THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC

MAGAZINE

Articles by or about
J.I. Wedgwood and C.W. Leadbeater
1924 1966
(various)

Vol. 1

VOLUME 1

CONTENTS
1.
THE DOCTRINE OF ECONOMY
Exoteric and Esoteric Instruction
By the Presiding Bishop (CWL) - December 1924 Vol. 1 No. 3

2.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ALTAR
By the Rt. Rev. J.I. Wedgwood - December 1924 Vol. 1 No. 3

10

3.
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
By The Rt. Rev. J.I. Wedgwood - Easter 1925 Vol. II No. 1

14

4.
CEREMONIAL DIRECTIONS FOR VESPERS
BY THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD, D. SC.
December 1927 Vol. VII No. 3

17

5.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH WORSHIP
BY THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - February 1928 Vol. VII No. 5

22

6.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH WORSHIP
BY THE RIGHT REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - March 1928 Vol. VII No. 6

25

7.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
By THE REV. C.W. LEADBEATER (Presiding Bishop) June 1933 Vol. XIII No. 9

30

8.
THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY
A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH
By THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - October 1933 Vol. XIV No. 1

31

9.
THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY
A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH
By THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - November 1933 Vol. XIV No.2

35

10. THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

By THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - December 1933 Vol. XIV No. 3

38

11. THE SACRAMETNS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH.
BY THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - January 1934 Vol. XIV No. 4

41

12. EDITORIAL
44
THE LATE PRESIDING BISHOP C.W. LEADBEATER
APPRECIATIONS AND REMINISCENCES
An address given at St. Marys Pro Cathedral, London at a Requiem Eucharist on 4 th March 1934.
By the Rt. Rev. F.W. Pigott M.A., The Rt.Rev. J.I. Wedgwood and The Rev. John Cordes
April 1934 Vol. XIV No. 7

13. GOD
AN ADDRESS TO A PICNIC PARTY AT MANLY, AUSTRALIA, APRIL, 1925
By THE RT. REV. C.W. LEADBEATER - April 1934 Vol. XIV No. 7

51

14. A STUDY OF CHURH WORSHIP

By THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - April 1935 Vol. XV No. 7

54

15. THE TRINITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

BY C.W. LEADBEATER (Given at the Manor, Sydney, on 18th August, 1924)
June 1934 Vol. XIV No. 9

57

16. A STUDY OF CHURCH WORSHIP

60
Based on an Address to a Gathering of Priests of The Liberal Catholic Church at Huizen in 1929
By THE RT. REV. J.1. WEDGWOOD - March 1935 Vol. XV No. 6
17 . SOME ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
By THE RT. REV. J.I . WEDGWOOD - June 1935 Vol. XV No. 9

62

18. SOME ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

By THE RT. REV. J I. WEDGWOOD - July 1935 Vol. XV No. 10

64

19.

THE POLICY OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH:

SOME SUGGESTIONS
BY THE RT. REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD - November 1935 Vol. XVI No. 2

66

20. SEVEN KEYS TO CHRISTMAS

December 1957 Vol. XXX No. 9

72

21. THE INNER TEACHING OF EARLY CHIRISTIANITY

BY C.W. LEADBEATER - April 1961 Vol. XXXII No. 8

73

JAMES INGALL WEDGWOOD, FIRST PRESIDING BISHOP

77
OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
An Appreciation by the REV. G.N. DKINKWATER - December 1966 Vol. XXXV No. 8
22.

---------

THE DOCTRINE OF ECONOMY

Exoteric and Esoteric Instruction
By the Presiding Bishop (CWL)
December 1924 Vol. 1 No. 3
Words, it is said, are given to us to conceal our thoughts; and undoubtedly in our Liberal Catholic
Philosophy we are constantly finding that if they do not conceal them, they certainly fail to express
them. The distinction between the words exoteric and esoteric seems obvious, yet the fact that
questions are constantly asked about them shows that many do not understand their meaning. People
want to know what things are esoteric, and why; and many seem to be of opinion that there should be
no secrecy, but that everything which can be learned or discovered should at once be put at the
disposal of the whole world, as is done in physical science. The wisdom of the ages, however, has
not pronounced in favour of this method of instruction; and it is not difficult to see at least some of
the reasons for which caution in these matters is desirable.
Those who accuse the Occultist of withholding knowledge from the multitude, in order that he may
himself have the exclusive advantage of its possession, are utterly in error. Indeed, by advancing
such a theory they show themselves to be blankly ignorant of the very nature of the problem.
Knowledge possessed by the few earnest students is sometimes not put before the general public.
That much is admitted; but this is only because the man who has attained the knowledge judges that
silence is wisdom, not for himself but for the world. All such knowledge as can be of practical use in
daily life is freely put forward; and the ethical teaching given by the Liberal Catholic Church is
invariably supported by an explanation of the exact reasons why a certain line of conduct is
advisable and a certain other line is inadvisable. Whatever will do good is freely told; but the
possessor of knowledge must be permitted to use his discretion as to what portion of it he will share
with his fellow- men.
People sometimes say that they resent being treated as though they were children; that they want to
know all that there is to know, either of good or of evil, and that they feel thoroughly competent to
decide as to the use which they will make of the information when they receive it. But the fact is
that, with regard to this higher knowledge, the ordinary man is a child; and suddenly to present him
with a mass of new information would not increase his years or enable him to deal with it safely. No
knowledge ever is, or ever can be, withheld from the earnest student. Those who know have earned
the right to know by years of study and self-development. The way by which they travelled is open
still to all, as it has always been open; and no man can hold another back from treading that path.
The truths to be gained along this line are not of the same nature as many of those which are
promulgated by ordinary science. If a man discovers a new metal, he announces the fact to the world,
and the world is the better and not the worse for this additional piece of information; but it would be
absurd to give equally wide circulation to the discovery of some new and deadly poison. Where
secrecy is maintained, it is always in the interests of humanity. Facts which are not publicly
discussed fall usually under one or other of four heads:
1. Those which are dangerous.
2. Those which might be used for evil.
3. Those which are incomprehensible.
4. Those which might provoke irreverence.
1. Those which are dangerous. A large amount of knowledge falls under this head; for there are
great forces in Nature which can only be safely handled by men who have gone through a long
course of careful preparation. No one would put dynamite into the hands of a child; yet that would be
a light matter in comparison with the responsibility of putting the knowledge of great occult forces
into untrained or unworthy hands. Examples of this danger are not wanting, even though they are
fortunately superficial and insignificant. People who have learned a tiny fragment of inner
4

knowledge in connection with the serpent-fire, or even some elementary breathing exercises,
frequently contrive to wreck their health or their sanity; and those who have been unfortunate
enough to come into touch with the world below the physical have rarely lived long enough to regret
the indiscretion which led them into realms that man is not meant to penetrate. Magic is a reality sometimes a very terrible reality - and undoubtedly for the majority of mankind this is one of the
cases where "ignorance is bliss"; for the man who keeps outside of this is reasonably safe from its
dangers.

2. Those which might be misused. In Occultism, as in other sciences, "knowledge is power"; and it
is not well to give power into the hands of a man until there is some guarantee that he will use it
well and unselfishly. Certain tiny fragments of occult knowledge have escaped into the outer world;
and we may already see how far that outer world is from being worthy of even so small a gift. Of late
years people have come to accept to some extent the power of thought and the possibility of
dominating the will of another man by a determined effort. This is a very small and rudimentary fact
- only the merest beginning of the study of mental dynamics - yet we already see that even this first
stepping-stone on the road to real knowledge along that line is being misused. Already we see
advertisements of those who are willing to teach one man how to overreach another in business by
the use of thought-power - how to obtain success (and always at the cost of others) in any line of
business which the man may adopt. The way in which this one fragment of the inner knowledge has
been received certainly does not encourage its custodians to give out anything further.
Only those races which are generally considered the most backward are found at the present day to
believe in the efficacy of magic; but it may be noticed that those who do believe in it and employ it
invariably do so for evil purposes and not for good. One may read of plenty of instances in which the
practitioner of the Voodoo or Obeah rites casts disease upon his victim or causes him to waste away,
but I never remember reading of a case in which this gruesome power was used to make any man
stronger, better or happier. It appears to be frequently employed to blast the crops of an enemy or to
make his cattle barren; but never, it would seem, to increase the general prosperity of the country or
to diminish poverty and disease.
It is not denied that some good use is being made of this power. Any cures made by Christian or
Mental Science may be cited on the credit side of the account; and the fact that in this way some
people have learned to hold themselves above the possibility of depression is clearly a gain. Occult
truths will by degrees become known in the outer world, as they have been known at other periods of
the world's history. It is even part of the plan that they should become so known; but not
prematurely, lest the injury done should be greater, lest those should be fewer who can be saved
from the evil to come.
Some of these powers were well known in the great Atlantean continent. The few employed them
well, and thereby made progress; but so many abused them that it was finally necessary to sink the
whole continent beneath the sea. History will no doubt repeat itself. It seems certain that - even now
in the Fifth Root-Race there will still be a majority who will use their knowledge selfishly; but it is
hoped that this time the minority who use their power well will be larger - a definite sign that
progress has been made.
In order that this hope may be realised it is necessary that the knowledge should come before the
world at the right moment and by slow degrees. To throw down a great mass of it before those who
are wholly unprepared for it would mean danger and not progress. All new inventions which are
capable of being used for purposes of destruction are being so employed as soon as their secret is
mastered. We see it in the case of the aeroplane and the submarine, just as we saw it before in the
case of the balloon, the steam vessel or the telegraph. If the enormously greater power which lies
dormant in every atom were put into the hands of the men of to-day, should we not see a further
5

exemplification of the same evil tendency? Until the nations have become sufficiently civilised to
abandon the barbarities of war, it is obviously undesirable to put into their hands powers far
transcending anything of which they know at present.
No doubt, in due course of time, the scientific men of the day will discover these things for
themselves. All that Occultists can hope to do is to strive earnestly to bring more and more people to
understand the real trend of evolution, so that when the discovery comes there may be a strong
public opinion in favour of its kindly and unselfish use. Surely also the world must attain a higher
level of morality in regard to commercial matters before wider knowledge can be of real use to it; for
at present it is unfortunately well-known that every new discovery in organic chemistry which is
capable of being used in that way always means a further adulteration of food.
People often say that there must be many secrets which can be given out without danger - that it is
always possible to avoid mention of these terrible physical powers, and yet to say a great deal which
would be of general utility. It is perhaps not so easy as is supposed, for one thing leads to another
and the processes of Nature are inextricably linked together; and the responsibility of putting
scientific investigators on the track of forbidden things is too tremendous lightly to be undertaken. In
our Liberal Catholic Church, however, we have already a lifting of a little corner of the veil. Let us
see whether the world will so use the fragment which has been given to it as to convince the
Custodians of the wider knowledge that it is ready for further revelations.
The Great Brotherhood, the Communion of Saints, has no other interest than the progress of
mankind, and its Members are therefore always watching for those to whom additional knowledge
can safely be given. Many a man thinks himself to be fully prepared to receive and use wisely any
knowledge that may come in his way; but often that only means that he forms a higher estimate of
his own merits than is justified by his real condition. One who by earnestness and conscientiousness
raises himself above the mass of mankind at once attracts Their attention, for he flashes out before
Their vision as does a brilliant light upon a background of darkness. It is quite impossible that any
hopeful person can be overlooked; and so it follows that if any man who is earnestly trying has not
yet been noticed by Them, it is necessary that he should continue and even increase his efforts.
3. Those which are incomprehensible . If a man is to comprehend a system of thought which is new
to him, it is not well in the beginning that all its details should be poured out upon him. It is better
for him at first to gain a thorough grasp of its main outline; and then this can be filled in by degrees,
so that every new thought may be seen in its due proportion and may fall naturally into its place.
Owing to the stage of evolution at which we have arrived, we are at present engaged in the
development of the discriminative power of the lower or concrete mind. That naturally makes us
critical, so that by instinct we pounce first upon those points in any new system which are farthest
removed from our previous ideas; and precisely because they are new to us, because our mind has a
tendency to resent novelty, these points are immediately exaggerated and made to loom so largely in
the scheme that as a whole it becomes distorted to us, and we form an entirely false impression of it.
This trouble is avoided if the novelties are put before us gradually; but it involves a certain
withholding of detail in the beginning - a fact to which many people take exception.
There is much information in Occultism which can only be appreciated at its proper value by those
who have developed the faculties to which it appeals. Until this development has taken place, such
truth is meaningless to them, and is more likely to be harmful than advantageous. Yet these are
precisely the people who clamour that nothing should be withheld from them. We encounter, in the
course of occult study, a great deal of knowledge which cannot be communicated because it is of
such a nature that only the man who has himself experienced it is able to comprehend it. All attempts
to describe it to one who has not had that experience are ineffectual, and are to him but as a
"darkening of counsel by words without knowledge." It has often been explained that the Ego in his
6

causal body thinks in realities and not in concrete expressions; and naturally such thought as this
transcends all words, and to try to put it into speech leads unavoidably to confusion and
misapprehension.
Many other facts are incommunicable because they are intensely personal, because each man himself
experiences them for himself and in his own way; and the method by which one man has learned to
appreciate them would be quite unsuitable for another. In the course of a considerable experience, it
has come in my way to hear from various pupils of the Great Ones something of their relations with
regard to their respective Masters; and nothing has struck me more than the remarkable diversity of
the methods employed, and the wonderful exactitude with which these methods are adapted to the
individual concerned. It is not only that no two cases are exactly alike, it is that the methods are
fundamentally different, and that two pupils of the same Master may have almost nothing in
common in their experience, until they stand side by side at a certain level, and find that though there
be many roads, there is only one Goal. Obviously, any teaching that we can give on matters of this
sort can be only of the most general nature, and each man is qualified to speak only of what has
come within his own experience; and although what he says may be encouraging and helpful to
some, it may well appear quite meaningless to others whose nature requires that they shall be led
along a different path.
4. Those which might provoke irreverence . There is a saying attributed to Our Blessed Lord:
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." There is a vast amount of practical truth in this
remark, and recent history supplies us with plenty of evidence that it is just as true now as it was two
thousand years ago. Not only is priceless information cast aside as useless by those who are not yet
fit for it; it is in addition befouled and ridiculed by them, and they cast it into the mud of their own
impure thought and, having so disposed of it, they invariably turn upon the person who gave it to
them and do their best to injure and befoul him. It is not wise to know more than the majority; at
least, it is not wise to let them know that one knows more. Galileo found this some centuries ago,
when the Church forced him to retract assertions which he knew perfectly well to be true. All
through the darkest part of European history there were those who knew something of occult truth,
but they found it eminently undesirable to admit their knowledge. Even to speak of these things
meant persecution and death at the hands of the ignorant and fanatical majority. If anyone had
ventured to tell one of those picturesque Crusader-knights as much of science as may now be found
in a school-boy's primer, he would have been regarded by that knight as a fearsome magician, and
would probably have speedily found that arrangements were being made for his premature cremation
at the nearest stake. Thus it is seen that what is the magical or secret knowledge of one century may
become the recognised science of the next. In these days swine still turn and rend the wise man - not
his physical body perhaps, but his reputation.

This makes any attempt to teach but a thankless task for the teacher; but if that were all, it would be
well worth while to run the risk of the ridicule and defamation of the ignorant majority, in order that
the few might learn and profit. Unfortunately that is not all, and the suffering of the teacher is a
negligible quantity as compared with the harm that the swine do to themselves when they trample
those pearls in the mud. It is not well to offer an opportunity for irreverence, for that irreverence
brings with it the most serious results. To come into contact with one of the Great Ones offers an
opportunity of rapid development such as can be gained in no other way; and to help, or to be of use
to one of These makes, to use the Sanskrit term, good karma, which on the face of it looks altogether
out of proportion to the actual service rendered. But we must remember that the converse of this is
also true - that any harm done to one of These brings a corresponding weight of evil.

People often seem to think that ignorance may be pleaded as an excuse in such a case, and that a man
who did not know that it was some Great One Whom he was injuring ought therefore to escape the
inevitable result. One can only say in reply that this evidently is not so. First, the man ought not
wilfully to have injured anyone, whether he knew him to be great or not; and whatever karma comes
upon him as the result of the injury is entirely his own fault; and secondly, all the laws of nature
work automatically, and take no account of our knowledge or our ignorance . The man who takes up
a red-hot iron will be burned, whether he knows that it is red-hot or not. The man who steps over a
precipice in the dark will fall, whether he knew that there was a precipice there or not. Therefore it is
not well to cause the enemy to blaspheme, or to offer to the ignorant and self-conceited the
opportunity of doing themselves harm by flouting that which they ought to respect.
For this reason all intimate mention of the Great Ones and of the facts of Their lives is avoided
amongst students of the inner verities, except in the presence of those who can be trusted to
understand such reference and to adopt the right attitude towards it. It is not in the least that the Great
Ones would feel Themselves injured by such misconstruction or impertinent thought; it is that such
thoughts and feelings do harm to those who experience them, and also cause much pain to the
followers of the Teacher Who is thus traduced. For this reason, although when asked we always hold
ourselves bound to bear testimony, even before hostile witnesses, to the fact of the existence of the
Great Masters and of Our Blessed Lord we speak of Them in public utterances as little as may be,
and give intimate details only to those of whose reverence and comprehension we feel certain.
The above considerations (among others) show reason for the existence of a certain amount of
reserve in speaking of occult problems. But exotericism and esotericism - the open and secret - are
only two parts of one great whole which is slowly unfolding itself as mankind progresses.
Consequently, the line which divides them is a shifting line; and as time goes on, many facts which
at first were kept rigidly secret begin to be spoken of openly. This advancement is as beneficial as it
is inevitable. It is a proof of the success of the means adopted to spread the inner teaching, that the
thought of the world at large has been so far affected as that the public - or a certain proportion of the
public - is now prepared for much which in earlier days would have been sneered at or
misunderstood. The general attitude of the world towards occult teaching is more interested and
more respectful than it was forty years ago. People have not gone far, but they have made some
progress; and the ghost-story, which used to be received with sneers and ridicule, is now accepted
with the vague remark that there seems to be something in these things. Not a great advance
certainly, but still something to be thankful for when we remember the attitude which was common
in the time of our grandparents. It is still eminently necessary for us to educate the world in these
matters; but even now we must do it gradually and give it only what it is able to assimilate; for if we
pour out upon it too great an instalment of the vast stores of occult knowledge, we shall merely give
it a kind of mental indigestion, and so do more harm than good.
Let us beware lest our esoteric knowledge should lead us into pride, should bring us to look down
upon those who know less than we. It is quite true that our Liberal Catholic teaching does give us a
vast amount of information - that it does put us into a position to deal better with all the difficulties
of life, to solve its problems and to explain its mysteries; yet we must remember that what has been
lifted for us is only a tiny corner of the veil; and while even that little has produced for us the most
marvellous results and, indeed, has entirely changed for us the aspect of life, it will still be wise for
us to keep ourselves humble by reminding ourselves how much more there is to learn and how
infinitely little is this knowledge of ours when we compare it with all that there is to know. When we
lay our ignorance beside the still greater ignorance of the ordinary man, we have indeed reason for
thankfulness, but none for conceit; but when we compare our ignorance with the knowledge of an
Adept or a Saint, we obtain for the first time some idea of the true proportion of things; and therefore
we see that extreme humility is the only attitude which be fits us.

The very fact that we have learned even so much makes us earnestly wish to learn more; and we
know that the fullest information will be given to us only if we have made good use of the little that
we already possess. Therefore, if we wish to penetrate into realms which are still esoteric to us, we
must be able to show what we have done with the additional knowledge which we have already
acquired. If we have been generous, yet judicious, in dispensing that; if by its means we have
lightened the sorrow of the world in our neighbourhood, we shall find it possible soon to acquire
further information; for Occultism is essentially a practical thing, and the knowledge that it gives is
intended for instant application. "To him that hath, more shall be given," but only if he has used it
wisely.
However much of the truth is still esoteric to us, we have at least learned enough to feel absolute
certainty that everything is managed entirely for the general good. When information is given forth,
it is given with a view to that good; and we recognise with equal certainty that when information is
withheld, it is always and without exception for the same reason. We seek the knowledge of God;
and the more we gain of that, the more clearly we see the depth and the he ight of the love of God,
which, like the peace of God, "passeth all understanding." In that peace we enfold ourselves, to that
love we trust ourselves, calm in the certainty that the deeper knowledge can only reveal to us still
more of the glory towards which, however slowly, we are moving. From Him we came forth; to Him
we shall return; and however deep may have been our sleep when we were buried in the depths of
matter, we know that we are rising steadily towards a fuller realisation of Him, and that when we
"awake up after His likeness, we shall be satisfied with it."
C. W. LEADBEATER

No. 1

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ALTAR

By the Rt. Rev. J. I. Wedgwood
Docteur s Sciences de lUniversit de Paris.
December 1924 Vol. 1 No. 3
(In looking through the Presiding Bishop's Church Files, I found the following
article by Bishop Wedgwood. It was originally delivered as a Sermon in St.
Alban's Church in 1919, and bears corrections in his own handwriting. Since last
year the Bishop personally gave me permission to make use of any of his MSS. I
have very great pleasure in giving this beautiful essay to our readers.Ed.)
Each of the symbols and ceremonies of the Christian Faith has a threefold meaning, may be
approached as it were from three different points of view - historical, allegorical and esoteric, or
occult. Sometimes the historical meaning attached to our symbols is not altogether authentic, and has
been invented to account for their existence when the inner or esoteric meaning, having to do with
the purpose served by the symbol in the great work of linking together the visible world with the
world invisible, has been forgotten. For example we find in the Protestant sections of the Church the
explanation that the use of lights and incense originated in the catacombs, in which the early
Christians had perforce to worship in secret; and that they were intended for purely material
purposes as a means of illuminating and disinfecting, those places of burial. That explanation of their
purpose is demonstrably false, since the ceremonial use of lights and incense long antedates
Christianity, and indeed was practically universal in the ancient, as in the modern world; so that to
relate them to that particular set of conditions is obviously an untrue account of their origin.
To illustrate these three points of view, let us first consider the procession which passes round the
Church at the beginning and end of each Service. Historically we may trace this to the passage of
large assemblies of people in open spaces. The religious processions of old were attended with great
ceremonial pomp, and that has survived in the Christian Church to this day. Passing to the second
point of view - the symbolical - we may attach a variety of meanings to such an act of worship; for
we shall find in dealing with the whole question of symbolism that while there are certain allegorical
explanations which spring naturally to the mind in connection with certain ceremonies, there are
others which lead to prolific interpretations. Some of these are forced; many quite beautiful, though
often without any obviously authentic connection with the ceremonial. We may for instance explain
that the procession represents man's pilgrimage through matter. It starts from the Altar, the Throne of
God where the Divine Presence dwells; and as it winds round the nave and aisles of the Church it
typifies the pilgrimage of man through the mazes of his earthly existence. Finally it re-enters the
Sanctuary, the Holy Place, beneath the Rood of suffering, emblematical of the Fourth Great
Initiation, and reaches once more the Throne of God, typifying the return of the Spirit to conscious
union with the Divinity from Whom it came. Again, there is an astronomical relation, for in many
Churches at penitential seasons the procession passes round the Church in the reverse order to the
course of the sun; whereas on all other occasions its direction is clockwise and imitates the sun's
course. From the esoteric or occult point of view, we find that the procession is designed to pour out
a great flood of influence upon the congregation, uniting them together in thought and feeling,
harmonizing them and steadying their minds. All the earlier part of the Service of the Holy Eucharist
is concerned with the welding together of the congregation into a collective unity - a Body Corporate
- so that the powers invoked at the Consecration may descend through a prepared and united
channel.
We may likewise trace a threefold significance in the Christian Altar, which with us forms the
central feature of the Church. Historically there has always been some spot at which the culminating
act of worship took place. In some form or other it is found in all pre-Christian religions, and in the
case of Christianity we may take it to be the direct descendant of the Altar of the Jews, on which in

10

earlier days blood-sacrifices were offered. In contradistinction to these the Christian Sacrifice is
called the "unbloody" or "rational" sacrifice - the others being from the later point of view irrational
sacrifices. That is not altogether true; but they were certainly of a very much lower order, one that
would hardly commend itself to any civilized people.
Symbolically the Altar represents Our Blessed Lord the Christ; as it is beautifully put in the
Pontificate in the Service of Ordination to the Subdiaconate: "The Altar of Holy Church is Christ
Himself, as John bears witness in his Apocalypse, who beheld a golden altar set before the Throne of
God, on and by which the offerings of the faithful are made acceptable to God the Father Almighty."
That' Altar of Holy Church, then, is Our Lord; the cloths and corporals which lie upon it are said to
be the members of Christ; and as "the Son of Man is girded round the breast with a golden girdle,"
that is to say, with the Company of the Saints, so the ornaments of the altar are God's faithful people
who shine with the beauty of holiness.
Then esoterically, or occultly, the Altar is that special part of the Church consecrated and set apart magnetically isolated - which is purified in various manners in order that there may be a fit and
proper magnetic centre at which the great Act of Christian Magic - the Transubstantiation of Bread
and Wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord - can be effected.
Sometimes also the Altar is symbolically represented as the Tomb of Christ. There should properly
be three cloths upon it to represent the cloths in which His Body was wrapped when it was laid in the
sepulchre. Sometimes it is made in the shape of a tomb; and that has a beautiful symb olical
significance, for the Ceremony of the Mass is in reality a dramatic representation of the Incarnation
in flesh of Our Lord Christ, and of His Cosmic Incarnation, the Descent of the Divine Life into
matter and the re-ascent of Spirit through matter. This great process may be typified by the
symbolism of either Birth or Death, according to whether our vision is from below or from above;
and thus the Tomb represents the point of lowest descent when the Spirit is most heavily veiled in
the robe of flesh. In the Middle Ages the Crusaders went forth to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the
hands of the infidels. That again in later mystical tradition was fashioned into a beautiful allegory in
which the work of the spiritual Knights of the Cross was to rescue and redeem the physical body the Tomb wherein the Divine Spark lies buried - from the hands of the infidels, from the lower
nature, the desires and cravings which desecrate it. The Christian Altar is the Tomb in the sense that
upon it takes place the special Incarnation of the Divine Life, the descent into the physical accidents
of Bread and Wine of the Life of Christ Himself; an act which is, so to speak, an extension under our
conditions of time and space of the great Cosmic Sacrifice by which the worlds were made, the
Sacrifice of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the primal Descent of Spirit into
matter.
That part of the Altar which is of the greatest significance is what is called the Altar Stone. Indeed
the whole Altar should properly be made of stone, usually of marble, should consist of a large stone
slab on which five crosses are carved, one at each corner and one in the centre. That is not always
practicable, and is very expensive; and so in many Churches the Altar is made of wood. There must,
however, always be in the centre of the wooden Table an Altar Stone, a little slab of marble with the
five crosses likewise carved upon it, said to represent the five wounds of Christ. These crosses may
perhaps refer to the five-fold field of evolution in which the sacrifice of our natures takes place, and
also to the five directions in space through which the power of the Consecrated Elements is
outpoured. The Stone again has its inner or esoteric significance in that a magnetic foundation is
needed, a reversal of the polarity - it is difficult to express these inner things in words - to serve as a
basis upon which the Elements may be laid for the downpouring of the Divine Life.

