript-codex No. 3867, Vatican Library. (source)

The article even includes a "Ceremony of the Pretzel" to use in Lent:

The Ceremony of the Pretzel

1. On Ash Wednesday, father or mother may explain the origin of the holy pretzel, so that the children will understand its significance.

2. The pretzel might be served on each plate for each evening meal until Easter.

3. Added to the grace before meals, is the "pretzel prayer."

PRAYER

We beg you, O Lord, to bless these breads which are to remind us that Lent is a sacred season of penance and prayer. For this very reason, the early Christian started the custom of making these breads in the form of arms crossed in prayer. Thus they kept the holy purpose of Lent alive in their hearts from day to day, and increased in their souls the love of Christ, even unto death, if necessary.

Grant us, we pray, that we too, may be reminded by the daily sight of these pretzels to observe the holy season of Lent with true devotion and great spiritual fruit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(source)

I'm touch by this--but I also think it would be excellent fodder for a Monty Python skit.

-t

James

Here is our new kitten, James. He's adorable. Denise is not completely happy about our adoption, but she's getting used to it. The thing that amazes me about James is that he has only had a body for something like four months, so he's still really awkward about jumping and running and stuff, which is very cute to watch.

Trad-Com (Traditional Communion) service this morning. That went well, though following the BCP to the letter still irks me a little. I'm looking forward to making a few changes in the future that will be a reasonable compromise between the BCP Communion liturgy and the current liturgical theology of the Christian Church. We'll see....

Had lunch at the U of T Faculty Club with George Sumner, Principal of Wycliffe College. Very enjoyable. He did his Ph.D. at Yale and his daughter is an undergrad there, so we swapped a lot of stories about old blue. We ended up sharing quite a bit about our preaching styles, which was interesting. We also discussed the future of Messiah, etc. There is a historic connection between our two institutions, and so perhaps there are possible collaborations in the future, we'll see.

Productive staff meeting this afternoon. Lots of exciting initiatives in the works. I'm aware that in about 6 months from now our staff meetings will be less about the mechanics of what and when and more about the dynamics of who and why. It was interesting that this occurred to me very strongly during the staff meeting. I mean, what we are doing now is the right thing for this moment, but it's how we will do our jobs in the future--nice to realize that.

-t

Disonance and Consonance

On my mind: fitting in and not fitting in. Consider this example....



Have you seen this article in the New York Times? Seems the culture of fear that has been seeping into North American culture has been cropping up in Japan, as well, and that has produced a uniquely Japanese response: urban camouflage. It's a clever bit of consonance, even if it doesn't work. It might be fun to get one of these outfits and wear it around Toronto just to see what kind of reactions it gets. But I'll start by getting hands on a Utilikilt. That would clash with the culture of Toronto a bit, but not if I wore it back in Seattle. I wouldn't mind getting a formal kilt too, sometime. But first I have to figure out what my family tartan would be. Again that would be playing with the boundaries of fitting in or not.

I've been thinking a lot about how much leakage to allow of Christmas into Advent. Advent is really a penitential period of preparation for the feast of Christ's incarnation (Christmas). The "Christmas Season" is really the 12 Days of Christmas, not the period of feverish shopping just before! I suppose in this sense the evangelicals' uneasiness with the commercialization of Christmas has some purchase.

I'm told in my books that historically the Christian effort to make Advent into such a period of penitence in preparation for Christmas was not entirely successful. It was introduced by the Council of Tours in 567. It was originally longer, beginning on November 11th, but was shortened in the ninth century. It was sometimes called "Winter Lent." No marriages were allowed, nor organ until Advent III. But people's enjoyment of the winter solstice could not be entirely repressed.

But "tradition" alone is not a sufficient argument to keep Christmas carols at bay. We have to consider the underlying liturgical principles. I firmly believe that the liturgical calendar is a useful and worthy Christian discipline that has more than history to commend it. It creates a structure for "the work of the people" (i.e. literally "liturgy") and structure is necessary! Indeed, every time we utter a word of the Gospel or make any religious gesture whatsoever, we have introduced structure. It's form into formlessness (to use Buddhist terms) or creation into Chaos (a nod to Genesis).

