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PRAYER, BOOK OF COMMON
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See also:PRAYER, See also:BOOK OF See also:COMMON , the See also:title of the See also:official service book of the See also: See also:Cranmer's See also:preface " Concerning the Service of the Church " expressly mentions the abolition of this variety as one of the things to be achieved by a Book of Common Prayer. It says: " And whereas heretofore there hath been great diversity in saying and singing in Churches within this See also:Realm; some following See also:Salisbury Use, some Hereford Use, and some the Use of Bangor, some of York, some of Lincoln; now from henceforth all the whole Realm shall have but one Use." We will next enumerate the See also:sources from which the Prayer Book was compiled. 1. It has been already indicated that the older pre-Reformation service books formed the main See also:quarry, especially those according to the Use of Sarum. See also:Morning and Evening Prayer, including the psalter and the lessons, were taken from the Breviary, See also:Matins being compiled out of Nocturns (or Matins), Lauds and See also:Prime; and Evensong out of See also:Vespers and Compline. The See also:Order of Holy Communion, including the collects, epistles and gospels, was taken from the Missal. The sacramental and other offices which occupy a position in the Prayer Book between the Order of Holy Communion and the See also:Psalms were taken from the Manual; and the services for See also:consecration or ordering of bishops, priests and deacons were taken from the Pontifical; but in all cases not only with a See also:change of Latin into English, but with numerous alterations, omissions and additions. 2. The reformed Latin Breviary of See also:Cardinal Quignon, See also:Francis de Quifiones, a Spaniard, a Franciscan and cardinal of the Holy See also:Cross, brought out a reformed Latin breviary with papal See also:sanction in 1535. A second and revised edition appeared in 1537. It met with considerable favour, and was adopted into use in many places, without, however, winning universal See also:acceptance, and in 1558 papal sanction was withdrawn and it ceased to be printed. From this reformed breviary the compilers of the Prayer Book borrowed the following. (a) Many passages—almost verbatim—in the preface " Concerning the Service of the Church." It would occupy too much space to See also:print them in parallel columns here. (b) Making the See also:Sunday and Holy-See also:day services identical in structure with the See also:week-day services. (c) The removal of all antiphons and responds. This refers to Quignon's first edition only. (d) The increased amount of Holy Scripture read. Quignon provided a first See also:lesson from the Old Testament; a second lesson from the New Testament; and on See also:Saints' Days a third lesson from the Lives of the Saints, though this lesson was also occasionally taken from Holy Scripture. (e) The prefixing to every service a form of See also:confession and See also:absolution. The See also:idea, not the actual language, is borrowed by the Prayer Book. (f) The substitution of the Athanasian Creed for the Apostles' Creed on certain days instead of the former being an addition to the latter. So in the Prayer Book, when used, the Athanasian Creed is substituted for, not added to, the shorter creed. (g) The See also:uniform See also:assignment of three Psalms to each See also:hour suggests the See also:average number and arrangement of the Psalms in the Prayer Book at Matins and Evensong. 3. The Mozarabic Missal. (a) The four See also:short prayers preceding the prayer for the consecration of the See also:water in the office for the public See also:baptism of infants are adapted from the See also:benediction of the See also:font in the Mozarabic See also:Liturgy (See also:Migne, Pat. See also:Lat. torn. lxxxv. See also:col. 465). The See also:evidence for this borrowing is still plainer in the larger form of prayer for this purpose provided in the first book of See also:Edward VI. The Mozarabic Liturgy was printed and published under Cardinal Ximenes in 1500, and may well have been in Cranmer's hands; whereas the Missale gallicanum, a Gallican Sacramentary, containing the same prayers with slight See also:variations, was first