11

Over the Altar six candlesticks stand. It is often asked why the number is six and not seven, which is
the sacred or perfect number. The explanation is a very simple one; for the Sacred Host, reserved in
the Tabernacle upon the Altar, is in the very truest sense the Body of Christ Himself, the Light of the
World, and It is rightly taken as the Seventh of those lights. In some Churches seven lamps hang
before the Altar, in others three, in yet others but one. The seven lamps, as also the seven Altarcandles, symbolically represent the Seven Spirits before the Throne of God to Whom the Book of
Revelations refers, and Who are spoken of also in other great World-Scriptures. The three lamps
represent the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, of Whom the Seven are a manifestation; and the
single lamp is the symbol of the Divine Presence and is ever kept burning when the Sacred Host is
reserved in the Tabernacle. Those six candlesticks, and the Seventh, the Host, represent the seven
great Rays or streams of Divine Influence, and in our Churches are especially connected with those,
as are the Ray-crosses around the Church. They represent the seven fundamental types of humanity,
qualities, virtues, temperaments; and in offering incense before the Altar we consecrate and identify
ourselves with those seven great Rays or streams of power which are ever pouring out into the world.
Finally we may consider the Tabernacle which rests upon the Altar, and in which the Sacred Host is
perpetually reserved in our Churches. It was not always reserved in this particular manner; for often
in mediaeval times It was kept in a gold or silver dove suspended from the roof of the Sanctuary and
symbolical of the Holy Spirit. It is not generally reserved in the Orthodox Eastern Churches,
although always in the Church of Rome. Wherever It is so reserved we have the unspeakable
privilege of the perpetual Presence of Christ in the Church, making it in a very special sense a holy
place. Anyone who is at all sensitive will feel that a Church wherein the Host is reserved is quite
different in its influence from any other building. There is a sense of peace, of upliftment, of
holiness, of benediction, ever radiating from that Sacred Presence; and whenever adoration is offered
before the Host, It is, as it were, awakened into special activity in response to that call upon Its
power. One who has the inner vision would see a great flame darting forth from It towards the
person thus offering himself in worship, a flame which bears the blessing, the very life, of the Christ
Himself.
We speak of the Host, the Consecrated Bread or Wafer, as the Body of the Lord; and it is important
that we should have a right understanding of what that means. We cannot, of course, hope to
comprehend in their entirety any of the great Mysteries of the Christian Faith, but we should try to
grasp all that we can. We may pause for a moment to analyse the purpose of our physical bodies bodies composed of flesh and blood, organisms built up of various chemical substances animated by
life. The purpose of the body is to serve as a vehicle (in the first place) of our own consciousness
through which we may express ourselves in the physical world and to our fellow-beings, and
secondly as a vehicle through which we receive from them impressions which affect our
consciousness and which are ultimately communicated to the indwelling Spirit. The senses of the
body are through which that Spirit comes into relationship with the world around it. Just so the Bread
after the Consecration is the Body of the Lord, in the sense that it is the vehicle through which He
expresses Himself to us, through which He is made manifest, through which He pours out His life
upon us so that we, as Souls, may be nourished and sustained. We should not look upon the Host as a
body in the carnal sense, as in any way composed of flesh and blood analogous to our flesh and
blood. But it is none the less true that after the Consecration His Life and Blessing is directly
manifested through That which to outer appearance still remains Bread, that through that Holy Bread
He pours out His Life upon us, and that in the Holy Communion we are thereby enabled to come into
a very close and intimate relation with Him. When in the same way we speak of the Blood of Christ,
the term given to the Chalice of Consecrated Wine, we may remember that "Blo od" is an expression
which has come down to us from pre-Christian times, and that it has always been associated with the
idea of the Love of God poured out in sacrifice.

12

The same conception was found in the Bacchic Mysteries, which, though they afterwards became
decadent and corrupt, were originally quite pure; in them the Divine was adored as Dionysius, the
God of rose-red Wine, whose Blood was shed from the foundation of the world, and who typified the
Divine Life and Love poured forth into matter in order that the Universe might come into being. The
same great Symbolism is perpetuated and enobled in the Christian Eucharist, and when we speak of
the Sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood, we understand that Sacrifice to be a communicating of
Himself to others, to vivify, to uplift, to strengthen with His own Presence and Benediction those
whom He has made. "For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My
Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I
live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by me. This is the Bread which came
down from heaven." It is through the Holy Mysteries of the Eucharist that the Life and Love of God
are directly manifested to us.
Thus the Altar is the central feature of the Catholic Church. We know that in many Nonconformist
places of worship where the understanding of these things has been lost, the pulpit has taken the
place of the Altar - the word of man has come to be substituted for the ineffable Sacrifice of God.
But we who perhaps understand a little more about these Mysteries, who have gone back to the
knowledge which was originally the heritage of the Christian Church, naturally feel that far more
important than any human preacher is the great Outpouring of the Christ Himself, which takes place
in the Sacrifice of the Eucharist and of which the Altar is the visible representation and symbol to us.
+ J. I. WEDGWOOD

No. 2

13

THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

By The Rt. Rev. J. I. Wedgwood
Docteurs Sciences de l'Universit de Paris.
Easter 1925 Vol. II No. 1
Students of the hidden side of Christianity know that when the Consecration of the Bread and Wine
takes place in the Mass, the substance - sub stans, that which stands beneath or behind that bread and
wine - is changed by the Angel of the Presence who comes from the Christ, and that there flows
through the Sacred Elements a direct ray of light, a line of living fire, from Our Blessed Lord, and
through Him, we are told, even from the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity Himself. That is what
is meant when it is said that the Bread is the Body of the Lord; for a body is that which is a vehicle
of life or consciousness or power, that which expresses the life. Our physical bodies are the
instruments that we use in this physical world for expressing ourselves, and so also in this Sacra ment
the Bread is the Body of Christ in the sense that the life and the blessing of Christ pour through that
Bread as their vehicle on the physical plane.
Whenever that Consecration takes place a great stream of influence pours forth from the Church over
the surrounding neighbourhood, and there is a second manifestation of power when anyone who is
present at the Service sends a thought of aspiration, of devotion, of worship to the Christ. A ray of
living light connects him with the Sacrament upon the Altar. The adoration that he outpours calls
forth from the Consecrated Host a great response, greater far, of course, than the effort he puts out.
That wondrous manifestation occurs whenever a thought of aspiration is sent up to the Throne of
God in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and upon that great fact in nature the Service of
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is based.
There are Catholic countries where this worship is allowed to take place publicly, and on certain
great Festivals of the Church the Host, the Consecrated Wafer, is carried through the streets in a
magnificent procession, with all the pomp and splendour that the resources of the place can
command, in the presence of thousands of people on bended knee offering worship and adoration.
The power called forth in that way is tremendous. In non-Catholic countries such processions are
very seldom seen, but in Sydney, for example, there is a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament which
takes place on the Sunday after the Feast of Corpus Christi in the College grounds of the Roman
Catholic Seminary at Manly. I remember going there myself on one occasion; there were hundreds
of people gathered together an d the power called forth from the Blessed Sacrament as It was carried
in procession was very great indeed. After the procession Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is
given. In Catholic countries the Benediction is often given several times in the course of the
procession, occasionally they give it from some old ruined church, and it is altogether an
exceedingly beautiful and awe-commanding ceremony.
This outpouring of the power of the Christ over thousands of people, the kindling of the spiritual
principle within them, the fanning of the spirit into flame, is really a very wonderful thing; and in
this Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament we have one especial feature which causes it to differ
from other benedictions. When a priest is ordained, he is ordained more along the line of the Holy
Spirit than along either the line of the Father or of the Son. At the Second Imposition the Bishop's
hands are laid upon his head with the words, "Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a
Priest in the Church of God." He is opened up as a channel more along the line of the Holy Spirit
than along the line of either of the other two great Streams of Influence in nature. The blessing,
therefore, that he gives personally draws more along that line; but in this Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament we have a different working altogether. That draws upon the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity, upon the Wisdom Aspect of God rather than upon His Aspect as Creative Activity.
An Angel comes from the Christ Himself in this Service, and it is through that Angel, as well as
through the Sacred Host, that the Blessing is given to the people.

14

When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed upon the Altar, every thought of devotion that we send out
brings to us response a hundredfold. That is literally true, and so in this Service we have an
opportunity of enormously quickening our spiritual growth. We have this tremendous power
available for our use, and in proportion to the effort that we make, to the force that we send out, to
the lifting up of our hearts and minds in devotion to the Christ, so will be this response that flows
from Him towards us. That is one reason why in this Service we have a somewhat lengthy, though
very beautiful Litany of twenty-one verses, in addition to the two other hymns that are used, the "O
Salutaris Hostia" and the "Tantum Ergo." That is arranged so that all those present may gain the
greatest benefit possible from the Service. Various sentiments are expressed in the course of the
Litany; sometimes it is one Aspect of the Blessed Trinity, sometimes another Aspect that is invoked.
Various ideas are placed before the people; different conceptions are brought before their minds.
Everything is done that can be done to rouse and enkindle the fire of their devotion, in order that
every person in the congregation in some way or another, through one sentiment or another that is
expressed, may have his devotion stirred and enflamed, and so may gain the full benefit of this
quickening Life that is outpoured upon us, the Blessing from the Christ Himself.
All who join in these Services should put forth all the effort that they can. In Roman Catholic
Churches we find many people who are full of deep devotion, but their devotion is individual rather
than congregational. During the Mass, for instance, they are mainly occupied with their own private
devotions, except at certain great moments in the Service. What we are trying to do in the Liberal
Catholic Movement is somewhat different. In the first place, we have the Liturgy in the vernacular,
in our own English tongue, in order that everybody may understand what is being said. It is quite
true that many people in the Roman Catholic Church do understand what is being said, because the
English is written alongside the Latin, but in actual practice not so much attention is given to the
Service as might be. For that reason amongst others, with us the Service is put into English. It is
quite true, too, that where the Latin language is used we have a greater sonority of sound, so tha t
more power flows out from the sound of the words, than in the English. "Dominus vobiscum" is
certainly a more powerful sound than the English, "The Lord be with you." But much greater power
is gained if we can have the mental co-operation of the people who are taking part in the worship.
What we desire to ensure in this particular Movement is that the people shall understand what is
being done and shall be able themselves to co-operate intelligently with it as a Body Corporate. Our
people are expected to take every sentence that is sung in the Liturgy and to try to mean that
sentence with their whole heart, with the full power of their understanding; and if we pour out the
irresistible power of the will into what we are doing, we shall feel the tremendous response that will
come from above. We must try to mean with the whole of the power that we can summon to our
assistance every word that we say in the Service. In order that that may be done we have inserted
such sentences only as can under normal circumstances conscientiously be said by any member of
the congregation. Perhaps it is too much to hope that every sentence shall be entirely acceptable to
everyone. But we have done our best to ensure that. We do not ask the obviously impossible of our
people, nor do we require them to express exaggerated sentiments to which they cannot live up; it is
all made as straightforward as it can be, in order that we may in this way have the full power of the
co-operation of the congregation in what is taking place.
In this Service of Benediction we approach the living Presence of the Christ. Let us make our
offering to Him a worthy one. In the Roman Catholic Church a number of people show the utmost
reverence and devotion. They kneel when they enter the church, where the Host is ever reserved. We
may know where It is kept in a church by the light before or on the side of the Altar. They genuflect
in adoration and worship. Where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, as it is during Benediction, they
go down on both knees in adoration, and that which they do with their body is done also with the
heart and the mind. When they go to communion they always genuflect before the Blessed

15

Sacrament before they receive It, and before they depart. I would like our people to do the same, so
that it might never be said that we were behind in devotion and reverence. We who have studied
more deeply the hidden side of Christianity ought to show even greater devotion than those who live
more upon faith perhaps than upon knowledge.
Let us strive to enkindle the same deep enthusiasm in our hearts for these holy things that those in
other churches have, so that we may offer to Our Lord in this Blessed Sacrament of His Love an
offering which is worthy, a great stream of love and of devotion ascending before Him, which can be
used by Him for the helping and uplifting of those in the world who are in sorrow or distress. That is
one great object of our worship, that the power which flows out from us to Him in our Services of
praise and thanksgiving (for we serve not only by action but also by the use of our feelings and
thoughts), may be such as can be used by Him for pouring out upon those who need help, who need
power, thus bringing into their lives the spiritual benediction that flows from Him, and which is
augmented and distributed by our own co-operation with His mighty purpose.
Let us try, then, to mean every sentence in the Liturgy with the whole of the power, the whole of the
will, the whole of the thought, the whole intensity of devotion and feeling that we can summon.
Many Christian people have an untrue view of the Master Jesus, the Master of the Christian Church.
They do not realise that His main characteristic is not so much gentleness as burning power, ardent
devotion, that the mighty power which streams forth from Him burns up all the impurities, the dross
of our lower nature, and kindles an intense response in our spiritual nature. That is the kind of
devotion that we should offer to the Christ, a devotion that is strong and fiery and burning, a
devotion that can be usefully employed for the uplifting and helping of our brethren.
+ J. I. WEDGWOOD

No. 3

16

CEREMONIAL DIRECTIONS FOR VESPERS

BY THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD, D. SC.
December 1927 Vol. VII No. 3
Vespers in the Roman Catholic Church (Latin rite) may be simple or solemn. In the latter case it
tends to become complicated, requiring two, four or six Assistants in copes, one or two Masters of
Ceremonies, and a special lectern in the centre at which the Cantors are placed; moreover, it is still
further complicated through the presence of the Ordinary, or some greater prelate, occupying the
throne. All this necessitates a large sanctuary and abundant resources in the way of personnel.
Simple Vespers is prescribed for week days which are not major feasts; but on Sundays the Vespers
is to be solemn, and on major feasts more solemn.
- - - - -- - - The following simplified use is suggested for the Liberal Catholic Church whose rite of Vespers
differs in many ways from the Roman rite.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Vespers is an evening service; therefore it should not be held earlier than 3.30 pm or later than
8.30pm. Even for these hours some license has to be taken in the interpretation of the first Hymn.
It is normally intended to be sung, depending much for its effect on the rhythmical and not too slow
recitation of the chant. If this be not possible, there is no objection to its being said, though then the
Hymn may perhaps be sung and also, if possible, the Te Demn. The Episcopal Synod has authorised
the omission of any or all of the introductory Psalms except one, where the rendering of all of them
may be judged to impose too great a strain on the musical resources or time of the congregation; but
the Synod does not recommend this procedure, which diminishes seriously the efficacy of the Office.
The three Collects at the close are not suitable for the afternoon; they are for evening use, and are
intended to contribute the note of peace at the close of day, which is the especial beauty of Complin
and of the Anglican Evensong.
Vespers may be celebrated on any day in the year - except that it should be replaced by Complin, not
sung, on Good Friday. On the evening of Maundy Thursday it should be said, if celebrated. (In the
Roman Catholic use it is said directly after the Mass on Maundy Thursday and directly after the
Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday.) Feasts of major rank (Class A) may be ushered in by
Solemn Vespers, sung on the preceding evening. This is called First Vespers, that sung on the day of
the Feast being called Second Vespers.
For the Liberal Catholic Church, it is recommended that Vespers should be simple on all ordinary
(ferial) days, and solemn on Feasts of Class A, including their First Vespers and days during the
octave. The Octave ends after Vespers on the eight day.
MINISTER
The Officiant should be in priest's Orders. In the absence of a priest, a deacon may be authorised to
conduct Vespers, but in such case the altar is not censed, and the service concludes with the "Grace."
Seating . Vespers is a Choir Office. Therefore it is said from a seat at the side of the chancel, and not
before the altar. This may consist of a sedile on the Epistle side, such as is used at the Eucharist, or it
may be the Officiant's accustomed place in the choir. It is best, perhaps, that he should occupy a stall
or chair in the choir, on either side, nearest to the people.

17

If the Vespers be solemn, the Officiant may be seated at the sedile with his two Assistants on either
side of him, or two places are prepared for the Assistants in the middle of the choir, on either side,
but somewhat to the fore.
Altar Lights . For Simple Vespers, the six.
For Solemn Vespers, extra candles. It is well to add others for Benediction. The Bishop's seventh
candle is lighted only at the Eucharist.
Vestments. For Simple Vespers. Surplice, stole of the colour of the day (in the case of First Vespers,
colour of the Feast being anticipated), biretta. The cope is permitted on Sundays and on special
occasions, but it is well to mark the distinction between this Choir Office and the more solemn rite of
Benediction (where the Sanctissimum is exposed) by not wearing it.
Non-officiating priests are dressed likewise, but without cope.
For Solemn Vespers. Cope of the colour of the day, in addition to above. The Assistants to the
Officiant, and also non-officiating priests are dressed likewise.
IF BENEDICTION FOLLOWS VESPERS
The normal colour for Benediction is white, but if it follows immediately after a liturgical service
( such as Vespers) so that the priest does not leave the chancel, it may be celebrated in the colour of
the day. On the whole, it is to be recommended that on red Festivals, the colour should be carried on
into the Benediction, but not on occasions of green or violet.
Visiting or non-officiating priests, as before said, wear stoles of the colour of the day, and the fact
that Benediction is to follow does not entitle them to supersede this colour by white.
If Vespers be simple, and he is not to be attended during the Benediction by Assistants in dalmatic
and tunicle, the Officiant may, after Vespers, unobtrusively change his stole (if necessary) and
assume the cope, at his place. If, however, he is to be so attended, then it is proper that all three
should be vested in alb, and they will retire to the sacristy (while the congregation sings a hymn) to
vest. Other priests present may either retain the stoles of the colour of the day that they are already
wearing, or change into white stoles, either at their places (where the stoles have previously been
put) or in the sacristy - in which case all the clergy will leave in procession.
If the Vespers be solemn, the Officiant and his Assistants (if they are to continue to officiate at
Benediction) may vest themselves in amice, alb and girdle for Vespers. The two Assistants may even
wear the dalmatic and tunicle for Vespers, though copes are to be preferred for Festivals of greater
solemnity. In such case, non-officiating priests may retain their stoles and copes of the colour of the
day for Benediction. If it be preferred that they should change into white, it will usually be necessary
to retire in procession to the sacristy.
SIMPLE
Procession. Incense, Crucifix, two Acolytes with candles, according to resources. Genuflect to altar,
or bow if Satictissimum is not reserved thereon. Birettas removed for genuflection; worn again till
places are reached, removed for Invocation and following portion. All go to places except Officiant,
who stands before altar in plano, with Candle-Bearer on either side, for Invocation. This done,
Officiant goes to his place, and candles are placed on credence table.
Versicles. Priest extends hands as usual at Dominus vobiscum. At Gloria all incline slightly towards
altar, and stand erect, but still slightly turned towards altar for second half - "As it was in the
beginning, etc."

18

Psalms . Should be sung antiphonally, only if congregation is well able to do so.

Birettas put on as soon as all sit down, and worn throughout the psalms except for Glorias. For these,
biretta is removed for first verse, during which all incline slightly, remaining seated. Birettas and
erect seated position resumed for second verse of Gloria.
A slight pause for rest and recollection should be observed between the various psalms.
Chapter . Towards end of last psalm, incense is brought to Officiant and blessed, the Thurifer and
Boat- hearer bowing before and after, and Candle-Bearers advance, bow in front of him, then station
themselves on either side of him, slightly to the fore. Thurifer swings censer during the Chapter,
opposite to and facing Celebrant, but at a convenient distance so that view of congregation is not
unduly obstructed. Chapter is preferably read, not chanted.
Hymn . Thurifer and Candle-Bearers in front of Officiant, genuflect before the altar and retire to their
places. During the last line of last verse all incline slightly towards altar.
Te Deum. Officiant intones opening of Te Deum before altar in plano, Candle-Bearers on either side
of him slightly to rear. He ascends to altar, and blesses incense at Epistle side, then censes altar as at
Mass. Candle-Bearers accompany him to foot of altar steps, genuflect with him, place candles on
lowest step near corners, genuflect at centre, and return to their places. But if Officiant wears a cope,
they deposit candles and mount to raise corners of cope when he has blessed incense, genuflecting
with him during censing.
Officiant is censed at the Epistle side, as at Mass. He remains standing on the top step in the centre
until the Te Deum is finished and the Antiphon sung. He then returns to his place and from there
says the Dominus vobiscum. Other clergy and servers are censed as at Mass, collectively or singly,
according to convenience, then the people. Candles are removed to credence at close of Te Deum
before antiphon.

Collects. Officiant extends hands as usual at Dominus vobiscum. He may stand or kneel for
remainder of service. (In the Roman Catholic Church it is usual for the Officiant to stand for
Collects, in the Anglican to kneel.)
Blessing. This is given from his seat, standing. If he has been kneeling for the Collects and following
Versicles, he continues to kneel for the "Grace." Procession out as usual, unless Benediction or other
service is to follow.

SOLEMN
The differences from the foregoing are as follows. Officiant is attended by Assistants. The
Procession may be more elaborate, i.e. may have additional Candle-Bearers at the head and before
the Officiant and his Assistants; also a second Thurifer (the two walking together).
At the Chapter the Assistants genuflect to altar in plano in centre, bow before Officiant and stand
facing east and west before the Officiant, a little further back than the Candle-Bearers, who in this
case stand, if possible, level with the Officiant. One Thurifer only comes forward, placed as in
Simple Vespers. They resume their places for Hymn.
For the Te Deum, the two Assistants genuflect to altar at centre, bow to Officiant, and stand on either
side of him as he intones the opening clause. They genuflect and ascend to the altar with him,
standing behind him as he blesses incense (the one raises the edge of his cope to free right hand for
blessing). The censing is at Masss. After the antiphon they accompany the Officiant to his place,
bow to him, and resume their places.

19

The second Thurifer stands in the centre in plano, and swings his censer to left and right as soon as
Officiant begins to cense the altar, continuing till end Te Deum. The other Thurifer may join him if
there be time, after censing of people; he stands behind him, keeping time with the swing, but swing
to the right when his colleague swings to left, and so forth. At the close they genuflect together, side
by side.
Two or more Candle-Bearers stand at right and left extremity below lowest altar step respectively till
end of Te Deum. They genuflect together in centre, place candles on credence, and go to their places.
----It is often the custom to cense other altars at Solemn Vespers, e.g., the Lady, after the altar before
which the service is being said. (This is recommended on Feasts of Our Lady.) Candles (at least two)
should be burning on such altars. Thurifer leads the procession, Master of Ceremonies (if there, be
one) comes next, then Candle-Bearers, then Officiant attended by his Assistants. Other clergy may
precede Officiant. Birettas are worn while going from one altar to the other, not during censing.
Incense should be blessed afresh at each altar, and if necessary for the procession. The, Officiant and
clergy are censed after the other altar or altars, not before.
If the Sanctissimum is exposed on an altar, this altar should be censed before that at which Vespers is
being sung (all kneel for swings to monstrance).
If in such a ceremony where other altars are being censed the Te Deum be concluded before all are
ready, the Organist extemporizes till after the people have been censed.
----If Vespers of solemnity is to be celebrated with four or six Assistants in copes, the ceremonial can
easily be adapted from Roman usage (see Fortescue).
----

IN THE PRESENCE OF A BISHOP

If the Bishop officiates, there should be two Assistants, wearing copes (or dalmatic, and tunicle), if
he wears one, otherwise not. If he be in choir dress in his own Church, Assistants are optional.
If he be not the Officiant, he says the Invocation from his throne, blesses the incense (remaining
seated as he does so if the throne is sufficiently raised), and gives the final Blessing from the throne
(but not the "Grace). He is censed after the Officiant and his two assistants.
The mitre is worn by a Bishop for the Invocation, removed for the Versicles, worn for the Psalms,
for blessing incense, for Chapter, not during Hymn, in going to and from the altar for censing, but
not during the censing of altar, he wears the mitre and hands crozier to Bearer while he is censed,
and takes off mitre for remainder of Te Deum, but holds staff in both hands as during the Gospel at
Mass. It is not worn again till the Blessing (but not for the "Grace). If he wishes to make the
distinction, the golden mitre is worn during the Psalms, the precious mitre at other times.
The biretta is worn by a Bishop during the Psalms, but not during the Chapter, for blessing incense,
and for the last Blessing (but not for the ''Grace"). In general, he does not wear the biretta when
standing or kneeling, but always when sitting. It is of course raised for the first half of the Gloria. He
does not wear it when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. The Bishop remains seated when blessing
incense, if the throne be sufficiently high to permit of his doing so comfortably.

20

VESPERS BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT EXPOSED

It is not recommended that the Sanctissimum be exposed simply to give added solemnity to Vespers.
But it may happen that a period of Exposition for purposes of special devotion is being observed
when Vespers is to be sung. If this is to begin with the Vespers, the Host is exposed after the
Invocation as at Benediction; otherwise, if already exposed, two candles are placed on lowest altar
step at extremities before Vespers begins, and the two required for the Chapter are added to them on
entry. Extra reverence is shown at all genuflections.
It is permitted (also in the Roman use) that all be seated during the Psalms, but birettas should not
then be worn.
The ceremony is otherwise that of Solemn Vespers. At the censing, the Officiant and Assistants
kneel, while the swings normally given to the cross, but here to the monstrance, are made. Persons
are censed as usual, but not other altars.
MEMENTO FOR SACRISTAN AND MASTER OF CEREMONIES
PREPARATION FOR VESPERS
Simple Vespers
1. Appoint Thurifer, two Candle- Bearers, and if possible Boat-Bearer and Crucifer, Crozier-Bearer
for Bishop.
2. See that Organist is informed as to extra hymns, and list is at Officiant's desk.
3. See that Liturgies (musical and ordinary) and Hymn Books are provided for Officiant (with
marker at place of Collect for Day), non-officiating, clergy, and Servers. Also necessary seats and
kneeling cushions.
4. Requisite vestments for clergy (so far as this is his duty). Veil for a Crozier-Bearer. Are any white
stoles for Benediction to be placed in Choir? Or a white cope for Officiant?
5. Thurible and boat, lighted charcoal (extra processional lights and cross. If Benediction follows,
extra candles and taper for lighting them.
6. See that altar candles are lighted, also on Lady altar if it be the custom. Correct colour for frontal.
7. See that requisite lighting and ventilation in Church is arranged.
Solemn Vespers. In addition to above:
1. Appoint Assistants (if not already scheduled), additional Candle-Bearers and Thurifer (if any),
possibly extra Boat-Bearer.
2. Seats, books and vestments for Assistants, and places books for additional Servers.
3. Extra thurible, incense boat, and lighted charcoal?
4. Lighted candles on other altars?
5. Does Bishop require extra mitre at his place? If Sanctissimum is exposed, two candles on lowest
step.
-------

No. 4

21

THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH WORSHIP

BY THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD, D. SC.
February 1928 Vol. VII No. 5
IV. THE HOLY EUCHARIST
In the preceding chapters of this series I have dealt with certain general principles underlying Church
worship. I propose now to apply these to some of our services, and to suggest to worshippers how
they may co-operate actively and intelligently in our beautiful rites. I feel some hesitancy in setting
about the task because guidance of this kind tends to create a fixed orthodoxy of procedure amongst
people who lack spontaneity of thought. But so many people are entering our movement who have
had no previous experience of Catholic worship, and the more definite use of emotion and thought of
which I have previously been writing is so foreign to congregations in general, that some vade
mecum is needed as a kind of foundation for their instruction.
THE PROCESSION AND THE ASPERGES
We will begin with the Holy Eucharist, and proceed at once to discuss the why and the "how " of
the Procession and the Asperges. Whenever numbers of miscellaneous people gather together for a
religious ceremony, the first stage in the process must always be one of purification. It is necessary
that the people shall be brought into a similar direction of thought and emotion; they should be
helped to feel their unity with one another, and should be purified of those discordant elements
produced within them by their contact with ordinary life, its worries and irritations.
The Procession around the Church, combined with the singing of the Introcessional Hymn, tends to
steady down their thoughts and to weld them into a more uniform and united body. Great attention
should be paid to the formation of this Procession. It is headed by the censer with its purifying
influence, and the processional cross which follows, serves as a distributing centre for the spiritual
power built up by the Procession. The clergy come last in the Procession, sending their greater
contribution of blessing through those in front. People are so little accustomed to "team-work" that
the carrying out of such a Procession is usually found difficult. Gaps are likely to occur in it, because
people are so little used to thinking of themselves in right relationship with others; those ahead often
fail to consider or to observe those at the rear, and often people will be so intent upon themselves
that they pay no heed to the involvement of the general body.

A well-formed Procession symbolises the unity at which the participants in the worship should aim;
and if it moves as one body, maintaining uniformity of distance between those who compose it, it
serves as in embodiment and channel of this sense of unity as it moves through the Church. Gaps
mean a leakage in the power flowing through the Procession from back to front, and break the
homogeneity and efficiency of the vehicle.
The "Asperges" now follows, and this may be described as the marking out of the field of operations.
It is not necessary for the Priest to fling the water; rather he protects the influence which has been
instilled into it at its blessing over the area that he intends to delimit. The effort he makes should be
positive, not apologetic, and he should aim at clearing the atmosphere well above the heads of the
people. During all this time the dominant thought of the people should be of purification.
During the Antiphon the intention of great purity should be linked with the words "clean" and
''whiter than snow." The latter words are usually sung rallentando. The Psalm should be sung in a
clean and clear-cut fashion, not too slowly.

