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Theosophy is a technique from the 1600s that showed quite a bit of interest in esoteric circles of the twentieth century. The theosophist seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe and the bonds that unite the universe, humanity and the divine. The goal of theosophy is to explore the origin of divinity and humanity, and the end of world, life and humanity. From investigation of those topics theosophists try to discover a coherent description of the purpose and origin of the universe.

We often speak of Theosophy as not in itself a religion, but the truth, which lies behind all religions alike.

As a philosophy, it explains to us that the solar system is a carefully ordered mechanism, a manifestation of a magnificent life, of which man is but a small part. Nevertheless, it takes up that small part, which immediately concerns us, and treats it exhaustively under three heads — present, past and future.

Table of Contents

• The Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist
• The Full Form (Wedgwood, 1920)
• The Wadle Mass
• Holy Week Services
• The Sunday Next Before Easter (Palm Sunday)
• Maundy Thursday
• Good Friday: Sext
• Holy Saturday
• The Proper Readings and Collects
• Christmas Day
• New Years Day
• The Epiphany
• Second Sunday after the Epiphany
• The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
• The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
• The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
• The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
• Septuagesima (Third Sunday before Lent)
• Sexagesima (Second Sunday before Lent)
• Quinquagesima (Sunday before Lent)
• The First Day of Lent (Ash Wednesday)
• The First Sunday in Lent
• The Second Sunday in Lent
• The Third Sunday in Lent
• The Fourth Sunday in Lent, or Refreshment Sunday
• The Fifth Sunday in Lent, or Passion Sunday
• Good Friday
• Holy Saturday
• Easter Day
• The First Sunday after Easter, or Low Sunday
• The Second Sunday after Easter
• The Third Sunday after Easter
• The Fourth Sunday after Easter
• The Fifth Sunday after Easter
• The Ascension
• Whitsunday
• Trinity Sunday
• Corpus Christi
• The Second Sunday after Trinity
• The Third Sunday after Trinity
• The Fourth Sunday after Trinity
• The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
• The Sixth Sunday after Trinity
• The Seventh Sunday after Trinity
• The Eighth Sunday after Trinity
• The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
• The Tenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
• The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
• The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
• The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity
• The Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity
• The Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
• The Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity
• The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
• The Sunday next before Advent
• The Baptism of Our Lord
• The Transfiguration
• The Presentation of Our Lord (Candlemas)
• The Annunciation of Our Lady
• St. John Baptist’s Day
• St. Peter and the Holy Apostles
• The Assumption of Our Lady
• The Nativity of the Theotokos
• St. Michael and all Angels
• All Saints’ Day
• All Souls’ Day
• The Patron Saint of a Country
• The Patron Saint of a Church
• Days of National Rejoicing
• Days of National Thanksgiving, especially for Peace
• Common of Saints
• The Proper Graduals and Prefaces
• Christmas Day
• Easter Day
• The Ascension
• Whitsunday
• Trinity Sunday
• Festivals of Our Lady
• Festivals of the Angels
• Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament
• Services for the Sick
• Viaticum
• Unction (Last Rites)
• The Healing Service for Public Use
• The Healing Service for Private Use
• Holy Matrimony
• The Marriage Rite
• The Nuptial Eucharist
• Adelphopoiia Rite
• Holy Orders
• The Ordination of Clerics
• The Ordination of Doorkeepers
• The Ordination of Exorcists
• The Ordination of Acolytes
• The Ordination of Readers
• The Ordination of Exorcists
• The Ordination of Acolytes
• The Ordination of Subdeacons
• The Ordination of Deacons
• The Ordination of a Priest
• The Consecration of a Bishop
• Admission Ceremonies
• A Form of Admission to the Church
• The Admission of a Singer
• The Admission of a Server
• Baptism
• Baptism of Infants
• Baptism of Children
• Baptism of Adults
• Baptism in Economia
• Confirmation
• Reconciliation (Auricular Confession)
• Communion (not during Mass)
• Funerals and Burials
• Burial of an Adult
• Burial of a Child
• Blessings
• The Blessing of Holy Water
• The Blessing of Holy Water for Baptism
• The Blessing of a Church Bell
• The Blessing of Objects in General
• The Blessing of a House
• The Blessing of Holy Oils on Maundy Thursday
• The Blessing of the Oil of Catechumens (OC or OS)
• The Blessing of the Holy Chrism
• Laying the Foundation Stone if a Church
• The Consecration of a Church
• Occasional Prayers
• The Jesus Prayer
• For the Civil Authority
• For the Clergy and People
• For a Bishop
• For All Degrees in the Church
• For Those who have Ministered to Us in Spiritual Things
• For a Synod
• An Act of Union
• First Ray Benediction
• Second Ray Benediction
• For Unity Among Christians
• For Those of Other Religions
• For the Sick
• During Common Sickness
• For a School
• For Those at Sea
• At a Harvest Festival
• For All Conditions of Men
• A General Thanksgiving
• Prayers for the Sick
• Prayer of a Dying Person
• Prayers on Behalf of a Dying Person
• Prayers after Death
• Communion Prayers
• Litany of the Saints
• The Angelus
• Nunc Dimittis
• Creeds
• The Nicene-Constantinople Creed
• The Apostles’ Creed
• The Confession of Chalcedon
• An Act of Faith

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This is the most indispensable book available for independent priests and bishops, especially those who want to balance traditional liturgies with progressive attitudes.

