COME AND WORSHIP Second Edition Revised and enlarged. This is not a Roman Catholic Missal. This Missal, now in its revised and enlarged Second Edition, is intended for use within the Independent Sacramental Tradition, and the rites presented are those employed by the Autocephalous Catholic Church of Antioch: the parent body of which is the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. Both of these churches are, by definition and in fact, Catholic: which is to say that they continue, validly, legitimately and verifiably, in historical and unbroken succession from the Apostles of Christ. They are thus living members and constituent parts of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Likewise, by definition and in fact, because they are Independent, like other churches of the Independent Sacramental Tradition they are not in communion with the See of Rome. They are Catholic, but they are not Roman Catholic. The contents of this Missal owe little to the rites of the Liberal Catholic Church, but instead draw largely upon the learning, traditions and texts of the mediaeval Church; while the influence of the Anglican Church will be apparent, not, indeed, in the sacramental thinking exemplified herein, but in the 'known-from-of-old' quality of a number of the prayers. Archaic language has been avoided herein, with the exception of several well-known hymns and one version of the Lord's Prayer. The Missal has, therefore, a contemporary spirit, but without detriment to the beauty and mystery of the ageless truths it expresses. This Missal accords with the established principles and age-old definitions of the Catholic Faith, and with its apostolic traditions. The three creeds of the Universal Church - Nicene, Apostles' and Athanasian - are implicit herein and foundational hereto. A contemporary Affirmation of Faith, which is in harmony with these creeds, and which acknowledges the potential inherent in the interaction of the human with the divine, also has place here. Three forms for the Order of Mass are given, together with texts for the variable parts of the rite. The Offices of Prime, Vespers and Compline are included, together with the rites for Baptism, Marriage, Anointing and Funerals. Collects, and references for the readings of the Temporal and Sanctoral cycles of the Liturgical Year are given, with extended sections for the rites of Holy Week. Prepared specifically for the Autocephalous Catholic Church of Antioch, the theological understanding and definition of the sacraments, as presented herein, is consistent with that of the Council of Trent; but this Missal also has a potential for wider use within the Independent Catholic Tradition, among those whose doctrine and practice is in accordance herewith, and who so desire to employ it.
About the Author: This Missal was prepared by Leon Roger Hunt, a bishop of the Independent Catholic Tradition, who was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1982 by Archbishop Spruit of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, and consecrated as a bishop on November 27, 2010 by Bishop Mark Elliott Newman of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. Leon Roger Hunt is Presiding Bishop of the Autocephalous Catholic Church of Antioch in the U.K.