22

Great attention should be paid to the versicles and responses which follow. It is the usual custom to
make a small cross over the lips with the thumb at the words "O Lord, open Thou our lips." This
gesture is an invocation to the Divine Power to kindle our speech and to awaken within us the sense
of sanctity. The idea of Christian worship is largely founded on praise; praise and thanksgiving are
part of the sacrifice that we offer. Worship means the offering of "worth-ship" to Almighty God. We
may safely say - I quote from the Preface to our Liturgy - "that God Himself does not need our
praise, and certainly would not appreciate anything in the nature of adulation from those who might
be expected to know better. We feel and know, on the other hand, that it is good for us to lift up our
hearts in praise and aspiration, and to strive to purify ourselves more completely with the Divine
Will. But we may go further, and say with all reverence that God does make use of our co-operation,
and in His Plan counts on that intelligent and energetic co-operation more and more as man grows
into spiritual maturity. The Liberal Catholic Church aims at making its members strong and efficient
workers in His service."
And at another part of our Liturgy - the service for the Admission of a Singer - it is said : "Man is
endowed with many faculties, and all of them should be used in the service of God. From time
immemorial, however, the voice has been regarded as the especial instrument for rendering praise
and glory to Almighty God. It is indeed meet, right, and our bounden duty that we, in company with
the angelic host, should give thanks unto Him Whose Name is holy and Who filleth the whole earth
with His majesty and glory. And as come before Him with a song upon your lips, see to it that you
also make melody in your heart, joining in the great song of life which is the ceaseless hymn of all
creation. Let your work, then, be done in the spirit of service, not with vaingloriousness and pride of
self, but rather in singleness of heart. So shall the blessing of the Christ rest upon you, and inspire
both your voice and your heart."
Such are the ideas of praise and worship that we are bidden to recall to our minds as the Priest sings
O Lord, open Thou our lips." And the congregation bursts forth in response: And our mouth shall
show forth Thy praise." It maybe well here to draw attention to the fact that in all well-rendered
services - as in all operations of ceremonial - the participants should always be turning their attention
to the various points of their work slightly ahead, so that when the right time comes they shall be
ready and prepared for the piece of work. So the first note of this particular phrase should be the
signal for the release at the psychological moment of a vast body of pent-up praise and reverent
adoration. If the responses are planned out and worked up beforehand in this way they give intense
vitality and power to the ceremony.
The last of these versicles and responses is the Minor Benediction and its response. The Priest lifts
himself up into the Consciousness of the Lord and sends out His blessing over the people. If the
Priest be loved and respected by his people, there will come a glad response of love as they sing:
And with Thy spirit," and in any case there should be the reply of glad and lively co- operation, not
only at the physical level of co-operation, but at all levels of consciousness, up to that of the highest
that can be touched.
The Angel who is to take charge of the preliminary work of preparation and of the building of the
Eucharistic edifice is then invoked, and the congregation should go out in their thought to welcome
him with courtesy and with the same loving co-operation that is given to the Priest.
THE INVOCATION
The introductory ceremony of the "Asperges" being over, the Eucharist proper begins with the
Invocation of the Ever-Blessed Trinity. In the case of the shorter form of the Eucharist and in most
of the other ceremonies, the Invocation introduces the ceremony. It is a dedication of all our efforts
to the Trinity, and an acknowledgment and reminder that all is being done in Their power. The

23

"Name" in the ancient sense of the word represented the power flowing from the essence of a being.
It is so used in the old and well-known traditional Irish hymn called "St. Patrick's Breastplate,"
which begins with the words:
I bind unto myself to-day
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
In uttering the Invocation the worshipper thinks of the triune Godhead, and awakens into activity the
three primary centres of consciousness within himself, "made in the image of God," or whatever
reflection of them he can touch.
THE CANTICLE
This Canticle, with its Antiphon , is still in the nature of a preparation for the ceremony to follow.
During the singing of it the Priest remains at the foot of the altar steps, and he does not ascend them
(and should not even kneel upon them) until after the Conf iteor . The key-note is joy and gladness.
The intention of the Canticle is to inspire the worshippers with a glad spirit of praise and aspiration,
and references are made to the majesty of God and the grandeur of the universe, all with a view to
enlarging and widening people's minds and lifting them out of the pettiness and sordidness of
ordinary life. These passing comments will serve to indicate to worshippers how to use their thought
in the rendering of the Canticle. Words like joy, gladness, strength", and "peace" should be
thoroughly meant, and our praise should be thought of as uniting with that of all Nature and of the
"heavens that declare the glory of God."
More versicles and responses follow this, designed with a view to reminding us of the God within,
the Inner Ruler Immortal, and to stirring us to call upon His Omnipotence.
THE CONFITEOR
The process of preparation by self-purification leads on finally to the Conf iteor one of the noblest
pieces of writing in our Liturgy, which is literally a surrender of the heart before God. It continues
the process by which we lift ourselves out of the personality into the individual or Egoic
consciousness. In some Churches it is chanted; but the occasion seems apt for the use of the speaking
voice, for, in the recitation of this, it seems as though we pay less attention to the collective
consciousness that we have been trying to build up, and make our own personal and free intercourse
with the Divine Love; and for this the use of the natural speaking voice is perhaps more appropriate.
The beautiful phrase, "Thou, O Lord, hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are ever restless till
they find their rest in Thee," is from St. Augustine (Conf. Lib. I., cap I.). During the concluding
words we should be glowing and uplifted in our Egoic aspect.

THE ABSOLUTlON
The Absolution sets the seal, as it were, upon all this effort in the way of purification, upliftment and
Egoic-realization. That may be regarded as the upward-moving flow of force rising from the people.
It calls down its contemporaneous response from on high, as does all true aspiration. But the
Absolution represents another special outpouring from above, the effect of which is to hold and
maintain the bodies in their opened attitude, and in their capacity to transmit a fuller flow o f life.
X J. I. WEDGWOOD
Note: This series of articles can be found in New Insights into Christian Worship The St. Alban
Press, Sydney, 1976.
No. 5

24

THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH WORSHIP

BY THE RIGHT REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD, D.SC.
March 1928 Vol. VII No. 6

V. THE HOLY EUCHARIST (Continued)

THE CENSING
In the use of incense we make a varied appeal to human consciousness. We appeal to the imagination
through the familiar medium of symbolism, for the world without and the world within are
intimately co-related. The smoke of the incense as it rises upwards before the altar is beautifully
associated by our Holy Mother the Church with the prayers of the saints rising before the throne of
God. The offering of incense is to us, therefore, the outer expression of the sacrifice of ourselves, our
souls and bodies, a sacrifice offered in union with that of the whole Church past and present,
militant, expectant and triumphant, and with that One Great Sacrifice - the great offering, of the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity - by which the world is nourished and sustained. This appeal to
the imagination through the sense of sight is heightened by the rhythmic movement of the ministers,
which satisfies our sense of order, by the perfume which makes its own approach I through the
appropriate sense, and even by the clanking of the chains which through a third sense marks certain
points of the rhythm. Besides all this, the incense serves another purpose; it is an instrument as well
as a symbol. The scent which it diffuses has in itself an influence which is normally beneficent and
tends to devotion and purity of feeling; and the incense spreads this abroad wherever its perfume
may pass, as well as the spiritual power poured into it by the benedic tion of the priest.
It may be mentioned in passing that care ought to be taken as to the composition of the incense
burned in our churches. To mix a satisfactory incense for oneself is not at all an easy matter. It is
generally known that gum benzoin supplies the cathartic element, and olibanum the devotional, and
that for a cultured and enlightened congregation the latter should be in decided preponderance. A
little thus is sometimes added to give vigour to the etheric action, sometimes also myrrh and var ious
essential oils, such as santal, rose, clove, lemon, geranium. But the correct proportions of these
things are largely matters of experience. Moreover, there is a great range of difference in the quality
and price of the gums indicated, and there are processes of mixing the ingredients under heat in the
case of the gums and by gradual absorption in the case of the oils. Much may depend also on the
nature of the embers that are employed. It is perfume that should be aimed at, not smoke. The best
effect is obtained the moment the incense is spread upon the charcoal, and care has to be taken that
the incense is not such as at once to cake over the embers with a layer of malodorous used material.
How should the people think during the incensing? They use their imagination along the symbolic
and aesthetic lines indicated above. But other lines of work also suggest themselves, for as the
candles are taken in rotation, our thoughts may well turn to the Rays and the special influences that
they represent. As the priest censes each candle in turn, he should gather up from the congregation
their contribution of the quality of the Ray concerned and, uniting that with his own contribution,
should offer it with love and devotion to the Lord of the Ray.
The chief purpose of this incensing is to prepare the altar and its surroundings for the spiritual
operations that are to follow, and of which it is the central focus. Finally, he is himself censed. He
then turns. to the people with the Minor Benediction, to renew and refurbish the link between
himself and the people, and to permeate them with the higher degree of sanctification produced by
the ceremony of incensing.

25

THE INTROIT
The initial part of the Eucharist concerned with the purification of the people and of the theatre of
their work is now finished - though the process of purification naturally continues right up to the
reception of the Holy Communion. There now follows a good deal of hard work in the way of praise
and adoration. The latter word means really "speaking to" God (Latin, ad - to, orare - to speak), and
adoration here is quite literally a speaking to God. Similarly, the word worship (Old English,
worthscipe ) means the giving of "worth," or that which is His due, to God.
Our worship and "speaking to God" begin, as is fitting, with the ascription of praise to the EverBlessed Trinity. Our thoughts should be carried up as high as possible, and the practice of
contemplation upon the Divine Being will eventually open up for us a wider expansion of
consciousness. For many people, in this generation which has grown up with so little instruction or
thought upon religious matters, God is little more than a name, and certainly the thought of God does
not in such cases call out any feeling of love and self-dedication, or any passion for righteousness. It
is not that the modern generation lacks idealistic conceptions, but it has transferred them from so
seemingly remote an abstraction as God and contrived to fasten them round intermediary characters.
To sing, therefore, of the Holy Trinity which is yet the Undivided Unity, is to speak in an idiom not
generally understanded of the people. It is not always well, however, to make concessions to the
passing ignorance of a generation or group of generations. There are some institutions rooted in the
immemorial past, whose task it is, while welcoming new aspects of Truth, to preserve certain things
which are fundamental, and which because they are eternal are changeless. These are institutions not
to be changed and modified by generations or by races, but rather to change them. Is it not true, as
say the Scriptures, that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." (1) His is the all-embracing
Life; and could we but know it, we are closer to God than we can possibly be to any of our fellowmen, or even to Those Greater Ones, to Whom we look up with love and veneration. One very
suggestive book which presents God under the thought of the Numinous, is Otto's The Idea of the
Holy. He speaks of the mysterium tremendum, that sense of the awe-fulness of God, which can
seize upon man with almost paralysing effect, and make itself felt in a thousand different ways. This
sense of the awe of the Divine Majesty has become deteriorated into the familiar sense of fear,
whereas the underlying idea is much more that of something stupendously overpowering, because so
infinitely richer in all characteristics than ourselves.
I cannot here enlarge upon this very fascinating theme, but the Liberal Catholic Church has as one of
its tasks, it has always seemed to me, to restore to the technical language of religion the wealth of
meaning which originally underlay that terminology. In the course of the Introit we presently come
upon the words honour" and "glory" in the phrase "to Whom be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen." Honour is a word of litany meanings, including "high respect, "reputation," nobleness of
mind; and "glory" similarly may mean exalted renown," "praise and thanksgiving, resplendent
majesty, beauty or magnificence, effulgence of heavenly light." The "glory of God" is that sense of
overmastering power and beauty and bliss which we sometimes are privileged to sense on occasions
of great spiritual experience.
When the catechisms tell us that we are here on earth "glorify God, the inner meaning of the phrase
is to make glorified and effulgent the radiance of the Divine Light within us. And we speak further
of this Divine Glory which "covers the earth as the waters cover the sea" when we hymn the
Supreme with the words, "How excellent is Thy Name in all in all the world, the Name having here
the usual technical meaning of the essence, the power or the life.

26

The music to which the Introit is set in our Musical Liturgy is one of the Parisian Tones, one of those
melodies written on the model of the Gregorian Tones which grew up in the later usage of the
diocese of Paris, as others grew up in other dioceses.

THE KYRIE
I cannot do better than quote some words of Bishop Leadbeater upon the use of the Kyrie:
..this ninef old invocation corresponds to the ninef old offering spirit, soul and bodies at the
censing; that opened up the man at those three levels, and the response which comes to this
appeal, fills the opened vessels. As he sings the first petition, the worshipper, reaching up
with all his strength towards the All-Father, and trying to realize his absolute unity with Him,
should think: "I am a spark of Thee, the Living Flame; O Father, pour Thyself f orth and
through Thy spark." Holding the same realization, as he sings the second, he will f eel:
Father, flood Thou my soul, that through it other souls may be nourished." And at the third:
"Father, my bodies are Thine; use Thou them to Thy glory. At the f ourth, f if th and sixth
recitations, he will repeat these thoughts, substituting the realization of the Son for that of the
Father; and at the third series he will of fer the same petitions to God the Holy Ghost. Yet in
all this he must not ask anything as f or himself alone, nor take pride in being chosen as a
separate vessel for God's grace, but must rather know himself as one among the brethren, a
soldier among comrades.(3)
The Kyrie provides a very wonderful opportunity for outpouring of love on the part of the
congregation. It is not easy, of course, to do this str aight away - to order, as it were. The majority of
people are not used to producing emotions directly by their own efforts. Emotions are more usually
called forth by some event, or by the presence of some person, in our outer surroundings. The sight
of a little child, or of someone dear to us, evokes our feelings of affection. We are more used to
working in this way of reaction to our environment, and most people find some difficulty in
producing any kind of strong emotion directly from within. And yet we are called upon to exteriorise
one emotion after another all through the rendering of the Liturgy. It is one of the accomplishments
that we learn through the practice of meditation. To be able to feel a rich warm glow of love, such as
is demanded of us in the Kyrie, requires long effort and practice. We do well to begin by thinking of
some person whom we love, and to dwell upon him, intensifying our sense of affection as we
proceed. We then take this glow of love, refine and ennoble it in every way, so as to make it pure and
fitting for divine worship, and then substituting the Source of all love direct our efforts in pure
reaching up towards Him. As the congregation learns to do this during the Kyrie, the floodgates of
heaven are opened, and the Divine Love pours down upon the group of devoted worshippers.
THE GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
The Gloria opens with an expression of praise to God and the sending of a wave of peace over the
outer world. The phrases which immediately follow can be coloured differently with shades of
meaning according to the disposition of the worshipper. To "bless" God is an archaic expression; not
strictly logical, perhaps, since blessing is given by superiors. As contrasted with the preceding word
"praise," it carries perhaps the idea of blending love and warmth of feeling into our action. The
special significations of "worship" and "glorify" have already been indicated when considering the
Introit. We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory" is a quaint but wonderful phrase. We then pass
on to extol the kingly aspect of God, the aspect of Power and Omnipotence.

27

In the second paragraph the phase of thought changes, and we pass especially to the consideration of
the Second Person. The music should suddenly grow much softer at the words "Indwelling Light, as
we think, of the great mystery of which the Christ Who dwells in the human heart, the Light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and our thoughts turn at once in reverence to cherish
and revere that Divine Presence within. We then apostrophise the well-known Trinity of Wisdom,
Strength and Beauty, pouring forth a great stream of Love, of Strength and of Splendour, as we lift
ourselves in aspiration. The prayer that God is asked "to receive" is our outpouring of strength.
The third paragraph is a final pan of praise addressed to Our Lord, concluding with an ascription of
praise to the Blessed Trinity.
The congregation will do well to keep very active and vigorous during the Gloria, and should beware
of dragging the music. Up to this point the singing has entailed very hard work ; but the most
strenuous part is now accomplished, the outlines of our building are complete, and our coming task
is concerned with the enriching and embellishment of our labours.

THE COLLECTS
Not much need be said about the Collects. In fact, it should suffice to say that they are intended to
collect the thoughts of the people and offer them before the heavenly Throne. The Collect of the
week often expresses the special intention of the season, the subject round which our spiritual efforts
for the week are to turn. The congregation have it within their power to make the last Collect for
Peace a very powerful determination towards World-Peace. The thoughts that are presented in the
Collects are usually cast into the form of supplication or prayer, partly because that is traditional, and
even more because it is so extraordinarily difficult to write affirmations in language that is graceful
and fitting. The effort has been that they shall have the c haracter of aspirational utterances. There is
an old saying that "God helps those who help themselves," and although this proverb is often made
the starting-point for demonstrations of human wit, it is none the less very true in this case.
Supplication, in which a person asks for something, may be beautiful if uttered in a spirit of devotion
and earnest faith, and will, we believe, receive its response; but more worthy of a potentially Divine
humanity is surely the attitude of co-operating with the Divine Will in evolution. In our prayers,
therefore, we do well to create by our own efforts the qualities for which we ask, knowing that as
those positive efforts are offered to God, they will be increased and made fruitful by His Power.

THE EPISTLE AND GOSPEL

These serve the purpose, not only of instructing and exercising the minds of the people, but also of
contributing mental matter to the Eucharistic edifice. The Liberal Catholic Church may be said, on
the whole, to have what may be called Modernist ideas on the subject of the Scriptures. Popular
opinion, at large, is rapidly moving away from the idea of their being inspired in the literal or verbal
sense, or that, except in a very general and romantic sense, they call be called the "Word of God."
There is in them much that is the product of the highest inspiration, and we cannot reverence and
treasure too highly sayings of Our Lord or of some of the prophetic passages of the Old Testament.
But the fact remains that the Scriptures are very unequal, and in many cases difficult or even
impossible to understand. As in the case of many ancient documents, passages are capable of various
interpretations, and isolated as we are from the correspondence or thought which called them into
being, we have no means of deciding what was the intended meaning of their authors. How much
easier would our theology be if it were possible to re-awaken and question our authors, or to travel
back through the ages and place our minds in close contact with theirs.

28

Now that people have made the acquaintance of the Scriptures of other religions and have learned to
appreciate magnificent passages that they also have to offer, we are sometimes asked why we did not
include some such passages amongst our Epistles. The answer is that such mixing of streams of
religious influence seems often to produce a clash of influences, to which it must be added that
difficult as it is to provide consecutive passages of edifying Scripture from Jewish and Christian
sources, it seems even more difficult to do so from other sources.
There is one fact which invests the reading of the Epistle and Gospel with considerable additional
interest. It would seem that the Scriptures of all of the great religions have attached to them great
Angels, who use the Scriptures during their reading or public recitation as vehicles of their influence.
Consequently, it often happens that the actual blessing poured out over a congregation during the
reading of a Gospel is a good deal more than can be accounted for by the intrinsic value of the
passage read.

THE GRADUAL
The beautiful words of the Gradual, in praise of wisdom and understanding, tend to awaken the
higher reaches of our mind-activity. They form a useful basis for meditation.
The chant to which these words are set in our Musical Liturgy is by an organist named Richard
Redhead, who was prominent in the Anglo-Catholic movement in the latter half of last century. It is
written in the Gregorian style.
X J. I. WEDGWOOD
(1) Acts, xvii., 28.
(2) English translation, Oxford University Press, 1926.
(3) The Science of T he Sacraments, pp 102, 104.

Note: This series of articles can be found in New Insights into Christian Worship The St. Alban
Press, Sydney, 1976.

No. 6

29

THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

By THE REV. C. W. LEADBEATER (Presiding Bishop)
(Summary of an address, unrevised by the author, delivered at the Liberal Catholic Church at Adyar,
India, on 19th January, 1930.)
June 1933 Vol. No. 9
This day, you know, is within the octave of the day set apart for the commemoration of the Baptism
of the Lord. You just heard the account of that read (1): how John baptized people in the River
Jordan, and how Christ also went to be baptized, and John was startled and said, "I have need to be
baptized of Thee" - that is, "You are my superior officer". But the Christ said, " Never mind; let it be
so now; it is our business to fulfil all righteousness among them; this is a ceremony through which
all should go, and I too will do this because it is prescribed."
And then comes a very curious account of what happened to John. Looking up, he saw the heavens
open and the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, and at the same time a Voice saying "This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Now that is one of the very few occasions mentioned
in the Bible in which the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are spoken of simultaneously. There is
frequent reference to the Father and the Son, and even to the Holy Spirit, but very rarely are all
Three represented as having manifested at the same time. Therefore this is one of the texts upon
which the doctrine of the Trinity has been based by the Church.
There has always been the idea in the Church that the doctrine can be supported by the sacred
Scriptures. In the Liberal Catholic Church we do not regard the sacred Scriptures as necessarily and
always inspired; we hold that the doctrine is rather based upon the eternal facts of Nature than upon
anything said or written; therefore it is not quite so necessary from our point of view to be able to
find the doctrine in the collection of books which has been made into the Christian Scriptures.
Still, we hold the doctrine of the Trinity because there are some of us who know it to be a necessity,
and the rest of us, I think, believe or take it at any rate as a necessary hypothesis. There is the great
Deity behind all this universe from Whom pour out three mighty streams of force, the existence of
which is explained by this doctrine that God is a Trinity, Three in One. If we had never been told that
God was a Trinity we should have had to postulate it from what we have observed. So we say of
ourselves that it is true from evidence that comes with our own ken.
If that evidence be supported by Scriptures, as it is indeed by the Scriptures of various religions - the
Hindu, Chaldean, Babylonian, Egyptian, and those of other races in northern Europe - so much the
better; but we accept it not because it has been written, but because some of us know that there must
be such, others postulate it to account for the phenomena.
The Holy Spirit has been symbolized as a dove for many centuries in the Church. The symbolism is
that the Holy Spirit spreads His wings over the Church as a dove spreads her wings over her young.
It is a beautiful piece of symbolism; but all manifestations of the Deity must, of course, be
symbolical and partial, for He in Himself is beyond and above all manifestations. We hold in this
Church, as you do in Hinduism, that God is in everyone and in everything, and yet He is, as is said in
your sacred Scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, above and beyond all: "I have created this Universe with a
fragment of MYSELF, and I remain."
You are in no way bound to accept that, but we put it before you as what we regard to be true. We
never insist upon belief of any kind. We offer this; if it seems probable and reasonable to you, accept
it, but not because somebody tells you. That is a very important distinction.
1 Matt: III. 13 -17.

No. 10

30

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH
By THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
Docteur (Sciences) de l'Universit de Paris
October 1933 Vol. XIV No. 1
Here is, perhaps, no better definition of a Sacrament than that given in the Catechism of the Anglican
Prayer Book; namely, "An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us,
ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us
thereof." The outward sign is a token or a figurative representation of the inward grace. The flowing
of the water in baptism represents the mystical washing away of sin. The giving of bread and wine in
the Eucharist is the symbol of our spiritual nourishment. And this outer sign so directs our outer
attention and understanding that our whole being is made receptive to the grace that is outpoured.
This grace is "given unto us." The sacrament differs from other rites of the Church in that it carries
with it ''a free gift of grace. In the use of prayer, and in choir offices like Vespers, there is (apart
from the presence of the Reserved Host) a natural reaction at work of cause and effect. The answer
in terms of benediction depends on the effort made by the worshippers. The same law of cause and
effect continues to be operative in the sacrament; but the factor of grace is now introduced. What
takes place is utterly beyond and out of all proportion to our human capacity and endeavour. This
mighty outpouring of power is linked up with and made possible in virtue of that "enduring Sacrifice
by which the world is nourished and sustained" - to quote a passage from our Liberal Catholic
Eucharistic Liturgy. The one criticism of the above Anglican definition which may suggest itself to
someone who likes to view the universe sub specie aeternitatis is that the sacrament should be
identified primarily with the grace rather than with the sign or symbol (Greek = thrown together, i. e.
correspondence) through which it is transmitted.
The doctrine of the sacraments has been worked out with admirable precision in the Western Church.
For their due administration a number of conditions present themselves. These can be outlined as
follows:
I. The sacrament itself is viewed under the aspects of matter and form. (a) The "matter" is the
physical material, and maybe action, used. In baptism it is the pouring of water; in the Eucharist it is
bread and wine; in the sacrament of penance it is the due confession of sin. (b) The "form" is the
accompanying form of words. In baptism it is the words "I baptise thee (or, as a variant in the
Eastern Churches, "The servant of God is baptised") in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost"; in the Eucharist it is the familiar formula used at the consecration of the Host
and of the Chalice.
II. A second requirement is concerned with the person of the minister. For the Eucharist the minister
of the sacrament must be of the rank of priest; for Holy Orders a bishop is essential. In the case of
baptism the minister should be a priest; failing the priest a deacon may baptise; and in cases of
necessity a layman or a laywoman may baptise (Roman theologians say that a woman should not do
it in preference to a man unless she be better instructed in the proceedings). In the sacrament of Holy
Matrimony the priest gives the Nuptial Benediction; but it is held that the contracting parties
themselves are the minister of the sacrament.
III. A third requirement is that of "intention." What is required is the intention to do as the Church
does. There have been expert theologians who maintained that for the sacrament to be valid the
officiating minister must have in mind the detailed and orthodox view of the operation of the rite in
use; the Council of Trent, however, decided the question in the earlier sense, and this is consequently
the official doctrine of the Roman Church.

31

CHARACTER. There are two other factors which remain for consideration. They are known as
"character" and "jurisdiction." Of the seven sacraments three impress character on the person who
receives them. They work in him a permanent and indelible change, and on that account must not be
repeated. These are the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Order. The other four, to wit,
the Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Penance and Unction, may be repeated. If there is doubt about one
of the character-conferring sacraments having been validly administered, the said sacrament is
repeated sub conditione . The phrase used in conditional re-baptism, for instance, is "If thou are not
already baptised, then do I baptise thee . . . ...
JURISDICTION. The view of the Western Church is that sacraments administered in Churches
which have preserved the Apostolic Succession are valid - provided, of course, that there is no
reason to doubt the sufficiency and intention of the rite. The Roman Church denies the validity of
Anglican Orders, but admits that baptism is duly administered by clergy of the High Church party at
any rate - consequently the baptism ranks with that of laymen. Bishops of the Roman Church and of
other historical Churches are vested with an administrative authority - called jurisdiction - over the
diocese or area to which they are appointed. Sacraments administered within that sphere of
jurisdiction by outsiders ranks as ''irregular." If an ordained priest of one such "schismatical" Church
- let us say of the Eastern Orthodox Church - were to submit to Rome and were to be approved for
the priesthood he would not be re-ordained, but would simply be regularised and vested with the
jurisdiction hitherto lacking.

