The Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is one of the major works of English
literature. Since its introduction in the mid-1500's it has exerted enormous
influence on the religious and literary lives of all who speak the English
language. The Book of Common Prayer has gone through a number of editions, not
only in England where it originated, but in all the places where the various
Churches of the Anglican communion are now active. Here we look at the
development of printed liturgies and prayer books in the 16th century.
Exhortation and Litany
The first liturgy in English, 1544
An Exhortation
unto prayer, thoughte mete by the kinges majestie, and his clergy,
to be read to the people in every church afore processyons.
Also a Letanie
with suffrages to be said or song in the tyme of the said processyons.
This is the first officially sanctioned liturgy in English, and the only one
published under the reign of Henry VIII. It was, as is stated in the title page
above, an exhortation and litany to be said during processions. 
These processions were
common at the time, and were typically used to pray for God's favour during
times of troubles, such as bad weather, war, pestilence, etc. The King
noticed, however, that people were not responding to these processions as he
thought they should, and attributed this at least partially to the fact that
the people "understode no parte of suche prayers or suffrages as were
used to be songe and sayde". Accordingly, he decreed in June, 1544,
that there were to be "set forthe certayne godly prayers and suffrages
in our natyve Englyshe tongue".
This work was done by Archbishop Cranmer (pictured at left), and is
partly his own composition, and partly drawn from the Sarum (i.e.,
Salisbury) processional, from Luther's Litany, and from the Greek Orthodox
Litany. It was good enough to endure, substantially unchanged, throughout the
entire history of the Book of Common Prayer, down to modern times.
For more
historical information on the Litany click here
The Order of the Communion
The first Communion service in English, 1548
The death of Henry VIII and the accession to the throne of his young son Edward
in 1547 made possible a number of liturgical changes in the Church of England,
of which this was one of the first. It was made necessary by the passing in
both Parliament and Convocation a requirement that communion be administered
under both kinds - wine in addition to the traditional bread. This meant
changes in the liturgy would be required, and this Order was the result. As
with the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549, it is not known who the author or
authors were, but it is widely assumed to be largely the work of Archbishop
Thomas Cranmer.
For more
historical information on the Communion Service click here
The Book of Common Prayer
The First Book of Common Prayer, 1549
Although a formal break
with the Papacy came about during the time of Henry VIII, the Church of England
continued to use liturgies in Latin throughout his reign, just as it always
had. However, once the young Edward VI attained the throne, the stage was set
for some very significant changes in the religious life of the country. And so
a consultation of bishops met and produced the first Book of Common Prayer. It
is generally assumed that this book is largely the work of Archbishop Thomas
Cranmer, but, as no records of the development of the prayer book exist, this
cannot be definitively determined.
This Book of Common Prayer was not created in a vacuum, but derives from
several sources. First and foremost was the Sarum Rite, or the Latin liturgy
developed in Salisbury in the thirteenth century, and widely used in England.
Two other influences were a reformed Roman Breviary of the Spanish Cardinal
Qui�ones, and a book on doctrine and liturgy by Hermann von Wied, Archbishop of
Cologne.
This prayer book was in use only for three years, until the extensive revision
of 1552. However, much of its tradition and language remains in the prayer
books of today, as may be seen by even a cursory examination of the text.
The text used here is from a reprint, The First and Second Prayer-Books
of Edward VI, published in 1910 as part of Everyman's Library. That
text, in turn, appears to be taken from an edition published in 1549 by Edward
Whitchurche (or Whytchurche) of London, or from a 19th century reprint thereof.
The reprint
uses completely the original language and spelling, which are largely retained
here.
For more
historical information on the 1549 edition and sample pages click
here
The Second Prayer Book of Edward VI, 1552
The first Book of Common Prayer of 1549 did not satisfy the
more extreme of the Protestant reformers in England, who demanded changes in
that book. These, led by such as Martin Bucher and Peter Martyr, objected to
not only the services themselves, but also to what they believed to be
overly-elaborate altars and vestments for the clergy. Archbishop Cranmer
eventually allied himself with the reformers, and the result was the revision
of 1552.
The changes made in this prayer book were extensive, and included, among
others:
- Added the Introductory Sentences, Exhortation,
Confession and Absolution to Morning and Evening Prayer.
