Anglican Use
Why did this come about?
The name Anglican Use has a modern Anglicans'R'Us feel, and if that ultimately leads to one more soul to Christ then the name choice has proved its worth. In addition, it has brought comfort to many people who were reluctant to follow the Anglican Church's fundamental shifts in direction in recent years.
The name Anglican Use is from the 'Anglican Usage of the Latin Rite'; in other words, the facility for Catholic-minded Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, yet at the same time, retain certain Anglican traditions.
The liturgy for Anglican Use is similar to the 16th century Book of Common Prayer written by Thomas Cranmer, called the Book of Divine Worship. It's a variation of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.
It must be said that very few Episcopal parishes have unanimously declared their desire to become Anglican Use Catholics but several hundred Anglican priests have completed training and ordained as Catholic priests, even those who are married.
Their motives could be as varied and as many as the number who have made the move. Certainly some are frustrated at the liberal direction of Protestantism, including women joining the priesthood, the acceptance of homosexuality and other doctrinal issues.
For those who are against this trend, there is now a well-established mechanism to move into the Catholic Church.
They have additional support from the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society (acsociety.org), fomerly called the Anglican Use Society. They use the symbols shown below; emblems with very strong Anglican roots:
Canterbury CrossThe Canterbury Cross is used by the current See of the Anglican Church. Yet the original brooch, from which this Canterbury Cross is copied, was crafted at the time when the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome.
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Anglicanorum Coetibus Society
Episcopal Church emblemThe variation of the Episcopal Church emblem no longer shows the nine crosslets that represented the original nine Episcopal Dioceses. Instead, there are the Crossed Keys of Saint Peter, an element in Catholic Papal regalia, insignia and the coat of arms of the See of Rome.
It's quite a clever device to substitute the nine crosslets to mimic the cross of St. Andrew. The representation of the nine Anglican dioceses in America is replaced by a representation of the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome.
St. George is the patron saint of England. Consequently, the red cross of St. George is England's emblem. The Church of England (C of E) is the mother church of the Anglican communion, so it's not surprising that many Anglican churches around the world incorporate the red cross of St. George in their emblems, even those who are independent of Canterbury. (What is surprising, however, is that the C of E itself doesn't use the red cross of St. George in its emblem.)
Other Churches that are independent from the See of Canterbury, yet use an emblem very similar to the Episcopal Church's, include:
The Anglican Catholic Church, incorporating a Key crossed with a Shepherd's Crook
The United Anglican Church, incorporating a Key crossed with a Shepherd's Crook, plus a crown
The Anglican Church in America, incorporating a Canterbury Cross
The Anglican Province of America, incorporating a Chi Rho Cross plus Alpha and Omega
More details of these and several other Anglican churches can be seen at Anglicans Online