This is 400+ pages (103,000+ words) of rites, rituals, liturgies and practices that cover the entire spectrum of Sacraments for the entire Christian year.

Available in hardback, paperback and eBook.

Chapter 1: Who Knew?

First of all, relax. At no time in this book will I ever try to get you to join or re-join any church. That isn’t the point.

Second, you need to know that the author has baggage. I am a “recovering” (i.e., former) Roman Catholic.

Third, there is nothing “wrong” with any church. There’s plenty wrong with individuals in some of those churches or the behavior of a denomination itself. It sometimes seems like an entire church is broken, and that is a shame because every spiritual path has merit.

And full disclosure: today I am a Catholic archbishop, but in the Old Catholic Church, not the Roman Catholic Church. Both are validly, historically, bona fide, and licitly Catholic, but only one is Roman Catholic. I am not even slightly Roman Catholic.

The credentials of any bishop or archbishop are in his or her lineage. The bishops who laid their hands on my head to consecrate me a bishop had to be valid bishops, and the ones who made them bishop had to be valid, and so forth. This line of validity is supposed to run all the way back to the original Apostles. Lineage is basic to any Catholic bishop. It is called Apostolic Succession. Every bishop is supposed to be able to chart a line all the way back to the original Apostles. Just so you know, I can trace my lineage as a bishop back to the original Apostles through dozens of well documented lines.

If there is a problem with one line, I have gobs of other lines as a fallback. You can trip over my various redundancies.

My credentials as an archbishop are golden. The Roman sect will even admit that. Apostolic Succession isn’t something the typical lay person worries about, but I thought you might want to know that I’m not a fly-by-night Internet-diploma’ed cleric. My Apostolic Succession touches all five of the major patriarchies of Christianity: Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome, as well as many of the minor ones. I have both Western (Old Catholic, Roman Catholic, Anglican) and Orthodox (Greek, Russian, Syrian/Antiochian) bishops in my lineage.

My Apostolic Succession credentials are actually stronger than the current pope’s. Rome most likely won’t admit that, at least not publicly.

That isn’t the real point of this book, but I wanted you to know that when I speak as an archbishop, I do so with some authority, the authority of tradition. I also speak as an archbishop with baggage, who will let you know upfront that he is a work-in-progress.

Protecting people from churches with impractical rules and narrow-minded clerics is what I do. That is a fundamental part of being an Old Catholic. I pray that one day the Roman sect will rediscover the meekness of its origin and rejoin the rest of Christianity. Until then, relax: I have the wattage and the chutzpah to get between you and those latter-day Sanhedrin.

Did you know that Roman Catholic seminaries have entire courses designed to teach clergy how to win religious arguments? The course is called Apologetics, and Roman clergy are very good at it. Their training is superlative. Bravo, seminaries.

If you have been on the receiving end of an Apologetics-trained clergy, you can stand down. I have your back. Your guilt is finished. They are not the only game in town, even if they try to convince you that they are.

This book is about healing: mine and yours.

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Archbishop Wynn Wagner, coadjutor of the North American Old Catholic Church and Regionary Bishop of the Southern Province, is no stranger to choosing a different path on which to follow one’s faith. In his enlightening, compelling, and often humorous Recovering Catholic: How to be Catholic without being Roman Catholic, anyone who has questioned the direction of the Roman Catholic Church and has considered either changing denominations or leaving the church altogether will discover a new and satisfying path. How often do we receive honest, straightforward direction from a cleric whose credentials support his lineage of Apostolic Succession, who calls himself a recovering Catholic, and who refuses to proselytize?

 
This book is not about convincing and/or alluring believers; it is about acknowledging the schism existing between the Roman Catholic and the Old Catholic churches and understanding that choices can be made freely, with our decisions rooted in knowledge, and without the guilt and threat of damnation too often heaped upon parishioners at every level of the Roman Catholic Church. Rather than consider this book an indictment, readers must recognize it for what is was intended to achieve: protection and encouragement for everyone who has suffered the dogma. Straight or gay, divorced or married, liberal or conservative, there is a place for you in the Christian world, a place where you will not be judged, provoked, humiliated, or even banned. This book is about finding your path and following it to a joyful and fulfilling life.

From Chapter One

This is a catechism, a word that comes from the Greek word for “teach.” Many western religions put their fundamental teachings into a catechism. By stating what a religion believes, the catechism draws a line that separates itself from others (the “nonbelievers”).

This is a catechism that seeks to unify, not divide.

Here you have the most fundamental teaching of the Liberal Catholic Church: we try not to divide. We go out of our way to honour and respect all spiritual pathways, and we don’t insist that you become a member of our denomination in order to “get to heaven” or to take part in our services. We want you to join us, but we don’t insist on it.