"EX OPERE OPERATO" AND " EX OPERE OPERANTIS"

The ideas briefly summarised in the foregoing paragraphs are those of the Roman Catholic Church.
They would be subscribed to by the Anglo-Catholic party, as well as by many "Moderate"
Churchmen of the Anglican Church. And they are held by Old Catholics in general and by some
other separated bodies who have kept intact the Apostolic Succession of Orders. One cannot speak
with exactitude and unreservedly about the Old Catholics, since from time to time Protestantism has
made incursions upon some sections of that body. Of the various Protestant bodies there is no need
to speak here. The theory of the sacraments which we have been considering is described by the
Latin words "ex opere operato." What is meant by the phrase is that Christ Himself is the true
minister of all sacraments, and that when the conditions above formulated are fulfilled the holy
sacraments work of their own virtue and power. It was St. Augustine who worked out this thesis with
masterly skill and precision; and he based it on the constant testimony of St. Paul: " Yet not I but
Christ liveth in me." (1) There is a contrary theory which has been widely held in the Anglican
Church, according to which Our Lord is not truly and really present in the Consecrated Elements, for
example, but rather in the heart of the faithful receiver. This theory goes by the name of "ex opere
operanti, and it implies that it is the disposition of the believer which is the condition of the
sacramental presence and virtue.
THE TEACHING OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
The Eastern-Orthodox Church repudiated Rome in the eleventh century because of the increasing
claims of the Papacy. It consists of a number of autocephalous national Churches. There is an
Oecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. There are Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem,
Moscow. The present Oecumenical Patriarch is named Photios. The Russian Metropolitan of
Moscow, named Serge and formerly Metropolitan of Novgarov, is locum tenens of the office of
Patriarch. The Bolshevists do not allow the Council General to meet for the election. The
Metropolitan Peter, now in prison in Liberia, is the chosen candidate. Eulogius of Paris is
Metropolitan for all Russians in countries outside of Russia. He was chosen by the former Patriarch,

32

His Beatitude Tikhon; and is independent of the Moscow Metropolitan for political reasons. The
Patriarchate of Jerusalem has been vacant since last year; the administration is temporarily in the
hands of a dignitary named Gregory. The Church is spread over a number of countries, such as
Russia, Greece, Jugoslavia, Roumania, Bulgaria, Ukrainia, Palestine, Egypt. There are also so-called
heretical and schismatical Churches.
The doctrinal history and outlook of the Orthodox Church is different in many respects from that of
the Roman Church. It has no centralised Papal authority; there has indeed been little of intercourse
and exchange of ideas between the various Churches until of late. The Eastern Church has shown
marked reluctance to embark upon dogmatic definition. This has had its good side but it has also led
to some amazing inconsistencies of action to which we shall presently refer. And the man who sets
himself to study Orthodox theology is faced with the fact that one point of view argued with great
skill and documentation by certain outstanding theologians will be repudiated with equal certainty by
others.
The reader who may wish to study for himself the theory of Economy which we are to consider in
this article, and Orthodox ideas in general, will do well to consult the following books: The Relation
of the Anglican Churches with the Eastern-Orthodox , by Canon J. A. Douglas, Ph.D., B.D. (London,
The Faith Press, 1931); The Validity of Anglican Ordinations, by Mgr. Chrysostom. Papadopoulos,
Archbishop of Athens, translated by Canon J. A. Douglas (London, The Faith Press, 1931); Article
on The Principle of Economy by C. Dyovouniotes in The Church Quarterly Review for April, 1933.
The following two books are out of print, but can very likely be obtained through Messrs. A. R.
Mowbray and Co. of London: Some Aspects of Contemporary Greek Orthodox Thought, by the Rev.
Frank Gavin, B.H.L., Th.D. (published in 1923 at Milwaukee, U. S. A. and by Messrs. Mowbray);
The Validity of English Ordinations f rom an Orthodox Catholic Point of View, by the Most Rev.
Chrestos Androutsos, translated by Dr. F. W. Groves Campbell (London, Grant Richards, 1909).
The Orthodox Church claims to be the one true Church. The Roman Church is considered to have
separated herself from the one true fold because of her "arrogant claims, innovations in dogma and
worship and discipline. (2) If we enquire.. whether our (the Anglican) Sacraments and, indeed,
whether the Sacraments of the Papalist, Assyrian, Armenian, and other `heterodox' Churches, are
valid, the Eastern-Orthodox are bound to answer that, since there can be no true Sacraments outside
the Church, they cannot consider the question of their validity as a principle at all." (3) "One thing is
certain, and that is, according to the fundamental principles of Orthodoxy, all who sever themselves
from the Church or mutilate the Faith or in any other way fall away from it, lose both the Apostolic
Succession in doctrine and in priesthood. . . . . baptism performed by men who have gone astray as
regards the Faith - and still more their ordinations, are not only legally irregular, but are also wholly
invalid and worthless .. " (4) ''Zekos Rhosses excellently remarks: 'a bishop who falls from the
true universal church of the first eight centuries and changes the faith by novelties can never transmit
to others the genuine episcopal office and true ordination.' " (5)
This statement is based on the theory that the grace of the Holy Spirit is wanting from such
ministrations, so that clergy who break away from the one Church become laymen. They are severed
from the Body of Christ and from the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. "This opinion is based on the
conception of the exclusiveness of divine grace in the church, outside of which, since divine grace
does not exist, the sacraments are inoperative. (6)
A natural reaction is always likely to set in against extreme and austere doctrines of this sort. We
find Canon Douglas quoting a Russian named Khomiakoff. The quotation is from a work by W. J.
Birbeck entitled Russia and the English Church, containing a correspondence between Mr William
Palmer and M. Klzoiiziakoff ranging over the years 1844-1854. Inasmuch as the earthly and visible
Church is not the fulness and completeness of the whole Church which the Lord has appointed to

33

appear at the final judgment of all creation, she acts and moves only within her own limits and does
not judge the rest of mankind and only looks upon those as excluded, that is to say, not belonging to
her, who exclude themselves. The rest of mankind, whether alien from the Church or united to her by
ties which God has not willed to reveal to her, she leaves to the judgment of the Great Day." (7) The
idea of a Mystical Church transcending the boundaries of any worldly organisation is one familiar in
the literature of religion. It is espoused by Dr. Orchard in his book entitled From Faith to Faith,
recently published after his submission to Rome and reviewed in this journal. (8)
This theory of the invalidity of sacraments administered outside the visible body of the Church dates
from quite early times. The Anglican Father F. W. Puller testifies to this in his well-known book
entitled The Primitive Saints and the See of Rome : "The Post-Nicene Fathers for the most part teach
that baptism administered by heretics is invalid, even though the right formula be used . . . " (9)
There is no need to cite authorities at any length; but a few references may be given. St. Basil is
quoted as saying that "the bestowal of the Spirit ceases by the severing of the order . . and those that
have broken away, having become laymen, have neither authority to baptise nor to ordain, nor yet
are they able to pass on to others the Grace of the Holy Spirit, from which they themselves have
fallen away." (10) St. Basil "rejected the baptisms of the Encratites, although they baptised into the
Name of the Holy Trinity, because they assumed that God was the author of evil, as the Marcionites
also did (Migne, XXXIL, 732)". (11) Two other writers, Professor Z. Rhossis and Mesoloras,
confirm this statement of invalidity. (12)
(To be continued).
-----

1. Galatians 11.20.
2. Androutsos, cited in Gavin, P. 251.
3. Douglas, P. 52.
4. Androutsos, pp. 9,10
5. Cited in Dyovouniotes, p. 95.
6. Ibid., p. 94
7. Douglas, pp. 51, 52. The book in question was published by the S.P.C.K. of London in 1917.
8. The Liberal Catholic, June 1933, p. 142.
9. p. 74
10. Androutsos, p. 10 note by the translator Dr. F.W. Groves Campbell.
11. Androutsos, p. 11
12. The same note by Dr. Groves Campbell.

No. 12

34

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH
By THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
Docteur (Sciences) de l'Universit de Paris
November 1933 Vol. XIV No.2
II

WESTERN FORMULATION OF DOCTRINE

The many schisms and conflicts with authority figuring in the early history of the Church rendered
inevitable the formulation of the conditions under which Orders could be conferred and exercised.
The Western Church developed a well-grounded distinction between Orders and Jurisdiction. In our
study of Roman doctrine we have already seen that the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and
Holy Order are said to impress upon those who receive them "character." This character is seen as
something different from grace and jurisdiction. The Roman Church acknowledges that character is
conferred by the administration of these sacraments in heretical and schismatic churches which have
retained the succession of Orders. This validity of the sacraments is based on the fact that it is the
Christ Himself Who is the true minister of all sacraments. The sacraments are not affected
intrinsically by the worldly conduct of either minister or recipient. This view of the question is put
forward with clearness and precision in The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Prayer Book.
Article 26 reads: "the unworthiness of the ministers. . . hinders not the effect of the Sacrament."
Question 19 of The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches similarly. St. Augustine in a telling
passage maintains that "the Baptism of Christ is holy, even though administered by adulterers, for
His holiness cannot be polluted and His divine grace is present in the Sacrament." (1) Devine, in a
Roman Catholic textbook entitled The Sacraments Explained (2) quotes another passage from St.
Augustine: "Judas baptised, and yet after him none were re-baptised. John the Baptist baptised, and
after John they were re-baptised, because the baptism administered by Judas was the baptism of
Christ but that administered by John was the baptism of John: not that we prefer Judas to John, but
that we justly prefer the baptism of Christ, although administered by Judas, to the baptism of John,
although administered by the hands of John."
"Fortunately, the conclusions of (Western) theology are specially clear on the subject of Holy
Orders, owing to their emergence from centuries of thought and experience, during which the issues
could be disencumbered of bias and party feeling, and treated as questions of principle. St.
Augustine's masterly defence (3) of baptisms and ordinations administered by heretics settled that
question for later generations, and was so conspicuously logical that it became the starting- point
from which the doctrine of the Sacraments was gradually systematised. Circumstances then forced
into prominence the question of ordinations procured by simony or other sinister artifice. Time again
decided in favour of the more spacious view. I quote from Wilhelm & Scannell: (4) 'the doubt
continued . . . until the question was discussed with great clearness by Robert Pullen, whose opinion
as to the validity of heretical, intruded and simoniacal ordinations was accepted by Alexander of
Hales, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas and Scotus.' " (5)
What is lacking in schismatical Orders according to this perfectly logical thesis is not character but
the gift of grace, which alone makes for salvation. This view has been gradually developed; it was
worked out in masterly fashion by St. Augustine and then developed by subsequent theologians. It is
the view and practice which has prevailed and has been everywhere accepted in the West. The
Western Church admits that even Jews and heathen folk are capable of administering validly the
sacrament of baptism in cases of necessity. Schism, therefore, is not healed by re- ordination, but in
terms of contrition and the giving of jurisdiction by the competent authority.

35

THE PRINCIPLE OF ECONOMY

The Eastern Church developed a different method of procedure. It retained the primitive idea as to
the invalidity of all sacraments outside its own pale; and it has continued to put into practice a form
of procedure which does actually date from primitive times. It can be traced back to the time of St.
Basil (c. 330-379). Dyovouniotes says that "Since the fifth century . . . the Eastern Church has
applied with regard to the sacraments of schismatics and heretics who adhere to her the principle of
economy, which has been in use in the Church from the beginning." (6) The word "Economy" is
derived from the Greek. St. Basil speaks of "an economy of many things" as justifying the
recognition of certain extraneous baptisms; (7) he also accepted certain episcopal Orders (8) and he
urged a certain Gennadius not to avoid communion with a schismatic bishop Proclus ''on account of
the economies of the case . . . which at times must be strained a little beyond what is necessary." (9)
This Greek word carries with it a certain subtlety of meaning. It means fundamentally "order" or
"arrangement." We speak of the "economy of nature" and the "economy of the body," in the sense of
their workings. The word eventually comes to be synonymous with administration; we speak of
political economy" and of ''economy" in finance. The term is analogous in its ecclesiastical
application to the technical theological terms of "indulgence" and "dispensation." Gavin suggests
that it means "the carrying out of the spirit rather than the exact and rigid letter of a law," (10) and he
quotes a "prominent Orthodox ecclesiastic" who likened it to "the figure of a ship in a storm being
lightened of valuable cargo for the purpose of saving human life." (11) Neither of these two
suggestions seems to meet the case. In actual practice Economy means that the Church may choose
to validate acts which previously from the Eastern point of view have been null and void by causing
the Divine Grace to flow into them. The reconciliation is effected by the use of the Holy Oil of
Chrism in the case of persons received into the Orthodox Church who may have lapsed into schism
or have received baptism or ordination at the hands of Schismatics.
When one comes to study the history of the application of this principle of Economy in the Orthodox
Church one is struck with the entire absence of any consistency in the proceedings. "This diversity,"
as Gavin rightly remarks, "has laid her (the Orthodox Church) open to the charge of having no
principle at all in such matters." (12) A few instances, will suffice. The Synods of Constantinople
held in 1261 and 1481 decided that converts to Orthodoxy should simply be chrismated. In 1629 the
Synod of the Russian Church decreed that Western Christians, whether Roman Catholic or
Protestant, should be re-baptised; and then in 1666-1667 reversed the decision. In subsequent times
the Russian Church has dispensed even with chrismation. In 1718 the Russian Church - actually with
the consent of the Oecumenical Patriarch - decided in favour of the recognition of Calvinist and
Lutheran baptisms. In 1756 four Greek Patriarchs decided not to accept Western baptism; yet in spite
of this ukase numbers of Papalists and Protestants were accepted "economically" in the ensuing
century.
There have been numbers of cases of intercommunion between the Orthodox and the Anglicans,
each having received sacramental ministrations from the other. The Protestant Episcopal (American
Anglican) Bishop of Fond du Lac celebrated at the Orthodox Cathedral in Belgrade with Orthodox
clergy and bishops present. On the other hand, in 1840 a bishop of a Uniate Church (one using the
Orthodox rites but in communion with Rome) was re- baptised and re -consecrated. In 192o a Roman
priest was re-ordained as deacon at Praag by the Metropolitan of Nisch." (12) One of our own
Liberal Catholic priests "concelebrated" (i.e., officiated during the Eucharist at the altar in company
with the priest in question) with an Orthodox priest, at his invitation, in one of the British Colonies.

36

ECONOMY AND NON-EPISCOPAL "ORDERS

There is one aspect of the Economy thesis which does seem to merge into the region of the fantastic.
It is stated that Economy can be applied to validate cases where the Apostolic Succession of Orders
has actually been broken. "Yet it must be understood that the Church, as the dispenser of
divine Grace, can recognise the Orders and the sacraments in general of schismatics and heretics
even if they have not been performed canonically and even if the Apostolic Succession be broken;
and for reasons which may seem to her good and necessary the Church may reject the Orders and the
sacraments in general of heretics and schismatics who do preserve the canonical order in the
administration of the sacraments and possess unimpaired the Apostolic Successsion." (14)
"Theoretically her discretion as to such acceptance is complete, and by it she could re-invalidate
sacraments which were deficient in rite and even in purpose. For example, she could accept . . .
Orders conferred by a Presbyterian." (15) Dyovouniotes states quite unequivocally "that the Church,
as steward of the divine grace, can recognise the ordinations and sacraments in general of heretics
and schismatics, among whom these are not canonically performed or the apostolic succession has
been broken." (16) The usual divergence of opinion shows itself on this point. There were Orthodox
Churchman present at the Lambeth Conference of 1930 who told the Anglican Bishop of Gloucester,
in reply to a question put by him, that they did not endorse the theory just enunciated. The Patriarch
of Alexandria said that the Church "had no power to recognise ordinations in Churches where the
Apostolic Succession had been broken," (17) Dyovouniotes goes on to say quite characteristically:
"While the Patriarch of Alexandria . . . asserts that the Church can only recognise valid Orders as
invalid, and not invalid Orders as valid, D. Georgiades asserts the Church can only recognise invalid
Orders as valid, and not valid Orders as invalid. These two opposite and one-sided opinions when
united together constitute the true teaching of the Eastern Church, according to which the Church as
steward of the divine grace can recognise invalid Orders as valid and valid Orders as invalid." (18)
----1. De Baptismo.
2. R . and T . Washbourne, Ltd., London, p - I 14.
3. Op. cit.
4. Manual of Catholic Theology , revised edition, 1908 Vol. II., p. 503. This is a favourite text book in the
Roman Catholic Church. Other authorities could be cited but the point will hardly be challenged.
5. The Lambeth Conference and the Validity of Archbishop Mathew's Orders , by the present writer, p. 14.
(T.P.H., London).
6. P. 96.
7. Androutsos, p. 14; Douglas, p. 57.
8. Androutsos, P. 14.
9. Androutsos, P. 15; Douglas, pp. 57-58.
10. P. 296. ii.P. 297.
12. P. 265.
13. The cases given in the last two paragraphs are cited in Douglas and Gavin.
14. Gavin, pp. 298 -299.
15. Douglas, P. 177.
16. pp. 98-99.
17. Report of the Joint Doctrinal Commission, London, S.P.C.K., 1932, p. 63
18. P. 99.

No. 13

37

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

By THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
December 1933 Vol. XIV No. 3
III
SOME COMMENTS ON THE DOCTRINE OF ECONOMY
The Eastern-Orthodox Church has many attractive features. The services are vested with a wonderful
dignity. The Church holds fast to what it considers to be the essentials of the Faith, yet it avoids the
aggressive dogmatism so often characteristic of the Roman Obedience. Its clergy are usually found
to be kindly and hospitable. There is much, again, that is wonderfully beautiful in its Liturgy and in
its ceremonial. But it gives one the impression of not having moved with the ages. There are many
among us who hold that revelation is progressive. The Liturgy is exceedingly lengthy - the Sung
Celebration of the Divine Mysteries is likely to occupy three hours furthermore, as is said in the
Preface to our own Liturgy, "the Greek liturgies come before us like a sea of beautiful language, but
they do not appear to be constructed on any framework whatever of coherent and consecutive
thought." At the more solemn moments of the Eucharist the celebrant is veiled from the people by
the lowering of a curtain or by the closing of a door (there are some exceptions to this normal
procedure) a custom which is assuredly a heritage of the esotericism of the Mysteries - as is also the
custom in the Latin rite of saying the Canon of the Mass "in secret ." We find something of all this
reflected in the Orthodox theology. That theology has avoided the dangers of over-definition; but it
also lacks the coherence which we associate with all forms of modern thinking. Its leaders are
rapidly changing through contact with men and with the literature of other Churches.
Let us now briefly examine the theories summed up in this word "Economy." Members of the
Liberal Catholic Church will in the first place dissent from the assertion that the Divine Grace is not
operative through the sacraments of Churches other than the Orthodox. To say that the sacraments of
the great Roman Catholic Church are invalid and that their Eucharists are not true Eucharists, is to
deny the continued experience of thousands of people. Yet we have also to join issue with the
Roman theory that whilst "character" is conferred through "schismatical" ordinations the
accompanying grace is withheld. Our own point of view would be that neither character nor grace is
wanting where the true succession of Orders has been preserved - whether the Church style itself Old
Catholic or Anglican or Liberal Catholic. This attitude is abundantly justified by experience, real and
continuous.
The situation is other when we come to consider those Churches, Presbyterian and Noncomformist,
which have not guarded the true succession of Orders. To such cases the ex opere operato doctrine is
not applicable. But we may be sure that in their rites a due measure of grace on the principle of ex
opere operantis is at work. The worshipper in such cases will receive blessing in proportion to his
devotion and spiritual effort; and those who have experience of such bodies know that evangelical
belief is often productive of the deepest sincerity and devotion. So much for general principles.
From this point of view the recognition of Orders or Baptism by economy is simply equivalent to the
act of regularising or the granting of lawful jurisdiction. There is enshrined within each Church
organisation a kind of collective consciousness - marvellous, often, in the richness and splendour of
its atmosphere. By formal act of admission into that body-corporate a person is brought into
relationship with that storehouse of blessing. In our own Church we have a simple Form of
Admission where conditional re-baptism or confirmation does not need to be administered, as in the
case of adult Roman or Old Catholics. Through this Form the candidate is brought into relationsh ip
with and into the fellowship of our Church. Priests in Orthodox and Roman Catholic Orders who
have been admitted to office in our Church have, of course, been accepted in their priestly rank

38

without any question of conditional re-ordination. Our own usage in regard to Anglicans is a little
unusual. There are evidences of baptism having been carelessly administered by mere flicking of
water in days gone by. That may be relegated to past history. We do, however, attach value to the
use of the Sacred Oils alike in baptism and confirmation; and for that reason we make a practice of
administering baptism sub-conditions to those joining us from the Anglican Church. It is not that for
one moment we consider the previously administered baptism invalid, but rather as lacking the
plentitude of grace. For the same reason Anglican priests are re-ordained by us sub conditione .
Moreover, the repetition of Confirmation and Orders in this conditional form has in view of the
maintaining of our status with the Roman Church which denies the validity of Anglican Orders.
Most of us would probably affirm that there are degrees of validity in the matter of the sacraments;
that, for instance, while baptism by a layman is technically and actually valid - or to use another
word, sufficient, it has not the same efficacy as that administered by a priest. The Latin word validus,
like many other Latin words, translates itself through various shades of meaning. "Efficacious" is
perhaps a faithful rendering of the word, whilst "strong" is one commonly received. There are
degrees of efficacity and strength. If one makes distinctions of this sort they should not be
interpreted as reflecting in any sense on the original outpouring of Divine Grace. That Grace, so far
as its normal and regular working is concerned, has to be transmitted through physical channels; and
it rests with us to provide the most suitable physical conditions. In the case of all candidates for
Orders the Liberal Catholic Church insists that there shall be due evidence of right baptism.
What are we to think about the recognition in terms of Economy of sacraments which are not valid
from the Western point of view - let us say, to return to a case already cited, of Presbyterian Orders?
One's own view is that the Divine Grace flows wherever possible through the form used and adapts
Itself in some measure to the particular form. The Orthodox Church, for example, regards the
consecration of the Eucharist as taking place at the recital of the Epiklesis - a subject about which I
shall hope to say something in a future article. Difference in detail may not be serious. But the
proposition now under review introduces a serious difficulty. If a Presbyterian minister were to be
received into the priestly Order simply by process of chrismation, it is just conceivable that Our Lord
would use this external rite as the means through which the priestly character hitherto lacking would
be conferred. But it would seem essential that it should be a bishop who officiated in person and who
would need to have the acceptance or the bestowal of the priestly rank in mind - in terms of
intention, that is to say. According to the Orthodox theory he would, indeed, be supplying through
process of Economy that which had hitherto been lacking. Economy from a distance by
correspondence, or transmitted through the personal intermediation of a priest, would hardly seem to
meet the case.
What has to be borne in mind is that in the case of each of the sacraments the Divine Grace has to be
communicated to a physical body on this physical plane of existence through a physical
intermediary. It is with a view to opening up these physical, as well as other higher channels for the
play of the blessing and power of the Lord, that we in the Liberal Catholic Church attach, as has just
been explained, value to the use of the Holy Oils in baptism and confirmation and in ordination to
the priesthood. ''Down here," on the physical plane we are conditioned by physical plane laws and
conditions. Androutsos fails to grasp the underlying purpose of such physical actions when he allows
himself to write such ill-founded strictures on Western practice as the following: "The Western
Church undoubtedly accepts the principle that even Jews and heathen are capable of performing
valid baptism in cases of necessity; and thus she appears to contradict this doctrine of Intention by
placing too much value on the outward act. Indeed, to make the Divine grace so utterly dependent
upon the mere words and acts of the sacraments is, to many minds, a precarious principle. Generally
speaking, it is inadmissible to make the outward act like some instrument that would act
mechanically and communicate mechanically the Divine Grace through the sound of syllables and
movements; and to this conclusion they arrive who admit that Jews and heathen are capable of

39

conferring valid baptism." In the first place a Jew or a "heathen" Hindu would not at some time of
emergency and in the kindness of his heart administer baptism without respect for the child or other
person concerned and for the religion into which he was to be admitted. Moreover, Androutsos
himself surely makes use of the spoken word when he administers sacraments and was himself
ordained by the intermediary of the "movement" of the laying on of episcopal hands. It rests with us
to provide the requisite physical conditions. And we need to be scrupulously careful in such matters,
since it is this world which is the most encompassed by form and the most remote from the primal
Source of Reality.

-------

No. 14

40

THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF ECONOMY

A STUDY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN-ORTHODOX CHURCH.
BY THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD.
Docteur (Sciences) de l'Universit de Paris
January 1934 Vol. XIV No. 4
IV
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH AND ECONOMY
Since Pope Leo XIII in his Bull Apostolicae Curae of 1896 condemned Anglican Orders as invalid
the Anglican Church turned its attention increasingly to the Eastern Church. A number of Anglicans
have become "infected" (if one may be pardoned the expression) with the Economy theory. Others of
its most stalwart scholars - and there are many of these in its ranks - refuse to have anything to do
with it. Not very long ago an Anglican priest wrote a letter to The Church Times in which he referred
to Orders derived through Archbishop Vilatte and Archbishop Mathew in terms of inverted commas
- that is to say, as "Orders." I wrote him a polite letter and sent him a copy of the Open Letter, to
which reference has already been made, entitled The Lambeth Conference and the Validity of
Archbishop Mathew's Orders. The Lambeth Conference decided at its session in 1930 that persons
deriving their Orders from the Mathew or Vernon Herford line of succession, or from other
episcopi vagantes" (as they rather nicely phrased it), should in the event of their being accepted for
clerical work in the Anglican Church be re-ordained sub conditione. I pointed out at the time that no
sound scholarship or tradition of true ecclesiastical usage lay behind such a direction; what was
applicable was the giving of jurisdiction, not the repetition of Order. Such clergy would need
"regularisation" from the Anglican standpoint. And I went on to say: "Any student of history will see
that if intrigue, force majeure and subversions of the truth, major or minor, are to be regarded as
invalidating a consecration, very few lines of succession can hope to pass muster. One writer,
Lagarde, in The Latin Church in the Middle Ages , tells us that 'in the eleventh century bishoprics
were frequently, and in every country, made an object of traffic.' In 614 the Frankish episcopate at
Paris forbade the purchase of episcopal consecration or obtaining it through the influence of princes,
and several Councils condemned such traffic." Anglican Orders are not invalidated by the plentiful
misdemeanours of Reformation and XVIIIth Century divines, nor Roman Orders by the many
scandals of the Papacy and Sacred College of Cardinals. Were it otherwise the Orders of no Church
would be negotiable. "Amid the tumult of controversy disputants are apt to be restrictive in their
judgments, forgetting that the plan of God moves in a wider orbit than 'the fretting of man's mind.' . .
. . It might be argued that the Holy Spirit could not be at the mercy of a fraud, however skilfully
concealed and put into effect. But such an objection is precisely of this limited order. It takes into
account only the misdemeanour of a single individual, and would sacrifice the thousands of earnest
and faithful people who might later approach his ministrations."
The pamphlet points out, also, that certain persons ordained by Dr. Mathew had been admitted to
Office as ministers of the Anglican and Old Catholic Churches without re-ordination. One bishop
deriving consecration from him, the Prince de Landas Roches et de Berghes, took part in the laying
on of hands at the consecration of a Protestant Episcopal bishop in New York. Moreover, Bishop
Mathew's episcopal status was fully recognised when he was received into union with the Orthodox
Patriarch of Antioch by the Archbishop of Beyrout, Mgr. Gerassimos Messara, in person.
The Anglican priest in question said in answer to my representations that the Anglican Church had
power to refuse recognition of such Orders "by Economy." And I have been told recently by a
competent authority that the Bishop of London, who appears to be charged with the consideration of
such cases, now insists on absolute re-ordination. It would seem that the theory of Economy has
assailed that episcopal stronghold. It is a pity; for Dr. Winnington-Ingram has done yeoman's service

41

to the Catholic cause in the Church of England. But Economy is a two-edged weapon, as will be
evident from the narrative now to follow.
A scheme has been on foot in India for a number of years having as its purpose the fusion of various
Churches - these include the Anglican Church, an existing confederation known as The South India
United Church, and the Wesleyans. The scheme provides for the gradual fusion of their ministries,
episcopal and non-episcopal. Meanwhile the Anglican authorities in India by a majority vote
authorised its members "to join in the Lord's Supper celebrated by ministers of the uniting Churches"
at certain meetings. To put the matter plainly: the Bishops of the Anglican Church in India, Burmah
a nd Ceylon by this majority vote condoned the participation of Anglicans in an invalid communion.
The Oxford Mission to Calcutta submitted the matter to seven of the most eminent theologians of the
Anglican Church in England, who replied that the proceeding was "a clear violation of Catholic
order." (1) Such a service celebrated by ministers not episcopally ordained took place in June, 1932.
The Archbisop of Canterbury, commenting on the situation, made a speech in which he talks of
Economy. "There are certain great principles for which any who speaks in the name of this Church
must stand; but in special circumstances it may be necessary, sometimes at least, to acquiesce in
anomalies and irregularities; things done, as our friends of the Orthodox Church would say, by way
of economy which may be necessary to carry out so great an experiment. (2) Following on this
appears a letter signed by the Bishop of Gloucester, by Bishop Palmer (formerly of Bombay), by the
Bishop of Oxford and others. They say: "We believe that the Church has authority to dispense with
that (i. e. the rule of episcopal ordination), as other ecclesiastical rules, if the well-being of the
Church and of the individual Christian demands it." They then cite Androutsos and inter alia his
saying already quoted that "The Church, as steward of the Divine Grace, can recognise invalid
Sacraments as valid and valid Sacraments as invalid. " (3) The Church Times rightly pointed out
"that the Bishops of a local Synod have power to dispense from regulations of their local Synod, but
certainly not from fundamental principles of the whole Catholic Church." (4) Bishop Palmer next
writes that it is "obviously a rule of procedure" that no one shall celebrate the Eucharist except a
bishop in the Apostolic line of succession or a priest ordained by him. (5) Bishop Headlam of
Gloucester talks about "a narrow and over-rigid interpretation of the Christian theory of the ministry
. . . which would be definitely rejected by the Orthodox Church."(6) To this a lay correspondent from
Bombay makes the simple and very trenchent answer that "whereas the validity of celebration by
episcopally ordained ministers is a matter of certainty, any other method of celebration introduces an
element of uncertainty to which we have no right to leave so vital an issue." (7)
The movement in this country eventually reaches self- expression in a letter to The Times in support
of this Indian scheme of compromise. The letter was signed by twenty English bishops. On the
following day The Times printed another letter in favour of the scheme signed by numbers of
Anglican priests and dignitaries. Dr. B. J. Kidd, the Warden of Keble College, Oxford, then
published in The Times a letter which had been prepared in answer to a request for information on
the part of the Bishop of Colombo (a High Churchman) as to whether the principle of "dispensation"
in Western Canon Law or "Economy" in the writings of Greek theologians could be applied in such
a case. In a covering letter Dr. Kidd said: "We are as anxious as the Bishops who have written to you
to 'promote the union on the basis of the traditional ministry' of the Catholic Church; but we hold
that episcopal ordination is not a mere 'rule' of the Church but part of its constitution, and to depart
from it is 'not within its competence' and will interfere with the really Catholic character of the
scheme." The document sent to the Anglican Bishop of Colombo is signed by H. L. Goudge, Regius
Professor of Divinity, Oxford; B. J. Kidd, Warden of Keble College, Oxford; K. E. Kirk, Fellow of
Trinity College, Oxford; W. B. O'Brien, Father Superior-General of the Society of St. John the
Evangelist (commonly known as "the Cowley Fathers"); F. W. Puller, S.S.J.E.; Darwell Stone,
Principal of Pusey House, Oxford; N. P. Williams, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Oxford.

