A Message from the Rector…
The year of 2006 is quickly coming to a close and we might wonder where the weeks and months have gone. This year seems to have been a year of anniversaries. St John’s will celebrate 150 years since the laying of the foundation stone two days after Christmas, which unfortunately is not a great time to make this a great event. It is also the 150th anniversary of the founding of St Catherine’s School in Waverley, the place where my wife Barbara attended before heading off to teachers college. It is difficult to imagine what the Eastern Suburbs was like in the days of its foundation when the air was thick with news of the Gold Rush.
There is another anniversary which has been celebrated this year, a commemoration of an altogether different kind. Four hundred and fifty years ago, on 21st March, 1556, Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake in Oxford, and became one of the ‘Oxford Martyrs.’ Formerly Archbishop of Canterbury, he was largely responsible for the Book of Common Prayer. When my wife and I moved to Oxford in 1974, I was very moved by the simple stone cross, inlaid into the pavement in Broad Street, which marks the spot where the burning took place. This all happened when Mary came to the throne in 1553 and Cranmer was condemned to death for treason. He was allegedly involved in a plot to make Lady Jane Grey queen, but this only after strong persuasion from Edward VI on his deathbed. But it was under the renewed heresy laws of 1555 that he was tried at Oxford and was convicted. He was forced to watch the burnings of Bishops Latimer and Ridley and under much pressure signed a recantation of his beliefs. He did this to his eternal regret and when on the 21st March the following year he faced the flames, he first thrust the offending hand into the flames, with which he had signed the recantation.
Cranmer’s enduring contribution is undoubtedly in the Book of Common Prayer. He also supported Thomas Cromwell in securing an official English translation of the Bible for which he wrote a preface. It was only in the latter years that he began the task of liturgical revision. He was committed to moderate doctrinal reform but inevitably found himself caught in the crossfire of two opposing groups. His major theological work ‘The True and Catholic View of he Lord’s Supper’ stressed that the heart of the service is to do with “how the faithful receive the bread and the wine while kneeling around table.” His words which come down to us today emphasize this as we are to “feed on him (Christ) in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.” One of the things I hope we always adhere to and preserve at St John’s is all that Cranmer achieved in the Book of Common Prayer and what is expressed in his theology of The Lord’s Supper. I believe that there is a very great need for a good quality liturgical tradition, following Cranmer’s example, and adhering to the truths expressed in the Book of Common Prayer.
At the end of this year another great protestant leader will be remembered, though not as well known as Cranmer. On 29th December 400 years ago the life of Stephen Bocskay came to an end in Hungary. This remarkable man led the Protestant opposition to the attempt of Rudolph II of Austria to destroy civil religious liberty in Hungary. He was roused to action by the atrocities inflicted on the people of Transylvania by the Austrian general Giorgio Basta. He courageously formed an alliance to drive Basta from the region. He was then elected prince in 1605 and in 1606 concluded the Peace of Vienna with the Archduke Matthias who had succeeded Rudolph. By this, all the religious and constitutional rights of the Hungarian people were guaranteed. But Bocskay didn’t live to enjoy his victory. At the end of that year he is said to have been poisoned by his chancellor, Mihaly Katay. He was only 49.
These two men, in quite different ways, embody much of what we should aspire to at St John’s. Apart from the fact that they both resisted attempts to impose Roman Catholicism on their countries, they are significant in other ways as well. Cranmer’s legacy is one of reform but at the same time preserving all that is good from the past, especially the biblical tradition which has shaped Christianity. We would do well to stand firmly in that tradition handed down to us, and for which Cranmer gave his life. Bocskay was a man who advocated for the masses when they were at risk of being steamrolled by the rich and powerful. He was passionate about the religious liberties of his people and deeply offended by the outrages inflicted on the defenceless. He refused the offer of recognition as ‘The King of Hungary’ and declined the gift of a royal crown encrusted with jewels made in Persia. This gift was offered by the Ottermans, and today you can still see it in the historical museum in Vienna. One of the consequences of Bocskay’s courage, was that the old and sacred Hungarian crown of St Stephen was returned from Vienna to Pressburg, modern day Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Like his great namesake St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who is remembered on 26th December, this man lost his life for his stand for the truth. Bocskay is commemorated on the International Monument in Geneva. The Reformed Church of Hungary today claims over 2 million adherents.
Hugh Cox, 17th December 2006