Our clergy are there to help you on your spiritual pathway, regardless of what that pathway is. Some might call this noblesse oblige. We call it following the instructions given to us by our Lord and Master: The Christ.

The most distinctive characteristic of the Liberal Catholic Church is that we do not think or act like we have the only winning ticket in the great Cosmic Lottery. We love you just the way you are.

“Liberal”

The word “liberal” comes from the Latin word for “free.” We strive to be free and generous in our thinking and our actions. We try to let you be as free as we are, so we try to avoid bigotry and divisive dogma.

We are taught that if you want to receive love, you have to give it. Some people use the word “karma” to describe this attitude. We would say that we receive love through the very act of giving it. We receive love, not as the result of something, but during the very course of giving love. The love we receive is not a kind of after-the-fact reward. The love we receive occurs in the moment – in the Eternal Now.

“Catholic”

The word “catholic” is often translated as “universal,” and that is a fairly good definition. It actually comes from the Greek word that means “whole.”

There is a subtle difference between being universal and being whole. If you are Universal, you can be many different things all at the same time, like a Universal Wrench would be a wrench that tries to fit every imaginable bolt. The word Universal is a way of saying something is a generic fit for everything.

If something is whole, it is a healthy fit, a fundamental fit. A universal church can divide believers from nonbelievers, while a whole church sees God’s hand at work everywhere. A universal wrench may destroy some innocent bolts as it tries to force itself into the project. A whole church would say, “Oh, you’re a nail not a bolt, so why don’t you just use this hammer?” We don’t insist you be a bolt, so to speak.

We can be catholic — universal or whole — without having millions of members. Most of our churches are small and intimate, and that is just the way we like it.

Our smallest churches are still an asset because of the energies that its members generate. On Sunday, we break the bonds of this earthly life and raise our spirits. Then God’s energies come to join us. Finally we spread this energy out to the neighbourhood or community.

Our liturgies help us individually and as members of our churches. They also send out energies to the community as a whole. We bring together the physical plan and the spiritual plane, and all of mankind is energized as a result.

“Liberal Catholic” 

The Liberal Catholic Church is a wonderful spiritual banquet, and it will never run out of nourishment for your spiritual enrichment. The moment you think you understand everything, you will stumble onto some new aspect of living a holy life. Even after years of study, you can still be surprised by a new insight.

This book is for beginners. You may choose later to continue exploring the mystical aspects of our church, but you need a strong foundation first. This book is that.

There is no Christian denomination that offers you such a wide variety of ways to express your faith, but let’s be

sure your long and rich journey has a good foundation.

A Map of Life

The word religion comes from the Latin word meaning “to tie” or “to bind.” The idea is that we are bound to God, and God is bound to us.

Fulton Sheen, a bishop of the Roman Rite in the 20th century wrote about a troubled traveller, who gets vivid impressions of nearby mountains and rivers, but gives no overall view of the Grand Scheme of Things.

If you encounter an awful traffic jam in Japan or a rude hotel employee in France, those impressions may be the Biggest Deal to you. In the grand scheme of things, they aren’t as important as a war or a lasting peace.

Bishop Sheen said that religion offers a “map of life.” A map gives an overview of the relationships between parks and museums and roads, and it shows how to get from Point A to Point B. In fact, it probably shows several pathways between points. You have options and choices.

The Liberal Catholic map is a scale model of life, but it is not life itself. Maps prove nothing, but they show how seemingly unrelated components are all part of the same landscape. Our map shows that the hill is merely an extension of the valley. The map shows, as computer guru Ted Nelson once said, that “everything is inter-twingled.”

Each traveller through life has an individual itinerary. Some are out on a mission, while others are merely enjoying the sights.

The Liberal Catholic Church honours your spiritual journey, whether you are going from Point A to Point B, or Point A to Point F. You are a child of God with free will and a mind of your own. We have a map to offer you, but we try not to get in your way when you are deciding which road to use.

With that, Bishop Sheen starts to spin around in his grave. He did not believe and would never say that one itinerary is as good as any other. The bishop would say that only the path highlighted by the Church of Rome was valid. His sense of individualism would be limited. He would say that once you

see the overall picture of the Map of Life, then it is obvious which road is the one that leads to God.

The LCC will try to honour all the roads as well as quite a few cross-country junkets. A good map does not mandate a single destination. There are several good destinations and plenty of sights to see along the various paths.

And as there are different itineraries, temperaments vary from one traveller to the next. One may prefer to slide down a big highway in a luxury vehicle, while others prefer the communal nature of a big and popular mass transit system. A few of us want to jettison all the standard ways of getting to our chosen destination, grab a backpack, and head off on our own.

Every traveller can benefit from having a map, regardless of the destination and regardless of the conveyance.

Things to Ponder — Things to Discuss

1. What is religion?
2. What does “liberal” mean?
3. What does “catholic” mean?
4. Is the Liberal Catholic Church a Protestant denomination? Orthodox?
5. Why are you interested in the Liberal Catholic Church?
6. What do you expect from the Liberal Catholic Church?
7. What do you feel the LCC expects from you?