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February 23, 2021St. Alban’s Catholic Church continues to provide a window into just how Ordinariate parish communities can succeed in getting their faithful praying the Daily Office.
The Ordinariate community in Rochester, N.Y., deployed a thoughtful strategy to lay the foundation for what Bishop Steven Lopes had eloquently envisioned for Ordinariate parishes and the Daily Office.
“One of the particular insights that arose in the Anglican tradition is that the Office is the prayer of the parish. It's the prayer of the whole parish: the clergy, but also the lay faithful,” he told the National Catholic Register. “And so this tradition that Morning and Evening Prayer would be prayed publicly in church is a regular feature of that parish life, and should become again a regular feature of Ordinariate life.”
St. Alban’s recognized that making the Office a prayed reality in the church, required cultivating the culture of the Office prayed at home. So the following strategy was employed: 1, give the faithful a brief catechesis on the Daily Office and why they should all pray it; 2, invite the faithful to join the parish pre-order and promise to teach them how to pray the Daily Office; 3, obtain enough books for liturgical use and have extras to give to parishioners on fixed or limited incomes as needed; 4, distribute the books upon arrival and sign people up for classes; 5, encourage the faithful to take up the Office and join in parish Evensong through repeated invitation.
St. Alban’s ordered 100 copies of Divine Worship: Daily Office at a bulk rate, which included pre-ordered copies from the community’s members in addition to covering St. Alban’s liturgical needs. So far, 50 copies have been distributed to the faithful.
St. Alban's parochial administrator, Fr. Nathan Davis, offered classes in three different formats: over Zoom, in-person, and with families on pastoral visits. More than 30 individuals, so far, have gone through formation in how to pray the Daily Office.
The rate of participation at St. Alban’s is very high, esp. since the growing parish community is seeing between 60-70 people on Sundays for Mass. Altogether, St. Alban’s experience shows there’s true receptivity and eagerness to pray the Daily Office that comes not only from Catholics of the Anglican tradition, but also lifelong Roman Catholics with no prior experience of the Daily Office or the Anglican tradition before joining St. Alban’s.
The parish community’s success has greatly encouraged Fr. Davis, who is now expanding St. Alban’s Sunday Evensong schedule from just one Sunday to every Sunday of the month at 7 pm. First Sundays will remain Solemn Choral Evensong with Benediction.
This is just the foundation. More opportunities for parish Evensong are coming down the pike as St. Alban’s culture of praying the Daily Office continues to strengthen and grow.
Peter Jesserer Smith is the ACS Vice President and a staff writer for the National Catholic Register.
A version of this article appeared first in the ACS newsletter, The St. Peter's Rambler. If you have Ordinariate news to share, please contact St. Peter's Rambler editor Jackson Perry.Above Photo: Fr. Nathan Davis leads Sunday Evensong at St. Alban's. (Credit: Peter Jesserer Smith).