published by Cardinal Thomesius in 168o and must have been unknown to Cranmer. (b) According to F. See also:Procter and W. H. See also:Frere (A New See also:History of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 375: See also:London, 1902), the use of the plural number instead of the singular in the form of the opening versicles of Morning and Evening prayer is a following of Mozarabic usage. But we have been unable to verify this statement. (c) Many of the new collects introduced into the Prayer Book, though not transferred bodily from any Mozarabic service book, are modelled upon a Mozarabic See also:pattern, and preserve some Mozarabic ideas and phrases, e.g. the references to the Second See also:Advent in the collects for the first and third Sundays in Advent take their See also:tone from the Mozarabic Advent services. The collect for See also:Christmas Day is based on a collect for Christmas Day Lauds in the Mozarabic Breviary (Migne, Pat. Lat. torn. lxxxvi., col. 122). The collect for the first Sunday in See also:Lent is based on a preface (Inlatio) in the Mass for the Wednesday after the fifth Sunday in Lent (ibid., tom. lxxxv., col. 382). The collect for the first Sunday after See also:Easter is based upon an " Alia Oratio " (ibid., col. 517), and an " Oratio ad pacem " (col. 518) for the Saturday in Easter week. The collect for St See also:Andrew's Day is based on a Missa in the Mozarabic Mass for the same festival (ibid., col. 159). Other examples might be given, but this is hardly the See also:place for complete details. (d) The many addresses, beginning with " Dearly beloved brethren " (" the Scripture moveth us," &c.), introduced into most of the services in the Prayer Book, correspond to the addresses which, under the title of " Missa," and generally addressed to " fratres dilectissimi " or " See also:carissimi," form See also:part of every Mozarabic Mass. (e) The prayer of consecration in the Order of Holy Communion, especially as regards the See also:recital of the words of institution commencing " Who in the same See also:night," &c., follows a Mozarabic rather than the Sarum or See also:Roman See also:model in several respects, but the same features are found in the consecration prayer in the See also:Brandenburg-Nurnberg agenda of 1533, and it is doubtful whether the See also:Anglican borrowing is from a Mozarabic or a Lutheran source. Possibly both the Anglican and Lutheran formulae are derived independently from the Mozarabic; because, as we have seen, a Mozarabic missal was certainly in Cranmer's hands and studied by him. 4. Eastern Liturgies. These were certainly known to Cranmer, but it is remarkable how little he borrowed from them. (a) The prayer which was placed at the end of the See also:Litany in 1549, and now stands as the last prayer but one at the end of Matins and Evensong, as well as of the Litany, was undoubtedly borrowed from the Liturgy of St See also:Chrysostom, where, as likewise in the Liturgy of St See also:Basil, it forms the prayer of the third See also:antiphon after the See also:Deacon's Litany in the Mass of the Catechumens. (b) The concluding prayer of Matins and Evensong, " The See also:Grace of our See also:Lord," &c., which was added in 1662, may have been taken from See also:Greek liturgies. It is the opening salutation in the Mass of the Catechumens in the Clementine Liturgy, where it occurs again, as it does in the Greek Liturgies before the " Sursum corda "; though there is no evidence to prove that it was not taken directly from Holy Scripture (2 See also:Cor. xiii. 14). (c) The Epiklesis or invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the elements, must have been copied from an Eastern Liturgy. It occurs in the 1549 Prayer Book, but has been omitted in all subsequent editions. It runs thus: " Hear us, 0 merciful See also:Father, we beseech Thee, and with Thy holy Spirit and word vouchsafe to bltess and sancttify these Thy gifts and creatures of See also:bread and See also:wine, that they may be unto us the See also:body and See also:blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus See also:Christ." This is not an exact See also:translation of any known epiklesis, and Cranmer altered its position from after to immediately before the words of institution. (d) Four petitions in the Litany. " That it may please Thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests and Deacons," &c. (altered in 1661 from all Bishops, pastors and ministers) and " That it may please Thee to give to all nations unity, See also:peace and See also:concord," and " That it may please Thee to succour, help and comfort all that are in danger, See also:necessity and tribulation," and That it may please Thee to preserve all that travel by See also:land or by water, all See also:women labouring of See also:child, all sick persons, and See also:young See also:children, and to show Thy pity upon all prisoners and captives ! " are almost certainly modelled on corresponding petitions in the Deacon's Litany in the Liturgy of St Chrysostom (ed. F. E. Brightman, p. 362, i. 35, and p. 363, lines 4, 17, 15). At least, they resemble far more closely the Greek petitions than they do any corresponding Latin petitions in the Old Sarum Litany. 5. Lutheran and other See also:continental See also:Protestant service books. The most considerable quantity of the new material which was imported into the Prayer Book was See also:drawn from Lutheran and Genevan service books. The Litany, for example, in the Prayer Book is based upon the See also:medieval Latin Litany, but great variation both in substance and language and by way of addition and omission, are made in it. These variations are largely borrowed from and closely follow the language of various Lutheran litanies, especially that given in the consultation of See also:Archbishop See also:Hermann of See also:Cologne issued in 1543. Lutheran See also:influence can likewise be traced in way of variation introduced into the baptismal and other sacramental or occasional offices. So in the Communion service the most striking departures from ancient precedent have a Protestant origin. The introduction of the Ten Commandments in 1553 seems to be derived from the order of service published by Valerandus Pollanus (Pullain) in 1551; and that of the Comfortable Words in 1549 is borrowed, though all the texts chosen are not identical, from the Consultation of Hermann. It is impossible to pursue this subject here further in detail. 6. See also:Original compositions of the compilers of the Prayer Book, not traceable to ancient or 16th-See also:century originals. These are not numerous. They include most of the collects on Saints' Days, for which, though no See also:direct evidence of authorship is as yet forthcoming, Cranmer is probably responsible, and certain other collects, such as that for the Royal See also:Family (Archbishop See also:Whitgift); that for the high See also:court of See also:parliament (Archbishop See also:Laud); that for all conditions of men (Bishop See also:Gunning), &c.
We proceed to describe next the various stages through which the Book of Common Prayer has passed and the leading features of each revision. Of changes preceding the first Prayer Book it will only be necessary to mention here: (a) The compiling and See also:publishing of the Litany in English by Cranmer in 1544. (b) Royal injunctions in See also:August 1547 ordering the See also:Epistle and See also:Gospel to be read in English at High Mass. (c) A royal See also:proclamation, dated the 8th of See also: The mixed See also:chalice was ordered to be used, and the Agnus Dei to he sung during the Communion of the people. A large selection of short scriptural See also:post-Communions was provided. Unleavened bread was to be used and placed not in the See also:hand but in the mouth of the communicant. The sign of the cross was to be made not only in the eucharistic consecration prayer, but also in Baptism, See also:Confirmation, Holy See also:Matrimony and the Visitation of the Sick. See also:Reservation for the sick and See also:unction of the sick were retained; and See also:exorcism, unction, trine See also:immersion and the chrisom were included in the baptismal service. The prayer in the See also:burial service, as in the Communion service, contained distinct inter-cessions for the departed; and a form of Holy Communion was provided for use at funerals with proper introit, collect, epistle and gospel.
As to See also:vestments, in the See also:choir offices, the See also:surplice only was to be used; the See also:hood being added in cathedrals and colleges; and by all graduates when See also:preaching, everywhere.
