The Lesser Feast of Richard Meux Benson, Priest and Vowed Religious, and Charles Gore, Bishop and Vowed Religious
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Page numbers listed are from The Book of Common Prayer.
Opening Sentence, page 103
Officiant: O God, make speed to save us.
People: O Lord, make haste to help us.
All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm 27:7-11, page 618
7 In the day of trouble the Lord shall keep me safe
in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.
8 Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.
9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
10 Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *
have mercy on me and answer me.
11 You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” *
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading: John 17:6-11
Jesus said, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Reflection: Richard Meux Benson, Priest and Vowed Religious, and Charles Gore, Bishop and Vowed Religious, 1932
Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore are remembered for their role in the revival of Anglican monasticism in the nineteenth century.
Richard Meux Benson was born in London in 1824. He was educated at home until he went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied under Edward Bouverie Pusey. He was subsequently ordained as a priest and served as vicar of the village of Cowley, not far from Oxford. In 1858 Fr. Benson conducted the first of many silent retreats for priests for which he later became well known. Also around this time, he established a church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist in Cowley, and made plans to travel to India to gather a community of missionaries to live with him in poverty. His bishop, however, urged him to stay in England, where the Oxford Movement was spreading.
At this time, although there were several Anglican monastic communities for women, there were not yet any communities for men. Therefore, in 1865, Fr. Benson and Fr. S. W. O’Neill established a community that was both contemplative and externally focused, which they called the Mission Priests of St. John the Evangelist. It was the first religious order for men in the Church of England since the Reformation. Fr. Benson was named Superior, and as such, developed the Society’s Rule of Life and Constitution. The brothers recited the Daily Office together, were urged to spend at least an hour in contemplation each day, and continued their priestly ministry outside of the monastery. In the late 1800s the Society spread to the United States, India, and South Africa. Fr. Benson himself visited the community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and remained there for a number of years before returning to England, where he died in 1915.
Charles Gore was born in 1853 in Wimbledon and was educated mainly at Oxford. He was ordained in 1876 and served in positions at Cuddesdon and Pusey House, Oxford, both of which were focused upon theological education and the formation of clergy. While at Pusey House, Gore founded the Community of the Resurrection, a community for men that sought to combine the rich traditions of the religious life with a lively concern for the demands of ministry in the modern world.
Gore, a prolific writer and noted theologian, was a principal progenitor of liberal Anglo-Catholicism in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Anglicanism. He was concerned to make the critical scholarship of the age available to the church, particularly with respect to the Bible. A second but no less important concern was to prick the conscience of the church and plead for its engagement in the work of social justice for all. Between 1902 and 1919, Gore served successively as bishop of the dioceses of Worcester, Birmingham, and Oxford, seamlessly uniting his vocations of bishop, monastic, and theologian. He died in 1932.
The Prayers, pages 106-107
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Officiant: Lord, hear our prayer;
People: And let our cry come to you.
Officiant: Let us pray.
Gracious God, who kindled in your servants Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore the grace to lead a revival of monastic life: Grant us also the resolve to serve you faithfully in contemplation and prayer, ministering to the world that you have made, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Intercessions and Thanksgivings
Dismissal, page 107
Officiant: Let us bless the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Officiant: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.