42

The signatories to this letter deal with the right of dispensation and quote Canon E. G. Wood, "the
greatest modern authority on Canon Law" (speaking presumably of the Anglican Church) who says
that Canon Law can only be repealed by the same equivalent authority who proclaimed it. It is not
within the competence of the Indian Bishops to abrogate it. They then go on to say : "It is probably
because of the weakness of this appeal to the
Western theory of 'dispensation' that the advocates of the suggested permission have recourse to
what is known in the Eastern Church as the theory of 'economy'; and regard this theory as supporting
a wide conception of the dispensing power of the Church. A Greek theologian, Professor
Dyovouniotes, has been cited as expressing Orthodox Eastern doctrine on this subject. "The opinion
of the Professor, which we have already discussed in this article, is then quoted. "There are several
conditions," they go on to say, ''which destroy any argument based on such utterances:(a) There is no authoritative Eastern Orthodox doctrine on the subject of economy.
(b) Discussions on this subject, though found in the theologians of the Greek Church, appear to be
avoided in the literature of the other component parts of the Orthodox Eastern Communion; for
instance, in Russian dogmatic treatises. "
(c) It is pointed out under this section that among the Greek theologians who accept the principle of
Economy there is diversity of opinion as to its scope.
(d) The opinion of the Patriarch of Alexandria, which has already received attention in this article, is
cited.
Finally, under (e) they say: "The principle of economy is unknown in the Western Church; and, in
particular, has never been accepted in the Church of England."
------

1. The Church Times, April 29, 1932.

2 July 1, 1932.
3. August 26, 1932.
4. July 8, 1932.
5. July 29, 1932.
6. August 19, 1932.
7. October 14, 1932.
8. December 28, 1932.
9. December 31, 1932.

No. 15

43

EDITORIAL
THE LATE PRESIDING BISHOP
April 1934 Vol. XIV No. 7

BISHOP LEADBEATER passed on on 1st March at Perth, Western Australia. He had completed his
87th year on 17th February. He was on his way from Adyar, Madras, India to Sydney in New South
Wales intending, so he wrote in a letter written just before he left Adyar, to be away for about four
months. Heart trouble developed shortly after leaving Colombo and with the heart trouble came
dropsy. He left the boat at Fremantle, the port for Perth, and was taken to hospital in Perth where he
remained for about two weeks without pain till he passed. His passing was somewhat unexpected for
he himself had expressed his belief that he might live for another two or even three years, and those
who knew him well had seen him so often in the last ten years return almost from the gates of death
that it was difficult to believe that he was dying, even at his advanced age, until he had actually gone.
It seems a little pathetic that it should have happened so far from his two homes at Adyar and
Sydney; except for that and for the sense of seeming loss that we must all feel, who knew him
personally or through his writings, no one can grieve that he has been released from his aged body.
For long we shall find ourselves saying 'Charles our Presiding Bishop' at our Eucharists; some of us
have been saying those words almost daily for the last ten or twelve years and it will be hard to
remember at the moment that he is no longer our Presiding Bishop; and it will not matter much if we
do forget for at any rate until we elect another to fill that office he is still as much our Presiding
Bishop as any other, and no doubt he will continue for long to watch over us and help us from the
other side.
He wrote to me several times since the passing of Dr. Besant last September, and in almost every
letter he said something about the help that she continued to give him and others from the other side;
more active and zealous for the welfare of the Theosophical Society, he said she was, than she had
been for the few years immediately before her passing. And so he is likely to be now. After working
so hard and for so long for the movements to which he had devoted all his energies for at least half
of his long life it is not likely that he will lose his interest in them just because he is removed from
the physical vehicle. So, though we can no longer consult him by word of mouth or by
correspondence we may as well continue to invoke his aid especially in those matters, occult matters
chiefly, in which he was always so particularly useful to us. If we invoke his aid, or even if we do
not, he will find some way of giving it even though we know nothing about the when or the how of
his giving it.
This number of the magazine naturally is largely devoted to appreciations and memoirs of his life
and work; and there will also be found in it a report, which is probably quite accurate, of one of his
talks. This talk has been selected from a large number now in my keeping because it is so very
characteristic of him. There is many a touch in it of the C.W. L. that we knew so well, which will be
recognized at once by all who are familiar with his writings, and more especially with his
spontaneous talks, as thoroughly characteristical. All being well more of these talks will be published
in these pages during the coming months. Probably our readers will not easily tire of them but will
rather find them fresh, though they were mostly spoken ten years ago or thereabouts, and perhaps
more interesting than anything else to be found between these covers.
With all reverence we say Requiescat in Pace , the familiar words which we have been saying at our
altars all the world over since he left us. May he have peace especially, we pray, after the storms
through which he has passed during this latest of his earthly lives; may he rest too, we pray with
equal fervour, though we know that in resting from physical activities he certainly will not be
inactive. To do nothing would be utterly impossible for such an one as C. W. L.
F. W. PIGOTT

44

C.W. LEADBEATER
APPRECIATIONS AND REMINISCENCES
I
An address given at St. Marys Pro Cathedral, London at a Requiem Eucharist on 4 th March 1934.
By the Rt. Rev. F.W. Pigott M.A.
Our Presiding Bishop has passed away. Of him of all people it is impossible to say that he has died,
for to him more perhaps than to anyone in the world death had ceased to count. Judging from what
he wrote upon this subject and from what many of us have heard him say in 'lectures., sermons and
private conversation it would seem that what to us is the unknown was to him as well known as the
ordinary surroundings of this everyday world. He seemed to move from this world to the beyond and
back again with as much ease as we all change the focus of our vision from a nearer to a more distant
object or scene and back again to the nearer. For him there was apparently no dividing line and death
simply did not exist. So we cannot use the word 'death' of the passing of C.W.L. of all people. Even
passing away' or `passing on' hardly describes with exactitude what happens when such an one is
freed from the physical body, for when living he seemed to be able to pass away from the body and
return to it at will; that is to say, he simply went to sleep just when he wanted to and he seemed
rather surprised sometimes that others could not do the same. All that has happened then is that this
time he has passed away from that aged body for good and will never return to it. We shall see his
familiar form no more and no more hear his voice or correspond with him by post; but in no other
sense is he lost to us.

***
For what, we may now be asking, will he be especially remembered if he is remembered after this
generation that has known him has also passed on? Of course future generations, not this generation,
will decide whether to remember him or not, but we can hardly doubt that such a remarkable man
will live on through his writings for many generations. And if he lives on we may, I think, predict
that it will be largely because of what he has revealed about the other side. For that must always be a
very, very interesting subject to all people who think at all. And those who read with unprejudiced
minds what he has left behind him on this subject in such books as The Other Side of Death will
soon become convinced that the writer really knew what he was talking about'. What he says carries
conviction, except of course to those who for personal reasons are prejudiced against the man (and
these will hardly be persuaded to read anything of his) or to those who are of a more scientific turn
of mind and seek for proof rather than for revelation. But there will always, or at any rate for very
long, be innumerable people who will be glad to know what one who writes with such convincing
force and from knowledge on this subject has to say about it even though he may not be able to give
what is called scientific proof of what he reveals.
But that clairvoyant power of Leadbeater's was not confined to the vision of after death conditions. It
was used also in that careful research work of his in that field of life which is always just at the back
of or just beneath our every-day life and action. Those who have read for instance The Science of the
Sacraments will know very well what I mean, though that describes only a particular and limited part
of this vast field; but if you can believe what is written there then you must realize that there is an
added interest and inspiration in our sacraments and Church services over and above the interest
which all experience who approach them with reverence and devotion but without this explanation of
the inner side. He told us exactly what happens on that inner side at every turn and every movement
in the celebration of these services, and exactly how and when such exalted Beings as angels and
holy ones co-operate with us in these sacred acts. For this too, then, as well as for what he has
revealed about the other side of death will he surely be remembered so long at any rate as there are in
the world devout people without this knowledge of their own yet glad to know about such things;

45

people who are not too sceptical or too prejudiced to take them at least tentatively from one who has
written so clearly and so confidently about them.

*****
One more point about him of special interest to us of this Church, which he helped to inaugurate and
which he loved and served for the last sixteen years of his life. What has been his especial
contribution to Christian thought? He has introduced the ancient wisdom of the East into the Wes t
through his theosophical work and through his reconciliation of the Eastern teachings with the
Christian creeds. Others of course have shared with him the work of teaching the Eastern wisdom to
Western minds; his friend and great colleague, Annie Besant, especially and, before her, H. P.
Blavatsky; but C. W. L. did what neither of these two has done in quite the same way; he has done it
as a Christian bishop and because he was a Christian teacher. He has taught the esoteric wisdom in
terms of Christianity .
It has often been said, originally I believe by Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd and 3rd centuries,
that the Christian religion is like a river with many affluents. Judaism is one such tributary;
Hellenism is another; the genius of the Latins has also poured in very large measure; and more
recently the Nordic races, chiefly but not wholly through Protestantism, have added their special
contribution. And now there comes another tributary bearing the ancient wisdom of the East. It is as
yet but a trickle but it may be destined to flow in greater and greater fulness. Charles Leadbeater is
mainly responsible for that. The oneness of life - God's life and ours - is distinctly an Eastern
teaching. The planes of nature and the corresponding levels of consciousness is another.
Reincarnation though not unknown in the West is more especially an Eastern teaching. The path by
which those who are willing to tread it may have access to the Holy Ones, to those who in the East
are called Rishis and in the Christian tradition are known as the Saints or the just made perfect. That
too is an Eastern idea. Leadbeater taught all of these; in fact those teachings in combination were
what he lived for, they were life to him; and he presented them in Christian form and so made clearer
the great Christian doctrines which were becoming or had already become meaningless to many a
modern mind in the West. Thus through his work the Wisdom of the East flows into the great
Christian religion as still another affluent.

****
In these three ways then is he likely to be remembered; he, more than anyone else in the world. has
shown that death is negligible. And he certainly, more than any other, by showing us the inner and
hidden side of things, has made our sacraments and ceremonies and indeed every action of our lives
more than ever intelligible. He has also 'tapped' the wisdom of the East diverting it into the main
stream of the great Christian Faith. For all these reasons is he likely to be remembered long after we
have gone; but to most of us he will always be, more than anything else, the C.W.L. that we have
known so long, the genial, kindly, jolly friend and what he especially loved to be called - Brother.
II
BY THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
Docteur (Sciences) de l'Universit de Paris
Our late Presiding Bishop was one of the most versatile men I have ever met. We are acquainted
with the many books written by him on a variety of subjects, ranging over Theosophy in general,
over Occultism, Masonry and Christian Worship. He even turned his hand to novel-writing. Apart
from all this he had a stock of information about all sorts of out-of-the-way subjects. I remember
speaking to him in the early days of our friendship about a hobby of one's own organ-building, and
finding to my surprise that he had himself a considerable technical knowledge of the subject.

46

I met him as early as 1906 in the house of Mr. Hodgson-Smith at Harrogate. I stayed with him later
in the company of Mrs. Hotchener (then Mrs. Marie Russak) and Mrs Van Hook at Weisser Hirsch,
near Dresden; at Dresden in Alsace-Lorraine with Mr Johan van Manen in the house of Mr.
Osterman; near Genoa in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. Later I saw him in the course of four
visits to Australia, of visits to Adyar in India, and in 1930 I accompanied him on a trip through
Europe.
One was naturally interested in the studies he had made and the books he had written on psychic
matters. I remember on one occasion, while at Weisser Hirsch, his telling me about the method of
drawing prana or vitality into oneself from the pine-trees which were plentiful in that district. He
suddenly asked me if I had ever seen nature-spirits. I answered "No"; and to my surprise my vision
was suddenly opened and I saw them. One naturally anticipated this kind of development and was
puzzled that it did not take place. But I soon discovered that his system of working with people was
otherwise. One went away from him after some months of companionship and found that
fundamental changes had taken place in oneself; one's outlook on life was different and certain of the
more important qualities of one's character had been strengthened and developed. I soon discovered
that the real changes in occultism do not consist in the opening up of consciousness from below
upwards but rather in the unfolding of the fundamental qualities of character and the playing of those
down through the personality.
It was my memorable privilege to initiate him into Freemasonry and to confer upon him various of
the higher degrees worked in the Co-Masonic Order. During the preliminary initiations he was living
in the memory of what took place in Egypt centuries ago in the Mysteries, though he had never made
any study of in his life. I am not revealing secrets in recounting one interesting episode. During the
ritual in use at the time he was led during a certain ritual journey in a certain direction. He suddenly
expostulated; and told us that in Masonry we should not take that particular direction. And as the
outcome of those memorable days we have the heritage of two pricelessly important books: The
Hidden Life of Freemasonry and Some Glimpses of Masonic History . It was also my unspeakable
privilege to consecrate him to the Sacred Order of the Episcopate in our movement, which was then
still known as ''The Old Catholic Church in Great Britain" and only later took the name of "The
Liberal Catholic Church." He had in earlier life been a priest of The Church of England, having been
ordained in 1879 and served in a Hampshire curacy. Our rule at that time, as now, was to repeat
Anglican Orders sub conditione. I doubt if there is anybody in our Church who doubts the validity of
those Orders. But we wish, in the first place, to keep ourselves right with Rome which denies
Anglican Orders and with other Churches which have as yet made no formal pronouncement of their
recognition; and, secondly, we are of the opinion that the anointings not figuring in the Anglican
formularies - serve to open up more fully the Channels through which the sacred powers are made to
flow. The proceedings, consequently, began with Baptism and confirmation, both sub conditione ; the
giving of Minor Orders and the Subdiaconate, the repetition of the Orders of Deacon and Priest; and
there came finally the consecration to the Episcopate. These Orders were conferred according to the
rite prescribed in the Pontificale Romanum. It was as the outcome of this work that many researches
were made by our great brother, so that we might know on what lines to recast our Liturgy. The
writing and compilation of the Liturgy was mostly done by myself. But there eventuated two
companion books to those explaining Freemasonry, namely, The Science of the Sacraments and The
Hidden Side of Christian Festivals , both by Bishop C. W. Leadbeater.
May I add, in conclusion, a few words about his personal character? He differed much in temperament from his other great theosophical colleague, Dr. Annie Besant. They complemented each other.
She was by nature intuitional and synthetic; he by nature concrete and analytical. Both achieved such
mastery of their powers that they could exhibit the other faculties. It was owing to this endowment
that he had the aptitude for the vast activity in work in occult matters which will always be to his,

47

credit. If there was one great and mastered ideal which informed his life, and in which all of us may
try to copy him, it was that of constant and impersonal service to the Divine Government of the
world, to Its Representatives and to humanity.
+J. I. WEDGWOOD.
III
By THE RT. REV. JOHN CORDES
I had the honour meet our Grand Old Man for the first time in 1910. It was in Adyar soon after my
arrival from Phoenix, Natal, the place of Mr. M. K. Gandi's International Printing Press from where
he issued in those days his famous "Indian Opinion" in defence of his compatriots against Boer
legislative aggression. Mr. Leadbeater was sitting in his room at his writing-table busy reading and at
the same time eating his frugal evening meal. His greeting was most affable accompanied by the
following words (or words to that effect) which impressed themselves because of their (to my mind
at least) unreasonableness: ''Ah, Mr. Cordes, glad to meet you. You are lucky to come when I just
happen to be doing nothing in particular. I am trying to hurry through with my meal as quickly as I
can. I am afraid I was rude enough to interjaculate "Surely, you do not mean it, Mr. Leadbeater." I
was horrified at the idea, knowing how unhealthy a hastily swallowed meal is said to be and how
utterly opposed to the habits and conventions of English people generally.
Although I had lived already some seventeen years in such out of the way places as far away
Zambesi or Zimbabwe, certain habits of Mr. Leadbeater certainly yet struck me as odd. For instance,
he had a trick of suddenly interrupting his work saying: '' I simply must sleep a moment" and with
that take a pile of books from the table, put them on the stone floor of his huge room above the
Adyar library, use them as a pillow, and be fast asleep there and then. If Mrs. Besant or some other
friend should happen to come in just then a mute sign (pointing to the floor) to answer the query
"Where is Mr. Leadbeater?" I do not know whether he made use of such occasions to execute "the
combing out of his astral bode" which he advised tired or ailing persons to do. Mrs. Besant once
answered him at a Question Meeting on the Roof": "But Charles, everybody can not comb out the
astral the way you do.
Then there was the huge wild white tom-cat of C. W.L.s which was wild with everybody else,
leaving marks of its powerful claws on anybody at all venturesome, but Mr. L. could cuddle it and
pass his own long white beard across its stubby head without any other retaliation than an
affectionate purring.
Mr. Leadbeater's room was in contradistinction to Mrs. Besant's sanctuary, always comparatively
crowded. Bishop (then Mr.) Irving Steiger Cooper, Russel Balfour Clarke (at that time neither
Captain nor Reverend) and Don Fabricio Ruspoli were sitting on the three sides of the table of which
Mr. L. occupied the fourth. The two brothers, Krishnamurti and Nityananda, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby,
Miss (since Doctor) Shiva Kamu, and others of the O.S.L. (Purple Order) went in and out. I, being
one of the lucky ones, enjoying a free entre so as to he lp Krishnaji with his physical training (club
swinging, Swedish drill, etc.), and so on, was asked by the then Vice-President T. S. to show Mr.
Leadbeater a photograph of his son lately deceased. Espying a suitable opportunity I gave it to the
great clairvoyant. Hardly had he looked at it through a magnifying glass which he kept always at
hand when he said "A very bad man." Again I ventured an interlocutory remark, "But Mr.
Leadbeater, this is Sir S-'s son." Mr. L.: " I do not care who it is; he is a bad case. Well, what about
it?" I: "He is dead." Mr. L. interrupting : "Yes, yes, of course I see that." I continuing: "Sir S
would be very grateful if you could extend some astral help to his dead son.

48

Mr. L. Well, well, we shall see." On returning the photo to the retired Chief Justice, I learned from
him that his son had disagreed with him entirely, and had gone his own (bad) way much to Sir S.'s
heartfelt regret. After this parental avowal, I could confess that Mr. L. had hinted more or less at
such a state of affairs, but could assure the grieved Vice-President that Mr. L. would try to do his
best for his "prodigal."
Wandering up and down on the far side of his hall-like room at Adyar, Mr. Leadbeater was saying to
Master Nityananda, who was passing a lead pencil with one hand through a ring formed by thumb
and forefinger of the other: "No, this time you demagnetized it only etherically." Mr. L. was looking
intently in front of him and was certainly not glancing (physically that is) in the direction of the table
behind which little Nitya was crouching, when I entered the room and overheard the above
observation. I tried as well as I could not to interrupt the even flow of the vibrations by any untoward
expression of surprise on my part (either physically, etherically, astrally) and went about my
business as if no clutching proof of "supernatural" powers had been inadvertently vouchsafed,
forbidden though such a feat was.
But living at Adyar for almost two years one cannot help stumbling across convincing facts and
these stuck to me all these years in spite of the World War and other "experiences" intervening.
When Mr. Leadbeater was once absent in Burma or another time at Java, Mr. Kirby was asked to
join our "Square" Table-sitting to keep ''the vibrations going" as Mr. L.'s injunctions were to us
before leaving. So we forgathered nightly round Mr. L.'s table in meditation, I hardly able to
suppress a giggle, so brimful of joy I always felt on these occasions, especially when the fairly
clairvoyant Kirby confirmed it by remarks like: C.W.L. looked in on us to night.
An absolute confirmation (convincing enough for me at least) of this exhilarating influence which
Mr. L.'s astral presence had on me, I received some time later when I was graced by an invitation
from the President to join the meditation group of the House-party which came together nightly in
the Shrine-Room after the close of the roof meeting. Mrs. Besant was kind enough on that occasion
to allude to the good work I had done in the bookshop, which warranted her to extend this privilege
to me also, together with Mr. Hawthorne, of Australia (who died there a few years ago). Mr.
Hawthorne, a rather good psychic, sat next to me so I naturally turned to him afterwards with the
following remark: "I wonder whether this will repeat itself nightly, I mean. these two introductory
waves at the beginning of the meditation, so totally unlike each other; at first a wave of sublime
serenity followed by another exuberant with joy. The reply was, "Why, man, of course not, could
you not feel that the first was a greeting from the President welcoming us to the Home Circle, and
the second was C.W.L. passing in front of us?
Another and last reminiscence indelibly impressed on my memory concerns third parties still living,
who must therefore remain anonymous. One fine mail-day, all sitting together with Mr. L. round his
study-table, everyone occupied with the perusal of his home letters, Mr. L. happened to see some
photographs which had just come by the post to one of C.W.L.'s co-worker, sharing his table at the
time. Mr. L. exclaimed: "Why, there is my captain!" Now, Mr. Leadbeater had certainly never met
this high officer of a foreign navy in life. And this here is the photograph of his son. They both
helped me most efficiently to bring order into the huge astral crowds which came flocking in after
the terrible earthquake of -----. They both understood French," continued Mr. L. ''and were
accustomed to speak in a tone of command and were obeyed by most of the new arrivals on the
astral plane." So here we have another missing link in the long chain of evidence that our late
Presiding Bishop was perhaps the greatest clairvoyant that ever lived. He succeeded even in making
real for us the Presence of the Christ and that of the Angelic Host down to fairies and brownies.

49

Bishop Leadbeater also made real for all masons the living Presence of the Great H.O.A.T.F. He
gave us the rationale for rites and mantras and gestures. Enough said, however, though really not a
fraction of all which should be said in praise of Brother, as C.W.L. liked his best pupils to call him,
because I know that C.W.L. is even now ready to come and help as heretofore.
-------

No. 16

50

GOD
AN ADDRESS TO A PICNIC PARTY AT MANLY, AUSTRALIA,
APRIL, 1925
By THE RT. REV. C.W. LEADBEATER
April 1934 Vol. XIV No. 7
QUESTION: Can you tell us something of the nature of God?
C. W. L : Any God that we could fully understand would not be much of a God because we are quite
low down in evolution. I know that does not sound flattering, but it is so. We are principally
acquainted with things that are below us, animals, trees, rocks and things of that sort, and here and
there there is a man whom we might acknowledge in an expansive moment to be better than
ourselves, but as a general rule we are a little inclined to say that we are as good as anyone else if not
a good deal better. As a matter of fact, we really are quite low down. We think we have an intellect.
Well, when you come to know the Masters you realize that first of all that which you thought was an
intellect is only just the first rudiments of the beginning of one. That it is like the very slight
lessening of the darkness which comes before the dawn when you compare it with the full sunlight
of Their intellects. And when you get on a little further you find that you have nothing of your own.
So that if you thought you had intellect or any good points it is the intellect and the good points of
the Logos shining through, and there is nothing to be conceited about. There is a certain danger of
being conceited when we are always comparing ourselves with things beneath us, but nobody who
knows the Masters has the least touch of that. They, the great Masters, in turn tell us that with all
Their wonderful powers, which seem to us so godlike, They are but as dust under the feet of still
higher Ones and when we see those still greater People I think we realize something of what They
mean. But of course we cannot fully appreciate even Them, wherefore still less, can we appreciate
the Solar Logos, and as to Parabrahm, well, it is no use talking about Parabrahm. There is an
Absolute, there must be, and of that Absolute all the things that are said of Parabrahm must be true.
That He is not personal in any way; that he is not what we call an existence. Some of you have learnt
Greek, and you know that exist comes from the Greek that means to stand outside of. When you exist
you show yourself on some plane, and you show yourself possibly outside the Logos. That is to
exist; but to be, that is to be in Him - the one only being.
There is only one Being really and that is He, so of course we cannot expect to understand much
about that which is absolutely impersonal, of Whom nothing whatever could be rightly said. You can
say He is not this; He is not that; He is nothing on any plane that we have ever imagined or thought,
and yet He is eternal. But, as I say, it is no use talking about it. You remember how the Buddha put
it? "Look not for Brahm or the beginning there." How he explained that the earnest seeker can never
find Him, ''Veil after veil may lift but there must be veil after veil behind." So it is no use wasting
our time over that. We shall understand it only when we become one with Him. We are one with
Him now, and one day we shall be consciously one with Him, and then we shall know something,
but for the present it is no use to speculate, for it is of the essence of Him that He has none of these
things, but He is them. It is not that He has love or feels it, but that He is love. But when we talk
about God we practically mean the Logos of the solar system. That is not much more
comprehensible, but it is just a little more so because the Logos was once a man just as each of us is,
and He has risen by slow degrees. Through long periods He has risen to this wonderful height, that
He is a solar system. All the physical matter in all the planets of the system and in the sun itself, all
of that, is His physical body, and all the astral matter within the limits of the system, that is His astral
body, and all the mental matter is His mental body. And you will observe that that includes the
matter of His physical, mental and astral bodies too, and we are all part of Him. It does not even end
there, because He has seven Great Spirits before His throne, through Whom He pours Himself out
into His system, and we are part of Them also. That is to say, the astral matter, which makes our
astral bodies, is also astral matter of one or other of Those Seven Great Spirits. Because all the force
which flows out through Him flows through those Seven channels, and so since we are part of it we

51

must also be part of some one of Them, and that is the Ray to which we belong. We cannot say much
about even the Solar Logos. All that you ever heard about God, well, I mean all that was good, is
true of Him. But you have most of you heard a great deal of God which is not good at all. You have
heard that He is angry, that He is jealous, that He slaughtered millions of people at different times,
because they did or did not do something ridiculous, and generally speaking that He is a most
contemptible and cranky person. That is not true of the Solar Logos, but all that is good and true and
beautiful that is true of our Logos. We all come from Him and through Him and we all belong to
Him and we can all get back to Him, and that is what we have to do. If you wish to speak of Him as
God, He would certainly be worthy of the name. The God which one of our Masters denied in those
letters (1) is the ordinary Christian presentation of God. Such a presentation is philosophically
impossible; no philosopher could hold it because the things which are said are absolutely
inconsistent one with another. God is good most emphatically, but He has made His laws for our
evolution and our helping, and He does not Himself change those laws or outrage them. So if we do
wrong we make thereby a certain result of the wrong and that result always means suffering to
ourselves. That is not His fault. If we had not broken the law the suffering would not have come to
us. At least that is my theory, and I think it is a logical one. But the President (2) differs; it is the one
point on which she and I argue, and it is purely academic. I say: "Supposing there could ever be a
man who did everything from the first and was quite perfect, I say that man would not get any
suffering; he would work straight through without suffering. The president says on the other hand
that no one can get through without suffering, and would not be any good if he could. But there
never was any such person, for even the Great Ones have been men like ourselves and They have
risen from humanity to Their present position and so can we, so They tell us.
I do not know that I can tell you much about the nature of God, even if we restrict it to the Solar
Logos. You know that He has a life of His own among His peers; that you will see some day,
because even I have seen it. You know that each of His planets, each of His worlds, sends up to Him
a stream of devotion and He in turn pours back upon it a great flood of spiritual influence, and that
that stream, flowing through space, caused, remember, by the devotion of the people to begin with,
that that makes, as it were, a kind of harpstring. That is the seven-stringed lyre of Apollo. To each of
the seven chains there come these links, and in some strange way He uses these and He plays upon
them as one plays upon a harp. And there He makes a music of the spheres which goes up to the
great Logos as the praise and glory which is due to Him. Our sun is a sun of the fourth order,
therefore our Solar Logos is a solar Logos of the fourth order. Just as our planets depend upon our
sun, and we derive all our life in every way and on every plane from that Solar Logos, so does our
Solar Logos, and perhaps millions of others like Him, depend upon a solar Logos of the third order.
And in His turn the thousands of Logoi of the third order depend upon, circle round, a Logos of the
second order, and He in turn round one of the First, and the First upon Para Brahm. So they tell us,
but it means nothing, because all these things are far above us and out of our reach.
It is a good thing to recognize that there are many things which are far above our reach, even the
things we think we understand are a very long way from our comprehension. Take the most ordinary
things round us; we do not know how that tree grows. We know that it absorbs certain things from
the earth, but how it turns those into bark and leaves nobody knows. I sit here and look round on
you, and somehow I see you and recognize you and if you ask how do I see, nobody knows. We
think we know things, and especially if we can label them and stick a name on them we are quite
sure then that we know them. But, as a matter of fact, there are very few things which we know
anything about when it comes to the point. Some of you can manage electricity, but nobody knows
what electricity is. We cannot tell you much more in occultism. We can tell you that what you call
matter is nothing; some French scientist discovered that and said, There is no longer any matter;
there is nothing but holes in the aether. The Logos builds all His system out of matter. The one
thing which penetrates everywhere, as far as we know, is what the scientists call the aether of space,
which we call koilon. We had already used the aether for that substance which brings light to our

52

eyes. We had used up the word aether for that, so this koilon is empty space. I have spent I suppose
many hundreds of hours working over experiments trying to decide whether this koilon is
homogeneous or granular, whether it consists of grains or whether it is all one substance, whether it
is like glass or like crystal. I have not been able to decide. I have invented experiment after
experiment, and I have thought "If it responds to this I shall be sure that it is granular.'' And as soon
as I have done that I have found out that there is some other way in which that may be accounted for.
The scientific people who have discovered these facts say that it is granular, and that it gives itself
away by the vibration of light. But I think I can account for that in other ways. So you see how little
we know about anything.
But what is certain is that all the things that you call matter are built out of bubbles blown in this
substance. When you come to read The Secret Doctrine you will find the statement that 'Fohat digs
holes in space.' When we first read that many years ago we decided that each hole in space was a
solar system. We thought that was the hole which Fohat dug. When we came to know a little more
we decided that the holes which Fohat dug are these tiny bubbles so utterly infinitesimal that you
could not imagine their smallness.
Well, those are the bubbles that Fohat blows. To us those bubbles are absolutely empty, but the
breath of God is within them, and no power that we know can make the slightest difference to them.
You cannot squeeze a bubble; you cannot do anything with it, but the old Indian books tell us that in
that way the Logos, not the Logos of our solar system, breathed into these bubbles and that that is
His breath out of which everything else is built. And that if He chose to breathe in His breath, at that
instant everything would fall into nothingness, because the bubbles are gone. I am not suggesting
that it is likely to happen because after all the Logos works on some sensible scheme and I do not see
(but then, that I don't see it does not matter) that it would be a very sensible ending to it all. But that
must come some day. All your bodies would disappear, but there is a real you which is not any of the
bodies, and that would be unaffected by the action of the Logos in drawing in His breath. Because
that self is not built of bubbles, because you are you, and whatever may happen you are absolutely
safe.
-----

(1) The reference is to The Mahatma Letters (Rider & Co.) Letter No. X.P. 52. Ed. 292
(2) Dr. Annie Besant, President of the Theosophical Society. Ed.