En arche en ho logos, kai ho logos en pros ton theon, kai theos en ho logos.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God" (John 1:1)).

(That mantra gives me the chills.)

Anyway, the point is that increased differentiation and intention of things like liturgical seasons results in a more articulate expression of the Gospel. The very fact that not doing Christmas Carols causes a feeling of privation in some is evidence that the boundaries created by the liturgical seasons have relevance and ritual power. It's a meaningful dissonance with the prevailing culture.

So this all seems like a good argument for preserving the distinctiveness of Advent. Yet here is where things can get hard for me. The question arises, "Am I being too hard on people?" It's the Matthew 23:4 dilemma--no one wants to be the priest who ties up heavy burdens too hard to bear. My instinct is to be agreeable and to make people happy by giving them the things they want. But maybe I should be going for the option that promises the most potential for spiritual growth? And yet maybe I'm just being overly strict, rule-bound and parsimonious?

I know, it seems like I'm thinking too much about this. But believe you me, there are people that care a lot about the results of my discernment about this. More prayer is needed.

Oh, of course this doesn't mean much for tomorrow's sermon. I should think some about that, now!

-t

Eucharists

"TradCom" (Traditional Communion) service this morning. Got even closer to the BCP rubrics than last time. Everyone seemed to like it just fine, though it was hard to sing well with only 10 people. Interesting to note today how totally different I feel presiding at this liturgy than the modern ones--stiffer and more formal for sure, but also quieter in body. That is, less squirmy. Less water more earth. More blue and less red.

I'm totally psyched about doing the contemplative eucharist tomorrow morning. I have my rug, so we can sit of the floor and do it up right. I'm planning to use incense (Holy Cross brand, of course), and my bell. For an altar I'll use a large tile I bought at Home Depot. It's going to be great.

Some people thought that just because I wasn't at an Anglo Catholic parish I wouldn't have weekday services to do. Yeah.... right....

Got to go home, now. Almost time for dinner....

-t

"Traditional" Communion

Today is technically my day off, but I did go into the church for an hour or so. Good thing I did, as there were a few things for me to deal with. There are also a number of things happening tomorrow that require some preparation. Among them, my first "pure" Canadian BCP service! Sure, I've done the "1962 Rite" Eucharist more or less as it appears in the BAS literally hundreds of times. But the BAS re-ordered the rite to follow current scholarship about how the different pieces of the Eucharist were sequenced through most of Christian History. The 1962 Canadian BCP, on the other hand, is very much a product of the Reformation. Considering that I grew up with the American 1979 BCP (which also benefited from modern liturgical scholarship), it's understandable that I find the ordering of things in the Canadian BCP Communion downright weird. Putting the Gloria after Communion? Saying the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of the service? How about that Exhortation?

Anyway, I'm aware that most of the churches that claim to be doing a "Traditional BCP Communion" service are actually varying from the BCP rubrics to one degree or another. So I could do the same thing without much difficulty at COTM, but I think I need to let these reforms be driven to the congregation rather than my own prejudices. I suppose that means that I'm approaching this service with a pastoral point of view, rather than an evangelistic or theological point of view. That is, it's clearly about providing a meaningful experience of worship to a small community of faithful people already part of our community rather than witnessing to a larger community outside our doors. Nor is it aligned with contemporary Anglican theological understandings about worship, the human person, or other things. The BAS version of the Rite "fixes" many of these problems, but as I said, this is about the needs of the people who come every month, not about growing the church or being "correct." So I'm happy to give them whatever they want--they deserve to be able to pray the way that makes them happy.

I've got other fish to fry. There is a lot to decide at the Corporation meeting tomorrow night. Can't really say much here about what that list includes, but I can say that they are the sorts of changes that have been waiting for my arrival. It will be interesting to see how much people think I'm responsible for these changes and how much they see that these are really decisions that were made long before my arrival. I'm just the occasion for action to finally be taken.

Mowed the lawn today. Also made a trip to Home Depot. Fixed dinner and did some stuff around the house. Much more to do before tomorrow. Right now I'm watching football.

-t