The first liturgical texts have been approved for worldwide use by the personal ordinariates for former Anglicans now in communion with the Catholic Church.
The Order for Funerals and the Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony were promulgated by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the sacraments.
They are to be used by the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the United Kingdom; the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter in the United States and Canada; and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia.
The new liturgies replace existing texts, including those from the Book of Divine Worship. Drawn from the classical Anglican prayer book tradition, the texts incorporate elements of the Anglican patrimony.
“We welcome with gratitude these texts, which bring into Catholic liturgical life some of the most beloved and memorable texts in the Book of Common Prayer,” said Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, Ordinary for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. “These texts have blessed and comforted generations of English-speaking Christians and will be deeply appreciated in the Ordinariate communities.”
Monsignor Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, said: “This is an important moment in the development of our distinctive liturgical and ecclesial life. We saw the world stop to watch the Royal Wedding last year, now a very similar and beautiful liturgy is available for use in the ordinariates of the Catholic Church — it is a great privilege for us to be part of that obvious working-out of practical, receptive ecumenism.”
The liturgies for the former Anglicans were promulgated on June 22, the feast day of two English saints of the Reformation, John Fisher and Thomas More.
Sources:
Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter
Image: Our Lady of Walsingham parish
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