The Parishoner Chronicles

July…..

On the second of July we celebrate the birth of Thomas Cranmer. Archbishop Cranmer directed the writing of the Book of Common Prayer. He translated the Tridentine Mass into English, placed a confession followed by a general absolution prior to the consecration of the bread and wine and restored the cup to the public during the communion service. In addition he ordered that a bible in English be made available in every parish church. Cranmer made the monastic services of morning and evening prayer available to local congregations. For his troubles, following the death of Edward III, he was arrested by the Catholics under Mary I and together with Bishop Ridley he was burned at the stake.

July 12th is Orangmen's Day. This is a day seen by the Church of Ireland with mixed emotion, since it represents conflict between Christians. King James ii of England and Ireland was defeated by his son-in law- William iii at the battle of Boyne and Aughrim. James. A catholic convert was seen as a threat to Protestantism in the British Isles. While Unionists in Ulster love to demonstrate against the Irish Nationalists, it is interesting to note that the issue of Protestant versus Roman Catholics has little to do with either cause.

Pope Alexander Viii supported "Good King Billy" not James in his Irish war. In fact Irish history is filled with such contradictions. Wolfe Tone, Charles Stuart Parnell, Erskine Childers ( one time head of the IRA), Sir Roger Casement and many others were all members of the Church of Ireland. During the famous Easter Monday rising of 1916, seven Roman Catholic Bishops condemned the rebels. Their leader Patrick Pearse was another Anglican. Douglas Hyde, first President of Eire, 1937, was a Presbyterian.

On July 15th the Church of England celebrates St Swithin's Day. An English monk he became the bishop of Winchester in 852ad. He died ten years later. On 15th July 971 his remains were moved from an outside grave to a crypt inside the cathedral. This was inspite of his request that he be buried in a humble place at a churchyard so that his grave could be watered by rainfall. During the transfer ceremony all activities had to halt because of heavy rain. The rain is reported to have continued for 40 days. This story is the basis for the prediction that a wet St Swithin's Day will be followed by forty days forecast of rain. This prediction, however, has proved far from accurate, at least in Winchester.