No. 16B

53

A STUDY OF CHURCH WORSHIP

By THE RT . REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
(Continued from p. 90 No.6)
April 1935 Vol. XV No. 7
THE WORK OF THE CONGREGATION
If one studies the service of the ordinary church one finds the congregation following what is being
done in varying degrees and in varying moods. Some are devout, quite a number will be following
rather languidly, some perhaps only formally and outwardly; but most of the work will be done by
the clergy and the choir. The conditions are sometimes different in evangelical churches where the
singing may be hearty. The average person has little understanding of the significance of language.
Speech and writing is the chief means ''down here" for communicating with one another. It is the
common instrument of our thought and emotion. Speech is so often lifeless because so much of our
conversation is trivial. This lifelessness ought not to figure in the worship of God. Few people realise
what a splendid outpouring of thought and emotion and will is possible during a well-ordered
service. When a word like "love" or "gladness" or ''wisdom'' occurs there is scope for expression of
the qualities of character of which those words are the outward and audible tokens. What we are able
to do depends on two factors. There is, first of all, the content of our experience; what we have
known of love and gladness and wisdom. And, secondly, the extent to which we can awaken those
qualities spontaneously, that is to say, at will.
This last factor presupposes a good deal of work and training. A large percentage of the thought and
emotion of the average man is not self-initiated, but is stimulated from outside. In the early stages of
human development man learns principally through reaction to environment. That remains our chief
resource until quite an advanced stage. Most of us depend largely on our f riends and on our general
environment and on literature. By this reaction to environment, repeated over and over again, the
character of a man is formed. He builds in certain qualities as permanent assets. As these come
gradually under his control, he learns to be able to express them at will and without recourse to the
preliminary stimulus from without. It is easy to feel affection for some person whom one loves when
that person enters the room; it is quite a different matter to awaken the same feeling of love when the
person in question is far away. This work of self-realisation can be quickened by calling the
imagination into play. That, in fact, is one of the practices covered by the term "meditation." The
man may picture to himself some occasion when, let us say, love or joy or courage was awakened
and called out from within him. He re-creates the scene, and re-awakens the love or joy or courage.
He may then pass other people before his mind and send the quality thus aroused to them. Beauty of
language is an aid to this self-expression of which we are speaking. It opens us up to the power
behind the words. The same may also be said of music for those who can appreciate it. There is an
interaction between the life-forces which lie behind the music and the words severally.
We may take as an example some words in a hymn often sung in our churches, "All hail the power
of Jesu's Name," number 261 in our hymnal. Hymns differ much in the amount of raw material they
provide, if one may be permitted that expression. Of this particular hymn the words and the music
alike are strong and inspiring. The hymn tells of the Sacred Name. It calls to mind the perfect
ensample of Our Lord. It speaks to us also of the reverence and glad adoration and worship rising
from thousands of Christian Churches the world over. And it is now our privilege to unite in that
great pan of praise. We are no longer a small congregation in a small church. We are part of "a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.''
(1) Let us study a couple of lines of that hymn:

"Now hail the splendour of His might

And crown Him Lord of all."
54

Among these words are some which rank as "key-words" and give the worshipper scope for pouring
himself out in self-expression. "Hail" means a lifting of the whole being in adoration, in reverence
and wonder for the majesty of Our Lord, to whom our thoughts are turned. "Splendour" and in
might" express different qualities of being and involve, therefore, different acts of our
consciousness. Then comes the "crown Him,'' thrice repeated in the tune. One can call to mind some
royal pageant which one has witnessed, when thousands have done honour to the sovereign of the
country. Is not still greater honour due to Him who is "Lord of all?" In the Litany sung in our service
of Solemn Benediction there is opportunity for the lifting up of our whole being in quiet and solemn
adoration during the words "we hail Thee or we, Thy Church, adore Thee. Another contrast of
ideas, calling for a change of thought and feeling, is well-marked in verse 16 of the Benediction
Litany: "Healer of the souls distressed" and "Happiness of all the blest." A person who makes the
various services of the Church the occasion to pour out the whole of himself in strong and happy
worship soon fashions himself into a channel through which the life forces behind all this beautiful
language and behind the offices of the Church can readily and freely flow.
THE GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS
In the work of which we have been speaking the congregation will be using their consciousness at
different levels at one and the same time. There is, first, the intellectual grasp of the phrase, calling
into play the ordinary activities of the mind. Secondly, there is the factor which we have been
studying, the amount of experience in terms of thought and emotion on which the congregation can
draw in expressing themselves through the outer language. There is, also, a third factor which comes
into play, more particularly when capable and experienced people are at work. Group work presents
certain marked advantages over solitary work for those who can take kindly to it - there are some
people, usually of the mystic and sometimes of the highly individualistic type, who do not. One
person may excel in a certain quality, let us say in love; another may excel in clarity of intellect.
Each such person, when at work, acts as a stimulating power, so far as that outstanding quality is
concerned, to others less developed. The general contribution of love and intellect will be the higher
for that stimulation. A brilliant and witty conversationalist at a dinner party enlivens the whole
assembly and quickens their output of ready thought. It is a question, once more, of reaching out into
fresh or intensified experience by way of outer stimulus. There is this law of Nature at work: that the
joint effort of a dozen harmonious people is more effective than the separate working of the same
twelve.
What has just been said is probably well within the experience of one's readers. There is yet a higher
working of consciousness within the reach of man, though beyond the level of normal achievement.
It would be more widespread if people knew of its existence and bent their energies towards its
attainment. It may be called Group - or Collective - Consciousness. When a lecturer faces an
audience largely known to him, he often singles out a number of faces; they may be those of persons
who are colleagues of his in some work. One uses the familiar phraseology; but, in point of fact, it is
not the faces which are singled out, except in very subordinate fashion; it is a number of individuals
with some outstanding qualities of character. All this is present in the sweep of the mind when the
speaker looks out over the audience. And the various people who may be sitting close to each other
are not contacted separately, the one after the other, but simultaneously. The less concrete the
working of the mind, the greater is the ease in holding several people in the mind simultaneously. As
the lecture makes headway a response of thought and emotion is called out from the audience. The
general level of consciousness is higher than at the outset.

55

There may come a stage - it comes often in my own experience and in that of some of one's friends when the hundreds of people who form the audience are known and dealt with as a collectivity or as
one body-corporate. The explanations which the lecturer gives, and more especially the ideals into
which he tries to lift the meeting, are given to a group of persons who have been synthesised into a
living whole. The many people are now blended into a unity; they are, in fact, so many facets in the
one field of consciousness. In its primary and ultimate expression consciousness is one; it is a
manifestation of the One Life, the Life of God.
Our work in church offers peculiar opportunity for the unfoldment of this and other higher powers of
consciousness. In the first place, it differs from the lecture just taken as an example in that the people
are not there to agree or disagree with ideas, as the case may be, but to unite in the worship of God.
The critical element is in abeyance - or, if it does peep out occasionally, it is not too active. Other
factors come into play. The Church is the Body of Christ. We call to mind that most gracious of all
promises, so wonderfully borne out, as it is, in our own experience: '' For where two or three are
gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them'' (Matthew XVIII, 20). And that
Presence is further objectivised (if one may be permitted that expression) and brought within our
reach through the Blessed Sacrament, which pours blessing continually on our churches and
worshippers. Nor are we working alone. The Angels are there to add their precious help, and we are
linked up with the company of the saints and of the Holy Ones made perfect.
We come back to our opening theme - the knowledge of God. The first requisite for the knowledge
of God and for spiritual growth in general is the forgetting of ourselves. It is no easy task to forget
ourselves and our own personal desires. It means the reversal of what has been our way of progress
for countless ages in the past. We have built ourselves into strong personalities through self-interest.
When one seeks to add to this primordial growth spiritual experience the method has to be reversed.
The man who can learn to be more interested in other people and in righteous causes becomes
naturally and habitually outward-turned. He can then be used as an instrument in the service of God,
and in proportion as he is able so to dedicate himself will he come to know God. We have a habit of
thinking of God as a remote and far-distant Being. Hindu philosophy has an interesting doctrine of
Maya or illusion. We feel ourselves close to each other in this physical world. In terms of reality the
greatest separation is between beings in this physical world. Each one of us is in every way closer to
God than we can be to each other "down here," with our consciousness working under the limitation
imposed upon it by the brain through which it has need to express itself. We find our common unity
in God. All consciousness, however diverse its manifestations, flows from the one ocean of
consciousness; and in terms of reality we are one in God. The idea was well put by a modern poet,
when he said : "Closer is He than breathing; nearer than hands and feet."
-----(1) Revelations, VII,9

No. 17

56

THE TRINITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

BY C. W. LEADBEATER
(Given at the Manor, Sydney, on 18th August, 1924)
June 1934 Vol. XIV No. 9
These talks by C. W. Leadbeater are being published month by month in these pages so that those
who did not know him personally may gain some idea of what he really did teach and of what sort of
character he really was. Thus it is hoped many misconceptions may be removed.
Few, if any, of us who remain to carry on the work know anything about these occult matters. We
can neither confirm nor deny them. They must just speak f or themselves and readers of the present
and succeeding generations will just make what they can of them. The Liberal Catholic Church as
such must be neutral where these teachings go far beyond anything that is taught in our Liturgy or
of ficial statements.

The conversations are here reproduced practically as delivered. They were taken down at the time
by a very competent scribe who typed them out almost immediately af ter they were spoken.
The grammar is sometimes peculiar; that is because sentences are sometimes broken off before they
are completed as so of ten happens in conversational speech. These peculiarities have been lef t
unaltered. To edit these conversations would be to spoil them by depriving them to that extent of the
individuality of the speaker.

QUESTION: You mentioned the Trinity in our last talk, would you continue that?
BISHOP LEADBEATER: The only place where you can get any information is out of the Hindu
books. There is first of all, so we are told, the Absolute. Then out of that springs forth, what I
suppose we should have to call the First Logos, the First Manifestation; then there is that and that
from which He has sprung. I don't know anything about it, but Subba Rao told us that when the First
Manifestation sprang forth from the unmanifested, He looked back upon that from which He had
come forth and saw over that a veil which is Mulaprakriti. Would that be the First Trinity? Or don't
you count the Absolute as the First Trinity. The Absolute, then the First Trinity springing forth from
it, and that upon which He looks back? Otherwise you would have to make the Trinity the First
Logos, the Christ springing forth from the Bosom of the Father, though that would make Him the
Second Trinity and then Mulaprakriti, the Mother, and all the rest is the reaction of spirit on matter.
I mean that there are at least two ways in which you could take the Trinity, but when you once get
two poles, positive and negative, spirit and matter, then all the rest is the reaction of one upon the
other. So you would say spirit, matter and the product - the first product of the action of spirit and
matter. That would be the First Trinity and that fits in not with our set so much as with the Father,
Mother and Son.
The Solar Logos is not exactly an image of that, but comes much nearer to our Christian conception
of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, because there is the Logos as a whole, then that part of Him which
remains on that level just as atma remains at that level and the second part put forth corresponding to
the buddhi, and then there is the action of atma on buddhi which produces that third which descends
somewhat lower, but it is not like the reaction there; those are rather the three manifestations
standing at the same level, coming out at three different levels.
Af ter a long digression on the subject of discipleship, he continues:
But any how, coming back to our subject when you reach the level where you can be made one with
a Master, it will be one of those three lines, except that the third line is broken up into a great many,
as it were. Either you will belong to and work along the First Ray, that is the governing class,

57

governing and directing, remember, in very many ways. It is not only kings and great rulers who are
on the First Ray, but those who are to work under the Manu in the direction of His races, whatever
race He happens to be developing at the time.
Then the Second Ray is, as you know, that of the Teacher in all its aspects. The ideal person of the
First Ray is the King; the ideal person of the Second Ray is the Priest. Then the ideals of those who
work under the MahaChohan are many and various, but they belong along the lines of those Rays,
only the Rays intermingle and often we cannot see clearly along which line you have to work. The
reason that those are grouped together in the way that they are is that there is so often a transfer from
one to another. Not that you change your Ray necessarily, though that is sometimes done. If you
change your Ray it is usually either on to the First or on to the Second and a long process is involved
in that. But I mean those who are on any one of those Five Rays have certain points in common.
Pupils on such Rays are not infrequently lent by their own Master to a Master on another Ray to do a
bit of work for Him. They seem in some ways less clearly defined. The First and Second stand out
beyond all the rest, and people are trying for recruits for the First and Second because they will be so
much wanted just now, not only because of the coming of the Lord, but because of the coming of the
new Subrace and of the new Root Race, the lines of which will be already laid down. They want help
most on those lines, but of course each line has not only its own qualities, but its own dangers. You
have often heard the proverb to the effect that a man has the defects of his qualities. That is to say
that he may have certain splendid qualities for which he can be used, but, along with them, those
very qualities bring certain defects. I mean that a man having those qualities, would be much more
likely to have the defects which go with them. You can see how that would be. The First Ray is a
ruling Ray, and the person belonging to that is a managing person. He always knows, or thinks he
does, how to do everything, he goes straight at it and gets it done, and he usually has the good
quality of getting others to work with him and under him. But you can easily see that sort of person,
if he were not wholly free from pride, might become exceedingly proud of his power to do all these
things. He might easily become arrogant. He might be dictatorial. You can see how these qualities
might arise. You get the same thing with the Second Ray. The qualities of the Second Ray are
Wisdom and Love, and the great characteristics of that Ray are possessed to some extent by all those
who belong to it. But the very possession of that wisdom may make a man conceited about it. That is
the danger of you very intellectual people. I am thankful that we are not all very intellectual. There
must be the intellectual man, I know he is regarded as the salt of the earth in many ways, but
unfortunately he so often knows it and of course it is not good for a man to know it too much. And,
you know, conceit is not the only danger by any means connected with the intellectual side of things.
There is a kind of unconscious conceit also. The man knows better than others about a very large
number of things and he gets to accept that as a fact and practically he despises the other people who
do not know so well. He looks down, at any rate semi-contemptuously, upon them. That is bad,
because it is not the perfect sympathy which for the Second Ray you must have. The Second Ray
qualities are perfect wisdom and perfect love. It is sometimes difficult to combine them; although
perfect wisdom would involve perfect love, but if you come to that, perfect love would involve
perfect wisdom, because everything which is perfect would have all qualities, because it is part of
God Who is perfect.

You will say the man cannot go wrong in the love of the Second Ray. Well, he can, you know, if he
has not the wisdom to balance it. I suppose we have all seen cases of people who loved others very
intensely, and yet through that very love did not treat them wisely. It is a thing which quite often
happens. Without wisdom the force of love, and it is the great driving force of the world, without
proper wisdom it may sometimes be used in wrong directions, and it may lead not at all to the results
which are intended or expected.

58

Then, of course, on each of your lines under the Third Ray there are difficulties too. The splendid
ceremonial of the Seventh Ray might lead some people to depend entirely on ceremonial, and not
have the reality behind it. Might become a mere outer shell. I have seen cases where that happened.
Sometimes it happens, I know, in the great Roman Catholic Church. Things become so much a
matter of use that they are done without the full realization behind.
Then devotion is a magnificent quality, but you may have a devotion which becomes mere blind
devotion, which loses the faculty of distinguishing even good from evil sometimes. So the meticulous accuracy of the Fifth Ray man might descend into such a close attention to detail that the man
lost the big sweep altogether and failed to grasp the bigger things.
And again your beauty and harmony or art, whatever kind of art it may be, sometimes so occupies
the mind of its devotees that they forget the necessity for goodness or purity behind the art. You may
have something which is very beautiful, but somewhat smirched, not perfectly pure or clean. Of
course the highest art could never descend to that. Again, you know, the wonderful tact and
adaptability of the Third Ray might lead a person to be somewhat flabby, to be so entirely occupied
in adapting himself to suit the imme diate desire or attitude of other people that he might fail to have
a definite line, or sufficient stamina for himself.
But that three-fold division does run into everything. You have it from the Logos Himself at the
summit of all down to the three-fold qualities of matter - sattva, rajas and tamas. There are so many
of these threes.
QUESTION: What would be the reason that only the Third Aspect is divided up into five Rays? Is
there some fundamental reason?
BISHOP LEADBEATER: There are those Rays, and that is the way in which they group themselves.
I suppose our nearest manifestation of it is atma, buddhi and manas in ourselves. You see what those
are doing. It is manas that breaks into all the manifold lines and possibilities, because that comes
down lowest. That seems to be the closest touch with earth that we can understand, more or less
along those lines, but when you come into the sublime heights of the Second and still more of the
First you touch things very much beyond your comprehension. But all is splendid; all is glorious.
------

No. 18

59

A STUDY OF CHURCH WORSHIP

Based on an Address to a Gathering of Priests of
The Liberal Catholic Church at Huizen in 1929
By THE RT . REV. J.I. WEDGWOOD
March 1935 Vol. XV No. 6
The primary object and purpose of worship is summed up in peculiarly fitting language in the words
of the Sursum Corda, Preface and Sanctus . We say well that it is very meet, right, and our bounden
duty, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Almighty God. The old-fashioned
English word meet" carries the meaning of measure, and what is meant here is that it is in the true
measure of things to do so. Worship is the putting into expression of an urge, which is innate in man,
to reach upwards towards God and to lift himself into oneness with the source of his being, making
offering of all that is noble and good within him. The word "worship" is a shortening of "worth-ship,
" and carries with it the idea of giving to God that which is His intrinsic worth. The doing of this
presupposes some personal knowledge and experience of God. Such knowledge is reached gradually
and only through sustained effort. Hence, to numbers of church-goers this basic rationale of worship
must needs be to a great extent theoretical. There is one method of gaining this direct knowledge
which it is the purpose of this article to discuss.
Mankind, at its present stage of evolution, is still largely self-centred; and worship, like many other
things, is apt to be envisaged in terms of the benefit accruing to the man himself . The members of a
congregation are, of course, greatly helped through their worship. There is a legitimate side to this,
of which I shall presently speak. But there is another side of the work which calls for attention, and
in the pursuit of which man can learn to be self-disinterested. The Liberal Catholic Church is perhaps
unique among the Churches in stressing the fact that worship does not concern simply the group of
people who meet together in church; it can spread Our Lord's blessing far and wide over the
neighbourhood, and even to distant places and to people who may be held within the mind or
"intention'' (to use the technical word) of the worshippers. What we do in church does not simply
concern ourselves and our personal relation with God. It has also the effect of sending out upon the
world a great flood of strength and blessing, which will work definitely for the helping of countless
numbers of outsiders who may never enter a church, but who will, nevertheless, be influenced by
and react to what is taking place. A church "service" is rightly so named, since it is an act of service
to God by the service of the world which is His. We become fellow-workers with God. The Church
which Our Lord the Christ founded as an instrument of his work has as its great duty and inestimable
privilege the task of helping to lift up and transmute the sin and suffering of the world. The Holy
Eucharist is the service which achieves this most effectively. The scope and success of our efforts
will depend on a variety of factors, among which will rank the sincerity, the self-dedication, the
calibre and the degree of training of the clergy and congregation.
THE LITURGY
A primary requisite for work of this kind is a good Liturgy, in which the several stages of the
ceremony are worked out in proper sequence, and whose language will lift the people up into happy
and ready self-expression. When Bishop Leadbeater and I were compiling the Liturgy of our Church
we went to much trouble to choose out language which would offer scope for this work of selfexpression. Our Liturgy was modelled on the Roman books. These had been used in the early days
of our Church, and by those of us who entered the Old Catholic movement from which our Church
was to derive its Orders. We also borrowed freely from the matchless English of the Anglican Book
of Common Prayer. But all references to fear of God, to His wrath and to everlasting damnation, as
also constant appeals for mercy, were eliminated. The Roman rite is overloaded with difficult
phrases of this sort, and there is a plentiful sprinkling of them in the Anglican Prayer Book. Much of
the language can be given a different connotation if one looks back to the etymology of the words

60

used or to alternative meanings. The word "mercy" is a case in point. "Damnation" derives from a
Latin word meaning loss or harm. "Eternal" is not necessarily the same as "everlasting"; in its
philosophical sense the word may relate to a state of consciousness which transcends our norma l
conceptions of time and space. "Eternal damnation" can thus be explained as loss of realisation of
our eternity or spiritual self. But the misinterpretation has gone too far to be retrieved. Neither the
bulk of the prayers in use nor the traditional teaching of the Christian Churches lend themselves to
the more lenient view. One of the most lurid of such passages are the concluding verses of Psalm
137: "O daughter of Babylon, wasted with misery: yea, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee, even
as thou past served us. Blessed shall he be that taketh thy children: and throweth them against the
stones." The Bible version of the Psalm is even more dramatic and violent and says: "taketh and
dasheth thy little ones against the stones.'' A number of Anglican churches refuse to sing these
particular verses. Many of the ideas of which we have been speaking are linked with propitiatory
theories of the Atonement. (1)
The question is sometimes asked why we should have inserted the Nicene Creed, some clauses of
which cannot be taken literally by modernist churchmen. The answer is that we are a Christian
Church, and, therefore, kept unimpaired our connection with the Christian Church at large and with
catholic tradition. The Creed was formulated by a General Council of the Church, and it would be
unthinkable that a small body like ourselves should take it upon itself to alter a document of
oecumenical authority. The general situation is well summed up by a modernist priest of The Church
of England, the late Canon M. G. Glazebrook, in a passage which has been printed in our Liturgy as
a footnote to the Creed: "The ancient Church altered the language of the Creeds from time to time to
meet the advance of religious thought. The modern Church has retained the words but altered their
interpretation." Our people are allowed freedom of interpretation . One does well to bear in mind the
intrinsic truths and the wealth of noble thought, built up throughout the centuries, which lie behind
the Christian Creed, to say nothing of the contribution made day after day by thousands of churches
throughout the world.
(To be concluded)
-----

(1) An interesting book has recently been published which sustains the thesis of Peter Abelard, who
argued against ransom theories of atonement. The Atonement, by Dr. Robert S. Franks. The Oxford
University Press, 6/- .

No. 19

61

SOME ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

By THE RT. REV. J.I . WEDGWOOD
June 1935 Vol. XV No. 9
It has been part of one's work to hold meetings at which congregations were trained and practised in
diff erent aspects of their worship, just as a choir is rehearsed in the music which it has to sing. On
many of these occasions opportunity was given f or the asking of questions. Some of the questions
and answers are now revised for publication, in the hope that they will be useful to readers.