At Holy Communion the officiating priest was to See also:wear " a See also: The alterations made in it were many and important, and as they represent the furthest point ever reached by the Prayer Book in a Protestant direction, they deserve See also:special mention and See also:attention. 1. The See also:introductory sentences, exhortation, confession and absolution were prefixed to the Order for Morning Prayer daily throughout the year and ordered to be read before Evening Prayer as well. Alternative Psalms were provided for Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. 2. Numerous and most important alterations were made in the Order for Holy Communion, in the title of which the words commonly called the Mass " were See also:left out. (a) The Introits were omitted. (b) Gloria in excelsis was transferred from near the beginning to near the end of the service. (c) The ten commandments with. an See also:expanded tenfold See also:Kyrie eleison were introduced. (d) The long new English See also:canon of 1549 was split up into three parts: the first part becoming the prayer for the church militant; the second part becoming the prayer of consecration, the third part, or prayer of oblation, becoming the first post-Communion collect; the epiklesis or invocation of the Holy See also:Ghost upon the elements was entirely omitted. (e) The mixed chalice, the use of the sign of the cross in the consecration prayer; the See also:commemoration of the blessed Virgin Mary and of various classes of saints were omitted. (f) The Agnus Dei and the post-Communion anthems were omitted. (g) The words of administration in the 1549 book were abolished, viz.: " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto See also:everlasting See also:life," and " The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was See also:shed for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life," and the following words weresubstituted: " Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy See also:heart by faith, with thanks-giving," and " Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankful." (h) A long See also:rubric was added at the end of the service explanatory of the attitude of kneeling at the reception of Holy Communion, in which it was stated that " it is not meant hereby that any See also:adoration is done, or ought to be done, either unto the sacramental bread and wine there bodily received, or to any real and essential presence there being of Christ's natural flesh and blood," &c. (i) Exorcism, unction, trine immersion and the chrisom were omitted from the baptismal service. (k) Unction and communion with the reserved See also:sacrament were removed from the services for the visitation and the communion of the sick. (1) Prayers for the dead and provision for a celebration of Holy Communion at a funeral were removed from the burial service. (m) The vestments retained and ordered under the Prayer Book of 1549 were abolished by a new rubric which directed that both at the See also:time of Communion and at all other times of ministration a bishop should wear a See also:rochet and that a priest or deacon should have and wear a surplice only; (n) on the other hand, the directions as to daily service were extended to all clergy and made much stricter, (o) and the number of days on which the Athanasian Creed was to be used was raised from six to thirteen. The main See also:objects of these drastic alterations have been thought to have been two-See also:fold. 1. To abolish all ritual for which there was not scriptural See also:warrant. If this was their See also:object it was not consistently or completely carried out. No scriptural warrant can be found for the use of the surplice, or for the use of the sign of the cross in baptism, both of which were retained. 2. To make the services as unlike the pre-Reformation services as possible. This object too was not fully attained; no liturgical precedent can be found for the violent dislocation of certain parts of the Order for Holy Communion, especially in the See also:case of the prayer of oblation and of the Gloria in Excelsis; but the orders for Morning and Evening Prayer and the Holy Communion retained features of the Breviary and Missal services, the bulk of their component material being still drawn from them. While the alterations, therefore, were violent enough to alarm and offend the See also:Catholic party, they were not violent enough to satisfy the extreme Puritan party, who would no doubt have agitated for and would probably have obtained still further reformation and revision. But this Prayer Book only lived for eight months. It came into use on All Saints' Day (Nov. 1) 1552, and on the 6th of See also:July 1553 Edward VI. died and was succeeded by his See also:sister Mary, under whom the Prayer Book was abolished and the old Latin services and service books resumed their place.
On the See also:death of See also:Queen Mary and the See also:accession of her sister See also: The eucharistic vestments ordered in the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. were brought back by a new rubric which directed that " the See also:minister at the time of the communion and at all other times in his ministration, shall use such vestments in the church as were in use by authority of parliament in the second year of the reign of King Edward the VI. according to the act of parliament set in the beginning of this book. 3. In the Litany the following See also:petition found in both the Edwardian Prayer Books was omitted " from the tyranny of the bishop of See also:Rome and all his detestable enormities, See also:good Lord deliver us." 4. In the Communion service the two clauses of administration found in the first and second Prayer Books of King Edward's reign were combined. 5. The rubric explanatory of " kneeling for reception," commonly known as " the See also:Black Rubric " was omitted. 6. In the Ordinal in the rubric before the See also:oath of the queen's See also:sovereignty the words " against the See also:power and authority of all See also:foreign potentates " were substituted for " against the usurped power and authority of the Bishop of Rome," and in the oath itself four references to the bishop of Rome, by name, were omitted. There were a few more minor alterations, without doctrinal or See also:political significance which need not be described in detail here. The only further addition or alteration made in Queen Elizabeth's reign was in 1561, when all the present black See also:letter Holy Days were added to the Kalendar except St See also:George (April 23) See also:Lammas (Aug. r), St Laurence (Aug. 1o) and St See also:Clement (Nov. 22), which already existed, and except St Enurchus (See also:Sept. 7), added in 1604, and the See also:Venerable See also:Bede (May 27) and St See also:Alban (June 17) added in 1662.
