Liberal Rite
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The liturgical rite used by Liberal Catholic Churches is called the Liberal Rite. The Liberal rite is the most widely used liturgical form found within the Liberal Catholic Church International (although a modified Eastern Rite liturgy is used by at least one diocese). Like other liturgical rites, the Liberal Rite has grown and evolved over the past century.
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[edit] Development
The Liberal Rite was composed by Bishop James I. Wedgwood, with Bishop C.W. Leadbeater assisting on the Collects, and in the selection of the Psalms, canticles, and weekly epistle and gospel readings. The Rite focuses more on the glorification of God, rather than the depravity of man.
Both Bishops Wedgwood and Leadbeater were consecrated according the Roman Rite as amended by Archbishop Mathew. The text known as "The Old Catholic Missal and Ritual" bore the imprimatur of Gerardus Gul then Archbishop of Utrecht.
In explaining how the Liberal Rite was developed, Bishop Wedgwood states:
"We set to work to eliminate the many features which from our point of view disfigure and weaken the older liturgies. References to fear of God, to His wrath and to everlasting damnation were taken out, also the constant insistence on the sinfulness and worthlessness of man and the frequent appeals for mercy. The services were made as clear and free from repetition in their structural sequence as possible. And every opportunity was given to the congregation to join in the worship with all the resources of mind and will and emotion and self-dedication they were able to command. The sentiments put into the mouth of the worshipper are such as those who are filled with the spirit of devotion and service can honestly and sincerely utter.... It stresses the idea of co-operation with the Divine Father rather than that of supplication, and being outward-turned in the service of God and His world soon enables a man to realize something of the boundless resources of his own being. They are his by right and not simply by grace."(Beginnings of the Liberal Catholic Church, 1937.)
[edit] Publication
A total of five editions of the Rite exist today. The first version of the Liberal Rite was published in 1917, though it only contained the the Eucharist. After further work, it was updated and released as the first edition published in Sydney in 1919. The second edition with additions and alterations was released in 1924. The third edition, revised and enlarged, was published in 1942. A fourth edition was published by the LCC (Old Synod) in 1967 and a fifth by the same in 1983.
As of 2008, the Liberal Catholic Church International uses a reprint of the 3rd Edition.
[edit] Further Reading
- The Liturgy of the Liberal Catholic Rite, 3rd Ed.
- Leadbeater, C.W. The Science of the Sacraments.
- The Collected Works of James I. Wedgwood, Msgr. T.J. Howard ed.
