(no subject)
Jul. 14th, 2009 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tree_and_leafOn a happier note, today the Church of England commemorates John Keble (1792-1866), priest, fellow of Oriel College (where he and Newman more or less invented the Oxford tutorial system, revolutionising university teaching), Professor of Poetry of the University of Oxford, and one of the initiators of the Oxford Movement. Even outside Anglo-Catholic circles, though, the Anglican Communion would be very different without Keble, Newman, Pusey et al, both in essentials - it's largely down to the Tractarians that weekly communion has become normal - and in the externals (vestments and candles). The catholic revival gave new energy to the Church of England and beyond, particularly in its involvement in mission, outreach, and general social justice issues in deprived urban areas.* In later life he was friends with CM Yonge, and his influence is tangible in her novels.
I've always liked Keble - quite apart from his loyalty to the C of E, he seems to have been an attractive character. My icon shows him in age, but there's a nice pencil drawing of him as a younger man:
He also wrote some good hymns, though much of his poetry is not to modern taste. But "New every morning," "Blessed are the pure in heart," and "Sun of my soul" are still sung, deservedly. He also did a translation of one of the earliest hymns, the "Phos hilaron". More metrically regular ones are available, but I remain very fond of this, and not merely because it has sentimental associations:
Hail, gladdening Light, of his pure glory poured,
who is immortal Father, heavenly blest;
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ our Lord!
Now are we come to the sun's hour of rest;
the lights of evening round us shine,
we hymn the Father, Son and Holy Spirit divine.
Worthiest art thou at all times to be sung,
with undefilèd tongue,
Son of our God, Giver of life, alone!
Therefore in all the world thy glories, Lord, they own.
Elsewhere in the communion, Keble is commemorated on his death-day, March 29th, but the C of E uses today, because it is the anniversary of the preaching of the "Sermon on National Apostasy", at St Mary the Virgin Oxford. The sermon was occasioned by a rearrangement of the arrangements of bishoprics in Ireland, which is a most peculiar thing to inspire a religious revival, but Keble's insistence that the church was there to be a prophetic voice, not an arm of the state and subject to government, had wider resonances. In fact, the Oxford Movement quickly turned in an attempt to recover a way of being Anglican that was more in continuity with the earliest forms of the church (in some ways, there are parallels with the Romantic movement in literature and art), and with a strong sacramental and liturgical emphasis, but while Keble always disclaimed responsibility for starting off the movement, Newman dated the beginnings of it all to that sermon. And it's certainly a convenient date to observe...
The collect of the day is rather nice, too, even if it's not quite as good as the one for George Herbert:
Father of the eternal Word,
in whose encompassing love
all things in peace and order move:
grant that, as your servant John Keble
adored you in all creation,
so we may have a humble heart of love
for the mysteries of your Church
and know your love to be new every morning,
in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
* Anglican catholics have rather dropped the ball on outreach of late, and it's something we really need to recapture.
I've always liked Keble - quite apart from his loyalty to the C of E, he seems to have been an attractive character. My icon shows him in age, but there's a nice pencil drawing of him as a younger man:
He also wrote some good hymns, though much of his poetry is not to modern taste. But "New every morning," "Blessed are the pure in heart," and "Sun of my soul" are still sung, deservedly. He also did a translation of one of the earliest hymns, the "Phos hilaron". More metrically regular ones are available, but I remain very fond of this, and not merely because it has sentimental associations:
Hail, gladdening Light, of his pure glory poured,
who is immortal Father, heavenly blest;
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ our Lord!
Now are we come to the sun's hour of rest;
the lights of evening round us shine,
we hymn the Father, Son and Holy Spirit divine.
Worthiest art thou at all times to be sung,
with undefilèd tongue,
Son of our God, Giver of life, alone!
Therefore in all the world thy glories, Lord, they own.
Elsewhere in the communion, Keble is commemorated on his death-day, March 29th, but the C of E uses today, because it is the anniversary of the preaching of the "Sermon on National Apostasy", at St Mary the Virgin Oxford. The sermon was occasioned by a rearrangement of the arrangements of bishoprics in Ireland, which is a most peculiar thing to inspire a religious revival, but Keble's insistence that the church was there to be a prophetic voice, not an arm of the state and subject to government, had wider resonances. In fact, the Oxford Movement quickly turned in an attempt to recover a way of being Anglican that was more in continuity with the earliest forms of the church (in some ways, there are parallels with the Romantic movement in literature and art), and with a strong sacramental and liturgical emphasis, but while Keble always disclaimed responsibility for starting off the movement, Newman dated the beginnings of it all to that sermon. And it's certainly a convenient date to observe...
The collect of the day is rather nice, too, even if it's not quite as good as the one for George Herbert:
Father of the eternal Word,
in whose encompassing love
all things in peace and order move:
grant that, as your servant John Keble
adored you in all creation,
so we may have a humble heart of love
for the mysteries of your Church
and know your love to be new every morning,
in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
* Anglican catholics have rather dropped the ball on outreach of late, and it's something we really need to recapture.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 02:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 03:04 pm (UTC)It's not just that he's handsome, it's the way that the expression in all the pictures I've seen of him suggest a man with a sense of humour...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-14 11:39 pm (UTC)I can easily understand it. And a good expression is always revealing (at least if it is reoccurring). Now, had he not had the bad taste of having been dead for about 150 years he would have been quite a catch. But that, I have to admit, makes him less suitable to have anything more than a SLIGHT crush!