The Anglican Communion has been divided on the question whether or not women can receive Holy Orders. The introduction of “women priests” has separated the Anglican Communion even further from its sister communion in the East and its parent Rome in the West. It has ignored traditional Holy Orders by breaking open the Sacrament of Holy Orders and changing it – thereby providing Apostolicae Curae a validity it did not previously possess.
The Catholic Priesthood has been retained (unchanged) in the Anglo Catholic communities (in spite of their “alphabet soup” of divisions) and is celebrated on January 29th as The Preservation of the American Episcopate. The Propers for this feast are those from the “Bestowal of the American Episcopate” found in the appendix of the Anglican Breviary replacing “bestowal” with “preservation” where necessary. As an addition to the ninth Lesson for Matins (or perhaps replacing it) the short description provided below could be inserted:
Thousands of faithful Episcopalians gathered in St. Louis, Missouri in 1977 and agreed upon the Affirmation of St. Louis, a document which expressed our commitment to the historic and biblical faith of the Church.
Subsequently, on January 28th, 1978, the Rt. Rev. Albert Chambers (retired), along with two other bishops, consecrated four ECUSA priests Bishops – Frs. Waterson, Mote, Doren and Morse.
Bishop Chambers was the Episcopal Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. This consecration made it possible for Episcopalians to continue practicing the Catholic and Apostolic faith of the Church, as it has been handed down through the centuries.
From: Episcopalnet.org.
Gregory +
Jim Hicks
January 28, 2012 at 08:52
I had not been aware of this feast until this year. I discovered it on the site you used, episcopalnet.org. I normally print their Ordo Kalendars. After printing out January, I had to read the story behind this “feast day”.
Father Gregory
January 28, 2012 at 10:30
I was not aware of it either until I found it on the Ordo Kalendar given to me by the Parish I will be serving. It caused me quite a bit of confusion because though the Feast of “The Bestowal” is in the Anglican Breviary, Missal and the American Missal the propers between the three do not agree. Yet the propers for “The Preservation” are to be those from “The Bestowal” – I’ll need to give it some more thought how to solve this problem for next year (and for November this year).