Evening Prayer in the Twenty-First Century and Blowing on My Embers

I posted this photograph on Twitter last Wednesday: the brightness of his presence through the clouds seen in the reflection of the trees and the sky on the iPad page. Pleasing. I noticed the photograph before I noticed verse 7 near the bottom of the page. 

It comes from the Daily Prayer feed from the Church of England via Aimer Media's Daily Prayer app and my iPad camera. 

Daily Prayer gives me Morning, Evening and Night Prayer each day. I don't have to look up what day it is, or the readings, it's all there so I can follow my nose through the office without even switching apps. It is Scripture set to prayer and two readings from Scripture morning and evening. I don't have to be feeling spiritual or holy, it just picks me up wherever I am and however I'm feeling and carries me along in that mysterious yet absolutely trustworthy and true  holy stream which is the Daily Office. Brilliant. 

Then, there came this message on Twitter: 

Maple Anglican ‏@MapleAnglican  Jun 25

@kiwirev It's an Ember Day?!?!?! #WasntThatTwoWeeksAgo

…to which I replied: 

Gene Packwood ‏@kiwirev  24h

@MapleAnglican According to the CofE Daily Prayer iPad- iPhone app it is.

Maple Anglican then pointed out, correctly, that we'd just had Ember Days two weeks ago during Whitsuntide (BCP for "just after Pentecost") and wondered whether there was an error in the app. The makers of the Daily Prayer app then entered the conversation: 

Aimer faith apps ‏@AimerFaith  14h

@kiwirev I have found it is correct - EDs are normally observed Wed, Fri & Sat in the week before Sunday nearest to 29 June

…which a little Googling showed is true for the CofE. Concerning Ember Days, Rules to Order the Christian Year states: 

Traditionally they have been observed on the Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday within the weeks before the Third Sunday of Advent, the Second Sunday of Lent and the Sundays nearest to 29 June and 29 September.

The intriguing thing is that what Maple Anglican says is true also. For Canadian Anglicans,

Ember Days of solemn prayer and fasting are traditionally kept at the turn of the four seasons (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Advent 3, Lent 1; the Day of Pentecost and Holy Cross Day). The origins of the tradition are obscure, but in time Ember Days came to be associated almost entirely with solemn prayer for ordinands. In this case the BAS suggests they do not need to be kept at the traditional times, but in relation to local diocesan ordination arrangements. The Ember Days, like Rogation Days, have been de-emphasized in liturgical revision since the 1970s, but there seems to be a reviving sense of their pastoral usefulness. They can be helpful in engaging the church in intentional and deep prayer for its whole ministry: for peace in the world, missionary work, Christian unity and economic justice. (From here)

Who knew? So far I haven't found why we do the week after Pentecost and they do the week before the Sunday nearest June 29. It's one of those lovely, odd Anglican things. Perhaps The LORD thought we need an extra set of Ember Days. 

To me, the important thing is that we just keep praying whatever the day. Ember Days are a lovely idea for prayer whatever the week—special days to drill down a bit deeper, to keep the devotion-to-Jesus-Christ embers burning, to fan them into flame (2 Tim 1.6) and to be a nice dry bit of Anglican kindling for Jesus, ready to burst into flame should he come to baptize me with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3.16). 

Many thanks to Maple Anglican and Aimer Faith Apps for the conversation and for making me do a little extra blowing on my embers. 

Taps: My Cross Platform Intercessory Prayer

Here's how I manage my intercessions these days. I no longer carry a paper notebook for jotting down prayer requests or prayer points that come to mind during my day. Now my prayer list resides in a couple of simple apps which sync (it's a miracle!) in the "cloud" (appropriate when I think that God not only led the children of Israel but also appeared to Moses in a cloud).

The core app for my intercessions in the cloud is SimpleNote:


As the name implies, this app is a stripped-down text editor which runs on both my iPhone 3Gs and my iPad. When I add a prayer point or request in SimpleNote on my iPhone, it also appears on my iPad within a moment or two; and vice versa. A few taps and it's on my list.

SimpleNote also syncs automatically and almost immediately with Notational Velocity, another simple text editor, on my MacBook.

In my list, there are prayers for Council of General Synod members and ventures, for clergy in my Anglican deanery (I serve as Regional Dean), for Medicine Hat Evangelical Association pastors (I'm their president just now), for StB, its wardens, parish council and ministry team leaders, and for me and what I do.

It's all just a tap or two away from my iPadevotional Church of England Morning Prayer I describe here.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad :-)

Taps: My iPadevotional Life

It all started when my family gave me a first generation iPad for Christmas last year. I quickly found that my iPad (upon which I'm writing this post with the aid of a Chinese knock-off Bluetooth keyboard—but that's another story) is a wonderful devotional tool. It is not only a whole bunch of books in one, it also glows in the dark. What could be better on a cold, dark winter morning as steam from my coffee floats heavenward like incense?

Morning Prayer
First I tap on the excellent contemporary Morning Prayer on The Church of England website here. If you prefer a traditional language rite, you can set that up as well here:



Notice you can also choose Evening and Night Prayer, both of which I also use—Evening Prayer most often in the church just before I go home for supper and Night Prayer at bed time.

I like the way all the elements in the office reflect the season in the church year without having to flip here and there.

I don't use the readings they provide. Theirs is a two reading lectionary for both Morning and Evening Prayer. I prefer a reading plan which covers the whole Bible so I use the St James Devotional Guide.

I use the free Logos for iPad app for my Bible reading each morning.



This excellent app syncs with the Logos Bible Software package I run on my MacBook which gives me tapping access to helpful notes and commentaries when I need them.

I enjoy that by using the iPad I don't have to be flipping from book to book. Liturgy, Psalms, canticles, Scripture, litanies, responses are all right there or a tap or two away. I find this a rich beginning to my day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad :-)