A smouldering and growing Puritan discontent with the Prayer Book, suppressed with a See also:firm hand under Queen Elizabeth, burst out into a See also:flame on the accession of King See also: A prayer for the royal family was added after the prayer for the king, and a petition was added in the Litany to the same effect, both exhibiting slight verbal See also:differences from the prayer and petition as used to-day.
4. Thanksgiving prayers were added for See also:rain, for See also:fair See also:weather, for plenty, for peace and victory.
5. Important alterations were introduced into the service for the private baptism of children in houses, with the object of doing away with See also:lay baptism and securing the administration by the minister of the parish, or some other lawful minister.
6. The confirmation service was entitled and explained thus: " The Order of Confirmation, or Laying on of Hands upon Children Baptized, and able to render an See also:account of their faith according to the See also:Catechism following."
7. The concluding portion of the Catechism, consisting of eleven questions on the sacraments, was now added.
There were other slight changes of a verbal See also:kind, involving no doctrinal or political significance and which therefore need not be described here.
The next important See also:stage in the history of the Prayer Book was its See also:total suppression in 1645 for a See also:period of fifteen years. " the See also:Directory for the Public Worship of God in the Three Kingdoms " being established in its place. The restoration of King See also: Non-conformists pressed upon the king, either that the Prayer Book should not be re-introduced, or that if it were re-introduced, features which they objected to might be removed. The result was that a conference was held in 1661, known from its place of See also:meeting as the See also:Savoy Conference, the church being represented by twelve bishops and the Nonconformists by twelve eminent Presbyterian divines, each See also:side accompanied by nine coadjutors. The objections raised from the See also:Nonconformist point of view were numerous and varied, but they were thoroughly discussed between the first meeting on the 15th of April and the last on the 24th of July 1661; the bishops agreeing to meet the Puritan wishes on a few minor points but on none of fundamental importance. Later in the year, between the loth of See also:November and the loth of See also:December, Convocation assembled and under-took the revision of the Prayer Book. In the earlier part of the following year the book so revised came before parliament. No See also:amendment was made in it in either See also:house and it finally received the royal assent on the 19th of May 1662, being annexed to an Act of Uniformity which provided for its coming into general and compulsory use on St See also:Bartholomew's Day (Aug. 24). The alterations thus introduced were very numerous, amounting to many hundreds, and many of them were more important than any which had been introduced into the Prayer Book since 1552. Their general tendency was distinctly in a Catholic as opposed to a Puritan direction, and the two thousand Puritan incumbents who vacated their benefices on St Bartholomew's Day rather than accept the altered Prayer Book See also:bear eloquent testimony to that fact. It is impossible to give here an exhaustive See also:list of the alterations: but the following were some of the See also:principal changes made in 1662. (a) The preface " It hath been the See also:wisdom of the Church of England," &c., composed by See also:Sanderson, bishop of Lincoln, was prefixed to the Prayer Book. (b) The authorized version of the Bible of 1611 was taken into use, except in the case of the Psalms, where the great Bible of 1539–1540 was retained as much smoother for singing, and in parts of the Communion service. (c) The rubric preceding the absolution in Morning and Evening Prayer, viz.: " The absolution to be pronounced by the minister alone," was altered into " The Absolution, or Remission of Sins, to be pronounced by the priest alone, standing; the people still kneeling." (d) In the Litany the phrase " Bishops, Pastors and Ministers of the Church," was altered into " Bishops, Priests and Deacons," and in the clause commencing " From all See also:sedition and privy See also:conspiracy," &c., the words " See also:rebellion " and " See also:schism " were added. (e) Among the " Prayers and Thanksgivings upon several occasions," were added the two Ember week prayers, the prayer for the high court of parliament, the collect or prayer for all conditions of men, the general thanksgiving, and that For restoring Public Peace at See also:Home." (f) In the Communion service two rubrics were prefixed to the prayer " for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in See also:earth " ordering the humble presentation and placing of the See also:alms upon the Holy Table, and the placing thereon then of so much Bread and Wine as the priest shall think sufficient; and (g) the commemoration of the departed was added to the prayer itself. (h) The rubric explanatory of the posture of kneeling for