- Many changes were made in the Communion office,
including addition of the Decalogue, omission of the Introit, a new prayer
of Consecration, rearrangement of parts of the service, etc. The Communion
service was also altered to make ambiguous the traditional Catholic
doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the elements. A rubric, called "the
Black Rubric" (so-called as it was printed in black in 19th century
versions) was added only days before final printing, over many objections,
and sought to assure that kneeling at the Communion did not in any way
imply adoration of the host.
- The exorcism, anointing, the chrism, and triple
immersion were omitted from the Baptism service.
- The use of reserved sacrament was left ambiguous
in the Visitation of the Sick.
- The Burial service was drastically shortened,
omitting Communion, prayers for the dead, and the psalms.
The
book was introduced at the very end of 1552, and only preceded the death of the
young and sickly King Edward by six months. Edward
was succeeded by Queen Mary, who quickly outlawed the Book of Common Prayer and
restored the Latin rites of the Roman Catholic Church. So this prayer book
never even came into general usage in England. Nevertheless, the 1552 Book of
Common Prayer has had lasting impact, as the next revision (1559, on the
accession of Elizabeth I) was based very closely on it.
For more
historical information on the 1549 edition and sample pages click
here
The Elizabethan Prayer Book, 1559
The Prayer Book of 1559
was the third revision for the Anglican Church, and was brought about by the
accession to the throne of Elizabeth I and the restoration of the Anglican
Church after the six-year rule of the Catholic Queen Mary. It was in use much
longer than either of its predecessors - nearly 100 years, until the Long
Parliament of 1645 outlawed it as part of the Puritan Revolution. It served not
only the England of Elizabeth I, but her Stuart successors as well. This was
the first Prayer Book used in America, brought here by the Jamestown settlers and
others in the early 1600's.
This Book was a conservative revision of the 1552 edition, with the effect of
making it somewhat less "Protestant". Some of the few changes made
included:
- Dropping the very last rubric in the Communion
service (called the "Black Rubric"), which had sought to assure
that kneeling during Communion did not in any way imply worship of the
elements;
- Combining the two versions of the sentences used
for administration of the elements during Communion from the previous two
Prayer Books;
- Dropping prayers against the Pope from the
Litany; and
- Adding a rubric to Morning Prayer prescribing
the use of traditional vestments.
Some
minor changes were made in 1604 on the accession of James I. The most important
of these was to lengthen the Catechism by adding sections on the Sacraments.
Also, a number of Saints' days and festivals were added to the Kalendar in
1561; these are also noted.
The translation used for the Biblical texts of this prayer book was that of the
Great Bible of 1539; this was also the source for the Psalter for this and for
all Books down through the US 1928 BCP.
For more
historical information on the 1559 edition and sample pages click
here
The Book of Common Prayer
Noted, 1550
The Book of Common Prayer put to music
When the first Book of Common Prayer was published, in 1549, a need was felt
for service music similar to that which had been used for the old Latin rites.
So Archbishop Cranmer engaged one John Merbecke to provide such a collection of
service music "containing so much of the Order of Common Prayer as is to
be sung in Churches". Cranmer desired a simpler form of service music than
was then current, urging Merbecke to have "for every syllable a
note."
The Book of Common Prayer Noted (by now you should understand that
"Noted" means "with musical notes" and not
"annotated") was published in 1550, and so only saw use for two years
until the Second Book of Edward VI, in 1552. This, and the reign of the
Catholic Queen Mary which quickly followed, meant the end of its practical
life. And, when Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, bringing back the
English liturgy, Protestant sympathies were prominent enough that service music
began to fall into disfavor. Thus, Merbecke's book had no successor, and was
essentially forgotten until the Oxford Movement rediscovered it in the
mid-1800's. In fact, hardly more than a dozen copies currently exist.
Today, many of Merbecke's settings are instantly familiar to those who have
grown up in the Anglican Communion, and still appear in current hymnals
The Book of Common Prayer Noted, because it contained musical notation,
was printed in two passes: one for the staves (the rules on which the notes
lie, and which was in red), and another for the notes and text (in black). One
shouldn't be surprised to find that the alignment of these two passes was not
always identical. This means that different copies may seem to call for
different notes, because the registration of the notes with the staves is not
quite the same. This is illustrated in the comparison below, showing identical
pages from two different copies.
|
|
|
|
Page from a copy at
the British Museum |
Page from a copy at
Marsh's Library, Dublin |
For more
historical information on the 1559 edition and sample pages click
here
The information
provided here has been taken with permission from the Anglican Resource
Collection http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp.