I happened to be in Rome with a group of our students when Anglicanorum coetibus was announced. On November 11th we were commemorating St. Martin of Tours at Mass, and I couldn’t help making a connection between the saint and what we’d just heard from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
I was thinking particularly of St. Martin’s act of charity, when he gave half his military cloak (cappa) to a beggar. St. Martin wore the remaining portion around his own shoulders as a cape (capella), which then was preserved as a relic after his death. A small oratory was built in which to place the capella, and the name was used eventually to refer to the building itself, becoming our English word, "chapel." The practice developed of erecting chapels, either as separate buildings or as small oratories within larger buildings. These chapels would become centers of devotion to a particular saint or mystery, where the Divine Office could be prayed and where the Holy Mass could be celebrated.
It struck me that with Anglicanorum coetibus, it’s as though the Holy Father has wrapped us in a capella. It provides something of a “chapel” within the larger Church. But just as a chapel can be decorated gorgeously, and can be of a style quite different from the larger edifice, nonetheless it’s still part of the whole, dependent upon the protection and integrity of the main building.
Because of the stability and security of the Catholic Church, it means our particularly Anglican expression of the Catholic faith will be no longer subject to the whims of the age. It will be preserved and nurtured for us and for those yet unborn. And the best part? This capella is from Peter, which means that its roof is sound, its walls are sturdy, and its foundation is on rock.
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Indeed, the "chapel" is nt a diminutive of "church", when we consider the chapels of places like Windsor Castle and Kings College, Cambridge. They are as big as cathedrals.
The chapel indicates the private nature of the place or worship. The notion of church is quite flexible, as one talks of cathedral churches, parish churches, abbey churches, the latter being a religious community and not the people living in a designated area. Usually a chapel is defined by its not having parochial rights, and often does not possess a baptismal font.
The chapel in popular parlance has also in England meant the places of worship of "non conformists', ie. non-Anglican Protestants (Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, etc.) and Roman Catholics.
I make a connection between the notion of chapel and the chaplain, the priest who serves the chapel – except in the case of a collegiate foundation where you will find a dean and a chapter of canons.
I like Fr Phillips' definition on the basis of the "capella". The Italian term for a choir singing without instrumental accompaniment is a cappella – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_cappella. In French, the maitre de chapelle is the choirmaster. Sometimes the choir (as in group of singers rather than the part of the church containing the choir stalls) is called the capella or the French chapelle.
See this article – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel
"Because of the stability and security of the Catholic Church, it means our particularly Anglican expression of the Catholic faith will be no longer subject to the whims of the age. It will be preserved and nurtured for us and for those yet unborn."
May it be so!
Fr. Chadwick is, of course, correct about the technicalities of an actual chapel. I was attempting to use the image in a more figurative way.
Yes, I understand the figurative notion you are conveying, and it is highly appropriate. Like a votive chapel attached to a great church, the future Anglican Ordinariates would grace the universal Church in the same way.
Indeed, we really need the stability and security that only the Rock of St Peter can give. And in this, I thank you for your lovely reflection.