reception, known as the Black Rubric, which had been added in 1562, but omitted in 1559 and 1604, was re-introduced ; but the words " to any real and essential presence there being of Christ's natural flesh and blood " were altered to " unto any See also:Corporal Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood "—a very important and significant alteration which affected the meaning of the whole rubric. (i) Rubrics were also added ordering the manual acts by the priest in the prayer of consecration, and the covering of the See also:remainder of the consecrated elements after Communion with a fair See also:linen See also:cloth. (k) A new office was added for the Ministration of Baptism to such as are of riper years. (1) A rubric was prefixed to the Order for the Burial of the Dead, forbidding that order to be used " for any that See also:die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves." (m) In the " Ordering of Priests," and " the Consecration of Bishops," in the See also:formula for ordination, after the words, " Receive the Holy Ghost," these words were added " for the Office and Work of a Priest (or Bishop) in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the Imposition of our hands." (n) The ornaments rubric, regulating the vesture of the clergy was thrown into its present shape, referring back not to 1604 or 1559 or 1552, but to the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. in 1549 for the See also:rule to be followed. The above are the important alterations, among numerous others of minor significance, introduced into the Prayer Book in 1662. Their general trend is obvious. It is not in the Puritan direction, but intended to emphasize and to make more clear church doctrine and discipline, which in See also:recent years had become obscured or decayed. No substantial alteration has been made in the Prayer Book since 1662, but two alterations must be chronicled as having obtained the sanction of the Convocations of See also:Canterbury and York, and also legal force by act of parliament. In 1871 a new Lectionary was substituted for the previously existing one, into the merits and demerits of which it is not possible to enter here; and in 1872, by the Act of Uniformity Amendment Act, a shortened form of service was provided instead of the present form of Morning and Evening Prayer for optional use in other than cathedral churches on all days except Sunday, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Good See also:Friday and See also:Ascension Day; provision was also statutably made for the separation of services, and for additional services, to be taken, however, except so far as anthems and See also:hymns are concerned, entirely out of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. In the year 1907 letters of business were issued by the See also:Crown to the Convocations inviting and enabling them to make alterations in the Prayer Book (afterwards to be embodied in an act of parliament). These letters were issued in compliance with the second recommendation (1906) of the Royal See also:Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline, viz.: that " Letters of business should be issued to the Convocations with instructions: (a) to consider the preparation of a new rubric regulating the ornaments (that is to say, the vesture) of the ministers of the church, at the times of their ministrations, with a view to its enactment by parliament; and (b) to See also:frame, with a view to their enactment of parliament, such modifications in the existing See also:law See also:relating to the conduct of Divine Service, and to the ornaments and fittings of churches as may tend to secure the greater See also:elasticity which a reasonable recognition of the comprehensiveness of the Church of England and of its present needs seems to demand." A few words are added in conclusion about the state services. Until the year 1859 they were four in number. 1. A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving to be used yearly upon the Fifth Day of November, to commemorate the happy deliverance of King James I. and the Three Estates of England from the See also:Gun-See also:powder See also:Plot in 1604. 2. A Form of Prayer with See also:Fasting to be used yearly on the Thirtieth Day of January, to commemorate the Martyrdom of the Blessed King Charles the First in 1649. 3. A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving to be used yearly on the Twenty-ninth Day of May, to commemorate the Restoration to the See also:throne of Kirig Charles the Second in 166o. 4. A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving to be used yearly on the Day of the Accession of the reigning Monarch. The first three of these services were abolished in 1859 by royal warrant—that is to say by the exercise of the same authority which had instituted them. The See also:fourth form of service was retained in its old shape till 1901, when a new form, or rather new forms of service, having been prepared by Convocation, were authorized by royal warrant on the 9th of November. (F. E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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