Pre-Lenten Season

[everbecoming2007]

In the Episcopal Church the pre-Lenten season has been eliminated consisting of Septuagesima Sunday, Sexagesima Sunday, Quinquagesima Sunday, and from what I can tell the Epiphany season was simply extended. In the new rite of the Catholic Church (the Novus Ordo which is officially considered to be a form of the Roman Rite) this period is Ordinary Time.

Any ideas as to why this pre-Lenten season was eliminated? What are your thoughts on that matter? I still observe it in the Daily Office, but it is not marked in my parish publicly. I am still comparing the Collects to see how similar or different they are. The Collect for Quinquagesima is similar to the one for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany in the 1979 prayer book.

I know the Continuing Anglicans must still observe the pre-Lenten season. I'd like to hear from other provinces within the Anglican communion as well as I don't know what their practices are in this regard. All Anglicans are welcome to respond of course.

Here are the Collects for these days from the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer contrasted with the collects from the North American 1979 prayer book:

Septuagesima:
O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany:
O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth: Send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Sexagesima:
O LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany:
O most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee who carest for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Quinquagesima:
O LORD, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany:
O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

These are the old Roman rite Collects for those days:

Septuagesima:

Graciously hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy people, that we, who are justly afflicted for our sins, may for the glory of thy Name, be mercifully delivered.

Sexagesima:

O God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do: mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended from all adversities.

Quinquagesima:

We beseech thee, O Lord, graciously hear our prayers: and releasing us from the bonds of our sins, guard us from all adversity.

 

[Albion]

I know the Continuing Anglicans must still observe the pre-Lenten season.

That's right, and Ordinary Time is still the Sundays after Trinity.

 

[PloverWing]

I came to the Episcopal church after the introduction of the 1979 Prayer Book, so I don't have any experience with the older calendar. I did, however, notice this in your list of contrasts:

Last Sunday after the Epiphany:
O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I really like the commemoration of the Transfiguration at Last Epiphany, sort of a culmination of our weeks of reflection on the manifestations of Jesus' divinity. Is this unique to the 1979 American BCP?

 

[everbecoming2007]

I did, however, notice this in your list of contrasts:



I really like the commemoration of the Transfiguration at Last Epiphany, sort of a culmination of our weeks of reflection on the manifestations of Jesus' divinity. Is this unique to the 1979 American BCP?

I have no idea. Perhaps we will hear from Anglicans of other provinces on that matter.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

Maybe it has been eliminated because it has no place in mission.

 

[everbecoming2007]

Maybe it has been eliminated because it has no place in mission.

So what else should we eliminate that isn't directly tied to mission? The Lenten season?

 

[Naomi4Christ]

So what else should we eliminate that isn't directly tied to mission? The Lenten season?

Lent is between you and God. Not between you and church.

 

[everbecoming2007]

Lent is between you and God. Not between you and church.

I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean. Without the church there is no Lent. Or sacraments for that matter.

 

[Paidiske]

I would disagree with the idea that the liturgical calendar with its seasons has no place in mission. Part of the mission of the Church (as defined in the Marks of Mission of the Anglican communion) is to "teach, baptise and nurture" believers. The liturgical calendar has a significant role in the teaching and nurture of believers.

That said, I don't have a significant problem with some flexibility or variation in how liturgical calendars are shaped and used.

In Australia we don't have a "pre-Lenten" season as such. We have Epiphany, the Baptism of our Lord, and then a stretch of ordinary time up to Ash Wednesday. Some churches do keep the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas) but it doesn't mark the end of the Christmas season as such. Keeping the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration is optional, and local custom varies. (Personally I feel it works well to have Transfiguration on that Sunday, but in my current parish they keep it in August and I can live with that too).

When it comes to the collects, our Sunday collects in ordinary time are on a three-year cycle, to reflect our use of the revised common lectionary. Do you use the same collects every year?

 

[everbecoming2007]

I would disagree with the idea that the liturgical calendar with its seasons has no place in mission. Part of the mission of the Church (as defined in the Marks of Mission of the Anglican communion) is to "teach, baptise and nurture" believers. The liturgical calendar has a significant role in the teaching and nurture of believers.

That said, I don't have a significant problem with some flexibility or variation in how liturgical calendars are shaped and used.

