Anglican bishop lays mitre, crozier at Our Lady’s feet as he leaves for ordinariate
CWN - November 30, 2010
Bishop Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet, one of five Anglican bishops who have announced they will seek full communion with the Holy See, laid his mitre and crozier at Our Lady’s feet in his last sermon as a bishop of the Church of England.
“Jesus prays for the gift of Unity,” he preached. “It is that gift of Unity, I believe, which is offered to us, and through us eventually to all separated Christians, in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. It is because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, abiding in his Church, that I believe I must accept it and invite others to come with me on the journey.”
“The Anglo-catholic movement has fought a losing battle for 150 years, trying to convince the Church of England that she would be Catholic if only she conformed herself to the Catholic Faith and fully embraced Catholic Faith and Order,” he added. “But I love the Church of England – the mainstream bit – and shall miss her. She taught me the psalms and the Revised Standard Version. She taught me about music in the service of God. She taught me about the beauty of holiness … There is little more beautiful in literature than the Cranmerian cadences of the traditional language of the Prayer Book, which, rather unusually, we are using today.”
“For many, I hope it will be ‘see you soon’ rather than ‘good-bye’ but, on your journey of discipleship, look not to me but to the Lord whom we serve,” he concluded. “He alone can teach us how to be pilgrims on the way that leads to Paradise.”
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Posted by: philliprenfro3975 -
Nov. 30, 2010 8:39 PM ET USA
A most gracious farewell!
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Posted by: lauriem5377 -
Nov. 30, 2010 8:16 PM ET USA
God bless this bishop for following what our Lord has directed. We should all be working for unity.
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Posted by: tturner3998 -
Nov. 30, 2010 6:21 PM ET USA
To lay down the trappings of his ecclesial power at the feet of the blessed virgin mary for the sake of unity with the catholic church is very very cool.
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Posted by: Mike in Toronto -
Nov. 30, 2010 6:04 PM ET USA
I will never tire of saying, "Welcome home!"