I. Orate Fratres . "Brethren, pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father
Almighty" (p. 182 of the Liturgy). Does the priest remain turned towards the people until they have
answered, or does he begin to turn back?
It is not necessary or in keeping with the symbolism of things to wait until they have finished their
response. The response is addressed to the Lord rather than to the priest. This is also the Roman use.
It is one of the two occasions in the Mass (the other being after the final Benediction) when the priest
turns completely round in the form of a circle. The work of the moment is the sweeping up of the
response of devotion and self-dedication made by the people, and the celebrant carries that offering
of spiritual energy with him, symbolically and actually, as he turns.
The sacraments, as "means of grace," have as their purpose the quickening of evolution. One uses
here the word "quickening" in its older sense. The Bible and the Nicene Creed speak of "the quick
and the dead." In this sense quickening means the awakening into fuller and (in the later human
stages) more self-conscious existence. There has previously taken place the offering of the bread and
the wine as tokens of the fruits of the earth. That is the offering made on behalf of nature, and each
Mass helps forward in some measure the evolution of the lower kingdoms. At the stage now under
consideration the offering is made of "ourselves, our souls and bodies." The more we can learn to
regard ourselves as an integral part of the human family, in other words to reach in terms of
experience into what has been called "cosmic consciousness, " the more widespread is this offering,
later to be worked upon by the Lord Himself. The Divine Grace outpoured in the later part of the
Eucharist has the effect of quickening all creation. The more intelligent and sincere and integral the
co-operation of the clergy and faithful with the Divine Will, the wider and more deep is the field of
operation.
II. During the part of the Canon f ollowing on the Act of Consecration and the singing of the Adeste
Fideles why are the people blessed with three crosses (p . 187 of the Liturgy)?
The process will be understood more easily if we study the significance of the various crosses made
during this second part of the Canon until its conclusion. The number of crosses made is the same as
in the Roman Mass. The sequence of action is clearly described by Bishop C. W. Leadbeater in his
book, The Science of the Sacraments. The process at work can be followed by studying the wording
of the Roman Missal, but is expressed a little more clearly in our text. And the final crosses are more
fully explained in the accompanying wording of our Liturgy than in the other (beginning with the
paragraph on p. 187: "All these things . . . . ..') .
When the first set of crosses are made you pour into the consecrated elements the offering of
yourself and of the people and of the angels around. The crosses correspond with the fivefold being
of man, as represented by and expressed through his will, intuition, synthetic thought, concrete
thought, and emotion. This offering is a pouring of all that we have to give, and is linked up with the
earlier stage of the Eucharist when, at the Offertorium, we have made offering on behalf of the lower
kingdoms of nature, and of " ourselves, our souls and bodies." The foregoing has now been
intensified, and you take up all the devotion of the congregation, living and dead, and of the nature

62

spirits and angels around, also of all beings at a distance with whom you have linked the sacred
oblation, and you pour that into the chalice to be offered at the throne on high.
Then the Angel of the Presence goes, and you come to another set of crosses. The priest now takes
the place of the Angel in the triangle with the Host and the Chalice. Next you come to the blessing of
the people, and you send out over the congregation three waves of influence. And here the term
congregation" covers all those far and wide with whom you have linked up, whether in terms of
aspiration or for purposes of helping. "Hallow" - First Person of the Trinity; "quicken" the Holy
Spirit ; and "bless" - the Second Logos. This Person is taken last because He is now represe nted by
the priest. The priest, however worthy, is not at the same level or capable of being the same direct
channel as the consecrated Host and Chalice.
------

No. 20

63

SOME ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

By THE RT. REV. J. I. WEDGWOOD
July 1935 Vol. XV No. 10
II
III. Do you consider the Short Form of the Holy Eucharist as ef fective as the Long Form? Can the
clergy and congregation add anything over and above the f act of consecration?
Each form duly serves the sacred purpose in view; namely, the consecration of the bread and wine
into the Body and Blood of Christ, the offering of the Holy Sacrifice before the throne of God, and
the ministration of Holy Communion to the worshippers. Two other factors, however, call for consideration. Of these the first is the edification of the faithful, the lifting of them up into effective
spiritual self-expression. The second may be called the field of action, namely, the area and the
degree in and to which the service may work to uplift and bless the world.
The Short Form used with an intelligent, devout and trained congregation may be more effective
than the Long Form used by less developed and less trained worshippers. People vary much in their
spiritual calibre or make-up. Most people are still largely dependent for their reactions on stimulus
from outside, on people with whom they meet and the general environment with which they are
brought into reaction. As a result of this age-long process, qualities of character are built into us as
permanent assets. It is the mark of the developed man that he can spontaneously and at will give
outlet to these different qualities of thought and emotion, to intuition and to will, without needing the
stimulus of external provocation. Such developed and alert people will be on their mettle when the
Short Form is used, and can use it with efficiency.
For ordinary people, less trained in such work, the Long Form lends itself far more naturally to the
calling out of devotion, for there are high sentiments in it which arouse the imagination and
aspiration of the worshipper. The opening Canticle is longer, and people get better settled down to
their work at this initial stage. The symbolism of the additional paragraphs of the Canon is
wonderfully uplifting. It is only fair to add that the opening Canticle of the Short Form, though short,
is a masterpiece of symbolism. Its concrete imagery holds the mind and recalls somewhat the
methods of Freemasonry. It has the merit of carrying on through the entire six verses . Our Liturgy
clearly intends that the Long Form shall be that normally used on Sundays and feast days. The
"Note" which introduces the Short Form suggests that it may be used at the "regular daily
Celebration, at services for children, and whenever the fuller version is found too long for practical
convenience." The trained congregation of which we have above spoken will, of course, find fuller
scope for self-expression in the Long Form.
Those familiar with the Mass as celebrated in the Roman Church know that the congregational side
of the worship is not stressed. Many people will be engaged in private devotions, some will be
telling their rosary. The music is not sequential with what is taking place at the altar. The detachment
from the congregation is the more evident because the service is not in the vernacular and much of it
is said "in secret." The priest, moreover, is trained to say his Mass in an impersonal manner. It is
often taken at great speed and the sign of the cross is made as rapidly as can be. What underlies this
impersonality is the idea that the Holy Sacrifice owes its existence and effectiveness to the Divine
Grace alone. The priest is but an unworthy instrument. There is a movement afoot on the Continent,
showing itself more especially in Belgium, to unite the people in singing certain passages of the
Mass in the vernacular. There may be something to be said for the scheme of training the priest to be
impersonal in his administration of the sacraments and in the recitation of the Office. Thousands of
men are involved in the scheme, many of them of peasant origin, though all carefully trained for
their work.

64

In our movement the method of procedure is different. We have stressed the idea of "the priesthood
of the laity." Our Liturgy is so phrased that it can be used by the worshipper without scruple, on the
one hand, and so that he has scope for the noblest ideals and aspirations. Our services are made as
congregational as possible. And our people are encouraged to open themselves in thought and
feeling to the great powers of which language is in our physical world the token and symbol.
The answer to the second part of the question will be apparent from what has already been said.
Theology has always consistently asserted that the unworthiness of the minister hinders not the
efficacy of the sacrament. We may assume that there is a certain irreducible minimum of spiritual
power transmitted when the Mass is said inattentively, mechanically and formally, and with perhaps
only one server present as congregation in this physical world. Christ is the true minister of all
sacraments. His world stands in need.
It is not unreasonable to assume, and in all reverence, that He also takes advantage of human cooperation. Experience seems to bear this out . A congregation filled with devotion, seeking to serve
Him, provides a body-corporate through which His blessing can pour forth in fuller measure over the
world. The greater intensity of the power will depend on the competency and understanding and
dedication and size of the congregation. Such achievements need not affect only the neighbourhood
of the building where the worship is being held. It is possible to link up in thought with friends and
centres of work in different parts of the world. We do not sufficiently realise that Our Lord stands
waiting to pour forth His blessing wherever opportunity is offered for Him. And one has sometimes
glimpsed another technique at work. The special quality of worship offered by a small Liberal
Catholic Church is sometimes blended with the worship, of much greater volume but of different
quality, coming from a church of another denomination, the two being thus merged and contributing
to the welfare of the world. It may even be that the work of many churches is thus amalgamated.
-----

No. 21

65

THE POLICY OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH: SOME SUGGESTIONS

BY THE RT. REV. J . I. WEDGWOOD
November 1935 Vol. XVI No. 2
We have lost an outstanding figure in the person of our late Presiding Bishop, a man who has left his
mark indelibly on The Liberal Catholic Church and has made contributions to its work of enduring
value. We are now entering upon another phase of our work. And it is useful at such times to take
stock of what we are doing and to ask ourselves afresh along what lines the movement can be made
most useful to the world which it exists to serve. Such is the purpose behind this article.
On the question of fundamentals I doubt if there is any divergence of opinion among our members.
The distinctive outlook of our Church is summed up in the "General Information" printed at the
beginning of the Liturgy, in its official "Statement of Principles" and "Summary of Doctrine," and in
"The Liturgy" itself. The document first named opens with the words: "The Liberal Catholic Church
exists to forward the work of her Master Christ in the world, and to feed His flock. It draws the
central inspiration of its work from an intense faith in the Living Christ, believing that the vitality of
a Church gains in proportion as its members cease to think only of a Christ Who lived two thousand
years ago, and strive rather to serve as a vehicle for the Eternal Christ, Who ever lives as a mighty
spiritual Presence in the world, guiding and sustaining His people. Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the consummatio n of the age, Before Abraham was, I am . In another short summary which
has been widely used and which in earlier days was printed on the rear cover of THE LIBERAL
CATHOLIC are found the words: "It is a ceremonial church which combines the ancient form of
sacramental worship with the utmost liberality of thought. It leaves its members free in matters of
belief. The seven historic Sacraments are administered." Another summary of its outlook is given in
some words which I wrote in a pamphlet published as early as 1919 under the title: The Liberal
Catholic Church and The Theosophical Society: Where they agree and where they diff er .(1) This is
what was said:
"Its clergy regard it as their chief work to be 'stewards of the Mysteries of God,' sharing with
the clergy of other Apostolic Churches the privilege of administering those Sacraments. They
look upon the Christian Church as a great brotherhood of all who turn to Christ as the inspirer
of their spiritual life, their Master and Friend, and consider that His Sacraments should be
freely given to any member of the brotherhood who reverently desires them, without any
conditions being imposed in the way of intellectual restrictions. They believe that Christ
appointed the Sacraments with the object of enormously quickening the spiritual progress of
His people. They realise that this purpose is far more effectively carried out if the people can
understand what they are doing and so bend all their energies of will, heart and mind to cooperate. Therefore the Church tries in every way to help its congregations to a right
understanding of the Sacraments and their place in the spiritual life, and encourages the
people to assist at worship not as listless and passive spectators, but as active and intelligent
co-operators, almoners of Christ's blessing to the world around.
All this is a distinctively Christian work. Because this is so, the body which carries it out
must needs believe in Christianity and be a distinctively Christian body. Once people grasp
this fact, there should be no occasion for confusion between the Liberal Catholic Church and
the Theosophical Society. It will be seen that they differ widely in the scope and manner of
their work.'' (p. 15).
These last sentences lead us on to the problem which is perhaps nearest to hand in our Church at the
present time, to wit, the relationship between the Church and The Theosophical Society. There is no
official relationship between the two bodies; and in terms of their Constitutions there can be none.
There is, however, a large overlapping of membership, and also some considerable overlapping of
ideas between the two bodies. This in itself need prove no obstacle to each going its own way and

66

doing its own particular work. But there are other sources of difficulty, of which two may be
mentioned. It is in some places to the mutual convenience of each to share the same room or
building, where both are hampered for money. That is all the more reason for stressing the need for
avoiding the second difficulty, namely, that caused by using the same language and the same forms
Of speech in both movements. Theosophy has its own technical terms and the Christian religion has
its own distinctive and characteristic language. A term like ''Solar Logos'' belongs to Theosophy, not
to Christianity. There is no reason why reference to theosophical ideas should not be made, or
quotations from theosophical writers not be read; right judgment and the make-up of the
congregation should determine the extent to which this is done. What ought not to happen is that the
theosophical terms should constantly figure as though they formed part of the Christian currency. Let
me ask my readers to accompany me for a few moments to Holland. In that small and closely
populated country movements become more readily known than in larger countries. Our Church
there occupies a distinctive position. It has some buildings in church style of its own, and it is known
throughout the country. There is, on the one hand, the Roman Catholic Church, which is widely
spread. The Old Catholic Church may be ranked with this, though it carries little weight in the
country. On the other hand, there is the Protestant Calvinistic Church, with its bare forms of worship,
long sermons and hard benches. Our Church holds an intermediate place between these two bodies,
and has to cope with public opinion. And it is the rule among our people in Holland that Christian
terminology shall be used.
Let me now turn to some criticisms and suggestions,
THE STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
Two editions are current, dated 1925 and 1926 respectively. Some additions were made to the later
and authorised edition, under the heading of Doctrine . This added part ought in any case to be
changed, since reference is made to our joining "The Fellowship of the World-Religion" and
accepting its "Basic Truths of Religion." This body would seem to have died a natural death, and
there is no use in perpetuating reference to it. I would suggest that the portion incorporated be either
omitted or else revised. I wrote it myself, and realise that if some of the ideas are perhaps worth
incorporating they could be more carefully and suitably expressed. Perhaps a committee might be
formed to re -consider the document. And such a committee would do well to invite friendly criticism
from outside sources, that is, from competent people of other Churches.
THE SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE
This was changed in the 1926 issue, but The Third Episcopal Synod of 1930 reverted to the older
use, with a few verbal alterations. It was I who framed the original Summary of Doctrine . Less
attention was paid to it than to The Liturgy and to The Statement of Principles. I remember feeling at
the time that more care and attention might be given to this work at some later date, and with more
matured experience at our disposal. This could also be considered by a committee.

One further remark. The Synod of 1930 made the acceptance of this Summary of Doctrine optional
on the part of the clergy. I disagree with this. There should, I think, be some broad measure of
uniformity where the official representatives of the Church are concerned. Their position is different
from that of the laity.
We may now pass on to consider The Liturgy. I shall have occasion to criticise some passages in the
Liturgy in current use and some accessories of our worship. To avoid possible misunderstanding I
wish to make it clear that the proposals made do not result from any change of belief on my part in
regard to realities lying behind the usages now called into question. Any changes suggested are made
on the ground of expediency and with a view to protecting our movement against criticism which
may not be without justification. One wishes to see our Church equipped to take its due place in the
world.

67

VOTIVE MASSES
The saying of special "Votive Masses" has received some attention, on p. 403 of the Liturgy, but the
directions given could usefully be extended. I usually say a Mass of Our Lady on Mondays (using
the Collect of The Assumption), and a Mass for the Dead on Fridays. Some parts of the Requiem
Mass printed in our Liturgy (pp. 299-304) apply to persons who have just died and are not suitable
for general Requiems. I use the Collect for All Souls' Day, and the Postcommunio from the ordinary
Mass. A Mass for the Sick might be arranged.

A SERVICE OF HEALING
This contains the only one of the series of introductory remarks which was not written by myself.
The service was incorporated at a later date. I submit that the introductory remarks need rewriting in
a more moderate tone and in terms which do not pre-suppose clairvoyance. It is not that one is
sceptical of these things, but that one wants the Liturgy so worded that it can be handed to any newcomer into the Church or to any priest of another Church without any feeling of reserve.
SOLEMN BENEDICTION
I suggest that the shortening of the Litany be made optional. For instance, verses 3-8 inclusive could
be omitted on occasion.
THE COLLECTS
The wording of some of these could be improved. The language sometimes errs on the side of being
extreme and is occasionally trite. Sometimes also several strong expressions or a variety of
metaphors are heaped up in one collect; this gives a restless effect.
THE SHORTER FORM OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST
There are passages in this which refer to the building of the Eucharistic Edifice. I can see no reason
why this should be brought into the field of liturgical expression. The Science of the Sacraments
contains a wealth of interesting and uplifting and useful information. It enables us to understand in
much fuller measure and in better perspective the working of the rites and ceremonies of the Catholic
Church. But why not leave the book where it is, accessible to those who are ready to profit by it?
Many of us, as the result of our experience with outsiders, have formed the judgment that it is not a
book which can ordinarily be used for propaganda purposes. The treatment of the eucharistic edifice
is far too long and is out of all proportion to its intrinsic value. The stress laid on this tends to throw
into the background more important and useful instruction. The book has no success with the
ordinary man. Furthermore, what concerns the effectiveness of worship is the state of a man's heart
and mind, and the freedom and scope offered for the expression of his noblest aspiration, and not the
formation of floors and petals and cups and turrets in subtler matter. That may concern the angels,
but it has no relation with the worshipper. His is the task of providing material for the work, and the
duty of fashioning himself into a worthy and acceptable and useful instrument in the Lord's service.
The Opening Canticle is very happy. It is short, but the fact that the same idea is kept running
through all six verses gives to it concentrated power. But the temple symbolism should begin and
end there, unless it may prove possible to retain some of the wording of the Asperges. (One
improvement would be to say "build with us" instead of '' build for us"; and in any case the passage
should stop at the Amen.) The purpose served by the two passages deleted would be fulfilled by
saying the Dominus vobiscum, as in the Long Form, after the First Censing, the Gloria in Excelsis
and the Creed. This is at once a prayer and a blessing. Can there be anything more beautiful than its
realisation, namely, that the faithful shall know themselves as one with their Lord and Master? The
Orate Fratres, which talks of building a Temple and preparing a channel and the later passage about
linking the offerings spiritually with ourselves is a woeful mixture of metaphors. One might expect
further references to sluices and dams and reservoirs. Need we introduce a scheme of mechanics into

68

the sacred language of a liturgy? Which is the nobler language: ''We lay before Thee, O Lord, these
Thy creatures of bread and wine, in token of our sacrifice of praise and giving'' or ''linking them
spiritually with ourselves, and praying Thee to receive through them our sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving?" Words like token'' and even "instrument" are ecclesiastical. ''Link" and change''
and "reservoir" are not ecclesiastical; they are imported from the special vocabulary of theosophy.
The sacred mysteries are surely better approached in terms of consciousness than of descriptive
mechanics.
If I may make another suggestion, it is that the Canon of the Mass in the Shorter Form resumes too
suddenly after the Adeste Fideles . Also the words used at the making of the crosses do not fit in with
the process described in The Science of the Sacraments. The first cross corresponds to the dedication
of the spirit or will or atma. This hardly fits in with the word "love". I interpolate the wording of the
Long Form at this stage, leaving out "the mystery of . . . . ascension." It is a very solemn moment
and the language with which the Canon resumes in the Long Form is beautifully expressive.
THE REFERENCE TO OUR LADY
The passage to which one wishes to refer occurs in The Commemoration of the Saints after the close
of the Canon. There was no mention of Our Lady in the Shorter Form until it was inserted by
decision of the 1930 Synod. That Synod changed the phrase "the ever-virgin Mother" into "Mother
of Our Lord." Opinions may differ as to the desirability of the change. In The Hidden Side of
Christian Festivals Bishop Leadbeater works out various phases of symbolism and develops a
scheme of the various functions related to Our Lady's office. On the principle that man is spirit rather
than body, and that Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity rather than the human incarnation as
Jesus, so also the title "ever-virgin" can be applied to Our Lady. And it was applied in that sense
when the Liturgy was framed. The issue is perhaps one of policy. Is it more useful to hold to the
historic title and use the interpretation just mentioned, or is it more useful to take our stand with the
brave band of modernists in The Church of England who say that the virgin birth is neither historical
nor an essential of the faith? If the changed form is kept I think that the phrase "in the holy Lady
Mary, Mother of Our Lord" would be richer and this wording would bring the stress on to the earlier
part of the sentence.
While we are dealing with this subject may I take the opportunity of pointing out that there is no
synodical authority for adding the phrase which one sometimes hears: "and Mother of the World." A
ruling might perhaps be given on that practice. It is one of the unsanctioned uses which tend from
time to time to creep in. Coupled with this issue is the habit of some groups of devotees offering
their reverence to Our Lady in the church after Mass. They assemble round the statue or picture, and
in the hearing of all outsiders present this phrase is used.
SACRED PICTURES
The next subject on which I will touch is the delicate one of the use of certain pictures in our
churches. A tradition has grown up of using two special pictures, one portraying the Lord Christ and
the other Our Lady.
There is no need here to discuss their origin; they were brought into being under the supervision of
Bishop Leadbeater and the work of amateur artists. As works of art they cannot be commended, and
visitors attending our churches have not infrequently commented on them drastically. The same
feeling is shared by members of our clergy and by lay folk in various countries. There is no difficulty
about finding a nice picture of Our Lady; there are several chef s-d'oeuvre in existence. The one
known as "Our Lady of Perpetual Succour" is widely used in other Churches and is excellent. It
shows out the quality of compassion which, in my judgment, is deficient in the one in use. There has
been great difficulty in finding a suitable representation of Our Lord. The figure shown in Leonardo
da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is delightful, but is so faded as not to lend itself to use. The usual

69

pictures show a suffering figure, which we in our Church prefer to avoid. I have hunted through
shops in London and through catalogues from Germany - all to no avail.
For several months we did without the picture in our church at Camberley. The people here agreed
with me in not liking the one in current use. So the picture was taken down, with Bishop Pigott's
kind consent. I missed something constantly; another source of influence was lacking which was
transcendent, as it were, to what was taking place at the altar. Bishop Vreede tells me that he has
officiated in some churches in Holland where there was no picture, and has had similar experience .
We have now solved the difficulty, so far as Camberley is concerned. A Russian artist, Monsieur
Morosoff, whose beautiful work figures in various Orthodox churches in Paris, has painted us a
picture. What is wanted, so far as I see the issue, is something not of the portrait style like the
existing ones, but a picture whose style is symbolic. And the blessing will flow through any suitable
picture. It certainly flows through that which now figures in our church.
THE CRUCIFIX
Another matter which arises for discussion is the use of the crucifix. Here again we have wished to
avoid the use of the suffering figure. The Stations of the Cross in Roman churches are sometimes
unpleasant spectacles, the appropriate ones being marked with a lot of blood. I do not myself react
unhappily to the crucifix. It lends itself also to symbolic interpretation and represents the immola tion
of the divine life in matter. We use the term "O Saving Victim" in our rite of Benediction. An
experience once came to me in an Anglican church: the crucifix was suddenly transfigured and I saw
that the crown of thorns had its correspondence in great shafts of light which rayed out from Our
Lord's head. And the cult of the Sacred Heart has a like correspondence in reality. It seems likely
that all the symbols which exhibit suffering have their transfiguration and higher interpretation in
terms of radia nce and transcendence. The one set of ideas relates to limitation in matter, the other, to
liberation.
There is, however, another form of crucifix, symbolic not realistic; the figure is robed and crowned,
and it is spoken of as the Christ reigning from the Tree of Glory. There is such a crucifix in our ProCathedral of S. Mary in London and in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels at Huizen. It is
admitted by scholars that the most ancient form of crucifix does represent Christ as the Victorious
King. An article in the Anglican journal Theology for April of this year re-affirms this. And
curiously enough a writer in the July number relates an experience similar to my own. He writes that
after a long period of meditation in an Anglican church he saw the figure in a realistic Burne-Jones
window transformed into one robed and crowned; and the answer to his question came clearly in his
mind: "You and the others who have prayed in this church to-day have given me this robe and crown
by your prayers.
It does not matter seriously in this country whether a figure is shown on the cross or not, though
most of us would probably prefer one. It does matter in some Continental countries. The Lutheran
Church has always retained the crucifix. An Old Catholic priest showed much kindness recently to
the people of our Church in a small European country. But a parting remark of his as he left the
church was: "Aren't you Christians that you don't have the Christ on the cross? "
THE FIRST RAY BENEDICTION
The Summary of the Proceedings of the Third Episcopal Synod of 1930 contains the following
clause: "The First Ray Benediction shall be taken out of the services of Holy Eucharist and
Confirmation and placed, with the necessary rubric, under the general heading: Occasional
Prayers. This action is taken because it was found that the wording was frequently misunderstood
by people unacquainted with occult knowledge." This ruling seems to have been ignored far and
wide. My own recollection is that the Blessing was sanctioned for continued use in places like the
Church of St. Michael at Huizen, but that the intention was that, in all places of public worship it was

70

no longer to be said. One understands that to give up the saying of it means a sacrifice, and a big
sacrifice, to many people who have been helped by it. I am myself one of those to whom it was a
privilege and a happiness. Permission was asked of higher authorities in the early days for its
addition to our Liturgy and was graciously given. But the request came from our side.
With a more matured outlook and having in view a definite policy for our Church I now feel that it
should not figure in our services, and would be prepared to move a resolution that it should not be
printed in prayer form under "Occasional Prayers." We ought to face squarely up to situations of this
kind and not allow personal predilections to have sway. There will always be folk who will make
excuses to satisfy their own wishes when compromise is tolerated. It ought not to happen that some
young priest who has had no theological training and has mixed little with responsible people of
other Churches should regularly use this passage in disregard of the Synod's ruling because he has
some flair for occultism. There should be some sense of public responsibility. The passage in
question cannot be justified in a public movement which welcomes to its ranks and among its clergy
people who are not theosophists. As I said before, I want our Liturgy to be one which can
confidently be put into the hands of a priest of any other Church as a liturgy used by a distinctively
Christian Church. The language is not church language; it is theosophical. If it is desired that this
influence and blessing shall be sent out over the world then let it be done by theosophical
organisations. Such other organisations do exist, so we need have no qualms of conscience about
failing in our duty. I have talked with some of our clergy in other countries and find that they take
the same view that we should now finally be taken of making our Church distinctively Christian and
able to cope with work in the outer world. And this is especially the case in some countries where
theosophists have withdrawn the regular support they gave to our work. There is really no reason
why any reservation should be made about special centres, for they also invite outside visitors to
church worship, and they would probably be willing to fall into line with any general policy.

STUDY AND TRAINING

We now come to our last point. It would be useful if some course of study for our clergy could be
mapped out and if they could be helped in applying themselves to it. Our Presiding Bishop could
well work out such a scheme of study. During the time when I was working at Huizen we used over
a period of some years to hold regularly each year a Priests' Week, and clergy and faithful from all
over Europe would gather together for these happy occasions. During this time study was undertaken
and training given in the work of the various church ceremonies. The benefit of this was
incalculable. Our clergy often said that they left the place changed men. In some towns this meant
the closing of the church for two Sundays, but the ensuing gain was so great that this little sacrifice
was gladly borne by all concerned. The priesthood is a sacred and sublime charge. It carries with it a
deep responsibility. And one obligation is that of doing the priestly work to the best of one's skill and
ability.
-----

(1) This can be obtained from The Theosophical Publishing House, 68, Gt. Street, London, W.C1, at the cost
of 3d. post free.

No. 22

71

SEVEN KEYS TO CHRISTMAS

December 1957 Vol. XXX No. 9
The Historic Idea
The beautiful stories of the Master's birth, which have come down to us through the ages, help us by
their accounts of this great event in which angels join with men, towards a fuller appreciation of
what takes place both on earth and in the invisible worlds when a great Teacher comes into
incarnation.
The Cosmic Interpretation
As the historical tradition records the sacrifice of the Master's voluntary limitation in human form, so
does the cosmic interpretation of the festival call to mind the descent into matter of the second
Person of the Blessed Trinity. Our deep thankfulness to the Master for His descent into a human
body in order to help and guide us becomes, in the cosmic idea, profound gratitude to the Logos for
the willing limitation of His power and glory which has brought us into existence.
The Path to Perfection
Christmas is one of a series of festivals which may be taken to represent definite steps along the
pathway to perfection. It is the first of these spiritual stages and represents the second birth - the
being born into a new world of spiritual awareness, into the great brotherhood of Holy Ones, the
Communion of Saints.
The Coming of the Lord
Christian tradition, in common with that of other faiths, bears witness to the expectation of the
second coming of the Lord, when He shall "come again with glory". Advent, the period of
preparation, reminds us of how unready most of us would be to meet the Master face to face. Yet
Christmas Day brings joy and comfort in the realization that His light and love are shed upon all
mankind, for He comes to all who need and seek Him.
The Mystic Significance
A great and glorious mystery underlies this aspect of the coming of the Christ - the coming within
the heart of each individual - the development of the Christ Principle within us.
"Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,
But not within thyself, thy soul shall be forlorn.''
The Means of Blessing
The great Christian festivals are special occasions when that spiritual power which always seeks to
raise mankind to greater awareness of its true nature, has more widespread opportunity to make itself
felt. Christmas is a festival during which the veil of earthly things becomes less dense and the joy of
the Kingdom of Heaven can more easily be entered into by mankind.

The Time for Rejoicing

The Christmas spirit, not necessarily religious, is a most wonderful thing. Goodness, kindliness,
comradeship and true brotherliness are more fully manifested on Christmas Day than on other days
of the year. We should be thankful at least for that, and wholeheartedly assist in the spreading of
peace and goodwill.
H.G.F.
These brief paragraphs reproduce notes in the form of aides -memoire made during a reading of the second
chapter, entitled Christmas, of Bishop Leadbeaters book The Hidden Side of Christian Festivals.