In Australia we don't have a "pre-Lenten" season as such. We have Epiphany, the Baptism of our Lord, and then a stretch of ordinary time up to Ash Wednesday. Some churches do keep the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas) but it doesn't mark the end of the Christmas season as such. Keeping the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration is optional, and local custom varies. (Personally I feel it works well to have Transfiguration on that Sunday, but in my current parish they keep it in August and I can live with that too).

When it comes to the collects, our Sunday collects in ordinary time are on a three-year cycle, to reflect our use of the revised common lectionary. Do you use the same collects every year?

Good point about mission.

Yes, in the 1979 North American prayer book we use the same collects each year. Most use the three year RCL, too.

 

[Arcangl86]

The Pre-Lenten season doesn't really make sense. It has the same penitential character of Lent, but it starts before Ash Wensday, which is the official start of the Lenten season. I don't think it really adds anything to the Church year we don't already get from the other seasons.

 

[everbecoming2007]

The Pre-Lenten season doesn't really make sense. It has the same penitential character of Lent, but it starts before Ash Wensday, which is the official start of the Lenten season. I don't think it really adds anything to the Church year we don't already get from the other seasons.

In the Catholic tradition it is in the old rite a period of transition to enter into a penitential mentality, but the fasting has not begun. I would presume the same is true in Anglicanism, but we don't actually require specific fasts by canon law and never did as far as I know. But I would expect that individuals who fast would not begin until Ash Wednesday. That gives us time to prepare for Lent and enter into the proper mentality.

 

[Paidiske]

I guess like how the Orthodox do meatfare and cheesefare Sundays and stuff?

I guess what might be helpful - especially since we don't require specific personal observances by canon law - would be some sort of prompt to people to think about how best to use Lent before they arrive at Ash Wednesday. I tend to try to do that by putting together a booklet listing all the special services, any study groups or quiet days or whatever, also with some food for thought about fasting and other possibilities, and making it available a week or two before Lent begins. But how many people actually pick it up and prayerfully consider it is a whole other question!

 

[everbecoming2007]

I guess like how the Orthodox do meatfare and cheesefare Sundays and stuff?

I guess what might be helpful - especially since we don't require specific personal observances by canon law - would be some sort of prompt to people to think about how best to use Lent before they arrive at Ash Wednesday. I tend to try to do that by putting together a booklet listing all the special services, any study groups or quiet days or whatever, also with some food for thought about fasting and other possibilities, and making it available a week or two before Lent begins. But how many people actually pick it up and prayerfully consider it is a whole other question!

This leads me to ask if you think the Collects I listed from the '79 prayer book still serve that function in any way. I noticed that one of the Collects as mentioned is very similar to the old one and penitential in character, and the last Collect before Lent mentions taking up our cross.

 

[Paidiske]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the collects by themselves - absent other prompts on particular themes or ideas - are relatively liturgically weak. By which I mean that I think that they tend not to be easily heard and integrated into one's thinking, nor do I think they tend to facilitate transformative encounter with God in the liturgy.

 

[everbecoming2007]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the collects by themselves - absent other prompts on particular themes or ideas - are relatively liturgically weak. By which I mean that I think that they tend not to be easily heard and integrated into one's thinking, nor do I think they tend to facilitate transformative encounter with God in the liturgy.

I might have to look at what readings go along with them in the lectionary.

 

[everbecoming2007]

I might have to look at what readings go along with them in the lectionary.

Hopefully this is the most recent lectionary. These are the readings and psalms that go with the Collects. I'll take a look at them later to see if the themes seem to prepare for Lent in any way.

Track A:

Seventh Sunday
after Epiphany 119:33-40
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23
Matthew 5:38-48

Eighth Sunday
after Epiphany 131
Isaiah 49:8-16a
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34

Last Sunday
after Epiphany 2
or 99
Exodus 24:12-18
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

Track B:

Seventh Sunday
after Epiphany 41
Isaiah 43:18-25
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Mark 2:1-12

Eighth Sunday
after Epiphany 103:1-13,22
Hosea 2:14-20
2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Mark 2:13-22

Last Sunday
after Epiphany 50:1-6
2 Kings 2:1-12
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9

Track C:


