“All may; none must; some should:” The Anglican Mantra

As I was reading about the life of Cranmer, celebrated in the Martyr’s Memorial in Oxford, I came across this splendid Anglican aphorism for the practice of Confession. “All may; none must; some should”.

Despite its sad and bloody beginnings, Anglicanism has, in fact, distinguished itself by its peaceful spirit of compromise. There is something very English and pacific about it.

I never thought I could be reconciled to Anglicanism because of its origins (partly a political exercise to sanction Henry’s divorce and remarriage) and its cruel destruction of noble monasteries, but I think I am growing rather fond of it.