No. 7
72

THE INNER TEACHING OF EARLY CHIRISTIANITY

BY C.W. LEADBEATER
April 1961 Vol. XXXII No. 8
In the original teaching of Christianity there was an aspect deeper than that which is commonly
presented to us in its name today. Very much of what originally formed part of the Christian faith
has been neglected and almost forgotten.
Modern orthodox teaching is based largely on a few texts which have been badly mistranslated and
are in consequence in opposition to many others that contain the liberal and generous spirit of
Christ's own teaching. On these few texts has been built an insecure edifice of unreasonable doctrine,
which, when assailed by the light of reason immediately proves indefensible. The true and noble
teaching of the Christ, which, if Christianity is to live on into the future, must sooner or later take its
place is indicated quite clearly in the very scriptures themselves. They constantly tell us of a hidden
doctrine which was not given to the public. It has long been the custom to deny this, and to boast that
Christianity contains nothing which is beyond the reach of the meanest intellect. It is surely a very
serious reproach to Christianity to say that there is nothing in it for the thinking man.
It is evident that all religions have to provide for different classes of men and all grades of intellect.
There is a vast host of people who would be entirely unable to appreciate metaphysics or to follow
abstruse philosophical arguments. They must have plain, definite, ethical teaching; they must be told
how to live. They must have it clearly put before them that their happiness or their suffering depends
entirely upon the life they choose to live. In every religion there is always such simple teaching,
which is necessary for their progress, and is suited to them at the stage where they are.
There are others who need the philosophy and the metaphysics, who would be entirely unsatisfied
unless they were able to fit their ideas in with some definite scheme. They want to know whence
man came and whither he is going; how this universe began and what is the object of it. Therefore a
philosophy has been given by every religion worthy of its name.
Since in every other great world religion there have been these higher teachings, if we are to regard
Christianity as the only exception to this rule it stands self-convicted as an imperfect religion; but
that is not true at all. The inner teaching is found in Christianity as in all other religions; it could not
be otherwise, since all are endeavours to state, from different points of view, the truth which lies
behind all of them alike.
In his Retractions (Book I, chapter 13, verse 3) St. Augustine, one of the greatest of the Christian
Fathers, in a remarkable passage says: "This which we now call the Christian religion existed among
the ancients and was from the beginning of the human race until Christ himself came in the flesh,
from which time the already existing true religion began to be styled Christianity." One could not
have a plainer statement that than from a Father of the Church - that the true religion had existed all
the time, since Christ came, people began to call it Christianity because they were now putting forth
the form of it which he had taught, which was only a new statement of the truth that had always been
known.
In the Gospels we find that Christ frequently told his disciples that he explained only to them the full
meaning of what he wanted to teach, and that he spoke to the public at large in parables. If we want
to understand what that means we must first observe what Christ himself declared, then what his
apostles taught, and finally what was said by the Fathers of the Church, who followed the apostles.
In the Gospel according to St. Mark (Chapter 4), Christ says to his disciples: ''Unto you it is given to
know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in

73

parables." Then a few verses lower down we read, with reference to his public teaching: "Without a
parable spake he not to them, but when he was alone with his disciples he explained all these things
to them. It is a matter of common knowledge to students that in old traditions it is always stated that
there was a triple meaning for all parables. First of all there was the story just as it was told - a story
for simple souls, an illustrative story; secondly, there was the intellectual meaning. For example, take
the parable of the sower. It tells that a sower went forth to sow his seed, and some fell on good
ground, some on rocky ground, some in sandy soil, and some among thorns. That is a story which we
might tell to a child or to any simple person. Then comes the intellectual interpretation; Christ
explained that the seed is the word of God, and the different kinds of some are the different types of
hearts into which the seed falls. Behind that again according to universal tradition, there was the
deep, mystic spiritual meaning which was never written down at all, but was always conveyed from
mouth to ear. In the secret teachings given only to those proved and tried members who showed that
they were worthy of it, the inner meaning of that parable refers to the outpouring of the divine Life
into nature, and the different strata which it touches as it pours down, and the results which it is able
to produce at those different 1evels.
Then, again, according to the 16th chapter of St. John (verse 12) Christ said, on the night before his
death: I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. When was he to say these
many things to them, and when was it that they would be able to hear it? Obviously it must have
been in that time after the resurrection when, we are informed, he taught them all things concerning
the kingdom of God. But where is the record of that teaching? It is impossible to suppose that it was
forgotten. It must have been treasured with the rest of the disciples memories.
There are many gospels behind those generally known, and in some of them are traces of these secret
teachings. One of those is the great Gnostic gospel called the Pistis Sophia, the Faith Wisdom, and
in that it is stated that Christ communicated with his disciples and taught them after his death; not for
forty days only, until the time of the Ascension, but for eleven years after his resurrection he
continued to teach them. Some of his instruction is given in that very book, but much of it is obscure
and very hard to understand, because it has passed through three translations before we read it. If
ever an original copy is found we shall probably obtain from it a very much better idea of the
teachings of the Gnostics than is available at present.
Christ himself throughout the New Testament constantly uses technical terms which were employed
in what used to he called the "heathen" Mysteries. One of those terms, "The Kingdom of Heaven", I
have already explained elsewhere. Then there is the text which relates that when the young man
came and asked how he could reach aeoinan life - the life proper to that aeon (Matthew 19), Christ
said: "If thou wilt be perfect (a term used in the Mysteries to indicate a certain degree the fourth
initiation), go and sell and give to the poor, and come and follow me." What that meant: ''If you wish
to reach the level of the perfect you will have to give a great deal of time to the work, therefore you
must get rid of all your worldly encumbrances. We are told that the young man went away
sorrowful, because he had great possessions. Then follows the statement by Christ that it is easier for
a camel to go through the eve of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
In all religions it has been held that poverty, chastity and obedience were necessary for the highest
form of development, and Christ here repeats the teaching of the Eastern Sages: "It is exceedingly
difficult for a rich man to become a great initiate," because to reach that level a man must devote
most of his time to study and work, and if he be a rich man cumbered with all sorts of business cares
and worldly duties he cannot very well do that. Worldly wealth is a great privilege and it is given to
a man as an opportunity, as a test, to see whether he will use it rightly. But besides being a test and
an opportunity, it implies very serious responsibility. The man who has great wealth must surely
administer it for Christ and for his work, and that will mean that he must devote much time and

74

attention to it, and while he is fulfilling that duty it would be very difficult for him to have time to
devote to meditation and spiritual advancement.
Again, the Christ speaks about not giving that which is holy to the dogs, nor casting pearls, before
swine (Matthew 7:6). We should not consider it polite to call people dogs and swine these days, but
those are technical terms in the Mysteries. One of them is used in a secret society of the present day,
though many of its members are not aware of its origin. Probably those words were used in the
Mysteries to indicate outsiders, and because no one outside the Mysteries knew about it there was no
misunderstanding.
The writings of St. Paul are also full of references to occult teaching. He speaks of the Mysteries,
and he uses technical terms, even as Christ does, very freely. In the First Epistle of the Corinthians
he says: "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect." If it meant perfect in the ordinary sense of
the word, what would be the use of teaching them at all? What he means is, we give that higher
teaching to the people to whose degree it belongs. There were different degrees in the Mysteries
just as there are in other organizations; to each degree belonged the teaching of the degree, and it is
never given to any one in a lower stage. So to the "Perfect" was given the "wisdom", the gnosis.
Gnosis or wisdom was another technical term. It did not mean ordinary wisdom, but the special
religious teaching given to those who are at the stage of the perfect. The whole passage to which I
am referring is full of significance. It runs: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect;
yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory." (Corinthians 2: 61). If St. Paul meant any ordinary Christian teaching that statement
is flagrantly untrue. It has often been asserted that all these references to mysteries were to the Holy
Eucharist. It is true that only those who had reached a certain level were permitted to be present at it,
but it was not a mystery in that sense, and certainly the princes of this world knew all about it. It
could not have been the Holy Eucharist, because the apostles were writing to the Corinthian Church,
and from what he says in other parts of the epistle, as where he speaks of certain rites which attended
their celebrations of the Holy Communion, it is evident that those Corinthians were full
communicants, fit only for the earlier wisdom, so certainly the Mysteries which were not taught to
them were not the Eucharist. Continuing, St. Paul speaks of the teaching known of God which the
Holy Ghost teaches. Again, he uses also other technical terms, calling himself a Master-builder and a
steward of the Mysteries of Christ. He also speaks of striving if by any means he might attain to the
resurrection of the dead (Phil. 3:2). People generally take that to mean that he, the great apostle, was
not sure whether he would rise again at the last day. But all are to rise again according to the
teaching the good and the bad alike. There is no effort needed for that. What was it he was striving
so earnestly to attain? Of course he was aiming to reach the great initiation which liberates men,
which sets them free from earth. He says: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus"; and in a verse or two later on he urges "as many as be perfect" to strive as he is
striving to attain the resurrection from death - the escape from the wheel of birth and death - but he
does not recommend the ordinary church members to do it because he knows it is out of their reach
as yet. He concludes his exhortation to the ''perfect'' with the significant words: "For our
conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."
The Christian Fathers also constantly used the technical terms of the Mysteries. St. Clement of
Alexandria borrows a whole sentence from a Neo-Pythagorean document when he says; It is not
lawful to reveal the profane mysteries of the Word. The profane are those outside the temple. The
last term is a translation of the Greek Logos. In this sentence he inserts that word in the place of
the Eleusinian goddesses who are mentioned in the original document.

75

Nowadays, Christianity considers itself to be its highest glory that it has produced great saints,
though, it does not profess to be producing them at the present day. In earlier times it had the three
degrees, Purification, Illumination and Perfection or Deification. Then, Purification meant what we
now call saintship. The man who was purified was the man of high and holy living: the second
degree gave him a knowledge of the Mysteries, and the third degree gave him unity with the Divine
at a certain stage. We find the same three stages under other names in the Oriental religions. In later
days all that was laid aside when the more ignorant section of Church gained the upper hand, so we
now have a maimed form of Christianity, which is by no means as satisfactory a presentment of the
eternal verities as are some of the other great religions of the world. The Church now contents
herself with the preliminary Purification; she has no Illumination or Perfection to give.
Let us read what St. Clement of Alexandria has to say on this subject. Speaking of Purification he
writes: "Purity is only a negative state, valuable chiefly as the condition of insight" that is to say, one
cannot gain the higher levels through purity alone. He continues: "He who has been purified in
baptism, and then initiated into the little Mysteries (has acquired the habit of self-control and
reflection), becomes ripe for the greater Mysteries, for Epopteia or Gnosis, the scientific knowledge,
of God."(1) This latter, from the modern orthodox point of view, is a startling claim to make. Few
preachers at the present day world would claim to have scientific knowledge of God, or even to
know in the least what such an expression meant. Yet there it stands in the writing of one of the
earliest and greatest of the Church Fathers. Of course there have always been doctors of the Church
men who have studied philosophy and theology, but generally only in a narrow and partisan spirit.
Since the days of the great Gnostic teachers, who were expelled for heresy, they have produced
nothing at all to compare with the splendid metaphysics and philosophy of the Hindus or the
Buddhists.
As to the third stage, that of Perfection, they have simply forgotten all about it; yet it was clearly
held by the early Fathers that man was capable of attaining "deification" as that degree is often called
in their writings.
What has become of this magnificent heritage of Christianity? Why was this wonderful wisdom lost
and how can it be regained? Happily it has not been lost. Though the ignorant majority endeavoured
with pious fury to destroy all traces of it, yet here and there a book has been discovered where
something of the Gnostic teaching has been preserved. Moreover, as will be shown in the following
articles an attempt has at least been made by some of the higher powers to guide those who have
compiled those great symbols called the Creeds, so that, whatever they may themselves have known,
their language still clearly conveys the grand truths of the original teachings to all who have ears to
hear; for much in those formulae incomprehensible becomes at once luminous and full of meaning
when understood in that inner sense which exalts it from a fragment of unreliable biography into a
declaration of ete rnal truth.
-----1. Quoted in the Christian Platonists of Alexandria by Dr. C. Bigg, p.62.

No. 8

76

JAMES INGALL WEDGWOOD, FIRST PRESIDING BISHOP

OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
An Appreciation by the REV. G.N. DKINKWATER
December 1966 Vol. XXXV No. 8
It is especially fitting during this Golden Jubilee year of the Liberal Catholic Church that the great
contribution of our first Presiding Bishop to the movement should be recalled. (1) Bishop
Wedgwood was not of course the founder of the church. The church was founded by our Lord some
2,000 years ago, but he was the means by which the Liberal Catholic branch of the one church
emerged. Together with Bishop C. W. Leadbeater, the second Presiding Bishop, with whom he
laboured so effectively almost from the beginning, he can rightly be called one of the Liberal
Catholic fathers.
We are here concerned with Bishop Wedgwood as a churchman, but it would be inadequate in any
appreciation of his career not to mention, however briefly, his work for two other spiritual
organisations, quite independent and distinct from each other and from the church. These are The
Theosophical Society, and International Co-Freemasonry. (2) Before the future bishop had joined the
independent Old Catholic mission in London under Archbishop Mathew, from which the Liberal
Catholic Church eventually emerged, Mr. Wedgwood had become the General Secretary of the
Theosophical Society in England, and in 1913, the year when he was ordained priest by Archbishop
Mathew, he issued his little theosophical book, Meditation for Beginners . It is pleasant to see that
this work is still in print and has gone to several editions. It is by no means so elementary as the title
would suggest and it takes into helpful account the difficulties which some westerners find when
attempting eastern forms of meditation. Dr. Wedgwoods Blavatsky Lecture of 1927 to The
Theosophical Society on The Distinctive Contribution of Theosophy to Christian Thought will also
be familiar to many members of that Society. As a Co-Mason with high Masonic honours he
introduced Co-Masonry in his earlier years to a number of countries, just as he did the Liberal
Catholic Church.
As a churchman, Bishop Wedgwood can be considered in his several capacities as an organist,
church historian, ecclesiastical statesman, theologian, liturgiologist, and as an occultist.
As an organist, Dr. Wedgwood, as he then was, studied plainchant under Dr. Becket Gibbs, then the
choirmaster at St. Alban's, Nottingham, and an authority on the Solesmes system of plainchant;
proceeding from there he became an articled pupil at York Minster under Dr. Tertius Noble for four
years. He eventually proceeded to Paris where he took the degree of Doctor of Science at the
Sorbonne on organ building. He wrote several books on organs and his Dictionary of Organ Stops ,
which was the only one of its kind, went to several editions.
As a church historian, Bishop Wedgwood's contribution from first hand knowledge of the early
history of the Liberal Catholic Church and its Old Catholic background is of prime importance. In
1937, at Bishop Pitkin's invitation, he wrote at length on "The History of the Liberal Catholic
Church: Beginnings", which was published in Ubique and eventually reprinted in The Liberal
Catholic of January and February, 1938. It is most appropriate that Bishop Pitkin has reprinted this
article as part of a brochure issued in the United States this year in connection with the Jubilee
celebrations there. It has also appeared this year in a parallel publication with the same object issued
by Bishop von Kruzenstierna in Australia, and in another by Bishop Goetmakers in Holland.
As an ecclesiastical statesman, Bishop Wedgwood's insight into the best needs of the church is
admirably illustrated by his paper on "The Policy of the Liberal Catholic Church", published in the
November 1935 Liberal Catholic and by a second paper with the same title which appeared there in

77

July 1951. It is satisfying to record that nearly all his suggestions, as there put forward, were adopted
in due course by the Episcopal Synod.
As a theologian, the Bishop made other and most important contributions to the church. First of all
there is the Statement of Principles and Summary of Doctrine . Published separately originally in
1916-18, these official documents of the Liberal Catholic Church were soon issued together, and
have remained so in the many subsequent editions. There have been occasional slight variations in
the text, and recently an addition, but otherwise they are substantially as they came from Bishop
Wedgwood's pen, and admirably illustrate not only his quality as a theologian but also his
statesmanship.
The Larger Meaning of Religion, published 1930, was an excellent introduction to Liberal
Catholicism, and to religion generally while the Bishop's articles "The Sacraments and the Theory of
Economy", which appeared October to December, 1935 in The Liberal Catholic gave a lucid and
learned exposition of the in some respects contrasting ideas held on the sacraments by the Eastern
Church as compared with the Western churches and with our own.
Bishop Wedgwood's The Presence of Christ in the Holy Communion, 1928 is quite masterly, and so
far as one is aware, no other writer, in English at any rate, has written so clearly and so
'oecumenically' on this profound subject. His series of articles on "The Body of the Lord" which ran
in the Liberal Catholic from November 1936 to February 1938 only overlap a little the theme of the
older publication, and it would be a valuable contribution if some well-wisher would provide funds
to make it possible to collate these two works, and publish them anew, with possibly a brief
appendix to cover recent discussion.
Apart from the absolutely essential step of transmitting Episcopal Orders from the Old Catholics, it
may be said that Bishop Wedgwood's greatest contribution to the Liberal Catholic Church at large
was in the field of liturgical worship, and more especially in the writing of the liturgy in which
Bishop Leadbeater collaborated. From policy they f ollowed Roman procedure closely except where
there was good reason to depart, and observed meticulously all the technical requirements of Matter
and Form where the Sacraments were concerned. Though full use was made of felicitous phrases
from Roman and Anglican sources, the liturgy abounds with excellencies of its own. Many of the
services were written jointly, but Bishop Leadbeater was responsible for the Short Form of the
Eucharist, while Bishop Wedgwood was almost entirely responsible for the Long Form and for the
Ordination services. Thus it is to his pen that we owe the wonderful sentences beginning, "Uniting in
this joyful sacrifice. . . . ", surely one of the most profound liturgical expressions ever written, and it
is to him that we owe the remarkable Ordination charges, which it is fair to say move in a different
world when compared with older liturgies. Worship is at the heart of any church, and the liturgy is at
the heart of all corporate Catholic worship.
It is a recognised 'law' among liturgiologists that when there are alternative rites in a church, the
shorter tends to drive out the longer. Thus in the Eastern Church, the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
is by far the most commonly celebrated, while the longer version, the liturgy of St. Basil, is now
restricted to certain special days. The Long Form is used considerably less frequently than the Short
in our own church, but since each form has its own special advantages according to circumstances,
one ventures to hope and believe that the Long Form will always remain in frequent use.
Bishop Wedgwood was wont to observe that the existence of the Eucharistic Form as observed by
Bishop Leadbeater was a most valuable hypothesis, but that since it was not a matter of direct
observation for many, the best contribution the worshipper can make is to pour out devotion and
thought at the highest possible level during the Eucharist, because the building of the Form is best
left to the angels.

78

A number of articles on Liturgical worship appeared over the years in The Liberal Catholic from
Bishop Wedgwood, (3) based on his own experience and observation. These formed a valuable
complement to Bishop Leadbeater's great and fundamental work, The Science of the Sacraments. It
is much to be hoped that these articles too will be eventually collated and published in more
permanent form.
An outstanding ceremonialist, it was remarkable what the Bishop could get out of the congregations
and clergy he trained. He was particular about details. While some of these owed their importance to
recondite reasons, others arose through the need to have an agreed procedure when a number of
people are working together. It does not matter whether we drive on the left side as in England, or on
the right as in most other countries, provided all are agreed on which side to drive! A ceremonialist
was not one, as he represented the matter, who was wondering what to do next. The details should be
as automatic as driving a car, leaving the consciousness free to concentrate at higher levels. This
meant hard work on behalf of all those concerned, but the results were outstanding.
Over and over again the bishop stressed that the secret of the spiritual life was to forget oneself in the
service of others. Acting on this principle in the liturgy, each should forget himself and worship as
one body corporate.
As he put it:
Ceremonial is the intelligent use of form that it might find the best expression of the life.
Matter is just as important as spirit. We must spiritualise our view of matter. If you receive
the blessing of Christ through the Host, you make of matter a vehicle of the spirit. The
Eucharist has one stupendous purpose, this is nothing less than in bringing our Blessed Lord
into repeated incarnation.
The Lord is to be found in nature and in the depths of our own hearts, but it is especially easy to find
him at the altar. By offering him our very highest and outward turned devotion at the elevation of the
Host, the Chalice, and of the monstrance, as at other times, we can come to know the Lord if we
have not already done so. This devotion is to be offered as from all and not just from each as a
separate individual, for the church is the body of the Lord, his corporate vehicle. Illustrating one
aspect of this principle, the bishop explained that in his early days he used to experience a certain
dryness at the reception of the reception of the Host. There was not the feeling coming from it which
he expected. But one day he realised that after communion he should ray-out on all he met, and this
transformed the situation. Thus may we come to know him who is King of the angels, the Babe of
Mary, the white vision of the Mount, and the Morning Star rising in our hearts. To know this is to
know Eternal Life. Death hath no more dominion over us.
II
Lastly, there is Bishop Wedgwood as an occultist. Since there has been a tendency of late to decry
the occultism connected with the church, one feels that one
should offer testimony, even though
of necessity the witness is rather a personal one.
The writer first met Bishop Wedgwood at a party given by the late Lady Delaware at West Side,
Wimbledon Common, London, in 1923 to members of the Theosophical Society. One had heard that
there were occultists and had some slight acquaintance with the writings of Mrs. Besant and of C. W.
Leadbeater. One was gravely inclined to ask sometimes if they were sincere, not knowing then - one
was very young - of the wonderful life of service which Mrs. Besant, for instance, had led even
before she became an occultist. One also asked oneself, a more legitimate question for a newcomer

79

, "were they deluded?" A reasonable enough question if asked in a fair and open-minded way. One
had also made some study of modern science, and wanted everything to be proved scientifically.

I h ad come to the garden party with a new acquaintance, Ralph Thomson, destined to become a close
friend and who eventually became a priest. He will be remembered with affection by many of the
older members in London and elsewhere. Ralph who knew the bishop well, asked me if I would like
to meet him, and looking some distance across the lawn to a striking-looking figure, attempted to
attract the bishop's attention merely by a thought. The bishop did not look his way and Ralph merely
remarked, 'He is busy'. Nevertheless, a little later, and perhaps fortuitously, one was shaking hands
with the bishop. He said but little, yet as soon as I met him one's doubts immediately fell away.
There were real occultists, and this was one!
For some years one saw very little of the bishop as he was living in Holland at the time and came
over to England only occasionally. I had by then become a regular attender at the London oratory,
becoming a server under Bishop Pigott. From a very unhappy young man, with perhaps more than
his share of troubles, one became a happy one. Here at least was something useful to do, by helping
in however small a way to spread the eucharistic blessing over the world.
A few years later one had the privilege of making a short visit to Huizen and eventually stayed for
some months at St. Michael, the bishop's headquarters there. For a young man it was a most
stimulating and rewarding time. There were daily services, and priests and other workers were
constantly coming and going from all over the world.
The bishop had perfect manners and the greatest tact. He was distinctly grand seigneur of the old
school in his manner but with perfect naturalness and without the least touch of condescension. He
had great kindness of heart and made all feel at home, treating them as equals. Of great selfpossession, he was humble withal, and the only time one has seen him embarrassed was when
someone praised him. He was generous too.
The bishop was psychic in various ways, and an unexpected side-light on this was discovered some
years later when my wife and I paid a visit to Mr. Wm. Pavitt of Hanover Square, whom older
members will remember as a skilled designer and worker in precious stones and metals. He told us
that in earlier years when the bishop was living in London he used to call on him, and would hold his
hands open behind his back. Mr. Pavitt would then place various stones in the bishop's hands in such
a way that he did not see them, and the bishop could successfully tell him what they were.
The bishop could see the angels and the forces at work in the services, but one gathered the
impression that when dealing with individuals he used intuition primarily, and clairvoyance only
secondarily. As he explained matters, with intuition you understand a person from within, but with
clairvoyance, as ordinarily understood, you may see the colours of the aura, but still need intuition to
understand just what they mean in relation to the person concerned. He once remarked that to see the
aura of a candidate for ordination was not the problem, the problem was what it would look like in
six months' time.
This leads one to the bishop's delightful sense of humour. There was never any trace of unkindness
in his jokes, but on the other hand they often had a releasing quality. The following are examples;
one wishes one could cite more. Quoting an eastern aphorism he went on to say:
The mind is the slayer of the real, let the disciple slay the slayer .... But one
must have a mind to slay.
Will is obstinacy transmuted.
The dead do not have bank overdrafts, neither do they need to get up in the morning.
Some progress slowly but purely, some progress slowly but unsurely.

80

One soon came to realise that Bishop Wedgwood could read thoughts; what is more, he knew them
not as something from without but from within. We all know the difficulties that may sometimes
arise in communicating even with close friends, owing to the limitations of language, but it was quite
different talking to the bishop. At first one felt self-conscious, but one soon found that he never
intruded on anything which one wished to keep private. Soon after this one reached the point where
one did not mind what he might know. As a friend put it, it did not matter what you might think or
do, you could always be sure that Bishop Wedgwood would give his sympathy and understanding.
One came to take all this as a matter of course. I, like others, was part of the larger consciousness
which was at his disposal, yet in all this one felt absolutely free. Two instances of this facility of the
bishop's must suffice. Though there were daily High Masses at Huizen, during quieter periods it
sometimes happened that there was no one in major orders to act as subdeacon. Hence it was the
writer's privilege, as an acolyte at the time, to act as subdeacon as is permitted in such an emergency.
It was the bishop's practice to follow the Roman custom of placing the missal stand on the gospel
side of the altar for most of the Mass from the Gradual. Hence while standing by the bishop's side at
the altar, one could read his missal during the central portions of Mass. The bishop used to recite
long passages at this stage by heart. One day while he was doing this I was following the words from
the missal, and one's eye accidently skipped a line. At that very moment, the bishop faltered, and had
to glance at the missal This was most unusual, and so far as one can recall, he had never done this
before. One put it down to a coincidence, but about a week later, the same thing happened again at
the exact moment that one's eye skipped the line. I asked him about it afterwards, and he explained
that it was his custom to leave a bit of his consciousness 'down here' as it were with the deacon and
subdeacon, while he concentrated at higher levels. One took good care after that not to skip.
The second occasion occurred one evening at Huizen. One had been for a walk alone in the
afternoon, and during this walk had been moved to take a certain vow. This was entirely one's own
idea, vows had not been mentioned and at no time had they been a topic of conversation, so that
what followed cannot be put down to association of ideas or a guess. That evening the bishop said to
me, ''What have you been doing with yourself to-day?" and then added when I hesitated to find an
answer. "Have you been making foolish vows?"
An example of how he might help people occurred some years later during a visit by the bishop to
St. Marys in London. As it happens I had suffered a heavy blow, it now matters not at all these
years, but at the time one felt quite numb, unable to feel, and was going through life in a mechanical
sort of way. I had not told the bishop anything about the trouble, but when, as thurifer for the
occasion, I presented the censer to be blessed, there was a sudden quite tangible wave of influence
from him which instantly lifted me out of my useless apathy into a state of happiness. The sudden
and immense change was most remarkable. The pain came back later at times, but one was able to
meet it with resilience. I am but one of many whom he helped, and it is only right that some record
of this fact, however inadequate, should be made.

As many are aware, the bishop suffered ill health in his later years, to the great distress of us all. He
could no longer give as of old, but he gave what he could. He lived at Tekels Park, Camberley, in
these later years, and took a considerable part in the Church Congresses held there, until the
Congresses grew so large that they had to go else where. Naturally, one no longer put questions to
him, though one found that often enough some remark would come from him spontaneously during
the conversation which would throw light if one had something in mind.

81

In 1950 or 1951 I was on a brief visit to Tekels Park. After a restless night over a difficulty, which,
like the former, matters not at all now, I came to say goodbye to the bishop in his study. There he
was in his rose-purple bishop's cassock which he normally wore when indoors. His illness had
naturally enough taken some toll of him physically, but all this was swept aside when something
happened that I did not know could happen. He turned to look at me, and I have never seen a human
being so transfigured, so utterly splendid and benign. It was truly as if the God within him had
descended and was looking at me. One murmured a few words and then withdrew with a sense of
awe and quiet happiness. This was to be farewell, as he died not long after. But it was not really
farewell. Death hath no dominion over him. We can be sure he is still with us in the things of the
spirit, and the labours and sacrifices which he made for the church are still with us in the liturgy and
in other ways. No Bishop Wedgwood, no Liberal Catholic Church, or no branch of the one Vine as
we have come to know and love it.
To close, here is something which our first Presiding Bishop and Father in God wrote on the
Eucharist: (4)
I like to go back in thought to that scene of the Last Supper, the outlines of which we
recapitulate in the Prayer of Consecration at each Eucharist. Our Lord had been giving hints
to the little band of disciples of the parting that was impending, as we learn from the Gospel
story. We can picture them gathered together in the upper room and the final intimation being
given them of the calamity that was to take place. How deep the grief that must have fallen at
the thought of the separation, the anxiety, the sense of helplessness, the thought of awful and
utter loneliness. Can we not picture his tender sympathy with their distress, the endeavour to
re-hearten them and to inspire them for work they had vet to accomplish? For the disciple
must not think of himself, but of the constant note of the world's great need. And he speaks to
them of his love and care for them, of his power that will sustain them and support them in all
their difficulties. Presently he tells them of the plan that he had devised for them, a rite that
shall incorporate his very being, that shall keep the sense of his living presence perpetually in
their hearts, and shall help them to maintain that realisation of their fellowship with one
another, that holy and all-possessing unity which they had gradually found in their common
devotion to him. How wonderful must have been those moments as in solemn thanksgiving
he broke that Bread, and as he blessed that Cup. How sweetly tense the peace and stillness of
that greatest of all moment. What a panorama in the inner worlds, what hosts of angels and
Great Ones to do homage to that memorable occasion! And above all the sweetness of his
love binding them perpetually to him with ties that should never be broken.
It was not only once in the history of this sad world that so marvelous an experience was given to
men. The rite still lives on; his Love still binds men's hearts together, and we take comfort and
strength in his marvellous promise. 'And lo! I am with you always even unto the end of the world.'
-----(1) Based on an address delivered to the Liberal Catholic Church Congress, Cranfield, England, 1st Sept.,
1966. Other appreciations and an obituary by Bishop Pigott, Rev. Oscar Kollerstrom, B. P. Howell, M.B.E.
and others will be found in The Liberal Catholic, during 1951.
(2) The Society admits people of any faith or none who believe in universal brotherhood. The Order of
International Co-Freemasonry admits women as well as men.
(3) The following is a representative but not exhaustive list: The Liberal Catholic Church: Its Distinctive
Outlook, July, Aug. 30; T he Liturgy, July 31 -Jan. 32 et seq.; A Study of Church Worship, March, 35, April,
35; Some Questions & Answers, July, Aug. 35; The Old Catholic Church, July, 50; Work with the Dead, Oct.
51; The Work of a Priest, April, 52 -April, 53.
(4) The Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, pp. 57, 58.
No. 11

82