Seventh Sunday
after Epiphany 37:1-12,41-42
Genesis 45:3-11,15
1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
Luke 6:27-38

Eighth Sunday
after Epiphany 92:1-4,11-14
Sirach 27:4-7
or Isaiah 55:10-13
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
Luke 6:39-49

Last Sunday
after Epiphany 99
Exodus 34:29-35
2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2
Luke 9:28-36,(37-43a)

The Online Book of Common Prayer

The 1928 readings are as follows:

Septuagesima: 1 Corinthians 9:24; Matthew 20:1

Sexagesima: 2 Corinthians 11:19; Luke 8:4

Quinquagesima: 1 Corinthians 13:1; Luke 18:31

 

[Shane R]

"The three Pre-Lenten Sundays are a peculiarity of the Roman rite, which passed into the medieval Missals and thence to the Prayer Book. They were instituted in the late sixth century, shortly after the invasion of Italy by the Lombards (A.D. 568); the first specific mention of them was in the homilies of Pope Gregory the Great. Many of the propers for these Sundays in the Roman Missal reflect the sad and perilous condition of Italy at that time, not only because of the ravages of the barbarians but also because of the pestilences, famines, and earthquakes that occurred during the period. Other factors, however, may have contributed to the development of this season, which in its liturgical tone is really an extension of Lent, as all festal features, such as the use of the Gloria in excelsis and the Alleluia, are omitted on these days. Some scholars have suggested that there was possibly some influence upon the Roman Church by the Easterners then in Italy, who observed an eight-week rather than a six-week Lenten fast. . .

The liturgical lessons for the first two of these Sundays are undoubtedly older than the formal institution of the Pre-Lenten season, and are 'New Year's' propers connected with the preparation of the vineyards and the sowing of seed at the time of the spring equinox. (In the old Roman Calendar March was counted as the first month.) Another indication of this 'New Year's' character may be seen in the ancient tradition of beginning the reading of Genesis on Septuagesima in the monastic Daily Offices." - Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr.

 

[everbecoming2007]

"The three Pre-Lenten Sundays are a peculiarity of the Roman rite, which passed into the medieval Missals and thence to the Prayer Book. They were instituted in the late sixth century, shortly after the invasion of Italy by the Lombards (A.D. 568); the first specific mention of them was in the homilies of Pope Gregory the Great. Many of the propers for these Sundays in the Roman Missal reflect the sad and perilous condition of Italy at that time, not only because of the ravages of the barbarians but also because of the pestilences, famines, and earthquakes that occurred during the period. Other factors, however, may have contributed to the development of this season, which in its liturgical tone is really an extension of Lent, as all festal features, such as the use of the Gloria in excelsis and the Alleluia, are omitted on these days. Some scholars have suggested that there was possibly some influence upon the Roman Church by the Easterners then in Italy, who observed an eight-week rather than a six-week Lenten fast. . .

The liturgical lessons for the first two of these Sundays are undoubtedly older than the formal institution of the Pre-Lenten season, and are 'New Year's' propers connected with the preparation of the vineyards and the sowing of seed at the time of the spring equinox. (In the old Roman Calendar March was counted as the first month.) Another indication of this 'New Year's' character may be seen in the ancient tradition of beginning the reading of Genesis on Septuagesima in the monastic Daily Offices." - Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr.

I noticed that we're reading from Genesis in the Daily Office, one of my favorite books of the Bible. I love the Torah.

 

[Shane R]

I was consulting the "Tables of Precedence" yesterday. The rubric reads:

The Holy Days following have precedence of any other Sunday or Holy Day:
The Sundays in Advent
Christmas Day
The Epiphany
Septuagesima Sunday
Sexagesima Sunday
Quinquagesima Sunday
Ash Wednesday
The Sundays in Lent
All the days of Holy Week
Easter Day; and the seven following days
Rogation Sunday
The Ascension Day; and the Sunday after Ascension Day
Whitsunday (Pentecost); and the six following days
Trinity Sunday

If any other Holy Day fall on any day noted in the preceding Table, the observance of such Holy Day shall be transferred to the first convenient open day.
​

To make an application of that, the second Sunday of Lent falls on the day of the usual commemoration of St. Patrick's Day. Thus, this year, it is appropriate to transfer St. Patrick's Day to Monday the 18th.