Dear Friends,
As we find ourselves in the midst of Holy Week, we approach
the great celebration of the Triduum - the Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good
Friday, and Easter. Together, they form a single worship service, spread out
over that 72 hours.
The days of our Lord's betrayal, suffering, death, and
especially of his Resurrection, forms the heart, the core, and the centre of
our lives, and of the Church Year. Everything from the First Sunday of Advent
has been building to this moment, and all which comes after is its legacy and
consequence.
It is at this celebration, particularly on Maundy Thursday -
the Institution of the Lord's Supper, and Easter Day, that receiving the Holy
Eucharist is of particular importance and significance to every Christian.
After all, it is in receiving Communion that we affirm our participation in the
Risen Life of Christ, as we receive the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in
the bread and wine.
This Triduum, though, is different from any other which we
will have experienced in over a century, with the onset of the "Spanish
Flu" in 1918-1919. In order to love and protect each other, we are
informed by public health officials that the best thing we can do is to stay
home as much as we possibly can. While the risk of infection from receiving
Communion using the common chalice is extremely low (as long as traditional
practices are rigorously observed) - given that directive, and physical
distancing rules, government injunctions against public gatherings of more than
five people, and our Archbishop's suspension of gathering for public worship,
for almost all of us, it will be impossible to physically receive the Holy
Eucharist.
However, there is a remedy which is absolutely a part of our
Anglican tradition, in the practice called "Spiritual Communion". In
the Book of Common Prayer, on page 584 (the section for "The Ministry to
the Sick", part IV "The Communion of the Sick"), it says that
if, as a result of extreme illness, or any other just impediment (which we
certainly find ourselves in the midst of) a person is unable to receive the
Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, that if that same person earnestly
repents them of their sins, believes that Jesus suffered and died on the cross
for him or her, and shed his Blood for their redemption, and remembers and
gives thanks for that saving work that Jesus Christ has accomplished for them,
that person receives all the spiritual benefits of receiving the Eucharist,
without have physically eaten the bread or having consumed the wine.
As a result, on Maundy Thursday and Easter Day, according to
our previously published schedule, we will be "live-streaming" the
Holy Eucharist via our Facebook Page (St. Stephen's Parish Chester) using the
Book of Common Prayer (see previous communications for copies online if you do
not actually have a physical copy of the book). Please note that you do not
need a Facebook account to go to that page or to watch the live-stream. I,
assisted by a Lay Reader, will be celebrating the Eucharist, and as the
Presiding Celebrant, I will receive the bread and wine, not strictly on my own
behalf, on behalf of the spiritually gathered community. It is as we all
confess our sins, and join in on the "Amens" with the prayers,
and to the fact that the bread is the Body of Christ, and the wine is the blood
of Christ, we all shall receive the spiritual benefits of Communion.
If you do not have access to our live-stream for any reason
and/or you have a friend, family member, or neighbour who does not have access
to the live-stream, this resource from the Church of England also gives us a
means whereby we can receive Spiritual Communion as well. If you know of a
neighbour or acquaintance who would normally come to worship, and cannot take
part in the live-stream, I would encourage you to print off this document and
safely drop this off to them.
With prayers and blessings for a Holy Triduum and a Blessed
Easter, I am,
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Ian+
(Archdeacon Ian Wissler, Rector)
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