The Martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer
At a time church congregations in the UK are facing realities of decline, and there are no end of rather gimmicky initiatives to regenerate interest, there is one great, and somewhat ironic, anomaly – Choral Evensong. Oxford is unusual in that, in term-time, you can spoil yourself with options to sample this great treasure of English life, and in some chapels you might be lucky to get a seat. Weekday Evensong in Cathedrals across the country seems to have boomed, with congregations more than doubling over the last ten years.
Choral Evensong was devised during the Edwardian Reformation by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, as part of his Book of Common Prayer. It offers a simple, elegant framework for reflection and prayer, and has provided sustenance and beauty for centuries, giving birth to some of the church’s finest music. Clearly it continues to inspire and to offer a chance for peace and renewal in a frantic world.
Choral Evensong at St Mary’s, though, always involves something of a gulp. Within months of the accession of Mary, a Catholic, to the throne, Cranmer had to defend his liturgical reforms and was promptly sent to the Tower of London, and found guilty of treason. His final opportunity for a recantation occurred at the University Church, on 21st March 1556. Unexpectedly, he deviated from the prepared script, reasserting his reformed views, and was promptly taken to Broad Street, where he was burned at the stake.
It must continue to be a source of deep regret that Christians have turned to violence and force in order to try to fabricate agreement, and have lacked the vision and generosity that is required in living peaceably with difference. The contemporary church, it seems, has still not entirely learnt these lessons, even if we burn people through Twitter-rage rather than at the stake. Yet the Christian tradition finds in martyrdom a cause to rejoice: that here is someone whose conviction held fast, and who saw something of the truth of God’s grace that was worth standing up for, come what may.
This Sunday, to commemorate the anniversary of Cranmer’s death, a special service of Choral Evensong will be sung in the Chancel at 3.30pm. The Rt Revd Humphrey Southern, Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, will give an address. The University Church Choir will sing a setting by Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell’s Remember not, Lord, our offences, a setting of part of Cranmer’s Litany. Scripture readings will be given by representatives of the Prayer Book Society. Do join us for this chance to celebrate Cranmer’s enduring witness, to mourn the divisions and frictions of our society and church, and to allow his imagination and vision to speak afresh.
The Revd James Crockford Associate Vicar |
