Friday, March 10, 2023
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The Second Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities that may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lent
You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.
First Primate of Canada
Anglican Commemoration
Robert Machray (1831–1904), first Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, was the transformative ecclesiastical leader who established the institutional, liturgical, and missionary infrastructure of Canadian Anglicanism. Consecrated Bishop of Rupert's Land in 1865, he served for 39 years, overseeing missionary expansion across the prairie provinces and establishing an Anglican presence in the Canadian northwest. Elected the first Primate in 1893, Machray shaped the theological and institutional identity of the fledgling Canadian church during its formative decades.
Robert Machray was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1831 and trained at Oxford University. He was ordained in the Church of England and served as chaplain to the British garrison in Canada before being elected Bishop of Rupert's Land in 1865. His 39-year episcopate fundamentally transformed the religious landscape of British North America. Machray established missionary stations across the prairies, advocated for Indigenous ministry, and built the institutional scaffolding of Canadian Anglicanism: diocesan structures, synodal governance, and theological formation. In 1893, the House of Bishops elected him first Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada in recognition of his leadership and influence. He continued to guide the church through complex questions of disestablishment, liturgical adaptation, and missionary expansion. Machray retired to Montreal in 1902 and died on September 16, 1904. His legacy fundamentally shapes Canadian Anglican identity and practice.
Machray exemplifies the institutional founder of Canadian Anglicanism and the episcopal missionary leader of the 19th-century colonial church. His tenure established canonical structures, clergy formation systems, and Indigenous outreach patterns that persist in Canadian Anglican practice. Venerated in Canadian Anglican memory as the 'father of Canadian Anglicanism.'