With the goal of better understanding the traditional Anglican movements, I visited the local Anglo-Catholic church here in SA-town; a quaint little place called Saint Edward the Confessor "Catholic Church Western Rite" (website here). Don't let the established Internet presence fool you, though. There were about seven people total in the pews this morning. It's an extremely small congregation, about half of which are very elderly women.

This church probably confuses most casual Catholics who happen to pass by and visit, since nowhere on the premises does it actually say "Anglo-Catholic" or anything of the sort. I believe in reality, the church is part of a communion of Western-rite Orthodox bishops. I can't say for sure, though. I noticed a Hispanic couple that came in late (sometime during the homily) and seemed to be confused by the order of Mass, but venerated the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe afterward and probably assumed it was like any other Catholic church!


One thing I learned today based on this visit is that St. Edward's is a "missal church". In the Anglican world, that means a church which uses a missal (like the Anglican Missal, English Missal or Knott Missal; or even the pre-Reformation Sarum Missal) instead of the Book of Common Prayer or its modern derivatives. From what I could tell, the order of Mass was pretty much exactly like the Tridentine Mass, except in Elizabethan English. Prayers at the foot of the altar, last gospel, and so forth. I couldn't think of any deviations, except that the rector, the Rev. Father Arthur Barrymore, added some general intercessions after the announcements.

I also confirmed that my pastor, the Rev. Father Phillips, was formerly associated with this community before he came all the way to Rome. Therefore, Father Phillips must have had some experience with using this missal and, if the upcoming revisions to the Anglican use's liturgy allow it, we might actually see a "vernacular Tridentine Mass" at Atonement. Just my wild speculation; I meant to ask Father this evening after Mass and forgot. And now that I'm training to serve at the local Tridentine Mass, I might be pretty useful around the parish if a vernacular version of the same comes around.

Father Barrymore was a pleasant old British priest to chat with afterward. He couldn't stop telling me the history of the various church furnishings, most of which were salvaged from the post-Vatican II worldwide wreckovations; including an electric organ from San Fernando Cathedral, and an altar from an Italian convent with the relics of a 5th century or so martyr inside. I hope that he sees how the water's fine and it's quite safe to cross the Tiber.