Evening star., 1927-03-13
ANGLICAN CHANGES
mot TOAFFECT u. S.
Episcopal Church Has Own
Commission at Work on
1 Prayer Book.

The various changes and revisions
IA the prayer book of the Church OF
England, some of which have caused
widespread discussion, notably the
eyiction of st. Valentine and st. Mich
olas from the church calendar, and
the addition of st. Patrick and St
Francis. do not affect the Episcopal
church in the United States, although
they will be studied closely here,
Right Rev. p. NJ. Rhinelander of the
Washington Cathedral said yesterday.
The reported changes, DR.. Rhine
lander said, tend rather to bring the
mother church closer to the American
church, because of the interesting his
torical circumstances under which TIE
latter was established The American
church, however, has its own commits.
sion at work on a revision of the
prayer book and the report of this
body is expected TO be made at Wash
ington in 1925
Black Letter Days.
Among the more colorful features
Of the English revision was the altera-
ton of the list of black letter days,
withdrawing recognition from certain
saints and according it to others.
But the American church, DR..
Rhinelander said, never has had any
black letter days and one of the re-
suits of the work of the presents COM
mission probably will be to draw up
such a list, which may include some
American names of persons promi-
nent in the history of the church. The
English church, he explained, has red
letter days and black letter days. The
FIRST are the established Christian fes-
tivals conmemorating events in the
lie OF Jesus and the feast days of the
Apostles. These are observed with
special, designated services.
Near Scotch Form.
The black letter days, on the other
hand, are to commemorate various
historical personages notably the
saints. At the time of the Reforma-
ton, the English church took over
many of these from the Catholic
church, but there is no special observ-
ance of the days. The names merely
are printed in the church calendar.
The American church adopted the
red letter days, but discarded the
black letter days althogether. At the
time of the adoption of the American
church calendar and prayer book in
1889, the intention was to remain as
close as possible to the English model,
making only such changes as were es-
Sentlal to the national needs-such as
substituting for the prayer for the
king a prayer for the president. Ac-
tually, however, the American cal
endar and prayer book are closer to
the Scotch Episcopal form than to
the English. 1t is notable, Bishop
Rhinelander said, that the latest re-
vision also departs from the English
toward the Scotch precedent.
20 Saints Evicted.
Twenty saints in all have been
evicted from the English calendar
most of them OF questionable historical
origin. The two most notable are ST.
Valentine and st. Nicholas.
st. Valentine is believed to have
been a martyred Roman priest, al
though in the old calendar he was
called bishop, How his day became
O. lovers festival never has been
explained. Some church writer's be-
lieve it is a relic of pagan custom.
st. Nicholas, the popular Santa
Claus and the patron saint Of the
Russian church, also goes from the
new calendar.
Other black letter days dropped are:
January-St Lucian, st. Prisca.
February-St. Blasius. st. Agatha.