Books - Book of Common Prayer

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	Books - Book of Common Prayer

' The Book of Common Prayer is the prayer book of the Church of England and also the name for similar books used in other churches in the Anglican Communion. It replaced the four Latin liturgical books with a single compact volume in English. It went through several revisions during the 16th and 17th centuries but has remained largely unchanged since 1662. It contains the order to be followed in church services.
History
The Prayer Books of Edward VI
The work of producing English language books for use in the liturgy was, at the outset, the work of Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, under the reign of Henry VIII. The king was not unsympathetic to Cranmer's ideas, but it was the Archbishop, supported by more radical protégés, who forced the pace. His first work, the earliest English-language service book of the Church of England, was the Exhortation and Litany. This was no mere translation: its Protestant character is made clear by the drastic reduction of the place of saints, compressing what had been the major part into three petitions. Published in 1544, it borrowed greatly from Martin Luther's Litany and Myles Coverdale's New Testament, and was the only service that might be considered to be "Protestant" to be finished within the lifetime of King Henry VIII.

It was not until Henry's death in 1547 and the accession of Edward VI that the reform could proceed faster. Cranmer finished his work on an English Communion rite in 1548, obeying an order of Parliament that Communion was to be given as both bread and wine. The service existed as an addition to the pre-existing Latin Mass.

It was included, one year later, in 1549, in a full prayer book, set out with a daily office, readings for Sundays and Holy Days, the Communion Service, Public Baptism, of Confirmation, of Matrimony, The Visitation of the Sick, At a Burial and the Ordinal (added in 1550). (This text of the Communion is online ). The Preface to this edition, which contained Cranmer's explanation as to why a new prayer book was necessary, began: "There was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so sure established, which in continuance of time hath not been corrupted". The original version was used until only 1552, when a further revision was released.

This second book marked a considerable change. In response to criticisms by such as Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer deliberate steps were taken to excise Catholic practices. In the Eucharist, gone were the words Mass and altar; gone was the 'Lord have mercy' to be replaced by the Ten Commandments; removed to the end was the Gloria; gone was any reference to an offering of a 'Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving' in the Eucharistic prayer, which ended with the words of institution (This is my Body..This is my blood...). The part of the prayer which followed, the Prayer of Oblation, was transferred, much changed, to a position after the congregation had received communion. The words at the administration of communion which, in the prayer book of 1549 described the eucharistic species as 'The body of our Lorde Jesus Christe...', 'The blood of our Lorde Jesus Christe...' were replaced with with the words 'Take, eat, in remembrance that Christ died for thee..' etc. The Peace, at which in earlier times the congregation had exchanged a greeting, was removed altogether. Vestments such as the stole, chasuble and cope were no longer to be worn, but only a surplice. It was the final stage of Cranmer's work of removing all elements of sacrifice from the Latin Mass. In the Baptism service the signing with the cross was moved until after the baptism and the exorcism, the anointing, the putting on of the chrysom robe and the triple immersion were omitted. Most drastic of all was the removal of the Burial service from church: it was to take place at the graveside. In 1549, there had been provision for a Requiem (not so called) and prayers of commendation and committal, the first addressed to the deceased. All that remained was a single reference to the deceased, giving thanks for their delivery from ' the myseryes of this sinneful world'.

Before the book was in general use Edward VI died. In 1553, Mary I, upon her succession to the throne, re-established the old religion. The Mass was re-established, altars, rood screens and statues were re-instated; an attempt was made to restore the Church to its Roman affiliation. Cranmer was punished for his work in the Protestant reformation by being burned at the stake on March 21, 1556. Nevertheless, the 1552 book was to survive. After Mary's death in 1558,it was re-instated, with subtle if significant changes only, and Cranmer's work was to survive until the 1920s as the only authorised book in the Church of England.
The 1559 prayer book
Thus, under Elizabeth I of England, a restoration of the Reformed religion was undertaken, and the 1552 book was republished in 1559. In its Elizabethan form, scarcely altered, it was used for nearly 100 years, thus being the official prayer book under the Stuarts as well as being the first Anglican service in America. This was the prayer book of William Shakespeare, John Donne, and Richard Hooker.
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Books - Book of Common Prayer

History

The Prayer Books of Edward VI

The 1559 prayer book

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