Memorial for Thomas Cranmer, Martyr

The Collect

Almighty and everliving God, who didst guide thy servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, to render the worship of thy Church in a language understanded of the people: Make us ever thankful for this our heritage, and help us so to pray in thy Spirit and with the understanding also, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Readings (Acts ii. 38; Saint Matthew vi. 5)

In 1549 a new prayer book was published containing versions of the liturgy in English. Generally believed to have been supervised by Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer was at the centre of the decade of religious turmoil that followed, and disputes over its use were one of the major causes of the English Civil War in the 1640s. The book was revised several times before the celebrated final version was published in 1662.

The Book of Common Prayer is still in use in many churches today, and remains not just a liturgical text of great importance but a literary work of profound beauty and influence.

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Documentary: Archbishop Cranmer and the Prayerbook Tradition

Living peacefully in a communion of diverse Anglicans can be difficult. However Anglicans will always have something in common so long as they continue in common prayer.

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Documentary: Elizabeth I and Anglicanism

Elizabeth I was the second queen in English history and the first Anglican Protestant queen ever. Without Elizabeth I there would be no Anglican Church today. But Elizabeth I was also unique in her stance on traditional religion, and she rejected several Puritan theologies in her realm. This video tells the story of Elizabeth I, Anglicanism, Puritanism, and the birth of the Shakespearean Age. 

Ryan M. Reeves, Ph.D is Assistant Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

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Documentary: Henry VIII & Early Anglicanism

This video tells the story of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn. It also tells the story about how early Anglicanism was formed under Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer.

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Songs of Faith & Devotion: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

As Advent comes to a close enjoy this traditional 12th century Latin hymn with English lyrics provided and performed by a traditional choir.

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Documentary: St. Paul's Cathedral (1942)

This short film is an exploration of the history of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with a focus on the architecture and individuals buried there, and the impact of the World War II. 

For more than 1,400 years, a Cathedral dedicated to St Paul has stood at the highest point in the City. Frequently at the centre of national events, traditions have been observed here and radical new ideas have found expression under the iconic dome. In many cases these events have left some physical record as well as echoes in the intangible memory of the building. 

The present Cathedral, the masterpiece of Britain's most famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, is at least the fourth to have stood on the site. It was built between 1675 and 1710, after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and services began in 1697. 

This was the first Cathedral to be built after the English Reformation in the sixteenth-century, when Henry VIII removed the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Crown took control of the life of the church.

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Documentary: Behind the Monastery Walls

The monastery acts as a sacred home of God while also offering a home to the nuns and monks who have dedicated their lives to God. Romania’s monasteries are known worldwide for their magnificent beauty but many questions remain: What do we know about the people that live there? How different is the life they lead? How different is the way they see the world?

Behind the Monastery Walls presents a selection of intimate and inspiring interviews by nuns and monks in Romanian monasteries where they open up and share their thoughts and beliefs.

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Documentary: Life In Hidden Light

This video highlights life inside an enclosed Carmelite community and includes short excerpts of interviews with some of the Sisters.

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Documentary: The Last Anchorite

This film is from Remigiusz Sowa who won was the Best Documentary award winner at the Crystal Palace International Film Festival. It is the remarkable story of Father Lazarus El Anthony, university lecturer and Marxist who abandoned his life in Australia and went in search of God and freedom. His pilgrimage eventually brought him to a life of a Christian Coptic monk and to live in solitude on the Al-Qalzam Mountain in the pursuit of what the Desert Fathers called apatheia, holy stillness.

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Documentary: Sister: A film about a Russian Nun

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Songs of Faith & Devotion: Psalm 37

This live recording includes the first twenty verses of Psalm 37, sung to two beautiful Anglican chants by the Rivelin Singers during their residency in Wells Cathedral, UK.

The chants are arranged and performed by Jonathan P Eyre and Graham Barber.

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The Brethren - Documentary

The Brethren is a documentary about the monks of the world's northernmost monastery -- the Trifonov Pechengsky monastery located in Kolsky Peninsula, Russia. The membership of this monastery is small: 4 hieromonks and 2 monks. They are young, and every one of them has had his personal way to monastic ordination. Through there calling to the monastic life they are working to restore the buildings of the monastery and to build a temple in their hearts.

The film features unique footage of inner life of the monastery.

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Documentary: Space of Silence

This short film highlights the Rule and the Cistercian tradition illustrating how this Order has succeeded in blending a subtile mix of community life and of independance, of work and of prayer, of poverty without indigence, of silence, of space and austere solitude for going to God, in a fraternal atmosphere.

For more information:

Opatství Nový Dvůr – OCSO
Dobrá Voda 20
364 01 Toužim
tel: +420 353 300 500
fax: +420 353 300 521
email@novydvur.cz

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Songs of Faith & Devotion: Evlogetaria for the Dead

While not a Western hymn for Lent I find the message of 'Evlogetaria for the Dead', Tone 5 especially moving and powerful for meditation and reflection during this Lententide season.

Enjoy...

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.
The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that was lost am I, call me up to You, O Saviour, and save me.

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

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Songs of Faith & Devotion: Psalm 137 - By the Waters of Babylon

George Mursell Garrett was an English organist and composer. He was born in Winchester in 1834 where his father was master of the choristers at Winchester Cathedral. He later served as assistant to Samuel Sebastian Wesley at Winchester. Garrett was appointed the Director of Music at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1857 and held the position for forty years.

Garrett wrote music for the Anglican Church in the form of service settings and anthems. He is perhaps best represented today by his setting of Psalm 126.

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Holy Cross Monastery - Discernment Video

During this month of prayer for Christian unity it is important to illustrate the richness of religious tradition for those in consecrated life. This video shows the important ministry of Holy Cross Monastery, an Episcopal monastery in the Benedictine tradition. Video includes call to join the monastery as it discerns its needs for the future.

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Archimandrite - Documentary

Archimandrite is the story of Gabriel, an Orthodox monk from the Podlasie province in Poland and founder and sole inhabitant of the Kudak grove hermitage by river Narew. During his first few years there, he lived and prayed in a wagon house, without electricity, running water, or contact with the outside world. After five years, thanks to the help of people of Orthodox faith from local villages, the grove saw the rise of a wooden church, a dormitory for monks and outbuildings.

Pilgrims are drawn to the place by Archimandrite Gabriel's personality: he can find common ground with anyone, he grants spiritual advice, heals with herbs and keeps bees.

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Songs of Faith & Devotion: The Lord's Prayer

Sometimes words cannot describe poignantly enough the exquisite, angelic voices that permeate the heart and exalt the soul within the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The voices on this version of the 'Our Father' wisps along while the choirs' baritones, tenors, and sopranos mesh into one expansive blessing.

This emotes a tranquility and celestial grace that makes it like a piece of heaven on Earth.

In His service,
seraphim mary+
a miserable sinner

God’s Troubadour, the Story of St. Francis of Assisi

by Sophie Jewett (1861-1909)

Francis, a young Italian boy, is a merchant’s son who is enthralled by the troubadour songs and tales of knights that his father brings back from his travels. He decides to become a knight, but after seeing the poor and suffering in the tragedies of war, he decides to give away all of his worldly possessions and become a troubadour for God.

Total running time: 2:30:13
Read by Sean McKinley

Archbishop Cranmer & the Prayerbook Tradition

Living peacefully in a communion of diverse Anglicans can be difficult. However Anglicans will always have something in common so long as they continue in common prayer.